City Council - Regular Meeting

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

Good morning, Mayor, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to the presentation of the mayor's proclamations. We begin this morning with a Pledge of Allegiance, and to lead us, we have students from Sageland Elementary School at the invitation of City Representative Diana Maldonado Rocha. We have Paula Hernandez. Kari Davila, Brian Birkawa, Leilani Sanchez, Ashley Guevara, Andrew Gutierrez, Luke Esparza, Joseph Pulaski, Isaiah Gomez, Ava Rios, and Jaime Villarreal.

Ready? You guys go ahead and start. 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.

Texas pledge. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to the Texas, one state, under God, one and indivisible. It's so cool. Sorry I was deaf. We'll take a picture. Let's get up against here. We need like two rows.

The tall ones in the back and shorter ones in the front.

Okay.

All right. If you're a little taller, we'll have you right next to them there. Perfect. We'll do two rows. We'll have you guys right here in the front. Can you all shift over a little bit this way for me? Thank you. Perfect. Right here. Right there. Beautiful. All right, and everybody just bring it in a little bit. There you go.

Okay miss Frank.

That brings us to the mayor's proclamations for those of you receiving a proclamation this morning your group will have up to 4 minutes collectively to speak at the podium and receive the proclamation. The first proclamation is El Paso electric 125th anniversary. And the proclamation reads, whereas El Paso Electric traces its history to August 30, 1901, when it began the El Paso Electric Railway Company, helping bring electric-powered transportation to a growing region with electricity at the center of that progress as streetcars began operating in 1902 and helped connect people, neighborhoods, and opportunity. And whereas by 1925 the company's core business had evolved to producing and distributing electricity, the company became El Paso Electric Company and its service expanded into southern New Mexico, growing into the modern electric utility serving communities across West Texas and southern New Mexico today. and whereas as the united states marks 250 years in 2026 el paso electric's 125th anniversary represents a legacy equal to half of that history reflecting the company's long-standing role in supporting the growth and quality of life of the paso del norte region through safe and reliable electricity for homes businesses schools public institutions and critical services And whereas for 125 years, El Paso Electric has supported the growth and quality of life of the Paso del Norte region by providing safe and reliable electricity to homes, businesses, schools, public institutions, and critical services, while investing in modern infrastructure, innovative technologies, cleaner energy sources, solar generation, and system resilience. And whereas El Paso Electric continues to help power the region's future through investments in modern infrastructure, innovative technologies, cleaner energy resources, solar generation, and system resilience, with service made possible by more than 1,200 employees, including union employees whose work reflects the company's commitment to safety, reliability, customer service, and community partnership. And whereas El Paso Electric's impact extends beyond electricity through partnerships with local organizations, schools, and community initiatives, including 12,000 hours of employee volunteerism through its VOLTS program, approximately $1.2 million in annual community support through the Electric Charitable Foundation, and approximately $400,000 in annual sponsorships. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso, recognizing and celebrating the milestone marking El Paso Electric's 125th anniversary and commending the company, its more than 1,200 employees, retirees, and community partners for the continued service, contributions to growth, and commitment to the people and communities of El Paso de Norte region. August 30th, 2026 shall be known as El Paso Electric's 125th anniversary, signed by our honorable mayor, Renard Johnson.

Good morning. Mayor and City Council, on behalf of the almost 1,300 people I'm honored to represent, many of whom are behind me who do the real work, I always say I get the mic, they do the work, and the thousands and thousands of people who came before them, we are honored to accept this proclamation. We thank you again for it. We have taken a moment back to really celebrate, and we've seen pictures from the beginning, to today and what we've endured and gone through together as a community has been remarkable. I am privileged to have lived many places. I will tell you there's not another place that loves their community like these guys behind me. So it's with that spirit that we stand here today and say we're in honor of the legacy we're so proud to stand on and the lives that made it happen. We have four commitments we offer to you. Number one, to continue to be the most reliable utility in Texas. In a time where there's lots of debate about what exists, that fact remains true. We'll continue to keep our communities safe when perhaps other communities aren't feeling as safe. So we'll continue to be reliable. The second promise is we'll continue to power what matters, even when it isn't easy. even when it isn't popular, because these guys are ready to respond all day, all the time. I lived in other places when we had it. I had to be on the phone with the union president going, please, Chubby. And his name was Chubby. Please get somebody out here, man. These people are out of power. These guys are ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no matter what the problem is. And we're going to continue to power what matters. But you know what we're going to do? We're going to promise to build what's next. We know that our region and this city under your leadership is just getting started. There's a bigger vision. There's a thirst for something more, and we're happy to be a part of that. And finally, we're going to be driven by good energy. We say all the time at El Paso Electric, it's just not what we do. It's who we are. And the spirit of El Paso Electric is what we promise you. While things will change, that will never change. We'll continue to transform the energy landscape for the growth and prosperity. of our region so thank you for your leadership thank you for honoring these guys today and girls thank you very much

Representative Fierro. Thank you, Mayor. Kelly, thank you so much for you, for your team. Each and every one of them, the strong union members that you have on your team. When you go out in the community and we go to events, there's always such a strong presence of El Paso Electric employees volunteering. And I had no idea it was 12,000 hours worth of it. And let me tell you, you all did a heck of a job at the Pride Parade. Thank you, Kelly, for all your leadership. Thank you.

Again, you guys, Kelly, come on back. Congratulations on 125 years. That is incredible and we want to thank you guys for keeping our lights on and providing us with reliable energy and electricity for so, so many years. I also want to congratulate, like Kelly said, to the many employees that work tirelessly through the evenings and the rain and the snow and so much more just to keep the lights on for so many families in the El Paso community. We could not do it without you, and we thank you so much. And 125 years of power. How do you like that? The only one missing, is it Sparky? What's the person's name? What's his name, your mascot?

Oh, we have four.

Oh, you have four?

Yeah, we have a battery now.

What's their names, Callie? What's all the... I know. They're at all the events. Here we go. We've got someone that knows. There we go. What's the name?

We have the power pack. It's LED, Sunny, Turbo, and Curly Q. Turbo. What's Turbo? I love it. Turbo is a turbine.

Okay. I did send you our song and our video, so you should be able to see it. We did write a song for 125th. We just thought if there's a country that's 250 years old and we're 125 years of that, then it deserved a song.

Yeah, well, 125 years, it deserves everyone to just run up and introduce themselves real quick.

Oh, great. Yeah. Oh, my God, you got to do it. Come on, come on.

There we go.

Hi, guys. I'm Abel Miranda. I work for the Lion Crew. So nice to meet you guys. Red Sox fan, huh?

Yes, sir. I'm I'm with Power Generation as an electrician.

Adam Yavin, I'm a mechanic at Newman. Kevin Spallin, I'm a mechanic at Newman.

Come on, nobody gets out of there.

Isaac Ochoa, lineman for the network group. Peter Pacias, lineman with the line group.

Juan Perez, protection and control technician.

Good morning, Jerry Martinez, protection and control technician.

Morning. Alex Rodriguez, protection and control apprentice.

Good morning. My name is Joe Russell. I work as an electronic specialist at Newman Power Plant.

Good morning.

Morning. Christian Villalobos, underground layman.

Good morning. Good morning, everyone. My name is Anthony Ramos. I'm a distribution line crew supervisor.

Good morning. Robert Norris. I work in finance.

Good morning. Omar Gallegos with System Planning and Construction. Good morning, Omar.

Good morning, Mayor, Council. Ivan Mejorado, Governmental Affairs Specialist.

Good morning.

Good morning. Jacob Reyes, Public Relations.

Good morning, Jacob.

And last but not least, of course, Daniel Perez, Government Affairs.

Good morning, Daniel. Good morning. Again, congratulations, you guys. Thank you. Oh, Representative Chavez. Kelly, we're going to take a picture. But Representative Chavez.

Thank you Mayor and I wanted to just take this moment to thank your crew Kelly because there was a light pole in District 1 that got hit four times within one month and uh you know didn't uh affected the neighborhood quite uh severely because they were without power four times within one month your crew was out there quickly you act you like move the pole to a complete different location just so that it wouldn't get hit again and again so Your team is very responsive. I appreciate you taking care of our neighborhoods and our community. Thank you so much.

Y'all are drivers.

We need to talk about that.

Congratulations. Come on up. Okay, Ms. Bryant.

That brings us to the next proclamation, and it is Borderline Rainbow Center BRC 10-Year Anniversary.

Okay, Representative Acevedo.

Thank you, Mayor. So I have the honor of reading this proclamation. I think there's a big crowd in the audience today. So it is a long proclamation. I will read it. No, it's okay. This is a major milestone ever. We got to celebrate it. And I'll read it and then we'll give you the mic. Proclamation City of El Paso Texas whereas the borderland Rainbow Center known throughout the community as the center was founded in 2016 to create a safe affirming and welcoming space for LGBTQIA plus people in El Paso and the borderland and for 10 years has worked to ensure that people have access to community belonging essential services education cultural experiences and opportunities to thrive And whereas the center has gone from a local LGBTQIA plus organization into a regional institution serving El Paso, West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and the border, US-Mexico border region, becoming the only LGBTQIA plus community center providing comprehensive direct services within approximately 350 miles, and helping ensure that people do not have to leave their home, culture, families, or community to find affirmation, support, connection, and opportunity. And whereas throughout its history, the center has become more than a provider of services, serving as a community hub where people gather, build relationships, create, develop new ideas, grow as leaders, and imagine what is possible for themselves and for the borderland. And whereas the center has responded to evolving community needs through food assistance, behavioral health care, housing support, HIV education, and prevention, peer support, youth and family programming, community education, cultural events and opportunities for connection and leadership. And whereas through the Diversity and Resilience Institute of El Paso, the center has carried knowledge and experience developed in the borderland far beyond the region, providing education and training to more than 60,000 people and helping organizations build more affirming, equitable and responsive communities. And whereas the center has remained deeply rooted in the identity of the borderland, recognizing that meaningful community work must reflect the culture, languages, geography, families, and lived experiences of the people it serves. And whereas after a decade of building trust, service, belonging, partnership, and community, A transformative $500,000 capital gift toward establishing a permanent home for the center marks the beginning of its next chapter. Creating the potential for expanded health and human services, cultural programming, deeper regional partnerships, and shared space for LGBTQIA plus and justice service organizations. Establishing a lasting civic and community asset for generations to come. And whereas, through the expansion of Yucca and other community-led programming, the center is creating the opportunities for peer connection, arts and culture, wellness, intergenerational learning, and leadership development, investing in a future where community members are not simply recipients of services, but participants, creator, mentors, and leaders who help shape what their community becomes. And whereas the 10th anniversary of the Borderland Rainbow Center honors the staff, volunteers, board members, donors, community partners, advocates, leaders, and countless community members whose courage, generosity, creativity, and participation have built and sustained the center over the past decade. And whereas over 10 years the center has demonstrated that a community center can be more than a building or a collection of programs, it can become a place where people find one another, where leaders emerge, where ideas and organizations take root, and where a community builds the power, relationships, and capacity to shape its own future. Now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that we recognize September 2nd, 2026 in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Borderland Rainbow Center and we honor a decade of service belonging, leadership, and community building in the borderland and recognize the center and the generations of community members whose participation made its first 10 years possible and whose vision will shape the decades ahead. Signed, the Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson.

Good morning, Amber.

Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, Council. Thank you so much for this proclamation. This is an incredible moment for our organization and for our community, for our partners, for our collaborators, for those who belong to the queer community, those who love somebody who belongs to the queer community, and for people who just overall love. It has been an amazing 10 years for our organization, and today we stand here not just with our staff, with our board members, but with also our partners. As you can see behind me, we called out for as many people as we could to come because this isn't just our celebration. This is a celebration of all the people who have helped support us along the way, and that includes Border Aids Partnership, who sits here with us. The OC, Centro San Vicente, Project Vida, Roller Derby, of course El Paso Sun City Pride. I think the Mexican Consulate is also here. I'm going to leave out somebody by accident, but know that they are all incredible partners and there are partners who have been messaging all morning saying they wish they could be here. to help celebrate because when you celebrate us, you celebrate community. We were founded in 2016 by our founder, Dr. Brenda Reich, who did an amazing job with what she had and built an incredible center. And then a few years later, I became our second executive director and I have tried to help bring us and our community and our staff more into the spotlight. And it has been with the help of those of you who are sitting up there as well. Thank you for the support. Thank you for the good words and thank you for the guidance that you have that you've given to us, if I'm all honest. This again, like I said, is a big deal for the queer community and knowing that we now have 500,000 in capital, hopefully we'll find a match. There's lots of people here to help us find a home, which is incredibly important. But what I would love to say today is thank you. Thank you for the support over the last years. Thank you for your belief. Thank you for always putting up with me as well at times. Because I think I'm in your DMs a lot. But I would like to give a moment for other people to kind of introduce themselves and speak as well.

Good morning, Stan.

Good morning. I'm Stan Sloan. I'm chair of the board. And I'm not going to miss the opportunity. October 23rd at Desert Crossing. Monster ball. Come. It'll be fun.

David from RWA Desert Crossing is here as well. As is Queer Unda. Sorry, I'm trying to make the rounds.

Anybody else?

Good morning.

Good morning. Thank you for having us. My name is Izzy Mota and I'm on the board of directors for the Borderland Rainbow Center. I'm also a co-host on Queer Onda El Paso, which is a podcast for the queer community. And I am a volunteer at the food pantry for the Borderland Rainbow Center. So I am heavily involved in this organization. So your support of our organization and our efforts and our gay community is incredibly important to us. We are thankful for all of the support of the city of El Paso, the mayor, and for keeping space for us and everybody in the LGBTQIA community. Thank you.

You got it. Good morning.

Hello, good morning. I'm Diana Martinez, and I am the volunteer and outreach coordinator director for the Borderland Rainbow Center. And how can I say, everyone here, they're just the most precious people that I have worked with. My co-workers, all of them are amazing people with hearts of gold. And I've worked a little bit at different places, but I can honestly say that the work that I do here is the work that I'm most proud of. And I'm proud to be part of this organization and working with so many amazing and beautiful people. Yes.

That's awesome. Good morning, good morning.

Hi, I'm Chef Luis Orozco. I'm the full pantry director. Thanks to all these people, we were able to do what we do, and especially to our volunteers, something that we're very, very grateful. Without them, we couldn't do what we do. We feed about 300 families every week, and we keep doing it until we can. I'm going to be 74 years old, and I'm still doing it until I can't do it anymore. Wow. Thank you. Thank you, Chef. Wow.

incredible uh represent nino thank you mayor and amber thank you for your leadership um it's it's always great to see when community comes together and the crowd that you brought with you the community partners really shows the type of leadership that you've brought to the organization into our community you're always just text message your phone call away and you always hold us accountable so thank you for doing that as well And thank you everyone who helps the organization. You provide a lot of different resources. I know Rep Acevedo covered a lot of different things, but you know, you do food pantry, you offer health, mental health, a lot of different resources that are extremely important for our community. And you know, anytime that any organization or any individual needs help or support, you're always there to support them. So thank you for doing that and also partnering up with Sun City Pride. So thank you for your leadership and thank you all for supporting the organization. And I always say, you know, happy Pride, even though it's not Pride Month.

Reference ambassador Thank You mayor and I just have a lot of love for you amber for Stan I think both of you have really step into these important critical Leadership roles and you're doing an incredible job and I understand that it's not all just you it's all the people that are behind you and you guys are leading them and working with them and you're in the trenches hand-in-hand with them and just really appreciate that I could always reach out to you and kind of figure out a solution when something's going on and I have so many I'm so grateful for both of you and all of you for showing up today and here's to 10 20 30 40 more years and I think the next milestone will be when you get your new home yes really appreciate you represent canalis

Thank you, Mayor. BRC is such a special organization. I think for maybe your first years, the first half of your 10 years, you flew a little bit under the radar. And I've seen the organization blossom over the last several years. And so I just wanted to commend you, Amber, and everybody standing behind you. I think you all have put in a tremendous amount of work to making the Borderline Rainbow Center what it is now. My wife Nora is a former board member. And I think she was there right at that transition time where this blossoming, this growth really started. And so it makes me really happy to see what you've achieved. And like said, we need to get you into a space. So I have my eyes open for you. I think lots of people in the community do. And we're going to find something that more than just fits, that is the perfect space for you because I think that's the next step and you will grow even faster and even bigger once that happens. So many congratulations and hopefully we'll see you here in 10 more years. Thank you.

A big congratulations, guys. YOUR CENTER HAS GROWN TO BECOMING A REGIONAL CENTER AND MOST DON'T KNOW YOU SERVE EL PASO, WEST TEXAS, SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO AND THE BROADER BORDER REGION. AND YOU'RE ALL OUR FRIENDS AND I WANT TO SAY YOU ARE COWORKERS, BUSINESS OWNERS, FAMILY MEMBERS AND YOU'RE VERY, VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE FABRIC OF THIS CITY. AND CONGRATULATIONS ON 10 YEARS AND STAN HAS PUT THE the message out to all of us that we have to find a building. I know that he's let everyone know. So Stan, that's something that as Representative Canales says, I keep my eye open for the building as I'm in the city. So congratulations and thank you guys for all that you do. Now, Stan, you said October 23rd. You gave us the location, but what time?

Yeah. Our DeVito's Desert Crossing, 6.30 to midnight.

6.30 to midnight.

Annual gala. It's our annual gala. It is also our 10th anniversary gala.

Okay.

It's an easy thing to dress for. Pop icons.

I love it. I love it. October 23rd. We won't forget that. Again, congratulations, and thank you guys for coming out. Thank you. It's a big day. Thank you. All right, congrats. Ms. Prang.

And the next proclamation is Hunger Action Month.

Representative Limon.

Good morning. This is a proclamation of the city of El Paso. Whereas Hunger Action Month is observed nationwide each September as part of a Feeding America campaign, encouraging individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government leaders to raise awareness and take action against hunger. And whereas food insecurity affects approximately 40% of El Pasoans, forcing many individuals and families to make difficult choices between purchasing food and meeting other essential needs such as housing, utilities, transportation, and medical care. And whereas children and older adults are especially vulnerable to the effects of hunger, and nearly half of the people receiving assistance from El Paso, El Paso is fighting hunger, are children or senior citizens. And whereas El Paso is fighting hunger is the only food bank serving the El Paso area and works alongside community partners, volunteers, donors, businesses, and local leaders to ensure that our neighbors have access to nutritious food and essential support. And whereas in 2025, El Pasoans Fighting Hunger provided food assistance to 166,000 people through its direct services in a network of 65 partner pantries, demonstrating both a significant need within our community and the extraordinary strength of El Pasoans helping one another. And whereas Hunger Action Month reminds every El Pasoan that hunger is a community-wide challenge, that each person can make a meaningful difference by donating volunteering advocating raising awareness and supporting neighbors experiencing food insecurity and whereas the city of el paso recognizes el paso's fighting hunger its volunteers community partners donors and supporters for their continued commitment to combating hunger and building a stronger healthier and more food secure community. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Mayor and Council of the City of El Paso that September 2026 shall be known as Hunger Action Month, signed by the Honorable Mayor, Renard Johnson.

Good morning, Chris.

City representatives and especially Representative Limon for your help in putting this together and your continual support. So my initial preparation today started with a lot of statistics, numbers, upcoming events, and other things, but I had a change of heart. I decided I wanted to talk about something that matters the most. We often quote food insecurity rate in El Paso of 40%, which is up 5% from last year. It is double the national average and double the rate of any city in Texas. People gasp at the number, but I'm not sure it's true meaning really hits home. Food insecurity is such a clinical term. It is sanitized for a broad audience, a sterile classification used to describe a very human condition. Admittedly, quoting this term over the last year in this role has given me a false sense of competence, as if by regurgitating a statistic, I was somehow more qualified for my job and somehow more connected with our neighbors. Food insecurity briefs well. It looks great in an email and on a slide, but it doesn't capture what it really feels like to be the people facing it. Here's what I believe food insecurity means. It means opening the refrigerator and wondering how you will make what is left last until payday. It means parents skipping dinner and telling their children they are not hungry. It means a senior choosing between buying groceries, paying a utility bill, or filling a prescription. It means working, trying, and doing everything they are supposed to do and still not having enough food for your family. Food insecurity, a bureaucratic term used to dilute a very human struggle so it's more palpable for those of us not facing it. Instead, let's call it what it is. People are hurting. People, our people, are hurting. At El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, we often meet people on one of the hardest days of their lives. They may have lost a job, faced an unexpected medical bill, or simply reached the end of a month when the money ran out before the food did. They are not statistics. They are not strangers. They are our neighbors, our people. By recognizing Hunger Action Month, the city of El Paso is helping to shine a light on the struggle that exists in the shadows. You are telling our neighbors that we see them, and we do. It tells them that needing help is not something to be ashamed of. It also reminds the rest of us that hunger is not someone else's problem. These are our people. It is our shared responsibility as a community, as leaders. If nearly 40% of our community is facing food insecurity, then all of us know someone affected by it, even if we don't realize it. As an aside, and I apologize up front for my frankness, I ask that as a community we stop judging our neighbors that are hurting. I'm tired of hearing about how we have nice cars in our line. I'm tired of hearing that people need to get out and work. Metaphorically, as surely as we all travel down the highway of life, we're only a few feet from the ditch, all of us. A few feet from the ditch. It can happen to any one of us. What would one paycheck do for all of you? The storms of life affect us all, and by the way, it takes you literally zero courage to pontificate from a keyboard. Come volunteer at the food bank so you can meet the people who need us, who need you. Make an informed decision. In the meantime, cast your criticism on me. I'll take it. Food is more than something we eat. Food provides stability. It preserves dignity. It gives a family hope that tomorrow can be better than today. This proclamation is more than words on paper. It is a promise that our city leaders see this need, they recognize the people experiencing it, and they're willing to stand beside them. And the people standing with me today behind me, are part of the team that turns that promise into action every day. They raise the resources. They build the relationships. They lead the work and solve the problems that make our mission possible. I'm proud of them. They are leaders who showed up and they show up every day. This is also our 10 year anniversary, but we are not alone. Thank you to the community members who donate to the food bank, to the ones who show up and volunteer and to the ones who tell our story, the story of people hurting and the ones who stood in the gap on the front lines to help them. For those of you watching who have yet to join the fight against hunger, this is your call to arms, your burning bush. This is the spirit of Hunger Action Month and the spirit of El Paso. Thank you.

Very well said, Chris, and congratulations on 10 years. Thank you. And you said so many things there. You talked about the increase from 35% to 40% here in El Paso, which is alarming to know that it's going up by that many percentage points per year. And what we do know about hunger, though, doesn't care what zip code you're in or what job you have or how hard you work. It can happen, as you mentioned, to any family. SO WE NEED TO DO WHAT WE CAN AS A COMMUNITY TO SUPPORT THOSE THAT ARE SUFFERING AND THAT ARE HUNGRY. I'VE BEEN OUT TO THE FOOD BANK MANY, MANY TIMES AS MANY OF US ON THIS DIET HAVE BEEN OUT THERE TO HELP YOU. I want you to just take a minute and tell us how important it is for the volunteers to be there.

Absolutely, Mayor. Volunteers are the lifeblood of our operation. My staff alone couldn't handle the mission, and not because they're not competent. I just don't have enough. Let me just share a quick example. So in this last year of interim CEO, I've had the opportunity to visit four other food banks around the United States just to kind of see how they're doing things and learn from them. All food banks that I visited distribute less food than we do. We're going to hit probably about 50 million pounds this year of food distributed into our community. All four of those food banks distribute less. their budget starts about four times the budget that we have and more importantly their staff starts at 120 employees and i think the highest one goes up to about 208. i have 69 and so we're distributing more food and doing more things in a food desert area that requires more logistics and more movement and yet with my skeleton crew fully competent leaders we're getting it done but we rely on volunteers we absolutely need the volunteers on the day-to-day to help us distribute the food and more importantly to process food in the background so we're ready for the next day in the next weeks to come I want to give a tribute and hats off to Fort Bliss and the garrison commander corner Colonel Soika he came out on Saturday with 145 soldiers and we had an event and And, man, they flew through our processing room like a tornado. They got us ready for weeks ahead. I mean, they got stuff done in that time. Four hours with us, but, man, we're prepared for the weeks ahead. That's a great testament to a reaffirmed handshake with Fort Bliss, something we call united in service. Volunteers are absolutely critical, Mayor.

Fantastic. And I know you've got a big team standing behind you, so let's let them run up and introduce themselves. Absolutely. Good morning.

Good morning, Eric Ortega. I'm the Director of Grants Administration, and I also manage Government Affairs.

Good morning.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Ana. I'm the Director of Donor and Community Engagement. Thank you, guys.

Good morning. Ramon Navarro, Director of Operations.

Good morning.

Good morning. Carmela Galicia. I'm Director of Programs.

Good morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kenna Orioja, Director of Human Resources.

Good morning. Good morning, everybody. Rudy Vasquez, Director of Signature Giving. Rudy Vasquez Good morning. Well, Chris, again, thank you guys and congratulations on all that you do. And you do so much more than that. I remember when District 4 had the water outage and you were one of the phone calls we made and you stepped up big. You helped with water and anything you could. You were a member of the Emergency Operations Center and you were there with me from sunup to sundown. So again, this community could not do it without you guys. So thank you and congratulations.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson. Thank you.

Representative Fierro, real quick. Thank you, Mayor. Chris, thank you for everything you do. Thank you to my almost cousin, almost relative, but that's a whole other debate. But thank you all so much for everything you do on a daily basis. Chris, we didn't get the opportunity to introduce the photographer.

That's right. Hey, get on up here, man. I tried to skip out. That's right. I knew he'd do that. This is Lonnie, our director of media relations.

Good morning.

Good morning. How are you guys today.

Yeah, you're trying to hide a always. Well again, thank you guys and congratulations. Thank you. We're going to take some pictures now a representative lemon.

Before we take the pictures. Thank you very much Chris into all of your team. I have witnessed the tremendous volunteer opportunities that are young people have done. I know mayor and I were peeling carrots or sorting carrots one day very cold. But I was really pleased to see the students go back. The Eastwood kids just go back again and again and again. It's those incredible volunteer opportunities that build up, that self-esteem, that recognition of what the needs are in our community. And thank you for the opportunity to offer those things for us kids. You're welcome. Thank you.

Congratulations, guys. Thank you. Okay, Ms. Prine.

And the next proclamation is 25th Anniversary of the City of El Paso Clean Indoor Air Ordinance.

Representative Fierro. Thank you, Mayor. Welcome, everybody come down please. Whereas on June 26, 2001, the El Paso City Council adopted the City of El Paso Clean Air Ordinance to protect the public health, safety, welfare of residents, employees, visitors by prohibiting smoking in indoor public places and workplaces. Whereas the ordinance established El Paso as a leader in Texas in advancing the comprehensive smoke-free protections, demonstrating visionary leadership in creating policies that protect health of all who live, work, and visit the region. Whereas the ordinance was achieved through dedication and collaboration of local residents, elected officials, public health professionals, community organizations, healthcare partners, businesses, advocates committed to creating healthy environments free from the harmful of secondhand smoke. Whereas there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke and tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, contributing to cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and chronic illness, while imposing significant human and economic costs to society. Whereas throughout its 25 year the City of El Paso Clean Air Ordinance has contributed to a healthier public space, safe workplaces, and improved quality of life for residents and visitors throughout the community. Whereas the city of El Paso has continued to build upon this legacy by strengthening, modernizing its clean air protections, including addressing emerging tobacco, nicotine products such as electric cigarettes, vaping in public places, and designated outdoor areas. whereas this 25th anniversary provides an opportunity to celebrate the lasting impact of clean indoor air ordinance recognized through the leadership made possible and reaffirmed a common commitment to protecting current and future generations from exposure to tobacco smoke, vaping, and other harmful emissions from tobacco and nicotine. Now, therefore, be proclaimed by the Mayor and Council of the City of El Paso recognizing the 25th anniversary of the City of El Paso Clean Indoor Air Ordinance honoring community leaders, advocates, organizations, HEALTHCARE PARTNERS, BUSINESSES, PUBLIC OFFICIAL RESIDENTS WHOSE VISION AND DEDICATION ESTABLISHES EL PASO AS THE LEADER IN THE CLEAN AIR. SIGNED, THE HONORABLE MAYOR RENARD JOHNSON.

GOOD MORNING.

Good morning. Michael Kelly, vice president of programs at the Health Foundation. Mayor, city council, friends, thank you for the opportunity to celebrate 25 years of El Paso's smoke-free indoor air ordinance. I'm especially grateful to be here because I had the privilege as a young program officer those years ago at the Health Foundation of leading the community effort to pass the ordinance with many people in the community. It may be difficult to remember how ambitious and controversial this idea once seemed. Smoking was common in restaurants and bars and workplaces, and many people assumed it was just the way things were done and had to be. But a remarkable group of El Pasoans believed different. No one should have to breathe secondhand smoke simply because of where they worked or when entering a public space. I want to remember Patricia Ayala, Becky Zima, Katherine Berg, the American Cancer Society, and many other members of our smoke-free coalition during those days. I also want to recognize the health department, volunteer health agencies, physicians, nurses, many others who helped. In the lead up to passing the ordinance, a community-wide survey those years ago showed support. Listening sessions were held by council in the community, and community members wrote letters for and against. They met with elected officials, kept the focus where it needed to be, protecting people's health, especially workers who couldn't just avoid by going somewhere else. A story from the day of that council vote remains in my mind. Chambers were very full, as you can imagine. Young people rallied outside the old city hall and three of them, a nine-year-old boy and two high school girls came inside and spoke directly to the city council of that day. They did not bring political influence or economic power with them. They simply ask the adults seated in your chairs, trusted with leading the city to protect their health. And the city council listened. In 2001, the comprehensive ordinance passed seven to one under the leadership of Mayor Caballero. At that time, it was described as one of the strongest clean indoor air ordinances in the nation. It was a model for other cities in the county and across the state. Houston followed you. Dallas followed you. Austin followed you. And that required political courage. The ordinance also illustrates the important principle about the proper role of government. Protecting the public's health doesn't always require creating a large new program or spending a great deal of public money. Sometimes government serves people best by establishing a clear, fair rule, one that protects individual health, treats businesses equally, and then allows the community to make it work. The fears of economic harm did not materialize. Restaurants and bars have revenue. They continue to grow. Public support became overwhelming. Most importantly, thousands of El Paso workers and families gained the right to breathe smoke-free air. The numbers tell part of the story. Five years before the ordinance, 21% of El Paso adults smoked. Five years afterwards, it was down to under 15. The ordinance didn't accomplish it alone. It was a comprehensive effort, and the public embraced it. By 2006, only 6% of people opposed the ordinance. Can you even imagine going back in time and being asked smoking or non-smoking? The work isn't finished. The Health Foundation continues its smoke-free initiative because smoking still harms people today. In 2023, 9.5% of Texas high school students reported e-cigarette smoking. We didn't even know what e-cigarettes were back then. nearly three and a half times more than who smoke regular cigarettes. And thanks to our work with Action for Healthy Kids, who continues to lead our coalition today, EFO Media, who stands up a website, smokefreepdn.org, where parents can go to and find resources to talk with their kids, we're continuing to make progress in these new areas. So to you, Mayor, City Council, thank you for honoring this history and for continuing to protect the health of the community. May El Paso always have the courage to act on sound evidence and fulfill one of government's most important responsibilities, protecting the public's health. Thank you and thank all these people behind me.

representative fiero thank you mayor you know thank you for that great description of what happened historically and i want to personally thank a former councilman larry medina who had the courage and the to champion this along with the entire except like with the entire 2001 city council it was a very courageous effort it was a courageous move i remember a couple years after you talked about houston following us austin followed us and after it was passed here and we got used to it i went to austin um a local food establishment that had some adult beverages. I left there reeking of smoke, which I hadn't experienced in years. So thank you to that council and thank you for their leadership. And thank you to each and every one of you to help champion this. Thank you, Mayor.

Yep. And Michael and everyone that's here, you know, again, everyone's already said it, but we applaud the city leaders and the community partners for having the courage over 25 years ago to to put an ordinance like this in place and it took courage i can tell you that but when you look at the numbers more than 480 000 americans die each year from cigarette smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke and when you break that number down that's about 1300 per day And when you expand that out worldwide, 7 million deaths a year on an annual basis is due to cigarette smoking or secondhand smoke. So there's no question that this ordinance and the courage of city council and our community partners save lives. So thank you guys for what you did back then. Thank you what you're continuing to do. and thank our city leaders 25 years ago for their courage and making the rest of Texas follow El Paso. So congratulations, guys.

And the final proclamation is Deaf Awareness Month in El Paso.

Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm gonna give them an opportunity to come up. There we are. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome. I'm gonna read your proclamation. Whereas National Deaf Awareness Month is observed each September to recognize the rich culture, language, history, and contributions of deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing individuals, while promoting accessibility, inclusion, and equal opportunities throughout our community. And whereas access to effective communication is a fundamental right, and the promotion of American Sign Language accessible services and communication equity strengthens opportunities for all residents of the city of El Paso. Whereas El Paso SLI, in collaboration with local organizations and community partners, will host Deaf Awareness Week from September 18 through September 26, 2026, providing educational, cultural, and community events that celebrate deaf culture, increase awareness of American Sign Language, and promote accessible communication. And whereas deaf, deaf-blind, and hard-of-hearing individuals contribute to the success and vitality of the city of El Paso through their achievements in education, healthcare, business, public service, the arts, and countless other fields, enriching our community through their talents, leadership, and service. And whereas increasing public awareness helps remove communication barriers, fosters meaningful connections between deaf and hearing individuals, encourages businesses, organizations and community members to embrace accessibility, inclusion and equal participation for all. And whereas National Deaf Awareness Month provides an opportunity for the residents of the city of El Paso to recognize the importance of building a community where deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing individuals can fully communicate, participate, and thrive, strengthening our city through diversity, equity, and mutual respect. Now therefore be it proclaimed by the Mayor and Council of the City of El Paso that the month of September shall be known as National Deaf Awareness Month signed by the Honorable Mayor, Renard Johnson. Congratulations.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor and city representatives. My name is Tamara Marquez, and I am the founder of El Paso SLI. We're a sign language interpreting agency that serves El Paso and Las Cruces area. We're super excited because this is the first year that we've partnered with El Paso Community College. They've been hosting a deaf awareness week. and they collaborate with local partners. And we work with El Paso Community College closely because we have interns that intern with us throughout the year that become later future interpreters. This Deaf Awareness Week is to celebrate Deaf Awareness Month. And we've partnered with Jose ,, which is behind me. I'll have him introduce himself. And Belen, she's a teacher at El Paso Community College for the sign language program. We're going to be having a deaf movie night at Memorial Park. And all the events will be free except for there's events like at Pockets or Soggy Peso or Peter Piper where the... a community will need to pay for their pizzas or drinks, but Peter Piper has been very generous in giving us a discount and they're gonna be contributing some free pizzas and the community college is gonna be doing a fundraiser. So those funds will go to the students so that they could visit Gallaudet University in DC. So if you all can make it out to any of the events, we will have interpreters available so you can have full engagement. And I just want to thank you so much for bringing more awareness to El Paso and the deaf community. Thank you.

Hello. This is my first time here. It's kind of awkward. But anyway, my name is Jose. And my last name is Prieto. And I remember a while back, the deaf center you know, got down, so now we're kind of isolated, so we decided, you know what, this is Deaf Awareness Week, so that brought a lot of people together. It's been, you know, many years that we've been celebrating this for a week. So we encourage interpreters, you know, the deaf, and anyone that wants to learn, So I really enjoyed it a lot. And we do need your help trying to build it up again. Whether you go have pizza and enjoy, that's pretty much it on my part. So thank you. Hello, my name is Belen Rico. I'm a professor at El Paso Community College. Deaf awareness, it's about celebration for the deaf. Cultural awareness, also the community, it's best to understand for the deaf individuals. Also, it's a wonderful opportunity to educate people about our culture. Deaf people can do anything. It's just that we communicate differently. We do have access with the SLI and the Sign Language Interpreter community, so I appreciate it. Thank you.

Good morning, Council. Good morning. Good morning. My name is . I am the Marketing and Communications Coordinator, so I'm in charge of planning all these events and organizing them. And we hope you guys can come out and celebrate with us.

Thank you again. She does a lot. She doesn't just do. She has been remarkable. We brought her on with Workforce Borderplex, and they brought her as an intern from Utah, and we're officially bringing her on next week. So we're super excited. Fantastic.

Fantastic.

So thank you again.

Yeah. Well again, the city of El Paso is honored to celebrate this month with you guys. And it is important that as a city we continue to make sure that individuals that are deaf or hard of hearing can participate fully in our public meetings, be able to interact with our public safety officials, and have full access to all of the city programs. So again, on behalf of the city of El Paso, congratulations on this month. Thank you. We're so happy to celebrate it with you. Congratulations.

I hope to see you all there. You got it. Thank you.

A little bit. All right, represent here. Can I have you come a little to your right, please? OK. Representing here, can I help you a little to your right? Beautiful. All right, ready? Big smiles. One, two, three. One more. Good. One, two, three. Beautiful. Amen.

.

. .

Okay, Miss Brian.

Yes, sir. Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso City Council for Tuesday, September 1st, 2026. Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in council chambers along with Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, Representative Nino Alternate mayor put in theater representative limon and representative canada's representative or at the whole has requested to be excused it is 1015 am. Well everyone please silence or electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by El Paso police chaplain Robert hemp Hill jr.

Good morning, everyone. To the Honorable Mayor Johnson, Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, council members, the book of James advises us to listen more and speak less. And so we advise all of us to take that in consideration to avoid any miscommunication as we speak and conduct business. Let's bow our heads. Most holy Heavenly Father and holy God, we thank you for our council members, our mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and all department chairs after that we're here to conduct the business of El Paso. and that any decision that we're making, that you guide each of all of the leaders, Master, that we make the right decision is in the best interest of all the citizens of El Paso, from the eldest to the youngest. And we thank you for those who are here, Master, supporting the city as they conduct their business. And this we ask in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen. Thank you. Have a seat.

Thank you, Chaplain. That brings us to public comment on consent agenda and regular agenda items for those that signed up to speak at 10 AM. The first person is Eileen Diaz de Leon. Ms. de Leon signed up to speak on item 27. And item 27 is a presentation on the anti-DWI strategy. Good morning, ma'am. You have three minutes.

Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning. My name is Eileen Diaz de Leon, and I'm here today for my little sister Angelique Diaz de Leon. Angelique was 18 years old when her life was taken by an impaired driver, January 1st of this year. I appreciate that the council recognized that DWI is a crisis in our community and took the time to develop an anti-DWI strategy. But I want to talk about what happens after the recommendations are made. We need to know what happens next and when. How much longer do we wait? Well, you have spent 90 days to make recommendations. Families have continued losing loved ones. If El Paso is serious about ending this cycle, then let's stop measuring success by how many recommendations we make and start measuring success by how many lives we prevent from being lost. You had 90 days, so please show us what you're going to do with the information you gathered. Leadership cannot simply mean having a title, holding a position, or standing behind a podium. Leadership means having the courage to act when the problem is uncomfortable. We need change. I also want to recognize something that I think gets lost in this conversation. Our officers, prosecutors, and victim advocates are people who are doing their jobs and trying to help families like mine. We have built a relationship of trust with our prosecutor and I believe she's doing what she can within the system she has been given. But I believe this system discredits a lot of the work these people do. Officers make the arrests and then they are faced with a system that can allow that person back into the community. Prosecutors sit with families, listen to our stories, and tell us how they're going to help us, but then have to explain the limitations of the system and everything that can stand in the way of accountability. The man responsible for killing my sister was never arrested the night of the accident. He was arrested 23 days later and posted bond that same day. And that is how you enable someone. Did we get an extra 23 days with Angelique? Do we get to spend time with our family, go back to everyday life just by paying a fine? I'm asking you to recognize the imbalance. And I understand people have rights, I do. But what about Angelique's rights, my parents' rights, my family's? I will say this every time. This system protects the offenders more than it does the victims. And Angelique wasn't the only one whose life changed that night. Her boyfriend Nick was also in the crash. He survived, but his life is forever changed. This person took so much from all of us. Nick has to live with the trauma of being there in Angelique's final moments and losing the person he loves. Angelique and Nick were young, but the love they had for each other was something incredibly special, a kind of love some people spend years searching for. I'm grateful my sister got to experience that kind of love, but I'm devastated that someone else's decision took their future away from them. Nick and Angelique did not deserve this. I don't speak for sympathy, I speak for change. I don't want to live with a victim mentality, but refusing to accept injustice is not a victim mentality. I'm not an enabler who's going to stand by and watch the people I love become a statistic. I will continue showing up even when I don't get the results I want immediately. even when it's uncomfortable and even when I'm tired, because I have something Angelique was robbed of, an opportunity. I will keep speaking because she can't. I will keep asking uncomfortable questions because I refuse to believe her death and the deaths of many others are simply the price we have to pay for the way things are. You have 90 days to develop these recommendations. Angelique doesn't have another 90 days with us, so please turn these recommendations into action. Thank you.

Thank you.

Also speaking on item 27 is Claudia Contreras-Ziller.

Good morning, Ms. Hiller.

Good morning.

Hello, good morning, everybody.

Good morning.

I want to take the time to honor the Silver Streets Movement because I attended their protest, and it's the most meaningful protest I've attended in my whole life. It was outside a courthouse. The videos are pinned in and the organization, Silver Streets Movement, is dedicated to the victims. by their loved ones, by their moms and their family members. So I think that's one of the most important thing going on in our city that deserves extra time and for things to get done fast and correct. Because we all know that drunk people are the most difficult to deal with. And imagine having to arrest these people all over the city. So I also want to recognize that Silver Street's movement works hand with hand with our first responders, especially the police department. So they deserve to be honored, especially because September 12th is National Police Women's Day. And I would like for the leaders of this city to start pushing back the blue agenda in the city because things are not getting better. And we all elected you to represent the citizens and our first responders. So saying that, please focus in whatever the community is bringing to this mic. Vanity projects can wait. Please focus in what we're asking and talking about Police Woman's Day, their moms, grandmas, furry moms. and single mothers that deserve all the honor you guys get. Being in a position where everybody looks up to you, God is also going to demand a lot from you. just look after what people are bringing to this mic, because not everybody has the time to come here and to go after what they're really looking for our city. And I've been here a year and eight, nine months, and I started here thinking I was going to be always very nice to you all, politically correct, very ceremonial, but sometimes I feel ignored. Thank you.

That concludes public comment on agenda items at 10 o'clock. So that brings us to call to the public. The El Paso City Council is a local government body charged with serving the citizens 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?

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

This morning we have 12 members of the public that signed up to speak. The first person is Elizabeth Crawford. Ms. Crawford's topic is abortion across the border, Texas and New Mexico. Ms. Crawford, star six please to unmute your telephone. Ms. Crawford, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. I don't see her in the queue. We'll move on to JD Martinez. JD Martinez, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. Mr. Martinez's topic is public safety. Go ahead. Your microphone is ready. You have three minutes. JD Martinez, go ahead. You have three minutes. Your microphone is ready. I'm sorry.

I have my phone on me. Hello. Hello. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. Can you hear me? Yes. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So I'm sorry. I was talking and I have my phone on mute. Um, look, I would have loved to have been there on person and that's the state of the city right now. You know, I'm just paranoid about going out and it's the, it's the morning right now. So I can imagine how other people feel. Um, You know, it's worse at night. You know, I've gone out four times this night and three out of those four times I've been near car accidents or I've seen very like fatal car accidents. I saw a rollover one time. The other time, you know, a motorcyclist cut me off going to the west side and then going back to the east side, that same motorcyclist cut me off again. And, you know, three days later, I saw his motorcycle on KFOX News because he died and Pretty much my issue is the city's paranoid right now. I feel like we're living in the 80s, like battling communists and stuff. It's just a lot of paranoia going on. And I saw the opening of this meeting. We're worried about the wrong things. You know, indoor smoking? Come on, how long has it been since there's been an indoor smoking restaurant? The last indoor smoking restaurant I saw was in Amarillo, the city north of Texas. That was in 2010. And then whoever was speaking said that they went to Austin and saw an indoor smoking. We're worried about the wrong things is what I'm trying to say. Same thing with the, you know, I appreciate the deaf people advocating. You know, that's great. That's amazing. But, you know, one day it's going to be people advocating for drunk drivers and that whole city council, when everyone's ready, that whole place is going to be filled with a bunch of people protesting. And really I'm speaking from like trying to speak from the bottom of my heart. I didn't know where, how to approach this meeting, but really that's the state of the citizens right now. It's just paranoia. Like, like I said, I wanted to be there in person, but I'm terrified of going out and I've only gone out four times this entire year. Imagine that I've been, had to make a DoorDash account because I don't even want to go out and pick up my DoorDash orders. And I, you know, I want to have someone deliver it. I would love to write a really strong email. I would love to make an email, but man, it would take way more time and effort than I need. Thankfully, I'm in a position I can be here right now, and I want to speak for all the young people in town, 28 and under. It's just a mess out there, and next time, I'll see you guys next week. I'm going to word my words more right now that I've kind of got the flow of things, but That's pretty much where we're at right now. Thank you.

Thank you. The next speaker is Susan Martinez. Ms. Martinez's topic is thank you for the diverters on Frontera Road. She will be followed by Kim Henley.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, City Council. Mayor Pro Tem Chavez and all our city representatives, I see a lot of familiar faces. Nice to see you. Good morning. My purpose this morning in our neighborhoods, it's not just that quite neighborhood association. People live in Colonial Escondida, all the different roads that... are within walking distance to emory to uh frontera road this is our main this is our only means of access and egress from our area to donovan and this street is less than a mile long frontera road it's a purely texas road and i just want to thank you first for the traffic study, Mr. Joaquin Rodriguez, who guided us through the need for the traffic study to show that we were truly correct in what we wanted to do. And then I thank the city for the installation of the diverters for all the roads going to Frontera so that we can keep New Mexico traffic in New Mexico and Texas traffic in Texas. Over the years, we've invited our city reps to come to our area so that they could see the uniqueness of our issues and our proximity to New Mexico. And in 2024, in 2021, excuse me, neighbors began a petition to city council asking for support to protect our residential Texas neighborhoods by making Frontera Road safe. And over a thousand people signed this petition. And the reason for the petition was That's the New Mexico developers were proposing to build a 350 home Subdivision all in Sundon Park, New Mexico and And their only means of access and egress was going to be Frontera Road, Gary Lane, which is less than, it's about 7 tenths of a mile. Gary Lane is not even an incorporated road. It's not even 15 feet wide. And that was going to dump into Boy Scout Lane, which is purely residential. So if you can imagine 350 homes being built And multiply that number times two, the average number of vehicles that would come down the street. That would have created some unsustainable traffic hazards for the Texas residents. So that was the reason for the petition, and over 1,000 people signed it. So we're thankful for that. Just this morning, we learned that people have damaged the lock on Boy Scout Lane. The gate is open. People are driving around the gate, across the empty lots, to the irrigation canal. The Water Improvement District has had their gates open, so these people are driving through that area. And also, as of this morning, one of the locks is gone. Someone has secured it with zip ties, but the steel loops that secured the lock in the first place have been sawed off. And somebody used bolt cutters to cut the lock off. This is beginning to become dangerous. Somebody strong enough to use this type of equipment is not a child. So we need your support to secure this area. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.

The next speaker is Kim Hemley. Ms. Hemley, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. She's also speaking about Frontera Road closures. Go ahead, Ms. Hemley. You have three minutes.

Thank you. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, Council. And thank you for the opportunity to be able to speak to this issue that obviously has become quite a neighborhood embarrassment, as you've just heard. But more than that, I'm not going to rehash the main issues of how the border walls came to Frontoro Road on a proposed development that has not moved forward, but more so to bring immediate attention to what the previous speaker just spoke about, a new public safety issue and an unauthorized modification of the gate on Boy Scout Lane. It was a Texas resident, alleged Texas resident, residing on Boy Scout Lane that is taking it upon himself to secure the Boy Scout closure with the zip ties and then further bolted heavily bolted to secure the gate with his own unauthorized means. Furthermore, he has been vocal with several neighbors aggressively warning individuals to stay off the Texas side of the barrier. Additionally, by adding adding personal bolts and hardware to this gate, this individual has completely compromised the ability of not to mention fire and EMS to quickly open the barrier during a crisis. Not to mention this is illegal, illegally tampering and obstructing first responder access, which begs the question overall, who now has jurisdiction, jurisdictional authority over the state line issue, especially if there's going to be continued escalation. Our community is deeply concerned about this provocation and wish to alert the authorities in the event that this could lead to further escalation. It is really important and frankly, just a travesty. what this traffic diversion plan has caused in this historic community. Divisiveness, where friendly neighbor conversations and interactions are no more and no longer being neighborly whatsoever. You now walk down the street and wonder who's going to attack you verbally just by being a New Mexico resident. You have now created this division in a community that could necessitate 24-hour security on El Paso's nickel. not to mention the thousands that has already been spent on the border gate and then continuing on its maintenance. Now learning that the gate has been somebody has thought off the ties. So the neighboring residents of these four gates are hopeful for a regional solution because it is a regional problem that requires a regional solution without further involving legal and federal authorities who have already been contacted. Please continue to address your attention to this as the city of sunland park has now been engaged and hopefully through your mou that was created last september we will have that joint cooperation thank you thank you the next speaker is claudia contreras ziller her topic is el paso strong she will be followed by patricia osmond ron como eduardo talamantes lisa turner good morning

Hello, good morning. I want to talk about three different things. I got signatures requesting speed bumps and lights at my street, and they were not honored. So I want to ask someone from the streets and maintenance to contact me. Two days ago I arrived home and there was a dead pet in the middle of the street. So I moved it and then the owner had to go carry it like a baby and take it home. It had a tag. So if the speed bumps would have been there or the lights, probably that wouldn't have happened and I already took all the steps to get what I deserve in my street. So that's the first thing. Also, I want to say that I had to deal with an extreme animal cruelty case. The people that know me know that I'm the animal cruelty advocate. In Glenwood Trailer Park, I was giving a ride to an 88-year-old person. She received a call from another elderly person stating that cats were hammered inside cages to death. I went, took pictures of the cage. It was reddish, so I think it was blood. I'm not sure, but I've been dealing with those kind of cages for a long time. And I think that's evidence. Animal services went, and I'm very thankful for them. But when we're dealing with extreme animal cruelty, These are killers in the making. First they start with animals, and then they jump to humans, and it's proven. So I want a stronger law enforcement presence in that trailer park. I don't think the landlord knows, but going back to animal cruelty, we need you guys to use your platform to fight animal cruelty. Please. Also, I went to the refinery meeting, and I want to thank Acevedo for doing everything in his power to defend us from this business that is polluting our city because of money. In the meeting, there was Congresswoman Escobar. The room was full. People do not want it there. That made me think, when I was watching the video live, when Acevedo was asking to write a letter to Abbott, and some of you kept pushing the date. He asked for a 30 day, you know, like 30 day, and some of you were like 60 days. As soon as possible, you guys are hired to represent us, not your donors, okay? And people are starting to look at it, and it's time for you to do the right thing. because you are paid to represent El Paso, Texas, not your donors. Thank you.

The next speaker is Patricia Osman. Her topic is animal welfare, city government corruption, duty to report appropriate law enforcement, Texas Rangers. Ms. Osman, your microphone is ready. You have three minutes.

So I've spoken about animal welfare before. Miss Fuller made a point, which I have made in front of previous city council. One thing that El Paso is known for, Richard Ramirez. Known serial killer. You know how serial killers start? They start by killing animals. And every time we see these mutilated animals, and if you get on social media, you will see that pretty regularly. You understand that it's not just an issue with animal services, it's an issue with our law enforcement as well. It's an issue with our city council that doesn't take action. Because what you are doing by leaving these animals out on the street, and even the TNR, They're trapped, they're neutered, and then they're released to start. But what you are showing all half ones is we're creating more stirrup killers. So like I told the last city council, when women end up dead out in the desert, something happens to children, you can blame yourself. because you saw the signs with all the mutilated animals across this town and you did nothing. But this is the thing is that our local city government is filled with people that are committing crimes and you're fine with everybody else getting arrested and the fines and the money that the local government takes in from those criminal prosecutions. but you don't police yourself. Later on in this agenda, there's a perfect example of it. And I have brought these examples in front of city council, government employees, city employees in the past. And it's still going on because it's a systematic issue within our city government. Our city attorney, she's officer of the court. She has an ethical, duty she is bound to report to the criminal system those crimes and yet that doesn't happen and it keeps continuing and we've got our hr and our city manager and our city council that just sweeps them under the rug puts them in the consent agenda so that very few in the

Local one that in actually here for each of the 3 minutes because it was been the next speaker is Ron como his topic is exercising its constitutional rights to the rescue 1983 animal services. He will be followed by a lot of the amount this and Lisa Turner good morning, Sir.

Good morning.

Good morning. How's everybody doing today. I just want to bring up some interesting facts I googled about strays in Texas. I googled 2019 numbers, how many strays were there in the state of Texas. It came up basically that it's roughly one million strays in the state of Texas. Well, after five years of the worst sheltering plan in us history that started here and spread because a couple of people kept going around talking about how great it was. Now, five years later, if you Google that you get Houston, Texas has approximately 1 million strays in their city. Think about that for a minute. They will not even tell us how many strays are running the streets of Texas at this point. Now, when you ask that question about 26, they say, well, this many were adopted, this many were transferred out, but they're so embarrassed they can no longer put out how many strays there are. This is because we implemented the Haas plan as one of the first, and then we had two people running around the country with best friends telling them what great success it is. Show me what great success is. The second thing, rabies. Texas, they're following, they're not following the rabies Texas laws. You've got people like our ex-shelter director going around saying it's not true. Rabies is open intake, period. Now, for the first time in years, San Antonio, New Brunsfield, Rio Grande Valley, and Longview have all had rabies in domesticated animals. Oscar Leaser was warned about this by the state of Texas veterinarian. Due to managed intake, he told them flat out, it's not a matter of whether you're going to get rabies, it's when. Well, folks, we're getting it, and it's our fault. Sorry, brain's a little slow. Let me just talk about the gentleman that just went to court again. This is his third time being charged with animal cruelty. His second time being charged with animal cruelty, he was given five years in prison and the judge converted it to probation. So now he's in, we were in court, they're charging him again with animal cruelty, they're charging him for failure to follow probation. What have we got to do to get people put in jail for animal cruelty? This is his third time. And we are all going to be in court when he's there for his hearings, I promise. We're tired. We need to put them in jail, folks. Thank you, Mr. Cuomo.

The next speaker is Eduardo Talamantes. HIS TOPIC IS TAX INCREASE AND PAY RAISES FOR COUNCIL. GOOD MORNING. YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.

GOOD MORNING. MY NAME IS MISSION VALLEY RESIDENT FOR 47 YEARS. AND I'M SURE YOU ALL ARE TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT TAXES. TAXES ARE PART OF LIFE AND I UNDERSTAND THAT. THEY'RE NEVER GOING TO GO DOWN. BUT THE THING IS PEOPLE ARE REALLY HAVING A HARD TIME NOWADAYS. EVERYBODY HAS BEEN HIT VERY, VERY HARD. and all businesses have been hit hard too i'm sure but the thing is most of the people in this city do not have retirement they rely on social security that's pretty much fixed it doesn't change that much and it's a big burden especially if they have people living with them in my house we have four of us and i'm retired my wife works i'm lucky she works and i'm lucky that i have all my exemptions otherwise i wouldn't be able to afford living in my house And I just wonder when I'm going to leave my son when I'm gone. I want him to be able to afford my house, too. And one of the things I see is we give too much money away in tax abatements. You know, I understand people want to make money coming here. That's fine. We want to attract business. But we need to get people here that can pay their fair share, too. Now, I just read about the guy down here is going to have the popular store here. He got several million dollars in tax abatements. He can afford it. Why does he need more money to get a handout? Not only that, I've been fighting the city for many, many years to get a little piece of property they own fixed up because it's an eyesore. Ms. Limon's been working very hard trying to get help for us, and the city's not helping with it. She's doing it pretty much on her own with some of her discretionary funds. But the thing is, this guy here at the Popular, he's going to get a million some odd dollars for a mural. I can't even get $100,000 to do some land work. That's ridiculous. I mean, I live here. I've been there 47 years. This guy's going to buy it right now. I don't know who he is or anything about him. And that's besides the point. The fact is, we need to be careful about how we give all these tax abatements to keep in mind that people's taxes are at stake and their livelihoods. My second point is the pay raise. Now I know it's only a few of you people that are gonna get 15%, and you're only here for eight years, most of you. But the thing is, that kind of money should go to first responders, police, fire, EMS people, and also city employees. I'm sure they would like to get a good chunk of that money too. You know, they deserve it. They keep this place running. And I'm not saying you guys don't, but I see these guys on the street every day, and I deal with them. And they're very helpful. And I appreciate everything they do. So that 15% to me sends a bad message. It means you're worried that they're not. And I think that's not a good way to run a business.

Thank you. Thank you.

next speaker is lisa turner her topic is public service board failure scam we need elder rep on psb she will be followed by lorenza hodges good morning are we having fun yet i would like to talk to you a couple meetings ago i came in and talked about this y'all told me it's not a problem it's fake well that fakeness is a charge on my water bill and a couple weeks ago Got up in the morning, walked out of the bedroom, and walked into soggy carpet. Notified the apartment complex. By the way, I live in an apartment complex. I don't own it. I am not responsible for pipes, but I'm having to pay insurance on them. let management know and they call plumbers out they didn't get out to the later part of the day I'm still battling water in the apartments I got fans running and a couple days later they've got I've got somebody in trying to find the leak and then the next thing you know they're digging holes in my foundation and I got two holes because they found two two leaks in the pipes that run under underneath the foundation in my bedroom. So I got the water bill. It's about $100 more than normal. so I called water can all you gotta talk to the this these people you know the ones that are charged me every month that y'all says doesn't exist and they demand that I have to provide information that I have absolutely no right to I have no right to demand records from my apartment management complex I definitely had no right to demand any records from the people who came out and actually did the work So I am not going to be able to provide the documentation the PSB needs so I can get reimbursed. That water is coming into our complex both clean and dirty because we're getting dirty water in my complex, Mr. Mayor. at 155 pounds per square inch out of a three-quarter inch line. That goes into a half-inch line, so that raises the pressure even more, gets into a quarter-inch line, and then it ends up in some lines like, you know, a couple 30 seconds. Pressure's sky-high. The entire complex is being damaged by this water pressure. The management companies, you know, you can't go in there. You go in, next thing you know, one of the underground, you know, irrigation systems, you've got these... Water fountains are going straight up in the air. It's blowing them out. It's blowing out the pipes in the apartments. And we get no action. No action. And on the dirty water, they said, well, just let it run. Well, the problem is not letting the water run. It's how did the dirty water get there in the first place? And why was it dirty for multiple days? So PSB is running a scam. I'm having to pay for insurance on property, on things that I have no ownership in. So I want some action, plus the customer service is horrible. Thank you, Ms. Turner.

The next speaker is Lorenza Hodges. Topic is Texas Workforce Commission Vocational Rehab and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Employment Discrimination Concerns. Good morning. You have three minutes. Good morning, Mayor.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Morning.

Yes, I'm going to read it from my phone because I'm not a good reader as it is. And it's long. I already sent the assistance or copy to share with y'all because I know I won't get a chance to finish it. BUT GOOD MORNING, MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS.

CAN YOU SPEAK INTO THE MIC?

THERE YOU GO. MY NAME IS LORENZA HODGES, AND I'M A RESIDENT OF THE CITY OF PASO, A TAXPAYER. and a participant of the texas workforce commission vrc program i respectfully request for the city to review in a series of events that i believe have affected my ability to obtain and maintain employment here my concerns begin in 2021 i mean 2016 when i was working at a labor rally um assignment from other side of um San Teresa, New Mexico, during this assignment, I got injured through a workman's comp injury, and I filed a complaint through EEOC charges because a few days later they just terminated me. At the same time, I was terminated and then I ran into this former employee from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice where I did some long sentences for a crime I committed back in the 90s. And I met him as an investigator that was at the EEOC where he's made my life a hell hole since I've been here. I can't get no job. I'm going to stop reading from there because I'm going to speak out. I can't get no job. I can't get no assistance. When I go into these businesses like Circle K, where I've worked at, DK, or the business that I go to, they treat me unfair. uh they don't ask for no cheese on my food they put cheese on there anyway just because they can because that's their business and then when i turn around and try to file a civil or constitutional violation the eeoc the civil rights department the text workforce the vrc they all retaliate against me because i complain about i requested don't put cheese on me and my daughter's food so then i go files a lawsuit Because they done barcaded me with employment. They done barcaded me with the legal system. They done barcaded me with food stamps. I don't have no food. I'm soaking all my stuff to try to survive and get a job. I have a disability through the Texas workforce, and they're not assisting me appropriately. They treat me unfair because I turn around and complain. And it all started with this investigator, Vasquez, which is DONE PUT ME IN NUMEROUS SITUATIONS WHERE IT'S CAUSING MENTAL TRAUMA. I HAVE A PSYCHIATRIST AND I GET TREATMENT THROUGH THE TEXAS WORKFORCE AND THROUGH THE EVENING.

THANK YOU, MR. HUDGES. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THE NEXT SPEAKER IS EMMA SOLIS SANCHEZ. SHE WILL BE FOLLOWED BY VERONICA CARVAJAL. BOTH ARE SPEAKING REGARDING MARATHON REFINERY.

Good morning.

Good morning, council. Thank you. My name is Emma Solis Sanchez. I have lived at the corner of Trowbridge and Marlow, which is approximately 100 yards from the Marathon Refinery property for the last 28 years. The recent chemical release highlighted in the media is of great concern, and it has gone unanswered by Marathon Refinery, the EPA, the TECQ, and our city representatives. On August 4th, Toxic emissions released into the community far exceeded the state limits by more than 3,000 times the max limit. Since that release, there has been a fire, an explosion that caused a fire at the refinery, a sinkhole in the front of the refinery, which closed down Trowbridge Drive. As citizens of the surrounding neighborhoods, we demand transparency and accountability from Marathon, the state of Texas, and our local elected officials. It has been said that this is a federal or state concern and that resident concerns must be addressed by the EPA or the TECQ. It would be a grave mistake for our elected officials to disregard citizen concerns and allow our health and welfare to rest in the hands of the EPA and the TECQ. Surely there are local resources and outreaches available to bring accountability for the community. It is disappointing to say the least when it comes to involvement from council members, the mayor of El Paso, and the city attorney. This morning I call for an inspection of Marathon Refinery by local fire marshal, the local OSHA office, the city inspectors. Doing so brings transparency, places accountability on inspectors, and documents the evidence of the current environment at Marathon. Locally, The fire marshal has the power to stop operations at Marathon. OSHA has the power to stop operations and impose fines. The city attorney has the power to file suit against Marathon for endangering its citizens. We do not have to wait for the EPA or the TECQ, so I ask the following questions. What has the city done on their part to protect local citizens when it comes to Marathon operations? What is the council going to do? Ignoring the reality of the events taking place, excuse me, What is council going to do, ignoring the reality of the events taking place over the last month, places our citizens and the entire city at risk? I'm here to represent my neighbors, hundreds of whom showed up at a meeting last week with the San Juan Association and Sembrando Esperanza. Whatever action steps that you take regarding the Marathon Refinery, my community and I are here to support you all. Thank you.

Thank you.

The final speaker is Veronica Carvajal, also speaking on Marathon Refinery and Meta.

Good morning.

Good morning, Council. Mayor Veronica Carvajal, organizer of Sembrando Esperanza. As you know, our coalition is fighting for economic and environmental justice. Several of our member neighborhoods are impacted by Marathon Refinery, and we are supporting other neighborhoods, including San Juan and the Texas addition that Ms. Emma Sanchez is a part of. We believe that those who are most impacted should have the first and the final word. And we know that nothing is a done deal unless we are done fighting. This applies to Marathon. It applies to META. I want to remind some of our younger members of the audience that we used to have a copper smelter in the middle of town. ASARCO operated with impunity for over 100 years. But in 2013, I stood alongside my clients, the ex-ASARCO workers, and we watched the smokestacks come down. And that was a result of over a decade of organizing at different levels. The community, politicians who had courage, regulatory entities that did their job, the economy, and then the science. And when it comes to the science, I do want to point to the fact that with ASARCO, we didn't just look at the health impacts. That was a huge study that was done on the MS cluster. But then people also looked at the soil. and the vents inside people's homes. And so we cannot ignore also the impact to the groundwater. And all of this will apply to Marathon. Two weeks ago, you stood with us. You sent a letter to the TCQ and to the EPA, and we're very grateful for that. A week later, we were asked to help organize a community meeting with San Juan. Over 150 people turned out. And the things that they shared were not only heartbreaking, but they were also expressing a lot of expertise in the community. The neighbors know what they want and what they need, and we need to listen to them. I was just notified today that Marathon, after a year of us asking, has finally decided to hold a community meeting that will be October 6th at 6 p.m. at Riverside High School. We're asking everyone to go. And if you have a chance to look at our Instagram Live, you can see the questions that were posed by the members. i want to turn quickly to meta as some of you know on sunday over for over 24 hours the residents of both future land and vista del norte did not have consistent water pressure or water at all again we're calling that you as the owners of the water company um direct the psb to revisit the contract with meta meta will sue us if they don't have access to water while when they start operating please also review the email that you received this morning from jessica burnett she is the vice president of vista del norte and has again lots of expertise and questions about what happened on sunday regarding their lack of water in their neighborhood which is brand new thank you so much thank you

that concludes call to the public for the record representatives Acevedo and Rocha join the meeting at 10 18 a.m council per the rules of order no use of personal cellular devices nor personal communication should take place on the day yes while 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 side conversations while the meeting is in session 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 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 2.

And that revision is to excuse Representative Boyer-Trejo from the meeting.

Page 3, item 3, delete for purchasing and strategic sourcing. Page 10, item 29, revised for Capital Improvement Department.

And that revision is to the contract term to strike out 144 and replace with 239 work weekdays. There's a motion.

Is there a second? Second. All right, Representative Acevedo.

Thank you, Mayor. And I just wanted to let the public know that there's been a lot of questions around item three, and it's being deleted. But Ms. Mack has sent out a press release as of Friday explaining more around that item. So I just wanted that on the record. Thank you.

OK. Ms. Prang, we have public comment.

Yes, Ms. Turner signed up for item number six, and this is a resolution pursuant to title three that the property described as 62 Franklin Heights 12 and 13 in the city of El Paso County, Texas, commonly known as 1318 Montana Avenue, is hereby exempt from any increase in the city's portion of the ad valorem taxes on the value of the improvement for a period of 10 years.

Good morning, good morning. Mayor Council and all the years that I've been coming to City Council. This is the first time I've seen anything like this, so I took some time to. Read the backup and everything. And then. You know I wasn't satisfied, so I went to Central Appraisal District. Because no name is mentioned in here. And. All the way back to 2023, there is no listing on the central appraisal district that anybody owns his property or that it even exists. There's nothing there. Even if names are being hidden, the property is listed. There is nothing listed on the central appraisal district. And since nothing is listed, how can you be doing this? There is no physical description. the central appraisal district for this property at 1318 montana that's my problem with this i took the time to look it up it's not there 2023 through 2027 it does not exist so how can you give money away to something that doesn't exist that's my question So if y'all need to postpone this so you can figure out what's going on, I think that would be a good idea because right now it doesn't exist. There is no record on the central appraisal district that this property actually exists. I have seen pictures in the backup, but is that 1318 Montana or someplace out on wrestler or someplace in South El Paso or somewhere else or sunset Heights? That's the question. Does it exist? Who owns it? Who are you giving these benefits to? So my suggestion is you postpone this until you can let the people in this city know what you're doing. Thank you.

Represent Canales.

Thank you. I just searched on El Paso Central appraisal district. It shows 1318 Montana El Paso Texas 7 and I know to property ID 2, 3, 5, 7, 2, 6 owned by Elizabeth AP mental and it has a homestead exemption.

When I researched it last night there was nothing there between 2023 and 2027.

Showing it on all of those years, you know how many times to come up here and you. No, no, I'm not saying you're lying. I think it may have been an error with the search or something, but.

OK. We have a more public comment on the consent agenda, Mr. Mayor?

No, sir, that's it.

OK. Representative Limon.

Mayor, so I'm curious about item number three, which originally I had planned to pull, but it's been deleted. It's been deleted. So what is the status of this item? What's going to happen next?

OK, yeah, the item is deleted.

Point of order. Has the council voted to delete the item? No. I think it's a proposed revision. OK. But I think in order to discuss it, it needs to be moved to the regular agenda.

I'd like to move item number three to the regular agenda.

OK, there's a motion to move item number three to the regular agenda. Is there a second? Second. OK, Ms. Pryor?

There's a motion made by Representative Limon, seconded by Representative Acevedo, and this is to move item three to the regular agenda. I'm preparing the motion. On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session. And that motion passes 5-2. Representatives Chavez Acevedo, Nino Limon, Canales voting aye. Representative Rocha Fierro voting nay. The motion does pass.

OK. Representative Limon, I still see you. OK. OK. All right, Ms. Prime, since there's no further comment on the consent agenda, if we have a motion and a second.

Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded by Representative Rocha, and this is to approve the consent agenda as revised. On that motion, call for the vote. And the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously.

Okay, the stick item number 3 from page 3 from the consent.

Yes, Sir item 3 is a resolution requesting that director of purchasing a strategic sourcing is authorized to notify West our bank holding company Inc and subsidiaries TVA with start title LLC that the city is terminating contract 2024 dash 0 0 9 5 are title services for default pursuant to the provisions and requirements of attribute 21 article 8 section B of the contract.

Good morning.

Good morning, Claudia Garcia with Purchasing and Strategic Sourcing Department. So as noted in the revisions, we're requested to delete this item from the consent agenda. So this item, it is in coordination with the real estate, the contract administrator of this contract. So I'm happy to respond here.

OK. Representative Lamar. Thank you.

Claudia, when I read this the previous time and then when we met again, The item on the agenda sounds pretty straightforward. There were violations and the recommendation of the city was to, so that they'd be disqualified from entering into any contract with the city for a period of three years for default and unsatisfactory performance. Okay, so it's been on our agenda twice and so today, it's being deleted again. What action has taken in this case?

So when we posted the original item, we were contacted by the parent company of West Heart Bank Holding, and then they contracted us with West Heart Title, a subsidiary of the parent company. So when the item was posted for the original recommendation, we got a call from West Heart Bank, to meet with us to address because they weren't aware of the deficiencies so we met with them we coordinated and we got into an agreement that they were going to fix the deficiencies that they were not aware of so we provided that opportunity they provided a corrective action plan implemented that plan and that's why this item it is being deleted as it was postponed from the original agenda

Ms. Cody, did you wish to add this?

Nicole Cody, city manager's office. I just wanted to add that we offer this process to any contractor or company that we have a contract with. It is what we call our cure process. And so we had not entered into this process with the title company, even though we had escalated it internally with the contract administrator for Westar Title.

It seems to me, though, that Westar title is the one that was in default. Is that correct? But it wasn't until Westar Bank came out and wanted to plead or go into a cure process that it came back to the table. Is that correct? It was because of Westar Bank?

Yes, they were the ones contacting us wanting to cure the deficiencies that was our title had in at the moment.

And is that common that a cure process would not come forth until it's already on the agenda? I know I've been through some of those before, especially when we're doing the but all of that was discussed and brought forth before it came to council. Once it comes to council, it sounds to me like we would be taking a vote on it. And then it came on, postponed. Now it's on here, delete. I'm not sure that's correct, but leave it up to you.

So we had a variance in how we are typically proceeding with these cases, and you are correct. A cure process should have been done before. Communication was a little deficient between Western Title and the parent company because they didn't get notification of the deficiencies that we have notified.

And there were several deficiencies, right? There were several violations, we could say? Correct. So, okay, thank you. I cannot support this. Thank you very much.

Representative Acevedo. Thank you, Mayor. I think what's also kind of added to the confusion here is that it doesn't really say what happened. There's deficiencies, there's something that they reached out, cure process, but We're not really addressing what what happened and and I think this has kind of led to more people asking questions because we're not giving the best answers and I remember at least one other time that we were in this position and The PowerPoint the backup didn't say anything. It kind of just said the losses we could do this So we're doing this right and so I would just ask for any future items if we could actually have a narrative of of what is happening so we could see it at council when we're reviewing the agenda to have an understanding of what's going on here. Okay, thank you.

Representative Fierro.

Thank you. This is not unusual. I've seen it happen with the airport in regards to security contract where it was a long drawn out process and there was a plan shared with them they they worked it. It didn't happen it came back from the agenda then we address it then we had had we address any type of improvement plan with with this firm before.

Not to my knowledge and it is my understanding that this is the first time that we have those issues.

So we're not talking about an unusual process or or or a way of doing business.

Allowing them to cure it is one of the options that we will offer to the vendors to every vendor and any vendor.

Yeah, thank you represent canals.

Thank you, Mayor, just so that everybody has the same information. The city put out, as said, a press release. When was this? On the 26th, a few days ago, last week. I think it's a few sentences long. I'm going to read it so that people can hear it, so that we all have the same information. The city of El Paso confirms that Westar Bank Holding Company Inc. and subsidiaries DBA Westar Title LLC has satisfactorily addressed concerns related to its title services contract and is in good standing with the city. The city found that Westar had taken actions on the city's behalf that required prior authorization. Because of those concerns, city staff initially recommended ending the contract and preventing Westar from competing for city contracts for three years. Westar subsequently worked with city staff to address the concerns and submitted an action plan to correct performance deficiencies. Following its review, the city determined that Westar's plan adequately establishes clear mechanisms and processes to perform title services in accordance with its contract. and also clearer expectations moving forward. As a result, the city will not pursue the proposed termination or disqualification. Westar remains in good standing, and its title services contract with the city remains in effect. I think that's a pretty adequate explanation of what happened. So I just thought it's good to have that on the record. Thank you, Mayor.

All right, Ms. Brown, we have a motion and a second on item 3. There is not a motion. Oh, is there a motion on item 3 to? Move to delete. Move to delete. Yeah. Second. Motion and second, Ms. Brown.

There's a motion made of where we do have miss Osmond that signed up to speak on this item okay miss Osmond go ahead, man, you have 3 minutes.

According to Mister Seattle. I get to think they cannot expect that or if he's getting usual practice is to let crime be covered up narrative can't have that because then otherwise you can't cover it up. I'm going to remind this council, I'm going to remind our city attorney and our city manager of Texas Penal Code Section 3710, tampering with government documents. That's a criminal offense. Texas Penal Code Section 3902, abuse of official capacity. Just because Rick Francis, head of Westar Bank, I know I've been in his home, made a call and donate to our city council members doesn't mean he should get special treatment. I would expect that our city attorney nurse as a officer of the court has actually already contacted the Texas public, the Texas Rangers public integrity unit to report these crimes these are city documents and act per the agenda item lines three and four due to contractors violation of a law violation of government documents those are penal code law And for anybody aware of this, not to make a phone call, not to EPPV who doesn't have jurisdiction, the Texas Rangers to report this or should I? So that they could come in just like HUD did and start going through everything because Lord knows I have enough documents to prove corruption within the city. But this is a blatant example of it. Those are, it states violation of laws. I read you the penal code. Anybody who doesn't make in the city government a phone call to the Texas Rangers and report this crime, the city has employees and those at the title company. You are also an accessory to that crime. I will make sure of it. I will make sure I file a report so they look into it if our city officials will not. And I like Ginger. She's a wonderful woman. Rick, on the other hand, his dad was a corrupt mayor. Thank you, Ms. Hussman.

You've reached the three minutes, Mayor. That concludes public comment on this item.

All right, Ms. Prine, call for the vote to delete item three.

Yes, sir, and the motion was made by Representative Malonado Rocha, seconded by Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Fierro. On that motion, call for the vote. In the voting session, and that motion passes five to three. Representatives Chavez, Rocha, Nino, Fierro, Canales voting aye. Representatives Acevedo, Limon voting nay. The motion does carry.

Okay, that brings us to the first reading of the ordinances.

Yes, sir. These are items 14 to 18.

Is there a motion? Okay. Is there a second?

Second.

Okay.

There's a motion made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded by Representative Madonado-Rocha, and this is to introduce the ordinances items 14 through 18 on that motion. Call for the vote. In the voting session and that motion passes unanimously representative it or not president.

King miss prime sick item number 19 place.

Yes, Sir item number 19 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning from see to SP commercial special permit to see for SP commercial special permit. This is at 6375 Montana Avenue represent Rocha.

Their second.

Okay. Good morning Mayor and City Council. Good morning. Luis Zamora with Planning and Inspections. Item 19 it's a rezoning request for property located at 6375 Montana Avenue. So here you can see the aerial. This is a portion of the existing property. The existing parcel so everything that's on yellow is what's going through the rezoning only. It's against an existing shopping center. Here you can see it is zone C2 while the rest of the property is zone C4. They're all commercial zoning districts. Future land use map designates the area as G7 industrial and rail yards, which is appropriate for the rezoning Here you can see the conceptual map. I mean, probably not gonna deviate much from what's existing. So again, only the portion in yellow, highlighted in yellow, is being re-zoned. And this will be to serve as a cleanup to make sure that the entire property is under the same C4 zoning district. Here's a picture from the property looking from the, towards the east. And here you can see existing development around it. We have single family homes to the north across airport. We have a car wash to the south and on the same block on the property. You have this shopping center, which is part of the property, right? Again, we're only resuming a portion of that existing property. And then we have more commercial to the west. So property, well, the city staff, well, the applicant notified the appropriate neighborhood associations of this request. Staff sent property public notice to property owners weighing 200 feet back in June 4th. And at this time, we have received only three calls of inquiry of the request, as well as one call in support of this resounding request.

here you can see the notice map so you can just to adopt the ordinance on item 19 there's no public comment on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and that motion passes unanimously thank you okay let's take item number 20 please Item 20 is a public hearing of an ordinance vacating a 10-foot utility Eastman at 12462 Paseo Lago Drive.

Representative Fierro?

Second. Okay.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. This is Mel Segovia, Planning Inspections. So this is item number 20, or... 20. 20. Okay, because council, sorry. Item number 20, and it is second reading for a vacation of a 10-foot utility easement located at 12462 Paseo Lago. Here's the aerial of the site. And what's in red is the location of the proposed easement vacation. And this is to address an encroachment of a patio that was developed in the dedicated area. The utility easements or the utility companies have been reached out to. and they are in favor of the vacation. This request was heard at Planning Commission back on May 21st and unanimous recommendation was made. So here's the aerial. Thank you. The area in the red rectangle up top is the location. Here is the picture of the encroachment in the 10-foot utility easement. And again, staff recommends approval of the vacation. And CPC also voted unanimously.

TODD BANDUCCI- Very good. Any questions? OK, Mr. Bryan, call for the vote on item 20.

Yes, the motion was made by Alternative Mayor Pro Tem Pedro, seconded by Representative Chavez, and this is to adopt the ordinance on item 20. There's no public comment on that motion. Call for the vote. And the voting session and that motion passes 5 to 1 representative us of it are not present representative Limon voting made the remainder of Council voting. I think the second number 21. Yes, sir. Item 21 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending Title III, Revenue and Finance, Chapter 3.12, Hotel Room Tax, by amending Section 3.12.010 definitions to include short-term rentals, amending Section 3.12.030, collection of tax to provide for the collection and remittance of the hotel occupancy tax on short-term rentals, and amending Section 3.12.031, collection of additional tax-approved venue project to conform the collection OF THE ADDITIONAL REVENUE PROJECT TAX.

GOOD MORNING, MARGARITA.

GOOD MORNING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. AGAIN, THIS IS A SHORT-TERM RENTAL ORDINANCE AMENDMENT, AND TODAY WE'RE GOING TO BE DISCUSSING THE FOLLOWING. SO IN OUR PRESENTATION AGENDA, WE HAVE THE SUMMARY OF THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION, THE AMENDMENTS TO THE SECTION THAT MS. LAURA PRYNE JUST READ ABOUT, Then Laura Cruz Acosta is going to come in and talk about the public education outreach. A short reminder of the uses of the hotel occupancy tax proceeds. And finally, the requested cancel action. It's a brief summary on June 9 2026 the city Council pass a resolution authorizing the city manager to start collecting the hot tax proceeds no earlier than 90 days and no later than a 180 days from the date of the resolution on August 18 there was the first reading of the ordinance that also passed so today we're bringing forward the second reading of this ordinance and the amendments are as found. So the first amendment is to Section 312.010, and here we're just going to amend the definitions, and the first definition is the hotel. So we're adding the short-term rental definition within the hotel spectrum to be able to apply the hotel occupancy tax rules to the short-term rentals. The second definition that we're adding is the short rental operators to define the owners of the short-term rentals. And then the definition of the short rental platform is the person or company or legal entity that facilitates the rentals. The next amendment is to section 312.030, and this is the actual collection of the tax. Here, the city council authorizes the city manager to proceed with any agreements as necessary with the platforms. to start collecting the tax. The amendment to section 312.031 for the additional tax or the venue project, also to clarify that whoever collects the tax on behalf of the city is also mandated to collect the 2% that is dedicated to the venue project, the 2%. Now I'll pass it to Laura for the public outreach.

Good morning, Laura.

Good morning, y'all. I'm short, if you don't know. All right. So with this, one of the things that we'll be doing is working with the short-term rental with the agencies themselves, making sure that they understand the process in order to put in the necessary payments that they need to put in. And so we'll be working to explain that portion of it. And also through this, we'll also be working to update the website. We'll be working on FAQs, key dates, payments, instructions, that they can follow through. We'll be developing social media posts as well as a formal press release in order to announce when we're fully able to go through that process. We will be working, as I mentioned, with the booking platforms and we'll also be working with Destination El Paso because they do work with them fairly regularly for any kind of concert events and programs that they have here. as well as our local real estate agencies, organizations, and building out any kind of collateral for your all's newsletters, as well as our social media components in order to make sure that folks understand it both in English and in Spanish. And with that, I'll hand it back to Ms. Margarita.

Thank you, Laura. So two reminders of the uses of the hotel occupancy tax proceeds. So again, this is a dedicated source of revenue. This is not a general fund revenue. And the 7% will continue to fund and support the auditorium and convention center, as well as the repayment of related debt, and also support the main function with this tourism promotion and advertisement. And the 2%, as I said before, it's going to be used to fund the venue project, so it will continue to go towards that. I also want to remind you all that the tax being charged here is not a tax that is going to be paid by the short-term rental owners. It's a tax that is passed through the user of those rental properties. It's a user fee. And then the state of Texas is already collecting in the city of El Paso for the short rental. Again, the cancel action that we want to... that we want today is for the council to approve the proposed ordinance amend in title 3 revenue and finance chapter 3, 12 hotel room tax of El Paso City Code by amending section 3.12.010, 3.12.030, and 3.12.031 to include short-term rentals language to allow for the proper collection of the hotel occupancy taxes generated by the short-term rentals. Any questions?

Yeah, thank you, Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Margarita. I think this is great for our community to ensure that we're equitable between hotels, short-term rentals, and all spaces that people can have access to. But I wanted to just touch base quickly on our audits. I know that you're not the city auditor, but I just want to put on the record that these will also be audited as all other hotels are in our community. I'm assuming the short-term rental tax that we collect.

I will pass it to the auditor.

Thank you, Adrian.

Morning Council. Adrian Serrano, Chief Internal Auditor. Yes, that's correct. We will perform audits in the first year of implementation, though. It's not going to be similar to what we see with the hotels, though. It's going to be a little bit different.

Okay. Well, we look forward to that. Thank you.

Thank you both.

Okay. Representative Limon.

Thank you, Mayor. Margarita, on slide nine, if you could go back to it. I need some clarification. It says funding supports the auditorium. What auditorium?

It's just how the law is written. So for us, it's just the convention center. But this is just how the law reads.

OK. And what about the venue?

The venue refers to the ballpark project. CHRISTIE WOODARD- Thank you.

I forgot. Thank you. CHRISTIE WOODARD- Representative Acevedo?

I had the same questions, Representative .

CHRISTIE WOODARD- Representative Limon? No, I'm sorry. CHRISTIE WOODARD- OK. Any further questions for Margarita? OK. Ms. Prine, call for the vote on item 21, please.

Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded by alternate Mayor Pro Tem Fierro. And this is to adopt the ordinance on item 21. There is no public comment on that motion. Call for the vote. End the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously.

OK. Ms. Pryor, now would be a good time to convene the Mass Transit Board meeting.

Yes, council. Is there a motion to recess? So moved. 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 11.35 a.m. in order to conduct the Mass Transit Department Board.

Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso Mass Transit Department Board for Tuesday, September 1st. It is 11.35 a.m. Present and presiding is Board Chair Johnson, also present in Council Chambers are Board Members Chavez, Acevedo, Maldonado-Rocha, Nino, Fierro, Limon, and Canales. Board Member Boyar-Trejo has requested to be excused. And we do have one member of the public signed up to speak on public comment, and that's Miss Patricia. Osmond, and her topic is issues with transit service and the app.

Okay.

Ms. Osmond, start six, please, to unmute your microphone. Go ahead, ma'am. You have three minutes.

So I'm sure most of you have never ridden the bus other than for a PR stunt on the trot. What? I unfortunately had to because I caught a flat on my e-bike. And I realized the app does not work. For the most part, you can pull it up. You can buy a ticket. But if you want to look for a route, utterly useless. So whoever you are paying to create that, or if it's some IT, in-house IT, is not properly maintaining that app, okay? Also, if we are going to be a bike city, you might want to let your bus drivers know because while it's on the bus, on Montana and other streets, some of these bus drivers were less than a car length away from people on bicycles on the road. In the fact that just recently we had two bus accidents doesn't surprise me at all. The fact that a lot of your bus drivers, one, very few are very helpful. The information, a lot of your, I realize that, honestly, I haven't taken the bus since I was a teenager, almost 40 years, right? At least more than 40 years. And it just surprised me how bad it is because I've been on the T in Boston, taking subway in Washington, in New York, San Diego. I mean, the transit system in California, great. Up and down the coast on either the tram or by bus, wonderful. you can use all of their apps in fact i still have the boston app for the boston key for their metro if or subway if you don't know what that is on my phone and this is the thing is that we spend a lot of money in mass transit in the very aspect that y'all have gone from you know There's hardly any information. It's all electronic at your little stations. And you make people rely on this app that it is incorrect. You cannot get your bus routes right is really appalling. But it's another example of how you don't care about the least of us. As long as those people putting donations in your discretionary fund, in your campaigns, do that. so that you can hand out contracts. That's it.

Thank you, Ms. Osmond.

I believe that brings us to the consent agenda.

All matters listed under the consent agenda will be considered by Mass Transit Department Board to be routine and will be enacted by one motion unless separate discussion is requested by board 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 separate discussion, the item has been approved. The Mass Transit Department Board may, however, reconsider any item at any time during the meeting. And that would be items one, and then two to include the excusal of board member Boyar-Trejo, items three and four. OK. OK, there's a motion.

Is there a second?

Second.

OK. So yes.

We have a motion made by board member Limon, seconded by board member Canales. And that's to approve the consent agenda. Voting session is open. And the item, the consent agenda has been approved unanimously.

Okay, let's take regular agenda item number five.

Yes, sir. Item number five is discussion in action that the Director of Purchasing and Strategic Sourcing be authorized to issue a purchase order for solicitation 20260254, Jan Fair Ticket Vending Machines, Fairbox Parts to Jan Fair LLC, the sole stores of Jan Fair Ticket Vending Machine parts for a term of three years for an estimated amount of $225,000. Okay. Move to approve. Second.

There's a motion and a second. Any questions? Okay, Ms. Nunez.

There is a motion made by Board Member Limon, seconded by Board Member Canales, and this is to approve item number five. Voting session is open. Voting session is closed, and the item has been approved unanimously.

Okay, let's take the next item.

Item number six is discussion in action. on a resolution to submit an application to the El Paso Metropolitan Organization for the fiscal year 2026-2027, Federal Transit Administration, Section 5310, Enhanced Mobility for Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities grant program in the amount of $212,800 per year with a total of $425,600 for both fiscal years 2026 and 2027, and it does require a match of $53,200 per year with a total of $106,400 for both fiscal years. Move to approve.

Second. Okay, there's a motion and a second. Any questions on this particular item? Sure. Do you have a presentation on this item? Okay.

IT, we're on item six.

Good afternoon, Chair DeMuro, Deputy Transit Officer, Sun Metro. So what we are requesting of council today is, why won't this move? is to submit a grant application for our paratransit software. So as you know, we operate our paratransit service, the Lyft, to serve the ADA community on curb-to-curb services. In 2025, we took over 224,000 trips. And the software is really important to us to be able to make sure people get to where they go. One of the most important things about the software is that it allows us to optimize the operation so that it's very efficient. So that if we have two people going to the same location, for example, or a location in the vicinity of another location, the software will automatically aggregate those trips for us so that we don't have to manually do it.

We have a hot mic. If you're in Teams, please make sure you're muted. Did you restart your computer? I have a hot mic. Thank you. Sorry, Jerry. Go ahead.

It's OK. So it allows us to aggregate the trips so that we're more efficient in dispatching and that we can get people where they need to go on time. So we're applying again this year for a grant through the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization. It's an FTA grant under Fund 5310, which is a fund allocated for ADA type of issues. Our grant request is $212,000 per year for a total of $425,600 for a period of two years. And it does have a local match of $53,200 for a total match of $106,400. We'll be submitting the grant with your approval on October 2nd.

Very good. Any questions for Jerry? OK. Thank you for the presentation. Ms. Nunez?

And we do have a motion made by Board Member Limon, seconded by Board Member Canales. And this is to approve item six. Voting session is open. Voting session is closed, and the item has been approved unanimously.

OK. Let's take item seven.

Item seven is discussion in action, also on a resolution to submit an application to the Federal Transit Administration for fiscal year 2026, low or no emission grant program in the amount of $5,555,000, and it requires a local match of $1,388,750. All right, back up. Is there a motion?

Move to approve. Second. OK, there's a motion to second. Jerry, can we see the presentation? Sure.

So this is a presentation for the application for the FY26 low no-no admission grant program. Since 2022 we've been applying for this program. In 2022 we were successfully awarded this type of grant for the acquisition of electric vehicles and installation of charging systems which were put online for the lift system just this past year. We followed that up with a successful award in 2024 for 32 CNG buses which will be delivered next year and canopies for the area of the yard that is currently not covered by canopies. This year we've made a decision to pursue the same grant, but this time to actually replace our fuel compressor stations. So for fueling of all of our buses, which are all CNG-fueled, the gas is actually piped into the Transit Operations Center, and it goes to a series of compressors, which are located just behind the fueling area of the Transit Operations Center. It's compressed, transported to our pumps, and then pumped into the bus. Those compressors were put in around 2012 to 2014, somewhere in that timeframe. They're aging, they're giving us some difficulties at times, making it difficult for us to fuel our buses. So far, we've had no issues with not being able to fuel buses, but to avoid that, we're gonna go ahead and look for money to try to replace the compressors. The total grant we are requesting is $5.5 million. It does have a local match of 1.3 million. and we are requesting transportation development credits to offset that match. And so the recommendation is to authorize us to submit the grant and allocate the matching funds accordingly.

Okay, very good. Representative Limon.

Anthony Kaiser, Director for Public Transportation, Sun Metro. Good morning, Mayor and City Council. Hey, these grants are a big deal. When we get these grants, then we don't have to spend our money. Yeah, we have to have the match. So we have to be ready for that. Sometimes the match is a million or more. But we're spending that money instead of spending our local money, our local taxpayer money. And so whenever we can find initiatives, we need to do that. This one, the first one we got, the one for the buses, changed our financial trajectory. It changed it because it was $30 million. But every dollar counts, so we have to keep looking for new ways to tap into the money. So when they approve these, you can't be the winner every year for everything because there's many, many agencies out there. So we got to be... Yes, very strategic and think about how we're going to get the grants in the future. So we'll go buses this time, we'll go canopies, then we'll go this. But we always have to fit into things. But we can keep getting them. It changes the trajectory. So for this particular thing, when our pumps go down, we have to fuel at Fred Wilson. But Fred Wilson's, the pumps aren't made to pump out that much gas that fast. And so what happens is we pump CNG all night and all morning trying to get enough buses out. And so the life cycle of this, these pumps, right, it's only about 50%, but for some reason we're having more problems, so we need to turn it electric and have backups so we don't have problems. But again, this is so operations continue to go. This is so we're financially responsible and so the taxpayers don't have to spend money here because we make sure that we're doing our due diligence to make sure that happens. Thank you for listening.

Very good. Representative Lamont.

Thank you, Anthony, for that. I just did want to ask you, Jerry, on the second grant, when is the deadline for submission?

September, I believe it was on the slide. OK, very well. It's September 20.

This is very good, because on the first one, it was in October, which means you're always prepared in advance. You do the legwork, and then you submit your grants way in advance, gives us the opportunity to look at them. Very happy to support both of you.

Yeah, we try to make sure we identify opportunities to seek grant funding for well in advance of pursuing the grant so that when the opportunity comes up, we're ready to go.

Very good. Any other comments or questions? All right, Ms. Nunez.

And there is a motion made by Board Member Limon, seconded by Board Member Nino, and this is to approve item number seven. Voting session is open. Voting session is closed, and the item has been approved unanimously. Is there a motion to adjourn? All those in favor? Aye. Anyone opposed? And the Mass Transit Department board meeting for September 1st is adjourned at 11.51 a.m. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Bryan?

Is there a motion to reconvene? 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 11.51 a.m.

Okay, Ms. Bryan, I believe that brings us to item number 22.

Item 22 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the use of District 7 discretionary funds in an amount of $1,000 to support the University of Texas at El Paso Latino Arts Now Conference.

Mayor, is there a motion?

Mayor, if I could, before I do that, is it possible to include 23, 24, and 25? They're all submitted by my office. They're all discretionary fund items.

Council, do you want to take them individually or all at once?

Is there a second? So I make a motion that we read them all at once. OK. To approve all of them? Yes.

And item 23 is discussion in action on a resolution authorizing the use of District 7 discretionary funds in an amount of $400 to support the Mission Valley Community Fair. Item 24 is a resolution authorizing the use of District 7 discretionary funds in an amount of $1,000 to support the She Builds program. And item 25 is a resolution authorizing the use of District 7 discretionary funds in an amount of $1,750 to support two tables at the business one-stop shop Boss A Star is Born event.

Okay. Is there a motion to approve these?

I made a motion. And he's sick.

Okay. Representative Lamont.

No, thank you, Mayor. Thank you for the opportunity to bring these items forth. It's taken us a while to really get through with our discretionary money, and I'm very happy to support all four of these events. There's really wide community events that are not just for District 7, but that also support. Very happy to support the One Stop Shop incredible program and then the Rebuilding Together the Sheet Builds program. Thank you, Mayor.

Representative Rocha?

Thank you so much, Mayor. And I agree, these are very worthy opportunities to support the community at large. However, I do want to note that since I supported the adopted budget, I do feel that it's very important for me to commit to maintain that fiscal responsibility on my end. So I'm going to respectfully decline to support these funding requests.

OK. Thank you. Any other comments or questions on this one? OK. Ms. Bryan?

The motion was made by Representative Limon, seconded by Representative Acevedo. And this is to approve the resolutions on item 22, 23, 24, and 25. On that motion, call for the vote. In the voting session. The motion passes 3 to 2. Representatives Acevedo, Limon, Canales voting aye. Representatives Chavez, Maldonado, Rocha voting nay. Representatives Niño and Fierro not present.

OK. Brings us to item number 26.

Item 26 is discussion and action on a resolution to accept the recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to approve the renaming of Lincoln Park, located at 4001 Durazno Avenue, El Paso, Texas, 79905, to Lincoln Park, El Paso's Chicano Park.

Representative Acevedo. Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve. OK. Representative Acevedo.

So this has been a long time coming since I've been in office and even prior to me being in office the community has been calling Lincoln Park Chicano Park and there have been many people that have used the park as we know it has a lot of rich culture a lot of rich history at the park and As we've been having different discussions throughout my time in office, we were kind of saying, how can we make this secondary name official primary name for many people? And so our Lincoln Park Conservation Committee has done an outstanding job for many, many years at the park, whether it's cleaning it up, hosting events, Lincoln Park Day, stealing your thunder, will be on September 20. I'm sure we're going to hear a little bit more, there's beautiful murals there and a lot of love for this park. So the proposal before us, which was approved unanimously by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board is, to change the name from Lincoln Park to Lincoln Park, El Paso's Chicano Park. And a lot of that history is also rooted with what I see as, and many in the community see as the sister park in San Diego Chicano Park. So this will bring both parks together with the same name, but still preserving the name that has been there. ALL THIS TIME. SO I ASK FOR EVERYONE'S SUPPORT ON THIS, AND HOPEFULLY WE COULD, IF THIS DOES PASS, THEN WE COULD HAVE THE NAME READY IN TIME FOR THIS YEAR'S LINCOLN PARK DAY. SO I'LL LEAVE IT THERE.

Thank you, Mayor. I fully support this. I've had the opportunity to work with Hector and Gabriel, our master muralist in the city. This is a beautiful, beautiful park. We have so many people that come out. We can see this park on commercials all over the city, and I am just extremely proud. I've had the opportunity to visit Chicano Park in San Diego. I tell you what, our very own Lincoln Chicano Park is so much more beautiful, more beautiful murals, well-maintained, clean. My hat off to Parks and Recreation for keeping it like that. And Masi is happy to share that name on Ligon Park and the new property. Thank you.

Representative Kanellis.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm very supportive of a change. I just wanted to raise an issue because I received an email this morning from a community group that wasn't aware that this change was happening. There was some indication that they feel it is not a Chicano group and there was a concern shared that the name is not reflective of everybody in the community who uses the park and who has historically used the park and lived in the neighborhood. They have asked for a two-week postponement of this because they want to understand what is being proposed and the change. I understand that folks are here from the community today and so I'm not sure what the council desires to do, but I just wanted to raise that potential concern. They said they weren't aware of the petition, they weren't aware of the process, or that this had gone to an advisory committee. AND THEY WANTED TO KNOW HOW THEY COULD HAVE BEEN MADE AWARE OF THAT IF THERE WAS SOME WAY THAT THEY COULD HAVE SEEN THAT IN ADVANCE.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. REPRESENTATIVE FIERRO.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. I RECEIVED AN E-MAIL ALSO OR E-MAILS FROM A DIFFERENT GROUP, I'M SURE, BUT THIS IS FROM THE EAST SIDE. MS. MACK, WHAT IS THE PROCESS TO CHANGE THE NAME? THANK YOU. I guess my question is twofold. Is there a process? Was it? I'm sorry.

There was a process.

Oh, no, no.

I thought Ms. Limon was talking. My question is, is there a process? Was it followed? And can you please describe it if there is?

Yeah, good afternoon. Pablo Caballero, Parks and Recreation, for the record. Yeah, there's a process, and they went through the process. They have to fill out an application. In this case, it went to District 2's office, and then they send the application to us. We have to review the application. In this case, there's no deleting the past name. It's Lincoln Park. then after el paso chicano park and then they are requesting we are requesting like 50 signatures across the park they got it we reviewed it and then we followed the process they went to the parks board and then they presented uh park board uh it's recommending the the name and i believe representative canales said it passed unanimously

Yes, okay, thank you okay represent Chavez.

Thank you mayor and thank you probably for the explanation. I'm happy to support this item as well, but I do want to recognize the fact that I also received some emails this morning, I'm not sure why they were directed at me specifically, but just to recognize the fact that this particular person for example said that although that 59 people signed the petition to change the name of the park. That's probably fewer than the number of people that visit the park on any given day. Again, I know it's very hard sometimes for us to communicate everything that we're doing as a city, although we try our best. Sometimes that information, for one reason or another, does not reach everybody that probably would have liked to have been notified. But we do have a process, and I'm glad it was followed. They are requesting a two-week postponement. Maybe they just need a little bit more clarity. This isn't my district and I don't know how the council wants to proceed, but I just wanted to recognize that I also received that information.

Okay. Representative Acevedo.

I'd also like to recognize that I received an email from Bertha Ontiveros this morning, and both my office and myself have sent her two emails within the last hour, kind of clarifying what happened here. So I would like to read what I wrote to Ms. Ontiveros. Thank you for reaching out. This name change has been something that many park users have wanted for several years. For a long time, many people have been calling Lincoln Park Chicano Park. As you know, there is a lot of rich history at this park. That history connects this park to San Diego's Chicano Park, which you can learn more about here, which I linked their website. The proposed name change honors that rich history, culture, and renames the park to Lincoln Park, El Paso's Chicano Park. So it preserves the park's longstanding name and denotes it as El Paso's Chicano Park. This effort has been community driven and led by the Lincoln Park Conservation Committee, a group that has been dedicated to preserving the park for decades. The change was before the Parks Advisory Board and it passed unanimously. Having this item today will allow for the change to take effect for the annual Lincoln Park Day, which is happening on Sunday, September 20th at the park. I hope this clarifies. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Best, Josh Acevedo. So that was sent out at 1121 a.m. So about 41 minutes ago. Hector, I want to bring you to the microphone and give you some of my time to kind of further explain why it's important that.

Representative, we'll take all public. He signed up for public comment.

I know he signed up for public comment, but I want to give him some of my time. I still have eight minutes and 21 seconds. So I want to give him some of my time so he could explain a little bit more on.

Hector, I'm going to give you plenty of time. I promise you that.

well i i think i want to have that conversation with him mr prine i could do that can i we'll go ahead come on up hector i was going to give you plenty of time at the end to talk all about the great yeah i think it's just important for the context of the council members that have brought up the email to really explain this part because i know you probably prepared some remarks but if you could say why it's important that we don't postpone this today i would appreciate that because we want those signs up for the the 20th

My name is Hector Gonzalez with the Lincoln Park Conservation Committee. We've been working to preserve the park, maintain the murals, maintain the history, save the building, save the Lincoln Park School. So we've been doing this for about 25 years now. So it's not something new. The adding of the name of the park has been an effort that's been ongoing for more than three years. So it's not something that just came about recently. Some of the emails, I've read these. These were on the El Paso Times page. So I don't know if they were directed directly to you all or just in general to the El Paso Times. But the emails, there's some misinformation. It states that there was 59 people that signed the petition. Yes, there was 59 people that were certified that live directly adjacent to the park that signed in favor of it. But there are thousands, thousands of signatures that have been taken over the last three years at our events. And there's tens of thousands of people online that support the park and the name change. So the misconception that only 59 people are in favor of it is wrong. And that's one of the things I wanted to clarify. Also, I wanted to clarify that in no way, shape, or form have we ever asked to remove Lincoln Park from the name. We are very honored with the history. The school building itself was built in 1912, over 115 years ago. And when the building was opened, it was named in honor of the assassinated president. which had only been assassinated about 30 years before. So that was really some rich history inside the building that we're working on saving with the Mosse Group. It's a mural of Abraham Lincoln and his historic meetings with Benito Juarez, which is another key historical fact that brings El Paso, the Juarez region, together all the way back into the 1800s. So there's no way we... We wanted to change the name. The adding of the Chicano Park was, as Representative Acevedo stated, was to enhance our partnership with the Chicano Park Group in San Diego. Some of that has to do with our modern age. Nowadays, Google got a search. You search Chicano Park, San Diego, California pops up. We get left out. We lose out on tourism. We lose out on people visiting. We lose out. So by adding this name, We get thrown into the Google search, bam, they Google it, there's San Diego, there's El Paso. Now you got a choice and now you can compare, you get an idea of what's going on. So those are just some of the misconceptions that were in the media that we wanted to change the name. We have never changed the name, we're just adding to the name. And so we're here to just thank Representative Acevedo and his staff for guiding us through this process. Also, Representative Limon, Representative Rocha for lending their support when we appeared through the Parks Board. And again, that was a unanimous vote. And hopefully we're here and we can answer any questions you might have. And we can get this done in time for our annual event. which will again be a prime time to unveil the new signs and to present this to the community with five or six thousand people standing there in the park watching the whole thing happen.

And Hector, you're paying for the signs?

Yes, our group will be paying for the signs and the installation, whatever the cost is. We were told that there would be a cost. We haven't even been given a price. But we don't need the price. Whatever it takes, we're going to make it happen.

Okay. Thank you for that. And you could still do public comment when the mayor calls public comment.

That's fine. I mean, I'm just here to answer questions. We'll be available to answer any questions. Okay.

Thank you. And I just wanted to say, you know, I really appreciate Hector really bringing this up on economic development and how that contributes to our community. Hotel rooms get filled for many different events that happen throughout the park So that's really important and just to also harp on the process a little bit more It takes 50 signatures from people that live one mile from the park, the radius has to be a mile. So that was a challenge within itself, because we, like you were saying, you had thousands of signatures and that was community wide, but it had to be within that one mile radius. And I think you had to go out there about three more times to meet the 50 signatures. And so I appreciate the work that happened there. Then just to talk a little bit more about the media I think what was also misleading is that there was an El Paso Times headline that was published that said Linkin Park is getting renamed right and if you have a subscription you could actually read the article and Kind of see what was said in the article But if you don't and you're behind that paywall you are kind of thinking is it being completely renamed and it's really just a adding that signature line that has been within the community for many, many years. And so it preserves the name, want to be very clear, Lincoln Park, with a dash that says El Paso Chicano Park. So thank you for the time. I think I'm almost out of, so I'll leave it at that and appreciate all the work that the community put in for this name change.

Representative Lumon.

Thank you, Mayor. Hector, nothing is easy in this life, is it? Nothing. From 2006 with that flood, you as a firefighter were one of the people that helped rescue the people that were underwater and all of the area that took place at Saipan Park that later came to be. You were there when the demolition was scheduled to begin to demolish the Lincoln School. And I remember distinctly Council we were on council had an emergency meeting and we signed we requested a temporary restraining order Which is what saved Lincoln Park? I distinctly remember mayor Leeser was on his way to Washington DC He got to Dallas took flight and came right back and we were able to Stay strong with that and thanks to judge Spee's knee as well. I Thought this was going to be an easy process I never thought we'd get to this point today.

I

But Hector, you and the Conservation Committee have stood strong, strong in that area. And I am extremely happy to support this and to continue participating in all of your events at Lincoln Park. Thank you, Hector. Thank you.

Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor. Thanks, Hector. Thank you, Gabriel, for all the work that you all have done and the rest of the Conservation Committee. I was very happy to support the effort to add to the name. I think renaming is so, it just gives it a different understanding when we really are just adding to enhance what those of us that have been around and have taken part in several events, understand what the community really at large within not only the city of El Paso, but those that travel to come to El Paso for several of the events that are held at currently Lincoln Park. So I'm very happy to support the item today. And I just wanted to thank you for all the work that you all have done continuously, not only in this effort, but in everything that you do to maintain that park and its beauty. We really appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Ms. Prine, call for public comment, please.

We have Ms. Patricia Osmond that hasn't spoken on this yet. Ms. Osmond, star six, please. Go ahead, ma'am. You have three minutes.

i know miss limon mentioned chicago park in san diego and if you don't know where that is uh it is in the shadow of the coronado bridge on the mainland side i've been there yes our lincoln park is much larger i don't necessarily have a problem with the name change in fact i have attended lincoln days many a years running my daughter and i Broke down and restored a 67 Impala. And big thanks to many of the guys that attend the car shows at Lincoln Park and the car clubs here in town that helped us, you know, get the parts we needed. A lot of the vintage and classic car scenes is still alive because of lincoln park day and so i love that i do want to find out was the lincoln park neighborhood association contacted do they have the approval um i'm sure mr acevedo would be able to answer that and then also i was wondering will there also be the the brown highway sign uh are those costs going to be going to the contra uh the lincoln park conservation committee uh where do those costs come in uh or is it just like the local signage right on the park will there be any you know like i said like weiler aerial tramway would have those brown signs