Commissioners Court - Regular Meeting

Hola, El Paso! June marked the official start of summer and El Paso County was hot with activities all month long and just in time for a huge 4th of July celebration. We all know this time of the year can be very hot for our county residents. In June, the county opened their cooling centers for residents to seek relief from the heat. The centers are located at the Agua Dulce, Fabens, Canutillo, and La Fe, Montana Vista community centers. They are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents have a place to cool off in an air-conditioned space, drink water, and enjoy some indoor activities while they stay out of the desert sun. The county's park bond projects are making progress from one end of the county to the other. On the eastern part of the county, work is almost complete at Agua Dulce Park as finishing touches are being put in place. Residents will have new amenities to look forward to including a new paved walking path. Then, on the western part of the county, work continues at Westway Park with repairs to the rock walls, walking trail installation, and new lighting is being put in place. The county is committed to completing all voter-approved bond projects on time and on budget. Azcárate Park is El Paso's gem, and during our third park bond meeting, residents received an update on feedback that was gathered during the first two meetings including survey results, key themes, and community priorities that have helped to shape the project. Residents had the chance to review draft concepts regarding park improvements and learn about the anticipated benefits for park users and the surrounding community. In July, the community is encouraged to participate in weekly informational sessions regarding the park's duck pond. These sessions will be held every Wednesday in July at 6 p.m. at the Escada de Parque Pavilion. If you have an interest in what happens to the duck pond, you don't want to miss one of these meetings. The county kicked off their budget information sessions in June. The county is encouraging residents to take an active role in shaping the county's fiscal year 2027 budget by attending one of several community budget outreach sessions scheduled throughout the county. These meetings provide an opportunity for community members to share priorities, voice concerns, and offer input on services and programs that impact their neighborhoods. Feedback gathered during these outreach sessions will help county leadership better understand community needs and ensure that budget decisions reflect the priorities of El Paso County residents. El Paso County, in partnership with the El Paso Zoo and the Botanical Gardens, unveiled its newest AI-powered tourist kiosk. The kiosk is the newest addition to El Paso County's tourist kiosk program, an initiative designed to connect residents and visitors with attractions, cultural destinations, outdoor activities, and historical sites throughout El Paso County. The El Paso Zoo installation marks the first tourist kiosk partnership between El Paso County and a local attraction. The kiosk features a bilingual AI-powered interface with touch and voice navigation, helping visitors discover local attractions, museums, outdoor activities, the mission trail, and nearby points of interest. Come check it out! Our nation is 250 years old, and El Paso County is ready for the celebration. The County, in partnership with Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division, hosted a patriotic and festive event at Azcárate Park to include military vehicles on display, a band performance by the 1st Armored Division Band, picnic party, food trucks, swimming at the pool, and of course an awesome fireworks display for residents to take in. The county even commemorated our nation's 250th birthday with a customized coin that were distributed at the park. In partnership with the county's historical commission, the coin design celebrates the 250 years of our nation's endurance and freedom. In the Montana Vista area, our County Public Works team initiated a campaign to clean up the area from fireworks debris. The County established trash drop-off zones and even made trash bags available to residents to use for post-firework celebration. The El Paso County Sheriff's and Emergency Services Districts were out in full force to ensure residents had a safe and happy 4th of July. Thanks for watching this month's Packed County Connects. Stay tuned and make sure to stay cool and stay connected with El Paso County.

Hmm. Luma!

So today we are at Azcárate Park where we are celebrating the 4th of July. Of course, we all know this is a very special year because it's America's 250th birthday. So we're really excited that we can provide this opportunity, this public celebration for our community. And we gave away 250 commemorative coins that were specially designed for the County of El Paso by the El Paso County Historical Commission. We're really glad that we see so many families out here enjoying themselves, getting ready for the big fireworks display.

I can't even tell you, the emotion is unbelievable to see what's happening now and see that we're celebrating 250 years at a park that is so iconic to El Paso. And then on top of that, having a partnership with Ford Bliss. If we're celebrating 250 years, that's because of what veterans did for our country. They died for our country, they served our country, and here we are.

I think the kids are really enjoying seeing the tanks out there that Fort Bliss was able to bring to Azcárate Park. And I think what makes the experience really special is talking to some of the soldiers who manned those tanks. So we're really grateful to Fort Bliss for their collaboration. We hope that we can count on them to join us every single year at our Fourth of July celebration.

You know, it's awesome being a part of an event like this, especially 250 years, a lot of heritage, a lot of history behind it, and actually being able to wear this uniform and say I was here at 250, and to be part of that, it's an absolute privilege.

I don't know the names of the tanks, but it is awesome just even just being able to see them up close. I've never seen a tank up close, but I was learning that a tank over here in front of me is 73,000 pounds, and it's just awesome to see how there's men and women that are dedicated to serve our country. Just enjoy your family today, you know, enjoy your family, enjoy music, and just enjoy life, and God bless America.

Every day, El Paso County works to improve the quality of life for our residents. Sometimes that work happens here at home. Sometimes it takes us across Texas, across the nation, and around the world. County leaders advocate for infrastructure, public safety, veteran services, transportation, and mental health priorities important to our residents. Through legislative meetings, funding requests, and various policy discussions, your county is working to ensure El Paso's voice is heard. Strong partnerships help bring resources, expertise, and opportunities back to El Paso County. Through collaborative efforts with our state and federal partners, our position on critical matters can be shared and heard by those making decisions at the highest levels. Participation in organizations such as the National Association of Counties, Texas Association of Counties, and other professional networks also allows county leaders to learn from successful programs across the country and bring innovative ideas back home. El Paso County's commitment to economic growth extends far beyond our borders. Throughout the year, elected officials and staff travel across Texas, the United States, and internationally to promote El Paso as a premier destination for business investment and expansion. These efforts allow us to build relationships with industry leaders, showcase our region's unique advantages, and compete for new jobs and economic opportunities. The true measure of success is not where we travel to, but what we brought home. At the midpoint of 2026, our grant portfolio remained strong and productive. To date, we have applied for a total of 50 funding opportunities, with 21 awards secured, resulting in more than $15.6 million in grant funding awarded. Every trip represents one purpose, serving the people of El Paso County. Whether advocating in Austin, collaborating in Washington, or building partnerships across borders, our mission remains the same, creating opportunities, delivering services, and building a stronger future for our community. Hola, El Paso! June marked the official start of summer and El Paso County was hot with activities all month long and just in time for a huge 4th of July celebration. We all know this time of the year can be very hot for our county residents. In June, the county opened their cooling centers for residents to seek relief from the heat. The centers are located at the Agua Dulce, Fabens, Canutillo, and La Fe, Montana Vista community centers. They are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents have a place to cool off in an air-conditioned space, drink water, and enjoy some indoor activities while they stay out of the desert sun. The county's park bond projects are making progress from one end of the county to the other. On the eastern part of the county, work is almost complete at Agua Dulce Park as finishing touches are being put in place. Residents will have new amenities to look forward to including a new paved walking path.

Live from El Paso County, Texas, the Veterans Capital of the USA. From inside the Alicia Chacon Commissioner's Courtroom of the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse, you are watching the El Paso County Commissioner's Court Meeting.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today is Monday, July 27th, 2026. Commissioner's Court is meeting in regular open session. This morning, we're joined by ASL interpreters Selena Salum, Nayeli Cabral, and Katia Garcia. Would you please rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance?

Next, we'll receive an invocation from Deacon Roman Bustillos with the Catholic Diocese of El Paso.

DEACON BUSTILLOS? I GUESS THE DEACON IS NOT AVAILABLE. HE DID NOT MAKE AN END. LOOKS LIKE NO, SIR.

OH. ONE TO FILL NOW, Y'ALL. DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME STANDING UP.

We'll receive an invocation from Debo Wakefield.

I see you fell for us. Former Veteran of the Year. Thank you. Be careful.

Heavenly Father, as we gather here this morning, we would like to say thank you. Thank you for a good night's rest, a rising up with warm blood running in our veins, and a good mind. Heavenly Father, we just want to say thank you for a blessed day. Bless all of those that lost their family members in the war. Bless their families. Comfort their hearts. Give them strength. Bless our leadership from highest to lowest. Bless everyone here. Let us have an enjoyable meeting. In your precious name we pray. Amen.

Thank you.

By the way, the Bo's are a veteran of the year, so thank you for that as well. Thank you.

Judge, do you have some opening remarks for us this morning?

Please, thank you, Cesar, and thank you all of you for being here. What a great crowd today. On behalf of myself and the commissioners, we always welcome you and thank you for being here. We have some solemn resolutions, but very heartfelt, and of course some incredible resolutions that recognizes individuals and associations, and we're always very appreciative to have that opportunity. We welcome all of you to Commissioner's Court and have a great day and a beautiful week. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Item number four is the consent agenda composed of items 4A through 4AI. At the request of the county attorney's office, we would like to ask for a correction to item number 4AF. Item 4AF should read, CONSIDER APPROPRIATING FUNDING TO GFTSLGC CAP PROJECT CONSTRUCTION IN THE AMOUNT OF $167,453.61, OF WHICH $27,462 IS IN GF FED TRANSIT 26 GRANT MATCH and $139,992.61 is in general administrative transfer out grant match. This will support 60% design completion of the future El Paso County Transit Operations Facility. further authorized the Budget and Finance Department to process a budget amendment for the allocation of $27,461 from GF Fed Transit 26 grant match and $139,992.61 from GF GADMN Transfer Out Grant Match for a total of $167,453.61 to account general fund transit cap project construction to support completion of 60% design as presented above. Contract number 20260210. We also have a request to delete item number 4ai from the county attorney's office. That item reads postponed from July 6th, 2026 and July 13th, 2026. Grant the professional services exemption under Texas local government code section 262.024a4 and approve and authorize the county judge to sign the amended expert agreement for Sahu in the matter styled Western Refining Company, LLC, Marathon Oil Refinery, county attorney case number 000424AA. Funding is available in general fund, general administrative, professional services, legal commission. Are there any items that members of the court or public would like to pull for individual discussion?

Oh, Betsy, we had, I think it's AD, please, if we could. AD? Give me more discussion on that item.

Item number 4AD for Judge Samaniego. Any others? Oh, it was AD.

Correct. D as in dog or B as in boy?

Dog. D as in dog, right? Uh-huh. Yes, okay. Item 4AD. Any others?

If not, I'll move to approve, Cesar. Judge.

We have a motion to approve from Judge Samaniego, a second from Commissioner Olguin. The voting is open. Thank you, Judge. Motion carries.

Thank you, Cesar.

Item number 5A from resolutions. Approve and adopt a resolution recognizing August 3rd, 2026 as El Paso Day of Remembrance in El Paso County, Texas.

Thank you. You want to have United Way and the whole team come up, please? Thank you. Well, as you know, this is probably one of the most heartfelt situations that we've gone through as a community. It's just incredible the difficulty, but also how the community came together the way we came up with a beautiful healing garden and the way we continue. This is the seventh anniversary and it's going to be, you know, we want to make it just as important as any other anniversary. And we will be having it on the second of August, the Sunday. But I want to thank everyone here today, I mean, that you continue to help us and make sure that we show our resilience, but also our consideration for the families. And also, as I know, Pastor Brady's daughter Michelle always reminds me that besides the individuals that died, the impact it had on so many others from being injured psychologically, emotionally, physically, has been outstanding. I can tell you we've seen other situations in other communities, but I don't think any community, and maybe I'm being biased, but I haven't seen any community do as much and continue to be as alert to make sure that we address every soul that got hurt in some way, somehow. So I thank you beforehand, but also it's such a privilege and so humbling to read this resolution. where El Paso was forever changed by the horrific and senseless tragedy that struck our community on August 3rd, 2019. The pain and heartbreak experienced for El Paso and the border region echoed across the nation as we mourn the 23 lives taken, stood beside the survivors whose lives were forever changed, embrace the families whose loss continues to be felt every single day. which the El Paso County Healing Garden at Escalante Park stands as a lasting symbol of remembrance. It honors those we lost, recognizes the strength of the survivors, and provides a place of reflection for all who continue to heal. El Paso County recognizes the many organizations, advocates, and community partners who have answered the call to promote healing by creating opportunities for connection, remembrance, education, and support for those affected by trauma. Horsanaga's second 2026 El Paso County and United Way of El Paso will once again partner to host an evening at the El Paso County Healing Garden beginning at 6.45 p.m. The event will feature activities designed to promote healing, peace, and unity, including a sound bath experience and a luminario display. As in previous years, hundreds of luminarios will illuminate the healing garden, serving as a powerful symbol of communities' enduring commitment to compassion and hope. Whereas 2026 marks the seventh anniversary of August's tragedy, while time has passed, our commitment to supporting those affected remains unwavering. El Paso County is grateful for the continued partnership of organizations such as NAMI El Paso, which will offer mental health training and community resources on July 27, July 29, July 31, and August 3 to promote healing, resilience, and awareness throughout our community. Whereas the Healing Garden is more than a memorial, It is a testament to the resilience, compassion, and unity that defines El Paso. It stands as a solemn place where families, survivors, first responders, neighbors, and visitors can gather to remember, reflect, find comfort, and reaffirm our collective promise that the lives lost will never be forgotten and that love will always be stronger than hate. Now, therefore, it be resolved by the El Paso County Judge and Commissioner's Court that August 3rd be declared as El Paso Day of Remembrance, signed this 27th day of July 2026.

We have a motion to approve from Judge Samaniego, a second from Commissioner Olguin. The voting is open. Thank you. Motion carries. Thank you. Roberto?

Thank you, Judge. Thank you, Judge, and I want to thank all the commissioners for providing us with this space to bring the community together and provide a safe space where we can mourn, we can honor the lives that were lost, but we can also reflect on the tenacity of our community. And it's been seven years. It's hard to believe, but... I also want to thank you because even though it's an odd anniversary, it's the seventh year, you are providing us a forum to keep resiliency relevant, which is so important because we all know that healing is not linear. And the fact that we all come together at the county level and with community agencies to continue providing this safe space to promote healing It's something truly outstanding that, to be honest, it does not happen in every community that has been impacted by a mass violence incident. And that is something really special that we have here in El Paso. And it would not be possible without this amazing team and with your collaboration So I really want to thank you, and I want to invite everyone to join us, reiterate your invitation on August 2nd at 645 at the Healing Garden. And the Luminares have a really symbolic meaning, which is they like the path to long-term healing. So please join us, be part of this journey with us. We also have a sound bath at 10.30 in the morning at the pavilion, just to promote our mental health options and create this awareness about how mass violence impacts entire communities, even if you were not present. So thank you so much for keeping this relevant. I cannot emphasize enough how this does not happen in every single town, and we are fortunate to have leaders that promote this in a long-term fashion. And I want to thank the team because they are the ones who carry the weight of the grief and the trauma on their shoulders, and this would not be possible without them. Thank you so much. Thank you, Alberto.

You want to introduce yourselves, please?

Go ahead.

Introduce yourselves, please. But up to the, yeah.

Good morning, all. My name is Fabian Laveaga. I'm a resiliency navigator with the CFR.

Thank you.

My name is Jesus Magana. I'm a compliance specialist at the CFR. Thank you.

Good morning. I'm Kimberly Cedillo, and I am the Director of Strategic Partnerships with United Way.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Andrea Macias. I'm the Director of Philanthropy at the United Way.

Thank you.

Good morning. I'm Julianne Juhassen. I'm our Chief Operating Officer with United Way.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Jackie Ontiveros, and I am a resiliency navigator with the CFR department.

Thank you.

Good morning. I'm Elizabeth Herbert, and I'm a resiliency navigator at the CFR.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Grace Hoskins, and I am with the Center for Resiliency, and I'm a resiliency navigator.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Lauren Falco, and I'm the director of marketing at United Way of El Paso County.

Thank you.

Good morning, everybody. My name is Mark Chavez. I'm the Outreach Coordinator with United Way of El Paso County.

Thank you. And I personally want to thank my staff, Yvette and Jocelyn and Eduardo, for keeping things going and being in connection. There's so many things that have to happen to be where we're at and to have that kind of faith and strength that we are making an impact. And please go, I cannot tell you when you're there and you get to meet the families, you get to see the strength that they have, you get a lot. As much as you think you give, you get a lot from having those discussions. I don't think I've ever been there that I don't learn something new about something that happened, something that went, the strength that people have to overcome. and how they reach out to their families. And so it's a beautiful opportunity for them to feel the vibrance of our community. And so we thank you, hopefully that you'll be there. Like I said, my staff has just been a great job. Our DA obviously has been very helpful in trying to do the right thing, but United Way you've taken the lead and it's just been amazing. of being able to have that sense of confidence that things are just gonna work out, and they always do, and thank God for that. So once again, felicidades to all of you, and thank you for making sure that we show, I've always said, you know, we become a great role model for others. And people do call me about, you know, what happened and how did this transition and all the things that we did are shared with other communities. So once again, God bless all of you and thank you for being here today. Thank you. We'll take a, if you don't mind, take a picture with all of us. Thank you.

Item number 5B, approve and adopt a resolution recognizing Viva El Paso for its 49th season and its nearly five decades of preserving and celebrating the history, culture, artists, and borderland heritage of El Paso County and the Paso del Norte region. Do you want to come up, Hyman and company, please?

Thank you. Well, as you know, this has been such an incredible tradition for our community, a great place when people want to learn about our community, our culture, our values. I think it encompasses everything of who we are, but it tells a beautiful story. And it always made it easy for me if I had someone from out of town, and I needed them to sort of understand who we were and what happens in El Paso, that was the place to be. So I thank you for that and for the great tradition. So I'll read the resolution into the record. Whereas Viva! El Paso has stood for nearly five decades as one of the borderland's most enduring cultural productions, presenting the history, music, dance, and spirit of El Paso del Norte region on the stage of McElligan Canyon Amphitheater, which is now celebrating its 49th Viva El Paso continues a long-standing tradition of sharing the stories of people, culture, struggles, celebrations, and communities that have shaped El Paso County and the greater borderland region. Whereas through live performance, Viva El Paso honors indigenous Mexican, Spanish, American, and multicultural histories that continue to define the identity, resilience, creativity, and shared heritage of El Paso del Norte region. And whereas VIVA, El Paso has brought together generations of artists, performers, dancers, singers, musicians, directors, choreographers, designers, technicians, stage crews, volunteers, families, and community supporters from across the borderland, including El Paso, Ciudad Juarez, and Las Cruces. Whereas the legacy of Viva El Paso is carried not only by those who perform and serve today, but also by the many artists, directors, performers, musicians, crew members, mentors, and visionaries who came before, whose talent, labor, dedication, and love for this region helped build, sustain, and shape this treasured tradition. Whereas for 49 seasons, Viva El Paso has provided opportunities for young people, community artists, and emerging performers to develop their talents, experience a discipline of live theater, and take part in production that reflects the pride, culture, and memory of borderland. The 2026 season of Viva El Paso runs Fridays and Saturdays through August 1st, continuing its role as a living cultural landmark and one of the region's most recognizable identity of this region. Now, therefore, be resolved that the El Paso County Judge and Commissioners Court recognize and honor Viva El Paso on its 49th season for nearly five decades of celebrating the history, culture, artists, families, and enduring borderland spirit of El Paso County and the El Paso del Norte region and extend their appreciation for these incredible musicians, technicians, volunteers, families, and community members whose dedication continues to carry this treasured borderland tradition forward for many, many future generations, signed this 27th day of July, 2026.

We have a motion to approve from Judge Samaniego, a second from Commissioner Stout. Voting is open. Motion carries.

Welcome. I understand you might do a little performance. You tell me when it's best for you to do this.

Well, yes. If you all don't mind, we do have one short performance for you, which is this morsel of what you get to see. What's coming up, I'm going to be here last weekend, this coming weekend of our production. So real quick, my name is Veronica Frescas and I'm a board member with Viva El Paso and joining me today is our artistic director Jaime Carrasco and several members of our cast and I'll give them a little bit after I'm here to present themselves. On behalf of the Board of Directors, the performers, the crew, the volunteers, and the supporters, the many, many supporters, we thank you for this recognition and for your proclamation this morning. We're especially honored to follow today's resolution marking the seventh anniversary. of the August 3rd tragedy, it reminds us of the strength and the compassion and unity that continue to define El Paso, which is what, for the last 49 years, who would have thought for half a decade now, a century, that we continue to tell the story of the resiliency, and like you were saying, Judge Samaniego, it's a good opportunity to bring those in from out of town to demonstrate through dance, through song, through music, just exactly what our beautiful borderland is all about. We're very unique and we're all very proud of it and we're all proud to continue to carry this legacy forward. We remember all of the directors. We acknowledge Hector Serrano, God rest his soul, for his vision that he saw when he started this back in 1978. And all of the directors following him, all of the performers, all the outstanding directors and dancers and performers that we've had throughout the years in these last 49 years. So with that, it's a privilege to introduce to you our current Artistic Director, Jaime Carrasco, and a few of our performers. Like I said, it was just a drop in the bucket of what you would see when you come see our performance this coming weekend that we hope to see all of you this next Friday and Saturday.

And thank you for mentioning Hector Serrano. I mean, he's been so iconic and did so much, the foundation, right, of what we do now and his connection to the community was so strong. So thank you for doing that.

Absolutely. So with that, Mr. Carrasco.

Welcome. Hi, my name is Jaime Carrasco and I'm the current Artistic Director for Vivo Paso. Mr. Serrano was my mentor, my teacher since I belong to Vivo Paso since 1989. So I think I'm part of the inventory now. But I'm very glad and very honored to direct this year and we're trying to go back to the roots that Mr. Serrano established. So today, we're bringing you a number from the Spanish section. It's a forbidden law between a Native American and the Spanish conquistador. So this is between Nutea and Captain Sanchez. And let me just quickly introduce our cast members. Welcome.

Hi, good morning. My name is Nia Del Angel and I am a lead singer for Viva El Paso, cast of 2026.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Maya Rivera and I'm one of the female lead dancers for the cast of 2026.

Thank you.

Hi, my name's Arthur Rocha and I'm a principal dancer with Viva El Paso and this is my second year returning.

Thank you. So let's get up to the show, if you permit me. They'll do it right here in front of you. And also, I would like to invite the El Paso area, Ciudad Juarez, everybody to join. This is our last weekend from our season. We're there at McKelligan Canyon. It's a beautiful theater on the outdoors. If you haven't been there, you need to be there. This is our last weekend, Friday and Saturday at 8 o'clock. Viva El Paso, and we hope to see you there. Thank you so much, Jaime. Appreciate you.

First I said it a thousand times But I never wanted to pay attention When the tears arrived They were so deep in my heart I waited for you until very late I didn't blame you. All I asked you was if you loved me. And I gave you kisses at dawn without you noticing the cross of my anguish. Te quiero más que a mis ojos Te quiero más que a mi vida Más que al aire que respiro Y más que a la madre mía Que se me paren los pulsos Si te dejo de querer

se doble.

Si te falto alguna vez, que eres mi vida y mi muerte, te lo juro compañero, no debíame quererte.

Thank you. Thank you so much. That was beautiful. I think I've auditioned every season, but so far, no luck. Thank you.

Bye.

Item number 5C, approve and adopt a resolution recognizing National Pretrial Probation and Parole Supervision Week, honoring community corrections professionals in El Paso County, Texas.

Thank you, Judge and Commissioners. Good morning, everyone. It is my honor this morning to present this resolution in support of pretrial probation and parole supervision week. We have so many of our public servants here who work diligently and quietly, mostly behind the scenes, keeping people safe and making our community a better place. I'll go ahead and read the resolution and I believe we have a few of our leadership here to provide comments. Whereas community supervision professionals are an essential part of the criminal justice system, including those professionals serving in the El Paso County community supervision and corrections department. the El Paso County Juvenile Justice Center, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department Parole, and the El Paso County Criminal Justice Coordination Department, and whereas these professionals uphold the law with dignity and integrity while providing supervision, guidance, and opportunities for rehabilitation to both youth and adults through their tireless efforts to bridge the gap between the justice system and the El Paso community, offering second chances, restoring hope, and fostering a safer community for all. and whereas community supervision professionals work collaboratively with community agencies, treatment providers, and local partners to promote prevention, intervention, skills development, and advocacy, recognizing that meaningful change is achieved through strong partnerships and a shared commitment to rehabilitation. And whereas these dedicated professionals consistently demonstrate compassion, professionalism, and resilience while managing complex caseloads and addressing the unique needs and strengths of the individuals they serve. And whereas community supervision professionals advance restorative justice practices by responding to victims' needs and providing essential services, support, safety, and protection while promoting accountability, and positive outcomes. And whereas the 2026 Pretrial Probation and Parole Supervision Week theme, Connected for Change, Building Bridges in Supervision, recognizes the vital role of building partnerships with community agencies and referring individuals and families to supportive resources in order to strengthen people, families, agencies, and communities, creating pathways to accountability, rehabilitation, and safer communities. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the El Paso County Judge and Commissioner's Court that we honor and commend the exceptional dedication, professionalism, and positive impact of all community supervision professionals who contribute to a just, safe, and thriving El Paso community. Be it further resolved that the County Judge and Commissioner's Court hereby recognize and proclaim the week of July 19th TO THE 25TH, 2026 AS PRE-TRIAL PROBATION AND PAROLE SUPERVISION WEEK. SIGNED THIS 27TH DAY OF JULY, 2026.

WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE FROM COMMISSIONER BUTLER, A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER STOUT. THE VOTING IS OPEN. COMMISSIONER STOUT? THANK YOU. MOTION CARRIES.

Welcome Chief.

Good morning Judge, Commissioners, Rosie Medina, Chief Juvenile Probation Officer. I'd like to express my gratitude on behalf of the men and women that work at JPD for today's recognition of the amazing work that they do. They are truly unsung heroes working behind the scenes day in and day out with the youth and the families in our community. not only in ensuring that the youth and the families are complying with court orders, but most importantly serving as coaches, serving as mentors and role models for the young men and women as well as the families. Our juvenile justice system focuses their efforts on the entire family unit, because oftentimes the young people are a symptom of a much larger problem. So targeting the entire family unit is at the epicenter of the work that the men and women department do daily. So thank you for your continued support of the juvenile probation department and the work that we do. And we look forward to continuing to contribute and work with the citizens of El Paso County.

Thank you, Chief.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Thank you. Good morning. Catherine Jones, Criminal Justice Director with your Criminal Justice Coordination Department. Thank you, Judge and Commissioners. And Commissioner Butler, I truly appreciate you bringing this forward, this recognition. Standing to my left is your nation's best pretrial supervision team. These individuals work tirelessly day in and day out to do work that no one recognizes or realizes. They do this with incredible caseload numbers and they do it effectively. You know, as we were saying the pledge, it kept going through my head, liberty and justice for all. If these individuals didn't show up every day and do what they do, I wonder how many of the 5,000 clients we serve would be experiencing that liberty that is their fundamental right, or would they still have to be sitting in jail? Pre-trial matters. It is important. As usual, I brought a couple people who matter a whole lot more than I do, so I'd like to bring them up.

Welcome.

Good morning. Good morning, everyone. My name is Jakira Miller, and I am a pretrial supervision officer with the Criminal Justice Coordination Department, and I've had the privilege of serving in this role for the past year and four months. As one of the department's mental health officers, I currently manage a caseload of 116 clients. Each day I have the opportunity to work with individuals who are navigating both involvement in the criminal justice system and challenges related to mental health and substance use. My role is to connect them with valuable community resources such as the Emergent Health Network while encouraging accountability and supporting their progress towards stability. Serving in this position has been incredibly meaningful, and it has shown me that behind every case number is a person with a story. While accountability is an important part of pretrial supervision, I have also learned the power of listening, treating people with dignity, and helping individuals recognize that change is possible. Being able to serve as both an officer and a source of encouragement has allowed me to help bridge the gap between the judicial system and behavioral health services. This role has strengthened my passion for serving those facing mental health and substance use challenges, which has inspired me to continue pursuing my master's degree in clinical mental health counseling. My goal is to continue building on the work I do today by expanding my ability to serve our community, advocate for those in need, and help individuals find hope, healing, and resources necessary to create lasting change. I am grateful to work in a role that allows me to make a meaningful difference today while preparing me to make an even greater impact in the future. I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve the citizens of El Paso County. It is an honor to be a part of a department that is committed to accountability, public safety, and helping individuals access the support that they need to create positive changes in their lives. Thank you.

Thank you. Very well said. Thank you. Welcome.

Hi, good morning. My name is Catherine Martinez and I have the privilege of being a pre-trial mental health supervision officer on the Bureau of Justice Assistance Mental Health Grant. Working with clients who have recently been released on a personal recognizance bond or cash surety with conditions bond has provided me with the opportunity to monitor compliance with court ordered conditions, coordinate supportive services and recommend additional court action when necessary. In my role, I am responsible for verifying compliance with court-ordered referrals, including mental health treatment and other rehabilitative services. This requires regular communication with treatment providers and other community agencies to confirm clients are actively participating and complying with their treatment plans. I also work closely with our pre-entry division to coordinate rehabilitative services, housing assistance, and other community resources that address each client's individual needs and promote their overall well-being. Over the past year, I have had the privilege of working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, many of whom have struggled with mental health disorders or substance abuse issues. By listening to their concerns, identifying barriers to success, and connecting them with appropriate resources, I've helped many clients successfully complete their period of supervision while encouraging accountability, stability, and positive behavioral change. With every interaction with a client is an opportunity to promote accountability, encourage positive change, and strengthen community safety. We, as officers, take pride in treating each individual with fairness, respect and professionalism while holding them accountable to the conditions of their release. Thank you.

Thank you. Yeah. Welcome, my good friend. Thank you for being here.

Thank you very much, Judge Samuel. And Commissioner Butler, thank you very much for sponsoring this resolution. After being in this profession for over 31 years, I started when I was 15. That's neither here nor there. I wanted to tell you that I've seen the evolution, building bridges, and I'm not going to repeat the resolution, but really it's created an environment that we don't exist in a vacuum, that we need our community to be able to withstand the challenges that we currently face right now because of bureaucracy, because of democracy, because of politics. Our officers, from starting from the sequential intercept mapping at the point of incarceration from early release to being released on bond, After that happens, then they come to the courts. And in the courts, they're sentenced. And if they're fortunate enough to end up on community supervision, then they are welcomed into our offices that are in every single one of the satellite offices. We have eight offices. We are across the county and we thank you for honoring us with the opportunity to exist in those different offices that we have to serve your constituents where they reside. Geographic accessibility is critical to the services that we provide and making sure that our clients your constituents have the accessibility to the services that were expressed earlier in the long-term level. So I come here not as frequently as I'd like, but I come here enough to where I think you know what I have to say. So for now, what I want to show you is longevity. What true dedication of public services. So I'm going to ask my staff, and this is a surprise, they're going to after doing the dance, we're also gonna perform a quick dance. Viva El Paso has competition next year. I just want my staff to come, just say your name, your office, your title, and how long you've been here. If you would honor me that opportunity.

Absolutely, absolutely, thank you.

Hello, Luis Canales, I'm a probation officer and I've been here for 26 years.

Good morning. Victor Martinez. I've been with the department for 29 years. I'm assigned to the downtown office.

Good morning. My name is Dave Bruce. I'm with the court services department. I've been here for six and a half years.

Good morning. My name is Ines Rodriguez, and I've been with the department 10 years, almost 11 years, and I'm a community supervision officer. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Jeremy Cardona Garcia. I've been with the department for one year, seven months, and I work for the downtown office in general supervision.

Thank you.

Hello, I'm Brianna Serrano. I'm with the court services department, and I've been an officer with the department since 2016.

Good morning. My name is Carla Avila Pineda and I've been with the department for 19 years and I am currently with the court services section.

Good morning. Abraham Arriaga. I'm with the court services department. I've been in this department for nine years.

Good morning. My name is Evonette Duran, court services, and I've been with the department for 18 years.

Hi, I'm and I've been with the department 19 years and I do the drug court .

Hello, my name is Christina Travis. I was a mental health officer for 10 years and I have the privilege of being the supervisor of court services.

And that is not even a quarter of the people that we have. Because we're located from the Vinton office to the Isleta office, we have two offices. We have our special programs and we have our office for the Isleta, which is regular supervision. But I just want to thank you for giving us an opportunity to give you a snapshot of what it is that as a community we do. And having worked now for the past 15 years at the state level, being appointed as the director of this department, I've had the privilege to see how other community works. But more importantly, I think feeling the blessings of how El Paso responds to tragedy, how El Paso responds to adversity, how El Paso comes together, builds bridges, and we work together as a community to restore the individuals that are brought to our offices because of one of the worst days in their life. So if we can be that tool, we can be that source of hope for them, instilling everything that was captured early on, and helping those individuals restore their lives, become public citizens that are now paying taxes. and become the best version of themselves will end the cycle of incarceration. There is an over-representation of people of color within the justice system, and we want to make sure that here in El Paso, it doesn't happen. So I want to thank Ms. Jones, I want to thank Chief Medina, because together, collectively, we've been able to work and develop those bridges to make sure that we identify now the most vulnerable populations, trans-individual age youth that are coming in from the systems, who need that support. So we're trying to work together to make sure that they land in a space that is going to help them thrive and be able to be successful members of this community. I thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. We'll continue the introductions, please.

Good morning, everyone. Ramon Hernandez, diversionary supervisor for El Paso County. I've been with the county for about 16 years.

Good morning. Christopher Ray, deputy chief of juvenile services. How many years?

JPD, I've been with them just about nine months. CJC, three and a half. Thank you.

Good morning. Kamar Jackson, Director of Special Program with the Juvenile Probation Department. I've been there for 22 years.

Excellent.

Liz Olivas, I'm an Admin Specialist with the Community Support Unit at JPD, and I have been with the department for two years.

Good morning.

I'm the Director of Intake Services at the Juvenile Probation Department and I've been there for 20 years. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Janelle Morgan. I'm the Director of Juvenile Probation Services and I've been with the Juvenile Probation Department for 26 years.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Amber Martinez and I'm the Youth and Community Engagement Senior and I've been with the county for six years. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Jaquis Washington. I'm the reentry case manager with the juvenile probation department. I've been there for two and a half years.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Joseph Charter. I'm the clinical director for juvenile probation. I've been there for 10 years.

Thank you. Can we continue? Yep.

Hi, Catherine Martinez. I've been in supervision for a year. I was an assessment and intake officer before then.

Good morning again, Yakira Miller. I am a pre-trial supervision officer and I've been with the county for a year and four months.

My name is Priscilla Contreras. I'm a supervision officer and I've been with the county for two years. Good morning. My name is Leslie Melendez and I've been a supervision officer for a year.

Good morning. My name is Adriana Leon and I'm a supervision officer and I've been with the county for two and a half years.

Good morning. My name is Michelle Chavez, and I'm a senior supervision officer, and I've been with the department for one year. Good morning. My name is and I've been a supervision officer for three weeks.

Good morning. I'm Robert Sosa. I'm a supervision officer in two months. Good morning, everyone. My name is David Alarcon. I am the opioid recovery program coordinator, and I've been with the department for two and a half years. Hello, good morning. My name is Celso Marquez. I've been with the department two years, two months, and pretrial supervision officer.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Joshua Gonzalez.

I've been with the department for 10 years, six months, and like two days.

Good morning. My name is Catherine Aguayo, and I've been with the department for almost three years.

Good morning. My name is Hilda Lujan, and I've been with the department for six years.

Thank you.

Selena Chua, and I've been with the department for one year.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Perla Costa and I've been with the department for a year and a half and I'm a supervision officer.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Nicole Salgado. I've been with the department for almost five years.

Thank you.

Good morning. Aaron Palomino, program coordinator and supervision officer. I've been with the department for about three and a half years. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Yeraldine Perla. I'm a community resource coordinator and I've been with the department for three and a half years.

Thank you. Good morning, Milton Ronda, CJC Community Resource Coordinator with the El Paso Promise Program, three years.

Thank you. How y'all doing? Martin Ramirez, Gang Supervision Officer, two years, four months, six days, two hours?

Thank you.

I just wanna point out, we've only been around for 10 years, so you know, we're not gonna have those 26, 30 year time frames.

Did we get everybody? Okay, it's my turn. Ricardo Sabaniego, juvenile probation officer, two years. And it leads you to so many things. I mean, it's just, it was my first real professional opportunity, went to mental health, worked in prisons and so forth. So I have a deep appreciation. As you saw also, and thank you, Commissioner Butler, Commissioner Leon, was totally in love with all this group. I mean, he really understood it, being a chief and being involved. And I think that's where, I think all of us have learned a lot about this deep appreciation for what you do. And, you know, we thank you. We're so proud of you because, you know, I always talk about being a role model and how important it is to be, you know, other communities. I never forget, Juvenal is not just here in El Paso, right? He's somewhere in Chicago. He's somewhere in New York. And and uh... you could become such a great role model and in some instances even worldwide because some other countries have gotten taken notice of what you do so it's just such a you know commissioners court we're so proud of everything that you do uh... for our children that become adults and have to go through a very difficult time uh... but that compassion and you're right uh... you know if you have that compassion it's just that little break that that person feels that he's more important than he thought he was because of how he was treated, how he was directed. So right now there's a lot of individuals that are living good lives, that are married, that are working, that went to college, that had no opportunity. that they were going completely, and I know, I hope that Commissioner Coronado talks a little bit about that, because of that opportunity to keep them out of the system, and if they've been out of the system, to make sure they don't get back into the system is so important, and I wish the community would understand, you know, the investment that's required, which is a lot, lot less than when somebody's in jail, in and out of hospitals, and in and out of treatments, If you get them on track, there's no better thing we could do for economic development than getting someone back into society and to be productive. So I'll pass it on to Commissioner Coronado and then back to Commissioner Butler.

Thank you, Judge, Commissioners, and thank you, Commissioner Butler, for bringing this item. I want to thank the directors. All of you are really heading departments that I think are doing more to try and make sure that we rehabilitate people and keep them out of the system and keep them from coming back. more so than any other department in this state and probably in this country, so you should be proud of yourselves in what we here locally are doing. You know, I remember trying to, having practiced in the system that we have a lot of needs, but so, you know, everybody does, right? And one of those particular things that we still need to work on, we're getting a little bit better, but I remember back in the day when I first started practicing here in El Paso is that there was a lot of need for resources while on probation for women. We didn't have them a lot locally available. So there was more so for males, right? But we need to keep working on that. And the other issue is the mental health. We're getting better. But we still need more help from the state, especially our juvenile justice department, where we really have a need. There's really a gap there that needs to be addressed. And I'm hoping that pretty soon we may have some kind of a relief for that. But I promise you I'm going to keep working on that, even when I leave. And so I want to thank all of you, especially some of you I've known for many years, Victor, a lot of people that I've worked with over the year, Milton, my Promise Program people. They are knocking it out of the park. When people get put into our justice system, we want to make sure that they don't stay there or maybe we can divert them from having to go in there. And I really think we have a lot to offer in that respect from all our different departments. pre-trial diversion programs that we have, including our specialty courts. But I really think that it can only get better. I think it's really getting traction because we don't want people in jail that don't need to be in there. And we want to make sure that they leave here, that they don't have these obstacles to getting a job or to continuing their education first and foremost. And that's really what our Promise Program is all about. And making sure that we relieve those obstacles that people have from continuing their education or their workforce training. And I really think that's the way forward to keep people out of jail. Not only does it provide them services and lets them become productive citizens, but it really saves resources within our county government. And so I want to thank all of you that are involved in this effort. I know it's hard work because over the past, it's gotten a little bit better, but when I first started practicing, the workload for probation officers was just horrendous. You can attest to that, Maggie. And so we want to make sure that that continues to get better because the more emphasis, the more time, and the more resources we put into helping people rehabilitate, the better off we're going to be. as a community and for those people, individuals that are in that system to try and divert them out of there so that they don't come back. So again, I want to thank you all for all the work that you do. I really have been doing this kind of work privately and as a county attorney both in Austin and here in El Paso and with the Attorney General's Office for a very long time, a lot more than some of you. But it's work that I like to do, that I love to do, because I think it helps our community. So thank you all very, very much. And Judge will turn it over.

Thank you, Commissioner. Back to you, Commissioner Butler.

Thank you, Judge. And thank you, Commissioner Coronado, for your vision and leadership with the El Paso Promise Program. I just want to say, once again, thank you to each and every one of you for your selfless service and to our amazing leadership. here between JPD and adult probation and CJC. You know, the work that you do, as you mentioned, is often unseen. But we recognize how critical and vital it is to keeping our community healthy and safe. you really take care of the most vulnerable amongst us. I'm really honored to sit on the JPD board and represent Commissioner's Court where I see the work that goes into helping our youth who are caught in the criminal justice system. And for me, it calls into really stark clarity how unique county government is because counties are responsible for taking care of our most vulnerable populations. And you are all attributed to that work. And we wouldn't be as safe as we are without your service. So thank you all very much. And we'll ask us all together for a group picture and continue to celebrate you this week. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll stand back here.

Okay.

Okay.

Item number 5D, approve and adopt a resolution recognizing July 30th, 2026 as National Intern Day in El Paso County, Texas.

Yes, I recognize. Nice to meet you.

Judge and commissioners, I will go ahead and get started with reading this next resolution. Thank you to our county administration department for bringing this resolution forward. I'm very excited to sponsor it. I see so many of our department heads and interns past and present here, which makes me very, very happy and warms my heart. I'll go ahead and read the resolution and then we can hear from everybody. Whereas the future prosperity and vitality of El Paso County depends upon cultivating a skilled, educated, and engaged workforce prepared to support the region's continued growth and public service needs. And whereas internships provide students and emerging professionals with invaluable hands-on experience, mentorship, and practical training. And whereas interns strengthen El Paso County's community engagement efforts by bringing fresh perspectives diverse experiences, and new voices that deepen relationships, enhance communication, and foster greater trust and partnership throughout the region. And whereas, El Paso County proudly hosts dedicated interns across more than 30 departments, including but not limited to the County Commissioner's Court Offices, County Administration, Auditor's Office, Communications, Community Services, County Attorneys, County Courts at Law, County Criminal Courts at Law, County Operations, Court Administration, Criminal Justice Coordination, District Attorney, District Courts, Domestic Relations, Economic Development, Human Resources, Information Technology, Justice of the Peace Number 5, Medical Examiner, Probate Courts, Public Defender, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Sheriff's Department, and Veterans Office, who contribute meaningfully to departmental goals and county operations. And whereas, El Paso County's internship program demonstrates our commitment to leading through service by cultivating a strong culture of volunteerism and civic engagement. Through meaningful service-focused experiences, the county sets an example of how investing in emerging leaders strengthens our community. And whereas El Paso County's internship program is named in honor of Carl McElhaney, who served our community with an unwavering commitment to public service. Carl's legacy through this program has continued to inspire and guide future generations of public servants in El Paso County. And whereas National Intern Day, observed annually on the last Thursday of July, serves as a national opportunity to acknowledge, appreciate, and honor the contributions of interns everywhere, including those serving El Paso County. Now therefore, be it resolved by the El Paso County Judge and Commissioner's Court, hereby recognizes all past, present, and future interns for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to public service. The court further encourages local government agencies, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and businesses to recognize the invaluable role that internship programs play in developing the next generation of leaders and public servants, and hereby proclaims July 30th, 2026 as National Intern Day in El Paso County. Signed this 27th day of July, 2026.

We have a motion to approve from Commissioner Butler, a second from Judge Samaniego. The voting is open. Senator Butler?

I vote aye.

Okay, now we can clap.

Hey, Monica. Hola, buenos dias, Judge, Commissioners. Thank you, Commissioner Butler, for reading that and sponsoring. Today, for the first time, I believe, in our county history, we are officially celebrating National Intern Day. So we're super excited. We have a great representation here. Just to begin, an intern is really any student or recent graduate gaining supervised practical experience. So since the creation of the Volunteer Services Division in 2023, I've been tracking, and we've welcomed more than 300 interns from schools across the country, across the county, across the country, and even abroad. We've had some international students as well. So these students have joined teams across 43 county departments, as we've read some. We've expanded our reach through partnerships with local entities such as EPISD, Socorro ISD, Western Tech, Job Corps, and UTEP. I'm sure it's not a surprise to everybody that most of our interns are UTEP students. If you're a UTEP student or graduate, please raise your hand.

Wait a minute. Very nice. Yes.

And perhaps an impact that is even more telling of our internship program is that many of our interns are now employees of County, right? So raise your hand, anybody in the room, if you started off as an intern with El Paso County. There's always some. Yes, look around. Yes, yes, it works. It definitely works. Definitely works. So I'd like to also say that none of this would be possible without the support and investment of this court and what you have made your support and volunteerism. I want to thank all the county staff as well throughout all our departments that have welcomed interns into their teams and created opportunities for them to learn and contribute. A thriving internship program at any organization is very much a team effort, and it's been a pleasure to work with all the county departments in that effort. Their support empowers our interns, strengthens our departments, and contributes to our workforce development overall. So students definitely make an impact in our county every single day. And today we have a chance to shine a light on them. So as part of our celebration throughout this week, because intern day is officially on Thursday, we have a small video to kind of showcase our interns with the help of our communications team. So you will see some of these faces in front of you in the video as well. So if we can show the video now, please cue the video. The volunteer program at El Paso County is one that's growing. It's relatively new. And that's where we engage and invite the community to come and be part of our county by helping others. So the individual wins because they are developing their skills, right? Whether that's to build a resume, to gain confidence, to get experience for that employment they're seeking. That volunteer program also includes internships. So if you're a student and you'd like to get some real world experience, then you can definitely come and apply to be an intern with El Paso County.

I've learned a lot about the county's hand in giving resources to the community, especially because it's in the community services department. I wasn't aware of all the different resources that they have.

I've always wanted to be able to work on meaningful projects. A lot of individuals in my career field are leaning more towards corporate careers. However, I've always been more leaning towards working with public service, which drew me to being able to volunteer here with the El Paso County. I first started off with the Office of New Americans, and then I transferred over to the Information Technology Department. and then now currently with the district attorney's office being able to work on meaningful projects that help not only the departments in the El Paso community but also overall the entire community here in the El Paso.

It connects you with the people around you. Once you care about helping someone then it makes you want to be better to them and also because I have benefited from my community so I feel like I would also want to help out my community just to kind of like keep that dice rolling.

I volunteer because I would like to contribute something back to the community or to the society. It's very important for me to be a part of something that create the impact and support another.

I volunteer because I believe it's a great honor and privilege to be able to apply your technical skills into for the betterment of the community.

I would say that I'm volunteering just because I want to learn from the people who I'm looking up to.

I do believe volunteer is very important for the community because it makes community feel like they own the project and also it's more sustainable because if community come together and gather all their experiences and background they don't rely on other people but they believe that they can solve their own issue when they are together.

That was fun. Thank you all. Thank you communications for the video. Thank you everybody. So, and thank you to the court for recognizing the value of interns to our Paso County. On Thursday, July 30th, as a way of thanking our interns, we're gonna have them sign whoever's interested to sign up for a free headshot provided by our communications team, as well as a few swag items. So you'll see a lot of traffic over here. Stay tuned for that. Interns, I'll send an email. And today we have a few interns here of course with us across different departments as well as supporting staff of the county and UTEP as well. So I'll have them speak next a little bit on the internship program.

Thank you.

Good morning, Judge, Commissioners. Welcome. Valeria Fernandez for the Human Resources Department. In May 2026, you all approved the retitling of the Carl McElhenney Paid Internship Program and Procedures to honor the late Carl McElhenney, who was, I'm sorry, an employee of Commissioner's Precinct Number One, and whose kindness, dedication, and commitment to public safety made a lasting impact on our community. A few highlights from the presentation we provided in May. The program initially launched as a two-year pilot with a limited scope serving six departments with the expansion to becoming once funding is available. Since inception, 40 interns have participated in this particular program, and a key indicator of the program's success is that over 17% of the program's participants have been hired as county employees following their internships. Additionally, I did want just to kind of note the HR department also continues to reflect the value and contributions of interns. Currently, over 42%, that's 16 team members, first serve the county in an intern role prior to being hired into full-time positions. So we respectfully thank the court for recognizing our interns and for your continued support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning, Judge, Commissioners. I'm Andrew Litton with the District Attorney's Office and I have the incredible honor of overseeing our department's internship program. Thank you so much for having all of us today recognizing our county interns with the resolution. The unfortunate reality is that El Paso has an attorney shortage. which makes it even more challenging to hire qualified attorneys in public service positions in a very competitive job market across the state. So I thank you so much for your investment in our interns, which will ultimately help the district attorney, county attorney, and the public defender's office identify and hire attorneys to public service roles. Since DA Montoya took office in January 2025, we've hosted 33 interns across five cohort groups. All of them are native El Pasoans. And that accounts for 16 undergraduates and recent graduates, 17 law students. Of those students, we've hired two recent graduates into temporary positions where they're going to be taking their LSATs and preparing for law school. Two of our law school interns will be taking the bar this week. And then they'll be joining us August 17th to begin their careers in our office. We also have three interns who have given us tentative agreements to return to office after they graduate next summer. And that includes one of our interns who actually has a 3L bar card and just minutes ago in the 409th got a guilty verdict in a felony bench trial. This experience that the interns receive during their time in our office is invaluable, and it helps guide them on their career path. And we're incredibly grateful to UTEP's LSPI program and EPCC's criminal justice program for sending us undergraduate students each semester who are interested in the legal profession. Each of these interns provides such a service to our community through their time here. So again, thank you commissioners and Monica for organizing all of our interns every semester. Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome.

Good morning, Judge, Commissioners. My name is Stacy Ordonez. I am the internship coordinator for the Department of Criminal Justice and Security Studies at UTEP. Every semester, I have the distinct privilege of, with Ms. House's help, placing multiple interns across the county, and I can't thank you guys enough for extending these privileges. Thank you for having me here. When Ms. Hasso asked me to speak about internships, I immediately smiled because I was once an intern. Nearly 30 years ago, I was standing where many of our students are standing today, hopeful, a little nervous, and simply hoping someone would give them a chance. At that time, I had no idea that one opportunity would shape the next three decades of my life. That internship didn't just teach me how to do a job, it confirmed that I had a calling. It gave me confidence, it opened doors for me, introduced me to mentors who challenged me, encouraged me, and helped shape the professional that I am today, and gave me the knowledge that I would need to be able to mentor students today. Every semester, agencies throughout El Paso County open their doors to our students. They do far more than provide work experience. They mentor, they teach, they encourage, they trust our students with real responsibilities. Those moments seem ordinary to the mentor sometimes, but they often become defining moments for our students. I've watched students discover careers they never imagined. I've watched quiet students find their confidence. I've watched interns earn full-time positions because someone gave them that opportunity. That's the true value of an internship. It's people investing in people. And that investment doesn't end with one student. It creates a ripple effect, a cycle. Interns today become tomorrow's professionals, mentors, and volunteers, and leaders. They give back because someone invested in them. To every agency represented here today, I can't thank you guys enough. Thank you for opening your doors. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Thank you for trusting students with that real responsibility. Most importantly, thank you for helping our students discover not only what they can do, but who they can become. And to the interns here today, I encourage you to continue to be curious, ask questions, work hard, build those relationships. If you see something that's interesting, ask, ask questions. You never know where that first opportunity will lead you. Thank you again, Commissioners, Judge, for recognizing National Intern Day and for celebrating agencies, mentors, and interns who continue to build our stronger community. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Ordonez. If we just have the intern's name and department and supporting staff as well, please. Thank you.

Hi, I'm Gray Luna. I've been interning with Public Works for about two months now with Manny Macias.

Thank you.

Good morning, Commissioners, Judge. Manuel Macias, El Paso County Public Works Inspection Division Supervisor. I was able to coordinate with Mrs. Hasso to bring on board Mr. Luna here, and we've been teaching him quite a bit. Thank you. Thank you.

Hi, good morning, Judge and Commissioners. My name is Camille Ramos, and I'm proud to be an intern at the County Administration Office.

Hi, good morning, Judge. Good morning. I'm Leanne McLemore, and I'm also proud to be an intern at the County Administration's Office. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning, Judge, Commissioners. I'm Luke Vazquez. I'm an intern with Commissioner David Stout. Thank you guys for about four months. Thank you.

Good morning, Judge and Commissioners. I am Diana de Valle, and I've been working with Economic Development Department for almost seven months.

Thank you.

Good morning. I am Alfred Vasquez with the District Attorney's Office. I am a law student intern. Thank you.

Good morning. I'm Paola Martinez.

I'm also with the District Attorney's Office and also a law student.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Priscilla Montague and I'm interning with the District Attorney's Office and I'm an undergraduate intern.

Thank you.

Hello. Good morning. I'm Mia Maria Carrillo and I'm currently interning at the District Attorney's Office. Thank you.

Hello. Good morning. I'm Persephone Salinas and I'm interning at the District Attorney's Office and I'm currently a law student.

Good morning. My name is Anthony Yanez, and I'm currently interning with the District Attorney's Office. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Alex Gonzalez. I'm also an intern with the DA's Office as an undergraduate intern.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Gia Patel, and I'm also interning at the District Attorney's Office.

Thank you.

Hello. Good morning. My name is Imelda Lozano, and I'm an intern with the Office of New Americans.

Good morning. My name is Liana Brett. I'm also an intern at the Office of New Americans.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Brandon Barrett. I just finished my second year of law school, and I'm with the DA. Thank you.

Thank you. Great.

Good morning. My name is Niko Nakanishi, and I'm an intern with the District Attorney's Office. Thank you.

Good morning, Judge and Commissioners. My name is Juan Saldana. I'm also interning with the District Attorney's Office as an undergraduate student. And go Miners.

Thank you.

Hello, good morning. My name is and I'm an intern at the JP office.

Thank you. Good morning. My name is Randall. I'm interning with the great Commissioner . Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, Judge. I'm Javier Meza. I'm an intern with Public Defender over a year.

Hi, good morning. My name is Mario Vasquez. I'm an attorney with Commissioner Butler. And I just want to take the time to express my gratitude for the opportunity to work with our team for the last couple of months and to work with an incredible team, Ms. Guzman and Ms. Melos, who have shown me what complete sincerity looks like and the relentless pursuit of trying to help people live better lives in this county and in our entire community. And I thank you, Commissioner Butler, for that opportunity.

Thank you.

Welcome. Hello, Leila Mayorga, intern with Commissioner Coronado, and I'm a graduate student at UTEP. Thank you.

Thank you.

Is that everyone?

Did we get everybody? Give them a round of applause. Thank you so much. And I'll start off with the leadership because the interns can do only how much you allow them to do, how much you mentor them, how much you guide them. And obviously, we leave them at your hands because we really We've seen all of us have experiences. Some of them have gone through each one of the commissioners court and into with myself and we see their progress. We see how much more complete they are and I think you're going to look back and realize that that was going to be the start of some great career for each and every one of you. So we're very, very thankful. Eduardo, who's with me, started off at different offices and then was my intern, but now works full-time with me at the county judge's office, so I really appreciate that. I don't know where Jocelyn is, but I didn't let her come because she needs to be working, okay? I am just kidding, after that speech. Thank you so much. You make us really proud. It is that little edge. As you know, we are very limited in the number of people that we can hire. When you come in, you add that edge, little things that happen and bring together things that sometimes would not be done if we didn't have interns. So we're very, very proud of each and every one of you. And like I said, and it was said earlier, ask questions, make sure that it is something that you have passion about. Sit down with a person, with your leader there, your supervisor, and let them know about that passion. I would hate for you to have a passion and not work on it while you're an intern, because there should be enough time to do what we need to do, but we also should allow you to have that kind of passion or work on something that you really, really love. And so make sure that's what happens. And from the bottom of our heart, I hope that we do for you as much as you do for us, because you do quite a bit for us. So thank you very much. And Monica, thank you for being there and leading the charge with such amazing individuals. Thank you.

Commissioner. I just wanted to pipe in because this internship program is near and dear to my heart. Thank you, Commissioner Butler, for recognizing all the interns. I also, I think, kicked off my career as an intern in journalism at a TV station when I was in college, and that has what's led me to where I am today. And so I recognize and really understand the importance of internships. I hope everybody is enjoying their time at the county, do as many internships as you can. I think it's a good idea to try different areas because the on the job training is the only way that you're gonna figure out whether it's something that you really like or not. And you may have dreamt your whole life that you wanted to do something and then you get into it and you're like, oh man, maybe I didn't wanna do this. And so that's why, I think one of the best pieces of advice that I got when I was younger was try to do as many internships as possible. That's one of the reasons why when I got into office 12 years ago, I decided to start looking at hiring interns. Unfortunately, when we started, we weren't able to pay all of our interns. I am thankful to prior courts and this court for indulging our proposal to start this pilot program that is a paid internship. uh program and i really urge the commissioner's court as as we go forward to consider expanding that program and to make sure that every intern that comes through our doors is is is paid i understand that volunteer work is very important and and it's very valuable it's it's a learning experience but i also I'm a firm believer in making sure that we pay people for the hard work that they're doing. And I know that the folks that work in these offices, these can be considered very prestigious internships and volunteering is part of that. But I really hope that we can continue to, to expand this Carl McElhaney program. And I also am very proud that this program has been named after Carl. He was a good friend of all of ours, a good friend of mine as well. And we all learned a lot from him and could not have named the program after a better person. I also wanna make one last plug. I hope the interns can stick around just for this last resolution because we're gonna recognize a giant in this community. You all are starting your careers. I want you to hear about the career that this individual, And a lot of the people that you work for, that work at this county are, I consider political progeny of this individual and governmental service and public service progeny of former Senator Jose Rodriguez. So I hope y'all can stick around and hear this next resolution as well, because this is a great learning experience for y'all. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner.

Yes, Commissioner Coronado. Thank you Judge and thank you Commissioner Butler for bringing this item. It's great that we are able to recognize the interns. I know at first we started out with just the volunteer not paid and I'm glad that we're able to do that and one would continue to do that. So I just want to give a little shout out to some of the interns that worked at my office. The judgment in Eduardo Flores who is working with the judge now but he worked in our office And he was really helpful in trying to identify funding opportunities for public transportation in relation to our Promise Program. So I want to thank him for all the work that he's done and I know he's going to be a great asset to your office, Judge. Dominique Macias and Jesus Reynaga, what can I say? These people that were responsible for giving us the tiny talks and the shots of facts. I don't know if any of you were able to witness those videos that they created, really talking about just county government and what we do, but very, very attractive in the little videos that they did. So Dominique now, Macias, she's the chief editor for Minero at UTEP. and Jesus Reynaga will be attending University of Southern California this coming fall. Jimena Guerrero, who just left our office shortly ago, she stepped in to work on community outreach, did a great job, and she now was hired by the James Tallarico for Senate campaign. And of course, Leila, where's Leila? our current intern. Layla has really built up on our social media outreach and she just finished completing our second annual Barks, Branches and Bookworms event and she's responsible for a lot of our video content and some great video content that's coming soon so be on the lookout for it. Thank you Layla for all the work you do for us and thanks to all the interns that, I know you get a lot out of it but we get a lot out of you coming and helping us and helping our, in public service so thank y'all.

Thank you, Judge. Thank you all for the work that you do on behalf of the county and its residents every single day. And I just want to reiterate something that Commissioner Stout said, because honestly, you cannot hear it enough. Participate in as many internships as you possibly can. You can get the best education in the world, but what you learn in a classroom can never, ever, ever compare to the real world experience that you get in an internship. I think that the internships that I did when I was in school, particularly when I was in law school, really shaped who I am. And I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for those internships. So please take advantage. Sign up for as many as you possibly can. For those of you in law school, if your law school offers clinical programs, sign up for those. Getting to work with actual clients is just something incredible that nothing can compete with. But thank you all. I want to thank Randy and Valeria, who are interns in my office this year. They allow us to serve so many residents that we wouldn't otherwise be able to serve without their help. So thank you to all of you. Thank you for choosing to come intern at the county. And I know that I speak for all of us when I say that we can't wait to see where your journey takes you next. So thank you all.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Butler.

Thank you Judge, thank you Commissioners. I think everybody has already said how much we value and appreciate our interns and our internship programs and love to see that continue to expand. I also want to say a special thank you to the interns that I've been fortunate enough to have in my office. I know that each of us here wouldn't be able to do all of the important work that we do without our interns. They're invaluable and really touch every space of work that we do from policy to community outreach and events and social media. And our goal, my goal is always to be able to teach and to role model and to mentor as much as possible. Hopefully root our interns here in El Paso for the long term. But equally as valuable is what I gain, not just in terms of the work that the interns do every day, but from what I learn from them. IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING TO BE ABLE TO GET INSIGHTS FROM YOUNGER GENERATIONS TO KEEP US AS STEADY AND INFORMED AS POSSIBLE. SO THANK YOU ALL FOR THE WORK THAT YOU DO IN YOUR INDIVIDUAL OFFICES. HOPEFULLY YOU'LL LOVE EL PASO COUNTY AS MUCH AS WE DO AND CHOOSE TO STAY HERE FOR YOUR FUTURE CAREER. SO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING HERE AND FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPONSOR THIS RESOLUTION.

THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER. PICTURE OF THESE INCREDIBLE PICTURE OF THESE INCREDIBLE PICTURE OF THESE INCREDIBLE INDIVIDUALS. INDIVIDUALS.

Get the motion.

Prost. Thank you.

Item number 5E. Approve and adopt a resolution recognizing the public service of former county attorney and state senator Jose Rodriguez and stating the county's intention to name the current annex that houses the county attorney's office after Jose Rodriguez.

Okay, well, judge and commissioners, friends that join us this morning, I guess this morning still, it's really my honor to be able to read this resolution into record, to present this resolution in this THE SUBSEQUENT ITEM THAT WE'LL BE VOTING ON TO NAME OUR COUNTY ANNEX WHERE OUR ATTORNEYS ARE HOUSED, OUR COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IS HOUSED AFTER FORMER COUNTY ATTORNEY AND FORMER STATE SENATOR JOSE ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ. We like to lovingly call him El Jefe. He was a legal aid attorney, a county attorney, again, state senator, a father, a husband, and I think a mentor to countless, countless people and a role model for public service in this community. I first came across Senator Rodriguez when I was a journalist at Channel 26 when I first moved here. I was put to cover his run for Senate, his campaign for Senate, and also his first legislative session in 2011 while he was in the Senate. Subsequent to his first legislative session, I was afforded the opportunity to work alongside him, to work in his office both here in El Paso as well as in the state capital for the 2013 legislative session. I jokingly tell people that he's the guy that brought me over to the dark side. But in all seriousness, I think as a journalist, I really did look up to him as an elected official and a public servant. in a time where I sometimes despise many elected officials and folks that were in office because of things that were going on and the way things were done. But I don't think I would have wanted to work for another elected official. and I'm just so blessed to have had the opportunity to spend close to four years working with Senator Rodriguez. I knew him as a state senator, but I understand from those who have been around for a lot longer even than I, what a pivotal role he played in transitioning this county from a very dark time in a previous era into the modern organization and really what we have become today many of you already know and it's reflected in this resolution that we're about to hear about his work for the county He helped this institution through significant challenges, including major public corruption investigation that resulted in convictions and huge changes in how our county operates, including ultimately being able to bring about the county administration position. And beyond the courthouse, he has been a civic institution builder. His board seat with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund extended his reach beyond just El Paso County lines. Earlier in his career, he worked at the US Department for Housing and Urban Development as an attorney, as well as Texas Rural Legal Aid as an attorney for farm workers. and helped shape an office here in El Paso together with his wife, Carmen, that was rooted in protecting working families and the underrepresented. By the time he joined the Texas State Senate in 2011, he had won election five times as county attorney. Before that, I think he started in 1992 with Alicia Chacon, who's the namesake of this courtroom, um uh and and worked for her a couple years before before uh he was elected but you know really built so much trust through his work and and and his his integrity and and ethic and so i'm really again so proud to be able to put this before the commissioner's court and so with that i'll read the resolution and then senator uh you can come up to the podium and and we can hear from you So the resolution states, whereas Jose R. Rodriguez was elected El Paso County attorney in 1992, and in 1993 took office, where he served for 17 years. And whereas as county attorney, he represented El Paso County and the El Paso County Hospital District in all legal matters. He prosecuted juvenile crime, family violence, protective orders, child abuse and neglect cases, and mental health commitments, and established a record of achievement in public safety, enhanced legal services to protect vulnerable citizens, increased county revenues and funding for jobs and economic development, and strengthened community health and environmental quality. And Juarez Jose Rodriguez was elected to represent the Texas State Senate District 29 in 2010 and took office in 2011. He was a staunch advocate for those in need, proving himself an effective voice for SD29, passing hundreds of bills prior to his retirement in 2021, including legislation to address education, health care, economic development, renewable energy, criminal justice reform, public safety, and the courts, ethics, and government transparency, and veterans. And whereas this included signature legislation to transform the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso from a branch of the Lubbock-based Health Sciences Center to an independent standalone university component of the Texas Tech University System. And whereas his work gained him innumerable accolades and friendships within the county of El Paso, the state of Texas, and across the country and beyond, from being named freshman MVP by Capital Inside to serving as chairman of the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus, SDC, TO BEING ONE OF ONLY FIVE U.S. PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTEES ON THE TEN-MEMBER BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE BORDER ENVIRONMENT COOPERATION COMMISSION, NORTH AMERICA, NORTH AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, BCCNADB. AND WHEREAS, BORN IN ALLIS, TEXAS, SENATOR RODRIGUEZ GREW UP A FARM WORKER. and was the first in his family to attend university. He never forgot his roots and the purpose of public service, representing farm workers as a Texas rural legal aid lawyer, and as county attorney and senator, uplifting generations of elected officials, public servants, and community advocates. And whereas Jose and his wife Carmen Rodriguez have two children and have been deeply involved in civic economic development and human rights activities, mentoring countless people along the way. And now, therefore, be it resolved that the El Paso County Judge and Commissioner's Court recognize the work and service to the county and to the community of Jose R. Rodriguez, and further resolve to name the annex that houses the El Paso County Attorney's Office in his honor, signed this 27th day of July, 2026. The Honorable County Commissioner's Court.

We have a motion to approve from Commissioner Stout, a second from Commissioner Ollin. The voting is open.

I vote aye.

Commissioner? Thank you, Judge.

Motion carries. So before we let you speak, Senator, we have a little video that we put together that we would like to play. So you'll have to wait a little bit longer.

i don't see how does he said i don't see welcome senator thank thank you when is the s good morning honorable county judge in county commissioners i'm gonna try to keep it as short as i can you've had a long morning i i want to just simply start up by thanking you all for considering this resolution uh... unexpected and uh... makes me feel very humble sort of sheepish about it that they don't Commissioner Stout's staff, when they called me, and I said, well, wait a minute, I'm not dead yet, why? I'm old school, Sergio, Commissioner, and I thought that you only did it after somebody died. But it's quite an honor, and I wanna just simply say how much I appreciate the service that you all render this community. I spent 20 years in this building, and handling all kinds of issues confronting the county commissioners in the county of El Paso and all the way back to the days of Rogelio Sanchez. I served under four county judges, Commissioner Coronado. And needless to say, we grew from a county with a lot of issues, especially in those days involving the lack of water and sewer and other services for our colonia residents, of which we still have, Commissioner Butler, in your district and even up in the Upper Valley, as a matter of fact. in the Vinton area. And so we tackled a lot of issues and we did grow over the years and I have a deep, deep appreciation for the work that you do because I've always told people, you know, this is public service. A lot of people think that you're sitting up there in your chairs and that you're, you know, people that have everything, people that don't have the kinds of worries that the regular citizen voter has in the community. And I tell them, you have absolutely no idea what it takes to do public service such as the County of El Paso's county judge and county commissioners. It's a daunting task, and I know the challenges and the complexities, real complexities of county government inside out because I spent 20 years. I started out as legal advisor to Judge Alicia Chacon, whose name appears in this courtroom, Commissioner's courtroom. And she was my mentor. I learned a lot of things from her. And especially to never forget the people out in our communities. and also to always be honest and be ethical in your service. I could go on and on about the challenges, but I think that would take too much time. Other than, again, I wanna go back to our people in our colonias who, for many years, went without services, and the County of El Paso always fought for that. We were instrumental in the county attorney's office in drafting the regulations that helped bring, and the legislation that ultimately helped bring water and sewer opportunities for counties all along the border and including El Paso County. That's one of the proudest accomplishments that I feel very strongly about. I need to thank all of my staff, all of the people that worked with me in the county attorney's office. As you all know, you can't do anything without your staff. And I was very fortunate, very blessed to have very strong, committed, public service oriented staff members, many of whom are still in the county attorney's office. I wanna mention only two, because there were so many, but I have to mention the former county attorney, Joanne Bernal, who was one of my first assistants, and the other one who is still with the county, Eddie Sosa, Edward Sosa. Sitting back there, really? Get back to work. The judge is gonna say get back to work. Back in those days with Alicia, I used to sit in the back. Every commissioner had their assistant sit in the back. And one time, Alicia said, I think you need to get back to the office to go work. Because the meetings took so long, and there was work to be done. Anyway, thanks to my staff. You know, really, instead of the word staff, I like to think of them as family. We were all family, and we still are family. And the same thing applied to my staff over at the Texas Senate. Speaking of these interns that you had here, we had an internship program there. Most of the senators, there's 31 of us, had maybe four or five interns at the most. And in my case, I had upwards of 11 and 12 interns because we believe strongly in helping give opportunities to young people and helping them develop their careers. many of which then went on to become lawyers, doctors, even state legislators, which is always a good feeling to have about people that work with you. So it's been a long journey and I finally want to thank my wife, Carmen, who's been mentioned here, because without her, I wouldn't have been able to do all of the things that you saw in this video, which, by the way, is there any way I can get that, what is it, copyrighted? That's an interesting video you found pictures of. Without her, it'd be very difficult for me to stand before you. And she's not here today because... She's a very committed person, as you all know. She's working on testimony she's going to give this evening along with a few others on affordable housing to the Progressive Caucus of the Texas Legislature. They're going to be here at the El Paso Community Foundation meeting room this evening. So I told her, you don't need to be there. That's OK. You've been there plenty of times for me. So thank you all very much for this. And I look forward to doing anything I can in this community as a volunteer. I'm retired, fully retired. I don't practice law, although I do give advice here and there. I did one asylum case for Las Americas a few years ago. on a pro bono basis, and I do some work with some groups in the Segundo Barrio. And it's very important to continue staying involved. Judge, as you know, and I want to be of help in my remaining years and remaining time. So thank you all very much for this opportunity.

Thank you, Senator. We have a number... We have a number of guests that we also invited.

Okay. Can I sit down?

So I know we have a number of folks, Cesar and Michelle. I don't know if we have former county attorney Bernal online as of yet. I know that she was gonna try to call in. I'd like to start with her if we can.

Excellent.

Welcome, Joanne.

Judge, commissioners, she did say, I spoke to her yesterday, she said she might not be available at the time that she's called, but that she would be listening. I do believe she has a personal representative in the audience.

Eddie? Eddie? And?

She will speak? Okay. Okay, we couldn't hear you.

there joanne are you on yeah can you hear me now yes thank you thank you we missed you um good good morning judge commissioners um i'm trying to it has been a long time since i did one of these videos Here we go. So good morning. I will be very brief. Judge, commissioners, thank you, Commissioner Stout, for bringing this really important item to the public. I am so honored to speak here briefly in support of this resolution. I have had the really wonderful opportunity to work very closely with the Senator for many years. He has been my mentor and my friend. And in three minutes, I don't think I could even touch upon some of the many, many things that he has accomplished while he was county attorney and while he was senator. Two of the things that I think are most important that I've learned from him is what it means to be an ethical lawyer and what it means to be a servant leader. The senator is one who leads by example. He is a humble servant, but he is not afraid to stand up for the underdog. He is not afraid to do what's right. I am one of those people of many, many in our community who has stood on his shoulders. He lifted me up as he has lifted up so many others in our community and I am so grateful to him. I'm glad he's not dead and I'm glad that we are doing this recognition while he is alive because I think that is the time when we tell people how much we appreciate them, how much we value them. So, Senator, thank you so much for all you have done for me personally, for the county attorney's office, and for the community and judge and commissioners. Thank you so much for considering this resolution. Thank you.

Thank you. Joanne, we... We so much respect you and always have cared for you. So your testimony of Senator Rodriguez means a lot because we miss you a lot and you did so much for the community. So thank you for providing those kind words to Senator Rodriguez. Thank you.

Thank you, Judge, Commissioners. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Okay, next on the list, current county attorney, Christina Sanchez.

So always like the first thing when I see Senator Rodriguez, mujer, how are you doing? How's it going? But Senator Rodriguez took a chance on, we talked about the interns, I was that intern from law school, took a chance on me and really when Joanne had mentioned standing on shoulders of wonderful individuals, I could not be where I am without the support and the confidence that Senator Rodriguez had really instilled in me and of course carried on by Joanne Bernal. You know, I have to tell you like it feels very overwhelming in this position a lot of times and a lot of days. I always go back and I think, what would have Senator Rodriguez have done? What would have Joanne had done? But I'm always reminded and I always remind myself that the office has always had this wonderful legacy of public service. You see the lawyers and the staff that are in the audience right now, They are here because of Jose, Senator Rodriguez. They are here because they believe in that legacy, and they're here because we believe in the public service that we provide to this community. So a very fitting tribute to have the downtown annex named after Senator Rodriguez. I am a current occupant. I will not be a forever occupant, but this legacy will live on hopefully for many, many, many, many, many terms and that we always appreciate and understand the history and those giants that came before us. I try to do right by his legacy every day and so congratulations, Senator, and we will try to do and live up to your standards and to your name every day, but congratulations, well deserved.

Thank you. Okay, next on the list we have the gentleman in the back hiding out, Eddie Sosa.

Well, committee, thank you.

Good morning. My name's Eddie Sosa, first assistant to county attorney Christina Sanchez, formerly to county attorney Joanne Bernal, and formerly to county attorney Jose Rodriguez. It really is an honor to say a few words here this morning. It was about 40 years ago when I first got to El Paso. I was a young attorney, didn't have any professional relationships or contacts. In town I was trying to figure out how I was going to deal with that and I believe one day I get a call from a guy named Jose Rodriguez inviting me to attend the Mexican American Bar Association luncheons. Back in those days there were monthly events where they were well attended by many of the young and not so young attorneys in this town. That was the first example of him reaching out and that's something that he's done consistently throughout his career. People have mentioned that he's a mentor. I also consider him my mentor. He pulled me into this community and within a few minutes had hooked me into one of the committees. I was working on the annual fundraising banquet that the MABA had at the time. And it was a great time that got me involved with the community. Like I said, little did I know that that was the beginning of a lifelong relationship with Mr. Rodriguez. A few years later, he invited me to join the county attorney's office and impressed upon us the same thing that we say all the time now, which is that we're here to make a difference. I mean, he set that tone and it's lasted for decades at this point. I'm not going to go through all the initiatives and programs that Jose led us through. I just want to touch upon one that really impressed me at the time and I think made a big impact and that was participating in the Court of Inquiry where the Office of the County Attorney along with other attorneys in El Paso along with former Judge Marquez, basically took on the state of Texas on several fronts, on healthcare, on infrastructure for highways, on mental healthcare resources, resources for children in protective services. That effort demonstrated to me just the level of determination and, and courage that Mr. Rodriguez had in terms of being willing to hold the state accountable on behalf of this community. And that's something that, uh, you know, I was proud to be associated with and, uh, um, demonstrated again, this guy's courage and character. His focus has always been on improving the community and helping people improve their lives, never about his own ego. He inspired many of us to build our careers in public service. I'm one of those. We could name the judges and other elected officials that were influenced by Jose, and it's all been to the betterment of El Paso. I fully support this resolution. I think it's totally appropriate. Future generations should know that Jose Rodriguez had the kind of career that he's had, did the kind of things that he did, and led the way and inspired so many people, and I think it's entirely appropriate to name the facility after Jose. So thank you.

Thank you Eddie, appreciate your time.

Okay, Mr. Castillo, did you wanna speak?

Yes, please. Okay. My name's Eddie Castillo. I had the privilege and honor of serving as an assistant county attorney under Jose Rodriguez through much of the 90s. I'm here today to offer my wholehearted support of these resolutions. Honoring an extraordinary public servant, a distinguished former state senator, a dedicated county attorney, and above all, a profound mentor to me and to so many others across our community. When we evaluate a life spent in public service, it can be easy to focus solely on the broad titles, the past legislations, or the major legal battles. But the measure of a great leader lies not in the authority they held, but in the enduring change they set in motion. We think of a single pebble dropped into the middle of a quiet lake. When it touches the water, there's a clear, decisive moment of impact. That impact represents Senator Rodriguez's own direct career in public office. His years as county attorney maintaining justice, and his tenure as state senator drafting laws that protected and uplifted our families. Those achievements alone were vital, shaping the legal and civic landscape of our region. But a pebble never stays isolated at the point of impact. The moment it strikes a surface, it creates ripples, concentric rings that expand outward, reaching shoreline after shoreline long after the initial splash has settled. That is what Senator Rodriguez's mentorship represents. We do not measure his success solely by what he accomplished at his own desk. We measure it by what he enabled others to achieve at theirs. He invested his time, his wisdom, and patience into young lawyers, rising public servants, and community advocates. He taught us how to lead with integrity, how to fight tirelessly for justice, and how to put the public good above personal recognition. Look around this room, across our courtrooms, and throughout our community organizations. You will see those ripples in action. Every time one of his former employees stands up for fairness, every time a leader he guided drafts thoughtful policy, and every time someone he mentored reaches back to help the next generation, his influence is renewed. He didn't just build a distinguished career. He cultivated a legacy of service that multiplies every single day. The water's still moving because of the foundation he laid. It is a privilege to stand here today, not only as a beneficiary of his guidance, but as a witness to the profound, expanding good he has brought to our community. I urge everyone to join in support of this resolution, and I thank Senator Rodriguez for his service.

Thank you.

Daniel Collins, please.

daniel hello welcome back thank you thank you judge and commissioners for having me uh good morning my name is daniel collins i'm the general counsel for university medical center although i'm here in my personal capacity before joining unc i had the privilege of working with senator rodriguez across three different legislative sessions in 2011 and through 2017 but i first met him and his wife carmen when I was an undergraduate at UTEP interning at Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid and for the Senator's predecessor, Elliot Shapley. In that time, I've been able to know Senator Rodriguez not only as an admired public figure, but also as a mentor, teacher, and leader. I fully support renaming the county annex building in his honor because I think it would be a fitting tribute to a man who spent his career making institutions work for people who do not usually have power. As previously mentioned, the Senator began life as a son of a migrant farm worker, and then he rose up to bring his legal talents to bear in support of working people who often had little money, little influence, and few advocates, first as a housing attorney, and as we heard, also as an attorney for legal aid. As the El Paso County attorney, Senator Rodriguez devoted 17 years to serving this community, helping to strengthen legal services, protect vulnerable residents, and steward county resources, and also improve community health and safety. Then he carried that same mission to Austin. He fought for working families, he spoke out against unacceptable farm worker housing conditions, and championed legislation relating to workplace safety, among others. He fought for students, including being one of the loudest voices for equitable school funding. After an area school district cheating scandal, it was the senator who was leading efforts to strengthen accountability and to help students who had been harmed in the loss of their education. He fought for students with disabilities, including passing legislation to ensure that schools weren't arbitrarily capping the number of students who were accessing academic supports in their classrooms. He fought for access to justice in He carried a complex legislation supported by the state bar every single session to help improve court processes and the experience of individuals and families before our courts. and he pushed for funding for legal aid services for needy Texans. He fought for better environments, pushing locally and in Austin for renewable energy and for conservation efforts, and he fought for El Paso's future as well. As has been said, one of his most significant accomplishments in the legislature was helping secure independence for our Texas Tech Medical School. That achievement fulfilled a decades-long aspiration And I've seen firsthand how the full medical school, its residency programs, and the academic health infrastructure that came from that establishment have continued to attract health care professionals to the area and really transform our local community. But again, this all speaks to Senator Rodriguez as a public figure. I also want to acknowledge him as a tremendous boss and mentor. I know him to be extraordinarily generous with his time. He listens to people. He's curious. He welcomed different perspectives. He hired people to think. He encouraged advocates, constituents, and then the legion of young people who would come in through his office to bring him ideas. If they thought that they had some sort of idea that would improve Texas, improve the community, he wanted to hear about it. And as our county attorney said, he didn't simply open the door for people, he led them through it. He championed them to become advocates for themselves and for the communities they represented. That's why I think it's fitting that the doors to the county annex building now bear his name. I think if this building bears Jose Rodriguez's name, it will remind future generations of county employees, of just El Pasoans generally, that the public that they serve, that they serve the public, that government exists for the people. For that reason, I strongly support naming the county annex in honor of Senator Jose Rodriguez, and I encourage the Commissioner's Court and the community at large to also support this effort. Thank you, Denny. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Denny. Next we have Claudia Yoli Ferla.

Good morning, buenos dias, Judge and Commissioner, Senator Rodriguez. I'm a little taller than this mic, so bear with me. My name is Claudia Yoli Ferla, and I have the privilege of serving as the Senior Policy Advisor for Commissioner Stout. And I'll begin by saying that there is a quote that says that the greatest purpose in life is not simply to discover your gifts, but to use them in service of others. And if there is one person who has embodied that philosophy, it is Senator Jose Rodriguez. Today, I know that we're going to vote to rename a building in his honor, but the truth is that no building could ever fully capture his legacy because his greatest contribution was never simply the laws that he passed or the offices that he held. His greatest legacy is the people. And I know that because I am one of them. I first walked into Senator Rodriguez's office as a college intern, and later I had the privilege of serving as the chair of his youth advisory committee, and eventually I joined his staff. And looking back now, I realize that I wasn't just learning how government worked, I was learning what leadership looked like in action. During my time in his office, we registered high school students to vote across West Texas because he believed that democracy belonged to our people, especially young people. We trained judges and healthcare providers on LGBTQ inclusive healthcare practices because he believed that dignity should never depend on who you are and who you love. We defended our history, our culture, our classrooms, and our border community. And together as a team, we stood against some of the most harmful and oppressive legislation that this state has ever proposed. But he taught us that public service wasn't about being the loudest person in the room. It was about showing up, listening, doing the work, doing what is right, even when it's difficult. But if you ask me what Senator Rodriguez's greatest accomplishment was, I won't point to a bill number or a legislative victory, although there are certainly many. I'll point to the people, many of the people sitting in this room, because Senator Jose Rodriguez didn't just build policy, he built people. He saw leadership in young people long before they saw it in themselves. He didn't ask whether you had the perfect resume, he asked whether you cared, and if you cared, he opened the door. Just look at the extraordinary leaders who began their journeys in his office. Commissioner David Stout, Oscar Silva, who went on to lead Battleground Texas and then later served nationally with the Biden-Harris campaign, and then with Commissioner Holguin. Luis Figueroa, now the Deputy Director of Every Texan, Ana Ramon, former Executive Director of Annie's List, Sushma Smith, the People's Chief, who now leads the Senate Democratic Caucus, Elisa Tamayo, our Governmental Affairs Manager, and so, so many others. Former interns who became attorneys, teachers, organizers, campaign managers, policy experts, nonprofit leaders, public servants, and the list can go on. because his office was just never an office. It was a classroom. It was a classroom of democracy, a place where young people were trusted to real with real responsibility and taught that leadership is not about power. It is about purpose. And one of my favorite memories perfectly captures who he was. It was my birthday. We were at a fundraiser. and Senator Wendy Davis was there, and she had always been one of my political heroes. And without me saying a word, Senator Rodriguez walked over, I think maybe Daniel Collins was there too as well, and he stopped her in the middle of the room and smiled and said, Wendy, there is a very special young woman I want you to meet. He introduced us and then he took a picture, not the other way around. And that moment has stayed with me all of these years because in politics we are so accustomed to staff standing behind the camera. But that day he stepped behind it for me because he wanted me to have that moment. And that's because he celebrated our dreams as if they were his own. And looking back now, I realize that it wasn't just taking a picture with Senator Wendy Davis. He was introducing me to a future I hadn't yet imagined for myself. Years later, I had the privilege of working for Senator Davis and eventually leading her nonprofit, Deeds Not Words, where we train hundreds of young women across Texas to advocate, organize, and believe that they belong in the halls of power. From there, I went on to lead Move Texas, one of the largest state-based youth organizations in the country, where together we registered more than 200,000 young Texans to vote, organized some of the largest youth capital mobilization efforts in our state's history, and built a generation of young leaders who continue to shape Texas and our democracy today. People sometimes congratulate me for those accomplishments, but the truth is those victories didn't begin with me. They began with one senator who chose to invest in a young intern, one conversation, one opportunity, one act of belief. That is how leadership works. It doesn't end with one person, it multiplies. That is Jose Rodriguez's legacy. Not a single ripple, but waves. And perhaps the most beautiful gift that he's given all of us hasn't been necessarily a career. It has been a family. I met Commissioner David Stout because I interned for Senator Jose Rodriguez. The people from that office have stood beside one another through these victories, losses, weddings and funerals, campaigns and careers. We've celebrated each other's successes, we've picked up each other after disappointments, and we continue to serve communities together. That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because he built a culture rooted in generosity, in humility, in mission, in love for our community. Today we rename a building, but buildings are made of brick and legacies are made of people. And long after each of us leaves this room, long after headlines fade, long after every boat is forgotten, what remains are the lives we changed, the hands we reached back to pull someone else forward, the doors we opened, the hope we gave away. Senator Rodriguez taught an entire generation that leadership is not measured by how high you climb, It is measured by how many people you lift with you. That is why his legacy lives in every young person who cast their ballot for the first time because someone told them that their voice matters. It lives in every organizer who refuses to give up. It lives in every public servant who chooses courage over convenience. It lives in every mentor who takes the time to answer the phone. And it lives in every one of us fortunate enough to have learned from him. So today, we do more than dedicate a building. We celebrate a life that has multiplied itself through generations of leaders, a life that reminds us that the greatest measure is not what we have to achieve for ourselves, but what we inspire others to become. Muchas gracias, Senador. Thank you for believing in all of us before we believed in ourselves. Thank you for showing us that service is love made visible. And thank you for proving that one person who chooses every day to invest in others can change the course of countless lives. Your name will grace this building, but your legacy will always walk through its doors. Muchas gracias.

Thank you, Chloe.

Thank you. Thank you, Claudia. Next on the list, I have Corinne Chacon.

Welcome, Corinne.

Good morning. Good morning, Judge and Commissioners. What eloquent testimonies to the Senator, you know, and I really cannot add to that. His life was so intertwined with my mother's trajectory. And it was because he was carrying forth values that in the world that is changing so rapidly, we have to preserve these values. These are important qualities. These are essential lessons that we want to ensure will continue. And so having his name memorialized on that building is huge. I really wanna be brief, so I just wanna share, I think, a quote that really captures not only his legacy, but my mother's. And this is from an Indian poet. I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service with joy. Thank you.

Thank you, Karine.

Thank you, Ms. Chacon. Next we have Dr. Cynthia Renteria.

Welcome, Dr. Renteria.

Good morning, Judge and Commissioners. Thank you. I'll be brief as well. So much has been said, I think, that truly captures Senator Rodriguez's career and service. And so I'd just like to say that in 2017, I was the co-chair and chair of his Heritage Tourism Advisory Commission. Not a huge stretch. But I learned a lot serving on that commission. I learned a lot about the role that history plays in government. And I think it's fitting, as many have said today, that a building will bear his name after he fought so hard to preserve many buildings in one of our oldest neighborhoods, and not just the buildings, but the communities that were there. So thank you, Senator, for your service and support and dedication for so many years. And felicidades. Thank you.

Okay, last in-person that I have on the list is Aaron Sutliff, and then we have a couple online. And if anybody else would like to speak, we can have them speak as well.

Welcome, Aaron.

Good morning. I'm Aaron Setliff. I'm the Division Chief of the Protective Order Unit at the County Attorney's Office. I am a little daunted by coming after so many great speakers that have been so impactful about Senator Rodriguez's impact on our community. So what I want to add, what's the value added Aaron can bring is I used to work at the Texas Council on Family Violence. That's the coalition of all the domestic violence programs across Texas. including the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence here. And so I wanted to offer, in that montage of photographs that you saw a little bit, that was one of us. And you can tell how excited and happy I am to join him in this committee hearing that we had on one of the bills that he ultimately got passed. Like my smile is huge there. because it's such a great thing to have a senator that is such a great partner to be championing a bill. This is another one of the photos in the montage. And so there's me, Texas Council on Family Violence, intimate partner violence. This is Chris Kaiser on the other side. He was my counterpart at the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. And I want to tell you that this is a great metaphor for the bookends that we were to Senator Rodriguez's leadership. Knowing that Victim Services could rely on the Senator for the important work we did was so crucial and uplifting to come from little old El Paso and go there and see how much impact he had on the work that we were doing. So I wanna just highlight just a couple of bills So Senate Bill, this is in the 2015-84 session, Senate Bill 147, the Senator added human trafficking to the basis by which one can get a protective order. He also made violations of a bond related to an offense involving human trafficking, an arrestable offense, and so the officers could arrest someone right away when they saw them violating it. He also got past Senate Bill 630 with a House representative that was a sponsor named Tony Dale, who's a Republican. And that's a metaphor for how the senator worked in the Senate as well and in the legislature. is looking across the aisle for common sense answers to problems that survivors were encountering. This bill added crime victims' rights requiring relevant criminal cases, the victims in those cases be informed that they can seek a protective order and that they can request a protective order be filed. Senate Bill 817. This is one with Symphonia Thompson from Houston. This clarified that in a protective order dating violence case, someone can apply who has never even made a police report, which is a very important part of what you do to get a protective order. You may or may not report it to the police. It also required that in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship, that those judges had to take into account a pattern of history of domestic violence, the issuance of a protective order, and child abuse in making a decision on who should have the child and how that should work. The last one is a super exciting one. Maybe you don't think so, but listen for just a second as to why it was so impactful. So HB 2455, he partnered with a House Republican named Cindy Burkett, very conservative member, and together they passed a bill that convened a task force I know what you're saying, a task force. What's the importance of that? But it was studying and making recommendations on how to collect data and coordinate that collection process for data related to domestic violence. Why does that matter? Data equals power at the legislature. So, as a result of a large part of what Senator Rodriguez did with that task force and the recommendations that they passed forward, I can tell you that Texas Council on Family Violence is honoring Texas victims, measured 161 victims killed by their intimate partner in 2024, 137 women, 24 men, Zero in El Paso. 114 were killed with a firearm. 84% of offenders had prior criminal justice involvement. 75% of victims had sought help prior to their murder. All of those are such key numbers when it comes to, well, what do we do about it? How do we move forward? And that's in large part for, thanks to the Senator's leadership throughout his time in the Senate. This is just a quick sample of the important measures and policy changes that the Senator championed. I didn't even mention, I won't mention it too much more other than to say he had a completely positive impact on funding for family violence and sexual assault services and programs across Texas, voting for and supporting hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding to support survivors. So along with the many things that you've heard today, I have to add my thanks to the Senator for his literally life-saving efforts both in El Paso and across Texas. And I'm so excited to go into a building and work in a building where survivors will see his name above it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Erin. So online we have Cito Negron, Elisa Tamayo, and Gabriela Reed. So Cito, you're up.

I don't see seat or do you see read or Elisa?

Okay, we can go with Elisa and we'll we'll get Cito back on.

Sounds good. Can you hear me?

Yes. Welcome, Elisa.

Thank you. Buenas tardes. Good afternoon. Elisa Tamayo today in my personal capacity, but speaking in support of the renaming of the county annex building after former state Senator Jose Rodriguez. I have a lot of FOMO of not being there. I wish I was there in person to be able to hug everyone, especially the senator. And I just want to say that during his last time in office, I had the privilege to work with Senator Rodriguez and witness his relentless dedication to public service and the people of El Paso. I want to echo everything that has been said today in support of the renaming of this building, but I want to do my remarks in Spanish instead, because I really think that every member of the public, regardless of their background or language of choice, need to know or be reminded of his remarkable accomplishments to truly understand why this small but important gesture will be of value to our community. Ha sido mucho más que un servidor público, ha sido un líder ejemplar para nuestra comunidad y una voz firme, tanto dentro como fuera del cargo. Su trayectoria refleja un compromiso inquebrantable con la defensa de los derechos humanos, la dignidad y el bienestar de quienes en demasiadas ocasiones han sido vulnerados o señalados por motivos políticos, más que por razones legítimas. A lo largo de su servicio en el Senado, él dedicó sus esfuerzos a representar con mucho orgullo a nuestra región fronteriza, bringing the voice of El Paso and demonstrating the strengths, values and resilience that distinguish our community. He never lost sight of the people he represented and worked tirelessly so that our needs were always heard. During his management, he promoted initiatives that strengthened our region, managed to attract important resources for our community and defended the improvement of the life of many families. At the same time, it faced with determination the very unfair attacks and decisions motivated by political interests that sought to harm our region and silence our voice. Its delivery to the public service and its work ethic, as they have already said today, continue to be an example for those of us who today have the responsibility to serve, either from a public election position or from other functions like mine that we do behind the scenes, possible to some public work. Her legacy reminds us that serving is a privilege and an opportunity to return to our community a part of everything that she has given us. Those of us who had the privilege of working alongside her were witnesses of her generosity as a mentor, of the trust she deposited in her team or family, and of the dedication with which she formed those who shared that same mission of serving El Paso. That investment in the people who worked with her is without a doubt an important part of her legacy and a footprint that will remain present in our community for many years to come. Let the name on this building continue to remind us what true public service means and inspire us to do our part to give back to this community that has given us so much. Thank you.

Do we have miss reader or Mr Negron?

Available.

Is Gabriela here? Can you hear me?

Yes. Please go ahead. Welcome.

I'm sorry, I'm not able to turn on my camera. Thank you for letting me speak. I'm going to be real brief because there's nothing I can say more eloquently than all of my colleagues and all the friends and supporters of Jose have already said. I want to thank him because, again, like somebody already said, I met the man on a plane and it was mujer. What are you doing living in Austin, Texas? Come back to El Paso, Texas. fight with me in El Paso, Texas, which is how I came back to El Paso, Texas. He has taught so many to be a servant leader, and I am an example of that. There is nothing more I can say that everybody hasn't said. Thank you, Jose. Thank you, Commissioner Stout for bringing this resolution. I am wholeheartedly in support as the rest of the community should be of renaming the building in honor of Jose Rodriguez. He is a giant among giants, and I am honored that I have been able to work with him, work for him, and let him remind me of the servant leader that I can be. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Gabriela.

Cito has not joined, sir.

Okay. So before we go to public comment, can we take item 7A since it's paired with the resolution, Judge?

Sure. Okay.

Just one moment. Item number 7A from Commissioner's Court. DISCUSS AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION TO NAME THE COUNTY ANNEX AT 320 SOUTH CAMPBELL AFTER FORMER COUNTY ATTORNEY AND STATE SENATOR JOSE R. RODRIGUEZ. FURTHER, PURSUANT TO TEXAS LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 292.001, RELATING TO THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT AUTHORITY TO MAINTAIN EXISTING BUILDINGS, APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE USE OF FUNDS FROM GENERAL FUND COMMISSIONER TO PUBLIC PURPOSE OPERATING EXPENSES GENERAL IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,000, toward expenses related to the naming and authorize the transfer of those funds into General Fund, Public Works, Administrative, Contract Services General. Finally, pursuant to Texas Local Government Code 81.032, approve and authorize El Paso County to accept donations from community members for expenses related to the naming.

So I'm gonna go ahead and make a motion, but I need to read the motion that you sent me, Anna.

Yes, Commissioner, thank you, or I can also read it, whatever you prefer, thank you.

If you want, go ahead.

Thank you, Anna Schumacher, Assistant County Attorney. So the motion for your consideration would be pursuant to Section 2.1.7 of the County Property Naming Policy authorizing exception for the naming of the County Annex at 320 South Campbell after former County Attorney and State Senator Jose R. Rodriguez through this item and corresponding Resolution 5E. Further approve and authorize the use of funds from GF Commission to Public Purpose Expense General in the amount of 5,000 toward expenses related to the naming and authorize the transfer of those funds into GF-PW Admin Contract Services-General. Finally, pursuant to Texas Local Government Code 81.032, approve and authorize El Paso County to accept donations from the community members for expenses related to the naming. Thank you.

Okay, that will be my motion.

Thank you.

We have a motion from Commissioner Stout. Do we have a second?

I'll second.

Thank you, Commissioner Olguin. Voting is open.

Not coming up. Aye.

Okay.

Aye for me as well.

Thank you, Commissioner Coronado. Commissioner Butler? Aye. Thank you. Judge Samaniego? Aye. Thank you, sir. Motion carries.

And we will make sure that the public is aware of the plans for the actual ceremony when we get the letters on the building and do the unveiling. If anybody would like to help donate to help pay for this, please contact our office. Thank you very much. And thank you again, Senator. Congratulations. Felicidades.

Senator, thank you so much. The amazing individuals that were witnesses of your life is just incredible. That in itself speaks so highly of you that we had such incredible individuals. You know, we've always said he had a loud voice to help others, but I have learned more from others about the Senator than from him. because his demeanor is to fight and talk about and try to get other people into a better place. But throughout the years, Commissioner Stout and others, I've learned about you because of your demeanor, and that also speaks highly of you. You know, you're very humble, but you've accomplished a lot. Thank you for your advocacy, and thank you for not stopping to advocate because of the individuals that you know, a lot of things can happen. It feels rare that I don't see Carmen next to you. Like, it doesn't make sense. Also, we're here with Eddie, without Joanne. You guys agreed on that, right?

Yeah, we do agree on that.

Thank you so much, Senator. And as you saw the love and the compassion that people have for you. And I want to thank Commissioner Stout for making sure that this happens and it becomes a reality. and that we do. I had a friend who did living eulogies and today I heard one of the most beautiful living eulogies that I've had ever heard. So, Senator, thank you so much for what you do.

I want to thank you again and I want to have the opportunity to thank the people who came up and some who spoke via video. I'm very humbled by the comments that were made and it just reminds me of what I try to tell you all that it's all about service, public service, public service and doing for the community to improve people's lives. That's what it's all about. And hopefully some of these interns that you had here this morning will be sitting in some of those chairs in the future. That's what it's all about. That's what I like to see young people who move on with their careers and take leadership roles, and importantly, seek to make a difference to improve people's lives. So thank you all very much. Thank you, Senator.

Can we take a picture with you here in the front, Senator, and anybody else who would like to join us?

Thank you.

No, no problem.

Bye.

Well, let's give you.

Okay. Commissioner's Court will recess for five minutes. It is... Do you want to do the lunch? Recess for lunch? Okay. Commissioner's Court will recess for one hour. It is 1233 p.m.

Hola, El Paso! June marked the official start of summer and El Paso County was hot with activities all month long and just in time for a huge 4th of July celebration. We all know this time of the year can be very hot for our county residents. In June, the county opened their cooling centers for residents to seek relief from the heat. The centers are located at the Agua Dulce, Fabens, Canutillo, and Lafayette-Montana Vista Community Centers. They are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents have a place to cool off in an air-conditioned space, drink water, and enjoy some indoor activities while they stay out of the desert sun. The county's park bond projects are making progress from one end of the county to the other. On the eastern part of the county, work is almost complete at Agua Dulce Park as finishing touches are being put in place. Residents will have new amenities to look forward to including a new paved walking path. Then, on the western part of the county, work continues at Westway Park with repairs to the rock walls, walking trail installation, and new lighting is being put in place. The county is committed to completing all voter-approved bond projects on time and on budget. Azcárate Park is El Paso's gem, and during our third park bond meeting, residents received an update on feedback that was gathered during the first two meetings, including survey results, key themes, and community priorities that have helped to shape the project. Residents had the chance to review draft concepts regarding park improvements and learn about the anticipated benefits for park users and the surrounding community. In July, the community is encouraged to participate in weekly informational sessions regarding the park's duck pond. These sessions will be held every Wednesday in July at 6 p.m. at the Escada de Parque Pavilion. If you have an interest in what happens to the duck pond, you don't want to miss one of these meetings. The county kicked off their budget information sessions in June. The county is encouraging residents to take an active role in shaping the county's fiscal year 2027 budget by attending one of several community budget outreach sessions scheduled throughout the county. These meetings provide an opportunity for community members to share priorities, voice concerns, and offer input on services and programs that impact their neighborhoods. Feedback gathered during these outreach sessions will help county leadership better understand community needs and ensure that budget decisions reflect the priorities of El Paso County residents. El Paso County, in partnership with the El Paso Zoo and the Botanical Gardens, unveiled its newest AI powered tourist kiosk. The kiosk is the newest addition to El Paso County's tourist kiosk program, an initiative designed to connect residents and visitors with attractions, cultural destinations, outdoor activities, and historical sites throughout El Paso County. The El Paso Zoo installation marks the first tourist kiosk partnership between El Paso County and a local attraction. The kiosk features a bilingual AI-powered interface with touch and voice navigation, helping visitors discover local attractions, museums, outdoor activities, the mission trail, and nearby points of interest. Come check it out! Our nation is 250 years old and El Paso County is ready for the celebration. The County, in partnership with Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division, hosted a patriotic and festive event at Azcárate Park to include military vehicles on display, a band performance by the 1st Armored Division Band, picnic party, food trucks, swimming at the pool, and of course an awesome fireworks display for residents to take in. The County even commemorated our nation's 250th birthday with a customized coin that were distributed at the park. In partnership with the County's Historical Commission, the coin design celebrates the 250 years of our nation's endurance and freedom. In the Montana Vista area, our County Public Works team initiated a campaign to clean up the area from fireworks debris. The County established trash drop-off zones and even made trash bags available to residents to use for post-firework celebration. The El Paso County Sheriff's and Emergency Services Districts were out in full force to ensure residents had a safe and happy 4th of July. Thanks for watching this month's Packed County Connects. Stay tuned and make sure to stay cool and stay connected with El Paso County.

You're welcome.

So today we are at Azcárate Park where we are celebrating the 4th of July. Of course, we all know this is a very special year because it's America's 250th birthday. So we're really excited that we can provide this opportunity, this public celebration for our community. And we gave away 250 commemorative coins that were specially designed for the County of El Paso by the El Paso County Historical Commission. We're really glad that we see so many families out here enjoying themselves, getting ready for the big fireworks display.

I can't even tell you, the emotion is unbelievable to see what's happening now and see that we're celebrating 250 years at a park that is so iconic to El Paso. And then on top of that, having a partnership with Ford Bliss. If we're celebrating 250 years, that's because of what veterans did for our country. They died for our country, they served our country, and here we are.

I think the kids are really enjoying seeing the tanks out there that Fort Bliss was able to bring to Azcárate Park. And I think what makes the experience really special is talking to some of the soldiers who manned those tanks. So we're really grateful to Fort Bliss for their collaboration. We hope that we can count on them to join us every single year at our Fourth of July celebration.

You know, it's awesome being a part of an event like this, especially 250 years, a lot of heritage, a lot of history behind it, and actually being able to wear this uniform and say I was here at 250 and to be part of that, it's an absolute privilege.

I don't know the names of the tanks, but it is awesome just even just being able to see them up close. I've never seen a tank up close, but I was learning that a tank over here in front of me is 73,000 pounds, and it's just awesome to see how there's men and women that are dedicated to serve our country. Just enjoy your family today, you know, enjoy your family, enjoy music, and just enjoy life, and God bless America.

Every day, El Paso County works to improve the quality of life for our residents. Sometimes that work happens here at home. Sometimes it takes us across Texas, across the nation, and around the world. County leaders advocate for infrastructure, public safety, veteran services, transportation, and mental health priorities important to our residents. Through legislative meetings, funding requests, and various policy discussions, your county is working to ensure El Paso's voice is heard. Strong partnerships help bring resources, expertise, and opportunities back to El Paso County. Through collaborative efforts with our state and federal partners, our position on critical matters can be shared and heard by those making decisions at the highest levels. Participation in organizations such as the National Association of Counties, Texas Association of Counties, and other professional networks also allows county leaders to learn from successful programs across the country and bring innovative ideas back home. El Paso County's commitment to economic growth extends far beyond our borders. Throughout the year, elected officials and staff travel across Texas, the United States, and internationally to promote El Paso as a premier destination for business investment and expansion. These efforts allow us to build relationships with industry leaders, showcase our region's unique advantages, and compete for new jobs and economic opportunities. The true measure of success is not where we travel to, but what we brought home. At the midpoint of 2026, our grant portfolio remained strong and productive. To date, we have applied for a total of 50 funding opportunities, with 21 awards secured, resulting in more than $15.6 million in grant funding awarded. Every trip represents one purpose, serving the people of El Paso County. Whether advocating in Austin, collaborating in Washington, or building partnerships across borders, our mission remains the same, creating opportunities, delivering services, and building a stronger future for our community.

Thank you.

Hola, El Paso! June marked the official start of summer and El Paso County was hot with activities all month long and just in time for a huge 4th of July celebration. We all know this time of the year can be very hot for our county residents. In June, the county opened their cooling centers for residents to seek relief from the heat. The centers are located at the Agua Dulce, Fabens, Canutillo, and Lafayette-Montana Vista Community Centers. They are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents have a place to cool off in an air-conditioned space, drink water, and enjoy some indoor activities while they stay out of the desert sun. The county's park bond projects are making progress from one end of the county to the other. On the eastern part of the county, work is almost complete at Agua Dulce Park as finishing touches are being put in place. Residents will have new amenities to look forward to including a new paved walking path. Then, on the western part of the county, work continues at Westway Park with repairs to the rock walls, walking trail installation, and new lighting is being put in place. The county is committed to completing all voter-approved bond projects on time and on budget. Azcárate Park is El Paso's gem, and during our third park bond meeting, residents received an update on feedback that was gathered during the first two meetings, including survey results, key themes, and community priorities that have helped to shape the project. Residents had the chance to review draft concepts regarding park improvements and learn about the anticipated benefits for park users and the surrounding community. In July, the community is encouraged to participate in weekly informational sessions regarding the park's duck pond. These sessions will be held every Wednesday in July at 6 p.m. at the Escada de Parque Pavilion. If you have an interest in what happens to the duck pond, you don't want to miss one of these meetings. The county kicked off their budget information sessions in June. The county is encouraging residents to take an active role in shaping the county's fiscal year 2027 budget by attending one of several community budget outreach sessions scheduled throughout the county. These meetings provide an opportunity for community members to share priorities, voice concerns, and offer input on services and programs that impact their neighborhoods. Feedback gathered during these outreach sessions will help county leadership better understand community needs and ensure that budget decisions reflect the priorities of El Paso County residents. El Paso County, in partnership with the El Paso Zoo and the Botanical Gardens, unveiled its newest AI-powered tourist kiosk. The kiosk is the newest addition to El Paso County's tourist kiosk program, an initiative designed to connect residents and visitors with attractions, cultural destinations, outdoor activities, and historical sites throughout El Paso County. The El Paso Zoo installation marks the first tourist kiosk partnership between El Paso County and a local attraction. The kiosk features a bilingual AI-powered interface with touch and voice navigation, helping visitors discover local attractions, museums, outdoor activities, the mission trail, and nearby points of interest. Come check it out! Our nation is 250 years old, and El Paso County is ready for the celebration. The County, in partnership with Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division, hosted a patriotic and festive event at Azcárate Park to include military vehicles on display, a band performance by the 1st Armored Division Band, picnic party, food trucks, swimming at the pool, and of course an awesome fireworks display for residents to take in. The county even commemorated our nation's 250th birthday with a customized coin that were distributed at the park. In partnership with the county's historical commission, the coin design celebrates the 250 years of our nation's endurance and freedom. In the Montana Vista area, our County Public Works team initiated a campaign to clean up the area from fireworks debris. The County established trash drop-off zones and even made trash bags available to residents to use for post-firework celebration. The El Paso County Sheriff's and Emergency Services Districts were out in full force to ensure residents had a safe and happy 4th of July. Thanks for watching this month's Packed County Connects. Stay tuned and make sure to stay cool and stay connected with El Paso County.

Thank you. Come on.

So today we are at Azcárate Park where we are celebrating the 4th of July. Of course, we all know this is a very special year because it's America's 250th birthday. So we're really excited that we can provide this opportunity, this public celebration for our community. And we gave away 250 commemorative coins that were specially designed for the County of El Paso by the El Paso County Historical Commission. We're really glad that we see so many families out here enjoying themselves, getting ready for the big fireworks display.

I can't even tell you, the emotion is unbelievable to see what's happening now and see that we're celebrating 250 years at a park that is so iconic to El Paso. And then on top of that, having a partnership with Ford Bliss. If we're celebrating 250 years, that's because of what veterans did for our country. They died for our country, they served our country, and here we are.

I think the kids are really enjoying seeing the tanks out there that Fort Bliss was able to bring to Azcárate Park. And I think what makes the experience really special is talking to some of the soldiers who manned those tanks. So we're really grateful to Fort Bliss for their collaboration. We hope that we can count on them to join us every single year at our Fourth of July celebration.

You know, it's awesome being a part of an event like this, especially 250 years, a lot of heritage, a lot of history behind it, and actually being able to wear this uniform and say I was here at 250, and to be part of that, it's an absolute privilege.

I don't know the names of the tanks, but it is awesome just even just being able to see them up close. I've never seen a tank up close, but I was learning that a tank over here in front of me is 73,000 pounds, and it's just awesome to see how there's men and women that are dedicated to serve our country. Just enjoy your family today, you know, enjoy your family, enjoy music, and just enjoy life, and God bless America.

Every day, El Paso County works to improve the quality of life for our residents. Sometimes that work happens here at home. Sometimes it takes us across Texas, across the nation, and around the world. County leaders advocate for infrastructure, public safety, veteran services, transportation, and mental health priorities important to our residents. Through legislative meetings, funding requests, and various policy discussions, your county is working to ensure El Paso's voice is heard. Strong partnerships help bring resources, expertise, and opportunities back to El Paso County. Through collaborative efforts with our state and federal partners, our position on critical matters can be shared and heard by those making decisions at the highest levels. Participation in organizations such as the National Association of Counties, Texas Association of Counties, and other professional networks also allows county leaders to learn from successful programs across the country and bring innovative ideas back home. El Paso County's commitment to economic growth extends far beyond our borders. Throughout the year, elected officials and staff travel across Texas, the United States, and internationally to promote El Paso as a premier destination for business investment and expansion. These efforts allow us to build relationships with industry leaders, showcase our region's unique advantages, and compete for new jobs and economic opportunities. The true measure of success is not where we travel to, but what we brought home. At the midpoint of 2026, our grant portfolio remained strong and productive. To date, we have applied for a total of 50 funding opportunities, with 21 awards secured, resulting in more than $15.6 million in grant funding awarded. Every trip represents one purpose, serving the people of El Paso County. Whether advocating in Austin, collaborating in Washington, or building partnerships across borders, our mission remains the same, creating opportunities, delivering services, and building a stronger future for our community.

Thank you.

Hola, El Paso! June marked the official start of summer and El Paso County was hot with activities all month long and just in time for a huge 4th of July celebration. We all know this time of the year can be very hot for our county residents. In June, the county opened their cooling centers for residents to seek relief from the heat. The centers are located at the Agua Dulce, Fabens, Canutillo, and Lafayette-Montana Vista Community Centers. They are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents have a place to cool off in an air-conditioned space, drink water, and enjoy some indoor activities while they stay out of the desert sun. The county's park bond projects are making progress from one end of the county to the other. On the eastern part of the county, work is almost complete at Agua Dulce Park as finishing touches are being put in place. Residents will have new amenities to look forward to including a new paved walking path. Then, on the western part of the county, work continues at Westway Park with repairs to the rock walls, walking trail installation, and new lighting is being put in place. The county is committed to completing all voter approved bond projects on time and on budget. Azcárate Park is El Paso's gem, and during our third park bond meeting, residents received an update on feedback that was gathered during the first two meetings including survey results, key themes, and community priorities that have helped to shape the project. Residents had the chance to review draft concepts regarding park improvements and learn about the anticipated benefits for park users and the surrounding community. In July, the community is encouraged to participate in weekly informational sessions regarding the park's duck pond. These sessions will be held every Wednesday in July at 6 p.m. at the Escada de Parque Pavilion. If you have an interest in what happens to the duck pond, you don't want to miss one of these meetings. The county kicked off their budget information sessions in June. The county is encouraging residents to take an active role in shaping the county's fiscal year 2027 budget by attending one of several community budget outreach sessions scheduled throughout the county. These meetings provide an opportunity for community members to share priorities, voice concerns, and offer input on services and programs that impact their neighborhoods. Feedback gathered during these outreach sessions will help county leadership better understand community needs and ensure that budget decisions reflect the priorities of El Paso County residents. El Paso County, in partnership with the El Paso Zoo and the Botanical Gardens, unveiled its newest AI-powered tourist kiosk. The kiosk is the newest addition to El Paso County's tourist kiosk program, an initiative designed to connect residents and visitors with attractions, cultural destinations, outdoor activities, and historical sites throughout El Paso County. The El Paso Zoo installation marks the first tourist kiosk partnership between El Paso County and a local attraction. The kiosk features a bilingual AI-powered interface with touch and voice navigation, helping visitors discover local attractions, museums, outdoor activities, the mission trail, and nearby points of interest. Come check it out! Our nation is 250 years old and El Paso County is ready for the celebration. The County, in partnership with Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division, hosted a patriotic and festive event at Azcárate Park to include military vehicles on display, a band performance by the 1st Armored Division Band, picnic party, food trucks, swimming at the pool, and of course an awesome fireworks display for residents to take in. The County even commemorated our nation's 250th birthday with a customized coin that were distributed at the park. In partnership with the County's Historical Commission, the coin design celebrates the 250 years of our nation's endurance and freedom. In the Montana Vista area, our County Public Works team initiated a campaign to clean up the area from fireworks debris. The County established trash drop-off zones and even made trash bags available to residents to use for post-firework celebration. The El Paso County Sheriff's and Emergency Services Districts were out in full force to ensure residents had a safe and happy 4th of July. Thanks for watching this month's Packed County Connects. Stay tuned and make sure to stay cool and stay connected with El Paso County.

Come on.

So today we are at Azcárate Park where we are celebrating the 4th of July. Of course, we all know this is a very special year because it's America's 250th birthday. So we're really excited that we can provide this opportunity, this public celebration for our community. And we gave away 250 commemorative coins that were specially designed for the County of El Paso by the El Paso County Historical Commission. We're really glad that we see so many families out here enjoying themselves, getting ready for the big fireworks display.

I can't even tell you, the emotion is unbelievable to see what's happening now and see that we're celebrating 250 years at a park that is so iconic to El Paso. And then on top of that, having a partnership with Ford Bliss. If we're celebrating 250 years, that's because of what veterans did for our country. They died for our country, they served our country, and here we are.

I think the kids are really enjoying seeing the tanks out there that Fort Bliss was able to bring to Azcárate Park. And I think what makes the experience really special is talking to some of the soldiers who manned those tanks. So we're really grateful to Fort Bliss for their collaboration. We hope that we can count on them to join us every single year at our Fourth of July celebration.

You know, it's awesome being a part of an event like this, especially 250 years, a lot of heritage, a lot of history behind it, and actually being able to wear this uniform and say I was here at 250 and to be part of that, it's an absolute privilege.

I don't know the names of the tanks, but it is awesome just even just being able to see them up close. I've never seen a tank up close, but I was learning that a tank over here in front of me is 73,000 pounds, and it's just awesome to see how there's men and women that are dedicated to serve our country. Just enjoy your family today, you know, enjoy your family, enjoy music, and just enjoy life, and God bless America.

Every day, El Paso County works to improve the quality of life for our residents. Sometimes that work happens here at home. Sometimes it takes us across Texas, across the nation, and around the world. County leaders advocate for infrastructure, public safety, veteran services, transportation, and mental health priorities important to our residents. Through legislative meetings, funding requests, and various policy discussions, your county is working to ensure El Paso's voice is heard. Strong partnerships help bring resources, expertise, and opportunities back to El Paso County. Through collaborative efforts with our state and federal partners, our position on critical matters can be shared and heard by those making decisions at the highest levels. Participation in organizations such as the National Association of Counties, Texas Association of Counties, and other professional networks also allows county leaders to learn from successful programs across the country and bring innovative ideas back home. El Paso County's commitment to economic growth extends far beyond our borders. Throughout the year, elected officials and staff travel across Texas, the United States, and internationally to promote El Paso as a premier destination for business investment and expansion. These efforts allow us to build relationships with industry leaders, showcase our region's unique advantages, and compete for new jobs and economic opportunities. The true measure of success is not where we travel to, but what we brought home. At the midpoint of 2026, our grant portfolio remained strong and productive. To date, we have applied for a total of 50 funding opportunities, with 21 awards secured, resulting in more than $15.6 million in grant funding awarded. Every trip represents one purpose, serving the people of El Paso County. Whether advocating in Austin, collaborating in Washington, or building partnerships across borders, our mission remains the same, creating opportunities, delivering services, and building a stronger future for our community.

Thank you.

Hola, El Paso! June marked the official start of summer and El Paso County was hot with activities all month long and just in time for a huge 4th of July celebration. We all know this time of the year can be very hot for our county residents. In June, the county opened their cooling centers for residents to seek relief from the heat. The centers are located at the Agua Dulce, Fabens, Canutillo, and Lafayette-Montana Vista Community Centers. They are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents have a place to cool off in an air-conditioned space, drink water, and enjoy some indoor activities while they stay out of the desert sun. The county's park bond projects are making progress from one end of the county to the other. On the eastern part of the county, work is almost complete at Agua Dulce Park as finishing touches are being put in place. Residents will have new amenities to look forward to including a new paved walking path. Then, on the western part of the county, work continues at Westway Park with repairs to the rock walls, walking trail installation, and new lighting is being put in place. The county is committed to completing all voter-approved bond projects on time and on budget. Azcárate Park is El Paso's gem, and during our third park bond meeting, residents received an update on feedback that was gathered during the first two meetings, including survey results, key themes, and community priorities that have helped to shape the project. Residents had the chance to review draft concepts regarding park improvements and learn about the anticipated benefits for park users and the surrounding community. In July, the community is encouraged to participate in weekly informational sessions regarding the park's duck pond. These sessions will be held every Wednesday in July at 6 p.m. at the Escada de Parque Pavilion. If you have an interest in what happens to the duck pond, you don't want to miss one of these meetings. The county kicked off their budget information sessions in June. The county is encouraging residents to take an active role in shaping the county's fiscal year 2027 budget by attending one of several community budget outreach sessions scheduled throughout the county. These meetings provide an opportunity for community members to share priorities, voice concerns, and offer input on services and programs that impact their neighborhoods. Feedback gathered during these outreach sessions will help county leadership better understand community needs and ensure that budget decisions reflect the priorities of El Paso County residents. El Paso County, in partnership with the El Paso Zoo and the Botanical Gardens, unveiled its newest AI powered tourist kiosk. The kiosk is the newest addition to El Paso County's tourist kiosk program, an initiative designed to connect residents and visitors with attractions, cultural destinations, outdoor activities, and historical sites throughout El Paso County. The El Paso Zoo installation marks the first tourist kiosk partnership between El Paso County and a local attraction. The kiosk features a bilingual AI-powered interface with touch and voice navigation, helping visitors discover local attractions, museums, outdoor activities, the mission trail, and nearby points of interest. Come check it out! Our nation is 250 years old, and El Paso County is ready for the celebration. The County, in partnership with Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division, hosted a patriotic and festive event at Azcárate Park to include military vehicles on display, a band performance by the 1st Armored Division Band, picnic party, food trucks, swimming at the pool, and of course an awesome fireworks display for residents to take in. The County even commemorated our nation's 250th birthday with a customized coin that were distributed at the park. In partnership with the County's Historical Commission, the coin design celebrates the 250 years of our nation's endurance and freedom. In the Montana Vista area, our County Public Works team initiated a campaign to clean up the area from fireworks debris. The County established trash drop-off zones and even made trash bags available to residents to use for post-firework celebration. The El Paso County Sheriff's and Emergency Services Districts were out in full force to ensure residents had a safe and happy 4th of July. Thanks for watching this month's Packed County Connects. Stay tuned and make sure to stay cool and stay connected with El Paso County.

Come on.

So today we are at Azcárate Park where we are celebrating the 4th of July. Of course, we all know this is a very special year because it's America's 250th birthday. So we're really excited that we can provide this opportunity, this public celebration for our community. And we gave away 250 commemorative coins that were specially designed for the County of El Paso by the El Paso County Historical Commission. We're really glad that we see so many families out here enjoying themselves, getting ready for the big fireworks display.

I can't even tell you, the emotion is unbelievable to see what's happening now and see that we're celebrating 250 years at a park that is so iconic to El Paso. And then on top of that, having a partnership with Ford Bliss. If we're celebrating 250 years, that's because of what veterans did for our country. They died for our country, they served our country, and here we are.

I think the kids are really enjoying seeing the tanks out there that Fort Bliss was able to bring to Azcárate Park. And I think what makes the experience really special is talking to some of the soldiers who manned those tanks. So we're really grateful to Fort Bliss for their collaboration. We hope that we can count on them to join us every single year at our Fourth of July celebration.

You know, it's awesome being a part of an event like this, especially 250 years, a lot of heritage, a lot of history behind it, and actually being able to wear this uniform and say I was here at 250, and to be part of that, it's an absolute privilege.

I don't know the names of the tanks, but it is awesome just even just being able to see them up close. I've never seen a tank up close, but I was learning that a tank over here in front of me is 73,000 pounds, and it's just awesome to see how there's men and women that are dedicated to serve our country. Just enjoy your family today, you know, enjoy your family, enjoy music, and just enjoy life, and God bless America.

Every day, El Paso County works to improve the quality of life for our residents. Sometimes that work happens here at home. Sometimes it takes us across Texas, across the nation, and around the world. County leaders advocate for infrastructure, public safety, veteran services, transportation, and mental health priorities important to our residents. Through legislative meetings, funding requests, and various policy discussions, your county is working to ensure El Paso's voice is heard. Strong partnerships help bring resources, expertise, and opportunities back to El Paso County. Through collaborative efforts with our state and federal partners, our position on critical matters can be shared and heard by those making decisions at the highest levels. Participation in organizations such as the National Association of Counties, Texas Association of Counties, and other professional networks also allows county leaders to learn from successful programs across the country and bring innovative ideas back home. El Paso County's commitment to economic growth extends far beyond our borders. Throughout the year, elected officials and staff travel across Texas, the United States, and internationally to promote El Paso as a premier destination for business investment and expansion. These efforts allow us to build relationships with industry leaders, showcase our region's unique advantages, and compete for new jobs and economic opportunities. The true measure of success is not where we travel to, but what we brought home. At the midpoint of 2026, our grant portfolio remained strong and productive. To date, we have applied for a total of 50 funding opportunities, with 21 awards secured, resulting in more than $15.6 million in grant funding awarded. Every trip represents one purpose, serving the people of El Paso County. Whether advocating in Austin, collaborating in Washington, or building partnerships across borders, our mission remains the same, creating opportunities, delivering services, and building a stronger future for our community. Hola, El Paso! June marked the official start of summer and El Paso County was hot with activities all month long and just in time for a huge 4th of July celebration. We all know this time of the year can be very hot for our county residents. In June, the county opened their cooling centers for residents to seek relief from the heat. The centers are located at the Agua Dulce, Fabens, Canutillo, and La Fe, Montana Vista community centers. They are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents have a place to cool off in an air-conditioned space, drink water, and enjoy some indoor activities while they stay out of the desert sun. The county's park bond projects are making progress from one end of the county to the other. On the eastern part of the county, work is almost complete at Agua Dulce Park as finishing touches are being put in place. Residents will have new amenities to look forward to including a new paved walking path. Then, on the western part of the county, work continues at Westway Park with repairs to the rock walls, walking trail installation, and new lighting is being put in place. The county is committed to completing all voter-approved bond projects on time and on budget. Azcárate Park is El Paso's gem, and during our third park bond meeting, residents received an update on feedback that was gathered during the first two meetings, including survey results, key themes, and community priorities that have helped to shape the project. Residents had the chance to review draft concepts regarding park improvements and learn about the anticipated benefits for park users and the surrounding community. In July, the community is encouraged to participate in weekly informational sessions regarding the park's duck pond. These sessions will be held every Wednesday in July at 6 p.m. at the Escada de Parque Pavilion. If you have an interest in what happens to the duck pond, you don't want to miss one of these meetings. The county kicked off their budget information sessions in June. The county is encouraging residents to take an active role in shaping the county's fiscal year 2027 budget by attending one of several community budget outreach sessions scheduled throughout the county. These meetings provide an opportunity for community members to share priorities, voice concerns, and offer input on services and programs that impact their neighborhoods. Feedback gathered during these outreach sessions will help county leadership better understand community needs and ensure that budget decisions reflect the priorities of El Paso County residents. El Paso County, in partnership with the El Paso Zoo and the Botanical Gardens, unveiled its newest AI powered tourist kiosk. The kiosk is the newest addition to El Paso County's tourist kiosk program, an initiative designed to connect residents and visitors with attractions, cultural destinations, outdoor activities, and historical sites throughout El Paso County. The El Paso Zoo installation marks the first tourist kiosk partnership between El Paso County and a local attraction. The kiosk features a bilingual AI-powered interface with touch and voice navigation, helping visitors discover local attractions, museums, outdoor activities, the mission trail, and nearby points of interest. Come check it out! Our nation is 250 years old, and El Paso County is ready for the celebration. The County, in partnership with Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division, hosted a patriotic and festive event at Azcárate Park to include military vehicles on display, a band performance by the 1st Armored Division Band, picnic party, food trucks, swimming at the pool, and of course an awesome fireworks display for residents to take in. The county even commemorated our nation's 250th birthday with a customized coin that were distributed at the park. In partnership with the county's historical commission, the coin design celebrates the 250 years of our nation's endurance and freedom. In the Montana Vista area, our County Public Works team initiated a campaign to clean up the area from fireworks debris. The County established trash drop-off zones and even made trash bags available to residents to use for post-firework celebration. The El Paso County Sheriff's and Emergency Services Districts were out in full force to ensure residents had a safe and happy 4th of July. Thanks for watching this month's Packed County Connects. Stay tuned and make sure to stay cool and stay connected with El Paso County.

Hey. Good morning!

So today we are at Azcárate Park where we are celebrating the 4th of July. Of course, we all know this is a very special year because it's America's 250th birthday. So we're really excited that we can provide this opportunity, this public celebration for our community. And we gave away 250 commemorative coins that were specially designed for the County of El Paso by the El Paso County Historical Commission. We're really glad that we see so many families out here enjoying themselves, getting ready for the big fireworks display.

I can't even tell you, the emotion is unbelievable to see what's happening now and see that we're celebrating 250 years at a park that is so iconic to El Paso. And then on top of that, having a partnership with Ford Bliss. If we're celebrating 250 years, that's because of what veterans did for our country. They died for our country, they served our country, and here we are.

I think the kids are really enjoying seeing the tanks out there that Fort Bliss was able to bring to Azcárate Park. And I think what makes the experience really special is talking to some of the soldiers who manned those tanks. So we're really grateful to Fort Bliss for their collaboration. We hope that we can count on them to join us every single year at our Fourth of July celebration.

You know, it's awesome being a part of an event like this, especially 250 years, a lot of heritage, a lot of history behind it, and actually being able to wear this uniform and say I was here at 250, and to be part of that, it's an absolute privilege.

I don't know the names of the tanks, but it is awesome just even just being able to see it up close. I've never seen a tank up close, but I was learning that a tank over here in front of me is 73,000 pounds, and it's just awesome to see how there's men and women that are dedicated to serve our country. Just enjoy your family today, you know, enjoy your family, enjoy music, and just enjoy life, and God bless America.

Go ahead. Commissioner's Court has reconvened into regular open session. It is 1.44 p.m. We are on item number six, public comment. Judge, we have several speakers this afternoon for public comment. We have Patricia Juarez to start with. And after Ms. Juarez, we'll have Jacqueline Horn. If we can have Patricia Juarez come up to the podium, please. Patricia Juarez, no. Do we have Jacqueline Horn in the audience? Okay.

How you guys doing? Good afternoon, Judge.

Just before you begin, I'd just like to remind everybody that public comment is limited to five minutes. Everybody will be timed. Thank you.

Thank you so much. It won't be too long. We're here to speak about the pond that we heard you guys are debating whether to move or not. I want to tell you guys a little bit about myself. I'm Jacqueline Horn. I come from California. What brought me here is the military. We just bought a house here to retire back in November. We love, love the community here. Big homeschoolers, so homeschooling community here is amazing. We love the mountains. A lot of people complain about the heat, but you know, there's other places that we can travel, thank God. And you know what, actually, I want to say thank you, God, for having us all here. God makes no mistakes in our leadership. Whether we agree with you guys on everything or not, I do believe that he has you guys in this place for a reason. So I just want to thank God for that. As you guys know, there are not a lot of body of waters at our park. I live in the east side, and we're homeschoolers, like I said, and we travel to Azcarate Park. Come here, baby.

I apologize.

Alice, can you help us? Come on, we have to stay over here, baby. As you can see, I did have to bring my children with me today. Come on, papas. So I'll keep it short. This is a very... community spot that we go to like i said there are and there are a lot of ducks there i am worried about our animal situation here i'm sure you guys are aware our shelters are full i am also an independent rescuer here we've been here for almost four years i think we've picked up about 300 animals since we've been here we are very involved with the community So I'm very worried about these ducks. They are domesticated ducks. There are a lot of people that actually go dump the ducks there. They have no natural food that they can eat off of, so they do rely on us so that we can rely on them with our ecosystem, right? Very important, and I'm sure that you guys are aware of the META Center, which I don't want to make it our focus, but I do want to say there is a lot of our water being given away to corporations over the people's interests, and that's very disheartening. We are huge on preserving our nature, preserving what God put here, our land, our water. Judge, our water. It is so important. We're in the desert. Like I said, California, they do a lot of stuff that we don't agree with, but they have a lot of water to pull from. We're in the desert. I really feel like we need to get together and think about our resource that we're just giving away. giving away to corporations that they're not going to think about how this will impact us, how this will impact our children in the future. Like I said, we've decided to retire here. We love the community here. We feel like you guys do hear us. I know there is a lot of negativity out there. Like somebody said before, nobody has an idea of what it is to stand in your position. So today we humbly ask you guys to reconsider. Please keep our water for us. We're already gonna give away 1.5 million gallons a day to the medicine centers. That's more than all our education, like all of our schools put together what they use. I'm sure you guys are aware of the numbers. We have to start paying attention to protecting what is already here. Please, we humbly ask you guys to reconsider. Do not close this pond down. It's the only body of water that we have. Like I said, we're in the east side and we travel to here. We travel because we love it. Our kids love it. We love seeing the ducks. We love seeing the fish. We love seeing the community get together. This is like a monumental park for us. You know, I've only been here a short four years, and there is still community in El Paso. We still have faith in you guys. We still have faith in our leadership. I know that a lot of you guys are leaving, what, in a year or two, right, from my understanding. Don't leave this decision to the future. Make the decision to protect us today. Please, I ask you guys to reconsider this. That said, I'm not sure where my time is. That's really all I wanted to say. Oh, one more thing. One of our rescuers, I think the only rescuer, if I'm not misunderstanding, the Second Chance Wildlife, the rescue. I'm not sure if you guys are aware of them. A lot of the animals that don't make it in the shelter, they are pushed out to this organization, the only rescue that we have here. I do want to say, you know, mentioning that we're retired, we have over 40, 55,000 actually, I think, retirees here. There's a reason for that. There's a reason why we choose to stay here. Please, really reconsider this. Protect our water, Judge. Protect our water, Coronado. You know, all of you, you guys have such a power, such a power right now. Please stand with the people. Do not let them take all of our water. And that's all for today. I appreciate you guys' time. And I know there's a few supporters. A lot of us couldn't come. Like I said, homeschoolers, military. Just imagine, you know, 500 people to the left with homeschoolers, 500 people to the right with military. We're all against this. You know, I'm sure you guys are aware of FitFam. They did a survey. 30 seconds. Survey. There was over 4,500 people that liked. Please keep it. Only 200 people liked that don't keep it. Take it away. All of us want to keep it. You know, listen to the community. We want to keep our water. It's the only body of water we have. That's it, I appreciate your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Paula Ortiz. Do we have Paula Ortiz in the audience? Okay, we will continue with Claudia Contreras Siler.

Hello, good afternoon. I want to read a Bible verse. For everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Luke 12, 48. I'm here to advocate for the duck pond. It was very hard to get in this mic. We arrived at 830. Five hours later, we're barely speaking. So Feed Farm conducted a survey. On July 18, they said for us to vote, so for keeping it, it's 4,623, and against keeping the duck pond, it's 291. Yesterday, I spoke with the only Her name is Josie Caram from Second Chance Wildlife. Her number is 915-920-7867. I'm sorry, 7867, yes. So she told me to advocate for her. She cannot be here waiting four or five hours to speak five minutes. So she's the one that takes the wildlife to care whenever it's removed from animal services. She told me the ducks that are in the pond are domesticated. People go and dump the ducks. and they don't know how to fly. So she told me if they remove the dog pond, those dogs are gonna be euthanized. And that's my main focus, and that's why I'm here. I'm a regular at City Hall, and they know I'm the strongest animal advocate because I team up with animal services. I don't attack animal services. So we are humans, we are consumers, We don't import anything. The ecosystem imports life, even if it's a very small ecosystem. The ducks do not harm the ecosystem. I've heard in the community meetings that you guys don't want us to feed the ducks and I just wanna make sure that the information that is gathered in the community meetings is properly presented here. I watched a video and the guy presenting this plan, he's saying that the families are for removing the duck pond and that's false. And also, I want to add that Juana Maria Azcárate García was my great-great-grandma. She was the cousin of my great-grandma, Otilia Ángeles García, who was also a family member for Felipe Ángeles. You can know who he was from Mexico. I attended three community meetings, absolutely everybody is against removing the duck pond, absolutely everybody. The fishermen are going there, they're advocating for the water, and I don't know why it's not being addressed. If we have this sentiment of not being heard, I think it's a communications issue that you guys have to address, hey, we're not gonna remove it so we can rest. Also, I know a lot of soccer players, they don't want another soccer field. This Azcárate Park, it's in a low-income community. It's in the hood, you know? And I'm here representing them. Right now, I have over 200 signatures to preserve the pond. I think it's enough to come in here and represent it, you know? Everybody's against it. Please, whenever you guys do this community outreaches, make sure the entire city knows what's gonna happen. I am District 6, 79936. I take my mom to the Azcárate Park. She has Parkinson's and that's, you know, like our recreation. Please, whenever you guys wanna do a decision, go out there and talk to the families there, please. Also, I think it should be easier for us to speak in this mic. And I wanna tell the community to come and sign up to speak so you can have your voice heard. And I just wanna prevent that a contract is signed and we cannot go back just like with Meta.

30 seconds.

Please take into consideration also, there's a lot of animal cruelty in the park. They dump the animals, and I am aware there's a police officer there, but we need more security for him to be patrolling. And the last seconds, I want to thank you everybody, especially our first responders, and God bless El Paso, Texas. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Henry Aguilar. Do we have Henry Aguilar in the audience?

I think he may have switched to go to phone.

We have actually, we have Sergio Tarango for phone. Do we have him online? Stand by. Sergio, are you on the phone?

MR. TARANGO, ARE YOU ON THE PHONE?

MR. TARANGO, ARE YOU ON THE PHONE?

He's not responding.

We can continue with Saul Gonzalez.

Hi, good afternoon, buenas tardes. It's been a long morning. So I wanna start, my name's Saul Gonzalez. I'm an organizer with Sembrando Esperanza. I'm here to talk about item E from executive session, and I want to start by expressing my gratitude to this court for voting unanimously to move forward with this request, especially to Commissioner David Stout for leading these efforts alongside with State Representative Vince Perez. As you know, Sembrando Esperanza is a coalition of neighborhoods fighting for economic and environmental injustices throughout the city and the county of El Paso. The refinery has been one of our major concerns because our members are among those most affected by the refinery's pollution. The refinery is also contributing to young families living in the neighborhood. I leave... For your name and reason for calling. I'm sorry. I live near Tuscarata Park, a little over a mile southeast from the refinery, and almost every day I can see the pollution coming from this facility. As I drive home, I often smell something really strong in the air, and sometimes you can feel it in the air. This body has the responsibility to protect our environment and public health, and I believe today's action is a step in the right direction. Since 1928, the refinery has not been held to account with a contested air permit. Our community deserves transparency, accountability, and strong enforcement whenever industrial or commercial facilities violate environmental regulations. So please continue providing all available resources to your staff to hold Marathon Refinery accountable. I ask you to continue fighting for our environment and for the health of our community. El Paso is already facing pollution from multiple sources, including Union Pacific, El Paso Electric, and now the rapid expansion of large artificial intelligence data centers. Let today's action serve as an example. We should not have to wait only 100 years to demand transparency from industries operating in our community. We must act now to ensure that future projects are held accountable from the very beginning. That is why I also urge this court to address the concerns surrounding META and the proposed AI data center for Fort Bliss. Residents have raised serious questions about water use, air quality, energy demand and affordability and many other issues, yet many of us feel their concerns have not been addressed through meaningful action by this body. These AI data centers will be the refineries of tomorrow if we don't keep them out of our communities. Also, I have not attended any of the meetings about what's happening at Escarate. I'm going to make time to attend the next one. But what we have been seeing is that we, the people, are getting less water. People that have irrigation water rights, they used to get 10 water days. Now they're getting two. They're taking away our water from Azcárate. And Meta will use 2.5 million gallons of water a day. El Paso Electric will use more water because of Meta. So I think we really need to think who owns the water. We the people own the water. And we need to do something about this. I asked this court to do something about Meta. We have not seen any action. meaningful actions from you. The city of El Paso voted to stop incentivizing and recruiting data centers. They created the framework for data centers. And so far this court hasn't done much or anything when it comes to data centers. So I ask you to please put something really short. But thank you for your time.

Did we have Mr. Talango come back on the line? No. No? Okay. Next we have Mr. Pierre-Andre Luzarraga.

Good afternoon. I have another spiel here for you all to follow up on these emails. I'm speaking to the county judge and commissioners. God almighty bless you, my dear fellow American bred, American born, American heterosexual registered voters. El Paso County of the state of Texas. I am Pierre Andre Boye Eusarraga, and I am America's 2028 United States Independent Presidential and Commander in Chief candidate elect of the American Political Party Committee. That's TAPPC. TAPPC and I are approved and authorized by the Federal Election Commission and by the Internal Revenue Service. Now, Are you all Americans familiar with the United States documents, i.e., the United States Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the United States Amendments? Because we can't go back and forth. I'm going to go ahead and assume, because I know who you all are. I know you know, but let me go ahead and test you anyway. How many times does a word or words democracy, democratic, Democrats and or Democrat appear in the United States documents? Zero. So that means the Democratic political party constitutionally and legally has no merit throughout and within the United States government. Now how many times does the word or words republic, republican and or republicans appear in the United States documents? The answer is once, ladies and gentlemen. To confirm and to verify this proof, I would like to read the facts of Article 4, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, which reads as follows, and I quote, The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republic form of government and shall protect each of them against invasion and on application of the legislator or of the executive when the legislator cannot be convened against domestic violence. End quote. Therefore, constitutionally and legally speaking, the United States of America is 100% a republic. However, due to the fact that the Republican political party has the United States and the American people $260 trillion in debts, and due to the fact that the Republican political party has unsafe and unsecure United States midterm elections, I would like to read the following governmental and political facts and statements. i.e. clause three, clause four, and clause five of paragraph two of the United States Declaration of Independence, which reads as follows, and I quote, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, It is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes, and accordingly all experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same object invents a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security." So my dear fellow Americans, it is because of these reasons that are in the United States documents that I, Pierre Andre Boyle Sarraga, have reached out to you, asking you to join the American Political Party Committee as electoral college members so that we can do our duty and install a new government that takes us from $260 trillion in debt to $260 trillion in profit. Now, I'm running out of time, but I'm going to invite you all to perhaps meet me in the lobby before I have registration documents and or to tune into me on Facebook threads and our Instagram to follow up on further constitutional and legal information. that outlines the new government which I am authoring via the American documents, i.e., the American Constitution and the American Proclamation of Independence. That's all for today. God Almighty bless El Paso County of the state of Texas and my dear fellow Americans at home. Thank you.

We have a public comment that was submitted to be read in. I'd like to begin first with Rodolfo Guzman III. He begins, good morning, judge and commissioners. I would like to respectfully ask the court to preserve the Azcárate Duck Pond as a valued part of our community. For generations, the Duck Pond has been a place where families, children, and visitors have been able to enjoy nature, spend time outdoors, and appreciate the wildlife that calls Azcárate Park home. Rather than removing this community treasure, I encourage the county to invest in its preservation and long-term maintenance. I also ask the court to consider installing educational signage on the wildlife that calls Azcárate home and informs visitors about healthy foods that are safe for the ducks and discourages feeding them harmful items such as bread. In addition, the county could explore creating a designated duck feeding station where visitors could purchase or obtain approved duck feed. This would promote responsible interaction with the wildlife while helping support the health of the ducks and the cleanliness of the park. I believe preservation, education, and responsible stewardship can work together to protect both the wildlife and the public's enjoyment of this special place. Thank you for your time and considering these ideas. End of comment. The next comment that we have is from Nicole Gomez. She begins, the duck pond needs to be left alone or improved in increments so that the ducks don't get displaced. As our area is facing the consequences of the data centers we are being saddled with, it is imperative that we preserve these outdoor spaces. The duck pond is beneficial for the ducks, but also the people who enjoy spending time there. Please don't get rid of the duck pond. End of comment. Our next comment is from Linda Connor. She begins, good morning, Judge Samaniego and commissioners. My name is Linda, and I have lived most of my life in El Paso. I am very involved at Vista Hills Christian Church, and one of my favorite personal hobbies is knitting. As a crafter of yarn, I know how significant and unique any piece of knitting is to the knitter. The Bible tells us about another type of knitting that has much more value than any handcraft we could ever make. This work of art is the life in the womb. In Psalm 139, we have these beautiful words of King David. For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. As we honor our nation's 250th birthday this month, there is much to be thankful for. There is also much to grieve. We are a nation that needs to call out to God, not for what we deserve, but for his mercy. In the patriotic song, O Beautiful for Spacious Skies, The third verse reads, O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years, thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears. This is not the America of today. In reality, America of 2026 is a nation whose cities are full of bloodshed. America, your alabaster cities do not gleam undimmed by human tears. Instead, the cries of your cities have reached the ears of a holy God in heaven. The silent screams of unborn at the abortion centers of our nation are heard every single day by their Creator. Yet the precious promise of the Lord stands to all who, by His grace, would repent and turn to Christ. Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 118. The psalmist David proclaims to God, I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. That is why we must respect life in the womb. Thank you for the opportunity to share. End of comment. And our final speaker this afternoon is Commissioner Sergio Coronado.

Thank you, Judge and Commissioners. I just want to, Judge, give a shout out. We had our second annual Barks, Branches, and Bookworms event community fair, resource fair at Gallegos Park. And I just wanted to thank our intern, Layla, for having organized this event out there. We had a great turnout. And I especially want to thank the Sheriff's Department because what we did different this year is we had people line up in their vehicles to go out because we knew it was gonna be hot and we started early at seven in the morning. And so we had a great line of people and I wanna thank the Sheriff's Department for having organized and make sure that the traffic flowed smoothly. You can see by some of these pictures the people that showed up and this is our Criminal Justice Coordination Department here, especially our Promise Program people. And so I wanna thank the El Paso County Animal Welfare Department Again, the County Sheriff's Department, our County Parks Department, the County Criminal Justice Coordination Department, the County Community Services Department, and I also want to thank the City of El Paso's Animal Service who also showed up to provide services and information, the El Paso Public Library, the Paso del Norte Center of Hope, the Downtown Deck Plaza Foundation, the Consulate General of Mexico, and El Paso Community College. We also had some resource information from the office of Congresswoman Veronica Escobar and from the El Paso County Office of New Americans. It was a great success. And so people lined up, got free vaccinations and microchips for their pets, and everything went really smooth. And since we started early, we knew it was going to get hot. By 10.30, we were done. So great event. Thanks to everybody. Thank you, Judge.

Do we have anybody else in the audience that would like to speak in public comment? Hearing none, this completes public comment. Item number 8A from County Administration. Receive a project update from the University of Texas at El Paso and City of El Paso regarding the Build Back Better Advanced Manufacturing Economic Development Initiative.

Judge, Commissioners, we'd like to delete this item. We will bring it back in the next few weeks.

Do we have a motion to delete? Thank you, Judge. Thank you, Commissioner Holguin. We have a motion from Judge Samaniego, a second from Commissioner Holguin. The voting is open.

Mine's not coming up. I vote aye.

Thank you. Commissioner Holguin? Thank you. Commissioner Butler?

Aye.

Thank you. Judge Samaniego?

Aye.

Thank you, sir. Motion carries. Item number 8B, approve and authorize the Veterans Advisory Board to send a letter in support of full state funding through the Texas Comptroller's Office of Reimbursements for property tax exemptions granted to veterans rated 100% disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and further authorize the Veterans Advisory Board to share a copy of the template letter to veteran service organizations and other veterans advocacy organizations for their independent consideration and any action they deem appropriate.

Good afternoon, judging commissioners. It's been a long morning, but we're here. And I brought a few friends with me. So this item, the VAB has been working on for a few months. We're happy to finally get it here to you for your consideration. And with that, I'll invite Mike Barnes, our chair of the Veterans Advisory Board, up to speak.

Welcome, Mike. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Judge, Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the El Paso County Veterans Advisory Board. For the record, my name is Mike Barnes. I'm the Chair of the Veterans Advisory Board. Joining me today is David Porras, this good-looking gentleman right here, the Vice Chair of the Board, Tony Hump from the El Paso County Veterans Office, and our new appointee, Diane Vega. Together, we are here to present a recommendation that supports both our disabled veterans and the long-term physical health of El Paso County. Before discussing our recommendation, I'd like to thank this court for its continued commitment to our veterans, our military families, and the organizations that serve them. Your leadership has helped make El Paso County one of the most veteran-supportive communities in Texas. I did some research. It's actually, we're the fifth best in the United States, so thank you for your support. I also want to recognize today Toni Hunt and her team for the Veterans Service Office, along with Betsy Keller and her team, especially Michelle Cochran, who keeps us straight and yells at us a lot, but we deserve it, for their amazing support to the Veteran Advisory Board, as well as Christina in the County Attorney's Office, the professionals there like, please do not tell them, Anthony Martinez, all right, and his amazing legal support to the Veterans Advisory Board. for the El Paso County. And of course, Alexa and the whole IT team back there. When us old veterans get into a staring contest with technology, he continually bails us out. So thank you guys over there in the back. As a veteran who has proudly served this great nation for many, many years, I understand the importance of honoring those who served while also ensuring our local governments remain fiscally strong. Those responsibilities can go hand in hand. The Veteran Advisory Board fully supports property tax exempt for veterans who are rated 100% disabled by the Department of Veteran Affairs. This is an earned benefit that provides financial stability for veterans living with severe service-connected disabilities. while allowing many to remain in the homes and the communities that they really love. Our goal is to ensure that the earned benefit is funded as a legislator intended, not by shifting financial burden to local taxpayers, like my 92-year-old neighbor, Ms. Connie, or our fellow veterans who do not qualify for this exemption. But by fully funding this reimbursement program under Texas Local Government Code Section 140.011, the state can honor its commitment to disabled veterans while protecting the taxpayers and the local governments who serve them. For El Paso County, which serves one of the largest veteran populations in Texas, the county has historically received less than 20% of the reimbursement which is eligible. As more veterans qualify for this exemption, the funding gap will continue to grow. This is not about reducing veteran benefits. It's about ensuring the state fully funds the commitment it has already made, allowing counties to continue providing essential services while honoring our disabled veterans. The Veterans Advisory Board continues to work alongside Outstanding leaders such as Luther Jones from the city of El Paso, Michelle Crittenton, who's here today from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Celia Torres and David Garcia from the American Legion and the DAV, and many other veteran service organizations and community partners to build a unified voice in support of this effort. As we reach out to our local communities, a special thanks to Precinct 1, second to none, for as we prepare to coordinate with the VA, the county attorney's office, and the VSO for our first PACT Act. That's where we're going to extend out into our unincorporated areas as part of our outreach program. I ask who's here today, please stand and state your name and organization that are here to support this. We have folks here today.

Good morning, Judge and County Commissioners. I am Michelle Cridnan with the VFW and I'm glad to be here to support this act.

Good afternoon, judge and commissioners. Nice to see you guys again. Five minutes? Okay, good. DAV at the State Department, we fully support any legislations pertaining to the 100% tax exemption. This not only cover El Paso County, and I appreciate the efforts that the VAB has committed to support this so they can fully fund the program. I think when our state capped it at 19 million, it was not fair that a lot of largest veteran communities or counties within the state itself, which we're in the top 10, but if you look at it, we're at the level of three with the most veterans living in the area. I think our legislators, I think the veteran community itself needs to bring this to our state legislators because they're the ones that put the cap on this program. So hopefully next month we have a roundtable with our state legislators and we're going to bring this up to them. I think they need to fully fund this program and eliminate the cap that they put on it It's not fair. Every time the county or the city tries to apply for it, well, guess what? You get crumbs. $19 million is not going to cover 254 counties, whoever's eligible for this program. It's not going to happen. So DAV at the state level and here, we support whatever letter that we need to send. to our state legislator in this process of legislation that is going on now. That's why on the 14th of August, we have a round table with our state legislators. And I think it's time for our veterans to let our voices be heard and hold them accountable But we're also here. It ain't what you can do for us. I always say this. It's what we can do for you. And that's what the veteran organizations hopefully do. We're willing to write a letter to support whatever the county is going to do, like we did before. Thank you and God bless. Thank you, Dewey.

Good afternoon, Judge and Commissioners. My name is David Porras and I'm also here representing American Legion Post 36 in support of this effort. So thank you very much for your leadership and we continue to work with you. Thank you.

Thank you, David. One organization's voice can make a difference. But when veterans, local governments, and community partners speak with one voice, that message becomes much more powerful. By standing together and encouraging our veteran organizations to elevate this issue through the state and national leadership, we can build the momentum needed to encourage the Texas legislator to fully fund this reimbursement program. Today, we respectfully ask the court to support the efforts urging the Texas legislator and Texas comptroller to fund the reimbursement program fully and to authorize and letter from El Paso County encouraging our local veterans service organizations and community partners to advocate for this issue through their state and national leadership. Together we can protect and earn benefit for our disabled veterans while ensuring El Paso County has the resources needed to serve all residents. Judge, commissioners, thank you for your continued leadership and steadfast support of the veterans and military families of El Paso. because this is why we are the veterans capital of the USA. I appreciate your time and David would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. We are here to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

My only question is since this is already on our legislative agenda, would the court then today be authorizing the letter that is included in the backup, correct?

And this letter will be passed, again, to our fellow veteran organizations to take up to their levels of leadership, both national and state levels.

Thank you very much for the presentation.

Sorry. No, you're good.

I just want to say I appreciate the initiative and the understanding that you all have of county funding and our budgets and how strapped we really are for income. And we all want to honor the service of our veterans. And many times we do that by providing tax cuts or tax breaks or exemptions. Yes, thank you. That was the word I was looking for. And I think it's important to continue to try to honor veterans in those ways. However, when the state legislature passes a law and doesn't follow that with funding to make up for the difference that we are going to miss out upon, We either have to reduce our services or find another way to make up that revenue in many times. It's a tax increase and that hurts many people in our community. We have lots of people that are on fixed incomes and here in El Paso even more so because we don't have a lot of corporations. We talk about it all the time. It hurts the residential taxpayer even more every time that we have to talk about increasing revenue through a tax rate increase. And so I'm thankful to you all for taking the initiative and making this a priority for your advisory board.

Mike and Tony and company, thank you. You brought the big guns, veterans of the year. But thank you very much for what you do. No one understands that when I said that we become the veterans capital, It puts a lot of responsibility on us, especially as a role model for the rest of the communities in Texas. So we thank you for that. And I don't know where we could go from at this time.

Yes, sir. We need a motion to authorize the VAB to prepare the letter in support of full state funding through the Texas Comptroller's Office of reimbursements for property tax exemptions granted to veterans rated 100% disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs And we also need the court in that motion to authorize the VAB to share a copy of the template to veteran service organizations and other veteran advocacy organizations for their consideration and any action they deem appropriate.

I'll make that motion.

That was already in the motion that we had.

That was their request, yes. Because they're an advisory board, they can't do that independently. They need the court to approve.

WE ALREADY HAD THE MOTION BY COMMISSIONER BUTLER AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER STOUT. VOTING IS OPEN.

MINE IS NOT COMING UP. I VOTE AYE. JUDGE, I JUST WANT TO MAKE A COMMENT. YOU KNOW, WHEN OUR VETERANS, WHEN THEY SIGN UP, They say send me, and I'm 100% committed to representing the interests of this country. And when y'all come back, our government doesn't seem to do that. I'm glad you guys are taking this up. We're behind you.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Mike. Thank you, Judge. Thank you.

Motion carries.

Bye. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, David.

Item number 9A, purchasing. Rescind the Commissioner's Court Order of June 29, 2026, item number 40 on the Consent Agenda to approve and authorize the purchase of Technology Modernization Project Leasing Equipment for Information Technology Department using the Region 19 Contract 247480 awarded to Spectrum Technologies of El Paso, Texas, and Texas DIR contract, DIR CPO 5792, awarded to Dell Marketing LP, Dell Financial Services LLC of Round Rock, for a grand total of $939,134.05, purchasing approved on May 12th, 2026. Funding is available in General Fund, ITD, Projects, Lease Hardware. further approve and authorize the purchase of technology modernization project leasing equipment 2026 for information technology department using region 19 contract 247480 awarded to spectrum technologies incorporated of el paso texas and Texas DIR contract, DIR CPO 5792, awarded to Dell Marketing LP, Dell Financial Services LLC of Round Rock, for a grand total of $1,282,180.60. Funding is available in General Fund, ITD, Projects, Lease, Hardware.

Good afternoon, Judge. Good afternoon, Commissioners Karen Davidson, your county purchasing agent. This item, it was a lot of words, but it basically is bringing to you a price increase. So when we first brought you this consent item, we brought it to be awarded as a cooperative procurement through Spectrum Technologies for all of the lease of our Dell computers and our Dell technology and infrastructure. At the time, the pricing that we had in our quote was $939,134.05. And unfortunately, when we went in to put in the contract and the implementation, Dell had had a price increase. And so this price increase does come out to $68,609.31 annually. And we fought it as much as we could. We really did try to negotiate it down. Dell is saying that they cannot come down on their pricing due to the global chip shortage, a massive demand spike on AI and a global geopolitical factors that have made them increase their pricing. So just in fair and transparency, this does overall in a five-year contract We still want to make a cooperative purchase and award it upon your approval to Spectrum Technologies for the Dell products that we lease, but the price did go up to $1,282,180 with 60 cents. So we're asking for you to rescind the original award and re-award it for the increased price. And I certainly have ITD on the line if you have any operational questions, but I can answer any of your procurement questions.

anyone questions or no we're fine thank you we have a motion to approve from judge samaniego a second from commissioner stout the voting is open motion carries thank you thank you Item number 9B, approve and authorize the ratification of the purchase of elevator monthly maintenance services and as needed repair parts and related services for El Paso County, Texas using NACO Public Promise Procurement Contract 230122 RFP awarded to Kony Incorporated of Chesapeake City, Maryland Pricing and discounts as identified through cooperative contract and tabulation. Funding is available in various accounts.

Again, for the record, Karen Davidson, your county purchasing agent. We are asking for the approval and authorization, and this is a ratification of the purchase for elevator monthly maintenance and as needed repairs. We did have an incumbent that their non-renewal was on June 17th. In order to keep the continuum of services, which we all know those elevators are important, we did do a cooperative procurement with KONE, but it took us some time to put it into negotiation, so we need to ratify that. So they began servicing the county on June 18th, and this will ratify the approval of that purchase, and this will put us in a NACO public procurement contract contract with KONE for five years. And this will cover the as needed maintenance and as well as the monthly elevator services. You'll see that the Sheriff's Office and facilities will be bringing contracts before you for a signature. But this is a cooperative purchase with KONE. And I can answer any questions you might have on that as well.

We have a motion to approve from Judge Samaniego, a second from Commissioner Holguin. The voting is open.

The computer is down.

I vote aye. Thank you, Commissioner Coronado. Motion carries.

Thank you, Court. Thank you.

Thank you, Karen.

Item number 10A, auditor. Pursuant to the Texas local government code section 114.025, accept the 2025 funds and fees of offices report.

Good afternoon, Commissioners, Judge, Barbara Parker, your county auditor. This is a presentation about the funds and fees report that was issued earlier this year. And I'm going to turn the presentation over to Andrew Crook, who is one of our audit accountants that worked on the report itself. So he's going to do the presentation. Andrew.

Hello, my name's Andrew Crook, and I'm an auditor here with the county, and I'm gonna go ahead and present the funds and fees of office to you all.

Welcome.

This presentation is an overview of the funds and fees of office report. for the county fiscal year 2025, which was accepted by Commissioner's Court on June 27th. The funds and fees of office report for fiscal year ending September 30th, 2025 represents all the financial activity on a cash basis of accounting for various county offices. This funds and fees report is directly linked to the county strategic plan of being a financially sound county government. In today's presentation, I will be reviewing the collections by departments and the allocation of the funds and fees related to the associated courts. We will also be further evaluating this by looking at a five-year trend for these departments and courts. We will then be reviewing the portions of these collections that are collected by the county and distributed to the state. Last, we will be ending off with a review of some major changes that have happened between fiscal year 24 and fiscal year 25. I would also like to point out beforehand that all the dollar amounts that you're gonna see with the graphs have been rounded to thousands. In this slide, we see the overall collections generated by the collecting departments. The departments collect revenue not only for their own operations, but also on behalf of the courts, making them central contributors to total county collections. Overall collections increased by an average of 1.41% from fiscal year 24 to fiscal year 25. The largest contributor to this growth was the county tax office, which increased by approximately $3.0 million. continuing its trend as the county's strongest revenue generating department. On the other hand, the department with the largest decline was the district clerk, which decreased by 1.1 million, representing a 23.32% reduction year over year. This decline contrasts sharply with the increases observed across most other departments. Most other collecting departments show positive movement, including notable increases in the county clerk, county sheriff, justice courts, and financial recovery, all of which contributed to the overall modest upward trend. The next few slides will give a graphical five-year trend for each of the departments. To start off, the chart highlights the trends for the four highest collecting departments, excluding the tax office, which will be shown after this. The most significant decline in the sheriff's office would drop sharply from fiscal year 22 through fiscal year 24. However, in fiscal year 25, collections begin to stabilize, increasing to 9.1 million, up from 7.4 million in 24. The rebound is primarily driven to the rise in the federal inmates housed within our facilities. In fiscal year 25, the sheriff's office housed 76,226 federal inmates compared to 57,751 in fiscal year 24, an increase of 32%. Both the county clerk and justice courts showed steady moderate increases across three-year period. The county clerk rose 11.7 million in fiscal year 24 to 13.2 million in fiscal year 25, while justice courts continued their upward trend from 5.1 million to 6.8 over the same period. The district clerk, in contrast, experienced a slight decline in fiscal year 25, decreasing from 4.6 million to 3.5. This graph highlights the trends for the smaller collecting departments. The most notable change is within financial recovery, which increased from 1.6 million to 2.0 million, representing a 21.56% increase, the largest positive variance among these small departments. The EPC CSCD, which is the Supervision and Corrections, continued its gradual decline, even though it shows a kind of rose a little bit from 2.6 to 2.7. It's primarily due to the pretrial program moving from the criminal justice division, which shifted a portion of the related collections. In addition, fewer individuals are qualifying for the program, further contributing to the downward trend. For the County Tax Office, we separated its data from the other collecting departments due to the significantly larger scale of its collections. As shown in the graph, the County Tax Office has experienced a steady and consistent increase in collections over the past five years, rising from 407.6 million in 2021 to 492.3 million in 2025. Of the 492 million collected in fiscal year 25, 173.6 million represented as state fees and collections, which the county remits as part of its statute of responsibilities. This breakdown highlights the magnitude of state mandated revenue flowing through the office and underscores why the tax office represents the largest portion of total collections. Now, we will be reviewing a comparative summary of the collections allocated to these courts. These amounts are collected by the district clerk, the county clerk, the sheriff's office, and the El Paso County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, and then distributed to the respective courts. The slide shows an increase in collections for both the district courts, which rose by 161K, and the mental health courts, which saw a significant increase of 183.4K. In contrast, there were decreases in county courts, 43.7, probate courts, 10.9K, and the jury duty court, 27.4K. Overall, the courts experienced an average increase of approximately 3% year over year. These amounts represent the collection allocated to each court after being collected by the respective collecting departments. When looking at the five year trend, you can see that the most courts have remained relatively steady in their allocations. However, two areas stand out, the district courts and the mental health courts, both of whom would show noticeable increases over the period. In this table, you can see the state portion of what was collected compared to the total collections of each office. The office with the largest amount of state-related collections is the County Tax Office, with $173.6 million in state fees and payments, representing 35.3% of the total collections. Other offices with a significant share of state collections include the Justice of the Peace Precincts, where 30.7% of their collections are state-related, and the Domestic Relations Office, which has the highest proportion of 69.7 of its total collections being remitted to the state. This graph provides a visual comparison of the state portions collected by each office versus the total collections. The bar on the far right represents the county tax assessor collector, which is displayed on a separate scale simply because the amount of the collection volume. I would also like to point out that beginning in fiscal year 22, due to Senate Bill 41 from the 87th legislative session, a portion of state-related collections began going directly to the state of Texas through their e-filing system. As a result, any new civil, family, or probate cases remitted to the state were no longer reported in our receipt records. Older cases which predate the e-filing transition are still being collected on behalf of the state. As these remaining cases are closed out, the financial recovery division state portion will continue to, to decline over time. We will now be reviewing the major differences, any changes that resulted in a positive or negative variance of more than 100K. Starting with the decreases, then the major increases. These amounts are in whole dollars, not in thousands. The district clerk's fiscal year 2025 funds and fees reflect a total collections decrease of $1.03 million, or 25.23%, compared to fiscal year 2024, driven mainly by significant declines in district clerk fees, records management and preservation, and share fees, which together account for nearly 90% of the reduction. Only bond forfeitures showed a modest increase. The 383rd district clerk decreased by 13.05% from 1.14 million in fiscal year 24 to 987.81K for fiscal year 25. Total family cases decreased from 3,306 to 3,030. I would like to point out there was a typo in my, right here in the table that I ended up putting a comma. on the domestic relations office where it says the DRA decline driven by mainly, it says five nine comma four one K but it's supposed to be five nine point four one. That's my mistake, my apologies. The DRO recline is driven mainly by lower state disbursements, 59.41K, and reduced filing fees, 37.28K. The largest monthly shortfalls occurred in December, April, and June, reflecting lower activity and timing differences in disbursement postings. Overall, fiscal year 25 reflects softer fee activity and reduced disbursement value compared to fiscal year 24. The criminal district court one decreased by 45.27%. The majority of that decrease was with civil fees at 99.27K. The largest civil fees that the decrease was the bond forfeitures and the interest occurred on the forfeited bonds. The increase of 3.1 million, or 62%, in county tax assistance collections is primarily due to an increase in the property tax collections of 9.96 million. In fiscal year 25, our tax rate held steady. The ad valorem taxes breakdown would be current taxes 284.47 million, the delinquent taxes 2.60 million, and penalties and interest at 1.20 million. Vehicle sales taxes controllers decreased by 7.06 million. The sheriff's office dispersed 1.75 million more to the county in fiscal year 25. This is 23.77% more than in fiscal year 24. Again, this increase is almost entirely due to the higher U.S. martial prisoners maintenance revenues which served by nearly 1.87 million. All other categories in that section remain flat or changed modestly. County clerk collections increased 13% year over year to 13.14 million, led by deeds, record management and preservation, and several court course categories, notably probate records, management and preservation, Texas judiciary fund, jury fund, and bond forfeitures. Overall, the profile reflects stronger recording activities and statutory court related assessments, with state pass throughs remaining broadly stable. Now to the smallest increases. County court costs and fees increased solidly in fiscal year 2025 Rising 9.26% over the prior year, the growth was driven mainly by higher fines, which contributed to the largest dollar increase, along with the steady gains in county clerk fees. Courthouse security, records management, and local crime stoppers assessments. Most other county level fees held stable. A 160 district court increase was due to civil collections. This was a primary driver that saw an increase from 115.68K to 225.17K, an increase of 109.49K, 94.65%, driven primarily by the bond forfeitures, which surged from 36.62K in fiscal year 24. to 99.97K in fiscal year 25. Supporting gains came from state consolidated court costs of 5.47K, the clerk fee, 1.70K, and citation issuance by mail, 2.83 combined. The county mental health core number one increased from 60.14K in fiscal year 24 to 167.51K for fiscal year 25 due to the county clerk's collection efforts. This concludes the presentation for the funds and fees. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, sir.

Can I have a motion, please, to accept the report? We have a motion from Judge Samaniego, a second from Commissioner Orguin. The voting is open.

I vote aye.

Thank you, Commissioner Coronado. Commissioner Butler is, or Commissioner Butler, are you online? Okay. Commissioner Butler is absent. Motion carries. Item number 10B, pursuant to Texas government code, title 10, section 2256.023, accept the attached presentation and investment report for the fiscal year 26, third quarter, ended June 30th, 2026.

Good afternoon, judge and commissioners. Barbara Parker, your county auditor. Today's presentation will cover the county investments for the third quarter of fiscal year 26. Investments are made in compliance with the Texas Public Funds Investment Act and fall under strengthening the county's financial health strategic goal. The Public Funds Investment Act is designed to promote prudent and transparent investment practices for Texas public entities. It mandates training, defines eligible investments, and helps safeguard public funds through strict compliance standards. As such, there are two major goals for investing funds. First and foremost, and then following statutory principles, and second, the return on investments. So, the first principle includes safety, meaning that the principle or the original investment amount is preserved. The second is liquidity and how easily the public funds can be accessed if we need them for daily operations. And then diversification is another one of those goals, and that's where we spread our investments over various types of approved assets to reduce risk. The second goal of the return on investment is how much you earn on those investments. And under PFIA, maximizing return is important, but it is always secondary to protecting the public money and ensuring it's available when needed. We continue to maintain short-term investments in treasury and agency securities. In this report, the short-term investments are defined as less than one year until maturity at the time that they're purchased. And the investments and cash are funds that are left in the depository bank or safekeeping account for the county. During the quarter, the county continued short-term and security purchases to further diversify the county's portfolio and ladder out investments. Additionally, more funds have been invested in Texpool Prime and less in cash and Texpool compared to last year. Total investments increased compared to last year by 77.7 million. However, the benchmark effective federal funds rate decreased from 4.33% to 3.63%. And due to these factors, the interest earnings for both last and current year equaled about $4.9 million. So although we had more to invest, the rates were lower and we earned about the same amount. On this graph, you can see that the rates for the same quarter ranged about a little bit higher. They were 5.31 to 5.32, and 5.45 to 5.48 for Texpool and Texpool Prime. So they've declined since the third quarter of last year, but rates have held fairly steady since last quarter. You can see the 90-day treasury bill rates on the orange line and the county's weighted average yield on the blue. The county is 13 basis points below the 90-day treasury bill benchmark. Our portfolio yield is comparable to the 90-day treasury due to our holdings and tax pool yielding a similar rate and our short-term investments being laddered out over six months or longer. This slide shows the trend of investments over the last 12 months for all county funds. These funds include general fund, special revenue, enterprise, adult probation, debt service, capital projects, agency funds, which include unclaimed funds, bail bond funds, and other elected officials funds, and internal service funds, which include health and life and workers comp funds. Please note that the increase in December is due to the large property tax receipts that we get at that time of year. This slide shows the investment balances at the end of the third quarter for each fund. General fund, capital projects, and special revenue are the largest slices of this pie. Investable general funds, as you know, reached their highest point in February and decreased after that point as property tax collections decrease and we continue to have our daily expenditures. Investable capital project funds reached their highest point in July from the bond issuance and has been steady. Special revenue grants, investable funds continue their decreasing trend. The full investment report with all the required statutory information can be found on the internet as well as in the backup for this item. I'll be happy to answer any questions. And we just need a motion to accept the report.

We have a motion to accept the report from Commissioner Olguin, a second from Commissioner Stout. Voting is open. Commissioner Butler, are you on? Commissioner Butler is absent. Motion carries.

Thank you. Thank you.

Item number 11A, Economic Development. Discuss and receive the annual presentation from Project Arriba regarding the impact of El Paso County's investment in workforce development services authorized under Chapter 381 of the Texas Local Government Code.

Hi, good afternoon, Judge, Commissioners, Humberto Lucero, analyst with the Economic Development Department. I serve as the lead analyst for Project Arriba and oversee the county's contract compliance for this agreement. I'd like to briefly introduce this agenda item before turning it over to Ms. Olivia Valdez, interim CEO of Project Arriba. Ms. Valdez will provide an overview of how Project Arriba utilized the county funds awarded during the previous fiscal year and discuss the impact those investments have had on our community. This annual presentation provides the court with an update on Project Arriba's progress and the outcomes achieved through the county's investment, including participant sponsorship, educational attainment, and job placement. With that, judge and commissioners, I will return the presentation over to Ms. Valdez.

Good afternoon, Judge and Commissioners. Again, my name is Olivia Valdez, and I'm the Interim CEO at Project Ariba. So Project Ariba, as you all know, has partnered with the county since its inception in 1998. However, just over the last 10 years, from fiscal year 2016 through our current year-to-date grant, the county has invested over a million dollars into Project Ariba and its participants. So thank you for your longstanding support and your partnership. Over the last 10 years, we've been able to assist 213 rural county participants into living wage careers. These participants are now earning average wages of $52,000, and this is adding $11 million in payroll. This is an 11 to 1 return on investment in county funds. This $11 million in annual payroll is economic impact that is flowing into our community. Over the last 10 years, through our partnership with the county, we've been able to assist 345 rural county participants in our program. We've also been able to graduate 235 participants, and as mentioned, we job placed 213. So of the 345 that we served, the following are their degree paths and their chosen degree fields. So they either pursued or are currently pursuing the following degree plans. 139 are registered nurses, bachelors in nursing. 93 are registered nurses, 51 are licensed vocational nursing, and 62 are allied health and other in-demand occupations. The other can include physical therapy assistants, dental assistants, respiratory therapists, and surgical techs, as well as other. As mentioned, 235 have graduated over the past 10 years. 114 were BSNs, 51 were RNs, 40 LVNs, and 30 allied health. 213 were job placed. That was 105 BSNs, 44 RNs, 40 LVNs, and 24 allied health. So the question we were to answer is how is the county's contribution beneficial to Project Ariba? Well the county's investment helps us cover direct participant expenses for our rural county participants. It helps us cover and assist them with tuition, their books, and their school materials. Your funding also allows us to cover a portion of case management salaries and fringe benefits. So as of May, we've spent 81% on direct participant expenses, and that includes the tuition, books, and school materials. The 19% was the portion that covered our case management salaries and fringe benefits. The next question is, had your agency not received El Paso County's contribution, what would we not have been able to accomplish? And without the county's investment, we may not have been able to serve 281 new rural county enrollments. And because of the county's partnership, we've been able to move these participants out of poverty and into family-sustaining careers, all while helping address workforce shortages. The next question is, how many students did Project Ariba assist? What was the target, and what did you reach? So this is for our current grant, which runs through September. However, as of May, this is our data. The blue shade is what we've actually done, and the orange shade is contractual performance metrics. And as of May, we've exceeded served graduates and job placements. We've served 83 compared to 60. We've graduated 32 compared to 13. And we job placed 15 compared to 13. And we only expect these numbers to increase as of September. The Hunt Institute for Global Competitiveness at UTEP completed an impact study on Project Ariba. This was completed in 2025, and they concluded that for every dollar invested in Project Ariba, $28 is being returned to our region. So this is not just taking a look at county funds and county participants. This is taking a look at Project Ariba as a whole. And here is our impact on El Paso. Project Ariba has added over $1 billion to El Paso economy in the form of future earnings of program graduates. And we greatly appreciate the county's partnership. This funding supports those rural county residents. It helps transform their lives and the lives of their families. As you can see, this year we exceeded our performance goals. We helped these participants move into high demand careers. And we're generating significant impact for the county of El Paso. Thank you all.

any questions hi um olivia it's nice to meet you nice to meet you um so i do have a couple of questions um and this is a comment that i make every year when we have this presentation the slides like for example four and five that look at the 10-year history of the partnership between the county and project are very helpful but i always ask if we can get more information on this year's participants so there was one slide i know that where you were looking at from october 1 to september 30th But I'd like to know, where are those placements being made? I mean, one of the reasons for the funding is so that we can help our county hospital, right? Yes. Retain some of these very necessary medical workers. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN FUTURE PRESENTATIONS AND MAYBE YOU CAN SEND THE INFORMATION TO ME AFTERWARDS. MORE SPECIFICALLY ON THIS CURRENT YEAR, THE FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN ALLOCATED FOR THIS YEAR, WHERE ARE THOSE FOLKS BEING PLACED? WHAT ARE THE WAGES THAT THEY ARE EARNING SPECIFICALLY? HOW LONG DID IT TAKE FOR THEM TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE PROGRAM?

Got it. Yeah, so I'd rather see, or I'd like to see in addition to the 10 year history data, more data specific to the current year.

Absolutely, I will send that over to your office and I'll make sure that we include it in presentations going forward.

Great, thank you so much.

I just wanna thank you for the presentation. I'm a huge fan of this program, and we'll continue to advocate for county funding to be put towards Project Arriba. I think that there's not another investment in which we get $20 back on a return, anything we invest in. economic development wise or anything else. And so I definitely see the advantage and just great benefit that the money that we give to this organization has for this community. I think it's really also great to see that the performance metrics that are agreed upon within our contract are being hugely overachieved upon and exceeded upon. You know, amazing to see that with the money that we're providing you all, instead of the 60 people that are in our contract, you've served 83. So that's 23 more, you know, close to 40% more probably than what is in the contract. And I think that's amazing. three times as many graduates and job placements as well. So kudos. Kudos to you all for keeping this operation looks like efficient and continuing to be a great use of county property tax dollars.

Thank you all for your support.

Thank you.

You know, I had the opportunity to be at graduation and to get ready. I spoke with Jacob Cintron and Cindy and Yeah, of course, they were extremely favorable as the caliber and sort of waiting as so the more you could provide them, the happier they are. And so I go along with Commissioner Olguin that, you know, providing to the UMC would be very, very good for us. Obviously, it would be directly. Then I had an opportunity to meet at a high level with the DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS, AND I HAD ONE OF THE GRADUATES FROM ARRIVA THERE PARTICIPATING. I WAS JUST OVERWHELMED BY KNOWING THAT SHE HAD GONE THROUGH SUCH A DIFFICULT TIME IN HER LIFE, AND NOW SHE'S SITTING AT THIS EXECUTIVE LEVEL MEETING, AND IT WAS JUST, I DON'T KNOW, IT JUST WAS SURREAL. IT'S INCREDIBLE. AND OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW WHO THAT PERSON IS. JUST VERY FAVORABLE. LIKE I SAID, I TRIED TO PREPARE FOR THE GRADUATION AND ALL I COULD HEAR IS JUST SOME INCREDIBLE COMMENTS ABOUT YOUR GRADUATE. SO ALSO, I'VE HEARD SOME GOOD THINGS ABOUT YOU AND WHAT YOU'RE DOING IN THE INTERIM AND SO CONGRATULATIONS FOR MAKING THAT TRANSITION SO MUCH BETTER.

THANK YOU, JUDGE. THANK YOU SO MUCH. ANYTHING ELSE? Thank you all so much. I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Roberto, Roberto and company, Sonia.

So no action on item 11A. Item number 11B, receive a presentation and approve and adopt the amendments to the El Paso County Economic Workforce and Heritage Tourism Development Policy. Opinion number 12651. We would like to ask for a motion to postpone this item for one week. We have a motion from Judge Samaniego, a second from Commissioner Coronado. The voting is open. Commissioner Butler is absent. Motion carries. Item number 12A, human resources. Receive a presentation, discuss, and provide feedback to the County Strategic Plan Goal 7.2, Facility Benefits Equity Assessment. Would like a motion to postpone this item for two weeks, please. We have a motion from Judge Samaniego, second from Commissioner Holguin. The voting is open. Commissioner Butler is absent. Motion carries. Item number 13A, Public Works. Receive a presentation from the Public Works Parks and Recreation Department regarding the proposed new fee schedules. Further approve the implementation of the new fee schedule as presented and authorize the implementation to take effect on October 1st, 2026 as per Local Government Code Title 10, Subtitle B, Chapter 316. We would like a motion to delete this item. We have a motion to delete by Commissioner Samaniego, a second from Commissioner Holguin. The voting is open. Commissioner Butler is absent. Motion carries. Item number 13B, receive a presentation and discuss and take appropriate action to approve the water and sewer rates for the El Paso County Water System doing business as East Montana Water System and authorize the fees to take effect October 1st, 2026.

Good afternoon, Freddie, and welcome. Good afternoon, Judge, Commissioners. Bernie Hernandez with Infrastructure Services. Today we're reintroducing the item to discuss the water rate adjustments for the East Montana water system. As you're aware, this is one of the items that we bring back on a yearly basis to discuss, I guess, how our projections are for the upcoming East Montana water system. in relation to the fees collected to make sure we pay our maintenance and our projects going forward. And today we're being joined by Andrew Ream. He's our consultant and he'll be joining us online to provide this presentation.

Hello, Andrew.

Andrew, you're muted. ANDREW?

MR. REEM, YOU'RE MEETING. IF YOU CAN PLEASE UNMUTE.

YES, SORRY ABOUT THAT. YOU GUYS GOT ME OFF GUARD WITH THE PREVIOUS AGENDAS MOVING SO QUICKLY. SO I WAS NOT CONNECTED TO THE PRESENTER LINK. BUT I'M HERE. SORRY ABOUT THAT. THANK YOU.

YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND SHARE YOUR SCREEN, ANDREW, PLEASE. Sure.

With me for a second here. Hopefully it's going through. Yes, thank you. Yes.

Thank you.

Let me know if you'd like me to start the presentation. Sorry, I was watching the video, which is a little delayed. And, Fernando, you were doing some introductory remarks.

No, yes, please. Go ahead and start, Andrew. We're ready for that.

Well, good afternoon. I've been watching the meeting. I know you guys have been going since 930 this morning. So I'll try and keep it brief. Certainly, let me know if there's questions as we go. The agenda today is it's primarily around responding some questions that were submitted in part during the most recent presentation, as well as afterwards from the court individual commissions and their staff. And so before I kind of focus in on the uh kind of results themselves um and it looks like what's being shown is a different presentation so you may want to switch to uh the one that i've got up on the screen but i'll keep going um uh so i'm just going to do a little brief background um with where we left off in the previous presentation uh right at the end of june and then the the focus of of the presentation itself is is responding to questions that were submitted uh that i alluded to earlier and then just kind of closing with the request that was made in the previous meeting has essentially been tabled pending responses but it's the proposed water and sewer rates that would go into effect October 1st of 2026. So just as a little bit of background, the current water and sewer rates are summarized in this slide. We've got a fixed charge, we call the base rate or minimum charge, irrespective of water use. That includes 3,000 gallons per month for water, 2,000 gallons per month for the winter water use that is used to build sewer volume. And then as can be seen, we've got increasing rates per 1,000 gallons that for water are referred to as tiered or inclining block. And so the rates for 3,000 to 6,000 gallons is $3.59. and then just that per thousand gallon charge uh again in that second tier of usage between six and ten thousand gallons is six dollars and seventy six cents and then water use over ten thousand gallons is billed today at eight dollars and eighty four cents applies most of our customers are residences and residential customers although we do have a handful uh and and subset of commercial and non-residential users On the sewer side, that minimum of 2,000 gallons is included in the fixed charge. And then after that, this is based on winter period water use. That is billed at $5.84 per 1,000 gallons, again, just in the winter. So a smaller component of the usage and smaller usage than in the summer times when folks are using water discretionally outside or for landscaping. So just as a bit of a highlight in terms of the request and the results from this year's updates, what's driving the plan, as often the case with water and sewer utilities, future capital is a big component. In this case, we've identified and had this project in the needs list for a few years. It's a 1 million gallon tank in the Far East portion of the service area. And we're anticipating that it will cost $6 million. And if this five, 10 years ago, the cost estimate would be lower as cost of increase for a variety of drivers, including inflation. So we're planning on funding this with a blend of grants, loans, and then cash funding. A lot of the grants have cash matches. And subsequent to the presentation or right around then in June, subsequent to finalizing the results, we did receive a portion, a second grant award of 0.7 million on top of 1.1 million that was previously awarded. And we're continuing to apply for an additional 0.9 million. WITH THE REMAINDER BEING LOAN FUNDED, NEW DEBT OF ABOUT 2.6 MILLION TO FUND KIND OF THAT BALANCE OF THAT 6 MILLION WITH 2.7 BEING GRANT FUNDED, INCLUDING AMOUNTS THAT WE'RE APPLYING FOR THAT WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED, AS WELL AS CASH FUNDING OF JUST UNDER .7 MILLION. SO THAT'S CERTAINLY ONE OF THE DRIVERS, A SIGNIFICANT ONE, A SECOND ONE. are the El Paso water rate increases and increased charges for treated water, as well as the charges to take the dirty sewer water and treat that and remove the contaminants and dispose of it. uh those two are mostly you know the most significant and then you know just generally you know inflation uh costs increase over time and then in terms of uh uh one of the newer developments that has been hooked up uh hillcrest they've they've just been connecting a bit slower as the economy housing development in that area slowed down and then on the sewer side uh slower connections as septic systems fail in the area that has the sewer infrastructure. And it's a much smaller fund, so it's a lot more sensitive. So in totality, these ultimately are drivers for the requested 27 increases, but really more of the five-year plan as we look out and kind of layer these together. So both 27 as well as the five-year plan that was presented last month. um so i'm going to touch on some of the you know kind of drivers and a little bit more significant amounts and and um the the questions that were presented uh provided some kind of in the session and just felt better to rather than try and answer them live in the meeting IT WOULD BE BEST TO RESPOND WITH SOME OF THE INFORMATION A LITTLE MORE THOROUGH RESPONSES. AND THEN THERE WERE SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS THAT WERE GENERATED AND SUBMITTED. I WILL MENTION THERE'S A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS THAT ARE EXCLUDED FROM THIS LIST THAT PUBLIC WORKS I DIRECTLY RESPONDED TO COMMISSIONER BUTLER'S OFFICE. AND I CERTAINLY HAVE GOT ANSWERS AT THE END IF YOU ALL WANT ME TO KIND OF GO THROUGH THOSE OTHER. IT WAS JUST THREE QUESTIONS, TWO OF THEM TIED TO HILLCREST AND ONE OF THEM GOING BACK TO THE PREVIOUS SERVICE ARRANGEMENT AND WHAT EXISTED PRIOR TO THE CURRENT SERVICE ARRANGEMENT WITH EL PASO WATER. So these are the questions I'm going to address in this presentation. And I'm going to, you know, with the slides, the questions are there. So I won't read these to everyone now. But this is kind of a consolidated list for the record. And as you can see, you know, it's just often gaining a little more understanding or clarity behind the scenes or kind of behind the summary level of the information that was presented last time, as well as seeking some additional information. understanding in terms of some of the details or kind of some of the more data-driven kind of nuanced components. So as I mentioned, I'm going to address all 13. So I'll start with the first one is what are the pass-through costs and what are the direct costs of the system? And so for this one, what I'm showing is starting in fiscal year 26, the current fiscal year we're in, and then going out through the five-year period we're forecasting or through fiscal year 31. This shows the water fund. So it doesn't include sewer. Sewer is a little simpler, as we'll see in the next slide. But what we see here are the pass-through costs are those from El Paso Water. And they're largely the cost to provide treated water. There's also a monthly administrative fee for the customer service and billing function that El Paso Water also provides for the county customers. And then more of as needed or as requested ASSISTANCE ON THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, YOU KNOW, MANAGING THEM, MAINTAINING THEM, DESIGNING THEM, AND MANAGING THE CONSTRUCTION. SO THIS IS BY FAR THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE COST, AS WE CAN SEE, IN THE FIRST YEAR OF FISCAL YEAR 26. IT'S ABOUT 2.6 MILLION, 3 MILLION. AND SO WHAT REMAINS ARE THE DIRECT SYSTEM COSTS, WHETHER IT'S DIRECT O&M, it's largely uh capital maintenance the the county no longer has uh full-time equivalents that are maintaining and operating the system that is all in el paso water stands so this is you know the cost or some indirect on some oversight management the uh budget and finance department provides uh some capital repair and replacement as the county maintains responsibility for capital debt service on debt that we've issued, and then any other type of capital requirements, costs of issuing debt. Most of these are passed through and as we'll see towards the end, one of the final questions, we're anticipating that those El Paso water costs are going to continue to increase at a low double-digit, high single-digit percentage each year. and is continuing to be a big part of this and grow as best as we can project here. So as we dive a little bit further into the operation and maintenance costs, so these are where a lot of those direct costs are found. In the current year, the El Paso water, those three components that I mentioned between the water purchases, and this is just operation and maintenance, so excludes the capital costs. But between the purchases and then the admin fee and the CIP related kind of as requested charge, those represent about 98% of the costs. On the sewer side, it's not quite, you know, much smaller pool, much smaller cost amount, but it's about 92% with a kind of capital maintenance and general cost pool cost. picking up the balance for that 8%. And this makeup may shift a little bit with some of the capital repair and replacement. We're looking at 27, 28, but largely, you know, it's over 90%, upwards of 95% or more on the water side of our recurring operation and maintenance come from El Paso Water and their charges and a similar about 90% on the sewer side. The next question was around comparing the county and El Paso water rates. So this is more of the retail charges or the full service charges. And this includes the inside city charge for El Paso water. For full service retail customers, they have a multiplier that increases this by 15% for those that may be outside the city, but full service. So what we're focused in on more is kind of full service to full service without the multiplier. El Paso Water's got a second fixed charge, a water supply replacement charge that's included. So the total is a bit lower. in terms of what that fixed amount is. And El Paso Water also bills per CCF. So this gives us a little bit of side by side. Again, this is focused on water and the amount that's in the minimum, the number of tiers, which is similar, and then how those tier allowances are established, which is a bit different. El Paso Water uses an individualized approach where the percent of that average winter consumption is the basis for the upper limits of tiers one and two, whereas the county uses more of a fixed block or what we call a fixed block rate structure for that use above the minimum threshold. And in terms of the pricing, we can see the current retail rates. We did shift or I did shift the per CCF into per 1,000 gallons to show that more as a direct comparison. We see where these fall in between the volume and the fixed. In part, the county has a higher fixed charge and And so we're covering less from the volume. There's also a lot fewer users, a lot fewer big users. So that dynamic plays out a little bit, I think, in the volume rate structure. I'm going to talk later kind of maybe a little bit about the history with the county's rate structure and a different question around that. THE NEXT QUESTION WAS ABOUT WHAT ARE THE REVENUE STREAMS FOR EAST MONTANA AND DO THE REVENUES REMAIN IN THE SYSTEM? SO EAST MONTANA IS THE NAME OF KIND OF THE ORIGINAL COUNTY SYSTEM. WE'VE GOT THREE OTHERS, REALLY FOUR OTHERS THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED, FOUR OTHER KIND OF COMPONENTS. BUT GOING BACK TO SORT OF THIS CHANGE IN SERVICE ARRANGEMENT, that went into effect in I believe in 21 or 22 with El Paso water effectively you know it's one water system one sewer system for the county and we've kind of combined these these sub-districts if you will into uh single entities so with this shows there's you know one Enterprise Fund if you will we do some tracking but uh it's a little bit of a holdover I think to refer to as East Montana because it includes the other four system customers, although those within the historic East Montana County area is the biggest set of customers. And this just shows our user charge revenues with the additional revenue stream we have, some interest income, and both, you know, the orange bars are if the projected rate increases are adopted. So this kind of shows we're a little more than 3 million today. AND OUT SIX YEARS AT THE END OF FISCAL YEAR 31, WE'RE PROJECTING THAT TO BE NEEDED TO BE ABOVE $5 MILLION. ALL THESE REVENUES STAY IN THE SYSTEM. THEY DON'T GO OUTSIDE OF IT, AND THEY GO TO FUND THOSE DIRECT AND PASS THROUGH EXPENSES THAT I SHOWED A FEW SLIDES EARLIER. The next question is around kind of a standard operating procedure to address, you know, cost increases, retire debt, and establish reserves. Kind of doing all this at once and funding, you know, requirements that may be hitting the system. There really isn't a best practice per se or some manual I can pick up, but it comes in the behaviors and the processes that we've adopted, first of all. ANNUALLY REVIEW AND UPDATE THE MULTI-YEAR PLAN. THIS IS AN ANNUAL PROCESS WE GO THROUGH. IT'S REALLY TIED TO THE BUDGET. SO AT A MINIMUM, YOU KNOW, DOING THAT ANNUAL BUDGETING THE COUNTY HAS DONE FOR A LONG TIME AND THEN EXTENDING THAT BY LOOKING OUT OVER THIS FIVE-YEAR PERIOD. is certainly a best practice. Some communities look at less frequently, but just given the drivers and also the nature of the expenses with a large portion of our O&M being driven based on El Paso water, and that may fluctuate year over year, it's a really good practice to continue what the county's followed. And then part of that, and as you can see even in the slide, uh that picks up kind of the three things and the drivers phasing in things and and so going to the question one of the ways that you know we kind of handle all this at the same time is we try necessary we try not to necessarily hit customers all at once with all of these and And for example, we've got a cash reserve we've been phasing in over multiple years. The debt service reserves also have that. And then by looking out over this kind of five-year period, we're able to somewhat anticipate maybe some of the drivers in year three is the case with this year's plan. And that sort of pulls back and informs the increases earlier on. So again, these are all geared around best we can to mitigate rate shock in a single year and more gradually adjust our funding streams over a multi-year environment. And just as a reminder, you know, when we look at that rate question, we're looking at setting revenue sufficient to fund all of our expenses and then meet two financial performance thresholds. One is a A covenant of debt that we have, debt service coverage, that we're targeting a more conservative amount than what is legally required, but the money stays in the fund and it's more because our revenues and our expenses can fluctuate. So we want to be a little more conservative, not set rates on the legal kind of minimum legal covenant margin. And then cash reserve targets that are more liquidity, again, best practices. and give us a little rainy day fund or contingency to draw on, or in the case of sewer, a repair and replacement funding stream to build so that when those assets need to be replaced, we've got more money on hand to do so. And we're not faced with delaying improvements, getting grants, and issuing debt as much as we may be for the new systems or connecting new customers. In terms of the remaining debts of the system, again, this is the water fund, but it's showing three, and these are really, I'm sorry, four. These are the four kind of, of the five components. Again, I need to follow up, there's a sewer debt or a system square dance that is omitted from this. So I can certainly follow up with that. But this goes to the kind of, you know, when these systems got added to the county or the infrastructure that went in, the timing of the debt issuance, and then the name of it or the system is sort of the holdover. And so as we can see, the original was East Montana back in the late 90s. And then in 12 and 13 Mayfair, Newman... New Way and Schumann, and then Colonia Revolucion connected in 2013, and the most recent being the Hillcrest system in 2022 when we issued that debt. So, you know, we're paying off the East Montana debt, Mayfair, Colonial, Revolucion for some years. So that's one of the reasons why the principal is lower. And then the Hillcrest, the more recent debt. So we've got about 3.2 million outstanding. We did at the beginning of this fiscal year. And the interest rates range from, you know, very good below two and a half percent in the most recent three to about five percent. IN THE INITIAL EAST MONTANA DEBT ISSUANCE. SO OUR COST OF DEBT OR COST OF INTEREST WAITING ACROSS THESE FOUR DEBT ISSUANCE IS ABOUT 2.8%. AND WE'RE GOING TO RETIRE THE OLDEST DEBT IN ABOUT 10 FISCAL YEARS, 11, I GUESS, AND THEN The others are kind of out a bit in the future with a bit longer term on this debt, you know, consistent with the infrastructure that's put in place. And also, again, to mitigate the effect on customers in terms of the annual funding requirements. Just a reminder, if we were to pay these off for 20 years instead of 40 years, then our payments would be a lot higher through that initial 20-year period.

Sorry, this is Commissioner Stout. Can you go back to that slide real quickly? Yes. The series 1997, the interest rate's kind of high. There wasn't an opportunity within the last 20 or 30 years to refinance that at a lower interest rate. uh who pays attention to that and and how and you know i mean because i know we have had many opportunities at the county when we when we've gone out to bond or uh borrowed money where you know our financial advisor will let us know that hey um there's an opportunity to recall that debt or call on that call that debt and get them get a lower interest rate. Just wondering, I mean, obviously right now may not be the best time because interest rates, I mean, are a little higher, but it just seems to me that that may have been a missed opportunity and make sure we're paying attention to that in the future.

Yes, sir. And it may also have been an issue of the cost of reissuance versus the amount that would be saved if it's a lower principal. I'm not sure about that, Commissioner. I did notice that that rate's high. Let me find out who's watching.

And then also, this is just principle. This is not the full debt service, right? This is just outstanding principle, not principle plus interest. Is there a slide that has... The whole cost?

I mean, I can quote the dollar amount if helpful. I didn't pull that one up. This is a remaining debt, so it was geared around the principal that is outstanding, not necessarily the payments themselves. But we've got that information in our report, and I've got it up. I can tell you what that is for water and for the sewer funds if helpful. Thank you.

Please continue. Thank you very much.

sure um so just along those lines the the water fund uh uh with the these four debt issuances and it you know varies a little bit with the the timing of payments but it's about 170 000 a year uh annually um within the current you know five year period uh the the there is a sewer debt issuance tied to the square dance system And that's about $56,000, $57,000 a year, both principal and interest, and all debt issuances were paying principal and interest. There's no interest only or goofy kind of things going around there. So moving on to the next question, this one, it asked if the county receives grant funding, could proposed rate increases be revisited? And so I guess a couple of things here. While there are grants that may be available for operation and maintenance, given the setup in the system, they're going to be pretty rare and pretty specific to a real specific narrow requirement. Most of the grants that would be helpful or available are going to be tied to capital projects. As I alluded to earlier, YOU KNOW, WE HAD BUILT OUR PLAN AROUND SOME GRANT FUNDING THAT WE HAD RECEIVED AS WELL AS PROSPECTIVE GRANT FUNDING THAT WE'RE APPLYING FOR FOR THE FAR EAST ELEVATED TANK THAT WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED YET. AND KIND OF SUBSEQUENT TO FINALIZING THE RESULTS IN JUNE, WE FOUND OUT THAT WE REWARDED A PORTION OF WHAT WE'RE SEEKING. SO THAT'S WITHIN THE BASE SCENARIO. WE BASICALLY HAVE FUTURE GRANTS OF ONE POINT $9 million that was part of that plan. And I'm sorry, $1.6 million. And of that, we had received some funding of $0.7 million, and we're still seeking about $1 million to make that happen. So if we're unable, and we move forward with this project with the two grants that have been received, we'll have to increase the amount of debt that we're anticipating. And the base plan is about A NEW LOAN OF ABOUT 2.6 MILLION, AND THAT WOULD GO UP BY ROUGHLY THAT .9 MILLION, ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS TO SOMEWHERE AROUND 3.5, 3.6 MILLION. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SHOWING KIND OF IN THIS MIDDLE RESULT THAT WOULD HAVE SLIGHTLY HIGHER, ABOUT A PERCENT A YEAR, AT LEAST IN THE NEAR TERM, WITH THAT HIGHER DEBT SERVICE, HIGHER DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE REQUIREMENT, RATHER THAN GRANT MONEY THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO REPAY BACK. Now, there's a third scenario, and this is if the Far East Elevated Tank wasn't our plan at all. We didn't have cash funding requirements associated with it or a future loan. And what this shows at the 8-9% is really the El Paso water charges, which are a little bit higher than this, and maintaining our sustainable fund. as those charges increase. So what we see here, you know, there's certainly some impact. The basin area is most favorable in terms of building that far east elevated tank and having the most amount of grants. So we see certainly some benefit to that coming through in terms of the projected rate increases out in fiscal year 30. Gap's about $4. AND THAT FINAL SCENARIO SHOWING, YOU KNOW, WOW, IF WE DIDN'T HAVE THIS CAPITAL PROJECT, THIS NECESSARY CAPITAL PROJECT IN OUR PLANNING HORIZON, WE WOULD STILL BE LOOKING AT 8 TO 9 PERCENT ADJUSTMENTS OR INCREASES, AND WE KIND OF SEE THAT DIFFERENCE MAYBE $4 LOWER WHERE THAT BASE PLAN IS A BIT IN THE MIDDLE OF THESE TWO EXTREMES. So certainly if we're getting more grant funds than what we had anticipated in the base scenario, as this gets updated annually, that could allow us to, you know, have lower rate increases or we're hoping to get that amount in that base scenario and continue with this project. So this is a highlighted, you know, it's possible that if we don't receive those additional grant funds, the project itself may be lapsed and, you know, we may wait until we've got grant funds to move forward with. And as we can see here, there's certainly a need to move forward with rate adjustments independent of the Far East Elevated Tank, which we've got starting up in this next fiscal year, fiscal year 27. So the next question was around the cash reserve target and whether we're in line with the requirements or if we're lagging and behind. In general, we're in line with the legal covenants and the best practices. The caveat is that we've got a capital reserve target in the sewer fund that had previously been $50,000 just with the cost of things increasing over time. We've raised that to $100,000 and are continuing to fund that amount at $10,000 per year to get to that $100,000. The rest of these, whether they're covenanted like the debt service or maintenance and repair reserves, THAT ALLOW FOR FUNDING OVER A TEN-YEAR PERIOD OR THE BEST PRACTICE BEING THE WORDEN CAPITAL RESERVE TIED TO OUR O&M AND THE EL PASO WATER CHARGES. IN GENERAL, WE'RE EXCEEDING AND MEETING THESE AND THEN WE'RE PHASING IN TO OUR OWN SORT OF TARGETED RESERVES OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. SO WE'RE NOT IN VIOLATION AT ALL AND WE'RE MATCHING BASICALLY BEST PRACTICES AND SETTING ASIDE SOME ADDITIONAL MONEY. IN TERMS OF THE QUESTION AROUND, JUST KIND OF A SECOND ONE, THE SAME QUESTION JUST SHOWING WHERE WE ARE IN THE WATER FUND. WE'RE ABOVE THAT TARGET AND SOME OF THESE ARE BEING PHASED IN OR WE HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL DRAWS. WE'RE BASICALLY GETTING TO OR IN LINE WITH THE TARGET TOWARDS THE END OF THE PERIOD AND HAVING THIS MULTI-YEAR, FIVE-YEAR A phase-in helps us mitigate impacts to customers, and you can see here we're right at that red bar, that target in the second or third year, just above it. um in in terms of uh the next question we start getting into more of the rates and the rate structure in the next few uh how many customers fall within each usage tier so we're showing the minimum and then the three tiers tier one two and three and what those uh thresholds are those the amount of water um and and you know this thirty thousand that's a lot if you're thinking about the number of accounts but just keep in mind these are the number of bills And customers' water use typically varies throughout the year. So at that 3,000 gallons or below, about 20% of our customers stop in that. It's probably mostly winter period or outside of the summer period. And then in Tier 1, this 3,000 to 6,000, we pick up about another 20% of those customers. Total, about 40% have usage below that 6,000 again. Maybe we're getting a little bit outside of the winter period for some customers. Others, it's going to be in the winter period, maybe a little bit of discretionary use, but primarily indoor or somewhat indoor leaning. And then we get into tiers two and three that are designed, intended, anticipated to be more discretionary, likely outdoor, with 14% of our bills stopping in that six to 10 range. AND CERTAINLY SOME CONTINUING AND STOPPING AT ABOVE 10,000 GALLONS WHERE WE'RE AT ABOUT A LITTLE LESS THAN 50% OF THE BILLS. AND, AGAIN, THAT'S GOING TO BE MORE IN THAT APRIL THROUGH OCTOBER PERIOD AS FOLKS USE MORE DISCRETIONARY WATER AND IRRIGATE MORE OUTSIDE OR, YOU KNOW, MAYBE SOME HAVE SWAMP COOLERS AND THAT USAGE KICKS UP DURING THAT SAME HOT PERIOD OF THE YEAR. The next question was around that base charge of that fixed revenue stream versus the volume and how much water revenue comes in, the fixed versus the volume. This shows we're about 46% each year. Some little bit of deviation, some rounding, if you will. SO THIS 46-54% FIX VERSUS VOLUME IS PRETTY CONSISTENT. FISCAL YEAR 26, THE CURRENT YEARS, WE'RE PROJECTING WITH THE PROPOSED OR PROJECTED INCREASES FACTORED IN. WE STILL MAINTAIN THAT ROUGH 46-54 BETWEEN FIX AND OUR VOLUME CHARGES WITHIN THE WATER FUND. In terms of kind of, you know, the intent of the rate structure, I guess maybe a couple things is we've been, my company and me as the project manager and lead, have been pulled into this annual update. It's been more focused on kind of the overall needs of the system, that multi-year financial plan. And we have yet to go through a formal sort of cost of service and rate design analysis. That's largely because these are most residential. We don't have a lot of different types of users, but just want to make that point that this rate structure has been in place for some time. And as I see it, it generally mimics El Paso Waters rate structure in terms of the number of tiers. minimum allowances as we've seen there's sort of a different kind of fixed variable nature um but uh in terms of you know whether or not customers are subsidizing others that's something you find out from doing cost of service analysis in general i wouldn't be surprised for there to be some you know subsidy within the classes or across the classes but again most of the users are residential customers so it would really be within that residential class and if anything commercial given the rate structure, maybe subsidizing residential a bit. But we don't really know, and that can change over time. So certainly, you know, if that's a direction in the future to evaluate more in depth study, looking at rate structure we can get with county staff and kind of price and figure out what that may mean and what the objectives may mean and can look at that. But in terms of the intent with how it's structured and has been structured for some time, as I talked about, that first 3,000 gallons is really anticipated to be indoor use only. We get into that 3,000 to 6,000. maybe some indoor use and then we start getting into the kind of discretionary and that's where you know sort of continues and the intent with higher charges both is to reflect our costs you know with providing that Peak service we've got infrastructure that's idle so we charge more for that but there's also a pricing component you know consistent with the ethic in the region for the efficient use of water and conservation of water. So those two things kind of go in and combine together with that inverted rate structure that we have in place and the county's had in place for some time. Nearing the end of the questions, Question around inflationary assumptions that are used in their modeling and what they may be based on. As I mentioned earlier, the El Paso water, the purchase water charge, we're anticipating within the similar exercise El Paso water does where they look out multiple years and then set the budget one year at a time and rates one year at a time. we're anticipating 11 12 water rate adjustments across the system uh for all customers you know kind of in general so it doesn't reflect the county's annual cost service update that el paso water uh completes that i also lead um but more of the kind of high level rate needs and it's our best way of anticipating these uh or what those individualized costs may come forward to to the county um but that that's increasing and you know it's a big driver that's our most significant set of expenses. And then the other charges, we're anticipating about 4%. We're trying to be conservative with growth, showing a handful of connections each year, some within the Hillcrest system, some within the balances system, more kind of organic growth, if you will, at a handful of connections, about 0.4% per year. And then on the sewer side, they anticipated El Paso water charge for sewer treatment is a little more pronounced in the near term, but it's kind of a similar nature. And then just given there's a lot of unknowns when septic systems may fail. So the existing sewered areas, we've dropped the, you know, anticipating basically no growth. within the sewer system as we've seen very little to no growth the past several years. These pick up somewhat market conditions, but a little bit of an estimate as we can see this 4% is an estimate that as we've experienced the past few years, higher than kind of long range 50 year inflationary adjustments without maybe matching some of those peaks of say the CPI or some of the other indexes or measures. that would show a little bit higher amount and trying to find a little bit of a blend of kind of 4% a year. We try and be a little conservative, but we don't want to be too conservative that we kind of put in artificial drivers and things. So that 4% feels pretty comfortable. Five years ago, I would have probably used 3% for that broad, long range inflationary increase that again, we hope is a little conservative, but not too conservative. uh in terms of again this kind of you know the question was asked maybe in a little different way or maybe answered in a little different way but this goes back to the far east elevated tank and you know do you propose rates change if additional grant funding is received just want to highlight again that we anticipated uh grant funding that we have not received approval for the base scenario uh so that if we move forward with the project with the grants that that have been approved to date, including the one that we got last month, that's not quite what we were anticipating the base scenario. We would issue more debt and that would put more pressure on rates, as we're seeing in the orange bars compared to the blue bars. And then just highlighting again that if we didn't have this significant capital project, and we are basically doing kind of the status quo and including our pass-through costs, we would be asking for and looking for adjustments or increases just a little bit lower this upcoming year. And then, you know, kind of shown throughout that there's a bit of a gap. So there's certainly a driver with the loans and the loan liability and debt service coverage requirements. for the projected loan for funding a portion of the Far East Tank project. And if that amount goes higher, that's going to put more pressure on things. But we're doing what we can. And certainly, the court can choose to delay that project further until additional grant funds are secured. And that could have some effect when we look to update things next year. um so with that i was going to switch just to the last slide uh well last couple slides around you know going back to the proposed uh rate adjustments uh for this upcoming fiscal year um happy to go back and or answer additional questions. But if we apply the proposed 10% water rate increase and a 5% sewer rate increase that will go into effect, this is showing there's no changes to structure. We're simply increasing the water minimum and volume rates by 10% and doing the same 5% increase on the sewer rate. So if we go back to the beginning, presentation is basically very similar. just the unit prices have been adjusted. In terms of what this means for a typical customer, defined as that base meter size using on average, and this is showing an average monthly bill, 8,000 gallons of water and then 5,000 gallons for that winter period water use. Today, this customer pays 134 dollars and it would increase to 144 dollars on under the proposed rate adjustments it's also when i remind myself when i look at this that the majority of the customers are water only so it's really just in in one of the sub-district areas uh maybe a couple now there's sewer services so most customers are in the just in the blue bar uh having you know a bill that uh if i go back to the uh previous slide that $70 today would go up 10% to $77 a month in fiscal year 27. So with that, that kind of concludes the prepared presentation addressing both the questions as well as kind of bringing back up THE REQUEST THAT THE COMMISSION MAY BE VOTING ON IN FUTURE MEETINGS IN TERMS OF THE PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 27 RATE INCREASES IN RATES.

JUDGE, COMMISSIONERS, BEFORE THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE RATES, I DO WANT TO MAKE THE COURT AWARE THAT Mr. Ream provided this presentation today. The presentation and the backup was the previous presentation. He added the questions and answer slides to today's presentation. If the court would like, we can add those to the backup and postpone this for a week so that the public has access to those or whatever the court would prefer. but they were not in the backup prior to today. Again, we received those today and uploaded them for the presentation, but they have not been in the backup.

Yeah. Good, not only that, that way Commissioner Butler can be here in person.

Yeah, I would agree with postponing it. I think there's a lot of information that we just received that we didn't have previously.

Commissioner Butler, any comments?

I agree, thank you. No, I was just commenting that I agree with Betsy and Commissioner Wolfgang. All of this information would have been great to have reviewed prior to today.

So we can put it on for one week or two weeks, whichever the court prefers.

It's a lot of information, so maybe two weeks. Two weeks?

Yeah. Okay. Can I ask Mr. Rehm some questions, though, since we have him on the line? Of course. Hello, so I just want to make sure I understand. So currently the county has 2.3 million in reserves currently this year. If I understood that slide correctly.

uh let me make sure 2.3 with a goal of 2.5 and five years as part of the five-year plan that one yeah that's all cash balances that we've got so uh reserves and just you know uh cash and how many days uh cash on hand does that translate to the current reserve the 2.3 um well uh that would be Just doing the math, roughly, that would be about nine months cash on hand.

Is this separate from a, is there a separate capital reserve or this is the total reserve?

This is the total reserve. This is the total water fund, all of it.

And I call that out because that's a really critical aspect. We used to not, I know when I first started looking at this, there was no reserve being built for capital. I do believe that the cost of replacing lines that are aged out will eventually be far beyond even what we have in this reserve. And so I don't know where the goal of 2.5 comes from. I think we need to look to a longer-term capital reserve goal that would allow us, as the system ages, to be able to replace existing aging infrastructure. And so I just, I think we're under preparing ourselves if we go for a $2.5 million goal.

I guess I'd be interested in seeing what the current capital expenditures are and how we project those to increase as the system gets older to see what a good amount would be for the capital reserves. And then I had another question, Mr. Ream. Can you explain again why the county's base rate is so much higher than EP Water's base rate?

I wasn't involved when the rate structure was selected some years ago. And so as we've been doing annual updates, we've been applying the percentage across the board between the base and the volume. In general, you know, having a higher base charge It gives, you know, more certainty, more revenue reliability. So, you know, sometimes communities will choose to have a higher base charge because of that stability it provides and assurity, you know, particularly with fixed costs. and not wanting to be as reliant on things that may vary due to water sales or droughts or restrictions. The county systems are much, much smaller than El Paso water, so they've got better ability to pun intended weather storm year over year than the smaller systems. That can be one of those choices. It's a pricing decision and it was one that was made some time ago, at least relative the proportions in terms of the fixed versus the variable. And as I mentioned earlier, we've been kind of maintaining the structure and if it goes up 9% or 8%, we've been applying that equally to fixed and volume charges.

Do we know, Betsy or Fernie, how that calculation was originally made back in the day when that base rate was established?

No, ma'am. I know it was established, oh, I think it was in 2017 when Peta Delta was in charge of that, but I'm not 100% sure how that was set up at that time.

I'm wondering if we might be able to look at that again, because I was looking at the proposed increases over the next five years, and those really worry me. I mean, they're very substantial increases that are going to be coming to our customers. I mean, just the typical residential monthly water bills slide from the last presentation, which I'm assuming there have been no changes to, otherwise we would have an updated slide today. But between now and fiscal year 2031, that's a $46 increase, which is about 65% on the water bill. And then you look at the sewer, that one's about a $19 increase, which is about 30%. And when you combine the two, now you're looking at a $64 increase, which is a 48% increase over what our customers are paying right now in a span of five years. That just seems really, really high to me, especially when we know that so many of our residents continue to struggle. So I don't know if there's a way that we can look at how our base rate was calculated and see if what we can do with that to try to offset. I know we can't help the increases that El Paso Water unfortunately is implementing, but maybe we could try to offset some of that. Or I don't know, is there any negotiating that we can do with El Paso Water or are these increases from El Paso Water set in stone already as well?

Commissioner, if I can chime in. In 2017, when we addressed the rates, there had not been any increases for many, many years. It was static for many years. So 2017, when we looked at it, that's why it was a significant increase because we were asking actually for funds from the general fund in order to balance that budget. So that's why there was a significant increase initially in 2017. And then we started working with Andrew Rehm following, after a couple of years, because they're the subject matter experts, they set the rates for El Paso water, and that's why. Another thing is our aging infrastructure has not been addressed for many years either. So we can lower the rates, but that means we don't get to update or upgrade our tank. If you notice, the tank is significant, and we aggressively seek grants. We did get a grant, but it's not enough to keep our aging infrastructure. So unfortunately, we've looked at it. In many ways, we can lower it, but that means that we're going to be in a situation where it fails, We can't fix it. It's not about adding band-aids anymore. It's about major repairs to that tank. And so unfortunately, there's no other funds that we can tap into to make those enhancements to our aging infrastructure. This is the oldest, I'm sorry, that the tank, I want to say, was put in about 1997. and no enhancements or funds had been allocated for maintenance. And so that's something to consider that we need the capital funds to do the repairs. We don't wanna be in a situation where we have no control and there's nothing we can do. Leave the consumers without water.

I understand that, Norma, but I wonder if then that leads to the conversation about whether the county should be maintaining a water system if we just can't afford to do it without placing such an increase on the backs of our residents who are already in the most economically disadvantaged parts of this county. Absolutely, you're correct.

I think maybe we need to revisit that. Commissioner, we have had that conversation previously about should we be managing a water system. At that time, the court had said we should not be in the business of managing a water water system of this size. When I say this size, not that it's extremely large, but that the resources it requires, the attention that it requires, the expertise it requires, and at that time, what the court discussed, we looked into actually selling our water system to El Paso Water Utility. And for them to buy out our debt basically was some of the concept. At that time when we evaluated that, what we learned is that because we have, I believe it's called the CCN or the number, we have the identified water system and because of the type of agency we are, we're eligible for grants that El Paso Water Utility would not be eligible for to grow and expand the system. So like when we go out and we get a grant for Hillcrest, that is something that El Paso Water Utility could not go get if we transferred it to them. And while we have a match, it's still the majority is coming from those grant funds. What the court did at that time is they said, let's go continue to get as many grants as we can until we've saturated as much as possible over these next several years, as many of the population dense areas, and then revisit the transfer to El Paso water. So at that time, the court was not willing to give up the ability to pull down the money to expand the system to populated areas that were already in the next adjoining area as we continued adding on and expanding. But a very similar discussion at that same time, that there's so much to investing in maintaining the system. that it's really hard when it's being just spread out over a small number of users versus if it was part of a large system where the cost would be shared on an economy of scale.

Well, I wonder if it might be time to have those discussions with El Paso Water again. And regarding some of the debt that we still have, some of those amounts are pretty small, and yet it looks like they're not gonna be paid off for 20 some odd years.

Because the rates would be even higher. This is an enterprise fund. We do not subsidize it at all from other, like the general fund is not subsidizing. The users pay for the system. And so it really is large even a small debt is a large fee transfer to them.

But that's my point. Like, for example, I understand the reserves being needed for capital improvements, but could we also look at paying off some of this debt instead of, I mean, there's a $200,000 one that is not going to be paid off until 20, I think it's a Yeah, 53. Why are we going to continue to make payments for 20 some odd years for a relatively small amount? Maybe not the Hillcrest 1.9, but for some of these smaller amounts. Yes, ma'am. I don't feel comfortable with the increases that are being proposed. I think the residents of El Paso County that can least afford these increases are the ones that are going to be paying for them.

I think one of the things to keep in mind, Commissioner, is when we did set out these rates back in the day, we did have the, well, we tried to forecast what the attempt of El Paso Water was going to be increasing their rates because they specifically have in their contract that they'll be evaluating their rates to our system on a yearly basis. And so the first couple of years we tried to forecast and try to absorb some of those costs so we would do a balance where we would kind of like try to recoup at the beginning and then at the back end try to I guess break even. But that exercise kind of fell short a little bit. where within the first year we exhausted all our reserves at that point, and we ended up having to pay out more from our reserves than what we actually collected. And so that's why we decided to go with this route, where every year we come in and we re-evaluate the system as a whole, and that's when we entered the account with Mr. Ringham himself.

Yeah, I'm just worried because it seems that every year we do increase and we just, we keep increasing.

Right, right. And that's, you know, kind of from El Paso water, right? Most of that is.

Commissioner Hogan? Barbara Parker, the County Auditor. The other thing to remember is if we were to pay off the debt service early, that would affect your rates because right now the debt service payment schedule as is is built into the rates that are being proposed. So you could pay it off sooner but the rates would have to go up in order to do that and then they could go down in future years if we did not have additional debt.

I think what she's saying is use the reserve to pay it off and then where you would have future debt is when something fails in the system, we'd have to go get debt to fix what failed.

I have just a couple of comments and a request for the next time that we meet to discuss this issue. I did request for a copy of the budget of the East Montana water system. And I think that if we're talking about increasing rates, we should also have at least the last few years of the East Montana Water Systems budget, as well as projections for the next five years as well. One of the things that I still have outstanding in my mind is the 10% increase, whether it's because of El Paso water utilities rate increases or capital projects increases or debt INCREASES, WHAT ARE THE RATIOS OF THOSE INCREASES THAT ARE DRIVING THE 10% NEED FOR A RATE INCREASE FOR US? SO HOW MUCH OF THAT 10% IS ATTRIBUTED TO EL PASO WATER, HOW MUCH IS ATTRIBUTED TO CAPITAL PROJECTS, AND HOW MUCH IS ATTRIBUTED TO OTHER FACTORS?

YES, MA'AM.

Also, I noticed when I reviewed the budget, and this, I hope, can be a topic of discussion once the whole court has it, is we have a very large contingency budget for the East Montana water system. I think I saw about $1.4 million. So is that typical for our accounts, and what are we using those contingency funds for?

I believe that is part of the reserve. We budget 90% in those contingencies, or it's approximately 90%, and that's by your financial policies. And then the remaining amount of the contingency is unbudgeted, unallocated.

And then lastly, I agree with everything Commissioner O'Gaines said. I mentioned this when we first had this presentation a couple of weeks ago, that it's just not affordable to keep increasing rates for especially some of the users of the East Montana water system that are still in Polonia. And in a lot of cases, we're going to be asking people to choose between hooking up to a sewer system and and prioritizing sanitation over being able to afford your monthly water bills. And so that is something that I'd like to see if there's a way that we can have some options for rate increases that factor in affordability of the system for the uses.

But I just wonder what the proposal would be for doing that, right? So if the proposal is spending down reserves and then you have an issue or the water utility continues to increase, because a lot of what the increases are, from what I understand, are passed through from It's not us necessarily pushing things up, right? And so you eat up your reserves and then you don't have any reserves left and then in two or three years when that's gone, you're going to severely burden the rate payer because it's going to go way up. So is it better to do it like it's being done right now incrementally? Or is it the pass through? Because again, I also worry about not having reserves because of bond ratings. Because when something does happen, you don't have reserves. And you do have to go out to bond buy something or fix something, you're gonna be paying a, you're gonna be doing a disservice, in my opinion, to the rate payer by making them pay more in interest, in interest payments because of the bond rating of the organization, right? And so, I'd love to hear, I just don't, I mean, I get that like it's, It's getting crazy expensive, but I don't know what the solution is. I don't hear a solution.

But that's why I think it's time to maybe have these conversations again with El Paso Water. I think it is much less expensive for them to manage this water system than it is for us to manage this water system.

Don't we have an application for a grant pending that we wouldn't be able to get because of that? It's like $27 million, so we're going to give that up?

Well, the tradeoff, I don't know that it's that one, Commissioner, but the tradeoff is that some of these grants that we've applied for to add areas onto the system, we would not be eligible for anymore.

And I thought that there was also a prevention that we couldn't do it unless we paid off the debt.

No, in our previous discussions, the discussions were El Paso Water basically buying the system from us for the amount of our debt.