Community Power New Mexico Presents an Innovative Offering to Help Citizens with Code Issues

For decades, lawmakers and the media have overlooked or intentionally disregarded the perspective, voice, and expertise of those closest to issues of health, safety, housing, education, poverty, and the criminal legal system. The result: The public and those in power continue to lack the imagination to call for something different possibly until now. In rural and lower income communities such as Otero County, New Mexico we see the results of this approach in dilapadated buildings, a code enforcement program at both the city and county level overwhelmed. We see poor, elderly and an underclass that can barely keep up and as a result the asthetics as well as the safety of many structures are ill maintained and ridden with multiple code violations. For elder owners, those families on fixed incomes and the poor it can be overwhelming and can add to the housing insecurity our area faces and leads to increased homelessness.

A local non-profit orginization, Community Power New Mexico is proposing a program with Otero County to help with this situation and to change the dialogue via a community and government partnership.

Community Power New Mexico along with its community tool lending library is located at 1110 Indiana Ave, Alamogordo. It is a 501(c)3 Not-For-Profit organization which exists to help address the unmet material needs of the people of greater New Mexico. They strongly believe in the power of community, and will work to build solidarity among all working class people while distributing labor & resources to those in need. It is their core conviction that if they have the ability to help, they are responsible for taking action.

The organization to date has clocked 818.59 volunteer hours since April 3rd 2025,  and was very visible at the most recent community cleanup among other events. At the most recent cleanup these local volunteers from this single organization donated weed eaters, mowers, shovels, rackes, hoes, gloves, masks, water and suncreen to the Alamogordo Community Cleanup event. They manned the district 4 dumpster and in District 5 they pulled 5 trailer loads of waste and refuse.

This week the organizational program leader, Evan Lambert, presented to the Otero County Commission a plan and an MOU to establish a framework for collaboration between the county and CPNM in addressing select code compliance violations through a restorative, non-punitive community partnered approach. The program goal is to serve residents by providing support services in liue of enforcement actions for certain individuals and properties where a financial hardship or a lack of means is contributing as a factor to non-compliance.

The shared objective is to prevent and resolve code violations in a manner that is ethical,equitable and aligned with the well being of vulnerable community members while upholding the county's interest in maintaining a safe, healthy and habitable community.

The presentation by Evan Lambert to the County Commission can be heard via the link below at 4:27.25

https://www.youtube.com/live/FA2vmT6Eadk?si=ZWbzY5dRAYTguERh

The MOU is below...

MOU%20CPNM%20Otero%20County%20Code%20Compliance%20Program.pdf - Google Drive

CPNM President, Evan Lambert said, " the goal of this initiative isn’t just for us to provide these services. It is to fundamentally change the way our systems work and get dignified and restorative processes codified into law. This is and has always been an option, and it’s about time we stopped passing the buck. We are very excited to partner with our local governments, share resources, bring our amazing community together through the volunteer opportunities, and prove that this program and others like it are a better way forward. Let’s go help our neighbors."

The County Commission deferred a vote on the MOU until a few more details were ironed out but fave the green light to proceed. R.B. Nichols and Evan Lambert are working on enhancements to the MOU and will present further updates to the county in the near future. Stay tuned...

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