X posted From the larger NM thread... it really is one if the nicest woodlands in the Southwest.

Casas Adobes in Mimbres 6/17

Hi y'all,

I'm a 23M recent grad. I've been offered a communications job with the university so I might be heading over to Silver City soon. I don't really have any specific questions, but if anyone in here has worked for the university and has some insight into it as an employer, or other general tips for relocating to the area, I'd appreciate them!

I now live just outside SC! In my own house with several acres of land around it. It’s not fancy but is endlessly beautiful. Thank you to everybody on this sub who helped me decide that this was the place. At the moment stuck with no transportation, but I’m working on it. When I get it settled hope to meet some of you in person. I’m so grateful. I really love this place.

I am always looking for an opportunity to get out with my camera.

Look at the two results at the bottom.

One is for building new schools, and the other renews a baseline tax for school funding.

It wasn't mentioned on the ballot, but the "new school" tax only goes into effect if the old tax also passed.

Maintaining the old tax was only passed by four votes.

It was also on the back of the ballot, which is part of the reason it had about 90 less votes overall.

My interpretation of the results is that we wanted to give you those schools, but people didn't understand the cost.

Oh, and only half of the people who voted for school board members also cast a vote related to the school taxes.

So when you're old enough to vote, remember that you were once four votes away from losing all of that, purely because people didn't take the time to learn about what they were voting for.

https://www.scdailypress.com/2025/11/01/school-county-officials-explain-tax-questions-impacts-homeowners/

Because a property tax rate of 10 mills for education qualifies the school district for an enormous state matching benefit, keeping the education mill rate steady has a financial benefit for Cobre well beyond the amount raised from taxes.

“With the tax rate in place, we qualify for 100 percent of construction costs, but the district has to pay for the design services,” Ryan said.

This means that although only the $6 million bond would pay for the new schools, construction cannot proceed unless SB9 also passes.

“If they don’t pass, our tax rate will drop below 10 [mills],” Ryan said. “We would lose the state match ability.”

Hello, I'm a Vermont native looking to start traveling full time in my renovated RV. I was thinking about spending the winter months in Silver City because of how close it is to the Gila Mountains and the music in town. I'm curious about the weather though- it's it popular to spend a lot of time outdoors in the winter hiking and biking or does the cold keep people inside? As a solo traveler I'd also take advise on what the crime rate is like!! Just looking for general advice :)

Yeah the crime is high, I get that.

But the people are so nice. It's got everything that you need, and a thriving arts scene. There's just enough good food. I love the tranquilbuzz coffee shop, even after it's moved. Hiking up Gomez Peak on a beautiful fall day when all the leaves are whirling around in the wind. Listening to the cottonwood leaves flutter on the big ditch creek path. Watching out for the speed traps as you drive through Bayard... I have so many good memories with my grandpa out in the Burro mountains. It's at the base of the coolest national forest in the whole USA, with so much history and so much solitude that it's impossible to beat. Plus, all those hot springs!? Cmon. I probably had the best camping trip of my life taking my dad up to Black Canyon Creek to catch some Gila trout a few years ago.

I worked a couple of summers nearby as a kid and even going into my mid 30s, all I want to do is pack up everything and move to Silver. To participate in living in the small city that draws me back every couple of years for vacation, no matter where I live.

Maybe one day I'll be able to vote on something for the town, as a resident. Or go make some BBQ and serve it as a trail stop for some CDT hikers or GDMBR riders.

What makes you love the place you live?

Hello all, I’m new here as you can read in the title. I’m 24 years old and I’ve moved out here for a few months for a construction gig, and I was wondering what people do for fun here? I’ve heard of Toad Creek but I’m not a big drinker unless I have a group of friends to go with, and so far I’ve yet to acquire a group of friends. Anyways any suggestions help!

EDIT: Figured out the best way to have fun in Silver City is to not be in Silver City! Yall enjoy lmao

In light of a newly proposed industrial-scale data center in Grant County, the county commission is considering a moratorium on data centers to give everyone more time to evaluate the situation and put guardrails in place.

If this issue is important to you, here are things you can do:

• Sign a petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/approve-data-center-moratorium-2

• Get more info at https://www.facebook.com/noSWNMDataCenters

• Attend a commission meeting on Thurs. Oct. 8 at 9am at which the developer will make a presentation

• Call or email your commissioner to express your opinion

• Attend a commission meeting on Thurs. Oct. 22 at 9am at which the commission will vote on a moratorium

In addition to a moratorium, we are requesting transparency, accountability, public involvement, and NO NDAs.

Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard says the expenses are all necessary, even if he hasn’t done the math to back it up.

Administrators at Western New Mexico University, a small institution of some 3,500 students in Silver City, routinely spend tens of thousands of dollars on international trips and exorbitantly priced furniture from a retailer whose pieces can be found in the real estate pages of the New York Times and the pavilions of Walt Disney World.

A Searchlight New Mexico review of the university’s financial records shows that since 2018, WNMU President Joseph Shepard has made lengthy trips to Zambia, Spain and Greece in the name of courting international students and, by extension, their out-of-state tuition dollars. On several such trips, which cost nearly $100,000 in the last five years, Shepard has been accompanied by other university executives, as well as members of the WNMU Board of Regents and his wife, former CIA operations officer-turned-author and Congressional candidate Valerie Plame. All have traveled on the university’s dime.

“You’re entertaining a class of people who are accustomed to, shall I say, the finer things in life,” Shepard said in a phone interview. Having more affordable furniture wouldn’t work, he explained. “Let’s say we would have gone out and bought IKEA furniture. First of all, we’ll be replacing that every year.”

Despite the steep price tags on travel, lodging and furnishing for these officials, the university has never once conducted a cost-benefit analysis to review such spending, Shepard conceded. And for all the tens of thousands of dollars spent on recruiting international students, just 64 of the university’s current 3,500 students have come from other countries, Shepard said, accounting for less than 2 percent of the total student body. In fact, more than one-third of those international students come from Mexico.

When asked about the expenses, Shepard told Searchlight to think of them as investments. The overseas trips factor into a “long game” to boost the school’s international population. As for the furniture, he said, it plays a critical unspoken role when he hosts fundraising events.

“The president’s house has to look presidential,” he said. “People expect it.”

‘Playtime for adults’

“As a director of financial aid who can go to jail for the shit the school is doing…this is not worth the risk to me,” said Cheryl Hain, who resigned in 2019. “Our taxpayers are funding playtime for adults.”

In addition to senior officials spending university money on international travel, the financial records show several reservations at high-end hotels in the United States. There are routine stays at La Fonda on the Plaza in Santa Fe during legislative sessions, a $12,000 expenditure to lease a 5,400-square-foot home in Santa Fe for two months, and a one-night stay at a Scottsdale, Arizona, resort accompanied by a $119 breakfast that totaled more than $1,000.

Shepard took over as president in 2011 after working for more than 15 years at Florida Gulf Coast University in a number of roles, including chief financial officer, chief business officer and student affairs officer.

…

Shepard’s lifestyle far outpaces those kids from Silver City. For instance, one shopping spree — the nearly $28,000 outing at Seret and Sons — is more than what many Silver City residents earn in an entire year.

…

Recently, Shepard said, he hosted a dinner party of about 30 people, including a handful of potential donors. By the end of the night, he said guests had pledged to donate a quarter of a million dollars.

“I can’t tangibly say that having the couch from Seret caused this donor to ultimately generate $250,000 for us,” Shepard said. “But I can say that the president’s house is of that entertainment value. That $250,000 then goes to the students, who are now educated and hopefully break out of a $21,000 median income home.”

…

Valerie Plame, Shepard’s wife — who bears the title of “First Lady” of WNMU — also has profited handsomely. She has an expense account and regularly files for reimbursements, according to financial records, including a $4,073 purchase in 2022 from Woodland Direct (a fireplace company); a $1,488.27 charge for an “oriental sofa” on Etsy; and a smattering of Amazon charges.

A history of financial accusations

Shepard’s spending and homemaking have been litigated before. In 2018, the university’s former vice president of business affairs, Brenda Findley, filed a lawsuit against the WNMU Board of Regents, alleging “improprieties with regard to the expenditure of public funds by Dr. Shepard.”

According to the lawsuit, Shepard instructed Findley to increase the salary of an employee who had been living rent-free in a bungalow near his house. He also ordered the university’s janitors to clean his house, run his errands, cook his meals and do his laundry, she claimed.

The whistleblower suit settled this summer with a more than $160,000 payout to Findley.

Come check out some High Desert Cosmic Americana Vibes. Hip hop! Banjo! Newgrass! Classic Country! Rock n Roll! Don't miss it!!

Tour Schedule ===> linktr.ee/consequencesband

Hello, good people of Silver City! I have been curious about Silver City for years now, as many people have recommended it to me as a place where I might love to live. I'll finally be visiting in early February, and I've got Silver City on my short list of places to move when my lease is up this summer. I currently live in Tucson, AZ, and before that, Fort Collins, CO. I'm a single 46-year-old woman, and I'll be able to bring my job with me. How is Silver City for a single person in their 40s? Thanks in advance!

This is the fourth season of the Southwest Chamber Music Festival, and we are thrilled to be back! Hope to see some of you there. We are a community facing organization with a small budget, but we keep all our concerts free and donation based. Thank you!

I'm looking to relocate. I've been bouncing around major cities for the last twenty years and I want to settle down in a quiet place. Silver City looks absolutely beautiful and right up my alley. Is it a good place for a single gay man in his early 40s? I'm "retired" from the military and live on a fixed income so I'm after a lower cost of living. I want a place I can meet a few good friends and start a writing (fiction) career. I saw Silver City has a small pride festival so that would mean there's a decent amount of residents that tolerate the LGBT population. I'm also looking into T or C and Roswell.

if you love Silver City, you probably love the Tranquil Buzz. they are in financial turmoil bc their espresso machine died and cannot be repaired. a new one is ordered, but meanwhile sales are very very slow and they are having trouble paying all the business expenses.

please consider a donation to help them continue being a stand out part of SC!

https://gofund.me/4a269ea8c