Strategic report sparks debate among Los Lunas Council

The Los Lunas Village Council heard the initial findings of its Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP) from Better City LLC CEO Jason Godfrey at the council’s regular meeting on Thursday, Jan. 29.

The presentation highlighted a strong community desire to focus on quality of life over raw growth. It elicited strong reactions from both the mayor and the council.

Godfrey presented results from extensive stakeholder engagement, including nearly 482 community surveys, input from 22 local leaders and eight stakeholder interviews. The consulting firm also conducted four focus groups and one visioning workshop with community members in concert with the village’s senior economic development director, Victoria Archuleta.

Calling Los Lunas’ current trajectory an “incredible success story,” Godfrey began the presentation with complementary words.

“Your growth trajectory and what you’ve accomplished is really off the charts,” Gottfried said. “Ten times growth in 20 years is just unheard of, right? You guys are killing it. I just want to be really clear about that.”

Godfrey then moved on to what he termed “some other things to consider,” telling the council the report was also an ask for strategic direction “to see if let’s go ahead and finish out the strategic plan as dictated in the RFP… or based on community feedback, if there a pivot to be taken and be responsive to some of the feedback we got from the community.”

Godfrey’s report emphasized that while the village has impressive economic metrics, the community engagement revealed key challenges. The top economic development priority cited by residents was traffic congestion.

“What’s their top economic development priority? Wealth and traffic. Shocking, right? No one expected that one,” Gottfried remarked wryly, noting 91 percent of those surveyed said traffic congestion was a challenge and identifying the problem as “an economic development constraint.”

The survey showed that nearly 58 percent wanted balanced growth, versus nearly 35 percent who wanted careful, slower growth. 88 percent of those polled preferred quality-of-life-focused growth, identifying the need for a village center to foster “a sense of place” and highlighting a major “perception gap” in retail. While the majority of residents reported leaving the village monthly for dining and groceries, Godfrey shared counterdata indicating that the village is way ahead in “retail leakage.”

“You’re collecting $62 million more in retail sales than is being spent outside,” he said, explaining that this is likely due to Los Lunas serving as a regional hub for shoppers, even if residents still perceive a lack of options, such as specific national chains.

“So it’s interesting to address that psychological gap that’s perceived, perception gap, versus what’s actually reality,” he said. “The reality is you’re getting everything you need here. You can get everything you need here.”

The core of the presentation was a request for the council’s strategic direction, contrasting two paths for the strategic plan — “Manage the Wave” or “Shape the Wave.”

Godfrey laid out the central decision:

“The question is, do you continue with that trajectory, and do you say, ‘Victoria, go out there and get us another Amazon, get us another data center, get us more jobs?’ Or do you say, ‘Let’s pivot and shape the wave?’”

Ultimately, the firm recommended that the village not attempt to tackle regional or societal issues like homelessness and general housing affordability through the economic development department, but instead focus its efforts on the areas where it can make a strategic, intentional impact.

The report-out was met with skepticism from the mayor and council, who questioned some findings and conclusions, specifically that council members were unaware of the gaps in quality of life.

Mayor Charles Griego pointed out challenges beyond the village’s control, such as traffic on N.M. 6, which is managed by the New Mexico Department of Transportation, and the unhoused problem, which involves multiple jurisdictions.

“I appreciate your time. I don’t know the question you’re asking us, and I apologize. We’d like to see how we pivot,” Griego said. “I understand we have demands and we have requests from people. The example is housing affordability and diversity. How can we affect the market? Land prices are land prices. We cannot control that. Material costs are material costs. We cannot affect that.”

Griego went on to highlight many of the village’s challenges laid bare in the report.

“There are things that we can do statutorily, but we’re not allowed by statute, and there are certain things we cannot do,” he explained further. “You know, I’d love to have more small businesses. I’d love to have more restaurants, but we also do not dictate where restaurants are located.

“That’s a function of numbers. That’s a function of household income. You know, and looking at how we operate as a village, our GRT revenues, 47 percent to 50 percent of our revenues of GRT is construction.”

Griego finished by saying he felt he needed to defend the village while remaining realistic with his assessments.

“I’d love to get my grandchildren very well educated and have them find a job in Los Lunas and live in Los Lunas. That’s my goal,” the mayor said. “But we can’t do it with limiting ourselves, growth-wise. It’s not possible. It really isn’t. It’s unfortunate… I don’t want to go back to a time where people are sheep herders anymore.”