Well, good morning everyone and welcome to City Council Chambers. We're glad to have you here on St. Patrick's Day. It's good to see all the green in the audience. And I must admit, I forgot to wear green today, but um >> I know I know. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone. And Miss Prime, we are ready. >> Good morning, mayor, and good morning everyone. Welcome to the presentation of the mayor's proclamations this morning. To lead us in the pledge of allegiance and to present the nation's colors, we have the Civil Air Patrol El Paso Composite Squadron. We have Cadet Senior Airman Ethan Alejandre, Cadet Tech Sergeant Shane Hoe, Cadet Major Amira Carson, Cadet Senior Master Sergeant Eva Labrad, and Cadet Senior Airman Gabriel Lee. arm. Thank you. 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. forward. very nice. Thank you guys. >> Miss Ryan, >> that brings us to the mayor's proclamations. For those of you receiving a proclamation this morning, your group will have up to four minutes collectively to speak at the podium. The first proclamation is El Paso Commission for Women Hall of Fame Honores Day. >> Representative Lemon. >> Oh, Miss Prank. >> Yes. Is there anyone here to receive the proclamation? >> Bless you. Good morning. Allow me to read the proclamation which reads, "Whereas the annual El Paso Commission for Women Hall of Fame recognition will be held on March 28th, 2026 to honor remarkable women who have made a significant contribution to our border community. And whereas the El Paso Commission for Women recognizes women for their efforts in business, civic leadership, education military professional public service, science, healthc care, sports athletics volunteerism and community activism. And whereas since its inception in 1985, the El Paso Commission for Women has continued to honor and acknowledge the impact of women in El Paso County. And whereas the El Paso Commission for Women's Purpose is to pursue a positive course of action for achieving equal rights and responsibilities for women and to provide scholarship funds for deserving El Paso women. And whereas El Paso Commission for Women is committed to understanding and respecting the cultural and ethnic diversity of the women in our community and to serve as a model for plurality and inclusiveness. And whereas Sheila Anthony, Aliana Albodaka, Baby Ruth Boswell, Isella Castan Williams, Amanda Eckery, Betsy Keller, Candidates Prince, Sandra M. Reed, and Lily Lemon join 231 women that now form the El Paso Commission for Women Hall of Fame. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of city of El Paso that Saturday, March 28th, 2026 shall be known as El Paso Commission for Women Hall of Fame Honores Day, signed by our honorable mayor, Renard Johnson. >> Good morning. >> Good morning to the mayor, Mayor Johnson, and the commissioners of the city of El Paso. My name is Anna M. Harris. How and I'm the president of this great organization, the El Paso Commission for Women. I want to say thank you for the proclamation that you presented to us and to the amazing women that we'll be honoring and in inducting on March the 28th at the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame. I get excited at this time of the year when it's time to receive the proclamation. I feel so honored for you to recognize our program. Thank you. Thank all of you. I have with me today some of my board members, a few of the past inductees, but most important, I have to say this, most important this year, I feel truly honored because I say someone I've stood on her shoulders and she taught me a great deal about the organization. She has volunteered with the organization over 20 years as a leader, president. So this year, I had to do a little bit of fighting, but I got it done. This year, we're able to honor her, and it's one of your own. >> Yep. >> That did not receive this honor in the past, and she was far past receiving it. She should have received it a long time ago. So, I want to say I'm honored to in induct this year none other than Commissioner Lily Lam. >> Okay. At this time, I'd like uh the ladies that are with me to come forth, introduce yourselves, and tell your honor. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. I'm Isela Castano Williams and I'm being honored in the education category. >> Good morning. I'm Sandra Reid. I'm being honored in the volunteer category. >> Good morning. Good morning. My name is Shalia Anthony and I'm being honored in the military category. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, Mayor Council. I am being I'm Betsy Keller and I'm being honored in the public service category. >> Good morning. >> You're standing in the place of >> I'll go. >> Yes. Good morning, mayor. >> Good morning, >> city council representatives. I am Dau Wakefield representing all leprechauns and Irish today. However, I'm also standing here for Betty Boswell, Ipost, for um all the service she rendered prior to her death and her service for El Paso. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> And my board member Good morning. >> Good morning. R. Lucille Samuel, 2025 honore for professionalism. >> I have one. She snuck in and she thinks she's not coming to this mic, but she is. >> Good morning. >> Hi. Good morning, mayor and council. My name is Monica Tucker, one of the board members for the El Paso Commission for Women and an inductee of 2024. Fantastic. And again, I want to congratulate u all the honores for the women hall of fame. And again, thank you for highlighting our very own represent um which is very very welld deserved. >> Um whether it's public service, healthc care, military, business, you guys, there's not an industry you don't touch. So, thank you. Thank you so much for all that you do for this community and a big congratulations and very very well done. Congratulations guys. >> Thank you sir. >> We're going to take some pictures I believe. I forgot it. >> Okay, great. I just wanted to tell you, >> right? We did it today. Megan, I think they're waiting for your Okay, Miss Prime. >> And the next proclamation is Pioneers 21 day. >> Represent Nino. >> Thank you, mayor. If I could have the honores come and join us to the podium. All right, I'm going to read the proclamation today. Proclamation for the city of El Paso, Texas. Whereas Pioneers 21 was founded 15 years ago as a hub of human innovation with a bold vision to empower entrepreneurs, innovators, and community leaders through mentorship, training, and connection. Whereas over the past 15 years, the organization has evolved into Pioneers 21, a nationally recognized nonprofit incubator dedicated to accelerating innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development while fostering economic growth. And whereas Pioneers 21 has played a vital role in strengthening the regional innovation ecosystem by supporting startups and small businesses advancing emerging technologies and connecting founders with worldclass mentorship in capital assets. And whereas throughout world-class mentorship, partnerships with educational institutions, industry leaders, government agencies, community organizations, Pioneers 21 has contributed to the job creations of talented development and long-term economic resilience in the region. And whereas Pioneers 21's commitment to human- centered innovation continues to inspire the next generation of pioneers, positioning our community at the forefront of creativity, entrepreneurship, and global competitiveness. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and the council of the city of El Paso, recognizing and celebrating Pioneers 21's 15 years of human innovation and commending the organizations for its enduring impact, leadership, and service to the community. All residents are encouraged to join in celebrating this milestone and the continued advancement of innovation, entrepreneurship, and the opportunity for all. March 17, 2026 shall be known as Pioneers 21 day signed by the honorable mayor Renard Johnson. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Don't be bashful. >> Is it Is it time? >> Yeah, it's time. >> I have to wait for the young lady to allow for time. >> Good morning. >> Morning. >> Doing great. um overwhelmed with the support and can't do it without all of these wonderful mentors that are here today that volunteer 500 hours a year to ensure that our program is successful. But I yes 15 years and today is not about the numbers. Today is about being grateful to every single city council member and including the mayor for uh always supporting Pioneers 21. So we're rooted in the belief that when people are equipped with mentorship, training, and opportunity, they can change the trajectory of a community. The belief that has carried us forward into Pioneers 21. And today it remains the engine behind our work. What uh began as a vision has become a catalyst across our region. We are seeing extraordinary momentum in aerospace, defense, adv advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies. AI. Let us not forget these sectors are reshaping our economic future and Pioneers 21 is ensuring that founders in this region are ready to lead in that future and not follow it. Thank you for your support always and we look forward to the next 15 years. Thank you to all of our mentors and ventures that are here today from in town and out of town to support this special moment. >> Very good. Congratulations. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> My name is Michelle Kristen Tubs. I'm the strategic operations specialist at Pioneers 21 as well as a UTP engineering student studying engineering leadership and innovation with a concentration in mechanical and a minor in electrical. My journey at Pioneers 21 started as a volunteer, then as an intern to a lead fellow and now in my current role. From beginning, I knew I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself. And each step along the way has shaped who I am today. Pioneers 21 has given me more than just an experience, but it's given me direction, confidence, and a sense of purpose. Now I get to help others create those same opportunities through mentorship, training, and connection. I am on the path to becoming an engineer that will change lives through technology and innovation that creates real impact and pioneers 21 is helping me lay the foundation to get me there. Thank you. >> Thank congrats. >> Good morning city. >> Nice to meet you. My name is Andrew Vata. I'm an innovation and venture support associate here at Pioneers 21 and I started two and a half years ago as an intern. Um I'm a UTEB graduate in engineering leadership and innovation as well. And at the time when I started my internship, I was looking for an opportunity to learn and to contribute and to understand how ideas turn into real impact. But what I found was much more than that. Through Pioneers 21, I've had the chance to work directly with entrepreneurs, support startup development, and help build programs that connect people to the resources they otherwise would not have access to in the region. I've seen firsthand what happens when individuals are given the tools, mentorship, and the belief to pursue something bigger. Over time, I grew from learning how the process works to today leading it. Today, I facilitate the Pioneers 21 venture mentoring service, a program licensed by MIT VMS, and we are joined by a group of great mentors today involved in this program as well. Pioneers 21 isn't just an organization. It's a pipeline for innovation, economic development, and community growth. We create opportunity, build confidence, and keep the talent, especially young talent, right here in our region. Thank you. >> Well, there's a big crowd there, so you guys want to introduce yourselves? >> Good morning. >> My name is Art Trevan. Um, I'm actually the guy who flew in here from Austin, uh, just to support this group. >> Wow. >> Yeah. I'm I'm a mentor at the Capital Factory in Austin, um, as well as some other programs. This program just, uh, provides quite frankly that true light of hope for what we're seeing in growth across the nation, and it should be a model for many others. Thank you. >> Good morning. Good morning, mayor, council members. Uh, my name is Kyle Ibara. I'm with Wilson & Company, and it's a great pleasure to be able to mentor this fine young group of young entrepreneurs and talented, innovative individuals coming out of El Paso. It's been a pleasure. I've been volunteering for the last two years, and I've worked with such a wonderful professional group. Thank you. >> Good morning. Good morning, Mayor, City Council. I'm proud to be part of this group, Pinus 21. It has evolved from something much smaller to impacting a lot of people in the community, and uh we hope to continue to work together to make something bigger and better. Thank you. >> Very good. >> Good morning. >> Hello, my name is Alasand Degado. Currently, I'm a student at UTIP and I'm also an entrepreneur as well. I'm focusing and starting my own machine shop here in El Paso, uh, focusing in the aerospace and defense industry. Right now, I'm also working at UTIP in the Aerospace Center. And right now, I'm just focusing on making parts and staying here in El Paso for now. >> That's fantastic. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor, council members. My name is Wayne Diggs. I am a mentor here for Pioneers 21. I'm also an entrepreneur and a professor for business management at El Paso Community College. Thank you. >> Fantastic. >> Good morning. >> Yeah, good morning and council members. Robert Codingham um helped out as much as I can since the conception of Pioneers 21 as it was in those days. hub innovation. The two people that uh started the organization did a great job, but I think it's definitely true to say that Laura has taken it to a totally different level and um it's a really great organization to be part of and I'm very proud to help out in any way I can. Thank you. >> Good morning. Good morning major and council Diego Giaga with Vayesta strategic commercial photography. I'm a mentor and also a mentee of uh Pioneers 21 and everything. Uh it's I would like to thank to Lara and her team for this amazing work that they're doing. Uh thank you so much for having us here. Diego was here. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, Mayor, City Council. Uh, Javier Costa, director of capital improvements for the city of El Paso. I'm also a very proud mentor for Pioneers 21. Thank you. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor, council members. Uh my name is Bobby Lopez and I'm an entrepreneur. I'm the beneficiary of all this wisdom and knowledge behind me. Um when I first uh called Pioneers 21 years ago, I was very frustrated and I kind of took it out on my field's predecessor, Marisol. Um when we hung up the phone, I was sitting there wondering what I was going to do next because I decided that they couldn't help me. Uh Marisol talked to Laa and uh decided that they'd call me back and they said come on in we'll make an appointment. Um being >> frustrated people >> yeah being a entrepreneur can be scary and it's can be lonely um when you find somebody like the folks at Pioneers 21 that often act as a sounding board. Um they'll let you rant and rave and then they'll give you the resources to overcome the problems that you're having. So, I'm very grateful as an entrepreneur that I found them and um I think it's fantastic that city supports them and I want to congratulate them on doing such a great job. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Anyone else? >> I know there's some hiding back there. There we go. >> Good morning. >> Good morning everyone. My name is Destiny Caldera. I'm a fellow at Pioneers 21 and I'm also a graduate student studying mechanical engineering at UTIP. >> All right, go miners. >> Good morning, >> Morning Mayor and council members. Uh my name is Dio Trevinho with the businesses one-stop shop over at economic and international development for the city of El Paso. Thank you for having us. >> Y >> good morning. >> Good morning. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Um I'm Diana Padya. I'm currently the funding and operations support associate. Thank you. >> All right, I think we got everyone. Oh, one more. Come on. >> Got one more. >> Yeah, come on. >> Good morning. Good morning. I'm Denise Olivas. I'm a mentor and entrepreneur >> and um I'm super excited to be here and I would like to congratulate Pioneers 21 for all the hard work, especially executive director Laura Butler and her team. and I I've seen firsthand the benefits that entrepreneurs have been able to to get out of of this um this organization. And so I'm so proud to be part of it and and thank you all for for listening to us. >> All right, I think we got everyone and u Pioneers 21, thank you guys for all that you do. Um, being an entrepreneur, as you mentioned earlier, is not easy and I can attest to that firsthand. And being able to have mentorship and and resources and people just to talk to to get a, you know, to go along this journey is something that, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs uh need in in in this world. So, thank you guys for what you do in economic development, too, because you start a lot of companies that stay in our community and provide back to economic development. So, we cannot thank you enough. You're still young. You're 15 years old. We got to get you another 15 and 30 and 45 years under your belt. But congratulations on a job well done. Thank you guys. the blue sweater with the black glasses. Can I get you to come just a little actually this way for me? There we go. All right. Ready? Big smiles. One. window. Rose Okay, Miss Bri proclamation is education and sharing date >> repres. Thank you, mayor. Is there anyone for this proclamation that wants to come up? Oh, awesome. I'm going to read the proclamation and then um you could speak. It's always good to see you. >> Yes. Good morning. >> Proclamation. City of El Paso. Whereas the basis for the continuity of any society is education and and and in El Paso, the education of our youth is a priority. And whereas a global spiritual leader um Rabbi Menishm Merson, sorry if I messed that one up, of righteous memory stress that a moral and ethical education is crucial to forming and strengthening the good character of our youth and can nurture the unity of diverse peoples through encouraging increased acts of goodness and kindness. imbued with the awareness that even a single positive act of an individual can change the world and usher in in an era of global peace. And whereas March 29th, 2026 will mark 124 years since the Reb's birth. From childhood, he envisioned a world of peace and tranquility for all. And he advanced the sacred responsibilities and ethical values that have formed the bedrock of society since the dawn of civilization. to honor the creator, respect life, reject violence, act honestly, value family, promote generosity, and build a just and moral society. And whereas education and sharing days observed each year on the Reb's birthday in recognition of his outstanding and lasting contributions toward the improvement of education, morality, and acts of charity around the world. A day to pause and reflect on our responsibility to ensure our youth have the foundation necessary to lead lives rich in purpose and fulfillment through service and good works. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that March 29th, 2026 shall be known as Education and Sharing Day, El Paso. It's good to see you. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Good morning, Councilman. Thank you so much for reading the proclamation. Mr. Mayor, thank you for providing the opportunity to have this proclamation presented. And thank you all for being here and everyone that's here in the room. Um this has become a tradition and it's a special tradition. The idea of um honoring the Reba's birthday as education and sharing day as has been articulated in the proclamation. It is to focus on the idea that education is not just about acquiring knowledge, how to make a living, but it is how to live life. It's about the morals and ethics that make our society and in general humanity um you know a place of of peace and tranquility for all. Um so I'm no stranger to city hall. I come quite often and uh last year I appreciate the fact that the mayor gifted in honor of education and sharing day an ark. This is a a giving box, a charity box. We call it an arc. looks like Noah's Arc, but it stands for acts of random kindness that become acts of routine kindness when you give charity every day. So, I would like to do an act of charity while I'm here at city hall and encourage everyone if you have one of these boxes, please use it, fill it up, and give it to charity. And if you don't have, you don't necessarily need to have a yellow arc in order to do that special deed. just set aside a spot on your desk, a small little box, and every day started off with giving some charity. The Reb taught that everyone must view the world and themselves like a scale that's equally balanced between good and evil. And one good deed, spoken word, or thought can tip the scales and bring uh salvation to the entire world, a world of peace and tranquility for all. So, thank you for doing this and we look forward to doing our part in order to bring our community and the entire region closer to this reality. Thank you. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Good morning. I'll do the same thing. I'll copy exactly what we all have to do. Give charity every day. By giving charity every day, we proclaim one strong message that we think of others. And that before we start our day looking at God Almighty and asking him for the blessings for our good day, we have to make a statement to God and say, "God, we care for others." And this is when we can come and turn to God and say, "Please help us too." today as we're recognizing the special day education day for El Paso thinking about the 700,000 people live in this El Paso city area and you are responsible for them so to speak you have to put a little bit more effort and education that brings peace to the family to the people and success to all. Thank you. And may God Almighty bless you to make the right decisions at the right moment and we all go for greater prosperity. Thank you. Wow. Well, it's always good to see you guys uh in council chambers and thank you for coming as often as you do and and thank you for educating us on the ark and and the the act of random kindness. And it was so good last year to see the arcs that were surrounded around city council and we still have some around the city. So today I will make sure that uh I perform my uh anomct of kindness and put some money into into one of the arcs that are in the building. But we cannot thank you guys for all that you're doing in 124 years. You know this is this is special. So congratulations again and on education and sharing day for El Paso. But thank you guys for all that you do for this community. We can't thank you enough. Thank you. And the next proclamation is El Paso Independent School District Focus on Children and Families Program D. >> Represent Lemon. >> Thank you. If we could have the our group from the school district come forward. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. This is a proclamation of the city of El Paso. Whereas the El Paso Independent School District is committed to promoting the well-being, education, and success of children and families throughout the city. And whereas Focus on Children and Families program day highlights the importance of collaboration among schools, families, and the community to support the academic, social, and emotional development of children. And whereas the El Paso Independent School District has designated Wednesday, March 17, 2026 as EPISD Focus on Children and Families Program Day to be recognized during the city of El Paso's council meeting. And whereas this observance provides an opportunity for the city of El Paso to acknowledge and celebrate the vital role that children, families, educators, and community partners play in building a stronger and more vibrant community. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that March 17, 2026 shall be known as EPISD Focus on Children and Families Program Day. signed by the honorable mayor Renard Johnson. Congratulations. >> Good morning. Good morning, Mayor Johnson. Members of the city council, and distinguished guests, I'm La Gonzalez, and I'm the program manager for the focus on children and families program. And this is my awesome school social work, social work team. Um, social workers. >> March is social work month and the theme uplift, defend, and transform perfectly reflects the work our social workers do every day across EPISD campuses. Our social workers support students and families during some of their most challenging moments. Whether this is addressing trauma, mental health needs, family crisis or barriers of to learning. They advocate for children, connect families to resources, collaborate with school staff and ensure students are supported not only academically but emotionally and socially as well. This work requires compassion, patience, and an incredible level of dedication. I want to take a moment to t to thank our EPISD social work team. Their commitment, professionalism, and heart do not go unnoticed. They show up every day for our students, families, often carrying heavy responsibilities. Yet, they continue to lead with empathy and integrity. On behalf of EPISD and the Focus on Children and Families program, we are truly honored to be here today. I would like to introduce our team. >> Sure. >> Good morning. >> Hi, good morning. I'm Regina Baltista and I'm in Northeast El Paso at Andress High School. >> Good morning. My name is Veronica Natividad and I am housed at Diner PreK through 8. >> Good morning. My name is Jamal Assad and I'm representing the west side at Brown Middle School. >> Ah, very nice. Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Roberto Vara and I support the Northeast at Travis Elementary and Crockett Elementary. >> Very nice. >> Hello. My name is Lorine Rodriguez and I'm at El Paso High School. >> Good morning. My name is Lasso Middle School. >> Very nice. Good morning. I'm Adriana Lopez and I support uh Kulie Elementary. >> Good morning. I'm Victoria Morales. I support Western Hills and Zach White Elementary on the west side. >> Good morning. My name is Crystal Rivas and I support Hornado Middle School and Lundy Elementary. Ah, >> good morning. My name is Brenda Ramirez. I support the Westside and I'm at Don Haskins PreK28. Wow. Good morning. I'm Roxanna Romero. I support Jefferson Silva High School in South Central El Paso. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Melissa Lopez. I support the Westside. I'm at Murphy PreK3. >> Good morning. I'm Olivia Navvice and I am the McKini Vento and foster care leaison for the district. Good morning. I'm Lydia Mora and I am at AO Elementary and Hawkins Elementary. >> Hello, I'm Jessica Morales and I serve our military families and students at Milm Elementary and Powell Elementary. >> Very nice. Did we get everyone there? Laura? >> Wow. Well, congratulations you guys and and thank you for uh promoting the well-being of education success of our children uh throughout the city. And we know that research shows that children who grow up in a supportive family environment with access to strong community are more likely to go to uh graduate from high school and go to college and avoid crime and maintain better physical and mental health. So, thank you guys for all that you do for the kids and all that you do for El Paso in our in our school districts. We can't gradu congratulate you enough on focus on children and families program day. So, congratulations everyone. Thank you, >> Representative Lumong. >> Thank you, Mayor. I also would like to add a a commentary. Um, as the founder of Cesar Chaveis Academy, I want you to know that one of the first, um, individuals that I sought to have on my campus was a social worker. I needed someone that could make a home visit. I needed someone that could empathize with the needs of our students. I needed someone that ultimately my students would look up to and say that their number one career choice was to be a social worker. And so I commend the work that you do and I thank you very much for the work you do. Thank you. >> Congratulations, guys. >> We're going to take some pictures. And the final proclamation is Miss Earth, USA representatives, >> represent Canales. >> Good morning. Good morning. >> Good morning. Thank you, mayor. You had to wait till the end, but you're maybe used to a little bit of an anxious wait till the end. >> Okay. Proclamation City of El Paso, Texas. Whereas the city of El Paso proudly recognizes two outstanding young women who represent our community on the national stage through the Miss Earth USA organization. And whereas Mia Autumn Navaro, teen Miss Earth USA, is a dedicated youth leader from El Paso who exemplifies academic excellence, civic engagement, and environmental advocacy. And whereas Mia is a triilingual a honoral student active in student council, model United Nations, and educational leadership programs within EPISD, demonstrating a commitment to service, critical thinking, and global awareness. And whereas as a breakout T1D youth ambassador, Mia raises awareness and research support for type 1 diabetes while advocating for sustainable healthcare practices that protect both patients and the environment. And whereas MIA's environmental platform, healing without harm, promotes practical solutions to reduce plastic waste in the medical field, encouraging responsible material use, waste reduction, and circular economy practices that safeguard public health and environmental sustainability. And whereas Gia Sole Espinosa, Miss Earth USA title holder and public ambassador, represents El Paso with distinction by promoting environmental stewardship, humanitarian service, and community empowerment. And whereas GIA advances environmental awareness across the borderland region by encouraging climate resilience, conservation, pollution prevention, and youth engagement in sustainable practices. And whereas GIA supports survivors of domestic violence by amplifying awareness, promoting access to community resources, and standing in solidarity with vulnerable individuals and families. And whereas Gia leads and participates in community- centered initiatives including cars and canines for Mia Molina, bringing together environmental awareness, animal welfare, and philanthropy to strengthen unity and service throughout El Paso. And whereas both Mia Adam Navaro and Gia Soles Pinosa embody the resilience, compassion leadership and environmental responsibility that define the spirit of the city of El Paso. Now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso recognizing and commending Mia Autumn Navaro teen Miss Earth USA 2026 and Gia Sole Espinosa Miss Earth USA 2026 for their national representation their commitment to environmental stewardship and humanitarian advocacy and their service to the borderland community signed by our honorable mayor Renard Johnson. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Good morning. >> Good morning, everyone. It is truly an honor to stand here today. Being crowned Teen Miss Earth USA was one of the most meaningful moments of my life. But what makes it even more special is knowing that I carried the spirit of El Paso with me on the national stage. Growing up in this city has given has shaped me into who I am today. El Paso is more than just where I live. It is a community filled with support, kindness, and people who believe in lifting each other up. Representing the city is an incredible honor and I'm so proud to call El Paso my home. Throughout my journey, this community has supported me every step of the way. From my first events all the way to the national stage, I have always felt encouragement and pride of the people around me. That support has helped me continue working on something that is very important to me, my platform, Healing Without Harm. Through this initiative, I focus on finding sustainable ways to reduce and reuse medical supplies while bringing awareness to the environmental impact of medical waste. This mission is especially personal to me because I live with type 1 diabetes. Managing my health every day has given me the opportunity to see firsthand how much plastic and disposable material is used in the medical world. While these supplies are necessary, they also create a lot of waste that that realization inspired me to advocate for more sustainable solutions and to encourage conversations about how we can protect both human health and the health of our planet. Being crown team Miss Earth USA has given me the opportunity to share this message with more people and to represent the values that my hometown has instilled in me. El Paso has taught me resilience, compassion, and the importance for our community. Everything I've accomplished is because of the people here who believed in me and supported my journey. I'm incredibly grateful to represent this beautiful city and to continue using my voice to make a difference. Thank you, Mayor Johnson, Council, and to everyone in the community for believing in me, supporting my platform, and allowing me to represent our city with pride. Thank you so much. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Hi, my name is Giospinza and I'm your Miss Earth USA 2026. Thank you so much for this honor. Receiving this proclamation from this city that shaped me is deeply meaningful. I accept with gratitude and a continued commitment to creating meaningful change. To me, leadership is not about recognition. It is about responsibility. It is about how we show up for one another and how we work together to create something that lasts. Growing up in El Paso in a family deeply rooted in this community, I was taught that service is not optional. It is part of who we are. Those values continue to guide my advocacy and the work I pursue today. As Miss Earth USA, I advocate for environmental responsibility sustainability and civic engagement on national and international platforms. This fall, I will have the honor of representing El Paso, Texas, and the United States at the Miss Earth International Competition in Asia. Carrying our city onto a global stage is something I hold with great pride. Wherever I go, I hope to highlight what makes El Paso so special. A community defined by resilience, generosity, and people who consistently show up for one another. At the same time, leadership is not only demonstrated on large stages. It is built right here at home through the everyday choices we make for our communities and for one another. Advocacy is not just something we talk about. It is about participation. It is people choosing to step forward, care deeply, and take responsibility for the places and people they love. Leadership does not begin with a title. It begins with the decision to care enough to act. This proclamation is not an ending, but an encouragement for us to both continue our work. I remain committed to representing El Paso with pride and continuing to serve this community with purpose and gratitude. El Paso is not just where I am from. It is a community that I am proud to serve and represent. Thank you so so much. >> A big congratulations to both of you. And you couldn't have picked better names, Mia and Gia. >> That works out perfectly. >> That that is fantastic. Um, what high schools did you guys go to? >> I'm still in high school. I'm a freshman and I go to El Paso High. you go to El Paso High >> and I went to Laro and then graduated from Chapen High School. >> Chapen High School. Okay. And the you mentioned and I hope I get this right. So Mia, I believe you mentioned you're going to Asia. >> I am. Gia, yes. I will be representing El Paso, Texas, and the United States internationally. >> And when are you leaving again? >> Sometime in the fall. We're still waiting on dates to be announced, but it should be in sometime in October until November. >> Fantastic. Fantastic. and part of what what else do you guys do as part of Miss Teen environment and what other appearances you have to do? What do you do for the community? >> So, we do a lot. We do everything from city cleanups. We pick up trash. We like to get our hands dirty by planting trees, picking up trash every weekend and being involved in the community. We go to food banks and volunteer there. We work with whatever nonprofits we can. And then we also will be traveling more nationally this year. So, I believe we have dates coming up in Miami, DC, somewhere in Arizona, New York. So, we do a little bit of everything, but we just like to be involved with the community as much as we can. >> Wow, that is awesome. So, thank you guys for all that you do, and we're going to be rooting for you uh when you go to Asia for the next competition. You're going to bring home the the other >> hoping to bring another title to El Paso. >> You're going to bring another title. We're behind you. Okay. Congratulations, guys. Thank you. Officer One two three. Okay, Miss Bryan, >> we need a a quorum. >> We'll be right back. Okay, Miss Bryan, I believe we're ready. >> Yes, sir. Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso City Council for Tuesday, March 17, 2026. Mayor Johnson is present in precaging council chambers along with representative ADO, representative Nino, Representative Lemon, and Representative Canales. Representatives Chavez, Rocha, Tjo, and Fiero have requested to be excused as they're attending a conference of the National League of Cities. It is 10:02 a.m. Will everyone please silence their electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by El Paso Police Chaplain Robert Hempill Jr. >> Good morning. Good morning to the honorable mayor Renard Johnson, city council members and department chairs. Let us bow our heads for the invocation at this time. Lord, as we concentrate on serving the public, we pray that you will be honored and elevated in our community. Lord, we give you our labor in the city. We thank you for our community resources and safety. We look forward favorably on our community, protect our citizens and leaders so that we are blessed to be a blessing to others and ask for wisdom, integrity, decision making. Make sure that we make right decision master that is in the best interest of the city of El Paso. This we ask in the name of the father, son, and the holy spirit. Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you. >> May be seated. Thank you, Chaplain. That brings us to the public comment on consent and agenda items, regular agenda items for those that signed up to speak at 10. The first person is Saul Gonzalez, signed up to speak on item 24. Item 24 is discussion and action to amend the February 3rd, 2026 motion regarding the prevention of installations of ICE detention facilities. >> Good morning. You have three minutes. >> Good morning. >> Uh good morning. >> Good morning. >> I actually have to leave. Uh so can I take 245 and 31? >> Yes. >> Yes. Okay. Uh so good morning. Uh my name is S Gonzalez and I'm an organizer with Sanosansa. Um, first I want to say I'm in support of item 24, the investigation into Camp East Montana. Our community deserves transparency and accountability and this is a step in the right direction. Second, I want to express my opposition to item 3 uh 31, the allocation of funds to the deck park. By saying yes to funding to the deck park, we're removing money to other programs like the NIPs and we must be honest about our priorities. Lastly, I support item 35, adopting a climate action plan. This is an important step that Esparansa was part of uh in the input process. Uh but we cannot stop by adopting plans. We must commit to real action. I do want to say if we're serious about protecting our environment then our decisions must reflect our commitment. That is why I'm asking this council to take immediate action regarding the meta uh data center. I urge you to direct staff to conduct a full analysis of all available options to counseling the agreement with meta. We cannot claim to prioritize uh climate action while simultaneously approving projects that strain our water resources, increasing energy demand and contribute to pollution. We must al align our policies with our actions. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Veronica Carvajal. >> Veronica, she's not here. Okay. Uh, we'll move on to Fernando Lugo. Fernando Lugo. Uh, I don't see her coming forward. Mary Wells. Miss Wells signed up to speak on item 35, the climate action plan. Good morning. >> Good morning, council members. Good morning, Mayor Johnson. >> I'm a Mary Wells. I'm a native El Pasoan. I'm a retired educator and I'm also a property owner. I'm here to speak in favor of item number 35 um to approve the climate action plan. This plan is the result of hard and long work on the part of our city servants, the members of the climate office years in the making now finally coming before council and I suppose since we are lacking quum we will not be able to vote on it. However, this is a very important item. I hope it will not be delayed further uh from the council's agenda. One of the important things that the uh climate office did in preparing this plan was to engage the community. I myself was part of at least four separate events to engage community voice and input. It is not a perfect plan, but it is a good plan and it is certainly better than no plan at all. Climate scientists tell us that we have already exceeded multiple tipping points that they have identified that are likely to send our planet into cataclysmic change and instabilities which will affect people all over this globe and also species besides homo sapiens all over the world. Some may ask, well, can we believe what the scientists have to say? Science has a unique power unlike most things within human civilization that it is designed within its core to correct errors, to avoid bias, and to drive closer and closer to truth and knowledge and the discovery of learning what it is that we mean when we talk about our physical world. the world that we live in. We need to use this knowledge. It is science that has given us the quality of life and the life expecties that we now enjoy. Not all of us of course but many of us. We cannot wait obviously for the federal government to take action. We cannot wait on the state government to take action. We must do this at community level now. We cannot wait on future councils, future leadership. We are the leadership. This is our time. This is the time to act. Further delay is unacceptable for our children, for our grandchildren, for our great grandchildren and generations that we can't even imagine. I urge the council to approve the climate action plan. >> You've reached three minutes. and to also provide the resources ma'am >> necessary to carry it out. Thank you. >> And for the record, a quorum of council is present at today's meeting. That brings us to call to the public. The El Paso City Council is a local government body charged with serving the citizens and the meetings must be focused on the meeting at charge. The city council meetings are public meetings under the Texas Open Meetings Act. Public comment is an accommodation and not a requirement of city council. All persons in attendance are expected to display civility and decorum that is respectful to other persons without the use of insulting profane threatening or abusive language. Public comment will not be used for personal attacks, nor may any member of the public use this forum for political statements or campaigning. Please note that during call to the public, the city council may not deliberate or decide any subject that is not on the agenda. However, council may propose that a topic brought forth be posted on a future agenda. This morning, we have 28 members of the public signed up to speak for call to the public. Per the rules of order, council dedicates 60 minutes of the me meeting to hear on topics not on the agenda. So given the number of the people that signed up, each person will have two and a half minutes to speak on their topic and you can monitor your time on the screen on the monitors and chambers. Excuse me. You'll have two and a half minutes. Once the timer turns yellow, you have 30 seconds. Once it turns red, you have 5 seconds to uh provide your closing statement. The first person is Miss Claudia Contra Siller. Her topic is the community's voice. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Hello. Good morning. I want to give a huge shout out to the real fitfam for posting that uh post about animal cruelty about cats. And that's how you educate the city. Uh it's always very important to know the difference between trap need return adoptions and animal cruelty. Animal cruelty is a felony. It's a crime. And that's a huge part of why I back the blue because they're the ones that go after the criminals. And as you all could see, the comments were there. There was a lot of comments and the cat haters and the people that do not like the cats, the ignorant ones don't have a chance against the community because we're very mad that this is going on. There was several zip codes. Uh, we could see pictures of several cats being killed, poisoned, and I think it's time for the community to stand up to defend the ones that don't have a voice. And, you know, like I love cats, but I ask for the city council to use our platform. You guys have unlimited uh power. You could call the the news. Feedfam is down to educate the city as we all could see and I'm very thankful for them. They are very powerful with the community and I see you some of you pay for ads and I think that money can go to fight animal cruelty. Uh thank you very much to the animal cruelty unit to animal services. Also I want to speak about the clandestine businesses that are trapping our birds and selling them. Two weeks ago, we could see a person that publicly stated that he has PTSD and that's the way he stays away from PTSD by trapping pigeons. 1,200 pigeons every two weeks to sell them. He's still posting on Nexor saying, "Oh, there is no killing involved." Well, because he sells them to to be used in shooting ranges and to be killed in very horrible ways. And also I want to state that I admire a lot um Miss Karam from Wildlife Rescue. She's 82 and right now she's taking care of the birds. She's building a new facility. And also I want to talk about MEA. I think the community already spoke. We don't want the data center. Please, you guys are competent enough to understand we don't want the data center in El Paso. Please do whatever you have to do to cancel it before it's built because this is going to go down history and back the blue. God bless you everybody. >> My next speaker is Ron Ko. Ron Ko. I don't see him. >> He's coming up. >> Thank you. >> Mr. Dr. Ko's topic is exercising his constitutional rights to the rescue 1983 animal services. >> Somebody's glasses. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Someone left their glasses at the podium. >> Glasses and notes with looks. Good morning. >> Morning. >> So, here we are another Tuesday. Um, let me start off real quick. Miranda Lambert and Kathy Bissell who used to pull strays from us in large amounts. Um, at one point they complained about several things with the shelter and asked that they get fixed before they continue to help us. One of the things was violating Texas state law, which I think we all know what that was. Um the other thing is my picture where you guys can see it. Okay, this is a post on uh Chucopedia. Um as you can see it was done by a representative on his city page. It states that El Paso Animal Services um never it didn't have closed intake or or anything like it. Does not have closed intake or anything like it. As you can see in in English and in Spanish, this says that the uh intake to the shelter is closed. This is some from El Paso Animal Services. This is a copy of the HOS plan. how it was represented to us. Basically, everything on there is the same as the closed intake, except for it doesn't say closed intake. I think it's time we get a redaction from Chucopedia from the gentleman that posted the wrong information. I'm being polite now. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, here we are. This is the intake numbers since the implementation of HOS. How did we magically intake 17,000 more strays at 24 and 25, but yet we were too full to take strays the rest of the years? We didn't have room. We're too full. Ah, guess what? Somebody wasn't telling the truth. We had plenty of room. We have not added any more room. Not one single more kennel since 20 2023. >> Thank you, Mr. Ko. You've reached the three minutes. The next speaker is Jesse Romero. >> Jesse Romero, Daniel Lopez, >> Daniel Lopez, Destiny Garcia. Destiny Garcia. >> She's coming up. >> Miss Garcia signed up to speak regarding Amaner demands regarding meta data center. >> Good morning. Good morning. >> Hi. Good morning. Um, so I'm Destiny Garcia. I am a member of Amaneta people's project and I'm here to ask you to please break the deal with meta and put an end to any future uh contracts uh with data centers being built in the city. There are so many reasons to be alarmed about data centers. So, I'm just going to throw spaghetti at the wall. I want to appeal to your humanity and your survival instincts and talk about how the de how in a desert we should be protecting our life sustaining resources, not selling it to corporations who could care less about its devastating impacts to the community. I'm not sure that argument will um resonate with you, though. I guess I could speak more to your logical side and flag all of the industries that AI has made its way into. Journalism, management, legal, healthc care, warehouses, food services. We've already seen a 13% decline in employment um for entry level positions and by 2030 uh there's a projected uh 92 million additional job losses as a result of automation and AI is still is in its infancy. So what's the job market going to look like 10 20 30 mark uh years from here? Is this the future you want? you ran for political office, so let me give that one a try. I want to remind you that your constituents, we don't need to be politically active to know that our wallets are hurting. Everything is expensive and it's getting more and more and more expensive. and here you are um allowing companies into our community that we know are going to raise our bills. So um there is really no good reason to um continue to allow these data centers and please do the right thing. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Anna Fuentes. Anna pointes if if I can ask the audience to please hold their applause so they're not so everyone can hear the next speaker's name. Anna Fuentes the remaining speakers will also be uh speaking about the meta data center. Anna Fuentes will be followed by Claire Wells, Mia Gonzalez, Sam Alba, Harry White. Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Anna Fuentes and I am the director of a manipos project. We are a power building organization with over 300 dues pay members. We organize for clean air, clean water, and control over our resources. Over the past five months, we've been building a research team focused on land and water rights, specifically relating to data centers. This team has met weekly trying to understand what these things are, why they consume so much energy and why they are coming here. We compiled this research and have worked with organizers and municipalities across the country to understand what kind of impacts this would have in our community. We then took this information and held data center information meetings across the city and over 175 people showed up to these meetings. Frustrated and confused trying to understand what these projects mean for us. We finished this series of information meetings with a people's town hall last Saturday and we had over 350 people show up to show their concerns. I want to thank Representative Asdo for attending and answering our questions as well as representative Lemon and Nino and Canales for meeting with us and with some of our organizers. And at the end of this process of research town halls, meetings, I want to share with you the most important takeway with you all. We have not heard of one person out of the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people we've talked to who want who say that they want meta here. It is shocking how deeply unpopular this project is. We've had Republican farmers from the lower valley furious about the water usage. Military families from the northeast who were so relieved to leave their last home because there was a data center being built close to them only to hear about the meta deal when they got here. factory workers furious about the automation that the CEOs of these data centers are so excited about. This is a unifying issue unlike anything other that we've ever worked on and it's the same story all across the state and the country. These tech companies are not here because they want to be part of El Paso. They're coming here to take from us. That is their business model. It is simple for everyone to understand that that they have done this everywhere they build a data center. That is why we've had over 3,500 people email you supporting our demands. Break the 380 deal. The 380 deal with meta. Pass policy stopping any new generative data centers in El Paso and use your powers as a council to urge the PSP to also break the deal. There is no smoothing over people's anger around this project and you have the chance to lead on an extremely popular issue. Thank you ma'am. You've reached the three. >> Thank you. The next speaker is Claire Wales. >> Claire Wales followed by Mia Gonzalez. Sam Alva, Carrie White, Joshua Drew. I don't see Miss Wells coming up. >> Okay. If I can ask the audience, please refrain from um the clapping because it's it's disturbing the meeting and you're not able to hear who I'm calling next. Good morning, Miss Wells. Go ahead. >> Good morning. >> Hi. Um I'm Claire Wells. I'm with Amina People's Project and I'm a resident of the Northeast and I have asthma and I'm here to speak to you today about the proposed META data center. Um it is important for the future of the community that we rege on this deal with META. The projected pollution increase will have measurable health harms to members of our community and the impacts on our water will have the potential to decrease our future security as a community in the desert. We're already drawing down on our aquafer and are running low on freshwater in our aquifer to the point that the water company is laying plans to draw from a different aquifer. So, we're not really in a position to dramatically increase our water usage, at least not with a very good reason at least. And Meta does not have very much to offer us. Just a few like a hundred or so permanent jobs, that's really not worth it. and thousands of temporary construction jobs don't justify the permanent harms that would be inflicted on our community by the data center. So, I strongly urge you to break the agreement with Meta to allow them to build here and to get tax cuts for doing so when they have nothing or very little to offer us. some certainly nothing to offset the harms they're going to inflict. Uh and also no more data center deals in this area. We're not water rich enough for that kind of development. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Mia Gonzalez followed by Sam Alba, Harry White, Joshua Drew, Aora Duran. Good morning. You have three two and a half minutes. >> Good morning. >> Sorry, I'm a little tall. Good morning, council. Um, my name is Mia Gonzalez and I am also a member of Amaneter People's Project and I'm here to speak against the data centers that are going to be coming into our uh region here. Um, I'm a farmer. I work in Sakoro, so I'm very familiar with the situation that's going on, especially around water. I'm also a community organizer and you know protecting our scarce resources is critical to my values. These as you've heard and as you've seen these data centers are have used outrageous amounts of water, energy and land and other cities. And so I have to ask we we need to think about what will happen to our rural areas when there's no more water. What will happen when our grid is stretched beyond its capacity? We already get less and less water aotments each year and we live in a droughtprone desert. So it it just doesn't make sense to allow these um industries to come into our town. We can't afford it. And I also attended the recent town hall and heard in depth how these centers are going to be impacting our community and it is not looking good. Especially when we look at what is happening in other cities that have allowed these industries into their regions. Here at the town hall, we saw hundreds of people come together around this issue, understanding that these centers will not bring good to our community. It is often hard to find consensus in such a diverse community, but the fact is clear. No one wants a data center in their backyard. And as a united front, a united city, we have to take a stand against these billionaires and corporate, you know, corrupt corporations who are trying to bully us into doing what they want. We deserve better. The only people these deals will benefit are the people who will never step foot in our community to face the repercussions of such extractive and polluting industry. I urge you to listen to our constituents and move in the interest of the public good. I know that you all don't want a a data center in y'all's backyard. I don't either. And I think we should unite in in these demands against these data centers. We need to break the 380 deal with META. And we need to stop other data centers from coming into our community because we cannot afford this with our resources with building a future here in El Paso. If we want to, you know, invest in the fiscal responsibility of this um community, invest in the future and have people still live here. Excuse me. Uh we need to yeah break this deal and stop these data centers from coming in. The next speaker is Sam Alva, followed by Harry White, Joshua Drews, Aurora Duran, Matthew Rodriguez. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, Mayor and Council. My name is Sam Alva. I'm a public school teacher here at Palm Elementary. I recently returned back to El Paso and found that um there was so much to get involved with and happy that one of my former bosses, I'm a Burgess High School graduate, when my first job out uh in high school was at Mi actually. So um it was exciting to see the the new leadership but um as a public school teacher I care for the future of our al pasoans care deeply for this community got involved with organizations like project maned um I have worked on re regenerative agriculture research and projects uh in South Asia Europe and across the United States and now trying to to work on initiatives here creating garden programs in Seondovario and my local elementary school. Um we live in a piv pivotal moment. It's full of rapid change, corporate ambition, and we as a local city and region that exists in this fragile ecosystem, we must take extra pause and precaution, ensuring that the race for artificial intelligence does not erode centuries of accumulated human intelligence. The things that we already know, the things that we already understand, such as the need for stewardship of our natural ecosystem, no matter what political or corporate climate, may exist at any given time. The air we breathe, the water we consume, the energy that drives life itself. These are resources that exist beyond our lifetimes, the lifetime of this council, and the lifetime of any corporate entity that may want to find a home here. An example from our past includes the toxic aftermath of decades of toxicity that the Asaro smelter brought to our region, contaminating air, soil, and groundwater with lead, cadmium, arsenic, um, sulfur dioxide for over a century. A 1970 study showed that more than half of the children living within a mile of the plant had let levels four times higher than acceptable limits. Uh some of the challenges that affect meta show similar tendencies for an experienced reality that does not match corporate narratives. These include rising admissions. Their energy emissions rose by 22% in 2024, raising concerns about their 2030 net zero commitment. Local research shows that the physical day-to-day demands of gigawatt level infrastructure in high heat water stress deserts like El Paso create trade-offs. the disadvantaged host communities like the 366 megawatt Mloud natural gas plant goes completely against our um sustainable goals uh including 68 tons of nitrogen oxide and 98 tons of monoxide um pollution. So we can do better than this. The community does not want that and I hope that uh this council takes the initiatives to do the right thing. Thank you so much. >> Good to see you Sam. The next speaker is Harry White, followed by Aurora Duran, Matthew Rodriguez, Carla Palasios. >> Good morning, >> Council of Pleasure. My name is Harry White, longtime Northeast resident, uh, dad, artist, community organizer with Aman People's Project. Um, I am against data centers here in my town. Um, I understand that when the deal was made, it might not have been specifically for what's happening, but now we know the truth and this city deserves the outer county deserves more than data centers that are coming in, taking all of our resources, getting tax breaks, using more energy. We deserve better. Please, as a council, for your own history of what people will remember you for, stand up against these practices, against these data centers. The history of the town deserves better. Your guys' record deserves better. We need to stand up against these things. We are living in times where water, as many folks have already said, is already running out. We cannot allow a corporation like Meta to come in and build a data center for AI purposes that are only used by creeps and weirdos on the internet to use up all our resources. We deserve better and I stand here with the other members of Amanda People's Project to advise you to please make the right decision. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. The next speaker is Aurora Duran, followed by Matthew Rodriguez, Carla Palasios, Ariana Aker. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Aurora Duran. I'm a taxpayer, a health care professional, and a lifelong El Paso. I love this city, and that is why I'm here to talk about this. Um, data centers negatively impact public health through air pollution, noise pollution, and water consumption, contributing to respiratory, cardiovascular disease, and increased cancer risks in nearby communities. El Paso already experiences existing environmental and health disparities disproportionately as we are a community of color and lowincome residents. El Paso County has one of the highest rates of residents lacking proper health insurance in Texas with uh nearly a quarter of residents uninsured. Does the city have a plan in place to properly ensure its residents now that we will likely experience greater rates of illness due to the data centers? Also, according to Bloomberg, wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers. This is being passed on to customers. And we also see um as in the case of Corpus Christi that they're running out of water that the corporations uh use disproportionately use. I don't see them coming up and trying to bail the city out. Um, has the city properly notifies its residents that they are going to bear the financial and health burdens that the data centers will bring? Please stop these data centers. Um, the cost is not worth it. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Matthew Rodriguez, followed by Carla Palasios, Ariana Iker. >> Good morning. >> Morning. Hello council. Yeah, my name is Matthew Rodriguez. I'm a volunteer organizer with the Mus People's Project and in my professional capacity I work with organizers and municipalities that are fighting these data centers all across the country. So I'm going to read some quotes here to start off. So the first one is we see a future where intelligence is a utility like water and people buy it from us. Given the growth we are seeing, I am sort of hoping a miracle happens in terms of efficiency to give us time to build this responsibly. The second is I think AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world. But in the meantime, there will be great companies created with amazing machine learning. Next one. We used to make bets on when the first oneperson billiondoll company would exist. Now we are making bets on who can be the first zero employee billiond dollar company. Last one. Nobody wants a data center in their backyard. I certainly don't want a data center in my backyard. The first three are from Sam Alman uh the CEO of of the data center that's being built in Santa Teresa. And the last one is from a Microsoft uh attorney in a private board meeting talking about how they're going to deal with the PR crisis of these data centers. Do you think these people have any interest in being good neighbors to El Paso? >> Do you think they care about long-term sustainability? >> It is comical to think that Meta cares what our water looks like in 10 years. to care what utility bills look like in 10 years. To care that they care about the people who are going to have to live next to this gas plant. They don't care. And I know that a lot of you all, especially the ones here today, are also concerned about this. And we appreciate those of you have met with us and answered our questions. But we need action. We need action now. This is completely irresponsible to trust this kind of business model that is extractive, that is so speculative and reckless with more water than EPISD. And to allow them to build a gas plant that would pollute more than all of El Paso and Los Cusus combined. That is there is no explanation for that. That is completely irresponsible and I ask that you all respond to the demands. Thank you. >> Thank you. The next speaker is Carla Palasios followed by Ariana Iker, John Lanahan, Jose Miguel Reyes. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Good morning, council. My name is Carla Palasios and I am a born and raised El Pasoan. I love this city and had always imagined it to be the place where I would want to raise a family and retire. But for the first time in my life, I am considering permanently leaving because I do not want to live in an area plagued by data centers that threaten my family's quality of life. If Meta and future data centers proceed to be built, the effects will be devastating for our communities. You will put our comm community our families at risk of developing cancer and chronic illness because of the polluted air. Our community will constantly fear for water shortages and we will undoubted undoubtedly be the ones to foot the bill at the end of every month. We're already living with the consequences of climate change in El Paso. From droughts to increasingly hotter summers, every spring, our region's air quality plummets and the dust storms can last weeks, which makes the simple act of going outside to go to work, school, appointments a dangerous ordeal for everyone. And that's already without the addition of a data center polluting our air. I don't want to have to wear a respirator every time I go outside. I don't want to have to live with water shortages because AI needs it more than my family does. If the construction of these data centers moves forward, you will sicken the entire population and displace thousands of homegrown working-class El Pasoans like myself from our communities and leave us with no choice but to look elsewhere for a place to live and that is safe to raise our families. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next speaker is Ariana. She will be followed by John Lanahan, Jose Miguel Reyes, Daniela Garcia, Patricia Osmond. Good morning. >> Good morning. Uh my name is Ariana and I was I'm a born and raised El Paso citizen. After living and traveling in many places in the world, I came back and chose El Paso because of out of everywhere else, this place still feels the most like home. I'm invested in the future of the city as my roots are embedded here by birth and by choice. By now, you've heard all kinds of technical and logistical reasons why data centers are harmful to the ecosystem of this region. And it's honestly shameful that we even have to come and take time to speak or write to you about this issue that shouldn't even be up for discussion. To know that our city leaders have put us at risk of the known destructive outcomes that these data centers bring to other cities in America is despicable. Especially to know that it's all for the financial gain of only a few and not for the benefit of the people who have worked here, nurtured this land, and put our heart into making El Paso a harmonious place to live. I'm here as a mother. I want my kids to grow up in a safe, healthy environment. and your choices standing in the way of that brings me here today to remind you that our children and future generations will have to suffer the environmental and social consequences of your decisions even if you won't be around to witness it. Be it displacement, pollution, sickness scarcity poverty or exploitation. We're not interested in the supposed economic growth that has been falsely promised by Meta and Jupiter. We want a more lasting kind of rich richness, clean air, plenty of water, affordable bills, our loved ones living healthy, and we want to know that our city leaders respect us enough to not act against our interests. If the country becomes infested with these data centers because of weak leadership, the areas that are free of them will attract people as more desirable places to live and people will want to go where they can feel free to prosper. Those who can afford to do so will leave data center cities and those who can not afford to will be left in harm's way. El Paso could become uninhabitable for the rising generations and it would will all have started right here. Right now it may seem too hard to break the contracts that have been signed and too difficult to enter unpleasant business conversations. But I promise you, if you have any morality, it will be so much harder to live with the consequences of your inaction. Each of you can do more. Each of you campaigned and worked hard to be elected into the seats you're sitting in right now. And we will not forget what you did with that power. This is where you make your >> reach the three minutes. The next speaker is John Lanahan followed by Jose Miges, Danella Garcia, Patricia Osmond. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor. Good morning, city council members. Sorry about that. Um, my name is John Lanahan. I'm an El Paso resident and taxpayer. You know, I'm here today because I believe the metadata center deal carries serious consequences for the community and those consequences have not been fully disclosed to the public. This council represents El Paso is a desert city. Water is not a renewable convenience here. It is finite and already under pressure. The facility is permitted to consume up to 1.5 million gallons of portable water daily once fully operational. Meta has pledged water restoration through community projects, but there are no publicly disclosed enforceable benchmarks tied to that promise. A pledge without enforcement is a press release. It's not a commitment. In 2024, El Paso Electric CEO publicly stated this facility would run on solar and renewables. EPE representatives repeated that to state regulators in 2025. Then without any community notification, El Paso Electric filed permits for a brand new $473 million natural gas plant to power this data center. The largest single electricity consumer in El Paso's history. That directly contradicts the city's own climate action plan. And this plan was given no voice before those plans were filed. We are told this is a $ 1.5 billion investment. What we hear less about is what El Paso gave away to get it. Meta received an 80% property tax abatement for 35 years and 12.5 million in city funds from a company that posted $2.7 billion in profit in a single quarter and holds $44 billion in cash. In return, El Paso gets 100 permanent jobs on a 1,000 acre campus. This is not a partnership. That is a subsidy paid by this community to one of the wealthiest corporations on earth. I stand with the El Paso community and calling on this council to take the following actions. Please void the existing 380 meta agreement. Billion dollar corporations must pay their fair share of taxes in this city. Pass legislation to prohibit future generative AI data centers in in El Paso and urge the public service board to void their contract with Meta. El Paso deserves investment that serves its people, not deals made for us without us. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Jose Miges, followed by Daniela Garcia, Patricia Osman, George Aldo. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, Mayor, City Council. My name is Jose Miguel Reyes. I am a resident of district 7 uh and a member of Amaner people's project and like many of us here I am standing in solidarity with friends family and neighbors just as I was with hundreds and hundreds more during the uh March 7th uh people's town hall united in one shared feeling anger. anger at the thought of a data center coming into our communities and destroying our environment, taking our resources and making us pay for uh their project to make profit. Um, and if the deal between Meta and the city continues, residents like my mom will have to pay for it. working families already struggling to afford uh a day-to-day uh life, put food on the table, um will have to pay for it, and young people such as myself um will be paying for a future we didn't ask for. All the while, the few billionaires and companies involved um will profit uh from us. That's why I'm uh we're here. We demand that the city council voids the existing 380 agreement with Meta, ensuring billion-dollar companies pay their taxes. Uh pass legislation to prohibit future generative data centers in El Paso. And lastly, urge the public service board to void their contract with Meta. I urge the city council to meet this moment with the urgency it deserves. Thank you. >> Thank you. The next speaker is Daniela Garcia. Dianiela Garcia. Followed by Patricia Osman, George Odaco, Joseph Reyes, Rosemary Sandoval, Manurva Torres Shelton, Elijah Dura. >> Good morning. >> Hi, good morning. Uh, I am with the Man People Project and I am native to El Paso and grew up in Northeast. I'm here to talk about the meta data centers and the regulations that need to be adopted now and in the future. We ask that you listen to the community that elected you and reopen the deal made with meta and hold them accountable to their initial promise to roll to run on solar energy, return back 200% of the water they take and operate on a true closed loop system. Meta and all data centers under consideration should run on renewable and clean energy, not gas. They should import their water needs without tapping into the region's diminishing resources, especially since they claim they can produce 200% of it. that if they fail to import their own water, they should be charged a rate that reflects the water use in total in cooling and powering proportionate higher than the rate that the schools and hospitals use, which unlike data centers actually lend a service and create jobs. They should be taxed in proportion to their annual profits. Their noise and heat production should be capped. They should have a true closed loop system, non-eaporative system. Currently, their system evaporates water at 86 86 degrees. And just to remind you, we had a day in 90 in the 90s in February of this year. They should pay into annual grants to cover all increased increases in health risk associating associated to living next door to them. And lastly, they should guarantee that any jobs produced, both permanent and temporary, should be staffed with El Paso first and not contracted out. met a light and city council failing to address this now would be an action of bad faith. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Patricia Osman. Miss Osman's topic is data centers transparency, first amendment civil rights of citizens and undue influence of donors and vendors on elected officials. Miss Osman, please speak on the topics you signed up for and refrain from personal attacks. Okay. So, I'm going to take it a different way. What what most of these young folks don't understand is the lack of transparency, the back of the house deals that constantly occur and how the back of the house continues to put in practices to make sure the public has no uh we are the the whole phrase why revolution started taxation without representation happens because borderlex alliance worked that meta deal with the city and I would say he Burella was probably talking with Garina uh was it Barasaga city manager city attorney's office all of that got worked out before it came into city council and all of that got done before the public even knew that is a lack of transparency but on top of that it it keeps going with the lack of transparency to go ahead and steamroll taxpayers for the elites in this city. For example, the bokeh the board uh bond advisory committee yesterday, former representative Augusta is on it and she asked why were they no longer receiving the financial documents? Well, she was told by members of uh city departments that their purview had changed. Why? so that the public doesn't see those detailed finances. One by one, the back of the house, and I'm talking about city managers, city attorneys, and depart department heads before it gets to city council are making deals and changing policies in what they put in front of the public so we don't see it. That is what's been happening. But maybe we should start protesting in front of Border Alliance, Border Plex Alliance against in front of all of y'all's donors. Maybe that would have an impact because it doesn't have an impact here. And as far as uh the ICE center, the only reason everybody thought it was going to get, you know, maybe closed down was because uh Gnome didn't sign contracts and that contract they weren't getting paid and so they had to re up with somebody else. But y'all don't care. That's the point. >> The next speaker is George Aldo followed by Joseph Reyes, Rosemary Sandoval, Manurva Torres Shelton, and Elijah Duran. Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Um, my name is George Alaco. This is my daughter Georgiana. I'm a native El Paso and been living here for 69 years. Do you think she'll make it to 69 years here in El Paso with Meta Data Center? I have seen El Paso grow and change, but I have never been so afraid of what is happening. It scares me. Building a data center in our city puts our entire existence at risk. Uh I mean can't everybody sees it. Everybody sees it here. Even if building this data center is going to bring in revenue or jobs, which is not, given the promises that have been made to meta, but even if it was, what would that money matter if no one is going to be able to live in El Paso? If no one has access to water or clean air, why are you letting a billionaire come in and take everything from us? You were elected to put policies into play that keep our best interest as heart. This data center does not do that. And if you allow it to happen, I will absolutely do everything to make sure and vote against you. I'm a long I've always voted, so I'm an active voter and I'll speak my mind whenever I can. Again, allowing the data center is at best a gullible move on your part. Trusting a billionaire company. When has that ever worked for the people? Everything Meta has said to get you to agree on a data center has been a lie. They promise hundreds of jobs, but the actual number of long-term jobs is less than a 100. They promise to replace 200% of the water that they're going to use. Sounds great, but what are you? They actually going to do what they are actually going to do is put astroturf into our parks, our schools, anything they can tur turf to ensure that they get all of our water. El Paso has always pride itself on our desert beauty. Why would we want to exchange that for astroturf which is both econ environmentally dangerous and physically dangerous exposing our kids to more injuries and cancer causing PFAS? >> John Cornin and represent billionaires are consistently working against you reached the three minutes. The next speaker is Joseph Reyes followed by Rosemary Sandoval, Manurva Torres Shelton and Elijah Duran. Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor. Good morning, city council. Um, I'm a longtime resident of El Paso, uh, born and raised here and, um, I'm a part of, uh, Aman said people's project speaking about the the data center. Um, as you hear, as you heard from my, uh, fellow constituents here in El Paso, we are strongly against the the data center and the deal made with Meta in regards to the data center. Uh I believe the city should not move forward with the deal made with uh Meta due to the following obvious reasons of uh increase in air pollution, increase in our our water pollution and ultimately increase of energy which ultimately the citizens of El Paso will foot the bill and I have some uh some prior research that according to the United Nations Environment Assembly a request made through the chat GBT an AI based virtual assistant consumer 10 times the electricity of of Google search uh and reported uh by the international energy agency. Furthermore, the United Nations Environmental Assembly reports that data centers produce uh electronic waste which often contains hazardous substances like mercury and lead. So making the operational stage of AR uh carbon neutral is an important and urgent objective but operators and policy makers such as yourselves should work in parallel and on reducing the impacts on ecosystems and ensure that AI applications contribute to holistic environmental action. Due due to these reasons, I urge the city council to avoid the current agreement of meta and just want you to uh leave on uh on this note that remember that people cannot drink data. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Rosemary Sandoval followed by Manurva Torres Shelton, Elijah Turan, and Daniel Lopez. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. I'm going to wait till the Good morning. I'm a love lifelong resident of El Paso. My name again is Rosemary Sandoval. I stayed up till 2 in the morning because the more research I do, the more negative um that I see about the data center. I was taken aback when I heard in local news that we were going to have a data center. Never uh had an inkling that this could happen to us, to our beloved community. Right now, we're faced with the realities of the decisions that you made prior administrations starting with D. Marco, and now we are counting on you, the mayor, city council, Borderlex Alliance, the water and electric companies, and the deals that were made. We're not talking about a future soccer stadium, the law school that's going to be coming. We're not talking about these great improvements that will make El Paso greater. We're talking about a warehouse. Congratulations. You have a warehouse. And what does that warehouse have? It's filled with racks from floor to ceiling. And what do they require? Water. We're talking about electricity. We're talking about the future. Li listen to these young people. This is the future of El Paso. They are as scared as we are today. And I'm asking you to really consider what you have done in agreeing to this plan for our future. You've landlocked. You have landlocked Northeast. who will want to build with the humming noise, with the pollution, the pollutants that come with having a a data center. I want you to think about it. You're talking about future. Oh, congratulations. We're going to have more warehouses and then what's going to happen? You're talking about light pollution again as they were talking about. It creates respiratory illnesses and you're talking about children who will be uh with asthma issues and right now with the big beautiful bill, guess what? They took away the subsidies that will help and many people are without insurance. So as we continue and if you will listen to the people there, >> thank you ma'am. You've reached the three minutes. >> So we thank you and we thank you. The next speaker is Minurva Torres Shelton followed by Elijah Tur. >> Good. Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor and city council members. My name is Minerva Torres Shelton. I'm here today as a member of this community. And as someone who believes taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability, I want to also speak specifically to the Meta AI data center plan for the Northeast area. There are serious concerns that have not been clearly addressed. We are talking about a facility that is projected to use 750,000 gallons of water per day. At a time when many families are already worried about water access and rising utility costs, that number should concern every single one of us, specifically those living closer to this project. And also we are looking at an 80% tax abatement meaning that the company will only pay 20% of property taxes for 15 years. So naturally the question becomes who is making up the difference because it won't be the corporation it will be taxpayers. We are also hearing about a limited job creation which raises another important question. What is exactly the long-term benefit of the data center? What is even more concerning is that many residents feel like there was no transparency. This project was in the works for two years and we only heard about it once the groundbreaking happened. And I guess my question is I understand sometimes things cannot be discussed but why haven't we received a reason why it was kept in the secret for so long? So but my question is because I've heard uh certain elected officials say they will prevent future projects like this but my question is how are you going to hold this data center accountable? We've heard statements about recyclable water usage, but where is the plan? Where are the enforcable measures? And what happens if those promises are not met? Because once this project is built, it is too late. Uh I've spoken to many voters who are very concerned about this. And the way we hold accounted officials is through voting. Thank you so much for the time. >> Thank you, Elijah Duran. Good morning. >> Good morning. Uh hello, my name is Dr. Elijah Duran and I am here to express my uh will echo the sentiments of my fellow citizens and express my deep opposite opposition to uh data centers being implemented in the El Paso community. Um uh data centers make cities hotter by contributing to urban heat. Uh the urban heat island effect where waste heat from massive energy intensive servers and cooling systems is is released into the surrounding environment. If not managed properly, this heat combined with dense urban infrastructure increases both daytime and nighttime temperatures in cities in cities and El Paso already experiences intense heat. Uh researchers warned that with droughts and population growth, data centers have the potential to help push water supplies to the brink as the desert city El Paso relies on dwindling non-renewable aquifers and the fluctuating Rio Grande. Uh data centers are intense consumers of water often using millions of gallons daily. We cannot trust uh these corporations to keep the word regarding our national resources uh our city resources because despite previous statements that their data centers would be powered by clean energy, El Paso Electric Electric has filed for approval to build a four uh $473 million natural gas powered plant uh the MCloud facility uh specifically to serve the the maj the the meta site. Um, additionally, I would like to express my concern with how these uh decisions are made and the power that a a an organization like the Border Plex Alliance has in making the these decisions without full transparency. Um, I would uh like for there to be more checks and balances in that uh regard and thank you for for your time. >> Thank you. >> I'll now call on the people that are waiting in the queue to speak. The first person is Daniel Lopez. Mr. Lopez, star six, please to unmute your telephone. Daniel Lopez will be followed by Joshua Drews. >> Mr. Lopez, you're still on mute. Star six, please to unmute your telephone. >> S. >> Good morning. You have three uh two and a half minutes. >> Thank you very much. Hello everybody. My name is Daniel Lopez. I'd like to thank everyone for uh coming out today and expressing a similar concern that I have against the data centers. I'm a lifelong El Paso. Um, I teach at EPCC. I love literature, right? And it breaks my heart to know, um, that there's this deal coming in that's going to, you know, already abuse, uh, our our community, right? This is like a thing that's repeated many, many times where like, uh, you know, low-income communities are are made to like foot the bill for these bigger corporations that really have no interest in like our livelihood and our landscape. Um, this is a form of violence against us, right? uh having these big corporations that really um don't have an infus and making sure that like affordability stays affordable for us if we have access to like things that you know a right to a a healthy and clean environment that's prosperous for everyone. Um so yeah, I mean we recently just experienced uh price hikes in our utilities. I'm pretty sure the owners of these companies, you know, are salivating at the chance to flip the switch on for these uh data centers, right? So there is no interest for the local communities. Additionally, as uh some of the other uh speakers have mentioned, you know, this is cutting losses, right? We're already in a community that um doesn't have a lot of like high-tech uh opportunities, right? With these data centers, like there's going to be even less opportunities. Well, there's less opportunities. The cost of living is going to go up. Like I can't imagine what kind of landscape these data centers would create 10 years down the line, especially for everyone that has children. I think we we need to really like think hard about what's happening and what the repercussions are for our community. We need to think about like our elderly, the most vulnerable, as well as like our neighbors in Silapad is. Um this, you know, we're a community and I think um we need to come together on this, especially everyone on the board. Um you need to understand that this is affecting our neighbors, right? People to the left or right, to the left and to the right of us. We we're here together and this is where we live. So to have someone come in um and do what they want with our resources as a way for them to just better themselves while we get nothing, it just doesn't sound right. Again, I feel like this is a form of violence that's being done on to us. And I I really hope that you guys make the best decision and uh negating this agreement and not allowing any future agreements to take place. Uh I am also a part of the MI said uh community uh coalition and I'm happy to uh you know present it. with a loted time. The next speaker is Joshua Drews. >> Mr. Drews, Star TR 6. Good morning. You have two and a half minutes. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh, Mayor Johnson and city council members. Thank you for taking the time to listen to our concerns. My name is Joshua Drews. I'm a member of Amanaser People's Project and a resident of El Paso City. I echo the demands of Amanaser regarding the metadata center. I recently joined a people's town hall meeting on the data centers here at EPCC and witnessed hundreds of people joined together by their desire to see a better investment in El Paso's future. El Paso is a desert city composed of people who understand the value of every drop of water and every dollar invested in their community's future. However, today we are being asked to welcome data centers that will consume enormous amounts of electricity and water while offering very little in return for the people who actually have to live here. Our community is not against progress. We are against investments that treat El Paso like an extractive resource colony rather than a place where families live, work, and build their future. Instead of giving property tax abatements and incentives to billion-dollar tech companies, the city could invest the same public support directly in where we need it most, schools, infrastructure, and stimulating our local economy by investing in local small businesses. Other cities have done this successfully such as the Grow Dotto Marketplace in DFW which created a local marketplace where food vendors, artisans and neighborhood retailers launched their first storefront with support from the city and have successfully helped small vendors open those storefrs and create jobs which in turn kept the money circulating in the local economy creating us creating a more resilient city. Imagine if El Paso instead of subsidizing corporations from outside our region, we can invest in the city in the people who already live here. That kind of investment builds something lasting. It creates opportunity for families and strengthens the culture that makes El Paso unique. Across the city, our community is speaking with one voice. We are proud of the city and we are asking in unison for the city of El Paso to void the existing 380 agreement with Meta, ensuring the billiond dollar company pays their taxes and to pass legislation to prohibit future generative data centers in El Paso and to put a moratorium on these data centers. Invest in the people who live here. El Paso deserves investment that builds our community, not infrastructure that drains it. A better world, a thriving El Paso is possible. Thank the next speaker is Jay Mana. Jay Mana star six please to unmute your telephone. >> Go ahead. You have two and a half minutes. >> Uh good morning. My name is Jay. I am an organizer with the Mstead People's Project and a homeowner in Clint on the far east side. I spent the past year and a half working in communities all across the state of Texas whose resources are being threatened because of rampant industrial expansion. The business practices and tactics that I see being deployed across the state are being used here at home against El Paso right now. These companies often owned by the richest men in human existence come in and overwhelm communities and local governments with the promises of jobs and development. They are then allowed to set up shop and proceed to take and take and take until there is nothing left. I've seen $400,000 houses and subdivisions without water for 40 plus days because it is so polluted when it is available. Now, in my own community and hometown, I am seeing what is the start of our city's downfall if we do not take a hard stance right now. The YWIN data center is just a few miles from my front door. And all around me, I am seeing farms that I grew up around being sold so that warehouses and substations can be built. Every single day I drive down North Loop into Cororo on my way into town and I pass what used to be beautiful wellestablished pan orchard actively being demolished so that industrial parks and warehouses can take their place. The farmers and homeowners in these communities are very upset as are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of El Paso that I have directly spoken to over the past few months. We deserve answers and like I previously mentioned, the time to take a stance is now. I attended the town hall on the 7th and listened to almost 400 people express their disgust and Meta being allowed to come here and take from us. Our water is ours, not Meta. This is a wildly unpopular project and I look forward to hopefully working with you all to get it stopped. Thank you. >> The next speaker is Emmanuel Ortiz. Emmanuel Ortiz. I don't see him in the queue. Sylvia Sarfos. Miss Saros, star six, please to unmute your telephone. Sylvia Sarfos, star six, please. You're still on mute. Miss Saros, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. Go ahead, ma'am. You have two and a half minutes. Good morning. My name is Sylvia Siras. Uh, so good morning, mayor and city council. Uh I live in district 8 and I'm also a member of the uad people's project and I'm here speaking um concerning you know the climate changes that are affecting El Paso, the extreme heat, the drought and air pollution. uh I also attended the people's uh town hall you know on uh March 7th and I was uh it was very informative and also um the I saw the people engaged with this issue and that's why I decided to speak up today to uh ask city council to stand up to metro uh we need to protect our health um when city I my understanding is when city council first voted on this issue, they thought they were voting for solar as the energy source. And the fact is that MET has already broken the the the contract with the city because they will not use solar as their energy source. They want a gas plant. Um, META doesn't care about us. They don't care about our community. And I'm asking you all to care to care about our community. I'm a retired nurse and so I'm especially concerned about health issues. Um we already are dealing with pollution issues here. And why do we want to add to our pollution load? Um we know data centers are known polluters. They cause noise pollution which affects our our mental health as well as our physical health, water pollution and scarcity with that. And again we know without here we live in the desert without water without potable water. Um it's a life and death issue. And then air pollution. Again, uh we all breathe the same air. We don't I guess if we work if we're using respirators, I guess it's it's a cleaner air, but we all are exposed to that air and we don't have any choice in that matter. And so we need to keep >> Thank you, Miss S. You've reached the allotted time. The next speaker is Elizabeth Crawford. And Miss Crawford's topic is Women's History Month, Corey Story and Abortion. Good morning, Miss Crawford. You have two and a half minutes. >> Good morning. Thank you. Um, as March has been designated women's history month and sundown April 13th to sundown April 14th is designated as Israel's Day of Remembering the Holocaust. Yum Peshawa. I'd like to speak about a woman whose life contains many lessons for our generation and also many lessons for us as proifers. In God's word, we read these words spoken by the Lord Jesus during his earthly ministry. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus was referencing his ultimate sacrifice on Calvary to redeem a people by turning them from enemies to friends through the forgiveness of sins and transformation of their heart. In other passages, we see that Jesus's sacrifice is to be the driving motivation of all who would follow him. Corey Kimboom and her family hid Jews during the Holocaust. Her father, a watchmaker in the Netherlands, was eventually arrested by the Nazis. Corey, her sister Betsy, and her father were all taken to a death camp. After their arrest by the Nazis, Cory's father evoked a level of compassion by some of the Gustafo because of his age and frailty. An interrogator offered to send the 84year-old home on condition he would quote, "not cause any more trouble." Casper Timber responded without wavering, "If I go home today, tomorrow, I will open my door again to any man in need who knocks." He declared it would be a greatest honor that could come to my family to give up their lives for protecting the Jews. And that is what happened. Corey Tambboom survived. Her father and sister died. The life of Corey Tambboom challenges us as prolifers. It's often tempting for us to whine in cold weather, hot weather, rain, trying to save babies outside of the abortion centers. We whine over these things. Yet here is a family who gave their lives to save others. The words of the Lord Jesus pointing to Calvary. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Corey, the life of Corey Tambboom is so is something that we can all look to a life of sacrificing to give her life for others. Thank you. Hope you have a good day. Thank you. >> Thank you, council. That concludes call to the public. 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. >> Representative Nino. >> Thank you, Miss Prine. I make a motion to approve the consent agenda with the following revisions. Page nine, item 25, postpone for two weeks until April 1st for police department. Page 10, item 26, postponed two weeks until April 1st, 2026 per police department. >> Okay. Is there a motion? Is there a second? >> All right. Representative Bosto. >> Thank you, mayor. I also wanted to pull items 10 and 11 from the consent agenda if we could take those together. I have a process question. >> Okay, >> we have a motion and a second. I believe we have um public comment. Miss >> Yes, sir. We have Miss Osman that signed up for item number three, which is a resolution for services agreement between the city of El Paso and Center Against Sexual and Family Violence. She signed up for item eight, which is a notation of the delinquent hotel occupancy tax report. Item number nine, which is the uh pay card transactions from January 21st to February 20. Items 10 and 11 were moved to the regular. So that will be a separate discussion. Item 12 on the award of solicitation for vaccines to proaction. Go ahead, Miss Osman. You have three minutes. >> Okay. As far as uh not that I disagree with any funding for sexual and family violence, quite frankly, I I think we need more of it. Um, I I would have thought voting in um a member of council that was part of the LGBTQ community, we would have a lot more action in that, but instead of getting Pete Budajage, we ended up with Peter Teal and Barry Weiss. because I have spoken to you all before about a BDSM prostitution group. And if you don't think that that is family violence when somebody is committing that within their own home where they have minor children, then you'd be wrong. And they are part of the border the Borderland Rainbow Center. At least they were associated with and that has been proven online. So, I would hope that a lot more is done to actually help the victims of sexual violence in this community, but it's really sad when members act when people affected have to go onto the state level versus the local level. as far as the hot tax. I'm just curious whether any of those individuals ever received any incentives from capital improvement because that would gauge if if we actually had that information. It would gauge as to whether it is wise to even be doing that if later on this is what they do. They start once they have to pay taxes, they start going delinquent. Uh, as far as PEC cards, nice to see that we paid for three of the members who are not here to go to DC, but one of those members does have over $150,000 in the discretionary fund. So, I guess Oh, yeah. Uh, Fiero at one point 170 over 170,000 in his discretionary fund. Yeah. Wonder how that got there. But there's also food in those for proclamations. Kind of strange. And there's some some added line items in there that really aren't defined. So again, y'all are eating good on the tax paradigm. It is very shameful all the things that happen in the back of the house. There's a lot of uh taxation without representation. residents pay and y'all just sign it away. Really sad. That concludes public comment on the consent agenda items. >> Okay, we have a motion. Represent, are you still >> okay? All right, we have a motion in a second. Any further comments? >> All right, Miss Prime. And for the record, we did receive seven statements in support of item 11, which was moved to the regular agenda on that motion. Call for the vote >> in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay. >> May we take the items that were moved to regular? Yes. Let's take items number 10 and 11. >> Yes, sir. Item 10 is the award of task order number 5B-1 for solicitation 2022-0678 fire station number 27 renovations to construction for the total estimated award of 1,368,63467. Item 11 is the award of task order number two, solicitation 2024-0124N2, veteran pool improvements to noble contractors for a total estimated award of $1,16,68828. >> Okay. >> Motion to approve. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Represent. >> Thank you, mayor. Um I'm supportive of both of these. I my question is more a point of order on procedure on these misin. Um my understanding is that the council voted about a year ago to bring anything under a million dollars um to the consent agenda. Both of these are over a million dollars. So should they have been on the regular agenda or am I completely wrong on that notion on what goes on consent and regular? It's a million five. >> A million five. So I thought we had raised it from 500 to a million. >> So it's 1.5 million. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. Thank you so much. >> Okay. There's a motion in a second. Any further discussions on items 10 or 11? >> Can we take them together, Miss Fry? >> Yes. And so there is a motion and a second to award the solicitations, the task orders on items 10 and 11. On that motion, call for the vote. I'm sorry. Uh, I'm going to stop the voting because Miss Osman did sign up to speak. Okay, please. >> I stopped the voting. I apologize, Miss Osman. >> It's time. I'm here all day. Uh, I just wanted to remind everybody, especially my representative in district two, that we are, and I have no problem funding for the fire department or the pools. But let's just remember that a fire department was killed off of Pedras which made residents in that area have to wait a little longer and then sort soon for boulevard will be killed. So district 2 loses more fire departments in our area. Maybe because it's a poor community, it's a aging community, less funds, you know, more seniors, those taxes are deferred, not as much in your coffer. So, you pay attention to, you know, district one or district five, so forth. As far as the pool, don't have a problem with that. But I do have a problem with the fact that two polls in district two also got cancelled. We had the pool on Chelsea. Didn't have money for that. It got turned into a little desert scape sorry excuse for a park. I mean it it was really sad to see for everybody in that area. And then also Graham View that that poll still empty soon apparently to be what killed off and deleted again because the city went with uh let's do forprofit water parks to compete against Wet as versus letting affordable activities in pools for families in our area to be able to have access to that so you'll nickel in dime the citizens the poorest community one of the poorest and highest taxed and highest debt in the state of Texas and some saying in the nation if you get on YouTube and watch enough videos and you still take from the poorest I understand hey really nice veterans pool sounds good veterans and all up in the northeast But you you just keep killing them in the in the low inome communities. It just the gentleman from Kelly Center made it a point. We have the highest poverty level. You don't bring enough jobs in our city has always been focused on not bringing good jobs to the community. Let's keep the wages low. And then you keep taking taxes from the low income and then you keep taking their services. So I'm just wondering when are you going to delete that poll at Grand View completely? That concludes public comment. >> Okay, we have a motion and second on items number 10 and 11. Miss Prime call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The voting session is open. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay. I believe that takes us to the introduction of ordinances. >> Yes. This the first reading of ordinances. These are items 14 to 21. >> Okay. Is there a motion? >> I make a motion to move on the first reading of the ordinances. >> Okay. Second. All right. There's a motion and a second. Miss Bryan. >> Yes, sir. There's a motion made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Canales to approve the first reading of ordinances. These are items 14 to 21. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Okay, let's take item number 22 on the regular agenda. >> Yes, sir. Item number 22 is a public hearing of an ordinance authorizing the conveyance of real property owned by the city of El Paso to Martin Armenis for the purchase price of $197,500 for the property described as a portion of tracks 9 and 10 boothville number two in addition to the city of El Paso Paso County Texas. >> Good morning. Is there a motion to approve this item? >> Second. >> All right. Good morning, Mary Lou. >> Good morning, mayor and councel. This item is for the property sale of 317 Pendale, also known as property identification number 153838. This was brought before council in September of 2025. City council vetted this as surplus property and approved its listing in accordance with the Texas Local Government Code section 253.014. The property was marketed via a broker and listed for at least 30 days on a multi-listing service. The property size is 1.6 acres zoned R4, I'm sorry, RF Ranch Farm. It was listed October 8th, 2025. The proposed buyer is Martine Armenis. We appraised the property at $195,000. The purchase price is $197,000. $197,500 plus closing cost. We received two offers. This property is located at the intersection closest cross streets of Pendale and Clavl, approximately one street away from the Pendale and Union Pacific Railroad tracks. We do recommend selling this property to the highest offer. >> Okay. Representative Lemon. >> Yes, Mary, if you could put uh slide three back up. Does the city own the entire property there? >> Yes, ma'am. The property just to the south of that is 313 Pendale and that's already been brought before council. It has not closed yet, but it will be closing soon. >> Very well. And it'll maintain the RF zoning >> as far as we know. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. As far as we know. >> Yes. Because we're selling it with that RF zoning. So, we don't know what the proposed buyer would be doing with it after that. >> And we don't we don't have any information when they buy this property, any discussion as to what they plan to do with them. >> In general, they don't offer that in the letter of interest, but we can certainly start recommending that they add that in there if you'd like. >> I would um I'm I'm concerned. This is a residential area, and I sure would like to see that it's maintained, especially because it's an RF. I hate to see the the land in this district um overcome with warehouses or any other types of situations like that. So at least I would in my district. >> Understood, ma'am. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Representative Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Mary Lou, any reasonzoning of the property after the fact would have to come before the council. Correct. Nicole, Cody. Um, yes sir, that's correct. Uh, resoning would follow the normal process. It would have to go to CPC as well as city council for reszoning. >> Okay. So, without going through that process, the r the uses allowed in the ranch farm zoning would be the only allowable uses. >> Correct. That's all that it's allowed now. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. I think representative just to explain a little bit further. This is just the sale of the property. So at this point I I think I'm not sure it is what it is that you're asking staff to do in regards to the zoning. What would you what are you requesting? I you know we're selling property and with the construction of warehouses or logistic centers >> I'm really concerned about that. we are losing the farming area in in our district and so I want to really look keep an eye on that and and I don't know and I can understand yeah it's going to go before zoning board but I was just curious to see if there was any discussion as to the purpose of of the purchases if it's not allowed or if it's not just um just like casual conversation >> I I I would defer that to staff but once it's sold if they choose to reszone it, it will come back to reszoning and then it would have to be in conformance with that area, right? And whether staff would recommend that it be reszoned to a higher zone >> would have the ability to make that determination as well. >> I understand. And I it would just be that if someone's interested in buying this particular land to build a warehouse that they would know upfront that it's going to be an uphill battle, especially with me if I'm the representative for that district. Thank you. >> Okay. Any further questions for Mary Lou? Okay, Miss Prime. >> Yes. A motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Nino to adopt the ordinance on item 22. There's no public comment on that motion. Call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay. Let's take item number 23, please. >> Item 23 is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 12 vehicles and traffic chapter 12.44, stopping, standing, and parking generally to delete paragraph 31 reserved for library vehicles only. Item B, two spaces on the north side of Franklin Avenue between Oregon Street and El Paso Street and add paragraph 34 reserved for library and Mexican-American Cultural Center MAC vehicles only. Item A, two spaces on the north side of Franklin Avenue between Oregon Street and El Paso Street. >> Represent Canales. >> Thank you. No real questions about the actual changes. I I know that the facilities both need these spaces. Um it's more just a uh little cleanup. Uh posted with the agenda is uh the backup for a different item for changes on Mcomes. If we can just make sure that that gets changed in the agenda packet so that folks aren't confused. >> We'll make that correction. Representative. >> Is there a motion to approve this? >> I move to approve. Okay. >> Okay. Representative Lemon. >> Thank you, mayor. I actually have a real big concern with the parking of vehicles that designate and take up crucial parking in this area, specifically going into the library, uh, going into the MAC, I believe, because I counted them when we did the the the ribbon cutting, but I believe there are five or six parking lot parking spaces that are designated, people can't use them. And so, you know, some people may say, "Oh, there's lots of parking downtown. There's lots of parking." When you get off a car and you've got a a carriage and you've got a child and you've got another one in hand, walking three or four or five blocks is not conducive to encouraging you to go to the library. And so, I don't know, Randy, I don't know. Is it could there be a better solution than taking up that many spaces? I'm wondering, Miss Mac, >> these were existing, ma'am. So, they were two parking spaces that have been existing for the library for a really long time. So, the staff were just simply changing it to allow for the MAC and the library to use those same existing spaces. So, we're not adding to it, >> but they're taking up the space. >> But there's one of our only buildings with no parking lot. >> Well, see, >> that's my concern. we build, but we don't we don't take into consideration the parking and and when when we're put putting these vehicles in there, it it doesn't allow the public to go and use these facilities. I there's two or three directly in front of the in front of the library and then there's two on the other side of the street and then there's a warehouse or the loading dock. There's parking there. There's also parking at the history museum. The side reserved parking. And so I just I'm I'm I know that there isn't access right there, but I think the priority should definitely be given to the residents. And I'm not sure why the vehicles need to be parked there. I don't know if they're loading and unloading. If it's loading and unloading, then maybe we could cut it down um to the number that's there. But I I I just I have I have a real concern with that. um going out there never you'll never find a parking space available. And so if we're if we're building these things and we're doing these things for our residents, then we need to have accessibility to them. That's just my concern. >> Thank you. >> We have public comment on this item. >> Yes, we have Miss Osman signed up to speak. Miss Leman, I'm going to thank you because some of what you touched on is exactly what my issue was is the fact that uh there is limited temporary metered parking which means you go to a meter, you can be there half hour, hour, put your, you know, quarter in, what have you. as versus having to pay even more at one of the parking lots, right, or the parking facility by the plaza, which is more of a financial strain on an already low-income community. So, yes, you strip away more parking from the public. as it is, we're going to have less less ability to drive because we're putting in parking lanes downtown or bike lanes writing bike lanes downtown. So, there's going to be more bottleneck. It's it's just creating more of a nightmare. And yes, Miss Lemon is correct on the fact that the MAC was built, no was built, all of this was built without the consideration. Mind you those the Mac they have yoga that that is not Mexico Mexican American culture. All right you have lenov you've got all of this is more like elite playground but lowincome parents that just want to be able to go park. And I know people who don't come downtown because the parking's expensive. and it's hard to find parking. I know senior citizens, some that don't even have the handicap plaque that they should so that they could get that free parking. Either way, this is this is a problem that I dealt with years ago because EPISD blocked off a street by Memorial Park in front of Crockett by on the side of Crockett School on Luna Luna Street so that only buses could park there. No. So, I made it where parents couldn't pick up and pick up and drop off their kids there. I had to fight. I had to protest with fifth graders and I had to stand there and protect them for almost two weeks against the residents because they were forced to go across the street and wait for the parents to pick them up because they couldn't next to the school. This is the same thing is that uh an a city entity is creating a problem for residents for their own selfish needs. Maybe they should park in the parking lot. City employees get to park over there by where the train right across from Civic Center. But stop taking up temporary metered parking. Thank you. There's a motion made by Representative Ganales, seconded by Representative Nino to adopt the ordinance on item 23. >> Call for the vote, Miss Pry. >> On that motion, call for the vote. and the voting session. And that motion passes 3 to one. Representative Lemon voting nay. The remainder of council voting I. >> Okay. Let's take item number 24. Represent Lemon. >> Yes. Item 24 is discussion and action to amend the February 3rd, 2026 motion regarding the prevention of installation of ICE detention facilities to include a resolution calling for a reaffirmation of the independence of federal grand juries and requesting impartial investigations of allegations involving federal immigration enforcement agencies specifically related to the recent death of Herardo Luna Scampos and others that have taken place at Camp East Montana. Once approved, the resolution should be sent to the Chief Judge and Judges of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, and the United States District Clerk for the Western District of Texas. This item was submitted by Representative Lim. >> Okay. Okay. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Representative Lima. >> Thank you, Mayor. Mayor Johnson, thank you very much. Um, on January 23rd, you submitted a letter uh directly to the Office of Inspector General requesting an independent investigation into the recent reported deaths at Camp East Montana. I'm not sure if you received an answer acknowledgement, but I think it was exactly what needed to be done, and I I appreciate the fact that you took that initiative to take this action today. Um, I want to stress the three deaths that have taken place at this horrific location. So, we've had the death of Francisco Gaspar Andre, and it's important to recognize their names. uh Victor Manuel Diaz who was presumed to have committed suicide and then Heraldo Lunas Campos who also was suspect and it was the El Paso County Coroner medical examiner who ruled his death as a homicide. Totally totally different from what was expected. The problem with this as I viewed it is that after Heraldo died and after it was ruled um homicide, then the next victim, the body of Victor Manuel Diaz was sent to William Bulmont Medical Center at Fort Bliss and for an autopsy and it bypassed the county medical examiner, which I guess because the camp is on Fort Bliss property, they could certainly do that. Uh the problem with that is that the El Paso County Medical Examiner, while it does have an um a responsibility, the military hospital does not release autopsy reports to the public, providing them only to the investigators and family members. So, the general public has no idea what has happened in those deaths. I place this item on the agenda um really inspired by your letter, mayor, but also another mayor, a former mayor, mayor Ray Cabayto, who reached out to my office and said, you know, these deaths are horrific and there is certainly something that the city can do. Um the mayor has sent the letter now. Perhaps it's time to go to this the next level. and he recommended, he sent me some notes and re recommended uh placing this item for review by a grand jury. And grand juries can review autopsy reports, medical records, surveillance footage, and interview law enforcement personnel. And so that gave me the sense like, well, maybe this is something that we could do. I did meet twice with Miss Neman on it. um she sort of guided me on to how to put it on the agenda today and that's where where we're at. Um investigations have increasingly focused on whether deaths were preventable due to neglect and that's one of the big issues. We have no supervision. There's no transparency on these camps. Um I don't know mayor whether you have asked an opportunity to go visit. I know that the congresswoman uh routinely is denied. I also know that in many cases when attorneys go to the camp to visit or to respond to a client, they may spend three hours waiting and waiting because they have all of these things that they do. like now we're going to have roll call, but there's no system in place and it's it's really it's really depressing to read uh about this. Um especially when deaths are ruled as suicide and then we come to find out that no indeed um they were potentially homicides. And this has created a red-hot crisis in detention oversight in our community. This Sunday, Bishop Sites sent out a letter um or um a video to all the parishes and he stated, "The current national campaign of mass detention and deportation is a grave moral evil, one which must be opposed with prayer, peaceful action act, and acts of solidarity and reasonable immigration reform that respects the dignity of the human person is desperately needed. And as a city representative, I feel a tremendous responsibility that we cannot overlook another death at East Montana camp. Thank you, Mayor. >> Thank you, uh, Representative Canelis. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, I agree wholeheartedly with the action being uh considered today. I think uh we've made it abundantly clear in the past that the deaths at Camp East Montana and many of the other practices there are not acceptable in our community. Um I do have a couple of process questions here. Um I understand this would be adding this uh the draft of a resolution as a deliverable in the report that we expect to get back from our action from February 3rd. Is that correct? Um, do we have a an estimated time frame yet for when we expect that to be presented back to the council? >> The the item is scheduled to be on the agenda for April 13th. >> For April 13th, so almost a full month away, >> right? >> Um, typically for a request for a resolution, we have a little bit shorter of a time frame than one month. Is that something that is a deliverable that could come back to us sooner? >> That's completely up to the council. The the recommendation I made to Representative Lemon was because it was tied to the action that the council had directed us to come back in 60 days for, which was the >> regulation of the ICE detention facilities. So, in terms of efficiency and letting the council have a conversation about the entire subject, I I recommended that it be added as part of that item. >> Okay. Um I >> it's up to the council to decide um what you would like to do with the item >> because of the re more recent developments we've seen with Camp East Montana. First, the speculation that it was closing, then it looks like there will be a different operator picking up the operations of it. I think time is really of the essence on this. Um I'd much prefer that we consider this sooner um at the next practical meeting whether that's our next city council meeting if it can be turned around that quickly or or again sooner. Um, and I I want to understand, I guess, if that's welcome, Representative Lemon, I'm happy to offer an amendment to make sure that we get to this at the soonest possible time. Um, and let me pull this up. To that to that end, I'd like to offer an amendment. And let me find my own language here. Um, and that reads, and Miss Prime, I'll I'll send this to you. Discussion and action to uh sorry, it's to strike uh from the word amend uh through the word include. So to strike amend the February 3rd, 2026 motion regarding the prevention of ICE of installations of ICE detention facilities to include and then in its place add the words direct the city attorney to prepare for consideration by the city council at the next practicable city council meeting and then continuing a resolution calling for the reaffirmation. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. Perfect. >> Yes. There's a motion and we have a second. So, Representative Canales, that would just basically me moving it up instead of 60 days to the next meeting. >> Correct. It's just uh providing direction to the city attorney to draft that resolution and provide it to us at the next >> at the soonest possible time. >> Okay. >> Instead of waiting for the rest of the report to come back on that 60-day timeline. >> Okay. >> Is there discussion on the amendment? Represent, you want on the amendment? I'll I'll just wait to see I mean it it's I I had something similar but let let's vote on this and then I'll I'll speak >> any discussions on the amendment. >> Okay, Miss Bryant. >> Mr. The motion was made by Representative Ganales, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to amend the direction on item 24 as stated by Representative Canales. On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session and the amendment passes unanimously. >> Okay. Represent canales, you still Okay. Represent B. >> Thank you, mayor. Um, thank you for for bringing this. I I think um my my office received a similar call and I was working to put this on the agenda with language for a resolution, but I didn't receive the language till March 6. And usually um the process that we have is send the resolution language the Wednesday after the last council meeting. I got it on a Friday. So that's why I kept it from this meeting. But um Representative Lemon, I I guess I wanted to ask, do you have the language already or >> Representative Lemon? >> I have already um worked on some language u with Miss Neman. >> Okay. So, it's not like starting off from scratch. There is some preliminary draft language for the resolution. >> Okay. I have a two-page draft resolution with full language at this point. So, I wanted to offer an amendment to work from this one. And if you want to include the language that you have with Miss Neman and bring it back within two weeks. Um, if that would be a friendly amendment that you would be okay with. >> Is you have that now? >> I have the language now. So, I >> is it lengthy? Will we have time to digest it? >> Um, it's two pages. So, I I could send it to Miss Prime. Um, I I do want to I I'll make an amendment to move to include the attached resolution language to be used in support of this item once the language is reviewed and cleared by the city attorney's office within two weeks. >> Okay. So, let me make sure I'm clear though. What happens to the language that's already been started with? Yeah, the the direction on this item is very specific. So, it doesn't include any other language. So, I wouldn't recommend amending >> the language as it is now to include to I mean >> because it wasn't posted on the agenda. I don't know if >> Okay. So, >> and I'm saying this in I'm saying this in the spirit of trying to get this out as soon as possible and have the review completed. Um, but >> okay, that's the motion. >> And then Miss Prin, if you could I sent you the email and if you could forward it to the members of council, I would appreciate so they could see the resolution language. >> Okay, so that's the motion. Is there a second on this amendment? >> Can I have a question? >> Sure. >> Thank you, mayor. So usually when a council member requests a resolution, we submit the request to legal. They work on language. So what I'm understanding is though, you already requested something. They vetted it. They provided the resolution to you. I I my intent was to put it for this meeting, but since I didn't get it in time to have it vetted for this meeting, I was going to wait for a future meeting because I I received the language 2 days after our deadline, our internal deadline to review the the resolution. So, that's why I wanted to take the opportunity to have this language included in the item today if possible. That way um we start the countdown for two weeks and then the city attorney can have it ready by the next meeting. >> So both resolutions haven't been fully vetted by legal yet. Legal is going to start >> and right now there's the only one that represent Lamont has >> and there wasn't a resolution posted as back up with that's correct. So the resolution hasn't been brought before the council yet. Where I'm get getting to is do we need to give specific direction to the city attorney or can the city attorney work on the drafted language based on all of our priorities? Le >> let's let's do this first. Let's take this amendment. There's a motion. Is there a second on the amendment? >> Did she send it already? And I don't I don't believe the amendment is in good order. >> I agree >> because it's not it's not amending the the language as it was posted. It's amending a resolution that hasn't been brought before council yet. >> Okay. >> Um >> Okay. So >> mayor repres this is a language on a resolution that um Miss Neman and I have already discussed. >> Okay. >> So this is not new but the resolution is not final >> as we have discussed. This is a working resolution. So, Representative Aso, it's already in the pipeline. Exactly the one that you presented. So, so we're good. I think that we're good without having to add an amendment to >> All right. So, there was a motion for an amendment. Is there a second on the amendment? >> I think she said it's not in good order. >> Okay. >> So, I don't think there's a motion or a I'll withdraw it. >> Okay. >> There you go. Okay. >> Okay. Perfect. Represent Canalis. Any Okay. Represent Nino. >> Oh, no ma'am. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Represent Basto. >> Um, one one other question on on the resolution language. Uh, Miss Neman, do you think that we could have that uh by the next meeting or you're going to wait till April 13th? >> It's based on the council's direction today. I think that the motion has been to bring it back. So, I think was that >> the amendment covers that amendment? >> The amendment covers it that reply brought up. >> Yeah, the amendment. >> Okay. Yeah. Okay, perfect. I just wanted to make sure that I got a little lost in the language and amendments and stuff, so I appreciate that. >> Okay, Miss Brian, let's take the public comment please. >> Yes, sir. We have um Miss Veronica Carvajal that signed up to speak. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, Mayor Council. Um, Representative Lemon, thank you for placing this item on the agenda. Um, I am here in my personal capacity and I I do ask you to continue to use all of your influence and power over um ICE detention centers in our community even if they are not within our jurisdiction. Um, you know, the ETH amendment protects us of our US Constitution protects us against cruel and unusual punishment. And we have, I think, all been appalled, but what by what we've seen at um Camp East Montana. They don't have running water. Um the discussion over the uh camp um that was proposed for Soooro said something about 600,000 gallons would be required to run a facility that would provide enough water to accommodate um thousands of people. Can you imagine what's happening? I mean, there's no surprise, right, as to what's happening um with um Camp East Montana since they don't have water. Um and I, in addition to what you're proposing today, I would ask that you consider what San Diego County has done. They have sued um over their inability to conduct health inspections at a core civic um run ICE detention center. Um again, we've had the measles outbreaks. again, the these um detainees do not have clean water, and that should be alarming to all of us. Um and um I appreciate everything that the city is doing now. Um and um thank you for for standing up for all of our um all of our people. Thank you. >> Is there any more public comment, Miss Spring? >> That concludes public comment on this item sir. >> Okay. Um, Representative Lemon, thank you for putting this on the agenda. Um, one death is too many and El Paso is a very welcoming community and and um we don't need new ICE facilities here in in El Paso. We should be focusing on, you know, um keeping families safe, uh investing in a better future of El Paso. and I really appreciate you taking the time to to put this on the agenda. We don't want to be known as the detention capital of the US and um so I I I appreciate this. So, thank you for doing this Miss Yep, Miss Prime. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Acedo. And this is to direct the city attorney to prepare for consideration by the city council at the next practicable city council meeting a resolution calling for a reaffirmation of the independence of federal grand juries and requesting impartial investigations of allegations involving federal immigration enforcement agencies specifically related to the recent death of Heraldo Lunas and others that have taken place at camp East Montana. Once approved, the resolution should be sent to the Chief Justice and Judges of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, and the United State District Clerk for the Western District of Texas. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Very good. Thank you. Um, Miss Pry, I believe items number 25 and 26 were deleted. >> Those two items were postponed two weeks until April 1st. >> Okay, let's take item number 27. Item 27 is discussion and action on a resolution to authorize a city manager to sign a chapter 380 economic development program agreement between the city of El Paso and East FM Sierra Vista Holding Company LLC in support of an infield development project located at 8500 North Gateway Boulevard. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Well, good afternoon. >> Yeah, just a couple minutes into the afternoon. >> Karina Prescala, Economic and International Development. Today we have a infill program agreement uh as Miss Prime noted with East FM Vista Holding Co. LLC at 8500 North Gateway Boulevard. I will go over very quickly here. So as a reminder for everyone listening, this is under our infill incentive program which is a subset of our 380 incentives. Uh it is a location-based program. So developments must be within a specified infill area. uh meet the design criteria that is reviewed by planning and inspections. Um so it's a little bit of an above and beyond. We're looking for things that kind of match the existing area that they're in. And these are typically vacant land buildings or things that have been underutilized, so not at their highest and best use. So we're looking for redevelopment within the kind of central areas of the city. and then a minimum investment of $50,000, which is a lower threshold than some of those uh larger incentive company deals when we're talking about uh industry attraction. This results in a scaled incremental property tax rebate, either five or 10 years. This is a 10-year agreement, a construction fee waiver for up to $10,000. Um and then that is related to planning and permitting fees. And then a 1% rebate of the city's portion of the construction materials sales tax. Here's the project location. So, currently vacant and you can see existing conditions right there. This will serve as a it is an office complex and so it's going to be the headquarters for LOI engineering. Um, and then there will be some combination laboratory medical uses as well and some other suites available. Uh, we're looking at just under five million in investment and it is within district two. Here's the proposed incentive package. So, we're looking at a 10-year property tax rebate that is scaled, you can see on the little asterisk. So, years 1 through three at 100%, years four and five at 75% and years six through 10 at 50% in and then that is all in line with the adopted policy. Um, these are the estimated tenure rebates just over $175,000. Construction material sales tax estimated at 24. and then that permit fee, that construction fee rebate waiver at 10,000. So, we're coming in uh the total city participation in the incentive package is $210,2932, which is approximately 4.3% of the overall investment. Over that same 10-year incentive term, the city uh stands to gain $257,000 in net property tax benefits uh along with our other taxing entities. So, you can see the county, UMC, EPCC, and EPIST up there. The whole thing um overall again during that 10-year term is just uh under $900,000. So, there is a net tax benefit to the residents. With all that, staff does recommend approval of the proposed agreement as it meets the adopted infill policy, supports the city's redevelopment goals, increases taxable value, and enhances the surrounding neighborhood by creating new commercial activity, job creation, and just activity in general on a vacant piece of property. >> All right, >> happy to take any questions. >> So, we can have discussion on this. Is there a motion to approve? Second. All right, Representative Lim. Thank you, mayor. Cutting on slide six. At the bottom of the page, it says, um, you've got an asterric. >> 10 year property tax rebate. Yes. Years one through three, you're putting it at 100%. >> Correct. >> What dollar amount is that? >> Oh, you're going to make me go pull a spreadsheet. Um, I'm going to have to pull it up for you. I wouldn't know. Do you have other questions while I search this? >> No, actually no. That um No. That's that just kind of triggered my mind to see how much it was in comparison with the total probably tax benefit. >> Okay. You want the like year-over-year? >> Well, yeah. If you've got years one through three at 100%. >> Those are all estimated. So, I'll flag for this is that that 175,000 that is the total agreement cap, right? So if they hit it sooner, we turn it turns out. Um, but we do estimate the anticipated rebates every year. See, pull this up for you. But comparatively, so the same 10-year term. So 210 into the city during the 10 years and then 250 or 210 in incentives paid out to the applicant if they meet all their performance metrics. And we anticipate during the same time period receiving $257,000 in taxes. >> So as a rebate, they're not paying taxes. >> So it is a reimbursement base. So they will pay taxes. They will submit proof of it investment and we give it back to them at that percentage. >> Okay. So ultimately um it'll be 210,000. >> Is that what you're saying? >> Yes. >> So for those first three years, zero on the real property taxes. The next two years we receive 25%. We only get reimbursed for 75%. And then the last five years of the agreement, half. >> Yeah. I was just looking for the dollar amount but >> Okay. >> Okay. >> I have it. >> Oh, you do? Okay. >> I will give it to you. So if I'm doing this right, um we are estimating so in total for those first three years it is 69,334 >> that they pay to the city. >> They pay to the city >> and we give it back to them. So there's no >> um >> no net collections. >> Okay. >> Um and it is incremental. So, we continue to collect the amount of taxes we are receiving today on the vacant land. Um, we do anticipate obviously they're again they're doing about 5 million in improvements. We expect the assessed the appraised value to go up. Um, so we are rebating or reimbursing for the new taxable value >> and and that's good, Karina. Um the total then the total package is $210,000 9 $210,2932 that's the total package >> and all that's um being given is they'll pay the tax but then we reimburse it back to them. >> And as part of that reimbursement right we check for actual taxes that they're in good standing um and that they have performed during that time period. So they do have to construct the development. They have to meet the requirements. They have to stay, you know, permitting, all of that kind of stuff. >> And what's the rate of checking in? I mean, how often do they report or how often do we >> audit? >> Annually. >> Yes. So we Yeah. So applicants need to come and submit their annual incentive package. Um there will be check-ins right now between now and construction. So, after you all approve, assuming we approve the agreement, uh they will go through a compliance orientation. They will meet with our compliance staff. We will explain what the anticipated check-ins are, what the reporting looks like, making sure that they're keeping all of their receipts, all their documentation. Um there's a little bit of a lag here during the actual construction. So, year one is when this is actually fully online, fully being taxed with all improvements on the site. >> Okay. And generally or are you seeing that all three AD agreements uh do comply with the yearly reporting? >> If they would like to receive the incentives, they need to come in and submit. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Very good. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. >> Representative Canales. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh just a couple questions um more so again the public always has questions about 380 agreements and so I I'll try to get some of those questions in on the front end here. uh LOI engineers is the uh they will be the the operator there the primary >> primary tenant I think they're also helping I mean as they are an engineering design firm they are also um working on the development side yes >> yes so I just wanted to be clear for people because uh often people ask if they see especially a holding company or an LLC they want to know who that operator is so it is a geotechnical construction materials testing urban planning and environmental sciences engineering firm uh that has a history here in El Paso. They they're already here. This is a new headquarters for them. >> Correct. Yeah. And they were scoping out a few other locations. Um they looked at other things. They did decide that they would like to remain with their headquarters in El Paso. And so we're very happy to kind of help them make that commitment. This is not a deal where we have jobs metrics. They were um happy to just proceed with kind of the again the infill program for some of the design assistance to kind of offset. Um, but very happy to have them as a tenant and continuing to invest in the region. >> And, uh, does this does the I know it's the holding company. Do they already own the property? >> Uh, yes. >> And is their intended use compliant with the zoning on the property currently? >> To the best of my knowledge, yes. >> Okay. >> It is already so Yeah. >> I do not anticipate resettings on this. >> Okay. And then just you mentioned the property tax benefit, the inflow to the city at 257,000. So a little bit of a net benefit just out to the city. Um 47,000 or so across the the 10 years. But again, I know we went through it quickly. When you talk about overall benefit, when you when you factor in county UMC, PCC and EPISD, that's a larger number. >> Yes, that is that 894. um that is during the term. And so again, that is one thing when it is 100% on the city's books in year 11, um you are seeing a pretty substantial increase in the taxes we would collect and the anticipated property value directly to the city. But yeah, just under a million in net benefit um to all taxing entities combined. >> Okay. Um yeah, I every once in a while I I see folks get confused between the benefit just to the city and then the benefit to all the taxing entities. Um county is not participating in this. >> I don't believe so. They could still be in negotiations, but I don't believe the county has looked at this for 381. >> Okay, that's all. Mayor, thank you. Okay, any more questions for Karina? All right, Miss Prime, we have public comment. >> Yes, we have Miss Osmond. You know what? You are right. Citizens do have a problem with the 380s because residents take up 70% of the tax burden in this city. the lowest wage city in Texas with the highest tax burden in residents take up 70%. While the corporations in city council and other people say, "Oh, well, you know what? If we bring in more business, they're going to take up that." They never have. 30 years so far. In fact, I want to say last 40 years that I know of, it hasn't happened. It's still the same. Now, I'm very happy that they are going into the devil's triangle or I guess you know the plot would say um angel's triangle, but we all know it as the devil's triangle if you're old enough. So, hopefully it will improve that area. There's a school episd shut down right behind it, Wayne. Not too sure what's going to happen with that property. Hopefully that'll help uh revitalize that other piece of property. But this is the thing is that y'all are constantly giving away taxpayers money. You have Cortina that comes in here and says, "Hey, you know, re there there's a disparity disparity between what the revenue is and what we spend and you keep giving it away for 10 years at a time. How are we ever going to catch up constantly off the back of the lowest income residents? It doesn't help our community when you keep giving away the tax money, the 380s. It's not that it it is not corporations really throwing back in as we can tell by the hot tax. 69,000. Is that just the the value of the property or is that going to be the value of absolutely everything that's in there? Because you know businesses you go in and I know I've owned a business city I'll come in they look around they see all your inventory it's like you know what we think this is what it estimate and this is what you're going to owe us and that's aside from property building and so forth. So, I'm not too sure if that's all included in into this 693, but either way, it's nice to know that the 380s will continue to make sure corporations keep getting the cut while residents keep paying it. >> Okay, Mr. Prime. >> Yes. The motion was made by Representative Aso, seconded by Representative Canales to approve item 27. >> Okay. Call for the vote, please. >> On that motion, call for the vote. And the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay, let's take item number 28, please. >> Item 28 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a Texas economic development TED incentive program fund agreement between the city of El Paso and PXFI form 375. owner LP supporting the form 375 industrial development. >> Karina, well, let me Is there a motion to approve this item? >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay, Karina. >> Absolutely. Karina Pascala again for the record. Um, this is for formation interests. It is form 375 at Pasad Norte. Um, this is a industrial warehouse logistics park, although it is focused on kind of manufacturing and some accessory uses. uh right at the corner of 375 and Zergosa just off of the Isleta port of entry. This is a TED fund agreement. Again, as we do every single time, the Texas Economic Development Fund is an approved fund and policy and program um that the city gained in 2021 as part of the sale of El Paso Electric. It is exclusively funded via revenue proceeds from that sale. It is not from rateayers. It is not from taxpayers although I assume there is an argument on the back end that that money is recaptured somewhere but is exclusively out of revenue from the sale. It is five is an $80 million fund overall funded over 15 years about approximately 5.3 million per year. So it's not 80 million upfront and the purpose is for financial incentives in terms of grants, loans, other kinds of mechanisms within the El Paso Electric West Texas service area and it must have a net benefit to that service area. Uh we have 31.9 million received to date. The current fund balance is 19.4 million because we have made some payments out of that account. Uh we will talk on the next slide about overall obligations. Uh I have those later on, but I just want to clarify that that the kind of cash on hand is 19.4 31.9 with another 5.3 expected in December. Um and we have the total obligations coming up next. The request process is both assessment of our regular 380s, any of our requests for information, all of our standard deals that come through the city. Uh applications can also be directly submitted for this funding uh where we request information on how it complies with the policy. At that point, the economic development department has six months to initiate a review. So we, the department is checking for compliance with the adopted policy and program framework and must also conduct an economic impact analysis to determine whether the proposed project or funding request has a net benefit to the EP West Texas service region. At that point, uh any requests that have met this review must be presented to council for final determination and action. And the city council is under no obligation to approve any of these requests, but they must make the final action uh one way or the other. Uh we do provide information on the compliance of the policy, general alignment with our strategic priorities and principles to help guide that decision-making. Here are commitments to date. Uh so this is a list of the sort of there. So we're at and I oh my apologies. I do not believe that this includes the 1.2 2 million in uh recently adopted for the defense industrialbased readiness grants. Uh so that would bring our total obligations just uh over $33 million. Uh the request today is for 2 million. It is not anticipated to be drawn down until FY28 as the money will be due at the end of the improvements being completed. Um so they'll have to go through construction, finish the improvements, we'll certify that those are complete and then we would pay out the grant. This is another way of sort of framing this. So if we're talking about programming and priorities, the TED fund we have uh put about $7.5 million into ports, trade and logistics, which is one of our top priorities from the economic development perspective, the comprehensive economic development strategy as well. Uh that is the Isleta port of entry expansion feasibility and design. The uh IBCS which is the border crossing study for the downtown bridges. Uh Rancho del Rey which was a similar request a few months ago. And then uh an additional two million would be on that book today. Uh leveraging city-owned land and supporting industrial site readiness. So this is the Stan Roberts reconstruction reimbursements. Uh Northwestern Drive traffic calming implementation for that uh warehouse and industrial park area and the Schneider Electric sustainability grant for EV charging infrastructure on their campus in the northwest. The AMD aerospace and defense cluster support just at 2.3. So that includes direct uh 380 uh agreements with both fervor and the national centers for defense machining and manufacturing as well as that dibs readiness grant program. Um very much an aside but I think we are up we have over 10 applications to date. So we're very excited to see uh interest in that and then destination entertainment and $8 million development note to the venue notes live sunset amphitheater project. The request today is under the investment assistance category. This is financial support for companies expanding or establishing operations within the area. Uh the assistance is intended to offset costs related to buildings, equipment, new hires, property acquisition, uh anything really as long as it does not relate to overstepping into EP's main business of generating and providing electric service. Here are the requirements for that program. It must be located within the investment must be within a target industry. uh projects must be essential for the location or expansion of businesses in jobs and investment, a minimum $10 million investment and a 100 net new jobs. And then for any projects outside of city limits, there must be evidence of a 100% funding match from that jurisdiction. Uh this is within city limits. So that last one does not apply. Here is the project overview. Uh so form 375, you can see this. It's looking at a kind of larger uh crosstock building with the major manufacturing and then looking at smaller buildings on the outskirts um to support manufacturing, freight um customs brokerage, that sort of thing. Um and then I know it's a ponding on the corner, but really that'll be built out landscaping and some of the signage. And so we'll really I think see a much better view kind of crossing the bridge coming into the city, which is a nice side of the beautifification. And then they've been very careful with the layout. one, there was a reasonzoning and they are in compliance with all of the resoning and design conditions uh applied, but because this is still adjacent to uh the cemetery and uh other land owned by the dascese, so we're very careful with the design requirements there, uh they're looking at a $83.6 million investment for these four buildings, adding another 800,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space, which is desperately needed inside the city limits. um we are very much at absorption and need new space and especially new um high class space available. Based on what they've seen in other markets and their proposed tenant mix, we would anticipate around 340 full-time employees once all of this is up and operational and then at least 300 temporary construction jobs. Um so it is meeting both that investment and that jobs requirement. Projected impact is of course uh increasing the competitiveness of the city by adding new warehouse and manufacturing space near that port of entry. When we are looking at expansions of the Athleta port of entry, capturing additional traffic from the um boa rerouting and closure. Really important that we also support anything that we are doing to increase our capacity on the actual bridge with the accessory uses and making sure that we are having a place for all of that to go as well. uh the additional jobs and again averaged based on the mix. So this is projections but looking at 340 jobs uh about 25.5 in annual local wages once this is all online and then construction activity is always a it's a temporary use but is 300 construction jobs uh spend economic activity local suppliers local businesses all that sort of thing. Uh over the sort of lifespan of the building you're looking about 57.5 in anticipated tax revenue over 25 years. uh currently vacant only very recently back on the tax books because of course it was sold by the dascese of El Paso so was taxexempt until very very recently. Um so all that for a $2 million investment. The grant dispersement uh while it is a grant uh it is tied to the successful delivery of a few performance metrics. So they anticipate using this really to help fund uh storm water, the buildout of Southside Road, um and some of the additional infrastructure related to the irrigation canal and other things. Um a lot of this is to build out full rightway widths to do some additional landscaping to do some additional improvements um beyond what would normally be the developer responsibility on a site like this. But they must complete the construction of those improvements. So everything must be done, permitted, accepted um and finished before they can submit for this grant uh funding. And then we do require even during the construction period annual reporting on the development progress, uh economic impact. We'd like insight into kind of tenant commitments, selection, uh job creation, infrastructure, and investment. Um, so we'll have a very good sense of the actual investment jobs, uh, who's out there, what they're doing, which is very helpful for a lot of our recruitment and attraction efforts as well. And then standard good faith efforts and good neighbor clauses, uh, making sure that they continue to coordinate with the city, any of our partner entities, making sure that we're consistent on infrastructure, remaining in good standing with all of our permitting entities, El Paso water, text, etc. And then we do reserve the right to terminate for convenience. um up until the point that the construction activities have commenced. Um the previous agreement you all saw, we had the right to terminate for convenience during the entire term. In this case, because once they trigger that construction activity, um we do want to make sure that the money's there. But again, the backs stop for the city is that these need to be completed before any payment is due. So again, just going over the policy compliance here. So, it does meet the target industries, the jobs and investment requirements and staff would recommend approval of the proposed agreement as it meets the requirements of the policy, demonstrates a net positive impact and increases the city's competitiveness supporting some of our key industries and our key investment areas. >> Okay. Represent Lemon. >> Thank you, Mayor Gina. Slide eight. >> Yes, ma'am. There's a very large uh manufacturing building right there and then there's three smaller sites. >> Are any of the three going to be used as um drop off um >> like logistics? >> Yes, >> it's possible. Um, it's not for this company and I think they're on the line as well, but um, they're traditionally not looking at logistics, not like heavy shipping. It's not like a UPS facility, FedEx. They might have other things. Um, you wouldn't want I think your concern is probably the the daily in-n-out traffic. >> Correct. >> Yeah. >> So, like like an 18-wheeler, >> there may be. They've been very careful with the design um and have this approved site plan with planning to make sure that any of those loading bays are screened from view um that we're meeting the access that we're not taking access through any of the residential streets. I mean, this has very nice access on both of the highways. Um, because we don't have the final tenants, right? It hasn't been built. It hasn't been committed. I can't say with 100% certainty, but that is not uh what they are targeting is >> in that B that you see there up above, that's a residential area. >> Correct. >> Um, have the have the residents been made aware of this purchase already? >> Yes. Both the land sale purchase um and then there were extensive zoning actions that went at the latter half of last year. So there was community outreach, no opposition that I can recall. >> Thank you. That's great news. Thank you. >> Okay, Mr. Brian, we have uh represent Nino. >> Thank you, Mayor Karina. Thank you for all your work in this. And I think it's also important to always highlight what the TED fund is. >> Um that it's not taxpayer funds, right? and that we're strategically using u you know this fund to help invest in our community and overall produce jobs and also bring a positive uh community tax benefit. Question for you, for example, slide number four, it breaks down the TED fund commitments currently. Do we have a dashboard or something online where individuals could see what the commitments are versus the community investment or community tax benefit is? Not as such. So the current reporting on this is um under the terms of the policy, the city must provide an annual report to the El Paso Electric Board of Directors. Uh that is on the eid.com website in our compliance section. We publish the annual reports. Um I think we could work on we're dashboarding a lot of our incentive agreements and looking at it so we could look at the net impact. >> Yeah. And and the and the reason I asked that is because when you look at slide number four, you know, individuals could look at this and I know that you mentioned that the total obligations is almost about 33 million. But I think it'll be key to also highlight what the investment to the community is and also the community tax benefit so that individuals understand that you know these are the expenditures or obligations that we have done but also again the community tax benefit and also the investments from jobs could be key to um ensure you ensuring the community that we are being diligent with the TED fund and the outcome of why we essentially you know support some of these uh items that come forward involving a specific fund. >> Yeah, absolutely. And we do all of these projects are also tracked on our like general overall um active mapping platform, but I can look at ways if there's ways to toggle between the different funding accounts and I think make some of that a little bit clearer since it's not a tax based program. >> Yeah. And you know, even this project overall, it's an $83.6 million investment. >> It's for buildings. It brings about 340 full-time jobs plus 300 temporary construction jobs. But, you know, to the general public, they might not have access to looking over the entire agenda and looking at each item individually. So, I think again, if they're able to see that, you know, an expenditure that we do overall makes sense for the community and why it's being done, I think that could be beneficial. Just a thought of something that possibly could be worked on. I know that this is not specific direction because it's not an item that's talking about that, but something that really, you know, resonated in this presentation when you cover what the TED fund is. Thanks, Mayor. >> Okay, Miss Brian, I believe we have public comment on this item. >> Yes, we have Miss Osmond in five years. Garina has uh since we got the TED fund and the reason was because El Paso Electric got sold and although they say our rates weren't going to be raised they have been but in five years she spent almost half of that. This is the thing is that what I have a problem with is in the 90s, since the 90s, I used to work on documents for the El Paso Industrial Development Corporation. And even back then, you're doing the the exact same, just building warehouses, logistics. We're just a way station. Don't create don't we don't create a whole lot here. We're just the place things come while somebody picks it up and takes it elsewhere. Gentleman from Kelly Center made it a point to say that our government here, our local government didn't produce good paying jobs and that is why we have stayed low income. In this type of industrial development, warehousing is part of the problem. not part of a solution and that and yes, Miss Lemon, you are you you hit that right as far as asking as far as the neighborhoods and so forth. The traffic by the port of entry is outrageous if you're over there on border highway and if you're trying to go to the cemetery, I don't know about you all, but I actually do have f family members there. It's a nightmare if you're not if you're not gonna gonna go ahead and go down from Montana and then go all the way down from the freeway I 10 that way and go down. It's a nightmare coming off of the border highway in that area depending on the time of day. So, this is going to create more of a traffic bottleneck with regardless of how pretty she makes it sound. That is what it's going to do. And as far as community outreach, it's typically one letter to a neighborhood association president. And if they don't tell anybody in their area, nobody's going to know. So nobody's going to oppose anything which is again taxation without representation because the scam the city has done with the neighborhood associations and what capital improvement has done with a lot of the departments in the city have done and utilizing that in such an underhanded way. But again, you're creating more traffic in that area and you're doing the same mistake since the '9s, not improving. Thank you, Miss Osman, you've reached three minutes. >> Okay, Miss Brian, I believe that believes all the public comment. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Uh, call for the vote. >> The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Nino, and this is to approve item 28. On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Thank you. >> Miss Bryan, is there a way to take items 29 through 34 together? >> Well, yes, sir. There is a presentation for items 29 to 34. However, they need to be voted on separately is my understanding. >> But I would like >> Yep. Represent Lima. >> If I may, I would like to request that item 31 not be included but voted on separately, please. They will they will all be voted on separately but just presented together. >> So if I may read them into the record. Item 29 >> is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the office of congresswoman Veronica Escobar requesting funds from the community project funding program in the amount of $3.2 million with an $800,000 match from the city for the Paso de North and Stanton International Ports intelligent transportation systems project. Item 30 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the office of congresswoman Veronica Escobar requesting funds from the community project funding program in the amount of $5 million with no match from the city for the public safety complex improvements project. Item 31 is a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the office of congresswoman Veronica Escobar requesting funds from the community project funding program in the amount of $3 million with a federal government contributing $2.4 4 million, a $300,000 match from the city and $300,000 match from the Deck Plaza Foundation for the IT 10 Deck Plaza Project. Item 32 is a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the office of Congresswoman Veronica Escobar requesting funds from the community project funding program in the amount of 14,885,38121 with no match from the city for the El Paso PD equipment purchase program. Item 33 is a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the office of congresswoman Veronica Escobar requesting funds from the community project funding program in the amount of $2 million with no match from the city for the Henderson community clinic improvements project. And item 34 is a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the office of congresswoman Veronica Gazbar requesting funds from the community project funding program in the amount of $3,29,77812 with an $82,4453 match from the city for the compressed natural gas refueling station upgrade project. >> Okay. Is there a motion to approve these items? Okay, that's fine. >> You're up. >> All right. Uh, good afternoon, Mayor and Council. Ian Vulgid from Strategic and Legislative Affairs. Uh, what we have here today are the city submissions for the fiscal year 27 community project funding. We'll be requesting council uh vote to approve uh each of the submissions uh so that we can submit to Congress on March 20th. So, a little bit of background on the community project funding program. So, a previous iteration uh was uh the earmarks uh that were discontinued in 2011. when community project funding was reintroduced in 2021, this funding was tied to specific accounts and existing funding for uh programs. So that allowed for more transparency and accountability. Uh the program has grown. Uh so as you can see there uh in 2012 there were about 9 billion uh dollars worth of funding that were uh approved and that has now grown to 54 billion today. Uh the city has also been able to increase the amount of funding that it has been able to pull for the city uh in that time. Uh so to date we've been able to uh attain $12 million worth of funding. Uh this year we are submitting requests totaling $30 million. So as I mentioned uh we are trying to get these submitted uh to Congress by March 20th. We worked on a very accelerated timeline. Uh these were announced on February 26th. So we had six business days to put together these projects. Uh we were able to do this because we've been working uh the legislative team has been working with our departments for a couple of months now to try to identify these projects. Um so out of the we were able to pull together about 10 projects of which six were eligible for submission. Uh a little bit on the project selection criteria. So what we do is we take a look at whatever the house appropriations guidance is. Uh and so we're able to pull some of the projects that we're looking uh based on that guidance. Uh we try to identify whether there's a city match required or not. Uh we look at projects that have already been uh linked to plans that council has looked at and approved. And uh finally we have to make sure that these are projects that can actually be executed within a a 12 month span. Uh this is a summary of the projects that we are requesting to submit. Again totaling 30 million. Uh there is a $2.2 million match attached to these projects though not all of them require match. I'll go into them individually now. Uh the first is for an intelligent transportation system for the PDN and Stanton bridges. We are currently working on an IT system for the Isleta port of entry. And really the benefit of of these systems is they allow the traffic to flow more smoothly through our bridges. Uh they allow us to uh divert traffic uh on uh on an intime basis. So very useful for not just getting traffic flowing better, but you could envision uh a reduction in in emissions from uh less stalled vehicles. Uh the total request here is for 3.2 million. Uh 800,000 of that would come from the bridges P3 fund. Uh sorry, it's a total request for 4 million. Uh 3.2 from the federal government, 800,000 from the P3 fund. The next is a request for the public safety complex project. Uh so we are deliberately targeting uh an aspect of the project that is at a later phase. Uh and the goal here is really to to have a little more flexibility in terms of which funding we use. Uh the total request is for 5 million. There's no match required on this one. The next is for the I 10 deck plaza phase 2 project. Um we are requesting 2.4 million uh with match from the city 300,000. This is coming from TUR 5 uh and also 300,000 from the Deck Park Foundation. Uh we are pursuing this funding uh as a result of the directive we received from council on February 9th of last year uh to pursue all available state and federal funding for this project. The next is a very large request for equipment purchases from PD. We're excited about this one. It will have a significant impact on on uh PD's vehicles. So, uh this would be for replacing uh old equipment. Uh and we've delineated very clearly uh what the money would be used for. The next one is uh for the Henderson Community Clinic. We're excited about this one. We we don't usually uh have opportunities to pursue funding for uh doing uh enhancements to existing facilities. It's usually for new capital projects. So, as you can see, this would allow us to renovate uh an outdated facility, uh install new HVAC system, bathrooms. Uh the request is for 2 million. There's no match required on this one. And the last project is for uh an upgrade to compressed natural gas refueling station. So, we would be replacing two uh natural gas powered compressors with electric compressors. Uh, this request is for 3.2 million with an $800,000 match and happy to answer any questions. >> Okay, very good. Questions on these items? >> Okay, Miss Prime, we have public comment. >> Yes, sir. We have Miss Osman. She signed up to speak on items 30, 31, 32, and 34. The first amendment violation on wrapping these together will be well noted, Mayor Johnson, on your part because you want to make sure that there's less because you get three minutes to speak on all of these items and that's intentional on your part to make sure citizens don't know everything. Okay. So, we're going to fund the cop city even more. So, I just want to ask, if El Paso has been the safest city for so long, why is it we need so much more funding in to create a cop city? Apparently, that's not the case. We're not the safest city. Kind of strange. As far as the deck park again Hton uh a donor to some of you in affiliated with the Pazod Delorti Foundation and part of the Deck Plaza Foundation. Again, this uh the money that's being sought is that on top of the money that you already announced and approved earlier just weeks ago. Who knows, right? Because you keep trying to shove it down the throats of the citizens regardless of the fact that we didn't want it. Honestly, Cavayierro's plan to put a park over the railroad would have been better than this death tunnel that Hton and his cohorts are trying to do just so they'll pass Pasad Northy Foundation can get the management contract from the city so that they could forever suck our tax dollars away. Now, as far as uh the equipment for EPD, I'm glad that they put that on there because that is how Pacas slid through under the table without public knowledge for the flock system. So, stripping away our fourth amendment rights along with everything else. So, I guess maybe we should protest in front of uh Escalar that um Escoar forcing flock onto El Paso if she's funding this because I'm very weary the way you all voted the last funding and then Pas went and flipped it around and then the back of the house said, "Oh, no, that was okay." Because you all really don't care as long as your discretionary funds keep going up, right? Keep getting take those trips because you can find a convention anywhere you want to take a a vacation and say, "Hey, this is all under the authority because you know, y'all try to get Miss Mack to sign off that she can do anything on your discretionary funds." What was that like 100,000? Y'all were trying to get get that done. the underhanded. There's a word and I it starts with a C and I won't say it, but every resident is thinking it. >> Miss Bry, do we need to take a motion and a second on each item? >> Yes, please. >> Okay. Uh item number 29. Is there a motion to approve? >> Move to approve. >> Okay. Call for the vote on 29. Miss Prime. >> Yes. The motion was made by Representative Gonales. seconded by Representative Lemon to approve item 29. On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay, let's take number 30. Is there a motion to approve 30? >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay, Miss Bryan. >> There's a motion made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Nino to approve item 30. on that motion. Call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Seg number 31, please. >> On 31, I have Miss Carbaja signed up to speak. I'm not sure if she's still here. >> Mayor, my apologies. Can Can I Can I make uh I have an amendment to offer and so I I think it might be prudent to hear from me before unless you'd like to speak first before hearing the amendment. >> It doesn't matter. >> It's up to you. Do you want to hear the amendment? >> Um >> Sure. Yeah. I don't mind waiting. >> All right, mayor. I'd like to offer an amendment to this item. Uh it's it's uh more of a cleanup than a change. Uh it is to strike the words the city and to replace with tax increment reinvestment zone number five uh in parenthesis t number five. That's the specific funding source. It's listed in the backup. Um I think it is good to call out the specific funding source in the language. >> Okay. >> Second. >> All right. There's a motion in a second on that amendment. Miss Prime. >> Yes, sir. And the motion was made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Nino. And this is to amend item 31. And this is to strike out the city and replace with tax increment reinvestment zone number five in parentheses tiers number five. >> Okay. Represent, you have comments on the amendment? >> Yeah. >> Um Ian, would would this be okay? I I know these applications are are really specific, so I just want to make sure that >> uh I don't think it should impact as long as we're calling out the source, we should be okay. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> On the amendment call for the vote and the voting session and the motion passes 3 to one. Representative Lemon voting nay. >> Okay, let's take public comment. Yes, we have Miss Carvajal. >> Good afternoon. Good afternoon council. Um and Carvajal and I'm here as an organizer with the Simrand Esparansa Coalition. As you know, our coalition includes nine um neighborhood-based organizations. They live with some of the worst economic and environmental justices in our community's history. And when some sparans members took um a vote on our position regarding the deck park, every single member said no. And um they do not want us supporting this project. Our members then on their own began to talk about the 2024 application that we made to the Environmental Protection Agency for $25 million. During the course of many months, our coalition looked at environmental solutions to the problems that they live with. And um we in that grant application which we did not get um we outlined the cost the outcomes and the outputs of all of our proposals and it was a very thorough process. We had data we had researchers and so when we made proposals about weatherization using solar energy, planting trees, restoring our irrigation canals, free and improved public transportation among many others. We had to also account for the future operation and maintenance costs of these projects, right? So, we're looking at are they valuable? Also, what is the sustainability of these projects? And we're wondering why this has not been done for the deck park because we understand that we had to do that for that application. So, why isn't the Deck Park Foundation having to justify the environmental benefit and also the operation and maintenance costs that we will inherit? Um, I can tell you that our members and people throughout this community have many, many projects they would love to get funded. To even have $300,000 would make a huge difference to our communities. And instead, we're here to oppose something that no one that we have spoken to outside of our coalition supports. Um, we are asking that if you truly care about the environment, about economic justice, um, about even utility bills, our projects, as you'll talk about with the climate action plan, would also reduce the utility bills of our of our members. And so, if you really care about taxpayers and utility rateayers um, and the environment, you will stop supporting this project. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Representative Limbo. Thank you, mayor. It should be no surprise that I am totally against the deck park. Um I I I think I always preface any briefing related to this. Uh, Miss Garvaj, somewhere along the line there was a projection of the maintenance cost and at one point, not before it's completely built, but at one point the maintenance fees will total $3.5 million a year. So, if we were at that point today and we had to fund $3.5 million, we don't have that. When it's fully completed, fully completed, the maintenance cost is going to rise to $7 million a year. I cannot understand how we're still talking about this. Um, I really liked what I heard from Miss Mack when I came on council and it was we need to take care of our basic needs. We need to take care of the basic things and do them very well before we go off and do other things. I cannot imagine our continued work time, staff time working on a project that is way, way, way beyond our means. And so I am totally against this proposition. Thank you, >> Miss Brian. Did we have a motion in a second on this item? >> I didn't hear it. >> Okay. Is there a motion to approve 31? >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay, Mr. Bryan. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative ADO, seconded by Representative Nino to approve item 31. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And the motion passes 3 to one. Representative Lemon, voting nay. Okay, let's take item 32, please. Is there a motion to approve 32? >> Second. >> Okay. Any discussion on 32 or public comment, Miss Bry? >> No public comment. >> Okay. >> Oh, we do have Miss Osman. I apologize. I bet she already spoke. >> Okay. >> She already provided comment on that one. >> Okay. Call for the vote. >> Motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Nino to approve item 32. on that motion. Call for the vote. Voting session is open. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay. Let's take item number 33, please. >> Item 33. Is there a motion? >> Move to approve. >> Okay. Okay. Mr. Bryan call for the vote on 33. Motion was made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Lemon to approve item 33. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay, let's take item 34. Is there a motion to approve? >> Okay, Miss Bryan, call for the vote on 34, please. Repres >> Yeah. >> Yes, mayor. And I would like to make a comment and actually not only on 34 but in our briefings um I heard how items 33 and 34 were like right on like when this opened up the projects were ready to go. And so this is certainly um recognition of the health department and our Sun Metro departments who were right on target. This is the kind these are the kinds of projects that I think are so critical and so important to our community. And so Dr. Tanha, thank you. And Mr. Daiser, I don't know if you're here, but also thank you very much for being ready to go right out the bat on this. >> Jerry Deuro with Sun Metro is here. >> Thank you. Thank you. Sun Metro. >> Okay, Mr. Mr. Frank, call for the vote. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Ganales to approve item 34. On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> All right, Ian, good job to you and your team on pulling this together in six days. Good job. We got two items left. Make it. >> Mayor, can we can we take a fivem minute recess? Um, >> I move to take a fiveminute recess. >> Okay, there's a motion, a second to take a fiveminute recess. >> All in favor? All in favor? >> Anyone opposed? And the council meeting is in recess at 12:58 p.m. for 5 minutes. Give me a heads up. Okay, Mr. Bry, I think we're almost ready. >> We're missing one. >> We just need a a quorum on the DS. >> Okay, we're all set. M. >> Is there a motion to reconvene? >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second to reconvene the meeting. All in favor? >> Anyone opposed? The meeting is back in session at 10:03 p.m. >> Okay, let's take item number 35, please. >> Item 35 is discussion and action to approve a resolution to adopt this climate action plan for the city of El Paso. >> Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mayor, Council. Um this is um a presentation um to approve the the Chihuahua Desert Climate Action Plan, which is the the first climate action plan for El Paso, for the city of El Paso and the region of El Paso. Okay, here we go. So um we've been working on this as as you'll know since January 2024 just over 26 months of of intense work from all the stakeholders including our regional governmental partners um nonprofits uh private sector all members of this community and also all the internal stakeholders many if not almost all city departments and and city staff and throughout that process, we've done a thorough technical analysis on emissions and air quality, the vulnerabilities um to climate change in El Paso and we've come out with a list of prioritized actions identified and selected by the community to put together this plan that it's again community-led, communitydriven and and structured by those stakeholders. What is the plan? The plan is a series of policies, programs, and projects that define the framework for climate action, addressing air quality, and adapting to climate hazards in El Paso and our region. We have a comprehensive list of 53 actions um identified under 10 measures or sectors. And those actions either address air quality and greenhouse gas emissions or help us adapt to a changing climate, focus on drought, heat and um drought, heat and I'm forgetting one but flooding. Um so all those actions have a set of co- benefits as you can see on the slide and those go from improving public health to building community throughout the region. Um, I want to emphasize once again that the the the core goal of the plan is to improve air quality, health outcomes and and bring economic opportunities linked to this type of work to the region. Well, now u with the plan uh defined and hopefully approved today, we're getting into implementation of of all the actions. Um I said here we put here three actions as an example of things that you all know that we are working on. So um we're working on the cool roof program that you all approved for low-income residents back in January. We are kicking off uh with a lot of of energy I'd say with our new member of the team the energy management program for public buildings getting into getting more efficient buildings. And of course, we are working on developing a data center policy framework as we were directed by you all on February 17th of this year. Other other actions that not necessarily in ongoing on on actual implementation but in design by the team and the stakeholders. You all know the 9.5 treekeepers program. We are expanding and getting that program into a comprehensive stewardship program to take care of our resources, focus on on tree canopy and how the community is going to take ownership of that program and also working on cool El Paso, a heat mitigation campaign that we think it's necessary for our region given our climate. And another example that we are designing is a communityled grant program to do climate action at the neighborhood level. So we're working on defining that the scope who is eligible who is not. But we are very excited about that that one. And going back to what we're working on and specifically the data center policy framework which you all saw this morning that it's at the forefront of the community's mind and um and just showing how the plan is in alignment with what you all requested us to do in February but also what the community is um talking about and concerned about. You'll have the council ask that was approved back in in February of this year. the 17th in which we we were asked to work on this framework and we are kicking off the what we heard from you all the important part of community engagement this coming Monday um Monday March 23rd at Don Hoskins we're going to have six um meetings across the city same topic uh we think we're going to be learning a lot to develop that policy framework with the community and to show to you all um soon enough this this spring here just highlighting how we're going to do that work or how we're doing that work. We put together an internal team with the departments that you see on the slide um working on what we're going to do what research. So we are coordinating with meetings. We we've already started talking to the county of El Paso, uh, Hatsbet County. We had a very fruitful meeting yesterday with several cities from the region, Sakoro, Sanelithio, Vinton, um, the Rio Grand Cog. So we're kicking off those conversations with the stakeholders including El Paso Water and EP Electric. And as I was saying before, on Monday, we start that public dialogue phase um to to get back to the drawing board and do the research and getting that input into account to develop the framework on um throughout week six and 10 of this plan. And that's all that we all have for you today. I I before I read the council action, I would like to really thank M. the team. I was going to say my team, but they're not mine. It's just we're just a team and all the departments and and all stakeholders that have been involved throughout the the development of this plan, including obviously um all community members. Okay. >> So, we're bringing this plan for your adoption to help us have this roadmap to work on climate action in the region. >> Miss Brian, do we already have a motion and a second on this one? Is there a motion to approve? >> Move to approve. >> Okay. motion. >> Fernando, quick question. How do you um on slide six, how are you reaching out to the community about these meetings, the one that's going to take place on Monday? >> Yeah, that's a great question. Um we're getting calls from a network. That's the less efficient way, but we're communicating this, but um um a website with FAQs and on this data is going to be live uh this week. If not today, uh probably tomorrow. So that's how we're going to communicate. We're going to coordinate with LA as well, Krua Costa to work on this communication. >> Okay, she's right behind >> uh LA Chris Costa with the communications. So we've been working with Fernando and the team in order to be able to start with the promotions. We've been working with council members as well in order to help promote that. We'll be putting out information on our social media accounts as well um as working through with media in order to promote this and we've been doing several interviews already. >> Okay. >> Represent Nino. >> Thank you mayor and thank you Fernando to Miss Mack and the entire team. Uh Fernando I think uh it's important to also highlight the fellows >> the climate fellows. Can you kind of touch base a little bit about how many individuals were involved through this entire process? I mean, I've seen this from start to finish >> from when the consultant was hired. I know that this climate action plan overall is about a $1.3 million investment >> through that consultant and he's I think the consultant's in place until 2027. Mhm. >> And also um how you know in 2022 in the community progress bond, the voters approved a $5 million bond to create the climate and sustainability department and really kind of prioritize what the city of El Paso is doing in regards of trying to protect our environment. And I know there was also funds that went into hiring or creating the fellowship program which overall helped these individuals, you know, through their education and also becoming even good stewards of our community. I know some of them had capstone projects all across the city from community cleanups. Can you just touch a little bit into the climate fellows? >> Yeah, and thank you for that. Um I mean the the fellowship has been essential and and a key part of this work. We've we've um in April 2024 we we went through a very thorough I think hiring process to get on board 27 fellows uh from uh high school seniors to recent graduates from from colleges and and EPCC. And those 27 fellows have done most of the outreach that we brought to you before and and all that connection with the community. I have some numbers here with also it's important for us to it was important for us to um build up their skills. Our our goal was to create a a foundation of of professionals in this field for the region and they've gone through 20 different trainings, 20 site visits. They've been able to to receive um talks and information from 15 guest speakers and they've done 25 community meetings on top of I don't know if close to a hundred canvasing and door-todoor um activities. We we are excited that we we we have the grants to continue the fellowship with uh six to eight fellows that going to help us with the implementation. >> No, this is great and I I know I've met a couple of them. I've taken part of a couple of summits that you all hosted around the city and have been intrigued by the conversations that they've also sparked in to the community. And I think um can you tell us a little bit more about how we also received an EPA grant to essentially put this in motion as well? >> Yeah, in um fall 2023, we we got a grant from the Environmental Pro protection agency, the EPA, for $1 million for planning. the the grant runs uh from when we signed the agreement back in September 2023 all the way to August 2027 when we need to get back to them and give them a a status report. Okay, you all told us that you were going to do this. Where are you at that implementation? But that grant was kind of the of the foundation to be able to do this plan. We extended the the scope looking into vulnerabilities and vulnerabilities to climate change. We thought if we're going to look into emissions, let's do all together because we don't know when we're going to be able to do this planning effort again. >> No, thank you for that. And I think you mentioned how some of the fellows helped with 25 community meetings and they hosted different multiple uh summits as well. And where I'm getting to is that this climate action plan has really been a community effort. It's involved hundreds of community comments. Um I know that you also hosted the summits that involved different stakeholders, different utilities. And I think that when we're having the conversation of the environment, we we need to ensure that everyone's part of the conversation and that we navigate those conversations thoroughly and with intention. Um I you know this plan calls for 10 measures, 53 actions and overall it's a lot of future policies that potentially could come forward and the council would essentially adopt and all of them like you mentioned they have been community initiatives and this also is a regional plan. It's involved, you know, stakeholders from El Paso County, Hudsmith County. Uh I've done my research. I've read through the entire plan multiple times. I know that I've met with you. I've met with with Miss Mack and I try to break it down. And that leads me to slide number six um which is in relation to the action that was taken on February 17th. And one of the things that I know that I asked you and I've had conversation with Miss Mack and the city attorney too is how that specific item language does not mention environment. Mhm. >> Um, and one of the things that I was trying to, you know, coordinate with and make sense of is how the city of El Paso has been doing a lot of work, research, community input, really developing a climate action plan that is set in place for our environmental protections that everyone is interested in, you know, having those conversations. And the climate action plan covers exploring issues such as renewable energy, energy generation consideration, water usage standards, and when it comes to the there's a specific action on the action plan that calls for the development of data center policy that incorporates environmental, community, and economic development considerations. And I just wanted to highlight that because I think it's it's important for uh the community to also know that we're doing a lot of work that's going to also incorporate all of the concerns and that we're being proactive in addressing a lot of those concerns. So I I I'm very excited for this plan to see what comes forward, what future policy recommendations will be coming forward as well. But I really wanted to touch base and and and share that the difference between the two actions that I felt, you know, that were important to highlight was that the action that we're taking today also incorporates the environmental aspect. >> I know that when I talked to you all, you all said that, you know, evaluating the long-term impacts on infrastructure and utilities based on the action from February 17th touched into the environmental aspect. But I think uh you know a utility is not error, it's not uh noise. It's there's a lot of components to it and I think that whenever we are going to create policy that's going to be thoughtful and intentional, we have to really think of every single aspect of it and that's why I am also in support of this climate action plan that you're bringing forward today. And thank you. >> Thank you. And before I forget, um we've gotten 88 letters of support from the community. So we we have a a big pile of letters of support at at the office. Just wanted to let you know that the the commitment and support of the community continues. >> Can you also share how many comments were submitted through the draft uh version? I know that you had a website. Many individuals were able to provide input. I I went through the website and it let you see the entire plan and provide specific comments page by page. Can you share how many of those comments you were able to receive and also I know that you addressed all of them. >> Yes, we received over 400 comments and we went one by one. Some of them were recommendations, some of them were, hey, you guys have made a typo here. But uh um when we thought that the comment was a a a perfect comment to be addressed, we we put them on the on the final version. We have responses for all those comments. what we did or what we did not. So yeah, we we got a lot of comments. We had um over three weeks period of of comments open. >> Okay, perfect. Yeah. And I think what I was trying to also understand in a lot of the questions was how does the action from February 17th >> take place with this new action essentially and how if they're going to get married or they're going to work together just cuz I was I was thinking of February 17th action is one directive and then now you have another directive coming from this climate action plan and again the environmental conversation is not part of the February 17th action right which I think is key in the conversation >> but I know that we've talked. We've had a lot of those conversations and thank you for for addressing a lot of my concerns and thought process whenever I'm making a decision. I always try to really do my research and and get fully informed. So, thank you. >> Yeah. No, thank you. >> And Representative Nino is referencing in the in the CAP plan the community action plan page 80 if anyone wants to. >> Yes. and and and we've heard today and we we've been already doing research obviously and we're going to hear more from the community at those meetings and the environment, the resources, air, water, noise, those are going to come at the forefront. So, we see those as part of our of our work. >> Very good. Represent. >> Thank you, Mayor Fernando. Um I just want to thank you and your team for putting this together. I know there's been a lot of work that has gone into this and I appreciate how much um intention you had in in kind of putting this together, giving this um the briefings that we received. I I really appreciated asking all those questions. And then as I was reading through this plan on page 25, um like Rep. Nino, I I decided to read the entire document as well and and just kind of take key takeaways. Um, it was good that the data center stuff is included here. Um, M6 develop a data center policy that incorporates environmental, community, and economic development considerations. So, um, with with that said, what what happens is this is part of the climate action plan now. So the February 17th action becomes part of the climate action plan. >> Yes, that's how we we're getting into implementation of that action. We were going to do so no matter what. But uh you all gave us that expedited um ask and we'll be working on this bring the framework and what the framework um what you all decide to do with that framework. We'll continue to work on on whatever we need to do on on data center policy. >> Okay. And then today in terms of prop um of the climate action plan that we're looking at, we're not looking at Prop C commitments today and that's going to be at a future date. Yes. Correct. >> Yes. We're going to bring a plan for the investment of the Prop C funds for you all to approve. We we're focused on on economic savings and improving um safety and and quality of life with the project that we're going to bring to you. >> Okay. I appreciate that. just cuz um my constituents have kind of been asking me over the last few months what what is happening with Prop C. So yes, I'll kind of guide them toward kind of knowing that that's coming at a later date. Um I don't know if that was my phone. Sorry. Um but o overall, you know, the the climate action plan, I I see that there's a majority of our um residents that are living in lowincome disadvantaged communities, and they are the most negatively impacted by the shocks of climate change and extreme weather events that we continue to see rising throughout our community and throughout the world. Um, thinking through on on the data centers, you know, we have we've had a lot of public comment here today specifically on data centers. We're going to have those meetings that are coming up in a few weeks on data centers. Uh, my constituents will not stop talking about data centers and all the concerns and and I share their concerns and and I'm worried about what what happens around that, you know, and having, you know, conversations about the effects of data centers on our community is really important. So, I'm looking forward to what you're doing in terms of the action that was taken a few weeks ago and I kind of want to see what what's going to happen there. But I wanted to also take an opportunity since we're talking about the climate action plan to further ingrain this into the plan. So, I wanted to propose an amendment on on this today that um I'll share with Miss Prime. I move to integrate the following data center the forthcoming data center policy framework when complete into this climate action plan resolution and further require by annual updates to ensure further city processes including 380 incentive agreements construction bids infrastructure projects utility agreements and industry partnerships align with the policy set forth in the climate action plan and data center policy framework. So I've sent that over to Miss Prime if you could get that to council. um really looking at trying to get this um into the resolution that we have today and and cement it there and then also get updates. That's the the reality of that. So, >> okay, there's an amendment. Is there is there a second to the amendment? >> Sure. >> You should have it in your inbox now, council. May be a point of clarification. >> Sure. >> What is the actual amendment to the resolution? There's this is this doesn't actually give any language to add to the resolution >> to to integrate the forthcoming policy framework that they're working on when it's complete to be integrated into the resolution at that time. Since we have to amend specific language on a resolution ahead of time, I don't think we can add some something to be added to the resolution after the council approves it. So, it would have to be specific language adjustments to the language of the resolution >> before we approve it. >> Is that correct, Miss Frank? >> Yes. Because you want to add language that's not yet has has not yet been developed. >> Can I add maybe we just need some clarification? Your request is to add the future data center policy as part of the action plan. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And and that's why I set the resolution because it says on the language climate action plan resolution. So since the data policy data center policy is not complete yet once it's completed I'm requesting that that be added formally. >> So you could do one of two things. We can amend that to just say you want the data the data center action plan to be included in the climate action plan or you can wait until the item is brought forward in your future meeting with the final and then you all could direct us as to what to do because I think the it's just a matter of your wording because you're asking us to amend the resolution that hasn't come forward. >> Okay. So if we took out the word resolution would that make it better? I think what all you're asking is that the data action the data center policy be part of the climate action plan. That's all that needs to >> and then and then to to be brought by back by annually just to kind of see where measures are going. >> So repres >> Thank you, mayor. I'm trying to understand are we talking about the data center policy framework from February 17th and then we're talking about the climate action plan >> integrating it into that climate action plan. >> So I think that's what we're trying to get clarification of is there two different directives two different policies that are being worked on. I don't know if we could get clarification from staff as even the the actual policy is still going to come forward for us to essentially adopt to where we could potentially ask for those updates when that we adopt the policy. Is that I'm I'm trying to to understand. >> Uh representative, we I mean we are planning to bring you briefings at least annually on the plan. I don't know if that you want to include specifically. We'll obviously talk about all the actions that we would be implementing. So I don't know if that addresses your your comment. >> Yeah. I I I knew that you were going to do the annual thing and I thought maybe every six months would be better. I >> mean we can Yeah. and and so once the policy framework so from my understanding and correct me if I'm wrong the February 17th action directing you to do a policy for data centers a framework um for data centers that was integrated into some of the actions of the action plan >> that would be the action M6 we see that as an M6 and and representative Nino made those comments about the environment and what is on that action we we see that framework that is coming forward including all those things >> just like going to marry each other correct like it's going to >> yes >> that's what I was trying to >> and so I want to make sure that we integrate that into the plan >> um like as I said once you approve the plan today it's integrated in the plan >> officially >> so the the data center policy is an act >> excuse me sorry there was a distraction can you can you Start again, Yian. >> Uh, so what I was going to say is the data center framework is already a part of the the cap. Uh, it's just because of the timing. Uh, council requested us to work on the framework before the plan was approved. But you could envision we would be required to give you an update on the status of any action items already as a a matter of course of of updating you on the climate action plan. Uh so I think the question would be more if you if you wanted to increase the cadence uh from one year to six months of updates on the climate action plan, we would already update you uh on on any changes to the framework as part of that. Does that make sense? >> It makes sense. And I think also the the intent is to make sure that future policies that are passed around the data center framework are going to be in alignment with the CAP and that we're not just checking boxes that we're actually following that. >> So I I just want to make sure that that's what we're doing. >> Yes. >> All right. So he has an amendment on the floor. Did you guys get a chance to read this? All right. Is there a second to approve this amendment? Hey, Mr. Bryan. Not here in a second. That amendment dies. Representative Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Um, as I think you know, anytime we have a climate related item, you usually get a long soap box from me. And I'll spare it I'll spare everyone the long comments today because I think this is incredibly thorough. Uh the outreach to the community has been very effective. Um all of the input that we've gotten has been very valuable and has been incorporated. Um I think Reino took a lot of the the points that I wanted to make, you know, thanking the the fellows. I think that was an inspired decision to uh bring bring the fellows on board to help with the work and make sure that the community was involved in the engagement with the community. Very helpful. Um the uh steering committee as well and all of the the partners um and those I will list out because I think it's worth thanking each and every one of them. City of San Lisario, city of Sakoro, El Paso County, Horizon City, uh, Hudsmith County, the Rio Grande Council of Governments, the town of Anthony, Texas, town of Clint, village of Vinton, the Isleta delur pueblo, and the metropolitan planning organization. Um, I I really thank all of them for their work and input in getting us to this place. as well. Uh to everybody who submitted comments uh on the draft and contributed their input that way. I think that was incredibly valuable. Um again, thank you to the team. I see a lot of them sitting here in the back. So, thank you to all of you. I think um as you said, this took months and months of work, few years of work. uh and you've provided us with something that uh doesn't require a lot of uh deeper deeper uh analysis because uh you've kept us informed the entire way and we we've seen what an excellent product has been developed here. So thank you to all of those people uh and to the team for getting us here. I do have one question and that is in the uh agreement that's pro not the agreement the the uh plan that's provided in the backup uh it is the version that does not have the uh tech technical documentation and the appendices is that something that will be available when that website goes live so that the public has access to the entirety of it not just the >> yes we'll be uploading all the technical report and the appendixes I know that's a a lot documents. We also have a >> um I still need to the proof reading. I need to go through it, but we're gonna have a Spanish version >> of the document that you all have received in the backup and that'll be ready probably in a week or 10 days. >> Very good. Yeah, I just want to make sure that uh the entirety of this excellent report is available to the public and they're able to see again the plan, but also I think that if they want to dive in deeper, the the technical report and the and the appendices are very important for them to have as well. So, >> thank you. >> One more time. Thank you very much. Um, I don't, you know, I've seen many plans uh start and come to conclusion and to be honest, this is probably my favorite of all the processes. I think it's gone incredibly well. So, thank you. >> Thank you, >> Representative Lemon. >> Thank you, Mayor. And ditto ditto ditto everything that representative Canales just stated. Two points, Fernand. Uh the first one is um the table will be set with all participants to continue through this process. Um it won't be shut down. It'll continuation of it which is great. And then the second thing is uh really interested in the opening of the grant program and look forward to to getting that on board. >> Yep. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. And I forgot to mention we're gonna Sorry, major. We're going to have a dashboard to track progress and that would be also publicly available. >> Represent Nino. >> Thank you, mayor. And one last question I know that I had asked you in regards of everyone all the regional partners that took place of this. What are the next steps? Because we are essentially the first body that's adopting this climate action plan and we would be overseeing the climate action plan. And I know that you mentioned to me during my briefing that the next step would be to go meet with all those potential community stakeholders, government entities who could adopt this plan. >> Yes. So we when we met with them yesterday and Friday, we obviously let them know that we were going to bring the plan today to council and and we were having um offering our uh help to to let them or help them with the approval of the plan. I uh ideally the whole plan or partially in their in their communities. So we're going to be working with them. We already connected with the county which is looking into into a similar plan or framework for the county of El Paso. So we are in in discussions with them. I I want to highlight that when we reached out for the data center policy framework conversation um they all responded and I think it's it's because of the of the relationship that we built for the last two years with those governments and we had the right people at that call to start having these conversations. So I think the the relationship is going to keep moving forward because it's positive for us and positive for the region. So yeah, thank you for that. >> No, this is great. I'm looking forward to further conversations and even the fact that you'll be creating that dashboard so that people could kind of track the progress of this plan is going to be key. >> And again, you know, overall we're not adopting a specific policy yet. It's more of a guide that will essentially bring those policy recommendations forward. And that's the time that, you know, the council could also start talking even further of what they want to advocate within those specific policies. So, thank you for all your hard work. Thank you, Mayor. >> Thank you, >> Fernando. Good job to you and the team. Um, ditto ditto ditto. Very comprehensive plan that you guys put together. >> Thank you. >> And I look forward to seeing our how our partners and all this comes together. But a really good job. Congrats, >> Miss Prime. We have public comment. >> Yes, we have Mr. Jerry Curta followed by Veronica Carvajal, Patricia Osman, and Lawrence Gibson. Good afternoon. >> Good afternoon. >> Good afternoon, honorable mayor and councel. My name is Jerry Kurtika and I'm here representing community first coalition which includes pretty much all the environmental organizations of our region for example Sierra Club, Eco El Paso and activities of affiliated groups like a monaster. We were all here in January 2024 when the then climate and sustainability department requested council approval to move forward with this planning project. The problem was that none of us had been included in any of the planning leading up to that request which we would otherwise have supported. I'm pleased to tell you that that situation has been totally reversed and the plan you have in front of you is a result of a huge community engagement effort by the city. Beginning in 2024, there were three climate summits that engaged the environmental community, multiple community meetings to explain the plan and to solicit neighborhood input, especially on priorities like air quality, heat mitigation, transit, and solar adaptation. When the draft climate action plan became available last fall, the city requested requested members of my group to review and comment on it. And that's where we got 400 uh comments were received. I know I gave a whole weekend to it myself. In short, what you have in front of you represents the consensus of the El Paso community generally and especially its environmentalists. This plan will guide specific projects like public charging stations, installing solar power on city buildings, improving air quality by monitoring systems at the international bridges and in communities impacted by poor air quality, and increasing the shade and tree canopy throughout the city. So, there's something here for everybody. And speaking of everyone, look at the list of stakeholders in that acknowledgement page. That's everyone you would want to have with you on something like this. I ask you to approve this plan and direct the city manager and her climate staff to engage a willing El Paso environmental community that wants to help the city to bring these projects to fruition and thank you for doing this. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Veronica Carvaja followed by Patricia Osman and Lawrence Gibson. Good afternoon. >> Good afternoon again. Thank you, uh, mayor and council, um, and and staff. I'm here as an organizer for Sandus Franta Coalition. We've been fighting economic and environmental injustice born out of the racism and classism that has plagued our community for decades. Um, we support the city's climate action plan and we want to thank the city staff for meeting with our members and for the community events that they've hosted. We are grateful that the framework that you are working on um regarding the data centers is included in the climate action plan. Now, and uh to be clear, we don't want data centers in our community, especially AI data centers. We appreciate the upcoming meetings that you're hosting and mayor, because of your social media uh activities, we found out about the meeting. So, we appreciate that. However, if if y'all do have the information of the people that commented on the climate action plan, send out an email to them. Let them know about these meetings because as Representative Aso said, this is the number one topic in our community, followed closely by ICE detention centers. Um, we, as you know, we've been fighting the metadata center since November. We've developed a lot of expertise in this area, as have our members. Um, and we've met with each of you. Um, Mayor, we met with your staff. We're meeting with the C. We met with the county commissioners and our state delegation. And we've been in communication with the congresswoman's office. We're collecting written public comments against um four different entities including the city and the county. We're asking you to void your tax incentives. We're collecting comments um to give to the utility uh the PSP regarding the EP water contract that we want them to void with meta. And then lastly, we're submitting comments to the utility commission of Texas to ask them to deny them a cloud facility for meta. It would be so incredible as an environmentalist if we could just go to one um entity, but instead we're having to go to every single one because um that is how applications work and because our environment is never seen as um something that needs to be protected holistically. So we're fighting for cleaner air with one entity and for clean water and sustainable water practices with another etc. And but as the city you hold so much power in this regard and the climate action plan is I agree relatively cohesive and and comprehensive. There are still things that we need to address for some of our members. Um, and we do hope that this helps you as our elected leaders understand um, that when things like the IT 10 expansion both through downtown and the Rio Bosske come to you, that should also be seen through the lens of the climate action plan. Um, we just heard about the um, TED fund investment. Well, $12.5 million from JP Morgan is going right back to El Paso Electric, right? because that road Stan Roberts will be used for the Mloud facility for META. That's in congruent. It's unfair. That money should be going back to our community for these very expensive environmental projects. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Patricia Osman, followed by Lawrence Gibson. >> So, a bit of history, Mr. Nino, because I was here throughout all of this. And for reference, uh, the climate zar was Nicole Finini. Her supervisor at the time was Deputy City Manager Dion Mack and who worked under her was Fernando. I know because I went to all these meetings and I have sent them various emails. So, I'd like to ask why is it we already knew about the data centers before you have you have in here city policies as far as heat mitigation, gas and admissions testing and so forth. So, why is it the data centers are only coming into this climate pan now and not before? because these departments should have known about it because everything with meta was already known in the city before the public had any idea. And yes, the public knew about the climate plan prior to the data center. We were never informed. And mind you, if we knew then about the data center, those climate meetings would have been far different in fact. So, it hasn't been transparent. In fact, there's been a lot of shadiness and it's not coming from the trees because Mr. Canales, Mr. Acadeo, you all were part of that whole group that would have known. So, why didn't you all insist that those D that Danis center because it is an environmental issue was part of the climate plan back then. So the public would know and have that input because here it's water mitigation. It's everything that citizens should do. But the actions that you all do in the votes, huge warehouses, lot more cement that raises the heat. Hence why the shading. So the residents have to concede everything. But you offer the corporate overlords will push everything else through. But I still want to ask it is the data center is now in it only because Miss Leon Lemon insisted it. But why didn't the rest of you all do it? Why didn't Miss Dion Mack do it? Because she knew all of this prior. That is something that that is a whole lack of transparency. And yes, I am all for the climate change plan, but do you know what? The way you did it, it really wasn't transparent and everybody didn't know. >> The next speaker is Lawrence Gibson. >> Good afternoon. >> Hello, council. want to compliment you on your patience. This has been a long day, but you do it every Tuesday. At any rate, uh I want to do ditto ditto ditto again uh and identify with M. Representative Canal's uh praise. Uh we started following this uh in about three years ago and we got off to a pretty slow start. But I must say that uh Fernando and his team have made up for for any delay in the beginning. This and it's just a beautiful thing that that they've done and and I think that's enough said. >> Thank you. And that concludes public comment. >> Okay, Mr. Brian, let's call for the vote on our climate action plan. >> And we did receive a statement in support of the plan that was shared with council. >> Okay. >> Earlier today, there's a motion made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Nino to approve item 35. On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay, Miss Brian, let's take item 36, please. Item 36 is discussion and action on a resolution that the city manager be authorized to sign an agreement for professional services between the city of El Paso and ACOM technical services for a project known as 2026-0135 design services for the El Paso downtown international ports intelligent transportation systems design and regional integration project for an amount not to exceed 1,428,41489. >> Is there a motion to approve this? >> Approve. Second >> good afternoon. >> Afternoon mayor and council Rodriguez with the capital improvement. >> You have five slides for us, right? >> We'll keep it quick. We can skip most of them if you'd like. >> Next slide, please. >> So, project details, as Miss Prime mentioned, this is for downtown IT. Um this is a scope of work associated with a grant that you all uh approved the application of. Uh the total contract value is 1.428 million. This is to support the FY24 uh smart grant. It is 100% federally funded. There is no match associated with this. Next slide. The scope of work is for engineering services for the IT design and regional integration project. Essentially, we are designing IT systems for the downtown ports of entry. That will include design for fiber optic lines, cameras, message signs, uh traffic sensors, and signal improvements. The design will also include ensuring that all of this works together with our ongoing TMC project. That's our traffic management center upgrades which includes similar improvements uh citywide that all feed into the city's traffic management center um and other regional traffic management systems. Three firms submitted their statements of qualifications. Um the most highly qualified firm based on our evaluation is AECOM technical services. Um, there is a representative from AECOM here today if you'd like to ask any questions. AECOM is also one of the consultants helping us with our traffic management center upgrades. So, there's a lot of uh potential benefits with their familiarity with our existing systems. Uh, again, total contract amount 1,428,41489. >> Okay. Represent Canales. >> Thank you, Mayor. This is a project that's been quite a long time coming. So, uh, you know, I remember considering the grant application in 24. So, glad to finally see this up for award and, uh, I think we've been very happy with the work of AECOM in the past. So, uh, it's a good partner. Thank you. Happy to support. >> Okay. Any additional questions for our AECOM? >> Okay. Hearing none, Miss Fry, there's no public comment. Would you call for the vote? >> Yes. Motion was made by Representative Ganales, seconded by Representative Lemon to approve item 36. On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> All righty. Happy St. Patrick's Day, council. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Second to adjourn. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second to adjurnn the regular city council meeting. All in favor? Anyone opposed? And the regular city council meeting for Tuesday, March 17, 2026 is adjourned at 1:52 p.m. Thank you, council.