Well, good morning everyone. We are going to get started. Uh, good morning council members. Good morning, El Paso. Miss Prime, I think we're ready. >> Good morning, mayor. And good morning everyone. Welcome to the presentation of the mayor's proclamations. We begin with a pledge of allegiance. And this morning to lead us in the pledge of allegiance we have the top teens of America at the invitation of city representative Ivan Nino. With us we have Yuri Henderson, Gina Williams, Jasmine Bailey, and Jaden Jackson. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. to Texas. [Applause] several different I just saw this one. [Applause] It happened. represent Nino. >> Yes, Mayor. Thank you. Um, a little bit about the Top Teens of America. They are an organization here in El Paso. We just recently celebrated their 10th year and they dedicate themselves to a lot of community service and uh, you know, they're great leaders. They are the future of our community and also with them is the top ladies of distinction which also have dedicated themselves to many years of public service. So, mayor, thank you for allowing me to invite them today. >> Absolutely. >> Miss Bryan. >> Yes, sir. That brings us to the mayor's proclamations. For those of you receiving a proclamation this morning, your group will have up to six minutes collectively to speak at the podium. The first proclamation is Americans with Disabilities Act 35th anniversary awareness and action day. And the proclamation reads, "Whereas on July 26th, 1990, President George HW Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, to ensure the civil rights of people with disabilities, promising equal opportunity and public accommodations, employment transportation government and telecommunications. And whereas generations of Americans and El Paso with disabilities have improved our community in countless ways, refusing to accept the world as it was, they have worked and continue to tear down the barriers that prohibit people from fully realizing the American dream. These past tireless efforts led to the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, one of the most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation in our nation's history. And whereas each day people living with disabilities make immeasurable contributions toward continuing the struggle toward full diversity and inclusion in our communities. Nearly one in every five Americans lives with a disability. And whereas they are our family members, friends neighbors colleagues business and civic leaders. Since the passing of the ADA, persons with disabilities are living fuller lives in a community with increased opportunity and access. And whereas the city of El Paso, Texas, affirms the principles of equality and inclusion for people with disabilities as set forth for the state of Texas and as embodied in the ADA and ordinances for the city of El Paso and will continue to work with local organizations and constituents to bring forth a promise of hope and freedom that was envisioned by the ADA as law. And whereas the ADA has expanded opportunities for Americans with disabilities by reducing barriers and changing perceptions and increasing full participation in community life. However, the full promise of the ATA will only be reached if we remain committed to continue our efforts towards its full implementation. And whereas numerous organizations in the city of El Paso and throughout the state of Texas work with constituents and communities to bring forth a promise of hope and freedom that is envisioned by the passage of the ADA. And whereas the city of El Paso strives to meet ADA compliance by ensuring that persons with disabilities have access to community-based services that allow people to lead full and independent lives in the communities of their choosing. And whereas on Jan July 26, 2025, the El Paso community will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act with a press conference and community gatherings. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that we recognize and celebrate the progress that the has been made by reaffirming the principles of equality and inclusion and recommitting our efforts to reach full ADA compliance and do hereby extend greetings and best wishes wishes to all observing. July 26, 2025 shall be known as the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act Day, signed by our honorable mayor, Bernard Johnson. >> Good morning. Good to see you guys again. Good to see you again. >> Good morning. First of all, um we would like to thank you for acknowledging the ADA and what the ADA has uh done for people with disabilities in our community. But we also want to reinforce the fact that there is more to be done that the ADA is just a jumping board for further inclusion um acceptance and awareness of um people with various disabilities and the needs of those with disabilities whether it be by age or by um by any any any means that we obtain our disability. Uh we just want to take this time to again thank you for acknowledging the ADA and the anniversary and uh working together with us to move forward and have El Paso be a more inclusive city. Thank you. >> Fantastic. [Applause] >> Um Um um like my friend was saying right now, I would like to thank um for the ADA because we have been coming a long way. Thanks uh for all the changes I have been doing. and I'm able to have a like normal life and I'm able to um um do normal stuff with my um son. I'm able to take him everywhere he needs to go to school, to the park. Um so yeah, I would like to thank you. Thank you guys. [Applause] Thank you all for recognizing the the anniversary of the ADA. We're um we we're happy to be here. Happy to to be here with all of you, the the new city council that's been here for a while, but this is my first time. Uh I want to just mention that the the ADA, there's still work to be done. Uh please keep in mind things like transportation, you know, keeping our transportation accessible and available. Uh also healthc care, uh this is something that is very important for us. Medicaid Medicare um housing, this is another area. So keep those in mind as they come up, issues come up and uh help to make independent living possible for everyone. Thank you. [Applause] >> We still got more time. Anyone else want to introduce themselves? Okay. >> Well, thank you guys so much u for all that you do. >> Yeah, we'll come back there, I think. But thank you guys again for all that you do and all the barriers that you break down and we will continue to to stand with you as your city and as you said to to start, there's more work to be done and we're going to get it done. So, thank you guys. [Applause] This will She's always Beautiful. All right. Right over here. Ready? One, two three. Good. All right. [Applause] Thank you. I'm sorry. I was looking for sand. >> Okay, Miss Bryant. >> Yes, sir. The next proclamation is Tender Care's five-star excellence day. And the proclamation reads, "Whereas the story of Tenderare home health and hospice began at the bedside of critically ill patients when Anne McDow, a master's prepared registered nurse, discovered her true calling, leading to the founding of Tender Care in 2006 in efforts to expand access to highquality compassionate homebased care across West Texas and southern New Mexico. And whereas today tender care stands as a regional leader in home health, hospice, palative care, advanced wound care, primary care at home and therapy services delivered with clinical excellence and heartfelt compassion. And whereas a tender care impact is made possibly by a deeply dedicated team whose mission and care have earned a trusted reputation and advanced its commitment to serving veterans in El Paso, the veterans capital of the United States. And whereas through partnership with the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Hospice and Palative Care Organization, Tenderare has earned its fifth star. This achievement is the highest designation in the National We Honor Veterans Program, becoming the only active agency in El Paso to currently hold this recognition. And whereas this distinction reflects years of meaningful work through vet veteran pinning ceremonies, vet-tovet cafes, and education, ensuring that those who served receive the honor, care, and dignity they deserve. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that April 28th, 2025 shall be known as Tender Care's star excellence day signed by our honorable mayor, Renard Johnson. Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is April Bransetter. I'm the director of Tenderare Hospice. I'm here with the entire Tenderare team. Um, I just want to say thank you for today. Um, Miss Nancy is our veteran liaison and I'm going to hand the mic over to her so she can explain every single little thing we do for our veterans. >> Thank you, April. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson. um our esteemed uh city representatives and our guests. Um my name is Nancy Peters and it is both my honor and my privilege to stand before you today as we celebrate a milestone that reflects the very best of our community's commitment to those who have served our great nation. On behalf of Tender Care Home Health and Hospice, I am proud to accept this proclamation and recognition for achieving the prestigious five-star we honor veterans status. This distinction makes us not only the only five-star hospice in El Paso, Texas, but places us among an elite handful of five-star we honor veterans across the entire state of Texas. As an Army veteran with 16 years of combined service both on active duty and the Army reserves, I never imagined my path would lead me here, serving now as a hospice social worker and caring for the very heroes I once stood beside. Having served as an Army medic, an Army social worker, and a drill instructor, I understand the sacred bond that we share with those that have worn the uniform of our country. When I joined Tender Care Hospice and discovered their unwavering commitment to serving our veteran community, I knew I had found my calling. This wasn't a job. It was a continuation of my service to country and my comrades. Every day, we ask our patients a simple question, but a profound question. Did you serve? When they answer yes, we ask our hospice caregivers and they embark on a journey of honor and remembrance with our patients. We begin to learn more about their military service, their sacrifices, and their military stories. Sometimes their conversations unlock memories, both cherished and painful, but they always remind us that we are caring for America's heroes in their most vulnerable moments. To help prep prepare our staff in caring for our veteran patients, they must first understand the unique culture and special needs of our veteran population. That's why we provide specialized training to every team member from recognizing military trauma to understanding the brotherhood um forged in service. At Tenderare Hospice, in order to honor our veteran patients with the with the care they deserve, our staff must first understand the distinctive culture and special needs of our veteran community. We invest in comprehensive training that teaches our caregivers about military culture, service related trauma, and the deep bonds that veterans share. This education ensures that every interaction honors their service and meets their very unique needs. To properly serve our veteran patients, our staff must first understand that culture and special needs of our very um veteran of our veteran population. We don't leave this to chance. Every member of our team receives that training on veteran care, military culture, traumainformed approaches approaches. This preparation ensures our heroes receive care that our that our caregivers truly understand and who they are and what they've sacrificed. Our approach goes beyond medical care. We conduct pinning ceremonies which is like a last harrah for some of our patients. This pinning ceremony celebrates their service with the dignity and respect that they earned through their sacrifice. family members, friends, other military veterans, neighbors, clergy, they all gathered together giving that veteran a muchdeserved final ceremony that they may not have ever received while they were on active duty or were honored during their time maybe coming back from Vietnam. We host veteranto veteran cafes, educational sessions out in the community in your districts. We we offer coffee with veterans because we understand that the healing happens not only through medicine but through connection, understanding, and shared experiences. This five-star recognition represents more than an achievement. It is a testament to our comm community's values. It affirms that here in El Paso, we don't just say we support our veterans. We prove it through our action, compassion, and unwavering dedication to excellence. We are the veteran capital of the United States of America, and we are very proud of it. As the veteran liaison for Tenderare Hospice, to our veterans, I want you to know your service to our nation will never be forgotten. Your sacrifices have not gone unnoticed. And in your final chapter of life, TenderCare Hospice will provide you with the honor, care, and respect you so rightfully deserve. Mayor Johnson and city representatives, your recognition today validates our mission and inspires us to re reach even higher. Together, we are ensuring that every veteran in the city of El Paso, the county of El Paso, Southern New Mexico knows that they are valued, respected, and forever in our debt of gratitude. Thank you for your time, your support, and your continued dedication to helping us honor those who have served. Together, we will continue to prove that our veterans are never forgotten and always cared for. God bless our veterans. God bless El Paso and God bless America. Thank you. >> Well, Nancy, I noticed you have a some of your team here. Can they introduce themselves? >> Hi, my name is an um Rodriguez McConnell. I'm the owner. I opened up Tender Care back in 2006 and I'm very proud 300 employees later because we go everywhere into patients homes uh all the way from El Paso to Los Cusus. But this is our wonderful team here. Um April's our director of hospice and then Adrien and Rosit Rosa, they are there for like uh sales. they do the sales and then my wonderful husband Tom and my beautiful daughter nurse practitioner Cassandra and our beautiful beautiful director Paola and so the director of nurses so we have u a lot of it you know we're always out in that community doing something but we're blessed to be able to help our veterans because you know they they did it for us and now it's our turn to do it for them when I opened up Tenderare I wanted to make a difference and we have been able to with our agency 19 years later we're feel strong and we're we're touching lives. We really are. So, thank you. >> Yeah. And so, thank thank you guys for for all that you're doing and and Nancy, when you were speaking, your your passion truly came through and and we thank you for your service and and commitment and, you know, and tend to care everything that you're doing for our veterans. You know, um we we should do more. Uh yeah. and and your passion, Nancy, when you were speaking today, I can tell you that anyone that you guys interact with comes with compassion. So, the compassionate care that you're giving to all of our veterans, we thank you for that. And uh we are the veterans capital of the world. Yeah. And and I know uh our friends over at Fort Bliss are very proud, too. So, thank you guys for all that you do for our veterans, and we're here to support you. And congratulations on this proclamation. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, guys. We'll go up there. Congratulations. Your skin looks great. >> I was very zoomed in. She didn't catch that. Thank you so much. >> I did it. And the next proclamation is big boy concession state >> represent. >> Thank you so much mayor. As Morales family is walking up to the podium, I'd like to to start by saying um it's such an honor, mayor, to allow me to read this proclamation today. Uh Mr. Morales, Danny Morales is is not only a family man, a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, uh entrepreneur for we'll hear in a moment over 70 years and but he's a friend and a mentor. And I want to it's again it's my pleasure to read this and thank you for the Morales family to be here and uh if you allow me to start mayor whereas Big Boy Ice Cream or Big Boy Concessions was founded in 1955 in El Paso by Cristiano Morales and this year in in 2025 I I hear bells. That's right there all kinds of flavors. Thank you, M. Morales, a lovely assistant you have. Thank you. Now, let me start again. Where has Big Boy Concessions was founded in 1955 in El Paso by Cristiano Morales and this year 2025 marks their seventh anniversary in our community. Whereas what began as a family venture selling ice cream, candies, and concessions treats from three- wheeled scooters and tricycles grew under the vision of Cristiano Morales into a multigenerational business. Whereas Daniel Morales and his four children, Big Boy Concessions continues to uphold the family legacy of quality, service, and community spirit, demonstrating the strength of the family-owned business in El Paso. And whereas a company's success reflects the strength and values of El Paso itself, perseverance family tradition community, and serves as a testament to the impact of local business in shaping the identity and vibrancy of our city. Whereas, as a trusted local partner, Big Boy Concessions consistently support schools, nonprofits, sport leagues, cultural festivals, and other community events. Whereas Daniel Morales and his children have continued to honor the vision of the founder Cristiano Morales by staying rooted in service to others service a source of pride in our community. And now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and council the city of El Paso that July 22nd, 2025 shall be known as Big Boy Concession Day signed by the honorable mayor Renard Johnson. Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor and city council. Thank you. Uh we really feel very honored to receive this proclamation and um we're very excited to be here and uh we actually have been uh doing all this with the help of different departments of the city of El Paso throughout our u years in business here in El Paso. We've been uh helped uh throughout like like I said different departments uh the health department uh the uh the police department, the uh fire department and the uh planning department because at one time or another we actually the planning department and the big boy u um built some some cards for the downtown area when downtown was actually downtown, you know, right now we're but but we had together with the with the U planning department, they helped us build 32 vending carts that at one time or another they were in the downtown area vending uh snacks and ice cream and uh different different things here. But um I I really uh want to thank everybody for uh helping us get to where we are. And uh I I feel very honored, believe me, and very happy to be here and to have helped, you know, different uh organizations, not only schools, but churches and uh uh fundraised and and uh we do it with with with a lot of happiness in our in our heart. So anyway, I wanted to present uh my family if it's okay with you. Absolutely. >> My uh my wife Rosa here uh >> right here. >> Good morning, Rosa. >> That I want to thank her too cuz with her I mean with her support I mean it has helped a lot. I mean she has really done a great job supporting me and backing me up on my ups and downs. So thank you Rosa. Ah >> um now I wanted to uh present uh my my kids. I have four kids boys to boys to girls and uh uh from here from they've been helping and they were actually born into the business. Uh I remember when we bought Proiki in uh 1986. Uh well actually we bought it in 198 uh9. Uh and uh I remember Nana and Victor and my kids were actually under the desk helping uh uh doing homework uh while we were actually running the the Fritiki uh manufacturing. uh and they uh they they actually all have been uh great in the business since the beginning. I just want to recognize uh my son Daniel Morales because uh he actually um because he he out of all the things he learned here in El Paso and everything, he went out in 2000 in in January of 2010 to open up Big Boy Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona. He owns Big Boy Phoenix, Arizona, and he has a Big Boy in Tukon and he has a Big Boy in Yuma, Arizona now. So, he has three locations in Arizona and he's uh also taking care of uh uh um Al Albuquerque uh right now, Big Boy. And then my daughter uh Lorena uh okay Lorena started and with us and uh actually she was the one that started Big Boy in 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And uh in 2015 was of family uh kids and everything. he uh kind of uh exed a little bit of Albuquerque Big Boy and then he stepped in to continue uh up to this date at uh Al Albuquerque, New Mexico. Now, Nenna here, she actually was for all the years since she got out of school, even before uh she helped me a lot in a lot of ways. and uh she um she she actually after uh she she got married and and wanted to the opportunity to go into Oklahoma. So she opened Big Boy Oklahoma and and she's been there since then since uh 2020. Yes. Yes. And and then um so that's uh uh Nana. Now Victor here uh where are we? >> Victor actually is the one that uh since 2000 since she he went out of school 2020. Uh he's been running uh Friki Incorporated uh here in El Paso, Texas. uh and uh since then he's been in charge of uh manufacturing all the fertiki which Friki is being a great uh product to make uh all these um wonderful um fundraisers that we have throughout the city of El Paso. But anyway, I want to thank Art Pierro for uh actually having us here and for the proclamation and uh we were very we are very honored to be here and uh I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. [Applause] >> Anybody want to say something? >> You okay? Uh we just want to add that we did bring our push cart not just for show but for treat. So we are treating um anyone um throughout the council meeting. So I know that we have our favorites. We do have lemon cocoa strawberry and that those are the three that we have. So you're all welcome um on a break and uh anybody that's here as well. So thank you so much mayor council and um it's been a pleasure serving the community. Wow. Thank you. [Applause] >> Daniel, Victor, you guys want to say anything? >> I do want to thank you all uh the all the city council members, Mayor Johnson for having us. It's an honor to be here and um we wouldn't be here without the help of everyone in our team. um all the street vendors, mobile vendors, everybody that uh helps us develop um the business and um it's it's very difficult for everyone to uh you know get up early, get to the events on time, set up and and be ready to to provide the service for everyone. And um our success wouldn't be here without our customers and our um employees and everyone that helps us uh to be where we are and we're very happy. Uh we're celebrating our 70th anniversary and um without them. So we are very thankful. Thank you all. Well, what an incredible El Paso story. I mean, and what an a blessing it is to be able to to work with your father. And I say that because I've been working with my father for the past 40 plus years. And it is truly a treat to to work in a family business. And I know sometimes we don't always get along and u but to to have a story like this, Mr. Morales. I mean, Tucson, Phoenix, Yuma, Albuquerque, and Norman, Oklahoma is incredible. And you started right here in El Paso. We are so so very proud of you and your family. And now the the the next generations that will be hiding under the desk and and and getting into the business. So, congratulations to you and your family and thank you so much for bringing in the the the treat uh for us to enjoy. But uh this is this is big. I mean because 1955, we know how hard it is for any business to survive this long and you guys are coming up on this many years and we wish you so many more and and so many more blessings and thank you guys for all that you do for not only El Paso but all the other communities that you're in now. So congratulations on this proclamation. [Applause] Watch the >> I think we can. Sincerely, Wait right now. Okay. That's it. All right, Miss Bry. >> Yes, sir. The final proclamation this morning is for best visitor information center in Texas day. Oh my goodness, >> Miss Roachcha. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Can I get uh Destination El Paso up here, please? and while they get up here. So, part of this was because uh destination El Paso has been killing it in in the short seven months of the year. They are not only US News, we ranked El Paso as the second best city to live in. Most recently, we are also the city of El Paso received the Boot Capital of Texas award and Visit El Paso earned the Jean Phillips Hospitality Award recently. And so this is no surprise, but we are here to um celebrate you guys again. So whereas the city of El Paso is committed to fostering a thriving tourism industry that celebrates our rich culture, diverse heritage, and welcoming spirit. And whereas the downtown visitor information center operated under the leadership of Veronica Castro, director of tourism and strategic alliances for visit El Paso serves as a vital resource for visitors and residents by providing expert guidance and promoting local businesses and attractions. And whereas the downtown visitor information center has been recognized as the best visitor information center in the state of Texas by the Texas Travel Awards. a prestigious honor that reflects the cent's excellence in customer service, innovative programming, and its unique integration of visitor resources with a retail space showcasing El Paso's local artisans and entrepreneurs. And whereas following its reopening in March of 2025 after a temporary closure due to the CO 19 pandemic, the downtown Vic has quickly reestablished itself as a cornerstone of El Paso's tourism recovery and a model of excellence within the state. And whereas this achievement is a testament to the dedication professionalism and collaborative spirit of the Vic team, whose efforts continue to elevate El Paso's standing as a premier travel destination in Texas and beyond. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso, recognizing and commending the downtown visitor information center for its outstanding service and its designation as the 2025 Texas Travel Awards Best Visitor Information Center. July 22nd, 2025 shall be known as Best Visitor Information Center in Texas Day. Signed by the Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson. [Applause] Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor. Good morning, council. Rep. Roachcha, thank you so much. Um, I want I'm not going to take up too much of your time because this is really the team behind me. I'm just proud that I get to stand out in front of them uh day in and day out, but uh I'm going to turn it over to them. One of the things though that uh and it was it said everything in the proclamation is that we do have a retail side. There's so much more to our Vic, but we do have a retail side where you can get things like the boot capital of Texas t-shirt. Okay. Um or you can get pantolas like kas. >> Yeah. Yeah. We actually we just got a new order this week. So these are great gifts. You don't have to travel far and you know your wardrobe is not complete without an avocado coin purse. And Repleon, I see you looking at it. Matches your shirt. It matches your shirt. Um, so, uh, so let me I'm going to turn it over. Am I gonna turn it over to you, Brooke? >> Okay, I'm gonna turn it over to Brooke. And, uh, so thank you all so much. Um, we can because everything is bigger and better in Texas, we can extrapolate that it is the best visitor information center in the United States. So, Brooke, [Applause] >> well, it is a beautiful facility and we're really grateful for the time and effort and investment that we made in the visitor center. But really, that visitor center is a successful the programming and the design um is the two ladies behind me. So, we already introduced Veronica Castro. She just celebrated her 21st year with Destination El Paso. uh and under her leadership as the director of tourism and strategic alliances and of course Elizabeth Torres um she heads up our visitor centers not only the one downtown but also the one in Chihuahua. So uh we've got a really good team and uh and that's what propelled it to uh such a wonderful award. Um, and you're right, we have been uh uh in the limelight quite a bit and again that is because of the shoulders and the people that are dedicated to furthering our community uh every day um not only in good word but in good deed as well. So super proud of the team, super proud of uh both Veronica and Lizzie and then of course the the individuals that work for these um these ladies here. So thank you for your recognition. It really means a lot and um we look forward to having you back over there if you're doing some um shopping. there is shopping in Christmas shopping in July. Uh we'd love to have you over. Uh and then of course we'll give you a schedule of some of the programming that's going to come up. Uh but we part participate in third Thursdays with the city as well. So uh please uh check out uh the visitor center. >> Thank you, Brooke. [Applause] >> Good morning. >> Thank you for this honor. Um if it's not because of Lizzy, my team, we wouldn't be able to be here. Um, we do a lot to bring visitors into town and what a place to welcome them in downtown El Paso. Not only with the staff that we have, but also all the great items that we pro promote uh from, you know, all the artisans in El Paso, but we're also it's a welcome center for El Pasoans to come and visit us, too. Whenever they have family and friends to come and see what the city has to offer, cuz sometimes they said there's nothing to do, there's plenty to do every single day of the week. we have something going on in El Paso. So, thank you all for this honor. But I do want to introduce Lizzie. Uh speak without her, we wouldn't be here. So, Lizzie, will you say a few words? >> Thank you so much. It It's an honor not only to represent this visitor center um but this amazing organization, this destination El Paso that I love to come to work every single day. And not only that, but also this beautiful city. I was born and raised here and I wouldn't be able to do this job with the amazing leadership that I have by Veronica Brooke and Jose. That's an amazing CEO. So, thank you all. >> Oh, thank you. >> Very good. Congratulative Fiero. >> Thank you, Mayor. You know, Mayor, there is no better no nothing better than that first impression and destination El Paso is really the face of El Paso. It's really the first impression that that visitors get from about our community. So, thank you. Thank you all of you and all your teams very much. But, mayor, you know that Jose can't be outdone. And so, he went out and bought an electric bike like our city manager. And I and I hope he doesn't fall off of it anytime soon. >> You know what? Uh, mayor, uh, city council, I love you all dearly, and you know, uh, uh, Rep. Chavez is, uh, is I'm one of Rep. Chavis's constituents and she keeps our community in electric bike form. So, thank you, Rep. Thank you. Thank Thank you, Rep. Chaveis. For those of us on electric bikes, >> represent Canales. >> Thank you. Um, yeah, the the center is incredible. Uh, some of you all were with me when I walked in for the first time. And not that I didn't expect greatness from you all, but I think you saw how, uh, shocked I was at how Beautiful. Really, it is. It's like the most state-of-the-art visitor center I've ever seen. Uh I immediately said like, "When can we start events in here? This is this is fantastic." So, I'm glad you're programming it. Uh it seems like it's been a great success and I'm sending everybody I know your way, like people who are visiting, but also people from El Paso because they can discover new things uh in there all the time. So, keep it up. And >> thanks, Rob. Uh it's the best first thing to do in El Paso. So, we can keep saying that. >> Absolutely. >> Representative Chavez. >> Thank you, Mayor. I have an idea. We should all go buy a t-shirt and wear it to council one day. I think that would be great. >> We need to >> We have a great variety of t-shirts that runs the gamut. Runs the gamut. >> Yeah. So, we should be good stewards of all your merch. >> Yes. >> That's what the kids call it, merch, right? Thank you for all that you do for our city. You are a great team and we are honored to serve alongside you. Thank you. >> Represent. >> I just wanted to say that I appreciate all of you and really love working with you. And I just wanted to follow up from the last time that you were here. When is Brooke going to Vermont? >> It's on our to-do list. Yes. We have to we have to send Brooke and V to Vermont to make sure they know who we are and so we can get some visitors from there. >> Especially after Coldplay Gate. It didn't happen here, but happened somewhere else. Right. Well, again, thank you guys uh for all that you do. We're going to sound like a broken record, but uh when I went in the remodeled visitor information center, all you can say is wow. I mean, it's incredible. But I I but Veronica, you've been with Destination El Paso 20. This is unbelievable. I mean, it's unbelievable believable that you've been there that long. I know. It's been an honor. It's been Every day is something different and it's a lot of fun. So, I hope to continue another maybe >> 21. >> All right. So, we got the best visitor center in Texas. >> Now, we got to work on the best visitor center in the United States. >> We're on it. >> All right. No pressure. No pressure. But thank you guys so much and congratulations. >> Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, councel. Hey guys. >> Hi. >> How's it going? Can we meet again? Miss Prime, we're going to wait just a one minute. One minute. Okay, Miss Prime, I think we're Ready? >> Yes, sir. Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso City Council for Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025. Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in council chambers along with Representative Asdo, Representative Oyjo, Representative Nino, Representative Lemon, and Representative Canales. It is 10 o'clock a.m. Will everyone please silence their electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by ministry coordinator for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and Chaplain Emeritus for the El Paso Police Department, Sam Feroni. >> Good morning, mayor. >> Good morning, council officials and guests. If you'd care to join me as I pray this morning, I invite you to bow your heads with me. Almighty God, is with gratitude that I stand before you and before all who are in this chamber today. On behalf of everyone, I thank you for the many blessings that we experience every day. make us mindful of the opportunities that we all have in which to make personal and corporate decisions that can affect the lives around us for the better. I pray for our mayor, council members, and all officials who will be discussing and making decisions regarding the agenda items today. I ask that you will give them strength and wisdom to address each issue with a sense of justice and rightness. Please give them an awareness of what would please you and what would be in the best interest of the people of El Paso. I pray for the communities and families who have been tragically affected by recent natural disasters around our state and our country. amid chaos, loss, and disaster. May they find peace and strength in you to rebuild what has been destroyed in their lives. With thankfulness for them, I pray for all who keep us safe and who protect our freedoms. God bless El Paso and God bless America. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Miss Bryan. >> Yes, sir. For the record, Representative Alonado Rochce is also present and so is Mayor Prom Chavez and alternate mayor prom. >> Okay. Want to take call to the public, Mr. P? >> Yes, sir. Right now, uh, we're going to take comment on items on the agenda. We had one individual sign up for item number 20, I'm sorry, 26, Ray Monetta. He'll speak at the time the item is heard. And we have Rick Mclofflin on item 38. Rick Mclofflin. He's going to speak on item 38. Okay. >> And item 38 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 12, vehicles and traffic, chapter 12.88, 88. No parking at any time. Decal required at several streets. McFarland, Del Palmar, Slayatron, Laai, Sappa, and McFarland. >> Okay. >> Good morning. You have three minutes. >> Good morning. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Good morning, >> Mayor. Mayor Prom, Miss Chavez is obviously my district representative in that area of Isela Rubicava where the Westside Sports Complex is. Um, I was thinking about what to say to get to the point. Uh, I did talk to some people about 98% were in favor on McFarland, Eastappa, and La Pesta, uh, about the no parking signs because we are in the area of the recreational parking district. Uh if you know that area at all, there's plenty of parking at Trans Mountain Community College. And also the Cano Independent School District does open their gates for additional parking. I don't even think all the cars that go to the games or some of these bigger tournaments would have trouble parking. But what it comes down to sometimes is some people look at what's the shortest walk, where's the best place to park. Uh, now I know there used to be no parking signs on Isela Rubikava on one side heading from the spur to the south desert freeway, but I don't know if they're actually still up anymore because I talked to some offices that would patrol the area during the big tournaments and they would say, "Well, we were asked not to give out tickets." precise as well. If they're illegally parked, like blocking people from turning on the corners or the two crosswalks that lead to the complex or in front of the fire hydrant, I said that should be automatic. Now, the other ones where they block part of the driveway, if people have room to get out, that's not that's not too bad. But what became a real problem was the excess littering. And I did talk to the director of parks and wreck because every time the morning after a game or the mornings after tournament days, uh the the Delta there was Delta name on the side of the trucks that picked up all the trash. And um I said, you know, they do end up picking up all the trash inside the complex, but why can't they pick up the litter outside the fence that faces a Cella Rubicava? So, uh that did get better for a while, but then it went back to there was still the beer cans and the bottles and the trash bags from the fast food restaurants. And uh believe it or not, I felt like one of the designated people on my street that would go down the street with a trash bag and pick up the litter. I guess being retired uh ex-military uh and there was one other gentleman on the street uh Cruz Ramirez. Uh he was he was Marines, I was army, but uh we would talk to some of the people on the street. >> Mr. Mclofflin. >> Yes. >> Thank you. You've reached the 3minut. >> Well, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Uh and thank you for letting me speak today. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That brings us to call to the public. The El Paso City Council is a local government body charged with serving the citizens and these 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. This morning we have 13 members of the public that signed up to speak or or submitted a statement for call to the public. The first person is Betty Stangeli Stangelini. She will be followed by Claudia Contra, Elizabeth Crawford, Nasley De Laoya Flores, Ron Ko. Miss Tangelini's topic is the power of prayer for El Paso. Good morning. You have three minutes. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Betty Stangalini. I'm the director of the Justice House of Prayer, JHub, which is a ministry that that prays. We are not a church per se, but we are a ministry where many people from many churches come to pray. And this is good news. We pray for you. Our job description, so to speak, is to pray for the community. We do believe that the power of God can change this nation and it takes for each one of us to receive from heaven wisdom and revelation. So we pray for you. We pray for the city council. We pray for the governor. We pray for every level of authority in this country. We pray for the police which we support 100%. We pray for immigration agents and uh you name it. We pray for everything that has to do with the community. We also pray for other things. for example, our neighbors, Mexico, which I am from Mexico as you can see for my accent, right? I'm a US citizen though. My father was a US citizen, but my mom was from Najarit. So, she she didn't wanted to live here. I was raised in Mexico, but the Lord brought me to this country. And the passion of our hearts, I want you to know the passion of our hearts, everyone that is in this ministry is to pray for the community. We pray for what's going on in Mexico because we understand everything that happens there affects us. We pray for this border. This border is number one in human trafficking except the port the seapports and we know that we know that for example in Huarees they film children in acts se in sex acts and those films goes through all the world and that's not right. We pray for the justice of God. Not justice to destroy but the justice to bring justice to those kids. We pray you name it. We pray for schools. We pray for students, for children. We pray for the families. And just I want to let you know that you have a good alley in us to pray for you. I have some uh brochures if you're interested knowing more about this. And we had been 17 years in this city. It's not like hey last week we decide to get together and pray. We have been since 2008 and and this is what we do. So we we love you. I want you to know we love you with support of authorities. We believe in you and we pray for wisdom from heaven to direct every one of your decisions because your decisions is going to impact our community in all levels from the children, the babies in the womb. We pray for the end of abortion by the way and we pray for um the end of human trafficking. We pay pray for arts and entertainment. We pray for the media. You name it. We are your alley. We pray for you. God bless you and thank you for the opportunity. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Claudia Contra Siller. Miss Siller's topic is 915 law enforcement heroes. Good morning. >> Hello. Good morning. I want to show off my beautiful bag I got from the El Paso Police Department when I went to their event. I'm wearing green today for two reasons. Uh this picture right here was displayed in one of my friends funeral and I got to keep it. It was taken in Osha Keller school on 93. He died of an overdose. Um he went to Mau High School. That's why I'm wearing green. And Osha Keller obviously. Um, I learned that he was a special, uh, education student. I tried to help him a lot, but it was hard. So, uh, I want to explain his story really brief. Uh, his dad died two days later. His brother died and then his other brother died. And the only thing that was keeping him away from death was like to be restricted from doing drugs. I know it's very sad. uh he was in extreme pain and suffering and um I want to say that the people that always got their back was the first responders and life is a like a book that we don't have a chance to turn the page backwards. That's why we need to read it with extreme care. And I did try to help him a lot. I had to tell him his mother died. And that's why I'm here to say that Naran saves lives and everybody has the power to save a life. And also I'm here to um back up the border patrol because they are the our first line of protection against these drugs. And I had another friend that um worked for the Border Patrol and I asked him, he was working more than 25 years there. I said, "When which one is your favorite Bible verse?" And he said, "Uh, Isaiah 6:8." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? Who who should go for before us?" And he said, "Here I am. Send me." So the people that are in law enforcement, they really do it with all their hearts. And that's why I am here to back them up. Um, they were there for my friend, 911 dispatchers. Sometimes we forget about them, but they're part of the law enforcement. Uh, obviously El Paso Police Department. They are a great team. But today, I choose to wear green in support of the Border Patrol and representing my high school. Uh, also I want to say that they deserve better pay. The El Paso Police Department deserves better pay. Um, uh, you can ask them. Don't take my word for it, but you can ask them how to fill those empty spaces. Uh they they need our full support. And I want to say that there was wounded police officers in I 10. They're risking their lives. And I think they deserve our backup just the way they back us up. And they deserve better pay obviously. And uh I want to say that Naran can everybody can have Narcan in their pocket and save a life. Uh for the addicted community um their people just like my friend here. Also I want to motivate the people to come and speak here. I already cried two times in the mic so nothing worse can happen. And I want to thank you everybody. And also, I'm here to try to do um a change in the community. So, I'm a cat lady. Please report animal cruelty. Uh huge shout out to the the animal cruelty unit, uh animal services, and all the people who love the animals. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And the next speaker is Elizabeth Crawford. She will be followed by Nasley De Laoya Flores, Ron Ko, Paul Dip, Veronica Carvajal. Miss Crawford's topic is abortion and human trafficking. Good morning. You'll have three minutes. >> Good morning. >> Thank you. Good morning. Um the United Nations has declared July 30th as the World Day against trafficking in persons. We're told in the book of Proverbs, wisdom is personified as calling out in God's holy word. Wisdom cries without. She utters her voice in the street. She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates. In this city, she utters her words. By contrast, in the book of Proverbs is presented the woman of the night and the temptation of the woman of the night. When we think about prostitution and human trafficking, it is inconsistent to condemn human trafficking and to advocate for abortion. They go hand in hand. All one needs to do is visit Albuquerque or Los Las Vegas. The haze of drugs, prostitution, and abortion thrive in these cities. is tragedy upon tragedy. The trafficking industry and the abortion cartel are two sides of the same underworld. Back around 2016, I was living in Jersey City, New Jersey, just across the river from New York City. I don't remember all the details, but to the best of my recollection. Um, I'll share the story. Two doors down from us lived a a lady named Amina. Egyptian background. She was mentally challenged. I was told she had the reputation of being the neighborhood prostitute. One day when I was serving outside the Anglewood Abortion Center about half an hour away from there um out walks Amina. It was after the fact from my understanding she had already aborted. I gave Amina a big hug, prayed for her. When I saw her the next time in the neighborhood, she simply called out, "Pray for me." I later heard the news that Amina was very sick and died at a young age. Human trafficking and the abortion cartel do go hand in hand. Both are destructive of the life that God has created. The words of the Lord Jesus Christ first in speaking about the enemy of our souls, the devil, and then of his goodness. The thief, the thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. And then the words of Jesus, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Nasley De Laoya Flores. Her topic is animal services. Good morning. You have three minutes. >> Good morning, Mr. Mayor, city council members. So, today I'd like to talk about the importance of continuing to advocate for our public services shelters, um especially the foster program. First of all, I'd like to thank you for uh investing. I'm very grateful for the increase in funding for animal services. Um, like one of the speakers said before me, El Paso PD has been a really good partner in helping uh prevent and investigate animal abuse, but we still need more help. uh we have shelters that are overcrowded I think as many of you know and it would be important to increase awareness of the fact that animal care as a foster care individual helps with the emotional, mental, and even spiritual health of the people who do it. Um personally, I had a uh she was like I had a kitten. We didn't know that she was a male or a female. Um, they thought that she was a male, but she was about the size of my hand, and if I hadn't stepped in and helped foster, she would have died. Um, I was only going to have her for the two-month period that they recommend, and I ended up keeping her. Uh, the resources that have already been invested in animal care will be returned to us. I I really believe that, especially um because of how helpful fostering is for each individual that does so. Um, but the reason that I'm here is really to um ask for just more advocacy. Um, we have, you know, they have pages um like Instagram and all of this, but if there's any way that the city could talk about the importance of having people foster, even if it's just for a couple of weeks, or just volunteering at the animal shelters, that would be great. Um, since we don't yet have the new uh shelter, I know that that's under construction. Um, I'm a little bit under time, but I would just like to invite everybody to um think about the fact that animals cannot advocate for themselves. They are voiceless and we are basically all that they have. Um, so if you have pets in your life or if you have, um, any animals that you like or care for, um, just think about them and just really grateful for all of the help that animal services has, um, provided. They're very kind, but they don't have that much time. So, like for example, a kitten like the one that I had that was 150 grams, about 6 ounces, maybe a little bit less when I got her, um she would have died if I hadn't been feeding her overnight. Now, people can't stay overnight and just be, you know, feeding every two hours at the shelter. Um so, please increase awareness of the importance of continuing to foster and volunteer for animal services. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Ron Ko. Mr. Mr. Ko's topic is exercising his constitutional rights to the rescue 1983 animal services. Good morning, Mr. Ko. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Could you guys miss me? >> I was in a place where they don't have strays. >> Okay. So, we're we're always hearing own dogs, own dogs. So, let me explain something. Definition of own dogs. An own dog is in a dog in a legal and p practical sense is a uh a dog that is under care, control and responsibility of a specific individual. A stray dog typically defined is a dog that is found wandering in public places without its owner present or otherwise not under uh direct human control. So this all goes down to Texas law 826033. Each stray dog be declared a public nuisance. Each unre unrestrained or stray dog to be detained or impounded by the local rabies control authority, which means managed intake is illegal in Texas. How many times do we have to discuss that we're breaking the law? You know, last time I was here, we discussed the payroll. Have we started to hire people for the supposed fully functioning animal services on the west side? We gave them another raise for 25. What are we doing? You know, we got people that represent the west side. Why aren't we being more vocal about getting the shelter done? Have we done anything to it? I'd love to go through it with you, sir. I went through it before the change of hands. I'd like to see what's happened since. I mean, we we have an issue. It's supposed to be a fully functioning shelter, but somebody only wants it to be an adoption center. That wasn't what was voted for. Why are we holding back? Everybody is saying the shelter is overcrowded. We don't have room. We got four huge buildings on the west side. We could correct the problem easily if we'd stop putting it off. I don't care what any one or two people think. The city is at risk because we're not doing our job. You represent the community. You're supposed to protect the community. Why are we not doing it? You had the resources. And Mr. Johnson, we can discuss that in private if you want to go through the thing. I can tell you about what I was told by the two top people at the time. when time is now. >> Thank you, Mr. Ko. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We received a statement from Angieio related to proposed parking meters for current place which was shared with council. Lynette's speaker is Paul Dip. Mr. Dib's topic is opportunity for public meetings when requested. >> Good afternoon, broker. Good morning, sir. You have >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, Mayor Johnson. Good morning. our representative Chris Canales. Good morning, council. Thank you for your time and thank you for your public service. The opportunity to speak at public meetings is important to express ideally free of pressure and in advance of contributing to any issue of concern. When offered this opportunity, the parties have open communication, a chance to review and ask additional questions, and most importantly to collaborate. If denied, this opportunity is less productive and and often less open. The cost of time and effort is significant. In our case, postage and printing for a public meeting to 348 homes is approximately $800 each meeting. And in addition, we have to secure a facility and other arrangements. The board members in our organization, as in many others throughout the community, dedicate their time and effort at no cost. We hope our community can work together to solve issues affecting us all. Cooperation leads to collaboration. When one party or another fails to communicate transparently or openly, confrontation is often the result. Our neighborhood, like all of yours, has complex and multi-dimensional issues. It's important for us to have the opportunity to explain these details as part of an analysis to provide the most effective solution. Consultants are clearly important and expensive when the solution may start and end with the residents themselves. Thank you for this time this your time this morning and we look forward to working with you. >> Thank you Paul. >> Next speaker is Veronica Carvajal. Miss Carvajal's topic is opposition to El Paso Electric's proposed rate hikes. She will be followed by Sam Cerio. >> Good morning Miss Carvajal. >> Good morning. >> Good morning Mayor Council. Um, my name is Veronica Carvajal. I'm here as an organizer with Sbrando Esparansa. We're a coalition of 11 of the most resilient, historic, hottest, and polluted neighborhoods in El Paso. On Friday, July 18th, we mailed our technical comments to the utility commission of Texas along with 600 comments by El Pasoans who are saying no to the proposed rate um rate hike. We understand that you're interveners and as are two of our members, Aman said and each I don't speak on their behalf since they are participating as interveners. Um we ask that you continue the fight and that you stand with us. Um we are asking that you say no to higher bills um that are driven by corporate greed and by climate pollution in the form of greenhouse gas emissions. The residential rate increases will jeopardize the physical and financial health of many El Pasoans who already cannot afford their electric bills. We are especially concerned about people with disabilities who rely on medical equipment that must remain plugged into um electricity and they're especially vulnerable to hot temperatures. El Paso Electric could not bother creating an analysis of how their rates will increase um the this burden on people who are struggling. nor did they create a calculator where the rest of us can figure out how this will impact us directly. So, we did that ourselves. We estimate that 40% of El Paso um households will be unable to pay their bills. They will be placed in excessive energy burden if these rates pass. We also looked at individual bills. a person who does not use a lot of electricity living in a one-bedroom apartment near downtown um who used only 358 kilowatts um in the month of July had a bill of $58 just this year. If we have the same kind of weather, their bill will go up to $79. That's a 31% increase. Over the year, they will pay $161 more. If we have another hot summer, another hot year like we did in 2023, their utility bill will be $91 for a single month. Again, this is a person living in a very small apartment. When we look at people who use, for instance, oxygen concentrators, that consumption is over 300 kilowatt um kilowatt hours per month. They will also be placed in this threshold of very dangerous um utility bills. We cannot allow the company to continue to profit from a problem of its own creation and that is climate change. The city's um priority climate plan identifies the use of fossil fuels including natural gas which despite its name is anything but natural is one of the the main drivers of warming temperatures. The flash floods that we see to our that affect our neighbors in Huarees in Rio and other parts of Texas are not natural disasters. They were driven by corporate greed and we ask that you stand with the people and not with corporate America. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Sam Cerio. >> His topic is El Paso electric rape case. He will be followed by Saul Gonzalez. >> Good morning. You have three minutes. >> Good morning. >> Thank you. Good morning everyone. My name is Sam Cerio. I'm from El Paso. I went to Franklin High School, graduated from UTEP. I went to law school at the University of Michigan and I came back after serving in the army for five years. Um I've been running an electrical contractor here in El Paso for the last six years and uh the primary focus of that electrical contractor has been installing residential solar um solar panels, batteries, and EV chargers. Um this year I was hired by Solar United Neighbors Action, and this is a national nonprofit that focuses on helping people go solar, join together, and fight for their energy rights. Uh we are an intervenor in the rate case as you are and we urge you to keep the fight up and keep opposing El Paso Electric's rate case. Um you know there's several things that they're asking for in the rate case but among them is an increase in the return on equity. Their profit margin um almost a full percentage point which doesn't sound like much but when you're talking about billions of dollars it is a lot. Um, if you look at the profit El Paso Electric has, um, brought in since 2017, um, JP Morgan Chase acquired El Paso Electric in 2020. That was their transition year. Uh, 2017 to 2019, if you look at their profit margins, and this is El Paso Times, every year they put it out. Um, the average 2017 to 2019 was $102 million in profit. Now, if you if you take the full 3 years since that transition to JP Morgan ownership, 21 to 23, the average profit in those three years was $140 million. It's already increasing like a hockey stick already. And so, increasing their margin, it's not necessary. They're enjoying larger profits than they have in the past. And at what expense? At the expense of of people not being able to afford their bills anymore. Now, specifically on the issue of solar, um, when a homeowner installs solar panels on their property, they're investing into their property, they're investing into their property rights to harvest energy that hits their their their property. Um, the kilowatt hour that they produce, that's their private property, and they have no choice to sell it to their neighbor. You can't interlink to your neighbor and sell them electricity for a better deal than what they get from the utility. You have to give it back to the utility. And El Paso Electric compensates you less than 2 cents per kilowatt hour when you when you sell your solar back, but then they'll turn around and sell that same energy to for 15 cents, their full retail rate to another customer. So they're they have a high monthly minimum bill. They don't compensate you for your excess production. And now they want to get rid of this minimum bill and instead replace it with a higher demand charge that would just be worse for people's property rights. At heart, this is a property rights issue. the grid of the future will look different where individuals can participate in this energy economy selling their energy back and El Paso Electric is in the way. They want the monopoly and they want to be the only show in town to say you get two cents for your energy. Take it or leave it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Saul Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez topic is also to oppose the El Paso electric rate increase. Good morning. You have three minutes. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Um, my name is Saul Gonzalez. I'm a member of the Sanrbrandos Sparansa Coalition and I live in one of the Sanosana areas. I'm here today not to talk about uh numbers or policies, but about people, about what the proposed pass electric rate increase would mean for the everyday lives of El Paso. A few days ago, I spoke with a resident who told me that she cannot afford all her medications. She sometimes skips medications and this rate increase will only make it worse. Now with this heat, she's terrified of what will happen if um her bill goes up any higher. For some, an increase of 20 to $30 a month may not seem like much, but for many of our families, that amount means less medication, less food on the table, etc. People in our neighborhoods depend on power for basic needs. to keep insulin refrigerated, to run oxygen machines, to be safely when the temperatures outside reach triple digits. We're not talking about convenience, we're talking about survival. Every time a new rate case is filed, we hear it's for necessary investments. But my question is, when do we rateayers see the benefit? When do we, the people paying the bills, get a break? Why is it that these investments always lead to higher bills but never to relief? Many of us feel like we're paying more and getting less. It feels like a system is built to prioritize profit, not people. And our community is tired. I'm really tired. I want to thank you for your leadership and I want to ask you all to continue u help elevate the voices of those most affected to ask the hard questions and to make sure that when utility decisions are made the health safety and affordability for residents come first. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Michael Clark. He will be followed by Mary Bardouch and Linda Tronoso. Mr. Clark's topic is parks and recreations food truck lottery system. Good morning. You have three minutes. >> Good morning. >> Morning uh mayor, council members, um district, Mr. Nino. My name is Michael Clark and I'm here today as concerned citizen and inspiring entrepreneur. I am deeply invested in the growth and prosperity of El Paso and I believe that fostering a thriving small business ecosystem is the key to our city's future. Understanding El Paso's food lottery uh system. An El Paso food truck operators seeking to vent at a city park must participate in a lottery system managed by the park and recreation department. This system randomly assigns food trucks to specific park locations, often limiting their ability to choose hightraic areas or align with customer demand. While intended to ensure fairness, this approach can restrict entrepreneurial flexibility and customer choice. Um, under the current lottery system, a food truck operator might be assigned to a park with low food traffic, foot traffic, resulting in minimum sales and limited exposure. This not only affects the operator revenue, but also reduces the variety of food options available for parkgoers, limiting their choices and overall experience. Proposed system um alternate alternatively a system that allows food truck operators to select their preferred locations based on demand and customer preference. would enable them to thrive. For instance, an operator specializing in vegan cuisine might choose to set up at a park near a community center that promotes healthy living, attracting a clientele interested in other offerings. This approach not only supports the success of individual businesses, but also enhances the diversity and quality of food options available to the public. Allowing food trucks the freedom to choose their operating locations can lead to increased sales with directly translates uh to higher tax revenues for the city. This in turn supports public services infrastructure improvements that benefit all residents. Moreover, successful food trucks creates job and stimulate local uh economies fostering a vibrant entrepreneurial system. And my point being that I want to also entail is this is being managed at a point where we're not protecting brickandmortar situations. So if I set up a brick-and-mortar food restaurant, you guys aren't protecting that. So if anyone else wants to set up shop around me, I have to compete. Same with the food truck industry. It should be the same exact way. Just like we saw Big Boy uh concessions come up here and they're successful. They've been doing it over 30 something years. I'm sure they had to, you know, go up against other competitors. And that's my ultimate point is that we should not be controlling or trying to keep it in-house. We should be able to let that be the freedom of whoever wants to participate in this sort of um operation. But thank you for your time. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Mary Bardos. >> Her topic is agenda placements. Good morning. You have >> Mary Bartese. Good morning, Chris, my rep and uh city council and mayor. Good morning. >> Um I'm here today to request that the item agenda 19 that's to be placed on the agenda for next month uh be postponed until the city can do a proper presentation to stakeholders which are property owners in Kern and Rim and other parts of the city concerning this uh parking uh zoning and ordinance changes. Uh, I believe according to to Texas law, it's uh protocol for the city to give a presentation to stakeholders before any item is placed on an agenda. So, I am requesting that the city council follow those um that protocol and please not place item 19 on the agenda for next month and allow the city to have the time and the the stakeholders um property owners to collaborate and communicate and discuss uh what the plan is and what it entails and what the the phases are in that plan. And that's my request this morning. So, I hope you'll consider that and uh not put it on the agenda for next month. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And the final speaker is Linda Tronoso. >> Her topic is ordinance vetting. Good morning. You have three minutes. >> Good morning, Mayor Council. >> Good morning. >> Um I've had the opportunity to meet with a few of you uh regarding district different projects. I'm a local civil engineer uh own a business and believe in downtown reinvestment. I'm actually developing redeveloping a property on Yandelle, which is what would be considered the Uptown District. Um item 19, which was previously referenced right now, uh is talking about an is an ordinance or a change to the zoning categories that will offer a right for 100% parking reduction. And so what the study that this was based on said is they looked at all the curb sides in front of people's houses and in front of people's businesses and called that excess parking, excess on street parking. And so that said, hey, in these areas where we want to see it redeveloped, there is 12,000 or 14,000 extra spaces. And those spacers are in front of people's houses. And so part of what you just heard previously saying we need to vet this um is a request to see those people whose properties are actually going to be impacted understand what's going on. This project the uptown redevelopment plan has been developed in the process of development since 2019 and some of you are newer but previous councils have under have been presented with the fact that this is untenable for some of the residents and the businesses there. You will see in the backup on that agenda item that there's a number of letters of support, but I think those letters of support are isolated to the people that it was discussed with. Um the presentation to the community members, residents stopped in in um August of 2024. And during that time period, we expressly asked that we be that the stakeholders be followed up with so that we understood how changes might be in incorporated into the document so that our concerns were addressed. We were never responded to any of those residents. The last meeting we had was last August and the drafters of this document never got back to the stakeholders. And so it's really a concern where we're saying, "Hey, look, I've lived in Kern for 23 years. I grew up in Mission Hills. I'm developing a property on Yandelp, redeveloping it. I'm excited to be part of this community and excited to see it be vibrant, but not at the expense of the residents whose properties are going to be impacted. I think it needs to be a partnership and I think there needs to be proper vetting before something comes before you to be voted on. And so that's item 19. I appreciate your time. >> Thank you, Linda. >> Thank you, >> mayor. That concludes call to the public. Okay, >> 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. >> Okay. Is there a motion to approve the consent? Mayor Proin. >> Thank you, Laura. I make a motion to approve the consent agenda with the following revision. Page five, item 16, move to the regular agenda per Representative Asseto. >> All right. There's a motion and a second. Uh, Represental. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh, I wanted to comment about item 11. This is one of the board appointments, Valerie M. Armenadi to the tax advisory committee. Uh I placed this item and I just wanted the council to be aware uh this is actually not an appointment by me but an appointment by the council. Uh the the tax advisory committee uh has members appointed by many of the different taxing entities for which the city collects taxes through the tax office. Uh the mayor gets one appointee and the council actually separately gets another appointee. Uh the tax office had sent an email to all of our offices approximately two months ago asking for uh anyone that we were looking to appoint. They wanted to understand uh if there were any candidates that we wanted to appoint. Uh they received no responses including from me. Uh in the subsequent weeks uh we became aware of uh Miss Armandaris's interest. Uh she serves as the town clerk in the town of Anthony, Texas. uh she's actually also previously served on this committee so she's very aware of the work that they do. Uh but I just wanted to make sure that the council was aware this is not a regular appointment that you know we don't all each individually get an appointee we collectively make this appointment. >> Okay. Thank you for letting us know represent Gales. >> Uh Representative Chavez which item was moved >> page five item 16. >> Okay. Mr. Ryan, we have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion on the consent agenda? >> Mayor, just quickly, what what is the proposed change to item 16? >> Move to the regular agenda. >> Move to the regular. Thank you. >> All right. Seeing Miss Bryant. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tim Chavez, seconded by Representative Lemon to approve the consent agenda as revised. On that motion, call for the vote. Voting session is open and the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Mayor, would you like to go to the item that was moved to the regular agenda? >> Yes, please. >> Thank you. This is item 16 and this is the award of solicitation 2025-0297R domestic terrorism consultant to Porsena Solutions LLC for a one-year term and an estimated amount of $90,000. >> Good morning. >> Morning. >> Good morning. >> Yes. >> Good morning. Vanessa Luganis with Van um with purchasing and strategic sourcing. This is a new contract for domestic terrorism consultant using a request for proposal procurement. There were 17 views online. Four bids were received, none coming from local suppliers. No protest was received for this requirement. And we we are requesting award as indicated to Porscena Solutions LLC, the highest ranked offerer based on the evaluation factors established in the evaluation criteria for this procurement. >> Represent. Thank you, mayor. I I pulled this item just because I was looking at the backup and I didn't see a lot of information on it. So, I was just curious to know what this is going to do and then what kind of grant this is. Is it a FEMA grant or just if you could give me a little summary on what this is doing? >> Yes, sir. How you doing? Chief Kevin Der with the El Paso Fire Department. This is a state homeland security grant. It is a FEMA grant. It is FEMA funded. So this project is a going to do a functional exercise that's going to simulate a domestic terrorism threat. And what that's going to do is help us with intelligence gathering, threat assessment, information sharing, and operational coordination with local jur uh agencies to include police department. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Appreciate it. I move to approve. >> Okay. Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion on item number 16? >> All right. Hearing none, seeing none, Miss Bryan. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Aso, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to award the solicitation. On that motion, call for the vote. End the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Thank you. Representative Lemon, did you on >> to the next? >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you on the first reading of the ordinances. >> Sorry, I will wait. Sorry, >> Miss Bryan. >> Yes, sir. The next >> few items are the first reading of ordinances. These are items 17 to 23. >> Is there a motion to approve? >> Thank you. Thank you, mayor. And that's what I wanted to do first of all. >> Represent Lima. >> Yes. Thank you. Um, and I just wanted I received a lot of emails yesterday specific to item number 19 and in reading and looking over it. Um, this is the first reading of the ordinances and so this is not a final decision. This is not something that we're going to vote on. So all of the people that are concerned, there will be a time uh Representative Canal is telling me at least about a month time before it's brought back to council. And this will give the constituents an opportunity to review, to participate, to speak on behalf of the for or against these changes. So before I make the motion, I did want to make sure that that was kind of clearly understood. So I make a motion to approve the first reading of the ordinances presented today 17- 23. All right, there's a motion. Is there a second? Second. >> Uh, Representative um, Roachcha. >> Thank you, mayor. And, uh, I know that I also received a lot of, um, concerns. I'm huge on including stakeholders upfront. That is one of the biggest things that I think is um, necessary. I I don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to what steps have been taken by urban planning or what's what's um what followthrough has been has has happened. But I am a huge proponent to make sure that if anything is affecting any individual within the city of El Paso that they should be brought in very early on in the process so that their concerns can be addressed. And so I I know that this is a first uh reading of ordinances and I spoke with Rep. Canales uh yesterday and briefly this morning. And so I hope that that with this um we understand that that my position is and will always be that we need to bring in those stakeholders very early prior to the reading of the ordinance. And so that's something that I think is huge. all departments. I just I I want to make a stance here to let you know that I think it's very important where anything is going to affect anybody, we need to bring in those stakeholders. If that includes businesses, if that includes constituents and residential areas, then I think that it is of utter importance, especially if they will be affected, to bring them in at the very beginning of that process. Um, it makes sense. I would require the same this the same consideration if it was something that was affecting me. And so I just want to make sure that that I I state that. Um, I know that we're prior to reading this and we're in a position right now where all of this is going to be um approved holistically, but I definitely wanted to to make sure that that um that it's something that I state publicly and that I hope that we do a better job going forward that we include um those stakeholders where it will affect them. And I know there's been meetings and prior to everything that have taken place and I do encourage the public on the same token to make sure that that we I know sometimes council items get um kind of tossed aside and there's maybe only a few people that will be engaged. But I encourage everyone here that is listening, that is watching, that will watch the recording of this to get engaged with what is happening in council because it can very well affect you and affect your residents and your your business. And so I just wanted to make sure that I they made that statement. >> Thank you, Representative Representative Masto. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, in the same vein as as Representative Mad Rocha with everything she stated, I see Alex in the back and I wanted to ask a little bit more about the engagement that happened around this and if or I don't know if Alex is the person or anybody else. Um, and if there is that opportunity within this next month because I see the >> So, Miss Prime, are we able to do this? you're able to comment on any item that is on the agenda. Uh this item is to be introduced today, so typically comment isn't taken until the public hearing. >> Okay. >> So, we can >> I'm happy to discuss the outreach. >> Well, well, more than anything, I think we're all getting a lot of emails >> and a lot of communication around this and there are people that have been missed. So, in deciding how I'm going to vote today for moving the first reading up, I think it's important that I get this information. I don't see why I can't ask questions about a first reading. Miss Neman, can I get answers on this or no? >> So, so the only concern, Representative, is that by by custom or practice, the council doesn't take comment on first readings. So the public is aware that you will take public comment at the next meeting. If the council wishes to have additional comment or feedback, what you could ask is to simply delete the item and then direct Miss Mack to have further outreach and then you can have additional conversations about that when it comes back. >> Okay. Um >> I'm happy to answer your questions again if if that's if you're willing to entertain. Well, I don't know if we can engage in debate. >> Well, we'll go and finish your your comments Representative. >> Yeah. So I I think the the big thing here is that we have people in the audience here that have come to public comment and I want to make sure that all of these people are engaged and I want to understand if a month's time is adequate to be able to engage the people that have reached out to us whether they're here in the audience or whether they have reached out to us via email which I think we're all getting these emails so it it just makes it a a little difficult to have that full understanding of where we're at. I I know that we got an email with outreach to a lot of different organizations, but to me, what happened here is that it seems like we missed some different people and organizations that we did not reach out to. So, I just want to make sure and I can't get that answer apparently if one month's time is is sufficient to reach out to all the people that are emailing us and are in the in the building. >> Miss Mack, you want to address that? >> Absolutely. So, we've had the conversation with the team and they've been reaching out in response to at least the correspondence that we received and we're working very closely with Mr. Canales. We feel that the time we have between now um and moving forward is sufficient. um we do not believe that we will maybe have a 100% consensus on this item and that's the purpose and point of the public hearing that we have that allow people to provide opportunity for the various um perspectives they may have on those items in four weeks. We certainly will make sure that there's clear understanding of direction the changes that we've made um since 2024. There were carveouts um that were changed as a result of some feedback. So there's been a lot of work that's gone into this. So, we're more than happy to make sure that that's clearly stated to folks in any meetings that they'd like to have that we will entertain. >> Representative Chavez. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, and I too want to echo a little bit about what uh Representative Maldonado Rocha and Aso said. I I know that that there has been some discussion or a lot of discussion regarding these items. I I have an understanding that these items have been a long way coming for many months, but I also um can be sensitive to the fact that maybe these discussions were not have were not had recently and maybe there's new information that wants to be shared from the constituents, from the community to the city. And so we welcome those discussions. I welcome them. I know I've received a lot of emails and I'm happy to meet with anybody individually. Um, I know the city has has done a great deal of effort, but maybe there needs to be a little bit further communication regarding um some updates from the community and uh I personally welcome those uh conversations. So, thank you for being here and thank you to the city for briefing us on this and um let's move forward together. Thank you, >> Representative Canales. >> Thank you, mayor. Yeah, I just want to be clear about the outreach that has happened. um either staff or me or in actually in the cases of all of these staff and me together have presented to the Chiita neighborhood association, Familia Unidas Salamisal, Friends of Sunset Heights, the Kern Place Association, Rim Area Neighborhood Association, the Rio Grande Neighborhood Association, Southside Neighborhood Association, and the Sunset Heights Neighborhood Improvement Association. Uh and we also presented together to the American Institute of Architects. Um, all of those have either uh provided a letter of support or are in the process of of doing so. Uh, and staff has separately presented to the uh, AAP, El Paso office, the developers focus group, Greater El Paso Association of Realtors, who I've also met with separately about this uh, these these items, and the Urban Land Institute, El Paso chapter. Um and I understand some of those uh are also have provided a letter of support or are in the process. Um and so those and then separately uh I have met several times with the Sunrise Civic Group uh about this. Uh I know that they had a meeting scheduled with staff for this afternoon that they've had to cancel uh that the the civic group had to cancel and so we're working on rescheduling that with them. Uh but all of the outreach I I think that has to happen has been going on. Uh and we'll commit again to meeting once again with whoever else would like to meet rescheduling that meeting with the Sunrise Civic Group. Uh but again, I I I don't think it's correct to say that outreach hasn't happened. This item was this collection of items was actually on an agenda more than a year ago in April 2024 and was postponed off of the agenda then. Uh this is actually a second round of of outreach that's happened with all of these organizations. Uh that all happened prior to that item uh when it got pulled more than a year ago. And so this to say this has been a long time coming is an understatement. It's been you know in the works for multiple years. Um and and uh I I think one month is enough time. If we reach the end of a month and truly someone who is uh very concerned about this but has not come to a public meeting, has not been to their neighborhood association and has not come to my community meetings where we've been discussing this every month for the last honestly two years. Uh if if they feel that they haven't been engaged yet, that's the time where we can make a postponement. I think uh I I I don't think that will be necessary because the the outreach will continue. Uh but I would ask that we proceed with just the first reading today. There's no decision being made aside from advertising the date of a public hearing. >> Okay. Thank you. Representative uh Fier. >> No matter. >> Okay. >> All right. Any further discussion on the consent that I mean the first readings? So I just I just want to make sure you know and represent Canales you know you know we had someone sign up and said the opportunity for public meetings when requested. So I want to make sure that that's still continuing and we're communicating with the ones that it's going to affect the most. Okay. Any further comments? All right. Seeing none hearing none. Miss Prime please call for the vote. >> Yes sir. The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Boyjo. This is to approve the introduction of ordinances items 17 to 23. On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay. >> Mayor, the next two items are related to the same property. Would you like to consider them together? >> Is that item 24 and 25? >> Yes, sir. >> Yes. Item 24 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning from R2 SPC residential special protective condition to C1 commercial and imposing a condition at 1071 Country Club Road. Item 25 is a public hearing of an ordinance releasing all conditions placed on the property by ordinance number 9332 which changed the zoning also at 1071 Country Club Road. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> There's a motion in a second. There's there was a presentation. Everyone's good seeing the backup. Okay, there's a motion in a second. Any discussion on items number 2425? All right, hearing none. Seeing none, Miss Prime call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Prom Chavez, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to adopt the ordinances on items 24 and 25. There's no public comment on that motion. Call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. That brings us to item 26. And this is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning of lots 58 and 59 from R3 residential to A2 apartment and imposing a condition at 525 Lafayette Drive. >> Represent Brocha. >> Um I thought there was >> Thank you, mayor. I thought there was public comment on this. Yes, there is. Okay. Motion to approve. Second. >> Okay, there's a motion in a second. We have public comment on this one. >> Yes, sir. We have Mr. Ray Monsetta sign up to speak. [Laughter] >> Ray, we we you got time if you want. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Oh, I like what you did on 24 and 25. I thought why should I extend the time? My name is Ray Mona and in accordance with the lobby ordinance, I stand before you all to represent the property owners of 525 Lafayette. We are requesting a change of zoning from R3 to A2 apartments and uh if uh this request complies with the city's long range comprehensive plan which the uh plan commission has is recommending approval and also the city plan commission. Uh we are requesting that on the 1.3 acre property we will be um uh building uh 30 units apartments. Um, and I did reach out to uh one of the gentlemen that uh had appeared before the uh plan commission and we were talking. He it was kind of funny. He says uh I've been here for 57 years. I bought this house and the the worst thing that was happening was tumble weeds and and uh but he recognizes of course that from the freeway to North Loop to Alama which is Lafayette runs all along that area it is very very few vacant pieces of property left. Um, and it was a vast array of different uh land uses that exist. And I was kind of perplexed that we saw I saw some horses in one of the one of the backyards. Um, so the 30 units of course of apartments. I just want to let you all know that the city of El Paso recognizes that apartments is the best place to put them is between commercial and residential. It is an excellent buffer uh between those two land uses. When you put commercial next to residential single family, there's a friction. Uh but when you put apartments, it's a it's a buffer. But apartments, always remember that it's still home sweet home for somebody. It's a family. It might be somebody who's going through a transition, recently got married. Uh and that's but still children are there and it's a uh it's a home sweet home. That's the best way I can explain it to you. It's like oh we don't want apartments. Well it's families still the families. So let me just go ahead and and finish by saying this that we concur with the planning department. We concur with the city plan commission and we ask for your approval. Thank you. >> Thank you R. We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion on item number 26? All right, Miss Prank, call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Maldonado Rocha, seconded by Mayor Pro Tim Chavez to adopt the ordinance on item 26. Public comment has been taken on that motion. Call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Item 27 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning parcel one from R3 residential to C1 commercial and parcel 2 from R3 residential to C3 commercial and imposing conditions. This is at 341 Thorne Avenue. >> Representative Chavez. >> Uh motion to approve, mayor. Um but I also want to I want to publicly thank the planning and inspections department. Um they have been wonderful. There is a lot of reszoning occurring currently in in district 1. This one in particular is used to be a school, an EPISD school that's now going to be converted to uh commercial property. Um the next one on the agenda is is a ranch uh farm going to be converted to residential. There's a lot of farmland in district one in the upper valley. Uh there's EPISD schools that are closing that are now being converted to for different reasons. and the planning and inspections department um reaches out to to me in my office continuously. They update me. They give me very specific information. They help me do outreach with my constituents to make sure that they're well informed. Um and they've just been wonderful and this has been very helpful to me in the process because there's a lot of this going on. I mean, just in today's agenda, there's there's four items on this. So, I appreciate all the work that you're doing and I thank you for helping me uh navigate this process with my constituency and thank you for for showing me um all the details about our zoning which is is could be complicated but you make it very easy for me to understand and I appreciate that. So, thank you. >> Very good. Uh so, we have a motion and a second. Any further comments on item number 27? All right. Hearing none. Seeing none, Miss Bryant call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Prom Chavez, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to adopt the ordinance on item 27. There's no one signed up to speak on this. On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay, let's take 28. >> Yes, sir. Item 28 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning from RF Ranch and Farm to R2A residential and this is south of AP Goldberg Drive and east of Kings River Place. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Okay, we have a motion in the second. Any discussion on this item? All right, Miss Bryan, call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Prom Chavez, seconded by Representative Lemon to adopt the ordinance in item 28. There's no public comment on that motion. call for the vote and the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. >> Item 29 >> Mhm. 29 >> is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning from C1 commercial to C3 commercial. This is at 9909 Kenworthy Street. >> Representative Trey. Okay, >> we have a motion and a second. Any discussion on this item number 29? All right, Miss Bryan call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Thjo, seconded by Mayor Pro Tim Chavez, and this is to adopt the ordinance on item 29. No one has signed up to speak on that motion. Call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representative Fiero not present. >> Miss Bryan, if there's any of these we can loop to >> Yes, sir. Items 30 to 36 is action needed to dissolve the construction board of appeals as directed by council in May. Move >> to approve. >> Okay, we have a motion in a second. Any discussion on items um 30- 36? And just for the record, item 30 is an ordinance amending title 2 administration and personnel chapter 2.30 construction board of appeals to dissolve the construction board of appeals and reorganize into a new chapter 230 titled construction appeals. Item 31 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 2, chapter 2.92 ethics to remove reference to the construction board of appeals. Item 32 is an ordinance amending title 9 health and safety fire prevention code to replace construction board of appeals with appeals officer and section 9.52.110.42 amend section appeals to replace construction board of appeals with appeals officer. Item 33 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 13 street sidewalks and public places. The section sidewalk and curb permit required to amend the section to replace construction board of appeals with appeals officer and chapter 13.08 excavations to replace construction board of appeals with appeals officer. Item 34 is a public hearing with ordinance amending title 15 public services chapter 15.20 storm water management to replace construction board of appeals with appeals officer. Item 35 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 17 housing housing code adopted to amend the section to replace construction board of appeals with appeals officer. And item 36 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 18 building and construction to replace construction board of appeals with appeals officer. And there is a motion made by representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Maldonado Rocha to adopt the ordinances on items 30 to 36. All right, Miss Bryan, call for the vote. >> On that motion, call for the vote >> in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Representative Pierro, not present. >> Let's take 37. >> Yes, sir. Item 37 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 12 vehicles and traffic chapter 12.88 88 schedules resident restrictions on parking in residential districts to add subsection zone X no parking 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and this is at various blocks at Kansas Street, Crosby Avenue, East Crosby Avenue, North Florence Street, and 1600 block of North Campbell Street. >> Represent Canales. >> Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I just wanted to thank staff for working hard on this and uh working hard to be responsive to the the needs of the residents there. So, thanks. >> Would you like to make a motion? >> And I move to approve. >> Okay. All right. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion on item number 37? >> All right, Miss Bryant. Call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Lemon to adopt the ordinance on item 37. There's no public comment on that motion. Call for the vote. and the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Representative Fedor not present. >> Let's take 38. >> Yes, sir. Item 38 is a public hearing of an ordinance aating title 12 vehicles in traffic. Schedules resctions on parking in residential districts to add subsection zone Y. No parking anytime decal required. And this is at various sections at McFarland Avenue, Del Palmar Court, Playatrones Avenue, La Pesta Drive, Estaba Place, and McFarland Circle. >> Representative Chavez. >> Thank you, Mayor. And uh we heard from Mr. Mclofflin earlier today. This is an area that um is affected by the Westside Sports Complex because of the parking restrictions um at that complex. they park in this neighborhood. You know, limiting uh the ability for people that live there to invite their family, their friends over, especially on weekends. I've heard from grandparents that say they're they can't invite their grandchildren over because they literally have nowhere to park when they want to come visit them. So, this is going to be very helpful for the, you know, the residents that live in that area. So, I'm grateful to Streets and Maintenance for helping me get this done and giving uh people in that area, you know, a better quality of life, especially on the weekends during those tournaments. Thank you, Randy. >> Would you like to move to approve this one? >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> All right. Representative Asavetto. >> Thank you, Mayor. I I know this has been a very very long time coming for for this district, so I'm happy to to support this today. I did have a question around the cost of this. I know that um Randy, we we talked about a new fee schedule for these types of districts. So, do you know when we're getting that fee schedule presented to council? Cuz I one one thing that I kind of missed in the preliminary budget is we didn't go over any fee schedule. So, I'm assuming that's coming next week, but I wanted to get clarification on that. >> Randy Garcia with Streets and Maintenance. Um, for the RPD, we are getting it finally vetted by uh city attorney's office. There's some questions as to the language of the ordinance specifically for the RPD and that fee increase. So, that will be coming within the next couple of weeks. As soon as we have that done, we'll be uh presenting it to you guys. >> Okay. And Miss M. >> We do have a whole presentation in your backup that includes a summary of all of the fee changes as well as a red line. We can certainly go over any questions you might have on the 31st. >> On the 31st. And so, we'll we'll go over the different fe because I know it's it's not just this, but it's also parks and other >> Yes. So you'll you'll find we did a like a six- page summary of all the changes that we made in the fee schedule and then we included all the red lines for you so you can see all the changes to each line. >> Okay? And for example like this fee schedule each one will be voted individually, right? Or they're going to be done by resolution. >> It's actually by schedule C. >> It's done as part of the resolution or adopted. >> So So schedule C is adopted as part of the budget resolution and then is necessary during the year. Sometimes we do amendments to schedule C, so it'll be part of the budget. >> Okay. So okay. >> So, I can clarify the RPD, we have to change the ordinance and that's what we've been presenting to the council reps. So, those ordinance changes are needed in order to affectuate the changes that we are requesting on schedule C. So, that's what been we we have been presenting to you guys. >> Okay. I I have a lot of reservations about the changes to the parking district specifically. So, I look forward to having more of those conversations and that's kind of why I'm asking in terms of is it one whole thing resolution or we could individually talk through each one. >> Can I explain just what Mr. Garcia is discussing is you have to establish the fee by ordinance >> under the residential parking district and then once that's done you adopt the fees under the budget resolution. So fees are established by ordinance and then in the schedule C is where you are amending them per the budget resolution. So that's just kind of like >> right but we're not doing all the fees by ordinance, right? Cuz >> so the fees established by ordinance under the residential parking district and then you you amend them during budget discussions when you need to adjust them up or down based on the the cost to the city. >> Okay. Miss Mack, can you send us the kind of the list of what you're looking at changes changing fees for just all across? >> Absolutely. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Representative Lemon. >> Thank you, Randy. you know, we discussed this and I told you that I was not um I was not in total agreement with this and so I want to make sure that I know when we are we're going to be able to voice our concern on this particular fees specifically on um this item that we're looking at. Is it going to be separated? Are we going to get all of these fees at one time and have one ordinance or are we going to be able to look I know for for example this is one that really caught my eye. >> So the RPD ordinance change um as I have explained we we have it with city attorneys. It's under its final review. We expect to have it hopefully ready by the next council session for you guys to have that that fee schedule for the residential parking district um for for uh first reading. Okay. So, it'll come separately. >> Yes. For the RPDs, yes, we will be we need to change the ordinance as Miss Neman said in order to effectuate >> and that's going to come as a first reading. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Representative Chavez. >> Thank you, Mayor. >> I just want to if the ordinance isn't approved, then the ski um fee changes in schedule C are in terms of being applicable. Okay. So, it really is. Got it. >> So, will the fees apply to what we're voting on today or will it only apply to what we vote on after that after we adopt it? >> The current fee schedule will apply to anything that you're adopting today. >> Perfect. >> Okay. The current one? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Represent Nino. >> Thank you, Mayor. And just for clarification, I'm looking at the documents that we were that were shared with us um for the budget and it has the fiscical year 26 schedule C red line. Is that what we're talking about today? >> Yes. Okay. So, we will be adopting a resolution on the 31st which would or >> um you'll adopt the fee schedule when we adopt the budget. So, that'll be in August >> 19th. >> So, the 31st you'll be making some decisions about the tax rate. will come back with all the rest of these various presentations. It gives us an opportunity to answer any additional questions. The adoption does not happen of the all these schedules at that meeting. >> Perfect. Thank you for that. >> So, the timing should align perfectly in terms of the consideration um as we uh move into adoption of the final budget. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Any more discussion on on this item? >> All right. Miss Prime, call for the vote. >> Yes. to the motion was made by Mayor Prom Chavez, seconded by Representative Asdo to adopt the ordinance on item 38. Public comment was was taken on that motion. Call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay. The 639 >> item 39 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 12 vehicles in traffic section 12.88.150 88.150 speed limits to add subsection T. Speed limits on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard 45 mile per hour from Lomar Royal Avenue to Gateway South Boulevard. >> Okay. Represent Tjo. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Okay. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion on item number 39? >> All right. Mr. Prime, call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by representative Bora Trejo, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to adopt the ordinance on item 39. There is no public comment on this item on that motion. Call for the vote in the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay. Item number 40. Item 40 is discussion and action on the award of solicitation 2025-0398 EPIA terminal roof repairs to Aztec Contractors Inc. for a total estimated amount of 3,321,100 $150 >> represent. >> All right. Um even though I'm not voting on this item, I just want to disclose that I did receive a campaign contribution from the principal Frank Spencer on item number 40. Any discussion on this one? >> All right, call for the vote. Yes, >> sir. The motion was made by Representative Maldonado Rocha, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to award solicitation on item 40. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> All right, let's take 41. >> Yes, sir. Item 41 is discussion and action on a resolution that the city manager or designate be authorized to affffectuate the budget transfer to number one transfer remaining funds from completed top 50 arterials community progress bond projects and master plan to ongoing overbudget projects at Geronimo, Shadow Mountain, Lee Trino, and Sunland Park. Number two, to transfer budget from the master arterial project to airport reconstruction project. Number three, to set up the budget from investment interest for city of El Paso Zoo South American Pavilion. And number four, to set up the budget for Central Flatfields from investment interest from 2020 capital fund plan. >> Motion approved. >> Second. >> Represent Masto. >> Thank you, mayor. I had a question about the South American Pavilion. We're increasing this by $175,000 and now the budget's going to be like 2.1 million. So on this specific one, the funding has all been money that the city has put into this. There hasn't been any of um like private donors for this. >> So Sasha Donoski OM So the the money is coming the additional money is coming from investment interest. >> Okay. This is a quality of life project sir. So this was one of the items that were was um brought up in um the aa accreditation. It was a part of our original plan. We had only done um HVAC improvements in our first round. So when we saw the notification that we needed to work on some of these buildings that were aging um we then utilize the remainder of funds that we have within the quality of life to be able to address the original projects that were in the schedule. So, this is getting to the place where we can get this finished. I believe we're going to be done at the end of the year. I'm looking end of the year. >> Okay. End of end of the year. Okay. Because this has been something that has been needed for many years. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Perfect. Thank you. >> Okay. Representative Canales. >> Thank you, Mayor. Just a small thing. It's been a long while since I brought this up, but it is something I've brought up before. I know that on number two, the the project is called Airport Reconstruction Project. We're talking about airport road, correct? >> Yes. >> Yes. I think we should be careful to make that distinction every time. We're not talking about reconstructing the airport. This is airport road. >> Thanks, Representative Chavez. >> Thank you, Mayor. I have I just have a question on on item number one. Um when there's the the adjustments on the budget are done and they're lower, why do they come in lower? Do do we re-evaluate what's the work that's being done or did the cost decrease or do we just do less part of that work? So there were savings I might have uh >> like where did the savings come from because some of them are significant which I think is great right but I don't know if there was an adjustment to the actual project or the cost decreased >> so the savings came from uh six streets coral streets yro lomaland shuster railroad so these are the savings and then we uh we are using $1.2 $2 million from the from the uh master plan >> and and did the savings come from the project being changed or the cost >> reducing. >> So the savings came from uh these projects came under the budget. >> They came under budget. Yes. >> Okay. Which is great, right? >> Yeah. >> Okay. And then there's others obviously that have an estimated cost that is the opposite. And I'm assuming it's because the cost also increased or the the actual project changed. >> So they are the changing the way how the they are doing the the streets right now. >> And so right now they are they are doing uh they're changing the the way the the asphalt is uh I think it's like 5 in right now. >> Okay. >> Iand good morning uh mayor and council. So your original question of why do we have a cost savings? We did um resurface to the limits that were identified and there were some cost savings um because the projects were built upon our estimates. And so why are we transferring to this one project? What Sasha was about to explain on the technical portion is the contracts were written specifically to just resurface 2 in and go back with new um asphalt. We have encountered in doing projects that have higher uh traffic counts that 2 in doesn't always work and we need to go a little bit lower. So what you're seeing is the increase in quantity. Your limits are still the same but we're having to excavate up to 4 in. >> Okay. So for example, Lravino probably is one of those examples I'm assuming because of the high traffic. >> Correct. And so we saw more damage and we had to go deeper to make sure that the reservicing that we're doing last the duration for the type of traffic uh counts that we're going to see on the TVO and because we had damaged subgrade. >> Okay. All right. Well, just wanting to learn more about how this works and this is great. I mean I think that there's a 1.1 million budget savings and then there's obviously an increase in in cost too but I'm it works out. So thank you Avette for that information. Thank you Sashro. Thank you. >> All right. So, we have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion on item number 41? >> All right, Miss Brian, call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by alternate mayor prompo, seconded by representative Lemon, and this is to approve the budget transfers on item 41. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay. 42 >> 42 is discussion and action to request that the city council approves a deductive change order in the amount of $453,371.60 to ZTEX construction for contract number 2024-0472 traffic signals Improvements >> motion to approve. >> Second >> any any discussion on item number 42. >> All right, hearing none. Seeing none, Miss Bryant. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Prom Chavez, seconded by Representative Lemon to approve the change order on item 42. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Let's take 43. And the last item is item 43 and this is discussion and action to authorize the city manager to submit a letter of support for the draft 2026 unified transportation program including the proposed authorization of $150 million for SS 320 borderland expressway phase 3 El Paso category 12 strategic priority. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Any discussion on item number 43? >> Can we please hear the presentation? >> Sure. >> We were going to get on time to Sun Metro but >> morning council with C grant funded programs. Um, there's actually no presentation in the backup. It's just the letter that we're proposing to send to the transportation commission. >> Can you read Men, you see who's doing this, right? >> Represent Canalis. >> Yeah. >> Is it I've been wondering this because I've seen other calls for letters of support for this. Is uh does a letter of support make a difference for adoption of the UTP? >> Um I you know that's a good question. I think in general we are supportive of any money that the transportation commission uh sends to El Paso. Historically we've not been very uh competitive in getting uh a lot of the discretionary funds from the state. So when they do make a commitment to our region uh we like to be supportive. Um in this instance um the city through other agreements with the RMA has committed uh a significant amount of money to this project. So, this potentially frees up that money for um for other projects that the city may want to pursue using funds from our transportation reinvestment zone number three in the northeast. Okay. Ultimately, I don't know that our letter makes a difference one way or the other, but I understand. Thank you. >> All right. Any further questions on item 43? >> All right. Hearing none, seeing none, Miss Prime, call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Boro Trejo, seconded by Mayor Prom Chavez to authorize a letter of support on item 43. On that motion, call for the vote. Representative Kalis, I didn't get your vote. No vote. >> Okay, thank you. Representative Lemon. >> Thank you. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Representative Canal is not present. That brings us to the end of the regular agenda. >> Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Second. First >> move. >> There's a motion and a second to adjourn the regular meeting. All in favor? >> I. Anyone opposed? And the regular city council meeting for Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025 is adjourned at 11:32 a.m. >> Will you convene the Sun Metro Mass Transit meeting? >> Yes, sir. >> It's 11:30. first. >> Don't worry. It's okay. >> Mr. Prime, we ready on this one? >> Okay. I'm out. >> Okay, mayor. I think I think we've worked out our our glitch here. >> Okay. >> Good morning. This is the special city uh special meeting of the Mass Transit Department board for Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025. It is now 11:33 a.m. Present in presiding is board chair Johnson and also present in the chambers is board member Chavez ADO Rocha Boyjo Nino Fiero Lemon and Canales. There is no public comment and the only item on the consent agenda are the minutes. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> All right, we have a motion and a second. Call for the vote. >> Motion made by board member Le by more board member Fiero, seconded by board member Lemon. And this is to approve item number one, the minutes. >> Voting session is open. >> It's not letting me vote. >> You don't see it? >> No. It was Let me Let me run it again. >> Do you see it? >> Do you see it now? >> Can we just call for the vote? >> Mr. Fiero >> I >> thank you sir Mr. Mayor >> I >> thank you and the item the consent agenda has been approved unanimously. Item number three is discussion and action on a resolution that the city manager be authorized to sign the documents related to the fiscal year 2024 lower no emission grant program and the grants for buses and bus facilities competitive program which offers funding in the amount of 30,597,000 requires a total cash match of 5,455821 and the city shall provide all local matching funds in the amount of 2,755 221 for set grant. >> Do we have a motion to approve this item? >> Second. >> Who moved? >> Thank you, sir. >> So, we do have a motion made by board member Canales, seconded by board member Fiero, and this is to approve item number three. >> Is there any discussion on item number three? Okay, call for the vote. >> Voting session is open and the item has been approved unanimously. >> Okay, let's take number four. >> Last item. Item number four, discussion and action on a resolution that the city manager be authorized to sign the documents related to fiscal year 2024 community project funding for Sun Metro's microtransit project which offers which offers funding in the amount of 720,000 and requires a cash match of 180,000. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on this item? All right. Hearing none, seeing none, please call for the vote. >> And we do have a motion made by board member Lemon, seconded by board member Canales, and this is to approve item number four. Voting session is open. >> Can I do purple? >> Yes, sir. Thank you. And the item has been approved unanimously. >> Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Move to adjourn. >> Second. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Anyone opposed? And the special mass transit department board meeting for July 22nd has been adjourned at 11:37 a.m. >> Thank Thank everyone. Yes sir. >> Thank you, council.