New councilor brings expertise in systems

While studying computer science at New Mexico State University, Michael Harris discovered a particular skill with understanding systems. He believes his ability to look at the way things are done and ask why will lead to discussions that can improve the way Las Cruces does business.

Harris has served on city committees and the like, but his decision to run for the open District 3 seat on the city council was his first official foray into local politics. The Las Cruces native now gets a chance to serve the community in which he grew up.

Harris started a business, Visgence, when he and his business partner were in graduate school, working with wireless sensor networks. The company pays the bills developing software, but the plan is to pivot more to electronics, a much more scalable business model.

“You can only do contracting work as many hours in the day as you have,” Harris said. “You can buy a new machine and make more things without being limited by hours in the day.”

Just as he started a business because he felt it was a good time in his life to do so, Harris is executing another pivot as it regards community service.

“We're at a very critical point in our development as a town,” Harris said. “I think that it's a good time to make good choices and move us forward into a positive direction rather than just repeating mistakes of the past. That’s my impetus for wanting to take my skills and kind of apply them to the city.”

As he does in the analytics of running a technology business, Harris believes looking at the systems within the structure of city government can drive more efficiency in city government.

“What we develop here is very systems oriented so ever since day one we've been asked to come in and build projects that are a whole new thing or require an understanding of the entire ecosystem around the project to actually get done and build,” Harris said. “I'm a very systematic thinker and a city is a giant system, so I look around and the street needs a pothole fixed or whatever your example wants to be. What is the system around that that makes it difficult to do.”

The systems come into play because the city councilor doesn’t have to be an expert in something like wastewater management. There are experts who provide that knowledge.

“It takes somebody to look at the entire system around economic development or housing development that’s going to impact our wastewater treatment or the water supply, or if we build this extra road what does that impact downstream and like how do all these things interact,” Harris said.

That’s where he thinks his training and expertise can be extremely helpful on the council.  

“It’s not to say that I want to come in and burn everything down like we got to change all the processes,” he said, “but there are processes that are done and they've probably been done like that for a long time and we have kind of accepted that this is the way things are done. I want to push back on that or question it to make sure it’s the best way.”

As he begins his first term in office, Harris has a particular interest in public transportation.

“For the application of a little bit of resources we can get a massive value out of out of improving our bus system for a lot of folks,” Harris said.

He is also interested in devoting some of efforts towards the condition of the city’s roads and what he sees as a crisis with housing. Harris currently serves on the transit advisory board and has some ideas on the transit system, including adding Sunday service or another shift at the end of the work day.