City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you.

Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to City Council Chambers. Ms. Prine, I think we're ready to go to work.

Yes, sir. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the presentation of the mayor's proclamations. We begin with a pledge of allegiance. And to lead us this morning, we have students from Young Women's Leadership Academy, Eastwood High School, and Del Valle at the invitation of City Representative Lili Limon. We welcome Natalie Martinez, Midori Moreno, Lucia Nguyen, Jaylen Sierra, Ryan Torres, and Ethan Emiliano.

All right, who's in charge?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Under the Texas flag, I pledge allegiance to the Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible,

I am a transformer. I am strong and independent. I follow my hopes and dreams. I believe in my future. I am a leader. From girls to women, we share the same goals to go to college and change the world. We show determination and pride in everything we do. We will start strong and finish stronger. We are united as one sisterhood. We are Transformers.

We are YWLA.

How are you? Good, how are you?

Good to see you.

Ready, one, two, three. Give a few more, so hold those smiles. One, two, three. One, two, three.

OK, Ms. Bryan.

That brings us to the mayor's proclamations. For those of you receiving a proclamation, your group will have up to four minutes collectively to come to the podium and accept the proclamation. The first proclamation is honoring Fort Bliss.

Coming up, General, we'll have you guys go right, right to the center there, yeah, to the podium. Good morning, sir. We got a proclamation for you. Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor. Welcome, General. Whereas Fort Bliss was established in the 19th century on March 8, 1854, and has served as a critical US Army installation for over 170 years, making it an integral part of El Paso's history and identity. And whereas the 1st Armored Division, known as Old Ironsides, has a distinguished and decorated history of service to the United States, from its activation in 1940 through numerous campaigns in World War II, the Cold War, the Global War on Terror, and along the southern border, And whereas in 2011, the city of El Paso warmly welcomed the First Armored Division as it made Fort Bliss its new permanent home, an event that significantly strengthened the ties between our community and the U.S. Army. And whereas the soldiers, civilians, and families of Fort Bliss and the First Armored Division are not just stationed in El Paso, but are our neighbors, friends, and active members of our community contributing to its rich cultural and civic life. And whereas the city of El Paso is a proud military community that deeply values the service and sacrifice of the men and women of the First Armored Division and is committed to providing them and their families with unwavering support, now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that August 18th, 2026 shall be known as First Armored Division and Fort Bliss Day. Congratulations.

Good morning, sir.

Well, thank you for this incredible honor and another 18 or so. So I've been around a lot of military towns and the very special relationship that we have between El Paso and Fort Bliss is unique. It is special and is something we absolutely want to preserve. I absolutely believe in my heart of hearts that Fort Bliss is El Paso and El Paso is Fort Bliss. I am incredibly honored that this year we had the dual honor as a community to be recognized as the number one best city in America to live by US News and World Report, something we've all known for a long, long time. And then also for Fort Bliss to be recognized as the number one US Army insulation in the world. And I think those two facts are shared, show the shared connection that we have in this community and the incredible relationship we have between the El Paso community and Fort Bliss. Our soldiers love being a part of your community. We love being here in the veteran capital of the USA. And it has been the privilege of my entire military career to serve as the commanding general of Fort Bliss and to be your neighbor and partner for the last two years. So thank you for everything you all have done for us and for this incredible community and taking care of our soldiers and families.

Fantastic. Wow. Well, last night I wrote down a few things I wanted to tell you. And first of all, it's been a pleasure getting to know you, sir, and working with you and all of the troops there at Fort Bliss. You have been an incredible, exceptional leader for the 1st Armored Division, and you have been just a very great, good friend to the city of El Paso. And you understood something that's very important to me. Fort Bliss and El Paso are one community, as you just mentioned. Your soldiers, their families, our neighbors, our friends, they go to our churches, they go to our schools. So they are a part of our fabric. They are a part of El Paso. And one of the things that I will always remember, you've always been willing to sit down, listen, to work through our challenges, and you have just been incredible for El Paso. Now, on a personal level, I am grateful for your friendship. I have enjoyed our conversations, our partnerships, and the opportunity to work alongside of you. And some may know and some may not know, but we're sorry that you will be leaving El Paso in a month and a day from now. But we are very proud of you and excited for what comes next in your chapter. We are very thankful for your service to this country, and we are incredibly proud of what you've done and the legacy that you will leave here at Fort Bliss. Wherever the Army sends you next, you know that you will always have friends and family right here in El Paso, and we hope that you will always call it home. And I will tell you that I have become a much better mayor because of our relationship, and I will miss the calls, the 2, 3 a.m. morning calls sometimes from Poland. But it has just been an absolute pleasure to get to know you and work alongside of you, sir. And we wish you the very best on your next chapter when you go to Europe. And congratulations on that third star that we hear is coming. So congratulations. Well done. We're going to grab some photos now.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, here we go.

Our time together and our continuing relationship

One more, one more. And the next proclamation is Rawlings tooth fairy D representing you.

Thank you mayor. We could have the honorees may get up to the podium. It's an honor to read today's proclamation proclamation for the city of El Paso, Texas. Whereas healthy teeth make a happy tooth fairy, and by royal decree of the Tooth Fairy Council, these days encourages children to embrace good oral hygiene habits, which contribute to strong teeth and result from strong dental habits learned and reinforced throughout life. And whereas the Rawlings Dental Clinic has provided care to many El Pasoans most vulnerable residents since 1934, with the support of the City of El Paso's Department of Public Health. And whereas the Tooth Fairy has long been a cherished figure in households across the nation, bringing joy, wonder, and a touch of magic to children as they reach important milestones. And whereas the City of El Paso Department of Public Health's Rawlings Dental Clinic is devoted to providing outstanding pediatric dental care to local children for generations to come. Now therefore be it proclaimed by the Mayor and the Council of the City of El Paso that August 22nd, 2026 shall be known as Tooth Fairy Day. Signed by the Honorable Mayor, Renard Johnson.

Congratulations. Good morning.

How are you? I'm doing well. How are you doing? Wonderful. Thank you all so much for having us here today. Hello to everyone. My name is Kelly Brooks and I'm the chief dentist at Rawlings Dental Clinic. My title? is Chief Dentist and we are grateful to be a part of the City of El Paso's Department of Public Health. I would like to sincerely thank the Mayor and the City Council for recognizing today as Tooth Fairy Day. This proclamation celebrates more than the magic of the tooth fairy. It highlights the importance of establishing healthy oral hygiene, Those habits are important early in life. Through Rawlings Dental Clinic, the Department of Public Health provides accessible and comprehensive dental services to children from the ages of six months to their 21st birthday, including preventive cleanings, oral hygiene education, and much more. We are grateful to the mayor and the city council for recognizing the importance of oral health and for helping us celebrate the dedication of all of the staff at Rawlings Dental Clinic Rawlings was established, or I should say Tillman was established in 1934. We are currently located Rawlings Dental Clinic at 3301 Petta Avenue. Between the months of July of 2016 to present day, we have served over 18,000 children. Some of the children that we serve are here today. One of them you cannot even see. But I need you to see Mrs. Isabella. And she comes to us, she started at the age of six months, and now she's a big girl. She comes to us every six months for her cleanings. Her sister, Miss Michaela, has been coming for the same timeframe since she was six months. So ultimately, this Tooth Fairy Day, we want to remind everyone that taking care of your teeth is important at every age and stage in life. Even if it has been a few years as adults, we still need to go see our dentist every six months. Thank you for helping us make Tooth Fairy Day a celebration of healthy habits, healthy smiles, and healthy futures for the pediatric patients of our El Paso citizens. And now, I would like to introduce our wonderful staff of tooth fairies. Right next to me is our office manager, Mrs. Apodaca. She ensures that we get everything we need to provide services for our precious angels. As I turn, will all of the dental assistants please wave to our city council? Most importantly, Dr. Gabriella Ray. She is one of our senior public health dentists that has been with us for over 15 years. We also have our senior dental hygienist and our other hygienists that are here.

Thank you.

Dr. Tenasia, he is our health director. He's here with us as well. Our deputy director is here, Ms. Saraseta. Our assistant director is here as well, Crystal, and our billing team is also here. More importantly, the one who's had our back over the years throughout COVID and beyond, Dr. Hector Alcaronza. And we are grateful for your presence here today. Mr. Robert Taylor was our office manager for over 10 years. He is now retired, and he was so kind to be with us today as well. our administrative staff who ensures that the patients get all of the necessary intake information, Ms. Elizabeth Vera and Melissa Letta. Did I get it all? Believe it or not, Ms. Crystal, come forward, she was a patient as a child and now she's bringing her babies to us as well. So I say I don't take this blessing that we have to continue to provide excellent care to our citizens, for granted. We are grateful for your support. Thank you. Our tooth fairy is present. I see.

Well, congratulations to you guys. And I know everyone on this dais remembers the tooth fairy visiting us when we were younger. And I will tell you that when I was younger, my tooth fairy maybe left a nickel, sometimes a dime. Sometimes a quarter, but I understand inflation has taken us. And some of you may get Venmo and Zelle and other things now. So inflation has certainly occurred. And I started looking at the way that Tooth Fairy runs her operations. And she works nights. She delivers services directly to all of our residents. And whenever they wake up, they're happy. So maybe we should put that Tooth Fairy in charge of one of our city services. But congratulations, you guys. And on the Tooth Fairy Day, we know that it happens twice a year, on the 28th and August 22nd. So we're glad to be celebrating this. And keep doing what you're doing for our young folks and creating these wonderful smiles. Congratulations.

Okay, sounds good. Okay, let's organize these things. I made it back.

Come with me.

It's coming out of my jacket.

And the next proclamation is American Heritage Girls Troop, Texas 0415D.

Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor. Good morning. As they make their way to the podium here. Whereas the American Heritage Girls Troop, Texas 0415, chartered by Westside Community Church in El Paso, Texas, has been nationally recognized as a National Honor Troop Sapphire level by American Heritage Girls, Inc. And whereas American Heritage Girls is a Christ-centered character development program for girls ages 5 to 18 whose mission is to build women of integrity through the core pillars of faith, service, and fun. And whereas Troop Texas 0415 serves 25 girls in the El Paso area and puts this mission into practice by offering service projects, outdoor adventures, leadership development, and a supportive faith-based community that nurtures spiritual growth and lifelong friendships. And whereas the National Honor Troop Sapphire level is the highest recognition awarded to American Heritage Girls Troops, that demonstrate exceptional troop health, well-rounded programming, and a strong commitment to exceeding the core mission pillars of faith, service, and fun. And whereas this prestigious national recognition celebrates the dedication of the girl members, adult leaders and families of Troop Texas 0415 and serves as an inspiring example of positive youth character development and community leadership in the City of El Paso. Now therefore be it proclaimed by the Mayor and Council of the City of El Paso that August 18th, 2026 shall be known as American Heritage Girls Troop Texas 0415 Day. Signed by the Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson. Congratulations.

Good morning.

my name is laura williams and i'm one of the coordinators of the american heritage girls thank you so much mayor johnson and members of the city council thank you representative chavez for this meaningful recognition today we celebrate more than a national honor we celebrate the everyday impact of 25 young women in our troop 11 of which are here today, the rest had to go to school, we understand. Through service projects, leadership opportunities, and a commitment to faith, service, and fun, these girls are already making El Paso stronger. One act of kindness and one service project at a time. These girls before me today have served their community for over 300 hours in the last year. We are deeply grateful to Westside Community Church for chartering our troop and giving these girls a place to grow in character, friendship, and purpose. We also thank our community leaders for recognizing the value of programs that invest in the next generation of women of integrity. Thank you for standing with American Heritage Girls Troop Texas 0415. We are proud to call El Paso our home. And now I'd like to introduce you to our girl members. Hi, my name is Olivia.

I'm three years old. Hi, my name is Elizabeth, and I'm 6 years old. My name is Lillian, and I'm 7 years old.

Hi, my name is Layla, and I'm 9 years old.

Hi, my name is Victoria, and I'm 10 years old. Hi, my name is Layla, and I'm 9 years old. Hi, my name is Allie, and I'm 11 years old. Hi, my name is Amelia, and I'm 12 years old. Hi, my name is Rebecca, and I'm 10 years old. Hi, my name is Ariana, and I'm 10 years old. Hi, my name is Abigail, and I'm 10 years old. Hi, my name is Addie, and I'm 12 years old.

I'd also like to recognize our quarter, Dena Triggs, our treasurer, Claudia Ramirez, and Andrea Hancock, our shepherd. Thank you so much for having us today in this proclamation.

Congratulations, guys, and I absolutely love your pillars of faith, service, and fun, right? And then your oath, I believe, which is I promise to love God, cherish my family, honor my country, and serve in my community. So I've got to tell my colleagues here on council, we've got some work to do. I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OF MEETING WITH THESE YOUNG FOLKS THIS MORNING, AND ONE OF THE REQUESTS THAT THEY WANT US TO GET IS A POLAR BEAR. SO THEY WANT A POLAR BEAR FOR THE ZOO. AND THEN I ASKED WHAT ARE WE GOING TO FEED THEM, AND THEY SAID ICE. SO WE HAVE TO WORK ON GETTING A POLAR BEAR. but these young ladies have done so much in the community from recognizing our honor flight at the airport they're there whether they're reading books to the cats at the zoo they have done so much so we're going to take your challenge and work on getting a polar bear okay but congratulations guys and thank you for all your community service and hi olivia

And then right in front of you, there.

Right here.

Can you have me come forward? And this way, just a little bit for me. There we go. All right, six. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Awesome. And then come up here and try to shift this way for me.

Beautiful. All right, big smiles. Right this way. Ready, one, two.

One more.

And the next proclamation is national Texas night out.

Representative Trejo.

Good morning. Whereas the National Association of Town Watch is sponsoring a unique nationwide crime, drug, and violence prevention event on October 6th, 2026 entitled National Night Out to promote police, community partnerships, and neighborhood camaraderie in making our community safer, stronger, and more connected. Whereas the 43rd Annual National Night Out provides the city of El Paso with the opportunity to join thousands of communities across the state of Texas and throughout the nation in promoting cooperative crime prevention efforts, neighborhood engagement, and public safety incentives, And whereas the city of El Paso is committed to delivering a high quality of life for its residents, businesses, and visitors by supporting programs that cultivate safe neighborhoods, strengthen community relationships, and encourage active civic participation, And whereas National Night Out is a reminder that the safety and well-being of our community depend on the collective efforts of residents, law enforcement, neighborhood associations, businesses, schools, faith-based organizations, and community partners working together to reduce crime, prevent drug abuse, violence, and address the causes of crime and fear. And whereas it is essential that the citizens of El Paso recognize the importance of the role in participation plays in building stronger neighborhoods, increasing public safety awareness, and enhancing the partnership between law enforcement and the communities they serve, whereas the police community partnerships neighborhood safety awareness cooperation and community engagement are the cornerstones cornerstones of national night out program and the El Paso proudly joins the National Association of town watch in encouraging all residents to participate in the 43rd annual national night out on October 6 2026 Now therefore be it proclaimed by the Mayor and City Council of El Paso that October 6th, 2026 shall be known as Texas National Night Out.

Good morning, Mr. Mayor and City Council. I think you pretty much took all of our talking points. But I did write a few down. I tend to be a little bit long-winded. I notice we have four minutes and not four hours, so I'm going to try to make this as quick as I can. My name is Chris Jones. I'm Lieutenant with the El Paso Police Department assigned to the Northeast Command under Councilwoman Trejo and Dr. Acevedo. I'm responsible for the day ship patrol as well as a community services unit. This is my team that's behind me, Sergeant Lujan, Officer Bell, Officer Gutierrez, and Officer Zoff.

This is the team that takes care of your CR complaints pretty much daily.

We're here today to humbly thank Councilwoman Boyer and the entire City Council, Mr. Mayor, for this honor of the proclamation for the CBO Paso 2026 Texas National Night Out. This nationwide event will be celebrated for the 43rd year across countless communities of our amazing country. The event is usually held on the first Tuesday of August. However, 13 states are allowed to celebrate on the first Tuesday of October. This helps to avoid some of those hot temperatures we experience here in the Southwest. This event allows the city of El Paso and the El Paso Police Department to engage with communities in a safe and proactive environment. We can reach out to rekindle old relationships and have the opportunity to foster new ones. It gives us the opportunity to remind our citizens we work for them. It also gives us the opportunity to remind them that these are their neighbors, their neighborhoods, neighborhoods where they work, neighborhoods where they live, neighborhoods where their children go to school, and neighborhoods where their children play. Places where we should feel safe and create strong, lasting families. Together, we will take back our neighborhoods against those that wish to destroy them and choose not to play well with others. It allows the El Paso Police Department to remind our citizens that the El Paso Police Department's unwavering commitment to keep them safe. We invite the members of City Council to reach out to your community service officers that work within their districts to obtain the scheduled events for the El Paso, Texas National Night Out that will occur on October 6th, 2026 from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. However, if anyone's ever attended one of these events, you'll know that the constituents are out there all night long.

or unless there's no more food.

We thank you again very much for your consideration and your time. Thank you.

Thank you, Lieutenant. Representative Trejo.

I just wanted to share that I was able to spend some time with them last year for the national night out. It was such an amazing experience. I really look forward to joining you all again this coming year. I got to visit with neighbors. You all are part of the community. You are our neighbors. And thank you for being out there.

And Lieutenant, how did this originally start? Are you familiar how the night?

So 43 years ago, it started in a small community. They got together and they noticed that whatever ailments were within that community. And they did notice there was a disconnect between police department and the citizens. What they wanted to do was be able to unite the police with the citizens and be able to give the tools to help them strengthen their neighborhoods and strengthen their partnership with the police department. it just happened to spiral it went out through it was actually started in the midwest and it just kind of blew up and then now we actually have a registry throughout the united states where police departments throughout the year they're able to sign on and and be part of this this huge event and it keeps getting bigger and bigger every year

Wow, and I think neighbors would turn on their porch lights to signal that they were community and they were safe.

Yes, sir. So they do turn on a blue light to signify the partnership with the police department. And then you also notice that here, especially in Northeast, that we're responsible for, they have a lot of block parties. And we tend to keep the rules going, but we let them have some fun.

Understood. Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor. And yes, everything that was mentioned is spot on. But I'd also like to mention that my community has also told me that they love to see our police officers out in the neighborhoods so that they see them in a different perspective, right? Not only as enforcers, but as people that are part of our community. And we've had many, many opportunities to have events and programming in collaboration with our police department. And, of course, we also have National Night Out on the west side in District 1 that I've visited two years in a row now. So we thank you for putting these events together for our community to enjoy and to see our police department in a different way. Thank you so much. Absolutely.

It's our pleasure.

And, Lieutenant, tell us the times again and the date.

It's going to be on October 6, 2026. It's a Tuesday. And it's going to be from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

Okay, fantastic. And thank you guys again for your service and all that you're doing for the city of El Paso. Congratulations. Ms. Bryan?

Yes, and the final proclamation is Benjamin Alire Signs Day.

OK, Representative Limon.

Thank you, Mayor. This proclamation reads, whereas Benjamin Alire Signs helped readers around the world understand the humanity of living along the border, through award-winning novels, poetry, stories, and children's books that celebrated El Paso and its people. Whereas Benjamín, who died July 28, 2026, at the age of 71, authored almost 30 books, including Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, a young adult novel so widely beloved it was translated into 25 languages. and adapted into a 2023 film. The story of two Mexican-American teens finding love won the Stonewall Book Award given for exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA plus experience. And its sequel, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, is a New York Times bestseller. And whereas Benjamín was the first Hispanic winner of the prestigious Penn Faulkner Award for his 2013 book of stories, Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club. He was a recipient of the American Book Award and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Texas Writer Award from the Texas Book Festival, and the Texas Medal of Arts for Literary Achievement. Benjamín, who adored living in Sunset Heights and central El Paso the past few decades, also painted with his works exhibited in local galleries. Whereas the city of El Paso in 2013 honored Benjamín and his award-winning work with the Star on the Mountain Award. And whereas Benjamín's work was powered by an infectious passion for equality, and shaped by humble beginnings. He was born in Old Picacho, New Mexico, and grew up on a small farm outside Las Cruces, picking crops, painting apartments, and roofing homes. Benjamín was ordained a Catholic priest in 1981 and worked for the Diocese of El Paso before leaving the priesthood to pursue his literary career. earning a master's degree in creative writing at the University of Texas at El Paso. He was awarded the prestigious Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University for his poetry, returned to the border, and became a professor and chair of the nationally recognized bilingual creative writing program at UTEP. And whereas untold numbers of UTEP students learned invaluable lessons from Benjamín about how to cultivate a powerful writing voice for expression, especially for people in places often overlooked. His stories about outsiders and El Paso resonated with readers across the globe. And for Benjamín, no topic was too complex for the young adults who championed his stories often dealt with poverty, discrimination, addiction, or love. And whereas Benjamín's stories about the borderland will carry forward despite his passing, his newest novel, When the World Was Happy, which focuses on twin siblings and their friends following a fictionalized school shooting, is set to be published September 29th, and was written in the wake of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and honors his niece, Amy, who was one of five people killed in the 1990 unsolved robbery and mass shooting at a Las Cruces bowling alley. And where his love for his community and for readers always guided Benjamín's writing, as he explains with an author's note in his upcoming novel, When the World Was Happy, that states, I want to write about things that matter. I want to write to move people. Writing taught me to love people, so writing this book is how I love. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Mayor and Council that August 18th shall be known as Benjamín Alire Signs Day, signed by the Honorable Mayor, Renard Johnson. Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor, Council. I am honored to be able to talk to you just a bit about my really good friend, Ben Saenz. It was a privilege and honor to know him. I would first like to thank Dr. Acevedo for helping us light the star on Sunday night, blue, thank you so much. And Representative Limon, sorry, for the proclamation. You know, it's hard to talk about Ben and really not talk about this community. He was a treasure for this borderland. Las Cruces Juarez El Paso. All of his books are located here. He talks about us in so many ways, so many creative ways. He sees us in a perspective we don't normally see ourselves. And he was very prolific in his writing. And he was honored in many ways for his writing. And if you've ever read his work, you would know that he has a close examination of not just El Pasoans and people and relationships, but also how we talk to each other in a community. I'm privileged to have been able to read every one of his writings. And his poetry, whether it's his novels, his young adult books, and he is a gift. And so your proclamation today is a true honor. I would like to read to you something that he wrote in his first book, his first young adult book, Sam and Julian in Hollywood. It's an excellent book. And I know that you get broadcast across the city. I would recommend this to any team. It should be in high school libraries across the country. And if you're thinking, well, Sammy Hogan in Hollywood, it doesn't say it in the book, but Hollywood is a neighborhood in Las Cruces. One of his characters, Sammy Santos, this is the first part of the book. The first thing the dead do, lose their voices but they have their ways of making us listen maybe the dead need those of us who made it out alive to go out into the streets and tell everyone what happened maybe they want us to do more than tell maybe they want us to shout maybe they want us to point fingers maybe they want us to tell Anyone who'll stop and listen that once the world was theirs too. Maybe they won't leave us alone until we say their names out loud again and again. I love that paragraph. I love that quote because among the things that Ben was besides a writer and a painter and a poet, he was a strong believer in social justice. And he shows it in his writings and in what he did in his actions. He spoke for not just El Paso, but he spoke for those that don't have a voice, those that have been ignored. And that passage reminds me that I know my really good friend. It's sad to tell you that he's passed. But because of his writings, he will live forever. I hope for the message Today is that his message of social justice will continue and that those who have not had the voice that others have, that we speak for them. which is a perfect place to talk to you all, because that's exactly what you do on a daily basis. So remember those voices that we commonly ignore. And I've noticed I've taken way too much time.

You can take a little more if you need to.

So there are others to speak. It's been a sad time. The star, the blue star, was extremely meaningful. He's close, and I could be here forever telling you jokes. He was my coffee buddy, and I will miss him.

Thank you. Good morning, Angela.

Good morning. I'm Angela Kocherga. I'm a longtime border journalist and I am news director at KTP Public Radio. And yes, you'll still find me out in the field of reporting, maybe interviewing some of you. I'm here, first of all, to thank you, Mayor and Council, for honoring our beloved Benjamin Alire Saenz, to those of us who are privileged to be his friend, just known as Ben. He was a true literary giant, but he was also our borderland treasure, our local borderland treasure. Las Cruces, El Paso, and of course Juarez. I'm going to be very brief, because my job requires that of me, so we'll take advantage of that this morning. I'm also going to read from one of Ben's best-selling books, just one sentence that I think really embodies his legacy but also is a lesson to all of us maybe all we were meant to do on this earth was to keep telling stories our stories and the stories of the people we loved and that is something that is meaningful to me as a journalist of course to artists authors poets musicians creatives but i think even more importantly to all of us in our everyday lives to make sure we are sharing our stories, sharing our stories with each other, with the next generation, with our friends, family, and amplifying, amplifying our local borderland voices. So thank you very much, and can't tell you how much we appreciate this. Benjamín Alire, Science Day.

Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Uh, my name is Alfredo Corchado, uh, better known as Freddy. I was the, uh, I was Benjamin, a leader science as waiter. And I was also a waiter to some of you here. Uh, and, but Benjamin was also, I was his prodigy, uh, became a long, uh, long time journalist for the Dallas morning news, covering Mexico, covering the border. I am now the executive editor and correspondent for Puente news collaborative. under the wing of the El Paso Community Foundation. And Ben and I always had this friendly debate. It reminded me a lot of my editor who would always remind me that El Paso, the border, is much more than the three Cs. It's much more than a place of conflict, much more than a place of chaos or crisis. And Ben would remind me that El Paso was also the place of La humanidad, generosidad, a place de amor, love, generosity, and humanity. And it's something he would always remind me as we were covering stories. He'd say, you know, a lot of these people don't have a voice, and it's up to you to provide that voice, provide that perspective. You're from the border. You know the border. You need to convey that to the readers everywhere. At Puente, we write stories, create content about the border, and we share that with publications all over the world, from the El Paso Times, El País, El Universal, the San Antonio Express News, et cetera. But we also try to mentor young journalists. We provide grants so that other places along the border, other news organizations along the border have funds to cover their communities. It's like providing rain for news deserts. As Ben was... I still get choked about this, but I'm just going to read something I wrote. As he was leaving this earth, I thanked Benjamin Alida Saenz for his generous support in pushing me to be an author, for his unwavering belief in the power of writers who chronicle the bittersweet beauty of our homeland, the border. And when I asked him how to carry on his stellar legacy, He said there is an urgent need for more writers rooted in our region. He wanted the El Paso Community Foundation to fulfill his lifelong dream of starting a border book festival. He didn't understand why we had to go to Austin every year. And he asked his friend, Eric Pearson, to create the Benjamín Alireza Science Literary Fund to help mentor, train, and support other writers to meet this critical moment. I know people are watching across El Paso, but if you're interested, it's epcf.org backslash Benjaminscience. Last night after we buried him, we went across the border to Juarez to raise a glass to Benjamín. And he may be gone, but the body of work that he left will be something that we will cherish forever. Thank you again. Thank you very much. Thank you.

This is Ricardo Saenz and his wife. Ricardo is Ben's brother.

Good morning.

Good morning. Hello to all, and thank you for the honor that you are presenting my brother, Ben-Kamin. We are very grateful for that. Ben-Kamin was my younger brother, and he lived a very adventurous life from being a priest to being in Tanzania and traveling all over with probably 50 cents in his pocket. He has always been very partial to . He has the opportunity to live anywhere. But this was his home. And this is where he wanted to live. And he writes so eloquently about your community. Because I don't live here. I live in California. So I don't get the opportunity to spend much time here. But he so loved this place that he would, you know, all his writings, everything he wrote about was about El Paso and the border and the people he loved. But in his last book, which he told me this was the best book that he ever wrote. And it took him years and years to write it. And that usually not the way he works. He has a novel in his mind, and he puts it to work. And within a year, he's done. But it took him many years to finish this book. And so, we are very proud of it because it represents my niece, my sister, which he dedicated the book to, for losing our niece in the Las Cruces shooting. And also, it's about all the shootings around, especially Ibalbi, where we lose children. that was very special to him dedicating something to them because their voices and their parents voices need to be heard and i thank you all thank you representative thank you mayor thank you for being here to recognize that incredible man that we knew has been and for you to pay tribute to him

I know that somewhere in heaven, Phil is sitting there, Phil Martinez, with Enrique Moreno and Ben Saenz, exchanging hilarious stories. They're young men that we lost at such an early age, and I'm especially grateful that our young leaders, our students that led us in the pledge, stayed today specifically to hear this proclamation and to be in your presence. Thank you very much. And thank you, Michael, who didn't want to come forward. Michael helped us with the language, a good friend also, and we appreciate you all being here. Thank you very much.

Can I just add? Oh, yeah. September 29th, we will launch Venkat Meen's last two books at the El Paso Community Foundation, and we'll use that day to also celebrate his life. So everyone's welcome.

That'll be great. And in extension to the first time you posted about this, I was very happy to make my contribution to support the book fair. Thank you.

Well, thank you guys for coming. And on behalf of the city, our deepest condolences for your loss. And I know Mr. Sine's writings connected El Paso and Juarez. And he once described the Kentucky Club as a place where people go where they're in trouble, looking for trouble, or trying to get out of trouble. Mr. Saenz taught us that you don't have to leave the border to find a great American story. Some of the greatest stories in America are right here in El Paso. So what he's left for this community will never ever be able to repay him for what he's done for El Paso. But again, we want to thank you guys for honoring and keeping the memory going. And again, we are so sorry for your loss. But we will continue to celebrate Mr. Signs for many, many, many generations to come. Thank you guys so much.

Thank you.

Okay, Ms. Bryant.

Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso City Council for Tuesday, August 18th, 2026. Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in council chambers along with Representative Acevedo, Representative Maldonado Rocha, Representative Nino, Representative Limon, and Representative Canales. It is 10.07 a.m. Will everyone please silence your electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by El Paso Police Senior Chaplain David Mayfield.

Mayor Johnson, Council, thank you for having me. El Paso, like so many other cities across the country, is being faced right now with some very critical issues, the kind of issues that can split a community right down the middle. I don't need to tell you that. It's in these moments that it's most important for us to make room for each other's humanity and for faith. And in that spirit, I would like to invite those present to join me as I pray. Almighty God, we come before you this morning grateful for this city that we call home. and mindful of the responsibility carried by those who have been entrusted with its leadership. There are important decisions before us, decisions about growth and opportunity, about resources and infrastructure, about costs born today and needs that may reach far into the future. These are not simple questions and reasonable people who care deeply about this community may see the answers very differently. So today we pray, especially for those who must listen to all of these voices who must weigh competing needs, consider consequences that cannot always be known and finally make decisions. Give our representatives wisdom to see beyond the loudest voices and seek the good of the whole community. Give them patience to listen, courage to ask difficult questions, humility to recognize the limits of their own understanding, and strength to make the decisions entrusted to them. Remind all who lead that public office is not merely a position of authority, but a place of service. That leadership is not measured simply by the power to decide, but by the willingness to accept responsibility for the people affected by those decisions. And for all of us who call El Paso home, grant us the grace to disagree without becoming enemies, to speak our convictions without forgetting our neighbor, and to remember that whatever our differences, we share this city and its future together. Bless this council, those who advise and support them, and all who have come here today to participate in the work of our community. May what is said and done be guided by wisdom, tempered by compassion, and directed toward the common good.

Okay, miss Frank.

Thank you chaplain Mayfield Council per the rules of order to use a personal cellular devices, not personal communication should take place on the day is what the meeting is in session once you obtain the floor from the mayor, you will have up to 10 minutes for debate and may speak twice per debatable motion. Please speak into the microphone and refrain from sight conversations. at the day of the meeting is in session for those of you joining virtually please mute your microphones to reduce any background noise for the record representative that whole and Chavez join the meeting at 10 away and representative here to join the meeting at 10 11. That brings us to public comment on consent and regular items for those that signed up to speak at 10. The first person that signed up to speak at 10 is Michael Clark. He signed up on item 27. And item 27 is discussion and action on a resolution that the proposed budget be adopted. Michael Clark. Also signed up at 10 is Jesse Romero. Mr. Romero is also speaking on item 27 on the budget resolution. Good morning, sir. You have three minutes.

Good morning city council members. Good morning. How you doing? Jesse Romero. I came yesterday and one of you all said a word that caught my attention and I thought I've used it before and people know it for business or in real estate and the word is fiduciary and he said it's a personal group that is legally required to act in the best interest of another person they handle money property or legal matters for a client The fiduciary must put the client's needs above their own personal profit or gain. For items, the duty of loyalty. The fiduciary cannot use the position to help themselves. They avoid conflicts of interests. The second one says duty of care. They must make smart, well informed choices. They must do good research before they act. Are you all doing that? You told me that. You said it yesterday, right? Okay. The third thing is keeping separate. They must keep the client's money and property separate from their own. The last one, good records. They must keep clear and honest records of all choices and actions. Now, when you vote for all things going to happen today, are you going to do your job? Are you going to represent the city? Are you going to represent yourselves? Are you going to represent the people who put you there? And that really caught my attention, the word. How far are you going to do the job that you're supposed to do and not do what you want to do or represent those that put you there? OK. I'm not going to argue about the budget or what you're going to do. That's your choice. I'm not going to tell you what to do or what to think. You've got to think about this because you gave me the word and said, you know what? Is it really all passive thinking like that? We're just doing what we think is best for yourselves. Thank you. Enjoyed it. Please have a good day. Thank you.

The next person that signed up to speak at 10 is Mark Wancho. He's speaking on item 31, which is a resolution authorizing the use of District 1 discretionary funds of $10,000 for the Borderland Mountain Bike Association's Lost Dog Trailhead Renovation Fund. Good morning. You have three minutes.

Good morning. Thank you. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. Mayor Pro Tem Chavez and staff, I thank you for this opportunity to speak today. My name is Mark Wancho. I'm a lifelong resident of El Paso. Full disclosure, I am vice chair of the Open Space Advisory Board. However, I'm here to speak on behalf of Borderland Mountain Bike Association today. The Borderland Mountain Bike Association was formed as a social club in the 1990s by a group of mountain bikers who would meet on Thursday nights near what was Helen of Troy, where they rode Gilbert's trails and shared each other's companies. In the 2000s, as development in the Northwest progressed, mountain bikers began meeting up at the end of Red Road near Pearl Ridge to ride Red Road trails. One day, Gilbert's dogs ran off while he was working on the trails. Despite an intense search effort, Gilbert's dogs were never found. Thus, the area became known as Lost Dog. The BMBA formed officially as a nonprofit organization after the first El Paso Puzzler endurance mountain bike race in 2007. We're currently in preparation for the 20th annual edition to be held this coming January. By 2010, the BMBA began to work to build a parking lot for the Lost Dog Trail system, and in 2011, entered into an agreement with the Public Service Board to allow for the construction of it. The Lost Dog Trailhead opened ceremoniously in late 2012 as the first non-state park trailhead in El Paso. This month marks five years since the City of El Paso, EP Water, and Frontera Land Alliance agreed to place a conservation easement over Lost Dog Nature Preserve, protecting it in perpetuity. Over the last 14 years, Lost Dog Trailhead has served as the starting point for thousands upon thousands of adventurers to exercise and explore the foothills of the Franklin Mountains and beyond. While it has held up well considering the amount of traffic it sees, the trailhead is due for a refresh. The Borderland Mountain Bikers Association now has plans for renovation of this beloved trailhead and has established the fund for this project. Renovations to the trailhead will incorporate elements of green stormwater infrastructure, to irrigate native plants, which will help give visitors a deeper connection to the land by learning about the types of flora that can be found in the Chihuahuan Desert. We will also bring in a water fountain and improve the parking area so that visitors arrive and depart with a great impression of our trails and open spaces. Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for putting this item on the agenda today. The generous contribution from District One's discretionary funds towards the renovation of Lost Dog Trailhead will greatly impact the entire community, reverberating through District One and beyond. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

The next few speakers signed up on item 33, it will be like side and on this follow by Gilbert Morales, I say the poor regal Gabriel Garcia, so yes, it better, but only got kind of a high and I care Linda Favella, but I can't say that. I like said not this year. Gilbert Morales. Mr. Morales will be followed by Alfredo Borrego. And item 33 is a discussion and action to approve and adopt a formal request by the El Paso City Council to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding the emission events on August 4th and 5th at Marathon Petroleum Corporation, El Paso Refinery.

Good morning.

Good morning. Excuse me. My name is Gilbert Morales. Sorry. I'm here to speak on the effects of pollutants that are being expelled from Marathon Refinery. Sorry. Refinery that has impacted me and my family. I lived in Marlowe Road for over three years. and in my over 30 years and in my loss for over 50 years. My father-in-law was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002. passed away in 2003. I was diagnosed in 2003 and still suffer from headaches, vertigo, and my daughter who also lived there for 27 years from headaches and we currently have suffered sulfur leaks caused us to have nausea, dizziness, and headaches. My wife was diagnosed with lung cancer, never had been a smoker, and also lived 55 years and passed away in June 6th. How many more loved ones do we have to lose in order to get them to stay until they're finally accountable for our health?

My name's Diana Erives. I'm not listed. I've lived in that house for 30 years before moving out. And as he said, The refinery has expelled pollutants ever since it's been there. It was a little bit more controlled at the beginning. Now it seems to have gotten out of control. As he mentioned, my sister was diagnosed with lung cancer in January and passed away in June. Never been a smoker, never did anything in that manner. And yet, there was nothing we could do. Three weeks ago or so, they had a sulfur thing. It triggered nauseas. They got all nauseous. My niece got headaches. My brother-in-law got headaches. Our dog got sick. There's got to be something that we can do as a community to control. everything that the refinery has been expelling. It is too close to the community. I know back in the day when it first came out, it was El Paso finished right where the refinery was. Expansion of El Paso, I think, demands or requires that these refineries be moved to a more isolated area to where the impact doesn't.

Thank you. You've reached three minutes.

Thank you, guys.

The next speaker is Alfredo Borrego, followed by Gabriel Garcia, Sylvia Cepeda, Veronica Carvajal, Arianna Eicher. Good morning. You have three minutes.

Good morning, Alfredo.

Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, Council. I'm Alfredo Borrego. They call me Fred Borrego. I'm the president of the San Juan Neighborhood Improvement Association, which borders the refinery to the west from Tor Bridge all the way to the railroads. As you know, we have a contested case before us. And that came about because What the refinery sent to the TCEQ and what the TCEQ had didn't meet. So they gave us a contested case, which will happen sometime soon. I don't know the date yet. So let's talk about August 4th. At about 7 o'clock, I was going down Trail Bridge, and I noticed that the flare was going full blast. And I've always known that there's problems at the refinery. What I also noticed was that the cloud maker, the cracker, was off. That never goes off. That's always running 24-7. That's how they make their products that we all use. Okay, so I knew that there was something going on there. Then the following day, we found out, well, let me go back to August 4th. Then about 9 o'clock, THE POISON STARTED TO SPREAD OUT FROM THE REFINERY TO THE COMMUNITY THROUGHOUT THE CITY. AND SOME OF THIS POISON THAT WAS SPEWING FROM THERE CAUSES CANCER. THE FOLLOWING DAY WE FOUND OUT THE AMOUNT OF WHAT WAS GOING ON. SO I'M ASKING YOU GUYS TO SUPPORT AGENDA ITEM NUMBER 33. YOU HAVE TO. IN THE PAST, A lot of our city leaders, a lot of our county leaders, some of our state leaders look the other way. And I know why. And a lot of you know why you look the other way, okay? So we're asking for fence light monitoring, which the TCQ doesn't have. They only have one monitor close to the facility. We're asking some type of communication to the area residents when things go bad at the refinery. And the most important one is to ask the refinery, and I'm sure they could do it, lower your emissions 10, 15%. That's a win-win for them. That's a win-win for us. So again, I'm asking you council members today, please, Do not look the other way when this comes to vote. Too many of our past leaders have looked the other way. Please don't do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Fred.

The next speaker is Gabriel Garcia. Gabriel Garcia. He will be followed by Sylvia Cepeda and Veronica Carvajal. Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, Mayor Johnson and members of city council. My name is Gabriel Garcia, and I live at 5837 Ibarra Court. I am the second vice president of the San Juan Neighborhood Association. I have lived at my current residence that is located two blocks away from Marathon Refinery for 63 years, my entire life. This is not the first hazardous event that has occurred at the refinery. Our community is waiting for an adequate response as to what happened on August 4th and the 5th of 2006. This was an egregious Clean Air Act violation. Were federal laws violated? Were refinery permits violated? Why were residents not promptly notified? I myself dialed 911 on that day because I did not know the nature of that stench. There was nothing on the news or social media as to what exactly was happening. I was on hold for five minutes. This incident caused our emergency call center some unwarranted stress. Why were the local officials not notified? Why hasn't Marathon accepted the invitation to meet with the community to explain what happened at the refinery? This would demonstrate transparency. We expect Marathon Refinery to be a good neighbor, but there is a disconnect at the present time. Marathon does a lot for the community. They are very good about tooting their own horn. They have a newsletter, social media, and monthly communication meetings. I am part of that community advisory panel, and all we do is hear them talk about the good things that they do. There isn't really a two-way communication. They took their horn out about the good things they do for the community. Why have they not used these platforms to communicate with what is happening with the current incidents? Again, an obvious disconnect. What corrective action is in place? Our community of San Juan has a large population of vulnerable adults that were at a loss during this incident. Our community of San Juan demands accountability and transparency for Marathon Refinery. Thanks to all the elected officials that are behind this effort. Please support item 33. Thank you Mayor Johnson and city council for your time. Thank you.

The next speaker is Sylvia Cepeda. Sylvia Cepeda. Veronica Carvajal. She will be followed by Ariana Iker and Linda Favella. Good morning.

Good morning.

Council, good morning. Veronica Carvajal here on behalf of the Sembrando Esperanza Coalition as an organizer. Residents of Corbin Sembrano right next to the refinery are members of Sembrando and asked me to speak. As Representative Acevedo and Boyar Trejo know, when El Paso water told us that water was unsafe to drink in January, we got alerts on our phone similar to an amber or silver alert. When people drove into my neighborhood, they also got alerts on their phone about how unsafe the water was. However, when the air was unsafe to breathe on August 4th or 5th, none of us got an alert. None of us were told what we were breathing or how to reduce our exposure, even though we knew who the culprit was, Marathon Refinery. There was no hotline to call. Instead, some of us did what we're used to doing when we don't have answers. We went on FitFam. We didn't even get an explanation of what was going on until August 6th, following Thursday. According to KFOX, the emissions exceeded the limit for sulfur dioxide by 3,600 times. Per the calculations of one of our volunteer researchers, the emissions for I3 butadiene, which is a known carcinogen, were seven times the standard. And the emissions of propylene were 3,200 times the limit. Marathon Refinery responded to our email, since we don't have a phone number for them, by saying, quote, the monitoring did not detect any levels that would pose health risks, end quote. The people who were exposed tell a different story. We created a form to collect people's firsthand accounts. As of this morning, 62 people have completed the form. Of those, two went to the hospital, including a woman who was seven months pregnant. Eight people left their home to avoid the area for a couple of days because they were so sick. Respondents included parents of a two-month-old baby, people with heart and respiratory conditions, people who are elderly, some who live alone and don't have social media or transportation, and people with pets that they didn't want to leave behind. Their symptoms included severe vomiting, nausea, headaches including migraine headaches, eye and throat irritation, coughing and difficulty breathing. Pets were also affected, and a person reported that their dog was so distressed that it kept trying to cover its nose with its paws. This was all compounded by the stress of not knowing what was going on or what to do, and this as the sirens from the facility blessed it all night. To date, August 18th, Marathon Refinery has not responded to our request dated August 7th. We asked for the data from that day, a hotline number, and a community meeting. And this is why you must intervene. Polluters in this community must pay the consequences of their behavior. We must be protected and we're leaning on all of you. If any of you had called Vijay Smith at the refinery asking for them to fund a movie night, I guarantee you they would have responded to you the very next day. and yet when it comes to our health they feel the um impunity they can do whatever they want with um with our health and all they could do is blame other people thank you so much thank you veronica the next speaker is ariana eicher she will be followed by linda favela and claudia contreras stiller good morning good morning

Good morning. My name is Arianna Eicher. I'm a resident of Central El Paso, and I'm here to urge you to hold Marathon Refinery accountable for the severe disturbance caused by their negligence and failure to alert the community of the harm that their refinery released throughout the area on August 4th and 5th. Many residences were affected, and there is no telling of the danger that the toxic fumes coming from their location has put El Pasoans in. I hope this one can be a no-brainer for you since you have let us down so badly in these past few months, and it seems like the ultra-rich companies continually evade accountability in El Paso. There should be no question of whether the citizens deserve a meeting in which Marathon and anyone else responsible explain the nature of the pollutants that were released into our air, the implications thereof, and what actions they will take to prevent this from happening again. and what they plan to do right now to repair the damage that has been inflicted, such as the adverse health effects on those of us who live in the area surrounding this facility, especially the most vulnerable, including elders, children, and those immunocompromised neighbors as you all know the people in all parts of the city not just there surrounding this facility were able to smell the chemical odor in the air not to mention that the subsequent rains we received could not even be enjoyed though we need the water because the contaminants in the air likely created an acid rain effect throughout the city I am not an expert in this field, but I know I want to live in a place with clean air and with a city government who can do the bare minimum of their job to protect the quality of life for the people. Show us that you can stand up for us in the smallest way. The story of your time in office already carries a heavy red mark, demonstrating your loyalty to the ultra-rich by allowing harmful flock cameras which violate our Fourth Amendment right to pervade throughout the city or when you refuse to even consider negotiating the 380 agreement with meta you wouldn't even try to appeal for a deal that was more favorable for the people you're supposed to represent. Our pleas just weren't worth the effort. I'm sure you're aware by now, these types of problems will only be exacerbated when that metadata center is fully functional and operating. I will never forget those very emphatic no's you gave when you voted against us. I'm sure that felt powerful. So hopefully this is an easy one. Bring a semblance of peace of mind to us by voting yes on item 33. Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Linda Favela. Linda Favela. Linda Favela, if you're in the queue, star six please to unmute your telephone. Linda Favela, star six please. I don't see her phone number in the queue. Claudia Contreras-Seller.

Good morning.

Hello. Good morning, everybody. I'm going to read you look from look 1248. From everyone who has been given much, much more, much will be demanded. And from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. is the first time I see a male crying in this microphone in one year and eight months. I've cried two times, and I wanna congratulate everybody that comes here and advocates for our city, and I wanna vote for yes for 33, and I wanna tell everybody to vote for it. And I have no idea how come the emergency response team didn't know what was going on. And right now, we still don't know. And I want to thank the El Paso Fire Department, because they're the ones that go out there and expose themselves to these toxins, and also the police department. And I think at city level, not a lot can be done, but we can ask for accountability. and everything is like state level laws, but a lawsuit will be good. That's why we have a lawyer in here. And when it comes to defending our city, and the health of our people, we need a lot of bravery. We need accountability, responsibility, fairness, especially when it comes to wealth and finances. You guys were elected to use your talents and your skills and your leadership. So I'm pretty much sure you all are going to vote yes for item 33. I want to mention that Marathon Refinery has some cylinders, gas cylinders, and if one of those cylinders explodes, it can wipe out a five mile radius. And also since we're talking about toxins, I want to request for you all to seek more help. about treatments for El Paso Fire Department, because all of this, they're constantly breathing in, and right here, we have our chief of the El Paso Fire Department. I wanna thank him, and also from the police department, and God bless our first responders. Thank you.

Thank you.

The next two speakers signed up to speak on item 34. The first person is Jay Mania. followed by Talon Montoya. And item 34 is discussion and action to approve and adopt a letter by the El Paso City Council to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, seeking clarification on data center directives.

Good morning, council. I'm Jay. I'm a community organizer with Manaset People's Project. And like you've heard us say over and over again, we're fighting for clean air, clean water, and decision-making power over our communities. Thank you, Representatives Acevedo and Limon, for putting this on the agenda. You've been fighters throughout this whole ordeal, and your continued support with the people that you represent is inspiring. I think we all know what the governor's response to this letter is going to be. META's been dismissive and unbothered by the concerns of El Paso and since day one. These tech companies couldn't care less about the way those of us who are living here feel about them building a gas plant that will pollute more than entire cities. They couldn't care less that we're concerned that the PSB has allowed them to use up to two and a half million gallons of our water a day. Why would they? They've been given everything that they want. The truth is the governor messed up. He was told the same story that all of you were, and that city councils across America have been told. Texas is going to be the new tech hub with endless jobs and investment, and people are going to be so thrilled and happy to have a data center in their community. He had no idea people would feel so upset, and now the tech companies are telling him the same thing that they're telling you. It's too late. The new restrictions will not have a single material impact on our data center. This is a governor trying to save himself before an election. No one else is coming to save us. Either this council decides to do something about META or you will be replaced. We have no more options. Thank you.

Next speaker is Talyn Montoya. Good morning.

Hello, council. My name is Tal Montoya. First off, I'd like to just thank Representative Acevedo, as well as for bringing this to us. I'm an El Pasoan. I have two degrees from UTEP here in El Paso. I lived in a variety of communities, not only in Texas, but across the United States. And I came back here specifically because I wanted to help El Paso make change in our communities. and with what we've seen over the past couple of months is exactly not that. We know about the recent data center directives as was mentioned by Greg Abbott and we can obviously know what to expect from that. He believed some of the same stuff that's been told to you guys and that's something that is obviously lies. Now, a short while ago, Greg Abbott himself was boasting about this being a tech hub and somewhere that was going to have the data centers, the data center capital of the world. And that's something that's obviously not what we want as a community. But now everybody is starting to realize that and constituents are getting fed up. And it's something that we definitely are taking notice of. um meta doesn't care about us and they definitely don't care about any of you um once again you have a public health crisis on item 33 and this is something that's setting us up for another public health crisis and i think it's reading the reading the writing on the walls if you want to avoid something that you're already dealing with as a community It'd be wise to take note of that and realize to try and prevent that take some preemptive actions to prevent these things. Again, I'd like to thank representatives Acevedo and Limon for this. And as for the rest of you, nothing will save you guys from the governor or from your constituents voting you out. Thank you.

The next speaker is Michael Clark. Mr. Clark signed up for item 27, which is the budget resolution. Good morning.

good morning mayor members of the city council my name is michael clark and i am an el paso homeowner and i'm speaking on item 27 because i believe we need to look at the budget not only in terms of what the city needs but also in terms of what the el paso homeowners can continue to afford i understand the city has obligations public safety infrastructure employees and essential services costs overall and when we look at the proposed tax increase by itself the additional amount may not seem significant However, experiencing everything together, all the entities together, property taxes is just extremely high and difficult for people to keep up with. Homeowner insurance has increased, utility costs, maintenance costs, and many other newer communities. Our newer communities have additional expenses such as HOAs, public improvement districts, assessments. Eventually something has to give. Homeownership is supposed to be one of the primary ways working families build long-term wealth, but there are homeowners who have watched their property values increase on paper while their actual cost of owning that home decreases. When they decide to sell, that appreciation doesn't automatically mean that they're walking away wealthy. They still have a mortgage balance, transaction expenses, moving costs, and they have to figure out a way where they can turn and afford to live here in El Paso. We also cannot ignore homeowners who are struggling. I attend local foreclosure auctions and month after month properties continue to come through that process. Every foreclosure represents more than just an address. or a number on a spreadsheet. Somewhere behind that property is a homeowner, a family, or a financial hardship. That's why I'm asking council to look at homeowners differently. Our homeowners cannot be an invisible piggy bank that we continue to return to whenever the budget becomes difficult. I spoke on this item last year and the same talking points come up. I recognize that balancing a municipal budget is complicated. I am not standing here pretending that lowering property taxes or balancing this budget is easy. I'm asking us to be creative precisely because it is difficult. Because asking property owners for more It just exhausts opportunities for efficiencies. Let's examine spending priorities. Let's look at additional revenue sources that do not disproportionately burden property ownership. And let's continue to communicate. We need to continue to understand that At the end of the day, it's difficult for homeowners overall to bear the cost for the city. When we have businesses that are coming in here and getting tax breaks, it's extremely frustrating as someone sitting down with families every single day having these conversations and the difficulties of getting them ready to sell their home or just keeping their home overall in El Paso, Texas.

Thank you, Mr. Clark.

All right, thank you.

The final speaker is Linda Favella. She signed up on item 33, the Marathon Refinery item. Ms. Favella, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. Linda Favella, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. Go ahead. Your microphone is ready. You have three minutes.

Hello, my name is Linda Favela, and I am a resident here in the Lower Valley. I am a member of the Corbin-Sombrano Neighborhood Association. And I'm here to speak about item 33, the refinery. And I'd just like to make it known that our neighborhood association has been reaching out to the refinery to call a meeting and meet with all the associations, which would be Hawkins, San Juan, Valverde, just to name a few that are around in the area. And what our neighborhood association president has just informed me that once again, the refinery has canceled the meeting with us. We just would like to talk with them and maybe get together and solve the problems that we've been having with many, many alarm systems, noise pollution, the smells, and other problems that we've been having, continuously having. We would just really like for the refinery to come out and meet with the neighborhood association and come up with solutions. Maybe a text message, warnings if we need to vacate in case of fires, because they have had a couple of fires and people have been calling the refinery number that they gave out to us to call to complain and they don't answer. So it upsets people because they're not getting answers. And when you're worried that there's a fire at the refinery, we would like to get some kind of notice, even if it's just calling the news and putting out a statement for now, until we get some kind of emergency system in place for neighbors, maybe even just contact the neighborhood association leaders, and then they can contact the neighborhood. But there needs to be something in place, and being ignored is not acceptable because I think what they're doing, this is just my personal opinion, is they want to meet with small groups, of people instead of meeting with the whole association together and then that's my number one.

problem with the refinery is that we would like to meet with them and they are ignoring us the neighborhood thank you thank you ma'am you've reached the three minutes that brings us to call to the public the el paso city council is a local government body with serving the city charged with serving the citizens of this city and the meetings must be focused on the meeting at charge the city council meetings are public meetings under the texas open meetings act public comment is an accommodation and not a requirement of city council All persons in attendance are expected to display civility and decorum that is respectful to other persons without the use of insulting, profane, threatening, or abusive language. Public comment will not be used for personal attacks nor may any member of the public use this forum for political statements or campaigning. Please note that during call to the public, the City Council may not deliberate or decide any subject that is not on the agenda. However, Council may propose that a topic brought forth be posted on a future agenda. Mayor?

OK, public comment is now open. Each speaker will have the time allotted under our rules of order. Please keep your remarks within the permitted time and maintain civility and decorum as required by our public comment conduct policy. All right, Ms. Bryan.

Thank you, Mayor. Each speaker will get three minutes. We have 10 people that signed up for call to the public. The first person is Elizabeth Crawford. Ms. Crawford's topic is abortion amidst a culture of death. Ms. Crawford, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. Go ahead, ma'am. Your microphone is ready.

Thank you. Good morning. Thank you. In El Paso, we're surrounded north and south by a culture of death. I'd like to just start first with John 11, 25, many of us are familiar with it. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. The gospel has created the promise of life to all who repent and believe. And this hope is absolute certainty for those who know Christ based on his finished work on the cross and his resurrection three days later. North and south of El Paso, There's much within the culture of death. A short drive to our neighboring state of New Mexico, and we're in a culture standing brazenly for absolutely unrestricted abortion. This week, I'll be going up to Albuquerque, which, to the best of my understanding, has five functioning abortion centers. Many of them do all kinds of late-term abortions. And sadly, many ladies from Texas and even from El Paso use the abortion centers of Albuquerque. A short drive south and over the bridge, and we're in the city of Juarez, which has visibly been overtaken by the Santa Muerte cult, the skeleton of saint death called Holy Death, the blasphemy. it started the religion of the cartels and is now one of the fastest growing religions in the hemisphere the murder rate as we all know is astronomical in juarez and if we go into the juarez cathedral by the downtown square walk up the steps just inside is a massive statue portraying a dead jesus lying in a glass coffin we are surrounded by a culture of death mexico has recently decriminalized abortion as well God's word tells us that Christ paid for sin once for all to deliver from sin, death, fear, and bondage all who believe on him. For those trapped in a culture of death, the words of the resurrection cry out. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. This is what motivates us to go out to the abortion centers across our nation. We are striving by God's grace to save babies. And we also understand the power of the gospel to bring moms and dads from spiritual death into spiritual life. Thank you so much, and I hope you have a good day. Thank you. Thank you.

The next speaker is Claudia Contreras Siller. Ms. Siller's topic is animal cruelty. She will be followed by Albert Rivera.

Good morning.

Good morning. I went to the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee last week. Can I use the monitor, please? I think it's unacceptable that all topics are being discussed there, pets, but they're not discussing animal cruelty in our streets. And I want to show a picture that was on next door. Sorry. This is a poisoned cat. It was on the west side. And this is very normal to me. I have moved over 400 dead animals out of the streets. I've been dealing with animal cruelty for 10 years. So for me to come to City Hall, it was like the maximum thing I could do to fight animal cruelty. And I know you guys have been giving more money to animal services, but it's not enough to pass the ball to them. Nino, you told me you were going to do a proclamation for the animal cruelty unit. I'm still waiting for it. It has been a long time since you promised me that. Mr. Canales, you're in charge of the committee. and I appreciate the pet pantries and for you to be doing a lot of spay and neuters, but we need someone to fight animal cruelty. I've been here for a long time. I asked for a team to do the trap-neuter return, to be paid to show up with uniforms, and to educate the city about animal cruelty, and this is very common. I don't know if it would be more strong if it was a dog, but FITFAM just posted a dog being beat up. So FITFAM, I am very grateful because they have been exposing a lot of stuff. And also, it's not acceptable that this is not being talked about in the committee, okay? I was there waiting and waiting, talking to a lot of comments that, Like a lady was like, oh, well, it's not acceptable. We're receiving more animals. Let's research the data. Well, of course it's acceptable. That's a good thing that animal services is taking in more animals. And I want to ask you guys, who do the cats belong to? You guys don't know who they belong to. They belong to us. We are supposed to take care of them. And also, I've been advocating about pigeons that are being exterminated by businesses that are not paying tax. And I went to take an injured bird to the Second Chance Wildlife. And I could see your name outside, Alejandra Chavez. And I want to ask you here, what have you done for that? rescue or for the birds or for animals in general. And I'll wait for your answer. What have you done to have your name out there? Thank you, ma'am. You've reached the three minutes.

The next speaker is Albert Rivera. Mr. Rivera's topic is police response and noise law violating. He will be followed by John Muniz.

Good morning.

Good morning, everybody. I hope you got a good sleep this weekend because I didn't. But let me pass this out if I can. so you can see what I'm about to talk about. This past weekend, I've had a lot of problems with the police department officers not being educated or not knowing the municipal code about bars playing amplified music in the back without a roof. This has got to stop, and I hope at this time that this ruling that's in black and white, that's in the municipal code, gets enforced this weekend. A lot of police officers came to my house this weekend, Friday and Saturday, to help with this situation, but not one of them, wearing a uniform, had the confidence in themselves to go enforce this law. It's ridiculous that we have so many bars in Kern Place and everywhere else in this city that don't have a roof and have a patio that don't have a bar. those pictures that i'm passing around will show you the front of the bar and the back of the bar what they're using for a roof i need this to be enforced mayor i need you to talk to the police department command pina five points the bicycle police everybody needs to know this law so i can get my sanity i have a court case in november a trial with this bar i'm suing them I'm going for a temporary injunction this month. In the meantime, I need this bar to be closed down at midnight in the back of the patio. They can have the music in the bar, but they cannot play it in the back. And I also have something here from Planning and Inspection that they've been denied their permit. So they don't have a permit. They're breaking the law. I drive and get a ticket. I drive too fast and get tickets. I've been given a ticket for jaywalking here. But these guys get tickets, and Albert Armendariz from the city attorney hasn't accepted one penny for their fines. And they've got over 80 plus tickets. So I need you to talk to city attorney Albert Armendariz and get some money for these people violating the decimal limit and breaking the city ordinance law about playing music after midnight. I'm fed up having to come here to explain things to you that you should know and that the police department should know. So let's get them un-ignorant and educated on the municipal code that deals with barred with no roof.

Thank you, Mr. Rivera.

Thank you.

The next speaker is John Moniz. Thank you. Mr. Moniz's topic is El Fire Department budget, rising non-emergent EMS calls, and overall general fund expenditures. Good morning. You have three minutes.

Can I get the ?

IT, we need the please.

Good morning.

Good morning.

The way I'll try to break up this conversation is working through the fiscal overview for the fire department and then moving over to the emergency overview. So if you're going to take away anything from today, the first key point is unchecked health disparities are largely driving non-emergent EMS volume. That may seem irrelevant, but when you look at the city budget and you look at what the fire department does, they largely respond to non-emergent EMS calls. Now, this is not to advocate for denying service, but this is to advocate for efficiency within public safety, specifically the fire department. The second thing is there's been controversy when it comes to the fire department in collaboration with the Department of Public Health. There's historical gatekeeping between the fire department, as well as Hector Ocadanza, the public health authority. And to the point, this rise in non-emergent public EMS runs falls squarely on Hector Ocadanza. And unfortunately, his contract was renewed in May. I encourage you to advocate for him to come up here and really present what he has accomplished.

So those are the two main things that, if you really want to take away anything.

The other key thing is, now I know that the budget conversation couldn't happen at a less popular time. A lot of families are struggling. To provide a counter narrative, a tax rate increases of fiscal necessity. The first part, as I've mentioned, surging costs, unmanaged public health, and a large drive in non-emergent EMS calls is putting a strain on the city's budget. The second thing is dipping into reserves is non-sustainable. It's not impactful. Mr. Cortines has mentioned it. Not until we lose libraries and we lose core quality of life services. The third one is there may be candidates, specifically Mr. Armijo, and keep me honest, Ms. Prine, but holding the line on taxes is a fiscal fallacy. It does nothing but nothing to address the systemic imbalances that have been pointed out by Mr. Cortines. So two things. Exponential economic growth is absolutely critical, and efficiency within public safety is drastically needed.

The second key thing is when you look at the El Paso Fire Department budget trend,

Over the past 10 years, the fire has seen a 64% increase, which is a median year-over-year increase of roughly 4%. Since 2010, the city's experienced a mere 5% increase in population. So what is the disconnect between the exponential rise in fire department budget and that mere population growth? Thank you.

The next speaker is Jessie Romero. Mr. Romero's topic is META water usage. He will be followed by Kim Hemley, Patricia Osman, Angelica Lujan, Cornelius Brown, and Lisa Turner.

Good morning. I'm back. I've done a lot of research about META because they say that META uses a closed loop system to refrigerate their equipment. Say this is a computer, OK? They've got a lot of slides in there. And what happens? They put fluids in there to cool it. However, you've got pipes going in there. They were cold. And they go out and go outside. And they used water to cool the pipes. Your basic swamp cooler cools your house about 10 to 20 degrees at home. That's it. After that, on a hot day over 100, you're going to lose, OK? And I've checked, why is Meta using this system? Why? Because of cost. HVACs or refrigeration systems, you can freeze water with refrigeration systems. So why are you using water to cool computers? And basically, computers run it about the way that the cooling systems are used. It's about 45 degrees Celsius or 112 degrees Fahrenheit. That's the temperature of a nice, warm shower. So why are you doing all this stuff? Because it's cost. It's more cost-effective to use water, which are El Paso's natural resources that we use to survive, than use HVAC or refrigeration systems. It's all about cost. And it comes down to, I just came to the conclusion that Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, in my opinion, philosophy is profit at any cost. And what cost is that? Our water. Now they're saying, oh, yeah, the city council did this for two years ago. Some of you helped, you know, got the contract. No. These things were done before we even started. They started, you know, they knew. They could have gone to Horizon City. They've got a lot of land. You've got everything. But you know what? They came to El Paso and they said, we can do it. If New Mexico can do it, you know, they can do it in New Mexico, they can do it to El Paso. But this thing happened a long time ago. They knew what they were doing, and they came here and they did it. So the question is, my goal is eventually to transfer or to change the HVAC system for cooling the computers at MEDA. Get rid of the water, let it use our water, and that's all. That's my goal that's going to be happening. And I'm going to do it. You watch. And I see myself as a reformer. I want to change things through the laws. But if it means to have to be an activist, I will be an activist. And I'll go out there and compete. Or rather, I will go out there and I'll Go in front of the buildings, you know do whatever I need to do, but I will have changes made To conserve our water. Thank you. Have a good day Thank you.

The next speaker is Kim Himley Her topic is Frontera Road Closure. She will be followed by Patricia Osmond.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor and Council. I'm a resident of both New Mexico or Sunland Park and El Paso. I'm here to raise concerns about the process of the four border walls El Paso has put up between New Mexico and Texas. and make note of the severe disappointment and gross ineptitude of both El Paso and Sunland Park for even allowing this to happen. You, El Paso, have ultimately paid for four unplanned gated New Mexico communities at Girl Scout Lane, San Gabriel Drive, Hacienda Roja, and the new Boy Scout Lane, blocking access to our neighboring Frontera Road. Borders and Bullards is the new $340,000 campaign here, without one penny going to repair the undeveloped Frontera Road. Pretty big investment for no real infrastructure benefit, just to prevent a proposed housing development at the end of Frontera in New Mexico, where there has been no further development and only exists on paper. even if it were to be erected again, would take years to develop the land and the road to even get the equipment on. Reviewing the public records from both municipalities shows an obvious breakdown in preparation, communication, planning and communication, communication and planning, and again mere communication. Ironically, despite an MOU that was signed between El Paso and Sunland Park almost one year ago to the day, September 3rd, where I sat next to Representative Chavez in Sunland Park City Hall chambers, I thought it was a pretty big deal and was excited about it since it had never existed since its incorporation. But what does the first sentence in the MOU read? To strengthen communication and cooperation on development near their shared border. Well, obviously, there was some major breakdown in that MOU. We feel betrayed and blocked off from our family, friends, houses of worship, businesses, and our shared neighborhood. We are more connected than just a street border. Do you think you can put up a border wall, divert hundreds of individuals' schedules, and everyone just be okay with it? Has this ever been done before across state lines? Well, we're seeking legal counsel to find that out. I understand not everyone's going to be in accordance with each other and definitely acknowledge the need for some traffic mitigation, especially from all the Texas residents leaving the New Mexico dispensaries, often going back through the neighborhood with smoke billowing out of their vehicles. but you've also created some serious safety issues for the families of san gabriel with the horse trailers and the hay tractors going down a residential street with only room for one lane traffic on the weekends how do you feel what it's like to be cornered with locked gates in your community and only one way out and going on two and a half weeks now our new mexico fire department still doesn't have keys to those locked gates So putting families and households at risk, a $340,000 planning embarrassment.

Thank you. Reads three minutes.

Is not called planning. Thank you.

The next speaker is Patricia Osmond. Ms. Osmond, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. I don't see Ms. Osmond in the queue. We'll move to Angelica Lujan. Angelica Lujan. Cornelius Brown. Mr. Brown's topic is law enforcement abuse of power. He will be followed by Lisa Turner.

Good morning, Cornelius. Good morning.

Morning. Cornelius Brown from Houston, Texas. I've been adopted by El Paso since 2006, where I came here to play football under the leadership of Coach Mike Price. Been here in the last past, what, two and a half years? Well, let's say the last past six, seven months. I went to jail over three, four times. I've been stopped by law enforcement over six, seven times. For what reason, I have no clue. I spend all my days and time here in El Paso advocating for the youth, servicing programs like Andrews High School, Eastwood, Irvin, Ushleta, you name it. But basically, I come here to El Paso to provide a service, right? I feel like I've been called here, a guard duty, to actually bring more visibility and viability to the community of El Paso by helping athletes reach their full potential in and outside the marketplace. and how I do that by giving them information that I've learned along my way from places like Houston, going to play professional with the Colts, Bears, Chargers, and other professional ranks of things that I've been around that allowed me to come back to this place like El Paso that's, how can I say, a hidden gem. west of Texas that's kind of like an adopted child of the rest of Texas, right? So when I come here, I feel like I'm doing a duty and a great service. But to have constant interaction with law enforcement that's not appeasing and appealing to the average person, I feel like I'm being targeted for whatever reason. And I know we're in a community like El Paso where black representation is not a big deal. But hey, but for us to be, for me, myself personally, and other people that identify with myself, shouldn't have to encounter unjust acts by law enforcement people we ask to help protect the service, right? All I ask for is to have the due diligence, right? I did all the, you can ask for emailing the mayor, city council members, internal affairs, you name it, right? I just asked for you guys to do your job and kind of say, how can I say, the chain of command, right? Help us understand what do we do when we do a voice or put a claim out, right? Why do we have to go through so much red tape to get a response back? All I ask is that you guys, not only myself, but to everybody in El Paso, do your job and do your service by allowing these people the right information, the right process, due process to get situations handled and not put people through a bunch of hoops, right, and sending people different places. And it's sad to say that city people of El Paso don't know to direct the people to the places that they need to get information from right so as a whole the collective view right i think we need to do better and i don't want to make this a racial bias issue but the way things are going around in the united states and the rest of the world right i can't help but state the facts of what's on the table right please do your job help me help others let's be a great el paso thank you

The next speaker is Lisa Turner. Ms. Turner's topic is streets and safety. She will be followed by Patricia Osmond.

Good morning, Ms. Turner. Good morning, Mayor of Council.

Let's talk streets and safety. Recently, Bartlett was paved. Great.

Love it.

But they only striped part of the street. Why would you only strike part of the street. We need crosswalks. There should be a crosswalk across from the park on Bartlett. There is not a crosswalk. We need crosswalks on that street. It is a 25-mile zone where we have the apartments in the YWCA, but people drive through there at 50 miles an hour. Or the police. They're not around. What are you all doing? Nothing. So are you gonna wait till somebody gets killed to do something? For those of us in wheelchairs or scooters, you can't access the sidewalks because the ADA access is not there anymore. Now, gentleman came up here and started jumping on the fire department. Let me explain something. Our fire department is one of the few in the nation with an ISO one certification. What does that mean? If we lose it, you can look at your fire insurance to double or more so.

And nobody can, you know,

The decision that it was not an emergency call is made by the doctor, not by a paramedic. So we have to have our fire department, we have to have our EMS. Our biggest fight there is our public service people are stopped by the stoplights because they don't turn green, they don't have the devices to turn the lights green, and they sit in traffic. And then that endangers everybody. That endangers the patient on board, that endangers getting to the patient in time, especially if they're having a stroke or a heart attack or they're bleeding internally. We can't get our equipment there fast enough, okay? You all have to attack that somehow. I've been told for a good 20 years that we're working on it. hate to say this, but after 20 years, I'm going to have to say that you're not working on it. Mesa is still a problem. I still see emergency vehicles stuck in traffic. They can't get anywhere. So what's going to happen? How many people have to die? How many lawsuits do you have to face before you actually make the roads safer for everybody? I mean,

shouldn't have to come up here and say this y'all drive those roads every day so you should know and you should be taking care of it thank you thank you mr speaker is patricia osmond miss osmond's topic is transparency rights of citizens and undue influence and ethics violations municipal code violations allowed by city paid people go ahead miss osmond your microphone is ready you have three minutes i'd like to remind all of city council

about uh two sections of texas penal code one is 3710 which is uh fraudulent information on government documents okay citizens city employees and officials can be held to that also there's texas penal code section 3902 abuse of official capacity and i'm going to remind el paso officials of this because our ex-city manager, Tommy Gonzalez, went to Midland, but he had a contract with Pecos, Texas. And during that time, he decided to hire another one of our ex-employees. Well, since Pecos is since packing their city manager and one of their city council is on felony charges. for issues dealing with city contracts. Same issues that I brought forth in front of city council previously regarding their current interim city manager, our former director of community and human development on the same matters. I've let Pecos know. But this is an issue that is widespread throughout various departments in the city of El Paso, okay? There's an agenda item. And in that agenda item, y'all are gonna cancel a contract and it clearly states, through to contractor's violation of the laws and regulations related to the performance of the contract. So not only should that contractor, but city employees be reported to the Texas Rangers who, have a public integrity unit, okay? Not EPPD, because quite frankly, there is a huge issue. That is not the first time something like that has occurred. I brought up the matter of Project Bravo, High Ridge Construction, who then turned to White Buffalo, and yet you all still handed the millions for the same type of violation that they had had. There is a huge problem. criminal activity in our local government and nothing is being done and you all hid that agenda item in the consent agenda amongst a bunch of other consent agenda so you could just wipe it away really quick and the general public would not know so I hope they read the backup on item number four either way There's a lot of issues with the money you all take from donors and the votes in which you make. Your constituents should know. where your lawyer's keys lie. Because it's not really... Thank you, Ms. Hossman.

You've reached the three minutes. Thank you. That brings us to the consent agenda. All matters listed under the consent agenda will be considered by city council to be routine and will be enacted by one motion unless separate discussion is requested by council members. Prior to the vote, members of the audience may ask questions regarding items on the consent agenda. When the vote has been taken, if an item has not been called out for a separate discussion, The item has been approved. Council may, however, reconsider any item at any time during the meeting. Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Ms. Prine. I make a motion to approve the consent agenda with the following revisions. Page 3. Item 4. Postpone two weeks per purchasing and strategic sourcing. Page 5. Item 13, revised per city clerk's office.

And that revision is to note that the appointee will serve as a regular member on the task force.

Page 4, item 6, postpone two weeks per Representative Boyer-Trejo. Second.

OK, there's a motion and second. And Ms. Prine, I believe we have public comment.

Yes, there's public comment from a sauce and she signed up for item for which is being postponed 2 weeks item number 5 is a resolution to sign an interlocal agreement between the city of El Paso and Texas municipal League joint self insurance fund item 15. Which is the notation of P card transactions and items 16 and 17 which are campaign contribution notations. That's awesome and go ahead and you have 3 minutes.

understand this is three minutes for everything so yes item four i recommend that every citizen read item four in the fact that it's being cancelled for violation of law and luckily they have more time in which to do that because that is west star bank owned and operated by our very own rick france Ms. Chavez is getting a donation of 2,500 from not only a former council person who, please Google Ms. Ann Morgan-Milley, but also from the International Electrical Pack, which are the same people that are working on META. We've got Fierro who's taking $3,000 from very well-known Republican and that although he's a Democrat, so I think his constituents and voters should know where his loyalties lie. It is beyond upsetting how our officials say one thing and then go and vote a different way out of the interest of the general public You've got, I mean, just in the P-Card alone, our Let Them Eat Cake Council spent $550 on snacks. We're considering the budget, but our citizens need to understand all the expenses on the P-Card, I mean, Mr. Fierro, again, is going to another conference spending 2500 to go to l.a uh district two doing the same thing going going to a conference you're cut your discretionary funds are supposed to not be a personal flush okay those funds are intent did for the use of your constituents, not your personal use. Next, every citizen in this city either takes one or has to go buy their own. Yet you all are using taxpayer dollars to feed yourself. When you're raising, everybody The irony, the oxymoron in all this, the hypocrisy speaks volumes to who you all really are. And the citizens need to read the agenda more thoroughly to see that. I think that's really time I have. Thank you, ma'am.

You've reached the three-minute limit. Mayor, that concludes comment on the consent agenda.

Okay, Ms. Frey, we have a motion and a second. Call for the vote.

Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded by Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Piero, and this is to approve the consent as revised.

Representative Acevedo. Just wanted to know what item Rep. Boyer-Tarjo postponed for two weeks. Sorry, I missed that, and we didn't get the updated revisions list.

Item number six.

Item number six.

Page four, item number six. Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

Is that right, Rep?

On that motion, call for the vote. And the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously.

OK, Ms. Bryan, I believe that brings us to the first reading of the ordinances.

That's correct, sir. These are the first reading of ordinances, items 19 to 21. OK, is there a motion to approve?

Motion to move on the first reading of the ordinances. OK, is there a second? Okay, there's a motion to second. Ms. Prine, I believe we have a public comment on item 21.

That's correct. Ms. Turner signed up to speak on item number 21. Ms. Turner? I don't believe she's in the room. OK. OK. The motion was made by Representative Limon, seconded by Representative Acevedo. And this is to approve the introduction of Ordinances Items 19 to 21. On that motion, call for the vote. And the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously.

OK. I believe this brings us to regular agenda item.

That's correct. Item 22 is a public hearing of an ordinance authorizing the conveyance of real property to Dolores H. Garcia de Silva for the purchase price of $18,228. Such real property described as Track 16C, Block 36, Isleta Grant in the city of El Paso, El Paso County, Texas.

Good morning, Mary Lou.

Good morning, Mayor and Council. Mary Louis-Pinoza for the record with the Real Estate Division. This item is regarding the property sale agreement for Kilburn and Davis, property identification number 252902. This property was brought in September to Council, vetted for surplus, and approved for its listing. It was listed in accordance with that state local government code 253014 and marketed via a broker and listed for at least 30 days on that multi-listing service. The cross streets are Kilburn and Davis. The size is approximately 0.09 acres. It is zoned R4 residential listed on October the 8th. The proposed buyer is Dolores H. Garcia de Silva. The appraised value was $16,000 and the purchase price is $18,228 plus the closing costs. We received two offers and we are recommending selling this to the highest offeror.

Okay. Representative Lamone, would you like to? Okay. Is there a second?

Second.

Okay. Representative Canales.

Thank you, Mayor. Just one quick question, Mary Lou. Are you able to say if the highest offer is from the adjacent property owner?

They are not.

They're not. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Any further discussions from Mary Lou? Okay. Ms. Bryant.

The motion was made by representative LeMond seconded by representative Canales and this is to adopt the ordinance on item 22. There's no public comment on that motion. Call for the vote. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously.

Okay let's take item number 23.

Mayor, items 23, 24, and 25 are related. Would you like to take those together?

Sure.

Item 23 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending El Paso City Code Title II, Chapter 2.110, city organizational structure to remove language placing the risk management function under the Department of Human Resources and create Section 2.110.090, enterprise risk and safety office relating to the creation and purpose of the Department of Risk Management Item 24 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending El Paso City Code Title 13, Chapter 13.38, Special Events Section 13.38.40, permit application to amend subsection E, insurance and indemnification agreement to amend language referencing the Risk Management Office, by replacing with Enterprise Risk and Safety Office. And item 25 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending El Paso City Code, Title 15, Chapter 15.24, Acquisition, Use, and Disposition City Property, Section 15.24.010, General Provisions, to amend Subsection D, Insurance, to amend language referencing the Risk Management Division by replacing with Enterprise Risk and Safety Office.

Okay, Representative Kanellis? Is there a motion? Okay, Representative Kanellis?

Are we going to get a presentation? Can we see that first? Sure.

I don't think there's a presentation, but go ahead.

No, no. Good morning.

That's OK.

So thank you for allowing me to share a little more details around the ordinances that are before you. The risk management function has historically sat within HR, but the city's risk environment has expanded well beyond that, well beyond HR-related risk. This ordinance request is not simply about creating a new department. It's about aligning the city's organizational structure with the way risks actually exist today in our environment. Since 2022, the city has been moving toward enterprise risk management, recognizing the need of a coordinated organization-wide approach to identifying and assessing and managing risk. Formally establishing risk management will provide the coordination, accountability, and visibility needed to proactively identify and manage risk, protect public resources, and support effective decision making. This is an important step in strengthening the city's governance and ensuring we are prepared not only to respond to risk, but to anticipate and manage them. We're requesting approval of the creation of risk management as a separate function, which, by the way, does not require any new funding as our budget was created from HR's budget currently.

Okay. Representative Canales.

Thank you, Mayor. I don't really have any questions. I wanted to take the opportunity because we don't necessarily see you up here that often. And the public definitely doesn't see you that often to commend you for the work and what I think has been the transformation of risk management here at the city. I know. Can I ask how long you've been with the organization now?

Actually a year, about a week ago.

I had a feeling it was around a year. I've seen a big change, and again, I know the public isn't necessarily seeing the changes that happen within our internal risk management, but I've seen a big change, and so I appreciate the work, and I think moving the function into its own department is a great next step, and I'm very happy to have you leading that effort, so thank you. Thank you.

Good job. Okay, Ms. Bryant, I believe we have public comment on items 23, 24, and 25.

That's correct. Ms. Osmond signed up to speak on these items. Ms. Osmond, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. Go ahead, ma'am, your microphone is ready.

Okay, so none of it, any of these agenda items actually speak to the actual purpose of the enterprise risk and safety. Now, mind you, I am glad when anything is moved out of the purview of Ms. Wiggins because she has allowed employees to go ahead and get away scot-free with some of what they've done. So I'm not too sure whether enterprise risk and safety is actually going to verify because it's saying that it's working with the audit, okay, and working with – uh the same commission that awesome ed was on you know dealing with our our expenses but this is the thing is that it doesn't really define i know no more expenses it's taking budget from human resources but it doesn't define exactly what this new department is doing so you're you're building more government more red tape that the citizens are unaware of what they're really doing. Because as it is, when you discover an issue within the city of El Paso, it's very hard for citizens to report it. For a long time, people didn't even know that you could file a report with HR. As a citizen, besides just the ethics commission, you can do both. Are we going to now have to file something with the enterprise risk and safety when we find these discrepancies within government documents, amounts, contracts? Where is that going to go? It is not defined. And my fear is, is that you're creating just more red tape, more under the table activity that citizens have to figure out where they go to get some resolution. So why it is not defined what this department is actually really doing other than yellow. Most of these amendments are just transferring stuff from the words human resources to this department but you're not defining what this department is in that confusion i believe is intentional to make sure the citizens are unaware of hey when there's an issue who do they really go to so if you're going to do a document do an amendment make sure it's well defined because it currently is not

That concludes public comment here.

Okay, miss Frank we have a motion and a second on items 232425.

That's correct the motion was made by representative him on second if I representative can answer this to adopt the ordinances and items 232425 on that motion call for the vote. in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's take item number 26.

Item 26 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 12, vehicles in traffic, chapter 12.78, to amend section 12.78.010, tolls for international bridges, and an ordinance amending title 12, vehicles in traffic, chapter 12.78, to amend section 12.78.020, toll collection for pickup trucks or any other vehicle,

Represent canalis move to approve. Okay. Good afternoon. Well, good morning still morning.

Yes, don't worry Good morning mayor and council with the International Bridges Department We just have a quick presentation Essentially what we're trying to do is simplify the language of the ordinance a little bit of background the current language is a bit confusing we do have a lot of different definitions for vehicles One example that is giving us a little bit of headache is the pickup trucks, the carrying capacity of pickup trucks. It's very difficult to differentiate between trucks with carrying capacity with a max of one ton or the ones that are above one ton. so instead what we're proposing is eliminating those specificities and charged by everything by axle that will simplify a lot of things for us and That's essentially what we're doing here. This is just a requested action to just adopt the Proposed changes.

Okay represent Kanellis. Do you?

Thank you just want to say I think it's a common sense change to make make it much clearer for the public so I appreciate the effort to look into where we can simplify and make things better for people, thank you.

Thank you Roberto any other questions for Roberto.

We have public comment from miss Lisa Turner OK.

morning again good morning mayor council uh i know it sounds simple we're just gonna charge for axel on pickup truck but you've got these small pickup trucks that can't carry more than a thousand pounds that you got an f-450 that can carry over 5 000 pounds uh i think you need to rethink it I really do. There are different classes of pickups and they should be charged accordingly. Because this is a way to transport cargo and get around paying, you know, proper fees. Because something that can only carry a thousand pounds on our street, you got one can carry four, you know, 5,500 pounds. It's a difference. So I think it needs to be rethought. Thank you.

Thank you. OK, Ms. Pryor.

The motion was made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Limon. And this is to adopt the ordinance on item 26. On that motion, call for the vote. In the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously.

OK, Ms. Pryor, I believe that brings us to item number 27. Yes, sir. Item 27 is.

Since it's past 1130, if we can go to do the mass transit, we do have the approval for the budget for the mass transit department. We can go ahead and take that item first prior to item 27.

We move to recess the regular city council meeting.

All right, there's a motion and a second to recess the regular city council meeting.

All in favor? Aye. Anyone opposed? And the regular city council meeting is in recess at 1139 AM in order to conduct the mass transit department board.

Good morning. This is a special meeting of the El Paso Mass Transit Department Board for Tuesday, August 18th. It is now 11.39 a.m. Present and presiding is Board Chair Johnson. Also present in council chambers are board members Chavez, Acevedo, Maldonado-Rocha, Boyar-Trejo, Nino, Fierro, Limon, and Canales. We don't have any public comment and the Only item on the agenda is the discussion and action on the resolution that the proposed budget for the Mass Transit Department of the city of El Paso, Sun Metro, filed by the city manager with the city clerk on July 17, 2026, is hereby approved and adopted by the board as the annual budget for fiscal year 2026-2027, which begins September 1, 2026, It ends on August 31st, 2027. Okay.

Robert, can we see the presentation? Yes, sir.

Again, so this item is, again, the approval of the budget for the Mass Changer Department, which is Sun Metro. You saw this presentation back on May the 28th. And again, separate action is required, again, as per the transportation code. So again, very similar information from what you saw presented from Mr. DeKeyser back in May. Overall, again, a good opportunity to explain a little bit about the non-general fund again. So Sun Metro is primarily funded by the dedicated HAP Ascent sales tax. They also receive quite a bit of grants, which helps fund their operations, and then obviously the revenue they collect from their bus fares. You'll see overall for the Sun Metro department, their budget is increasing by $2.1 million. You'll see the overall change in their FTEs, a decrease of 13 FTEs. You've seen a pretty lengthy presentation from Mr. DeKeyser in regards to the SubMetro rising program. Again, looking at the current routes. I will say again, the budget increase primarily being driven by the sales tax growth on the revenue growth side, on the expenditure side, it's actually a good story for SubMetro. So they are actually putting over $5 million into their fund balance again to be able to continue to replace buses as they need to. and make those capital investments as required. If you can go to the next slide on slide number three again, again, just some of the key changes here. You've seen the presentation in regards to the segmental rising, the implementation of those routes, which they have planned. The fleet replacement, obviously, is very important and critical that, again, replacing those vehicles in a timely basis, again, to ensure no impact to services. And you'll see there the streetcar, the lift, and then, again, the revenue generation, the grants that they do receive to help fund their budget as well. And then again you see on the right-hand side their performance measures which is reported to the mass transit department board on a regular basis So with that again the proposed budget similar to the city's budget was filed on July 17th And mr. DeKaiser is here and we're able to answer any questions that you may have.

Okay represent Kanellis

Thank you, Mayor. It dives in the weeds a little bit, but there's one thing that I wanted to highlight in Schedule B. That's the fee schedule for mass transit. Looking at line number 45, there is a reduction in the daily rate for maximum hourly parking fee for some metro facilities. It's probably for Mr. DeKeyser. He's sneaking up behind you, Robert. Or Mr. DiMera. Is this, what facility in particular does this apply to?

This primarily applies to the Union Depot, or Union Transit Terminal.

Union Plaza Transit Terminal. There you go. Union Plaza Transit Terminal downtown. And this is a reduction in the fee from a maximum of $15 per day to a maximum of $10 per day. Is that correct?

yes we we conducted a informal survey of barrier parking garages to determine whether our rate was within others and we found we were well we were about five dollars above the wells fargo garage we were ten dollars above the county garage so we made an adjustment to bring it down

OK just think it's important to highlight that for the public as a good option for downtown parking. I think $10 maximum for the entire day is quite an affordable rate. Commend you for again making the effort to look into doing that comparative study and figuring out what was a an acceptable rate for that parking.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, my question is for Mr. DeKaiser. I'm sorry, Colonel DeKaiser. I wanted to ask you about the grant that you received from the state in regards to vets riding free. You and Senator Blanco went to testify, and had you all not been there, the grant wouldn't have been awarded to El Paso. Is that correct?

So it definitely helped for us to go down there, and it helped for Senator Blanco to go. I know there's a lot of competing entities that need funding for different things for veterans, but we're one of them, and that's what I'm focused on. And I want to make sure as we move forward and do so much arising and optimize the lift that we continue to take care of our veterans, and we continue to make that free. So just like we looked at the parking garage, like what is best for the citizens of the city of El Paso, and how does Sun Metro fit in that, and how can we make things better? And so we went down there to make sure that that happened. But yes, we were in jeopardy of not getting it if we don't go. and make our voice heard down at the Capitol where they're making decisions so that we're involved in what's going on and we have a say. And so we have to be there. We have to be there not just in teams, not just on emails, but we have to be there in person to let them know that we are here in El Paso and we count.

Mayor, I have two more questions. One is, how many veterans take advantage of the program? How many rides are used?

I don't have the exact number off the top of my head, but... in the thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and and you know these veterans wouldn't get the services that they need like they wouldn't be able to go to hospital they wouldn't be able to go to different court services and so we we work in partner with other agencies to make sure we reach out to the to the veterans that are in most need thank you colonel you shot out of here yesterday about 1 30 to go um can we share with us where you went Yes. So my daughter deployed to the Middle East yesterday.

Um, Colonel, thank you for your service and thank your daughter for her service.

Yes. Yes. I would just like to say this about that now that you asked. Um, I'm really proud of not just my daughter and Fort Bliss and everything that's going on there in the current situations, but some I'll give some, and some are willing to give all, and I'm proud of my kid for putting herself out there like that, for the ability of others to have the type of life they live here. So thank you for asking, I appreciate that. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Colonel. Is there a motion to approve this item?

Motion approved.

Okay, any further discussion for Sun Metro? All right, Ms. Bryant, I mean Ms. Nunez.

And we do have a motion made by board member Fierro, seconded by board member Chavez. And this is to approve the budget resolution for mass transit. Voting session is open. Voting session is closed. and the item has been approved unanimously. Is there a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Second.

Is there a second?

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Anyone opposed? And the special mass transit board meeting for August the 18th has been adjourned at 11.47 AM. Thank you.

Is there a motion to reconvene? So moved.

Second.

There's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting. All in favor? Aye. Anyone opposed? And the regular city council meeting is back in session at 11.48 AM.

OK, Ms. , that brings us to item number 27.

Yes, sir. Item 27 is discussion in action on a resolution that the proposed budget as amended for the city of El Paso filed by the city manager with the city clerk on July 17, 2026 is hereby approved and adopted by the city council as the annual budget for the fiscal year 2026-2027, which begins on September 1, 2026 and ends on August 31, 2027.

Good morning, Robert. You want to walk us through the presentation? Sure.

So good morning, mayor and city council. So item 27, again, is related to the resolution to adopt the city's 2026-2027 budget. It's the same presentation as yesterday. I'm more than happy to go through it. I know we do have some public comment, so we can either do public comment or I can walk you through the presentation.

Since there's some new members of the public, would you mind walking through it, Robert? Of course. Absolutely.

Okay, so just a recap on the overall budget timeline again. This budget process is now about, publicly about 12 weeks old. We started the public presentations on May the 27th, but really started even further back than that. Started back in February, we did multiple presentations leading up into the budget development process. The city council and the mayor, you all did go through your strategic planning process to set forth the priorities, which you will see here in just a minute with those five pillars. led into different budget workshops throughout the process. We did community meetings in early June. Yesterday, we did our required public hearings of both the budget and the city's property tax rate, which leads us to today, which would be the adoption of the budget, which is item 27, the ratification, which is required, which is item 28. And then item 29 will be the adoption of the ordinance, letting the taxes for FY 2027. As I mentioned, the proposed budget was filed by the city on July 17th. And on August 6th, we did publish in the newspaper the public hearings that took place yesterday. Moving into some of the key challenges. Again, we've heard this over the last several weeks in the budget development process. And then, as I mentioned yesterday, really the big challenges that we're facing in this budget, a little bit different than what we've seen in years past. That loss of taxable value as a result of the state action resulting from the business personal property tax exemption increase impacted the city to the tune of about $7 million in property tax revenue for FY 2027. Additionally, we talked about the need to continue to fund existing city services through current operations and current obligations that the city has. While at the same time also look into our future obligations that we're going to have primarily in our public safety departments. Additionally, we do have an increase in our debt service related to voter approved bond projects. The city did issue $70 million in new debt this past June. So just a couple of months ago, overall debt service for FY 2027 will be increasing by $4.3 million compared to FY 2026. Additionally, I mentioned a little bit about the loss of revenue, not only from the business personal property, but we have an increase in our other exemptions as well in the loss of revenue, totally in about $13 million, $13.5 million of less property tax revenue for next year. additionally one of the key points that we spent a lot of time talking about not only yesterday but over the last several months is the use of fund balance and so the FY 2027 budget breaks the three-year cycle so over the last three years from FY 2024 25 and 26 the city had used fund balance to balance the budget beginning in FY 2027 what it's up for consideration today THIS BUDGET DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY USE OF FUND BALANCE TO BALANCE THE BUDGET. SO WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT THAT AND IT IS NOT BEST PRACTICE TO UTILIZE ONE-TIME REVENUE SOURCES OR ONE-TIME ADJUSTMENTS TO HELP BALANCE THE BUDGET AND IT REALLY SHOULD COME DOWN TO RECURRING REVENUE TO FUND YOUR RECURRING EXPENSES. Additionally, one of the things you'll see when I get to the public safety slide is we do have our federal funding. The American Rescue Plan Act grant funding will be expiring this December. We've utilized that funding for a wide variety of programs. But up until now, we do still have some public safety positions that had been funded through the federal grant funding, which we are now shifting back into the general fund. As we talk about some of the efficiencies and adjustments, again, it's important to talk about this because it's a couple of reasons. Is that one, the discussion about the tax rate that we've had recently is coming after we've presented, again, back in May, the city's budget and the things that went into developing the budget for FY 2027. So a lot of work has occurred between February and May from the time that the budgets developed to the time that we present publicly to make the recommendation for the council's consideration to the time we're at today. So built into that budget that was presented back in May, we took 75% of our vacant positions and unfunded or deleted them to the tune of about $26 million. When it comes to debt service, I mentioned that $4.3 million increase. That increase would have been $6.4 million had we not done that refinancing that you all approved back in May. So we did that refunding, and it generates $2 million of savings that is now structured into FY 2027. Again, so minimizing as much as we can the impact from those voter-approved bond projects. The overall savings from that refunding, though, was $17 million, which is structured over multiple years. Particularly in FY 2028-29, we structured some of that savings to help offset, again, the impact from the remaining debt that we have to issue over the next several years. When it comes to the departmental budgets, so the budget staff, prior to putting together a preliminary budget for the city manager's consideration and review, works very closely with all of the city departments. So each city department essentially develops a base budget No new programs, no expanded programs. It's essentially existing service, same level, no new staffing, no increases other than any contractual increases that may be necessary to provide that existing service. But what each department does do is they do provide, as part of the process, a request, and we call these department program requests. so each department can present those provide justification they're reviewed by the city manager and the senior leaders and then ultimately either accepted or denied i will tell you that more than 99 i believe we had maybe two or three of those that were built into the budget which were necessary and required but a large majority of these items do not get built into the budget because we don't have the financial resources to be able to fund them I MENTIONED YESTERDAY SEVERAL OF THOSE ARE RELATED TO PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS. I MENTIONED OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT. WE'RE LOOKING FOR CRADLE UNITS AND CHIEF KILLINGS IS HERE IF YOU ALL WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT CRADLE UNITS. KIND OF AN UNDERSTANDING, BUT IT'S A CAPITAL EXPENSE THAT THEY NEED THAT GOES ON THE TRUCKS. THAT'S AN IMPORTANT PART. SO WE CURRENTLY DO NOT HAVE FUNDING TO REPLACE THOSE UNITS. SO WE'RE CURRENTLY LOOKING TO TRY TO IDENTIFY ANOTHER SOURCE OF FUNDING SINCE AS OF RIGHT NOW THEY ARE NOT BUILT INTO THE FY2027 BUDGET. There were other requests from the police department, there were requests from the public health department, there were requests from the IT department, which is one of the most critical departments when you think about the wide use of not only computers but our networks and all of the systems that it takes to keep the city functioning on a day-to-day basis. Not just from the day-to-day operational but the cyber threat issues you all have seen several presentations related to that you've seen executive session discussions in regards to Different things that have occurred the things we're doing to be proactive again to protect the city's resources So three very high level sort of talking points and Looks very simple when you look at the slide. These are more than talking points. These are really sort of sound fundamental Ideas that we all need to keep in the back of our minds as we're making decisions when it comes to adopting the budget for FY 2027 We've talked a lot about this. It reflects the financial conditions of this given year. So we here I've heard You all have heard why can't you do what you did three years ago? Why can't you do what you did two years ago? Every year is different. I mentioned some of the things that we're facing this year that we didn't face last year, that we didn't face two years ago, that we didn't face three years ago. Conditions change. Conditions will continue to change every year. So the city manager's job, my job, is to ensure that the city is in the best position possible to be able to withstand these changes that face the city not only this coming year but in the future as well. We've talked about one-time adjustments and how those are not sustainable. And so I talked a little bit about the importance of the program-based budgeting and that if the reductions is what the council so desires, that we should be looking at reductions to those programs and not trying to pinpoint account adjustments or one-time adjustments that may not fully offset those costs into the futures, and it's just a one-time adjustment, so essentially kicking the can down the road. We really need to, if that's the case, really start thinking about Again, those recurring expenditure reductions to offset these impacts. That last bullet point, so reducing the revenue base while entering these this year for the fire department, next year for the police department, these multi-year contractual obligations. Again, we're currently in negotiations with the fire union. We do not have an agreement in place. I believe we're getting close, but we do not have an agreement in place yet. That agreement expires August 31st of this year. So the thing that's important to keep in the back of your mind is that once we sign that new agreement with the fire union, that is a four-year contractual obligation that the city will need to fulfill. will be contractually obligated to fulfill the terms of that agreement. So it's going to be important that we have, again, the revenue base to be able to fund and be able to fulfill that obligation for the next four years, covering FY 2027 all the way through FY 2030. This slide shows two key pieces of information. On the left-hand side, you'll see the general fund proposed budget, $655 million. You'll see the expenditures and where those investments are made. Number one at the top of the list is the investment in public safety. Our police and fire departments, $371 million. Almost 57% of the overall general fund budget goes to those two departments. On the right hand side, you'll see where does the general fund revenue come from? And the largest source of revenue for the general fund is property taxes. Keeping in the back, this is proposed budget. So this is the $655 million prior to the recent $9.7 million that was added. Still relatively same. It'll still pretty much equal the same percentages. But property taxes, $328.4 million overall. So those property taxes, almost half of the general fund revenue, does not even fully cover the costs related to our two largest city departments. So we've talked about some of the other revenue sources sales taxes continues to do okay But a lot of the other revenue sources continue to be flat or even some cases we've seen slight decreases in some of those The licenses and permits again, not a large revenue source, but we've seen a little bit of a decrease for FY 2027 compared FY 2026 As we look to the exemptions that I just referenced, again, we've got four main categories of city tax relief and state tax relief. So the top two there, the business personal property and the disabled veteran, are state exemptions. So those were approved by the voters of the state of Texas. The bottom two the over 65 disabled and the homestead exemption are actually set by the City Council so the over 65 disabled exemption Right now is a forty five thousand dollar discount or reduction on the taxable value of that homestead for either our seniors or for the disabled and on the homestead that is currently a five thousand dollar reduction or exemption on that individual's homestead and You'll see on that far right-hand column the increase in that property tax relief is $13.5 million. That means that's $13.5 million less of property tax revenue that we are now collecting. That's essentially a decrease in taxable revenue. That's $13.5 million. You'll see the business person property is new. That took effect this fiscal year or this coming fiscal year. Almost $7 million. You'll see the disabled veteran, that $5.1 million increase, something that we talked about yesterday and we've been talking about now for a while, and that the next legislative session at the state level will be one of the items that we will be pushing the state to be able to allocate more money into the state's program so that the city can get reimbursed more of the impact that we are facing from the result of that exemption on this particular category. I spoke a little bit about the fire collective bargaining status, and so as I mentioned, we started negotiations in April, actually, and so it's been a little over three months. We have not met since July the 23rd. Obviously, we want to make sure we get the budget and the tax rate adopted prior to moving forward with any negotiations, but as soon as the budget and the tax rate are adopted, we'll know where we stand, and we'll begin those negotiation meetings again, and it'll hopefully come to an agreement here in the very, very near future. I showed you yesterday the city's last proposal was $43 million over the four years of the contract. Year one the estimated impact or increase is $7.7 million. I talked about years two, three, and four how the city has basically structured our proposal. Some of those incentives and some of those different items are structured to begin in years two, three, and four. But you'll see the average increase right now from the city's last proposal is $11.7 million increase a year. $11.7 million increase a year. So compared to what's built into the FY27, that's an increase of four more million dollars on an annual basis. A recap on the recent actions. So I just basically did a recap on the proposed. A little over two weeks ago, the city council did introduce the tax rate of .809487. That equates to a 4.9 cent increase on the tax rate. that results in the average impact of $132 on a single family home. And what that action does is that generates $9.7 million in additional property tax revenue above the proposed budget that was presented back on May the 27th. You'll see the allocation for that $9.7 million as council approved a couple of weeks ago, $700,000 for the street and park light program. That will provide funding for our streets and maintenance and our parks and recreation team to be able to replace these lights as they are either broken, they go out. We need to make sure that we're maintaining that safety at our parks and our streets. It would provide a million dollars for fleet replacement for the animal services. And we talked about the age of their fleet. It would provide some additional funding for the spay and neuter service program at Animal Services. And then finally, a majority of this funding would go into our contingency account that would provide us the flexibility to be able to address again the result of the collective bargaining agreements, any future council priorities, or to be able to put that money back into the fund balance. And so of that seven point eight million dollars again as I mentioned in this Presented on the slide any use of that funding would come back to the City Council So whether it's the use Of that funding for the collective bargaining you all would approve obviously the collective bargaining agreement Or whatever the case may be but that would come back to council for approval in the future. I This slide shows you the overall breakdown of the all funds budget compared to the FY 2026 budget. So you see overall $33.8 million increase in the all funds budget. I spent time yesterday talking about each of the different fund types and distinguishing between the general fund and those other funds that are not the general fund and talked about the Specific uses or the restricted uses for each of those different types of fun types and how those aren't flexible or fungible You can't take for example the CDBG which I didn't explain yesterday. So I'll explain that one today That's the community development block grant. That's federal grant funding that the city receives for our community development department That funding has a specific purpose. You can't reallocate that funding for anything else you can't arbitrarily decide I want to use it for street projects or for Whatever it has to be used for those purposes of the grant that the grant allows for So overall general fund there you see increasing at the top there thirty nine point three million But overall all funds budget increasing by thirty three point eight I'LL GO THROUGH THESE ONE BY ONE BUT A LITTLE BIT QUICKLY BECAUSE, AGAIN, WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS NOW FOR ABOUT THREE MONTHS. AND SO ON THE DIFFERENT PILLARS THAT IS INCLUDED IN THE CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLAN, ONE OF THE PILLARS IS THE GOOD GOVERNANCE PILLAR. SO WE TALKED ABOUT THE ADOPTION OF THAT STRATEGIC PLAN, WHICH IS ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE. We've talked about the implementation of the program based budgeting, which we have the media here. So I'll take the opportunity to say again that if you look at the city's budget book for FY 2027, one of the things you'll notice that is different than budget books past is this year's book is not just a book full of numbers and reports. You'll actually see each of the individual programs for each of our city departments. So I had a question last week, late last week, actually over the weekend, somebody sent me a message on Sunday asking about parking meters.

Where does the parking meter revenue go and how much do we collect?

So that's OK. Go to the budget book. You don't even have to scroll through. You can actually click on the link on the glossary, parking meters. Takes you directly to that program. You can see how much revenue we collect from the parking meters. And you can see where that funding goes. That document and that implementation of that program-based budgeting was really intended to, one, make it much easier for us to be able to monitor and look at how each of those programs is performing, but also for the community to be able to make sense of a very complex, very large city budget. So now anybody can go on there, scroll through, look at all the different programs and really get a good understanding of what each of our city departments does and how we're looking at measuring the success for those programs. The economic mobility pillar really related to the investment in our workforce and what we're doing to, again, increase their mobility in the organization and in our community. So built into the budget for next year for our non-uniform city employees is a pay increase of 50 cents on the minimum wage or at least two and a half percent so i was clear yesterday i'll do it again today to be very clear for our non-uniform employees each of them will receive a two and a half percent pay increase which will be effective on september 20th So at least 2.5%. Those minimum wage employees that go from $15.75 to $16.25, slightly more than 2.5%. And that's why we put that on there, that at least 2.5%. Additionally, for our non-uniform employees, there's no increase in their health care contribution, again, for the ninth consecutive year. The uniform employees are not listed here because their pay raises and their incentives and their benefits are mandated and outlined in their respective collective bargaining agreements. When we talk about public safety, there are quite a few points on this slide, and so I already mentioned a few of them. So we have their increases built in from their collective bargaining agreements as they currently stand. We do have still the $9.4 million in vehicle replacement. for both police and fire. So that's to buy police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, or any other capital equipment that they may need. And that $9.4 million has not been adjusted since we've implemented that funding several years ago. So $9.4 million today, we've heard earlier today that everything is going up in cost, including the cost to buy a new fire truck, the cost to buy a new police car. All of those things have continued to go up. We have not increased that allocation since we implemented that several years ago. So that $9.4 million used to buy, obviously, more than it does today. It's something that we'll need to continue to evaluate and try to find additional funding going forward because that need is not going to go away, particularly when, in 2016, I joked yesterday I don't like to relive the past, but it's good to kind of remember where you were to have appreciation for where you are. 2016, the city purchased 300 police cars all at the same time. Over a two year time period, but essentially 300 new police cars all at the same time. Here we are 10 years later, what do you think is happening? We have 10 year old vehicles now that are reaching their end of life. I'm sure Chief Pacias can come up here and give you a lengthy discussion about what that impact does on their operations. So again, that's something that we are really going to have to sit down and start thinking about. How are we going to address as we have more and more of our police cars coming to their end of life at the same time? And that 300 new police cars was done with certificates of obligations. They were financed. It wasn't used with cash. It wasn't used with PAYGO. It was done using the CO. Again, that's a situation that we're going to have to deal with. I talked yesterday about the academies that we have for both our police and fire departments. So in the budget for next year, we have three police academies. And so with those three academies, we are looking to increase the net size of our police force. So not just to keep up and stay status quo with the level, we are striving to increase the size of the police force to actually grow the police force with those three academies. And so we have planned 90 graduates from those three academies. So that replaces those police officers that retire or leave the police force and actually grows as the net increase to the police department. We have the two academies for the fire department as well with 45 expected graduates. And then the point I mentioned about that expiring grant funding and other restricted funding, we have 37 positions that are being transferred from non-general fund sources into the general fund. So those grants and that funding is now going to expire in December or is no longer available. And so now those positions are being shifted into the general fund. So that has, again, an impact. I MENTIONED ALSO THE INCREASE FOR THE CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM AND THE PUBLIC SAFETY P25 RADIO SYSTEM. THAT P25 PUBLIC RADIO SYSTEM WAS A $3 MILLION INCREASE. IT'S A MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT. $3 MILLION INCREASE FROM LAST YEAR, 26 TO 27. FOR ONE CONTRACT, A $3 MILLION INCREASE. SO OUR I.T. DEPARTMENT NEGOTIATED THE BEST THEY COULD. UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE MOTOROLA. THAT'S THE VENDOR THAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY. So we did offset that a little bit by utilizing a little bit of ARPA money that we had in that P25 radio system program that we had in ARPA. So we used $1 million. But there's a $2 million impact from that one contract alone in the general fund for next year. That being said we do have a little bit of relief when it comes to looking at how we utilize grants And so we do have the cops grant and the safer grant So one for police one for fire to offset some of the impact of adding those new positions Those grants were over a three-year time period And so I mentioned yes grants are good when you have them, but they don't last forever And so these grants particular grants are three-year grants that will expire and once they expire the city will be responsible for picking up the cost associated with the addition of those firefighters and police officers and On the infrastructure pillar, again, this is very high level. All of the presentations are posted on the city's website. There was much more in-depth presentations done on May 27th and 28th. But we still do have the investment of our pay goal, our annual funding built into the budget for FY27. So we do have $10 million for street resurfacing projects, $4.9 million to maintain city facilities, $2.1 million to buy new equipment, and then $1.5 million for other city vehicles to be replaced. On the quality of life, we have $1.5 million for park amenity replacements. And so unfortunately, we do face a lot of vandalism, a lot of issues at our city parks. So this small amount of funding, this $1.5 million, is intended to replace benches, trash cans, small type of amenities at our city parks. We have built in an increase in the general fund transfer from the, I'm sorry, transfer from the general fund to the animal services department. So the Animal Services Department now is primarily funded by the general fund. They do receive a little bit of funding from the different fees they do collect. But we have a $1.5 million increase to that department for next year. And then a non-general fund item, which is not funded by city property taxes. This is funded by the Public Improvement District that was created several years ago. About $920,000 for new equipment to be able to maintain those 16 sports fields at the Eastside Sports Complex. So that funding is critical. That's a good use of that PID funding so that it's not going to be put on the backs of the general fund and added into the property tax rate. We have this available funding to be able to do that purchase next year. Spent a lot of time talking about fund balance not only yesterday but since you all took office and Going back even further than that. You'll see here on that graph over the last five years Important to note that this is the unrestricted just the unrestricted fund balance. And so as we talk about the number of operating days We're only looking at the unrestricted that does not include the city's rainy day or the restricted portion of the city's fund balance So overall, going from 88 days down to a projected when we start September one of 2026, which would begin our FY 2027, we are projected to start that fiscal year at 65 operating days. And so you'll see that decrease from 26 to 27. Some of that is due to the litigation settlement that we just paid out that $8 million some of it is due to the increase in the operating budget so the daily operating cost increases which impacts that calculation and so you see we're at 65 days and so there's been comments and you've seen things that have said well if best practice is 60 days why don't you just use that five days you have five extra days that you don't need true but then next year what are we going to do when we drop below 60 operating days And so we talked about the fund balance policy that we are working on that we will be bringing back to FOAC in the very near future so that we can get that in front of city council and approved so that we outline exactly what the city steps will be if we ever drop below that 60 days, how we will replenish, or what we will do if we ever reach a threshold above that 60 days, what actions the city will take in that particular situation. I already spoke a little bit about the debt service. And so again, I mentioned that each budget and each tax rate every year should be focused on the position the city is in at that given point in time. And so trying to compare back to prior years, it's not apples to apples, it's apples to oranges because the last three years prior to FY2027, the city did not issue debt. So we had been utilizing the bond proceeds that we had issued prior to that to be able to fund our capital projects. But in FY2027, so just recently over the last couple of months, we did issue that $70 million that I referenced. You'll see the overall debt service did go up by $4.3 million for the voter-approved projects for the community progress bond that was passed by the voters in November of 2022. I'll also point out that last bullet point is important because even after that $70 million debt issuance, we still have, the city still does have $402 million in debt to issue from the remaining public safety bond and the community progress bond to be issued over the next several years. So that refinancing that we just did, we really were thoughtful and strategic about how we utilize and structure that savings, again, to be able to offset some of that impact over the next several years. But that will have an impact on the debt service rate going forward. So to recap, a comparison of the FY2026 adopted tax rate compared to what was introduced by the city council a few weeks ago. You'll see the change in the O&M and the debt rate. The overall total rate you'll see on the far right-hand column, as I mentioned earlier, an increase of 4.98 cents of an increase compared to the FY2026 adopted rate. So looking at the change or the impact on the average homeowner, so this slide reflects that change in the property tax rate that I just showed you. It also reflects the change in the single family home from last year to this year. You'll see the annual impact on the homesteads at $132 for the year. So just under 142,000 homeowners have that homestead exemption, their primary homestead. We have another almost 60,000 homeowners that have either the over 65 or disabled exemption. And so as I mentioned, that reduces the value of their home by $45,000, and then they pay taxes on that remaining amount. So on average, that impact is $110 for the year or $9 a month. And the average for the disabled veteran exemptions, so to be clear that this is the average because that exemption value varies depending upon the disability ranking. But on average for those twenty thousand four hundred and ninety two homeowners that have that exemption the average annual increases five dollars So there's a wealth of information not only on the city's website you can find the proposed budget book you can find the presentations all the documentation you can also access this website and Texas.gov slash property taxes. You can go onto this website, type in your address, and you can see not only the city's actions of what the city's looking at as far as the tax rate, but you can see all of the taxing entity information from the school, county, UMC, EPCC as well. So you can get an idea of what your property tax bill may or may not look like depending upon each of those different entities and their actions. And so that completes the presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Okay, questions for Robert? All right, Ms. Prine, at this moment, let's take the public comment, please.

Yes, sir, we have Mr. John Moniz. He will be followed by Patricia Osmond and Lisa Turner.

Could I get the projector?

Yes, if we can please have the Elmo turned on so Mr. Moniz can use it. Thank you, IT. Go ahead, Mr. Munoz. You have three minutes.

Good afternoon. Hi. What you're looking at right now is the El Paso Fire Department budget breakdown. And essentially, there's a fallacy where people, especially in the public, say, well, high earners across the city just cut their salary. But actually, when you look at the top earners in the city of El Paso, About 419 employees earn more than $100,000. 63%, 66% of them are public safety. Now, this isn't to advocate for the defunding of public safety, but if you were to cut down and cap those high earners at $100,000, that's about $4 million in savings. So there are solutions for this budget crisis, which requires an injection of revenues, but also controversial efficiency within public safety. And the key point here is when you look at the emergency breakdown, for fiscal year 24, 9% of EMS calls were either CPR, level one trauma, a STEMI, or a stroke, which sound very emergent, but the question then becomes, for those other 91% EMS runs, how many of them are chronic condition exacerbations? The point here is there's a lack of public safety. There's a lack of public health prioritization from Hector Ocodonza. That is leaking into an increase in non-emergent EMS calls. What do you think is going to happen to the public funding needed if the majority of our population is getting older and the health conditions are worsening? The public union is going to require and call for an increase in funding. But is that increase in funding actually addressing the core health disparity issues across the community? And it's not. It's not. And it's simply not because Hector Ocranza, the public health authority, is not prioritizing this. Question to you is, when was the last time he presented to you? Mind you, public health has had two grants already, one for health equity that Hector Ocranza oversaw, and one for the public health infrastructure grant, $5 million and $10 million respectively. But then you have the public health director come up here and say, well, we can't handle the variance in federal funding. You can't handle the variance in federal funding because you have not developed a robust infrastructure to be grant competitive. So in summary, the city needs to adopt It is the new tax rate. It's fiscally the right thing to do. And again, there needs to be great efficiency within EMS and public safety. Thank you.

The next speaker is Patricia Osmond. Ms. Osmond, star six, please. Your microphone is ready, ma'am. You have three minutes.

So we heard and I heard uh robert cortez presentation yesterday heard it again and i listened to all the budget meetings every time anyway he he stated there where we can find the parking meter collections and other expenses but nowhere if you google can you find our let them eat cake council's discretionary fund balance okay and i say this because the key card expenses discretionary fund balances also affect our budget for example we have got 149 dollars spent from our city manager's office on employee hygiene purchases for financial tissues facial tissues disaffected whites and lenses that is a personal hygiene product personal They should not be purchasing that. Maintenance, the same generic buy bulk should be purchasing hygiene products for every employee, not spending $150 for something that's personal use. You had a $208 expense at Posh Nail Bar that was only reimbursed within 24 hours from notice to the cardholder, former city attorney. You've got District 3 who is spending more than double, $91 a month, more than double of what other representatives are spending for email distribution services. Some are spending, for example, Mike, $26.50. and yet her office is spending $91 a month. So all of that, that should be public because those are also budget issues. Bad discretionary funds, those are tax dollars. They're meant for taxpayer use, not slush funds, okay? Aside from that, yesterday it was a lot of complaining about the exemptions and a lot of complaining about The disability exemption, whether it be veterans or so forth, because veteran capital. So I find honoring Fort Bliss somewhat hypocritical for the mere fact that when they closed down the animal shelter on Fort Bliss, on FOMA, El Paso taxpayers had to take up the... the expense for dealing with the loose dogs and everything that Fort Bliss soldiers leave on El Paso taxpayers. Prime example and evidence of that is El Paso PD filed charges on two persons from Fort Bliss for abandoning their animal. That's expenses El Paso taxpayers have had to foot the bill. RAC was not good for El Paso, okay? I worked for the Monitor, for the forklift newspaper. At the time, it was converting into bracket, and it was not good, and it has not been good for the safety and well-being of our El Paso community because of the added expenses on our tax base. But aside from that, you have hundreds of dollars that are just spent really nearly that's unaccounted, not really calculated properly. Y'all could spend whatever, but then let's keep raising the rate for the taxpayers. We have a let them eat cake council. Let them eat cake city manager, city attorney, city officials in various departments. And yet you can spend really nearly Well, regular citizens have to pinch and penny pinch every nickel and dime because of what you all do locally, whether that is with Meta and our utilities going up or with our tax rates going up. So I hope that the discretionary fund is just as visible online as parking meter expenses.

Thank you, Ms. Osmond. You've reached the three minutes. The final speaker is Ms. Lisa Turner.

Good afternoon.

Afternoon. Yeah. Made it past 12. OK. I'm going to ask that you go into executive session. And I'm going to ask that you add the request for the fire department back into the budget. And I'm going to tell you why. You do understand your fire department is one of the most elite fire departments in the world. Do you not understand that? Less than 1% of the fire departments in the United States hold an ISO1 certification. And even fewer, one of 12 serving 500,000 people, hold certification from the International Accreditation to the Center of Public Safety Excellence Commissions on Fire Accreditation International. And only 334 agencies worldwide hold that accreditation. By not providing the fire department the equipment they need, you will impact the interest rates you have to pay on bonds. You will raise the insurance rates on residential, business, and any industrial people who want to move into here. It will hit your economic development profile. This is an investment in the city. not just the fire department in the city in the health of its city in its financial status and if you can't do it today you need to bring it back because it's unacceptable you've got one of the most elite fire departments in the world and you want to shortchange it it's unacceptable that concludes public comment mayor on this item okay is there a motion on this item

I move to approve.

Second. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion? OK, Ms. Ryan, call for the vote, please.

There was a motion made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Madonado-Rocha. And this is to approve item 27. On that motion, call for the vote. The voting session is open. And the voting session. And the motion fails. Three to five. Representatives Chavez, Trejo, Nino, Fierro, Limon voting nay. Representatives Acevedo, Rocha, Canales voting aye. That motion fails.

OK. Take item number 28, Ms. Prine.

This item 28 is discussion and we need to get I'm 27 passed prior to adoption of I'm 28 I'm 28 is a ratification of the budget that includes the property tax revenue to fund the budget.

Mayor? Go ahead, Representative Kanellis. I wasn't on the prevailing side. I can't make the motion. But I would request that the council reconsider that vote. And I think this has to be resolved. So I would ask that council members who voted no make their requests for specific cuts so that we can adopt the budget because we need a budget to operate.

OK. Representative Fierro.

Thank you, Mayor. Mr. Gordianos, absolutely. The most important thing to me is public safety.

Do you make a motion to reconsider?

No, I don't.

Mayor, we don't have an item on the floor. There's no motion on the floor to debate. OK.

Does anyone on the other side want to make a motion to reconsider?

it doesn't mean that they have to change their vote. It's a way to continue the conversation.

I know, but no one's stepping up.

For discussion, I'll make that motion, Mayor. OK. For purposes, in case for discussion.

OK. There's a motion and a second to reconsider item 27. All in favor? Aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed? We're back on item 27 represent fear.

Thank you mayor first and foremost there's nothing more important to me than public safety. Miss I can agree with this Turner we have the best fire department in in the state. My son is a fireman in Hays County. He comes here and he just drools with envy as to our fire department here, their equipment, their pay, everything. But if you look at our budget, 57% goes public safety, 13% the quality of life, 11% for infrastructure. I also hear from the people who have electric bills that are skyrocketing. Water bills are skyrocketing. Gas bills. And our proposed tax rate, I can't support that. I also can't support a new revenue tax rate. I would like to see us come up with some sort of compromise where we can continue to support public safety, keep our communities safe, support the negotiations for the contract, support senior centers, and continue with the parks, the budget for the parks. I know that Mr. Cortines does magic, and I don't know what he can do with that, but that's, I would suggest, or I would make a suggestion that we come up with some, maybe even consider the proposed tax rate we did early on that was .798, which comes out to $105 Increase per citizens. It's eight nine dollars and eight cents increase.

So are you making a motion?

I Would that motion could you do a budget with that motion?

City manager and I can do whatever the council directs then then it's a look then that would be my motion So with the motion though, so you're approving the budget here. You're not adopting the tax rate on this item so in order to get to that tax rate of seven nine eight and We would need to reduce the budget, as I just presented, by $6,495,971. TODD BANDUCCI- OK, that's your motion?

TODD BANDUCCI- Mayor, that's my motion. If we could second, I suggest that maybe we take a break, let Mr. Cortina's and Smack work on the proposed items, and then move forward.

TODD BANDUCCI- If IT will bring up the presentation, please.

TODD BANDUCCI- OK, but we have a motion on the floor, right, Ms. Bryan?

SECOND I DIDN'T HEAR A SECOND ON IT OKAY MAYOR YEAH POINT OF CLARIFICATION HERE TOO WE THIS IS AN ITEM ABOUT THE BUDGET SO ADOPTING THE BUDGET NOT ABOUT ADOPTING THE TAX RATE AND SO WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE A BUDGET TO VOTE ON I DON'T THINK WE CAN MAKE A MOTION ON THE TAX RATE RIGHT BUT WE CAN'T CONSIDER A BUDGET WITHOUT GETTING RIGHT WITHOUT GETTING THE TAX RATES AND SO THE AMOUNT TO BE ABLE TO REDUCE THE BUDGET BY TO GET TO THAT TAX RATE WOULD BE THE $6,495,971 RIGHT

So that would be the action is to reduce the budget as was presented by that amount.

But there's no second.

OK. What was the number again, Robert?

6,495,971.

OK, so represent one more time.

Your motion is to my motion is for us to come up with a budget that where the tax rate would be 0.798, which would be $105 increase in the tax rate, which is like $9.08 a year.

So with that $105, so you all may recall when we presented on May the 27th, the average impact that we showed at the time was the $105 for the year on the average home. So that tax rate would equal the $105 as was presented on May the 27th.

And Mr. Cortina, using that number, we would still be able to do some funding of the negotiations with fire? And would some of that be included in there?

The city manager and the negotiation team would have to have those discussions.

No, but no, no. I'm talking about would we be able to put funds in there for the negotiations? The negotiation is up to you all.

So if IT would bring up the presentation again, please. so on this slide represents at the bottom there that 9.7 million dollars that was added to the budget a couple of weeks ago with what was introduced as far as the tax rate so if you make a reduction of that 6.5 million all around if you make a reduction of that 6.5 million i would recommend that you not do the street park like program you not do the fleet replacement you not do the additional spay neuter for the animal services and then you would have six you would have let's give you the amount You would have $3,175,884 instead of that 9.6 million. So that $9.67 million number would become $3,175,884. Mayor, I just have one last question. Mr. Cortina, if this body was to approve a no new revenue,

What would that do to the numbers you just read? How much do we have to cut out in millions?

$35,059,696.

Compared to the rate that you just quoted as was how much? I'm sorry?

It's reducing $6.5 million.

$6.5. Thank you, Mr. Cortez. Thank you, Mayor.

Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Mr. Cortines, for the presentation. I do have a statement I'd like to read into the record. And I would also just like to reiterate what we discussed yesterday, which was that the budget that we adopted for fiscal year 26 generated about approximately $304 million in revenue And yesterday, we established that as a baseline, either scenario that we've been presented with would generate additional revenue than fiscal year 26. Depending on the scenario, there's different amounts. But this decision is one that I take very seriously. I voted against the proposed tax rate on the first reading, and as we consider the final budget today, I keep coming back to one fundamental question. What value are our residents receiving for their tax dollar? And have we done everything reasonably possible before asking them for more? When we increase the tax rate, we're not simply moving numbers around on a spreadsheet. We're asking for people to reach further into their household budgets and give more to their city government. And I think sometimes we can sit here and we can look at a slide and say it's only this many additional dollars a year. But families don't really experience their finances in that way. The city is only one of a few taxing entities on their bill. We have the county, the hospitals, the school districts, and also their utilities are significantly increasing. Insurance cost is going up. Groceries cost more. Gas costs more. Housing costs more. A family doesn't have a separate budget for every institution asking them for money. They have one household budget. And the city doesn't control many of those other costs. We've talked extensively about how we are not the final decision makers on utility bills. but we do control the decision that's in front of us today. That matters to me because I spend a lot of time in my neighborhoods in District 1, and I know sometimes District 1 is painted with a broad brush, as though everyone who lives on the west side can simply afford to pay more. That's not necessarily the District 1 I know. I know Mickey Merchant, who has been waiting for years for a sidewalk to allow her partner, a veteran who uses a wheelchair, to safely travel through their neighborhood. I just recently sat with Israel at his home, at his kitchen table, and he says, Representative Chavez, we just want to see something happen in our neighborhood to make us feel seen. He asked whether we could fix his street or at the very least put up a speed limit sign. A sidewalk, a speed limit sign, a street light so Mr. Delgado can safely make a left turn at night. Those are not extravagant requests. Those are people asking to see the value of their taxes that they already pay. And I hear that frustration from residents across the economic spectrum. Keith just recently sent me an email from Florida He moved here from Florida with his wife. They were adamant about living in the Upper Valley. They chose that community because it is where they wanted to build their life. But he told me he pays more in property taxes here than he did in Florida, and he struggles to see where that money is going. And I hear the same concern on some higher taxing neighborhoods in my district, where residents have clearly advocated for better infrastructure, but the funding just hasn't been there. So this concern is not confined to one neighborhood, one income level, or one part of the district. Residents across District 1 are asking a very similar question. What we are already paying, what are we receiving for that in return? And that's important because affordability isn't about whether someone can just write the check. It's about whether people believe that what they're paying for is reasonable for the value that they are receiving. And that brings me to the budget. I recognize that maintaining city costs is more expensive today, and I recognize the increased cost of public safety. I recognize the impact of exemptions made by the state, and I firmly support our police officers and firefighters, and I understand the resources required to provide those essential city services. That is why I believe fiscal responsibility simply doesn't mean saying no. We cannot continue to use to pay for things with ongoing expenses that we have using our fund balance. We need to create a financial future that's stable, Fiscal responsibility works both ways. But I'm struggling with today's decision. In May, we were presented with a financial plan that contemplated $23 million in additional revenue from fiscal year 26 budget. $23 million additional. That proposal accounted for significant financial pressures that the city is facing. And in my estimations, That proposal would also cover these expenses that we're discussing today. I've listened carefully to the explanations, Mr. Cortines, that you've laid out for us and why we need additional revenue to strengthen the city's financial position for the future. I've reviewed the budget. I've had plenty of meetings. And I've stayed in close communication with residents that I represent. I understand the importance of planning for the future and protecting for the city's long-term financial health. I really do. But after all of that, I continue to struggle to whether this additional increase is necessary, particularly at this moment. I have to weigh the financial position the city has against the financial position of the people who fund it. This new proposal has, for example, an $8 million contingency fund. And I would love to have the opportunity to provide that contingency for the city's financial future but I have to ask myself what our families are residents wouldn't they like a contingency to. Wouldn't they like money left over at the end of the month in case their car breaks down? Or savings so that they could pay for their insurance as premiums go up? A cushion for their electric bill? Because I know, and I'm very, very sad to say, that I personally know residents in my district that are sitting right now in their living rooms without their AC turned on because of their fear for their next electric bill. So the question should be, not how much can we collect, but how much do we actually need to responsibly provide for all of these services to our community, the community that expects those essential services as well. I WANT US TO ULTIMATELY BUILD TRUST WITH THE COMMUNITY. AND TRUST IS BUILT WHEN PEOPLE CAN SEE AND FEEL THAT WE ARE WORKING FOR THEM. WHEN MICKEY MIGHT GET HER SIDEWALK OR WHEN ISRAEL MIGHT GET THAT STREET SIGN, WHEN WE CAN DO THE LIGHT AT THE CORNER, MR. DELGADO HAS ASKED, OR WHEN KEITH CAN SEE THAT HIS TAXES ARE ACTUALLY REFLECTING THE VALUE IN WHAT HE'S PAID. AND THAT IS WHY I'M WEIGHING THIS DECISION HEAVILY, MR. CORTINAS. ALL OF CITY STAFF TODAY I REALLY WANT TO EARN THE TRUST OF THE PUBLIC AND I WANT US TO DO THE FINANCIALLY RIGHT DECISION THAT WILL PUT US IN A POSITION THAT IS STABLE FOR THE FUTURE WHILE RESPONSIBLY UNDERSTANDING THE PINCH THAT PEOPLE ARE FEELING IN THEIR POCKETS RIGHT NOW THANK YOU REPRESENTATIVE THANK YOU MAYOR

I also have a written statement. And Robert, I appreciate you and your team and everything that you all have done. I've reviewed the budget, have participated in discussions, have had conversations with constituents and received feedback at community meetings. It's also been a process for us here in the council. And one concern is especially clear. Many residents are facing financial stress from rising costs, higher utility bills, property appraisal increases, and they're feeling financially strapped. Before asking residents to pay more or even considering reducing services that they rely on, I believe it's crucial that we ask this question. Have we reviewed all reasonable opportunities to reduce internal and administrative costs? Some of the items that I believe haven't been discussed or require additional considerations are reducing non-essential travel expenses, reevaluating professional development funding expenses, reviewing additional reductions on external consulting services, reviewing duplication of expenditures across all departments, and at last resort, this is a difficult thing to say, but considering pausing salary increases at the executive level. THESE ITEMS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED BEFORE INCREASING TAXES OR REDUCING SERVICES FOR OUR RESIDENTS. ROBERT, YOU MENTIONED HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO POSITION THE CITY IN THE NEXT TWO TO FOUR YEARS. AND THAT'S GREAT PLANNING AND STRATEGY. AND I APPRECIATE ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE IN MISS MACK AND CITY STAFF. BUT HOW ARE WE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION OUR RESIDENTS WHO ARE LITERALLY REACHING THEIR FINANCIAL CAPACITY? As a council, our obligation is to keep our city solvent and capable of delivering vital public services, but it shouldn't continue to be at the expense of residents who are already economically exhausted. Positioning the city long term should include increasing revenue sources and shifting the tax base. And I shared a little bit about this yesterday. We need to be reviewing opportunities to increase our sales and hot taxes, increasing our economic development opportunities, reviewing those fees for city services, and as Robert mentioned, advocating for the state reimbursements. I also shared yesterday about restructuring our chapter 380 agreement, shifting from heavy incentives to a more balanced strategy. The 380 should include community benefits agreements, asking for competitive wages, not the living wage, but competitive wages. affordable housing in exchange for public tax incentives safeguarding our neighborhood our neighborhoods and addressing infrastructure impacts attracting serious developers who value long-term partnerships this will help shift and improve our city situation I can't be supporting an increase in property taxes I will only support no new revenue alternative. I understand we're in a very difficult situation. And I want to be clear. I'm not voting against fire or PD or services for our senior citizens or even our city employees. What I'm saying is that we need to seriously consider what is being asked of our residents and find ways to reduce costs and increase our revenues. Thank you.

Ma'am, was that a motion for no new revenue? Staff needs direction.

There's a motion already.

It was not seconded, so there's no motion on the floor at this time.

Representative Canales.

Thank you, Mayor. No, I don't believe we received a second. Thank you, Mayor. I've heard multiple members of the council speak now. No one has made a motion to direct any particular cuts. And this is the problem that I think we're going to face. It is our job as a body, as the city council, to adopt a budget. The city manager and Mr. Cortines and staff are tasked with preparing a proposed budget for us. They've done so. They made their recommendation. The budget is now in our hands. We cannot give it back to them and say, make changes and bring it back to us. It is now incumbent on us to suggest specific changes. I have heard a discussion about contingency and the approximately $7.9 million contingency. That's not just contingency that we're putting in the budget in case something pops up. We have expected future costs related to the collective bargaining agreement with the fire department. I honestly can't believe that we're discussing the possibility cutting funds in the budget for an expected cost that we have for something that I think is an important investment. What is the message that we are sending to our firefighters if we reduce the budget by stripping out the cost during our negotiation with them, stripping out the funds to potentially fund their ultimate agreement that, as Mr. Cortina said, we hope to agree with them very soon? I think that's a terrible message. We can say we support firefighters if we're not setting aside the funds for their agreement. I think that sends completely the opposite message. The same for city employee wages. We pay slightly below what the tool that is typically used to calculate a living wage is the MIT living wage calculator. We pay slightly below that living wage calculator. That's not a living wage for an employee and a family. That's a single... employee with no children it's the lowest number and we pay below that calculated minimum wage even the 50 cent step up that is uh posited in the proposed budget does not does not get us to that calculated living wage number specifically for el paso I think that we have an obligation to pay our employees at minimum that calculated living wage for a single childless employee. That honestly is not something that I think or that I can believe that we're discussing stripping out of the budget. There have been other programs mentioned. Nobody has actually made a motion to remove anything from the budget. I would ask the council, this will turn into essentially a work session where we have to work through the budget and make decisions, make proposals. And we can debate proposals here, but this isn't something we can just hand back to Ms. Mack and Mr. Cortinas and Mr. Randonoski and the team and say, solve this for us. It is our job to solve it. Thank you, Mayor.

Representative Canales.

Mayor, there's not a motion on the floor to debate, so I'm not sure if anyone on council is going to make a motion at this time that the council can debate.

Okay, let me just, and then we'll go to the other councils, but what I'm going to say is, Robert, let me ask you a question. From the time that you've been here, have you ever not received a budget?

No.

In the history that you've been here?

No.

So it's incumbent upon us to give you a budget to work with?

Correct.

And right now we're not doing that? Correct. Okay.

Mayor, I do have a motion. I move to approve the budget as proposed.

Okay.

It can be amended.

Okay. There's a motion and a second to approve the budget as proposed. Discussion on that? Representative Acevedo. Thank you, Mayor.

Robert, so the the proposed budget is 0.809487 that's the the rate and i know that we're that's going to give us the budget right correct and i know there's another item on that but just so for the purposes of saying the 132 a year which is about 11 a month so one of the things that I've been worried about for a few weeks now is that we don't totally have something in place with fire, but we know it's coming. It could come in the next few months, it could come in the next year. We're seeing where those negotiations are going to come. But let's play a scenario where we get to an agreement with fire in the next month. You're going to come to us and say, we need to pay this, adopt this for the next four years. And if there is a budget that doesn't have that completely outlined or enough money, where are you going to go to get that money?

So our strategy with the proposal, and I obviously don't want to disclose all of the city's strategies, but it's no surprise that we have limited financial resources to be able to negotiate what is being requested from the fire union. And so what the city has done, which is led by former chief Mario D'Agostino, myself on the team, we have Mr. Antonowski and Ms. Cody, is to essentially structure Any increases in incentives any additional items any new items? Over maybe implemented in year two year three or year four in order to minimize as much impact as possible in FY 2027 Since here we are today Before you all to approve the budget So we don't know what those additional costs may be I did present to you all that the city's last proposal that the city proposed on July the 23rd is includes annual increases beginning in years two three and four which is fy 28 which will be in discussion with you on six months about fy 2028 budget development those annual increases are 11.7 million dollars a year that's four million dollars more a year than we currently have in the budget that you are considering today. That's an additional $4 million a year. The fire union did not accept that proposal. So that's where we stand. We don't have an agreement. I can't tell you what those final costs are going to be. I can't tell you. Somebody made a comment. I don't do magic. The numbers are the numbers. There's no magic.

And so where I feel that we're at and why I'm supportive of this is the small business exemption has really hit our budget really hard. And at the same time, we need to make sure that public safety is accounted for and we take care of our firefighters and police is next. And those are contractual obligations that we have. And if we were to go down the road of a no new revenue tax, I think the conversation that we would be having a year from now or even in the next few months when we have to approve that contract is that our fund balance will likely take a major hit. And next year we would be looking at an even bigger increase. And I think it would really snowball into a real fledged out budget crisis at that point. And so, Ms. Mack, you know, I think what I have seen and I have had many conversations, whether it's with you personally or here on the day, is people want to see tangible results. They want to see those things fast. And what I've seen over this last year is that processes have improved. We have streets that are getting paved a lot faster than before. And we have a team and a leadership that is taking care of that. It's not perfect, but it's on the right track. And so if we do even more cuts this year, I worry that people are not going to see those results that they have slowly seen. And I think that we can commit this budget to seeing those results. The $35 million cut that a no new revenue tax route would bring, we would likely hit fund balance to get into those $35 million cuts. Would that be true or you don't know yet?

That would have to be the recommendation of council. I mean, our recommendation would not be to go beyond the 60 days, as we've said over and over again. We need to be funding the organization with recurring revenue, which would mean that we would be looking at staffing. We cannot get to a $35 million cut or $25 million cut if you take off of the $4 million without hitting staff. And so against that cost, the no new revenue rate is actually $2.1 million below our existing budget. And so as we said, every year is different in terms of those calculations. And what would generally happen, which I've seen happen over time here, is that we adopt contracts and then those contracts really squeeze our ability to be able to do other things on the general fund, whether it's hire staff for other departments or be able to provide raises or be able to properly fund other departments other than public safety. And so I think we've worked hard to come to a balance where every area of the operation that's important to our community is funded in a way that we can be responsive.

And I think that's the difficulty with this also, right, is finding that balance. Everything is going up. The economy is not good. And our constituents are really hurting utilities, groceries, gas. I absolutely understand what people are going through. And then you balance that with having a little over 6,000 employees at the city and considering whether now we might have people lose jobs based on the amount of cuts that might happen today. And that's where I feel that I don't wanna be responsible for a reduction in force. Having our parks department have cuts, whether that's staffing or programming, our seniors rely on a lot of these services at senior centers. And they are absolutely vital to our community. You have seniors that this is the only thing that they get to do. This is where they go and get meals that are guaranteed each day that they get to socialize, which once you get up there in age is extremely important. I am kind of seeing that. Really live right now with my grandmother and what has happened with the lack of socialization, right? And so I worry about those real scenarios. I worry about our libraries what happens there our MCAT department Economic development in general planning all of those departments would be hit and probably more and so I Really hope that we could get to a good place today I also think Robert you came in May you had a really good proposal and projections and you were off by just a little bit when the real values came in in July and And so if we were gonna have these conversations, I feel that there were other opportunities that we could have looked at cuts based on what you brought in July and we're having it at the 11th hour and that really worries me. So I'm hopeful that we get to a good place today.

Representative Trejo. Thank you, Mayor.

I've done a little bit of research on the general fund balance with other cities compatible to El Paso. With Arlington, Texas, they're at 55 days. San Antonio's at 61 days. And Tucson, I know they're not in Texas, but they're compatible to El Paso. They're at 37 days. And so I want to make a motion. UNAMENDED TO AMEND THE BUDGET. I MOVE TO DIRECT THE CITY MANAGER TO PREPARE AND PRESENT A BALANCED BUDGET BASED ON NO NEW REVENUE TAX RATE WHILE PRIORITIZING ESSENTIAL PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORE CITY SERVICES AND MAINTAINING THE GENERAL FUND BALANCE AT 60 DAYS.

There's no second, okay. No second. Okay, Representative Vieiro.

Mayor, just to go back to the original .798 tax rate, or maybe something comparable. But we can't go no new revenue. I mean, that would devastate us. I don't even know how you come up with $35 million in tax cuts. I do believe that we have this group has to come together and come up with a consensus and work forward. We do have to make sure that we keep the citizens and their taxpayers, the property owners, in the back of our minds as we make these decisions, and it's not just us, it's everybody else who's increasing their tax rate, it's everyone else that's increasing their utilities, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But I hope that we do not consider a no new revenue step, that we come together, we come up with a number that we can all live with, and move forward and keep the citizens, the employees, law enforcement, all the top of that heap. Thank you, Mayor.

I, too, will bring up the presentation. So I know Ms. Mack provided you all different scenarios and different numbers and different figures. So we've been presenting based on the council direction. So every presentation that we've done has been based on the council's direction, starting in May. So since then, it's all been based on the council actions. As I mentioned, you all introduced that tax rate of 0.809487. The slide shows that generates nine point if I round up nine point seven million dollars of additional property tax revenue and you see the recommendation and You will have to be correct. So that funding is not Contingency funding to be set aside for what is that is to be able to fund? What we know will come down the line in the form of those collective bargaining agreements So if the city work City Council were to consider a eliminating that 9.67 million. So reducing the general fund budget, as I just showed you all, by that 9.67 million, the property tax rate needed for that would be 0.792384, which instead of a 4.9 cent increase in the tax rate would be a 3.27 cent increase on the tax rate. The impact on the average value home, instead of being the $132 for the year, would be $92.03 for the year. And that would be the tax rate needed to fund what was in the proposed budget as we presented on May the 27th and 28th. Anything lower than a tax rate of that 0.792, 384 would be a reduction from what you all saw back in May.

OK. Hang on to that one, Robert. We're going to go. Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Robert. And just to reiterate again, because I think it's really clear that we understand, our fiscal year budget for general revenue was $304 million, a little over that. Is that correct? Correct. Okay. And the alternative that you just mentioned right now that you proposed back in May... would be an increase to this fiscal year by approximately $23 million. Correct. OK. And we had a conversation in my office, Robert, and we discussed a couple of things. And since we're on fire, let's continue talking about fires specifically. They had a $7 million increase in their budget, and that was already integrated into that budget that you just mentioned right now, the $23 million increase.

So we had different increases built in, yes, ma'am.

And that was already in that increase from me.

Yes.

Okay. Was the bargaining the 7.7 already in there as well estimated?

I WON'T SHARE EXACTLY WHAT WAS BUILT IN, BUT WE BUILT IN SOMETHING.

SOMETHING WAS BUILT IN. CORRECT. RIGHT. AND I SUSPECT THAT YOU HAD ALREADY KNOWN THAT THIS WAS COMING AND THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING BUILT IN LIKE YOU JUST MENTIONED INTO THAT BUDGET THAT WAS PROPOSED IN MAY, RIGHT?

CORRECT.

AND THAT'S WHAT I WAS REFERRING TO EARLIER TODAY, BECAUSE THE BUDGET IN MAY ALREADY ALLOCATED $23 MILLION ABOVE what we generated in fiscal year 26, which, you know, and again, I know I've done it before, but I'll do it again, which was This budget book, right? Correct. And that was the program-based budgeting. And all the departments came back and basically told us what their needs were going to be. And that's what the proposal was in May. And that is the alternative that you're discussing, which is 0.792384. Correct. Well. I want to go on the record saying that this is a very difficult decision for us. I don't want to be tone deaf to what's happening in our community. People are really feeling the pinch with rising utility rates, with increasing in insurance costs, with an increase in gas prices, groceries, housing. We talk a lot about infill and attracting people to ensure that they remain within our city limits. And we're working really hard on our housing strategy in order to accomplish that. There's so many things that we're doing in our city. And then I feel like sometimes we take a vote on taxes and that potentially could drive people away from our city limits. And it's counterproductive to all the other work that we're doing within other departments. And how do we reconcile those two things? How do we ensure that we are providing essential city services, and not just essential city services, but quality city services in terms of median and weed cleanup, in terms of quality of life amenities. Parks, for example, are extremely important to all of our community. And most importantly, of course, safety, right? Fire and police. We need to reconcile that. We need to propose a budget. We need to be fiscally responsible. I don't believe in spending our rainy day fund to balance the budget because I don't think that that's going to be a long-term plan. And I do believe that I think our community would have benefited from small increments year to year versus no increments some years and then having now to do bigger increment this time around but we have to be conscientious of the fact that our community is hurting right and like I mentioned earlier there are a lot of decisions that this council does not have authority over but this one we do have authority of and so it's not an easy decision But I would like to make a motion to adopt the alternative budget, which Robert just mentioned. And I don't know if I have to say, not the tax rate, but just the general fund dollar amount.

Yeah, so we'd reduce by that $9.67 million.

Correct. Thank you, Robert.

Just a point of clarification. Yeah, there's a motion on the floor. What is being reduced?

If IT will bring up the slide, the presentation. So the reduction of $9,670,698 would be the reduction to the budget, which we'd recommend The items presented on the screen to be reduced. So the $700,000 for the street and park light program, the $1 million for the fleet replacement for animal services, the $70,000 for the spay and neuter program, and the remaining $7.89 million in the contingency for future collective bargaining and other council priority cost. Those would be reduced out of the budget for FY27.

Can this right do we need an amendment to the original.

This is this would be the amendment the amendment will be to reduce the budget by 9 million 670,000 690 to to effectively lower the rate to point 7, 9, 2, Robert 7, 9, 2, 3, 4, okay.

There's a motion is there a second. Discussion on the amendment. Represents met.

So If we go down this path I think what is going to happen in a few months is you're going to come back to us Robert and say we finished the contract with fire and now we need to hit our fund balance with this. So I just wanted to put that on the record. Thank you.

Representative Rocha you want to talk on the amendment. OK.

Thank you mayor and when it comes down to what's being proposed at the I think it's the 0.792 or reducing it I've had several conversations with advocates from the animal services when it comes to public safety is really what they've what they've drilled it down to And a lot of it has to do with making sure that those individuals, those animal protection officers, the city staff at Animal Services remains whole. And that million dollars would have been absolutely, is absolutely necessary for Animal Services to continue their programming and attending their events. In addition to the previous amendment that Rep. Canales made, I believe it was back in July, for the $78,000 for the additional public spay and neuter services, that is something that they have come here to counsel every single week, from my last memory, to ask for is to ask for additional funding for spaying and neutering. And while I understand that there's a lot of pressure and stress on this particular request, one of the things that worries me is that there will be something, we're going to reduce all of that into this. We are literally kicking the can down the road at this time. And we don't know what is going to happen when it comes to any negotiation. We talk about fire right now, but we need police next year. And we're gonna be in the same situation as we are today, but it's going to be more difficult as prices and costs continue to rise. We all feel it in our own households, I believe. we speak to several of our constituents that are feeling the very same thing I'm in agreement that I think that we've done a detriment to by not increasing slightly year-over-year to get to this point we're in that situation because of those previous decisions in addition to the rising costs in addition to everything rising I believe that if there are potentially any layoffs in the future as a result of what could potentially happen with that fire, with the fire agreement or the collective bargaining agreement, puts all of our community at risk. To Rep Acevedo's point, I have senior centers in my district too, and they are absolutely necessary in those communities. I have children that go to the rec centers and parents that use the rec centers as pretty much daycare for the older kids to go and use those centers until their parents can get off of work. So all of that, I see it as being put at risk because we really don't know. We're minimizing or putting ourselves in this box to say this is what we're going to get here. delaying any budget at the proposed rate in my opinion just creates a larger and a more dangerous deficit later on in our years in our future years Again, to your point, Robert, you don't make magic. New money does not magically appear. And we know that we're in a situation now where our staff, the way that I view them, and I know maybe many others will too, they are citizens of this community as well. We don't have, from what I understand yesterday, we do not have any type of unemployment benefits layered into this particular budget at this time. Is that correct? Like, let's say we lay somebody off. Any unemployment.

We are self-insured. And so any unemployment claims would be paid out of our self-insurance.

OK. OK. Thank you for that. So I just feel like. It's a very difficult decision that we've been put in. I believe that our fire brothers and sisters deserve what they get or what they're negotiating for. I know I spoke about it yesterday. There are several firefighters that have to have second jobs. in order to make ends meet within their households. The same goes for police, as we'll probably talk about that next year. And so I just feel like at the end of the day, we have staff, and that includes uniform and non-uniform, that use our city services just like anybody outside of the community would. So those are the, that's, you know, I just, I feel like Going to anything lower puts us in a position where we are not going to be able to fund certain events or certain programs in the future. And the people that can't afford things now that go to our free events or go to anything that we offer that's at no cost to the community is put at risk. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Representative Canales, I'm going to hear from you.

Thank you, Mayor. I have a question that may require an answer from Michael Waksman. Sorry, Michael, to call you up. I'm interested in the breakdown of costs for the animal services fleet replacement. I know this consisted of multiple animal protection officer vehicles plus an adoption bus, both of those components to replace very dramatically aged vehicles. What is the cost that was considered here for just the replacement of the adoption bus?

So Michael Wachsmann, Interim Director for El Paso Animal Services. For the cost of a new bus, we were factoring at $400,000.

Okay, can you tell us a little bit again about the need for that bus?

Yeah, so two years ago we were able to, one of the questions District 3 asked at the last meeting, we went to 179 different adoption events. We are on track to barely, if we even break it, 100 events for this fiscal year. So part of the issue is we spent about a quarter of our time, our bus has been in the shop getting repaired. So that's part of the reason why we have not been able to get out to some of these events. That is just our adoption events. We also do other events that includes our bus. And so when we're talking about mobile adoptions, sending animals out and getting animals adoptive, we're talking about public perception of us. We want to be in the community. We want to be able to help. And that does involve some education with the help of that bus.

Thank you. Yeah. This past weekend, we did another transport of animals to the Pacific Northwest. Seventy five dogs from animal services were were sent to Idaho, Washington State, and Oregon. Part of the transportation from Animal Services to the airport tarmac involved the use of the bus. And thankfully, at the time, there were no dogs on the bus. We were already on the tarmac and had unloaded all the animals. But the generator for the bus gave out if that had been at a public event and not on the airport tarmac at 3 in the morning. animal services would have had to have left the event because there was no air conditioning on the bus. Um, there were no lights on the bus. It was not, you know, the generator gave out. And so, uh, it really, you know, I, I saw it firsthand. I know that I've, I've seen the issues with the bus in the past, but this was just a fresh example where, um, know that's that's not a reliable vehicle for the department anymore and so i worry about the impact it will have on our public adoption events if that is not funded um the balance of that uh you know 400 000 for the for the adoption bus so the additional 600 000 is for replacement of the animal protection officer vehicles correct and can you talk about the the need for those vehicles

Yes, so if I may go back a little bit to the bus. Our bus is from 2015. So when we talk about like an aging fleet, that's what we're trying to replace. When we're talking about the APO vehicles, Ammo Protection Officer vehicles, not a single one of our vehicles is under the age of nine years old. So when we talk about an aging fleet, again, a lot of our vehicles are in that 10 plus stage. Over 21 of our vehicles are older than 2015, I believe.

Would you say those have like 200, 300, 400,000 miles on them?

Yeah, they're up there. A lot of them are pushing the 200 limit. Yes.

Okay. I think that these are very important as well. This has been discussed for years and put off for years to the point where we now have these vehicles in the shop and out of circulation on the street very, very frequently. I worry about removing these from the proposed budget. And then I wanted to talk as well about the, sorry, that's my only animal services question, Michael, about this park, the street and park light program and the change that's proposed there. I know it was presented to us when we looked at the preliminary budget. Can you talk to us, maybe Robert, or I don't know if the department is able to give more information about the change that's proposed there and that $700,000.

So currently the Streets and Maintenance Department helps take care of down park lights as well. So not only street lights, but they're handling park lights as well. So this would help create a dedicated team in the Parks Department. It would add two additional positions. It would provide funding to buy two new trucks to better replace lights quicker. We have a lot of issues with a lot of requests for lights that are I'm down for whatever reason or broken, and so this will provide a dedicated team that would be able to address those issues.

I know we have a significant backlog of repair of those lights. Do you have an idea of how long that backlog is?

There's more than 30 plus park lights, and I don't remember the street number. I think it's 400 street lights that are down right now.

In time, do you know how much time we typically have from requests to repair on the streetlights?

It was like six to nine months to fix the streetlight six to nine months and this change would change would But really the primary focus of this would help create that dedicated team to take care of the park lights And so this would allow the street team to be able to focus on the streetlights Got it, and we anticipate it would be a significant reduction in the amount of time Okay

I think that these are all vital. I can't support removing the contingency as well. I can understand that as a proposal. I think these are relatively small requests that I think warrant inclusion in the budget that we ultimately adopt. So I move to amend the amendment to restore the proposed $700,000 for street and park light programming, $1 million for animal services fleet replacement, and $78,000 for additional public spay and neuter services.

Okay, there's a motion and a second to amend this to restore the particular funding streams that represent Canales.

A secondary amendment, so amending the amendment.

Amending the amendment.

And Robert, I don't know if it might be helpful to us to hear what that does to the tax rate. It's going to be a small number, I think. While Robert's looking it up, I'll give the reminder that that $78,000 investment in the additional public spay and neuter services would lead to approximately 1,000 to 1,200 free spay-neuter surgeries for owned animals in the public. That's a huge dent in the demand that we have coming to our spay-a-thons and other low-cost, no-cost spay-neuter programs through animal services. We're talking about essentially a doubling of the services that we're able to offer. for a, I'll say significantly discounted price.

All right, so Ms. Prine, I believe we're going to amend the amendment to the 0.792384 to add these additional funding streams.

Yes, I believe Robert's just running the numbers on what that tax rate would look like.

Mayor Pro Tem Chavez's amendment is to reduce the budget by $9,670,688. And then Representative Canales' amendment is to add back in $1,778,000. OK. That's what I understand.

Specifically for those three programs.

For the three programs, yes.

OK, while Robert's doing that, we're going to call for the vote on this one here pretty quick. No one on this council wants to increase taxes. There's not a single person sitting up here that wants to do that, knowing what our families are already dealing with, the higher costs. And this is a decision that I assure you that this council does not take lightly. You got to remember, though, what won't be the top headline is that this council also lowered your tax rate. last year even though it was small we did lower the taxes last year and the original proposed budget didn't cut programs maintain existing services took care of our seniors and our vets and our public safety and the thing that is a little concerning for me is We've got, the city has 6,000 employees. You've got a lot of them making minimum wage. You got a lot of them that are up while we're still asleep. You have a number of them that are out in 100 degree weather fixing our potholes, trimming the trees, mowing the parks. And we are depriving them of the 50 cent increase that they deserve for their families. So this is a very, very difficult decision. I think we are kicking the can down the road. But how did we get here? Prior councils did no new revenue. It's catching up to us. There is not a city in Texas, a major city to include Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, and San Antonio that are not having the same discussion we're having. We're all having the same discussions. We have state headwinds where they are reducing our funding, federal cuts. This is not a good position for any of us to be in. And no one wants to, again, raise taxes. But we should not be punishing the ones that are working hard on a daily basis for this city, to include our men and women in uniform, police and fire. We're going to have the same discussion next year when it comes down to police. And we're gonna be looking at Robert and saying, where does the money come from? And he's gonna say he's not a magician. We have to figure it out. We have to give the city a budget to work with. But I am against cutting anything to do with seniors, anything to do with our veterans, anything to do with public safety, anything that harms our employees that are working very hard for us to keep our streets and our roads clean and our potholes fixed. So whatever we do, we got to get it figured out. So Robert, do you have that number?

So the reduction to the budget would be $7,923,309, and it would result in a tax rate of 0.791295. OK. Can you repeat that?

Robert, can you repeat it again, please? And we're going to call for the vote after this.

Yes. So it would reduce the budget by $7,923,309, and the tax rate would be .791,295. And if you give me another second, I'll punch it in so I can give you the impact on the average home.

Okay. And while you're doing that, real quick, Representative Trejo? She has a quick question.

Thank you, he's actually getting that number.

Representative Fiorello. Thank you, Mayor. You know, we're talking about this cut of a million plus dollars. I mean, putting back a million plus dollars. I mean, personally, I'd rather save that million plus dollars for employees or for seniors and spread it that way. So just, that's going to be my vote on this amendment. Thank you.

Okay. Representative Nino. Thank you, Mayor.

Now, again, this is a very difficult position to be in.

It is.

I know that. We've oftentimes mentioned how people experience their government. And I sound like a broken record about people experiencing their government on their parks, on their streets, on their neighborhoods, and local governments having a direct impact to residents daily. And like you mentioned, Mayor, last year we did lower the tax rate. We also voted to increase tax exemptions on seniors and veterans, which was also an impact, but it was to help the veteran and senior community. But one question, Robert, I know that you're trying to figure out the funding for Ms. Mack. The alternative option B, which is essentially what's being proposed, but now it's going to possibly increase a little bit more, does that cut anything in the budget except for the contingency fund?

I'll answer the question real quickly. So let me correct that tax rate. So the actual tax rate would be 0.795476. seven nine five four seven six yeah because you add it to it can you repeat that one more time reduction so it's seven eight one five seven nine five four seven six i need it one more time i'm sorry seven nine five seven nine five four seven six six and then let me get average impact but to your question representative nino so the recommendation or what's being discussed of that reduction of that amount would not impact the proposed budget as what was presented to the city council on May the 27th and 28th. The reduction would be what was on the slide that I just showed you. So it's that contingency funding, which again, we explained why we are recommending to allocate that funding, but it would not impact what was presented as far as the proposed budget, what you heard from Ms. Mack on May the 27th. Okay.

Now, you're calculating how much the actual monthly income impact would be in the yearly impact as well? Yeah, I just wanted to get that clarification of trying to understand. I'm looking at all the diagrams of the different options that would potentially be the impact of our services. Again, I do think that we should not be relying on making service cuts to get to a better place financially. We have to continue to deliver those services that our residents rely on and expect from us. So I'm interested in knowing more of the impact.

So that impact on the average home would be $99.22. Thank you.

Thank you, Robert. And I think also I want to thank staff and for really going through the entire budget. I know that we have given them direction to find further efficiencies, cost savings, and oftentimes we mention that we need to treat all of this money as if it's our own money, just because a lot of members of our community are facing the different challenges, but I'm aware that we have to continue providing those services to our community because they rely on them. But I think I have no further questions right now.

Representative Chavez.

Thank you Mayor and regarding the amendment to the amendment. You know it's just a very difficult decision. I've said it already twice today. At the end of the day something's got to give. Something's got to give because if if we don't make a decision on what's going to happen here today our community our constituents are the ones that are going to have to fund this budget and we have to respond to them and we have to make sure that we've done everything possible to be as fiscally responsible as possible i just want to make sure robert again from what i have here in front of me did animal services budget increase from fiscal year 26 to 27?

Yes. It did increase. By how much? Animal services is primarily funded by the general fund.

By how much?

1.5 million. Not including the million dollars for fleet. So the proposed budget increased by one point. The general fund transfer, to be clear, the general fund transfer to animal services increased by 1.5 million.

So there is an increase to animal services already allocated in the proposed budget that you presented in May?

for their staffing and their contracts, yes ma'am.

And I want to point to slide seven where there's $18.7 million in unfunded departmental program requests. So there are many requests across all city departments with needs that they have individually that did not make the cut to the proposed budget in May. Is that correct? Correct. But this department did receive some sort of increase between fiscal year 26 and fiscal year 27. Which department? Animal Services. Yes. OK. I just want to be clear on that. Thank you, Robert.

OK, Representative Trejo. And then Representative Fierro, then we're going to call the vote. Representative Trejo.

I don't have a question on this amendment. I have one on Representative Chavez's amendment. So I'm waiting for her amendment.

OK. Representative Pio. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, I just want to make a comment that we keep on calling Robert out. And it's not his budget. He's just the face right now. Ms. Mack can take that position at any time, and we can take turns on who the bad person is. But Robert, thank you for all your work, and thank you for helping us make these tough decisions.

OK. So we're going to vote on the amended amendment, which would effectively take the rate to 0.795476.

So this is the reduction of the $7,923,309, correct? So we're just adding back in that $1,778,000 for animal services, the fleet, the street park light program, and the $70,000 for the speed meter.

That's correct. Ms. Bryan, you want to read it into the record so we're clear on this one?

Yes, sir. So this is an amendment to the amendment and this is to add back in $1,000,778,000 of which $700,000 will fund street and park light program 1 million for fleet replacement and animal services and $78,000 for additional public spay neuter services.

OK call for the vote.

On that amendment. Call for the vote. in the voting session. And that amendment fails 5-3. Representatives Chavez, Trejo, Nino, Fierro, Limon voting nay. Representatives Acevedo, Rocha, Canales voting aye.

OK. Where does that bring us now?

That brings us to the amendment from- The amendment.

Representative Chavez. Yes. OK. Representative Trejo.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to emphasize that Our residents are reaching their financial capacity. We really need to keep that in mind with these decisions. And I also want to emphasize that I'm not voting against fire and PD, city staff, or any vital services. That's not what the consideration is here. Many of our residents don't have that reserve. They don't have a savings because of the financial capacity that they're at right now. And so I want to go back to what I mentioned regarding additional considerations and make that part of the amendment regarding Representative Chavez's amendment. And it's to require additional considerations to review non-essential travel expenses, reevaluate professional development fund expenditures, review duplication of expenditures across departments. And I know that there was a review of departments. Each department reviewed But what I'm speaking of is across departments. And as a last resort, to reconsider pausing salary increases for this fiscal year at the executive level. And so that's the amendment, is to look at additional ways in which we can reduce internal costs.

OK, there's a motion for that amendment. Is there a second?

No second.

OK, no second. OK, we're still on the amendment. Representative Canales.

Thank you, Mayor. I have another secondary amendment to offer. I move to amend the amendment on the floor to restore $78,000 for additional public spay and neuter services.

Second. $78,000?

OK. I didn't hear it.

The motion was to amend the amendment on the floor to restore $78,000 for additional public spay-neuter services.

Okay. There's a motion. Only the $78,000. Okay. There's a motion by Representative Canales, a second by Representative Rocha, to restore the $78,000 for spay-neuter services. Ms. Bryan? Well, Representative Chavez.

Ms. Mack or Robert, could you clarify if this was part of what we voted on two weeks ago?

It was. So the $70,000 the council did vote on, you may recall the discussion of the total cost for this program is $128,000. So you also approved, in addition to the $70,000 out of this amount, you approved another $50,000 to come from the ARPA funding that we have accumulated in the investment interest. So the total cost is $128,000. $50,000 coming from ARPA. The $70,000 would come from the general fund.

Could you remind us again? So the $50,000 is coming from ARPA, and we cannot do the spay and neuter program at all unless we fund the additional $78,000? Is that?

Well, the total cost of the program is $128,000.

Right. So we have to fund it this way. If not, it doesn't get done at all.

So if this doesn't pass, then we'll come back and we'll have another discussion about that $50,000 you all took action on. And these are? We can have that discussion separate and apart from the FY27 budget adoption.

Yes. But my question is, this is going to be a program that's going to be citywide, right? From what I recall.

Correct. Just to understand what we're finding here. I think they were planning to do it at the former Moorhead site, but it would be open to anybody in the community to be able to take advantage. They just need the space.

Thank you.

REPRESENTATIVE FIERRO.

MS. NEMAN, COULD I TRANSFER 25,000 FROM MY DISCRETIONARY INTO THAT CAMPAIGN SO THAT WE ARE ONLY WHATEVER AMOUNT IS MINUS 25,000? OKAY. THEN I GUESS I WOULD MAKE AN AMENDMENT TO THE AMENDMENT TO THE AMENDMENT TO ADD 25,000 FROM TO TRANSFER 25 FROM MY DISCRETIONARY FUND TO BUY DOWN THE AMOUNT AND THEN WE'LL PUT THE REST Thank you.

Point of order. Go ahead, Representative Canales. Point. Tertiary amendment is not in order. You can only go two levels down in an amendment.

OK. All right, Ms. Prang, call for the vote.

Yes, sir. So this motion is an amendment to the amendment from Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Maldonado-Rocha. And this is to add back in $78,000 to fund the public's pay, neuter services, and animal services. On that amendment call for the vote. in the voting session? And that motion passes five to three. Representatives Chavez, Acevedo, Nino, Rocha, Canales voting aye. Representatives Trejo, Pierro, Limon voting nay. That motion does pass.

Okay, and now we're on the main amendment?

You're back on the main amendment, yes sir.

Okay, let's call the vote on that one.

Okay, and this one was made by.

Let me give you the amount. Okay, so we reduced, or we added back in the 78,000 is the only thing we're adding in. So it's a reduction of the budget of $9,592,698. $9,592,698. So that motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded by Representative Fierro.

And this is to amend the budget by reducing it $9,592,698. Yes. OK. Call for the vote, Ms. Frey. Okay, this is again a reduction of $9,592,698 on that amendment. Call for the vote. End the voting session. And that motion fails 3, 5, representatives Acevedo, Trejo, Nino, Limon, Canales voting nay. Representatives Chavez, Rocha, Fierro voting aye. That motion fails.

OK, I believe it brings us back to the main motion. OK. Can you read us the main motion, Ms. Pryor?

That would be to adopt the budget as presented.

OK, call for the representative Canales.

Thank you, Mayor. I have another amendment to offer. I move to amend the budget as proposed to reduce the budget by $54,000 by eliminating the $6,000 travel fund from each of the mayor and council office operating budgets.

Second. OK, there's a motion and a second. Call for the vote on that one, Ms. Pryor.

Can you give me that dollar amount again, sir?

Yes. It's $6,000 per office for the mayor and council, totaling $54,000.

OK. And this is by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Limon. And this is to amend the budget to reduce the budget by $54,000, taking $6,000 from each council member's travel budget. Is that correct?

Correct. That represents the entirety of the travel budget for each office.

Thank you.

All right. Call for the vote, Ms. Pryor.

On that motion, call for the vote. and the voting session. And that motion passes 62 representatives for a high quality deal that only one can I was only I representatives Travis as a better voting need that motion does pass.

Okay, let's take the main motion is right.

And this is. Made by representative.

Canales.

Canales, seconded by Representative Rocha. And this is to approve the budget as amended.

Mayor, may I clarify here? It's the budget as amended, Robert, reducing only that $54,000 from the travel budgets.

The other amendment didn't pass. The $70,000?

No, the other amendment didn't pass.

So only reduce it by 54.

Yep.

So this is to adopt the budget with a reduction of only $54,000. Correct.

Call for the vote, Ms. Ray.

On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session. And that motion fails three to five. Representatives Chavez, Trejo, Nino, Fierro, Limon voting nay. Representatives Acevedo, Rocha, Canales voting aye. That motion does fail.

OK. Representative Canales.

Mayor, I believe this leaves us in the same position where we may need to reconsider the vote that just occurred in order to continue working towards the adoption of a budget. I can't make the motion because I wasn't on the prevailing side. I have proposed a reduction. I would recommend that other members of council propose specific reductions.

OK. Is there a motion to reconsider?

So the council is aware we are going to miss the deadline to publish another update in regards to holding another round of public hearings because we will be beyond the seven-day requirement if you all do not approve a budget and tax rate today. We're required to approve the tax rate within seven days of the public hearing.

And Robert, I just want to be clear one more time. This is the first time in the history of the city of El Paso that you know of that a council hasn't passed a budget.

That I'm aware of, yes, sir.

in the time that you've been here. All right, well, maybe we should take a recess and then come back. Is there a motion to?

So moved, Mayor.