NEWS
May 28, 2026
Letter to Las Cruces regarding open meeting violations
Did they operate a secret committee about law enforcement for three years?
For three years, a Las Cruces committee met behind closed doors and made decisions the public knew nothing about.
That's the conclusion of our investigation into the city's Public Safety Select Committee, which operated from 2020–2023. Its members included former Mayor Ken Miyagishima, who is now running for governor, and current U.S. Representative Gabriel Vasquez.
Those are serious allegations, and we backed them up in a seven-page letter sent to the city on Friday.
But you don't need to read seven pages.
Just watch the video.
Under New Mexico law, meetings where public policy is discussed or voted on must be open to the public. At an April 3, 2023 City Council meeting, Mayor Miyagishima repeatedly states that the Public Safety Select Committee — whose meetings were not open to the public — had to approve a citizen police review committee before the City Council could even discuss it.
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May 28, 2026
Big transparency win for New Mexico
Today, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that just because a public record contains someone’s opinion about an employee, it does not mean the entire record can be withheld from the public.
The case began in 2014, when Albuquerque Public Schools launched an investigation into its superintendent, who later resigned and received a $350,000 buyout. When the Albuquerque Journal and KOB-TV requested the investigator’s report, APS refused to release it. The news organizations sued.
Twelve years later, the state Supreme Court ruled not only that APS was wrong to withhold the report, but also reversed decisions by the Second Judicial District Court and the Court of Appeals, writing: “Exempting an entire record because it may contain trace matters of opinion would invite abuse.”