Mesilla mayor prepares for her exit

During her last week in office, Mesilla Mayor Nora Lucero Barraza seemed at peace as she spoke with staff and welcomed a visitor to her tidy town hall office.

Having served as mayor since 2010, she declined to seek a fourth term in the November elections, making way for successor Russell Hernandez, who ran unopposed.

“I’ve been blessed. I call it a blessing,” she said during an interview looking back on her government service where she indicated she could foresees, after a period of rest, entering the political arena again.

Born in Mesilla to a farming family, Barraza entered politics as a mayoral appointee to the town’s board of trustees in 1999. After an election loss in 2004, she served on the town’s planning and zoning commission before winning a seat on the board again in 2006.

In 2010, she challenged incumbent Mayor Michael Cadena because she was “angry” with decisions Cadena had made, without going into detail. In a three-way contest, Cadena finished third with Barraza — running on a promise to heal a budget deficit and improve relationships within the government and the community — claiming nearly 53 percent of the votes.

Her time in office was extended when the town voted to consolidate its elections with Doña Ana County’s election calendar, a change that led to one-time adjustments in terms of office for municipalities making the change.

Over Barraza’s years in government, the town’s population has grown, drought and climate change have put pressure on the “green belt” of farms and pecan groves that surround the small town next to Las Cruces, a town with fewer than 1,800 people per census data, where there is local pride of the town’s historic roots, architecture and families of mesilleros that have been here for generations.

Barraza pointed to achievements such as road and infrastructure improvements, including projects underway or beginning soon on University Avenue and Calle de Picacho and other important roads through the town, improved accessibility and maintenance of Mesilla’s central plaza and more.

In recent years, there have also been fierce debates about how to approach economic development while preserving community. The town has strict ordinances for building and modifications of homes and commercial buildings, often extended along narrow streets within the town.

“I’m very concerned with this younger generation coming in,” she said. “Their priorities aren’t always like the senior citizens’ of the community. I just hope and I pray that they have that vision of preserving the town of Mesilla. … We were a part of Mexico at one time, and our ancestors were from Mexico, and it’s important to keep that culture going.”

Barraza said she can visualize many homes in the community by family name rather than address, and expressed concern about increased interest in short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, serving tourists within Mesilla as younger generations sell off residential properties. This has been a point of debate in some meetings of the trustees, where younger trustees have argued more economic opportunity, including uses of property, are needed for those generations to stay.

Barraza advocated in our interview for making sure economic development along Avenida de Mesilla did not pull too much retail activity from the historic plaza, and for encouraging local family farms to continue growing crops rather than sell off the acres for other development.

“If we don’t stick to our guns and put our feet firmly on the ground, this town can change tremendously,” she said. “To me, we have to preserve our history and culture and the quality of life. Keeping that green belt that surrounds our community is crucial. … Once we start chipping away at that green belt, we’ve lost our identity.”

Barraza said plans to “take a year and rest my brain,” do some genealogical research into her roots, spending time with her husband and extended family and doing more volunteer work for her church, the Basilica of San Albino on the plaza.

“After a year, we’ll see what’s in store,” she said. “I’ve thought of maybe saving up my energy and getting back into the political ring. Who knows? Who knows?”