take a deep breath because this is forever where's your right hand I I Brian Kennedy do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully execute do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully execute the duties of the office of City representative district one the duties of the office of City representative district one of the studio El Paso of the city of El Paso county of El Paso county of El Paso state of Texas state of Texas and will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability preserve protect and defend preserve protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this state and of this state and I further more solemnly swear and I furthermore solemnly swear that I have not directly nor indirectly that I have not directly nor indirectly paid offered or promised to pay paid offered or promised to pay contributed nor promised to contribute contributed or promised to contribute any money or valuable thing any money or valuable thing or promised any public office or employment or promise any public office or employment as a reward for for the giving or withholding a vote for the say it again for the giving or withholding of a vote was I close yeah that's good enough okay at the election at which I was elected at the election at which I was elected and I further more solemnly swear and I further more solemnly swear that I am not indebted that I am not indebted to the city of El Paso to the city of El Paso in any sum whatsoever in any sum whatsoever so help me God so help me God [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] he's mine now huh he's yours he's mine sometimes but not today next the honorable Judge Annabelle Perez from the 41st District Court will be administering the oath of office to representative elect for district 6 art Pierro hey hey it's judges everybody there you go okay good morning everyone okay please raise your right hand I art Pharaoh I art Fiero do some we swear do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully execute that will Faithfully execute the duties of the office the duties of the office of City representative district number six of City representative district number six of the city of El Paso of the city of El Paso county of El Paso county of El Paso the state of Texas state of Texas and will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability preserve protect and defend preserve protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States the Constitution and the laws of the United States and of this state and of this state and I further solemnly swear and I further solemnly swear that I have not directly nor indirectly that I have not directly nor indirectly paid offered or promised to pay paid offer or promise a pay contributed nor promised to contribute contributed or promise to contribute any money or valuable thing any money or valuable thing or promised any public office or employment or promised any public office or employment as a reward for the giving as a reward for the giving or withholding a vote or withholding a vote at the election at which I was elected at the election which I was elected and I further solemnly swear and I further solemnly swear that I am not indebted to the city of El Paso my brothers only swear that I am not indebted to the city of El Paso in any sum whatsoever in any sum whatsoever so help me God so help me God congratulations rep Fierro thank you [Applause] next is Texas state representative Joe Moody from the 78th District House of Representatives will be administering the oath of office to representative elect for District 8 Chris Canales [Music] you're just gonna need to be taller than mine you could raise your right hand and repeat after me I state your name I Chris Canales do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully execute the duties of the office of City representative district number eight do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully execute the duties of the office of City representative district 8. of the city of El Paso of the city of El Paso county of El Paso county of El Paso state of Texas state of Texas and will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability preserve protect and defend preserve protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this state and of this state and I further more solemnly swear and I furthermore solemnly swear that I have not directly nor indirectly paid that I have not directly or indirectly paid offered or promised to pay offered or promised to pay contributed nor promised to contribute contributed nor promised to contribute any money or valuable thing any money or valuable thing or promised any public office or promised any public office or employment or employment as a reward for the giving as a reward for the giving or withholding a vote or withholding a vote at the election at which I was elected at the election in which I was elected and I furthermore solemnly swear and I furthermore solemnly swear that I am not indebted to the city of El Paso that I am not indebted to the city of El Paso in any sum whatsoever in any sum whatsoever so help me God so help me God congratulations thanks thank you again and representative Joe Moody from the 78th District House of Representatives will also be administering the oath of office to representative for District 5 Isabel Salcido representative raise your right hand and repeat after me I state your name I Isabel Salcido do solemnly swear do solemn as you swear that I will Faithfully execute that I will Faithfully execute the duties of the office of City representative district number five the duty of the office of city of representative office of District 5. of the city of El Paso of the city of El Paso county of El Paso county of El Paso state of Texas state of Texas and will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability preserve protect and defend preserve protect and defend the Constitution and laws the Constitution and loss of the United States of the United States and of this state and of the state and I furthermore solemnly swear in a furthermore Solomon swear that I have not directly that I have not directly nor indirectly no indirectly paid offered or promised to pay pay offer or promise to pay contributed nor promised to contribute contributed or no promised to contribute it any money or valuable thing any money or valuable thing or promised any public office promise any public office or employment or employment as a reward as a reward for the giving or withholding for the given or withholding a vote a vote at the election at which I was elected at the election of which I was elected and I further more solemnly swear and I further solemnly swear that I am not indebted to the city of El Paso but I'm not indebted to the city of El Paso in any sum whatsoever in any sum whatsoever so help me God so help me God congratulations [Applause] foreign Council if you'll please um Council already to start if you'll please join us on the Deus first of all I'd like to congratulate all the new city council members that um were elected by our community and look forward to working with everyone it'd be all in our I'm glad to see a lot of your friends and family here as it is something that we do take very serious and again the city council members that are here today I look forward to continuing to work with every one of you all here in the next couple years and with that thank you Mr Pine good morning this is a meeting of the El Paso city council for Tuesday January 3rd 2023 present and presiding inside council chambers is Mayor Lisa along with representative Kennedy representative Hernandez representative Molina representative Salcido representative Fierro representative Rivera and representative Canales representative anello will be joining virtually today it is 903 am well everyone please silence your electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and write for the invocation delivered by El Paso Police chaplain Joe Morata good morning and happy New Year good morning if you would like to pray with us this morning I ask that we just bow our heads together as we call upon the Lord heavenly father on this third day of the new year and on the first day of business we are asking and seeking your guidance and wisdom in regards to all the matters that are before this fight today and not only today but for this coming year your word says that wisdom is above rubies and may your wisdom guide our city officials in meeting the needs of our populace May the limited resources be used to the most Effectiveness in assisting in meeting the needs of the people of our community we also pray for our educational Community for all students staff and teachers as they make their way back to their classrooms I'm praying that you would bless them and keep them healthy and keep them safe and that you help them to both teach and to learn to Build a Better Community and finally Lord as we always ask we want we ask that you would keep our First Responders under your hand of protection as well as their families keep these people safe as they protect us we thank you for these men and women who dedicate themselves to protecting us into keeping us safe and we thank you again Lord today in your name amen thank you we'll start with representative Canales will you lead us in the pledge sir please One issues under God indivisible liberty and justice thank you you know and um again I want to thank everyone here and wish everybody a very happy new year and um you know I think as we saw last night in an NFL game anything can happen at any given moment and we really need the embrace our friends our neighbors and be thankful for everything we have in our lives so I want everyone to kind of have a moment of silence and and look at uh this year coming forward and also keep that young man that was injured last night in a tragic injury in an NFL game as we like I said our lives can change any moment and I want to keep him and everyone in our prayers please foreign thank you Mr Prine that brings us to the mayor's Proclamation the proclamation this morning is massing of the colors day good morning Proclamation city of El Paso Texas whereas where'd it go whereas the greater El Paso chapter of the military order of world wars will conduct its 46th annual massing of the national and organization colors on January the 14th 2023 at the El Paso Community College 9050 by count in El Paso Texas and whereas the massing of the colors is a ceremony of the dates from 1922 and is a patriotic ceremony to encourage citizens to rededicate our faith and the colors of the United States of America and whereas the massing of the colors designed to show our United Support of service members past and present whom those colors represent and whereas the masculine colors represents all branches of the Armed Forces ROTC JROTC veteran civic law enforcement patriotic fraternal organizations Boy Scouts Girl Scouts and also honors our Gold Star Mothers gold star wives and Military widows whereas we recognize the contributions of the El Paso chapter of the military order to the El Paso Community upon the 104th anniversary of the founding of the order now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and Council of the city of El Paso the January 14 2023 shall be known as massing of the colors day signed the honorable Oscar Leisure mayor for the city of El Paso [Applause] please I'd like to say a couple words yeah Robert melson commander of the El Paso chapter of the mowww it's a great privilege to be here this morning and to accept the proclamation on the behalf of the chapter and of the community I think there's very little more that needs to be said about that we we look at this as being a premier patriotic event in our community and are happy to be able to return to business if you will and have this first one in the last three years but thank you again for the proclamation and for the recognition thank you for your service and every man and woman that served our nation thank you it's a Saturday coming up two weeks and we will be reading that Proclamation at our ceremony and we would love to have at least one representative from the city there uh in order to read that and mayor if if you can make it on January 14th at one o'clock at the community college district offices on Viscount we would love to have you we would love to have my my city representative Mr molinar who is a former Marine and uh we would love to have the police chief there because I think the uh the city's Color Guard will be participating in this it's a very moving ceremony it's open to the public we invite everybody to attend so thank you very much thank you mayor would you like to take photos with it if we can do I think what I'd like to do item one and two first and then we can do that yes sir well if you'll please wait in Chambers Council will take photos with you momentarily item number one is discussion in action on the election of Mayor Pro tem and Alternate mayor potem thank you and with that um I I had only one city representative reach out to me that would be interested in serving and that's uh representative nello so I'd like to entertain a motion to nominate representative vanilla second we need to make a motion sir I've moved to uh nominate representative alexandrinello's mayor Pro town for a second we have a motion in a second motion was made by representative molinar seconded by representative Kennedy to nominate representative anello as mayor Pro Tem on that motion well I've got a representative uh Rivera thank you mayor thank you mayor regarding the mayor Pro tem and the alternate mayoral Pro Tem uh as a senior member of this Council I extend my privilege to move to appoint two women to our Council to to these important roles one being representative Cassandra Hernandez and mayor Pro tem and representative Isabel cecito is alternate mirror Pro 10 both are strong women have exhibited such qualities in our past Council based on my presidents I moved to take each item separately we are and to move uh to a point again like I said representative Hernandez as mayor Pro tem and representative Salcido as alternate mayor Pro tem we'll take item number two one I need a second represent Hernandez go ahead man I second thank you um but I did want to make some statements first thank you representative Rivera for the the nomination I had reached out to some members of council certainly didn't want to um you know violate any open Quorum any Texas open meetings act so I didn't get an opportunity to speak to everybody here today um you know being a member of council for over five years and then before that I served as staff for city council representatives and it has been such an honor and pleasure to serve and be your public servant I did want to recognize and and congratulate the new members of council and then the re-elected representative Salcido representative Fierro representative Canales and representative Kennedy what I enjoy about elections is that it's certainly a rebirth enjoy the democracy and the opportunity to serve this wonderful Council if if I'm elected by my peers today what I would like to do is bring a lot of synergy Unity there are so many folks who are depending on us to make sure that we lead these Council meetings with efficiency making sure that we we hold the temperament that's necessary to act as a mayor Pro tem in the absence of Mayor liser and so my hope is that with that experience with what I'd like to bring to council to make sure that everybody has a voice there are processes there's procedures that we have to keep close to we need to make sure that we work with Mrs Prine our city clerk and then also with our City attorney and city manager and right in front of you members of council you will see a member statement that states a code of ethics and a code of elected for appointed officials I I would urge you to take a moment to look at that so if elected today I hope to bring that respect that dignity to make sure that we all are heard on behalf of our constituencies because it's critical your voice is critical on their behalf and I commit to listen to you and I commit to help achieve your goals for your dish tricks so I really do appreciate the the counter arguments I just wanted an opportunity to work with each and every one of you and if I'm accepted in this role I'm ready for this leadership role would love to grow into it and I hope I can count on your support thank you thank you Mr Price can we take the motion first motion please yes sir the first motion was made by representative Molina secondary by representative Kennedy and this is to elect representative anello as mayor Pro Tem on that motion call for the vote foreign representative anello good morning Mr Prime Happy New Year I vote yes thank you and the voting session and the motion passes five to three Representatives Kennedy anello Molinaro Canales Representatives the motion does pass thank you representative Rodriguez I mean I'm sorry Hernandez that's right um I wish you the best of luck representative anello here to serve and help you in any role in any and any help I'm happy to continue the discussion for representative cecido she has demonstrated a lot of a lot of growth a lot of leadership growth for this community I think she's ready to step up the alternate mayor of pro tem will serve in the absence of both the mayor and the mayor Pro tem would love to entertain an emotion and second representative Rivera's motion to serve as the alternative okay but his motion was for item number one so if we want item number two which is we need to read into the record it's still item number hold on hold on one second please go ahead ma'am it's still item number one is for both mayor Pro tem and Alternate mayor Pro Tem I'm sorry okay we do have so that but he had motions together so we need to have a Shepherd motion ask for him to be separate okay so we have a motion and a second for representative Salcido yes the motion was made by representative Rivera secondary by representative Hernandez to elect representative Salcido as alternate mayor Pro tem we are representative good morning thank you mayor Happy New Years to everyone I am a very uh thank you so much for nominating me I know that I've been guided on this uh in regards to seniority so I I think that a senior member has nominated me and so I am looking to be able to fulfill this this role if I am accepted by my colleagues and looking to keep Unity here and and be able to conduct a a proper efficient meeting whenever we have them it is called for so I want to thank for the nomination and I do accept it thank you thank you for that Mr Prime yes sir the motion was made by representative Rivera seconded by representative Hernandez to elect representative Salcido as alternate mayor Pro Tem on that motion call for the vote representative anello no mayor we have a tie in the voting session and the motion fails five to three Representatives Kennedy anello molinar Fierro and mayor Lisa voting Representatives Hernandez Salcido Rivera and Canal is voting either motion does fail and the only reason I voted no is because the only representative again that reached out to me that was interested in being mayor Pro Tim was representative molinar and with that I will entertain a motion their motion to nominate representative molinar yeah you are okay I'd like to make a motion that representative molinar be alternate mayor Pro Tem second there's a motion made by representative Kennedy seconded by representative Fierro to elect representative Molina's alternate mayor Pro Tem on that motion call for the vote representative anello hi thank you and the voting session and the motion passes 62 Representatives Kennedy anello Hernandez molinar Diego representative Salcido Rivera voting nay the motion does pass thank you congratulations on both of you and my hope to be able to work with everyone in the council but also it's really important that I have the support of our Council thank you without Miss Prine we'll take a consent agenda item two sir is discussion in action on a resolution adopting the rules of order for City Council meetings representative Kennedy don't worry I'll get the mute off soon I had a question on section 16 which is use of electronic devices because I normally take my notes on an iPad and this would effectively rule out the use of that electronic item at the desk also if somebody is remote they wouldn't fall under this because it only says while you're on the Deus so somebody that is remote like representative vanilla wouldn't technically fall into this and so I'd like to figure out a way to make that work because I'd like to keep taking my notes on my iPad I realize that anything that we write is is open records whether it is personal or whether it is is governmental anything about business with the city is open records even on our personal iPhones but my concern on this item is it's it's a bit restrictive and is is a bit uneven because when you are remotely coming in you wouldn't fall under this thank you representative um are you looking for any action on it or just more of a point of information well I mean honestly my action would be to delete the second paragraph of 16. and have it Rewritten and brought back I mean the rest of it is if you need to take a phone call you need to leave um you know the computers are limited to what is the governmental entity but I think that paragraph two in section 16 needs to be Rewritten so I would I would move that we remove that paragraph because we can always come back and and redo it second there's a motion made by representative Kennedy seconded by representative Molina and this is to strike out the second paragraph under section 16 use of electronic devices that reads members of the city council should not use any electronic devices other than their desktop computers provided by the city of El Paso located at their seats during any city council meeting or city council work sessions the use of communication devices of any kind including but not limited to handheld portable communication devices cell phones computers tablets laptops watches Etc is expressly prohibited during City Council meetings and should not be allowed in the room during closed sessions unless they are being used to Aid an executive session presentations and this is to to strike out this paragraph on that motion call for the boat uh one second though we do have representative written on this and representative is coming on and off so thank you thank you um I wanted to I don't have a question regarding your um request uh representative Kennedy I'm I'm happy I'm happy to support that um but as it relates to the ceremonial part of of the the organization of the meeting mayor um in the past we have allowed for students to attend so that they can do Pledge of Allegiance and I I get a lot of requests from schools and I think it's just a wonderful way to show children in our community you know what we do for them and how we work for them in government so in exhibit be exhibit B of the attachment of this item it does allow for the Pledge of Allegiance or ceremonial items and so I would ask mayor how can we reinstate that so we can have children come and sing the Pledge of Allegiance and have an opportunity to meet you and take photos with Council you know that's been in um we've had that in the way we've been doing it normally is city council members will bring somebody from their district and brings it up to uh Irma Mendoza and then she will get it all set up and getting a certificate so I think that's still in in there and it um and I do welcome every uh District to bring up and bring somebody whether a school from your District or not even from your District somebody that you would like to be in front of council because I agree with you 100 that is very very important and we've had quite a few of them some family members in some schools and I would like to see somebody from the public come students or someone that we'd like to see every council meeting I think that's very important would you recommend it's in the exhibit B as one of the attachments so are you just okay with just moving forward with it or would you like to put that in the I think we can just move forward all right wonderful and and then for the new members of council what we do historically if there's any groups it doesn't have to be school it could be like a club a soccer club or you know whoever it is um we'll try to limit the number of students we bring um typically it's like a class or the schools would choose the students and then we submit the names of the students to the mayor's office and then we can go ahead and invite them here to attend earlier so I would move to well I'm not going to make a motion because you're okay with moving forward with it so um so I'm excited for that to start at the next meeting thank you mayor thank you representative thank you mayor uh I'd just like to you if it's okay to address her representative Kennedy uh on your motion are you are you saying you want to delete it for now the section or you want to we can do that I like to delete it uh while we rework it and bring it back in a Rewritten form so it would be okay we postpone it for now until I think we can postpone the item uh Mr Gonzalez or um so I would recommend that you can pass the rules except for this portion that we come back with an amendment that suits what the council is directing and then also make room for the confidentiality of communications and executive session which is where I think that we need to have a little bit more of a discussion okay well you get input from the rest of us as well yes sir absolutely uh being that I have new staff and and uh there's ways I need to communicate with them as well and sometimes we're limited in our in our uh Quorum here that we can't get up and make that call like uh it's written there so that's what I would like to consider as well as Mr Kennedy's uh input on that I'm not I'm not following you right since I have new staff and there's times that that uh I need to talk to him I need to check them on the phone and let them know that he needs to come down here whether he's doing something else or right regardless and there's times that we we barely meet Quorum here that we can't get up unless we call recess I I understand where you're where you're suggesting yes sir and you what I'm what I'm understanding from the council is your ability to communicate and then keep notes on an electronic device the only area that we would caution the council is the communication regarding what happens in executive session that has been a long-standing um practice of this Council to not bring your phones into Executives so it's it's a matter of what type of electronic devices you're choosing to keep notes on okay thank you then thank you thank you mayor Pro tem Manila thank you mayor I also wanted to address um paragraph two of section 12. um I've always felt that limiting the council member's ability to communicate during an item is somewhat unfair to our constituents and to the representatives so I would like to make a motion to delete paragraph two of section 12 which discusses allowing council members to only speak twice and for 10 minutes what was that again do you need a decision section 12 obtaining the floor paragraph two reads for regular City Council meetings and the debate each member of council has a right to speak twice on the same item on the same day but cannot make a second speech on the same item as long as any member who has not spoken on that question desires the floor no one can speak longer than 10 minutes at a time without permission or of a majority of counsel the city clerk will keep time and will notify the mayor if a representative reaches the allotted time there's no second on it representative Kennedy yeah I was going to say do I need to amend my motion instead of deleting it just to remove it from the approval well anyway while it comes back yeah so so what would we would you should make the motion to is to direct us to come back with with that Amendment but then propose to continue with the the rest of the rules of order as presented I will I'll amend my motion to say just that okay representative Molina to use till second that motion yes ma'am second thank you representative fuel you're on here I'll help you here there you go thank you it's technology art no I I wanted to speak on a separate item is in my opinion on the from the resort yes yes sir please okay on page two highlighted it here on page two my electronic devices won't turn on on page four a second paragraph it states that no electronic for uh format may be used by members of the public and that doesn't seem like it's consistent all the time sometimes people come up and give different presentations and they have um a presentation that's electronic and so I think we need to amend that my suggestion would be tormented to either let people under certain criteria with with certain criteria or not do it at all read that out read that item again miss Frankie on page four it says a document camera and projection system over her projector is available for use for public comment on posted items and call to the public members of the public shall submit any document they wish to present on the overhead projector to the city clerk no later than close the business on the previous City business day before the meeting any document that contains insulting profane threatening or abusive language nudity or campaign material will be rejected City staff will assist members of the public in using the overhead projector during the meeting in order to ensure cyber security members of the public are prohibited from sending or utilizing presentations in any electronic format including but not limited to email and from using a universal serial bus USB compact disk CD or digital versatile disc DVD per public comment and call to the public a member of the public who wishes to make an electronic presentation may bring printed documents to the city clerk's office no later than close a business on the previous City business day before the a meeting date to be scanned for presentation during the meeting thank you thank you Mr Prime partner that's it that answered my question thank you representative Hernandez where did you representative did you still want to move forward with the okay no thank you Miss Prime answered the question for me okay good great thank you um and one of the reasons why they put some of these protocols in place is because we have been seeing a high tick of um these type of cyber related attacks and so everything that the public you know any electronic files we want to make sure we we review them but I just wanted to hear uh Mrs Prine if you can tell us and what are the all the Motions on the table and if we can take them separately because I don't understand all right yes so representative Kennedy seconded by representative this is to adopt The Rules of Order but to direct staff to return with an amendment to section 16 paragraph two thank you and at any time during the year if anyone wants to bring an item to amend or have any conversation you're more than welcome to put it on on the agenda moving forward if uh if you feel something needs to be adjusted so with that Miss Prime we'll take the vote Yes sir the motion again was made by representative Kennedy Secondary by representative Molina to adopt The Rules of Order and to direct staff to return with an amendment to section 16 paragraph two on that motion call for the vote representative anello hi thank you in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously mayor did you want to move forward with a consent agenda yes ma'am thank you all matters listed under the consent agenda will be considered by city council to be routine and will be enacted by one motion unless separate discussion is requested by council members prior to the vote members of the audience may ask questions regarding items on the consent agenda when the vote has been taken If an item has not been called out for separate discussion the item has been approved Council May however reconsider any item at any time during the meeting okay you and I have an open Line mayor Pro temanello now is there any um anybody want to make any adjustments or changes to the consent agenda representative uh Kennedy yeah if I could um take a look at number seven which is the Trowbridge Drive change order okay excuse number eight that would be eight I think did you want to move that to regular to the regular portion of the agenda to vote on it separately and you're talking about number eight sir yeah I'm sorry it was number eight goal seven item number eight right you want to move that to I would like to move it to regular agenda okay thank you sir I hope it sends you better thank you that was gonna be my question are we going to go through these individually since we didn't have a work session yeah I think we should that's a good point sir okay so if we could um Miss Prime if we could go through all of them in the red relief so if there's any questions that's a really good point thank you sir yes sir item three are the minutes item five good morning mayor and Council um happy New Year this is Kevin Smith of planning inspections item five is a routine item for approval a placement of 12 liens on various properties due to boarding and securing the vacant structures item six good morning Council Ellen is my chief Transit and field operations good morning sir item six is an item you'll see very frequently it's the solid waste liens and they vary per District per meeting item seven good morning Human Resources item seven is a Second Amendment for the city manager or does it need to be authorized to sign a Professional Services agreement between the city of El Paso and Lloyd glass link Rochelle and Townsend on behalf of attorney Sarah Glaser for the provision of on-call fact-finding investigations for amount not to exceed 150 thousand dollars thank you Adam mate good morning and happy New Year this is a request that city council approve a change order in the amount of 181 778.57 to jar Concrete Inc doing business as jar Construction Inc for the turbitz drive improvements increasing the contract price from 891 196 dollars to one million 122 889 dollars the increase is a result of requests by community members to add additional scope which enhance the visual appearance of the drive as well as contribute to reducing speed thank you for that perhaps uh mayor Pro tem do you have a question on it or you want to wait for um when it moves to concerned well I I just wanted to clear some things up um this was a cdbg funded project um you know coca happened a lot of projects got amended a little bit and there was some concern that what had been presented to HUD and the federal government was not the final design and so the design that we approved it was being amended to align with what had been approved by Hud and what had been presented to the community I know this is a lot of money I know chained orders are are complicated but I do think that the community deserves these improvements and I really appreciate Jerry and his staff for for making those amendments and working this out in a timely manner thank you mayor thank you item nine is a board appointment item 10. there's tax refund item 11. that's a notation of a campaign contribution 12. good morning Paula Salas with purchasing a strategic sourcing this is number two set the standard for a safe and secure City the linkage to the Strategic plan is of section 2.3 increase Public Safety operational efficiency this is a request for proposal I'm sorry this is a request for qualification procurement for psychological examination and services there were a total of 26 viewers online three proposals were received there were two being local vendors no protest was received for this requirement and we're recommending to award Integrity employee assistance Inc DBA wellconnect the highest ranked proposer for this procurement thank you thank you and that concludes consent agenda we also received a a revision request on pages five and six items 13 and 14 to take these items together per representative Hernandez yeah I agree with that thank you so we're going to take 13 and 14 together and I know we have 46 on 1 and 30 on the other and they're the same most of them are the same so that's why we want to take them together second there's the motion made by representative Rivera seconded by representative to approve the consent agenda as revised on that motion call for the vote representative anello bye thank you in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously without the real motion the research for a photo some second there's a motion and a second to recess a city council meeting for photos all in favor anyone opposed and the meeting is in recess at 9 39 A.M council members if I could get you guys back here um near the photo wall s foreign hello this is Kristen Council of your return to the Deus the meeting can be resumed please Mr Prime we ready yes sir is there a motion to reconvene there's a motion and a second to reconvene the city council meeting all in favor yes anyone opposed the meeting is back in session at 9 52 a.m can uh can we please uh we're going to start the meeting now please if um thank you and we'll go to item number eight and then we'll take 13 and 14 after that together and I'd like to see when we go to 13 and 14 I'd like to see the presentation first before we take uh public comment yes sir item number eight is a resolution that the city council approve a change order in the amount of 181 778.57 to jar Concrete Inc dbhar Construction Inc for the Trowbridge Drive improvements contract 2022-0377 um representative um Kennedy you wanted this on the con regular agenda go ahead sir yeah anytime I see change orders I usually ask questions about why it is it's not what we bid out and and I understand that there's some additional things that were put in on this but I also was of the understanding that at one point it was larger and then got sized down and then it has been resized bigger and I just was looking for some details on the history of this project yes sir this is Jerry demuro with capital Improvement I can I shed some light on it initially the there was a certain set budget for the work and it included bulb outs that budget because of the impacts of covet any significant increase in construction costs had to had to be looked at rather carefully and staff made the decision to down downscope the project so that it would fit within budget uh hearing the community support for the original concept uh cdbg found some more funding and we were rather Innovative in having our streets and maintenance department do some of the paving so while it is a change order it was what the community wanted and we unfortunately took it out to to fit a budget and it was originally the scope was originally the same scope it's just that because of the increases of inflation things of that nature and what he just explained got us to this point so the it was is the paving that was done by city employees included in the expense lines for this you said some of the paving was done in-house right yes sir it's done using a contractor the city doesn't do their own Paving um it's done through a contract was that paid out from this from this bid or was it paid out through other City funds I am not certain I believe it was paid out by streets and maintenance funds uh we can have a San Rodriguez sir as chief operations officer the streets of Maintenance resurfacing contract additional savings that are anticipated through that contract are proposed to be used for the resurfacing of Trowbridge in this particular project so savings from one project are going to be used for this project which would basically make it a reallocation rather than a savings right well it's it's Again part of how we how we execute our Capital program we look at savings every project has contingency amounts I understand and so part of that is is the area reallocation and ensuring that we complete a project to full extent on this particular I think the Savings in other projects are used and are reallocated as you pointed out in order to complete projects like this one that are impacted by inflation do we have is it one project of savings or numerous projects that uh added to this amount say that question one more time here please the amount of savings that we're able to move over was it from one project or numerous projects it's it's multiple projects actively as as many of you know we have about 70 projects under construction we have overall over 200 projects that are active as we complete those those projects get reallocated we'll get moved into what we call a balance a project savings balance account and that's where we come up with short on funds projects are additional funds are allocated to those projects under the budget resolution the city managers authorized to move those funds up to a million dollars from Project to project to ensure that we complete projects and keep the copyright program moving forward so how much was reallocated to this project Jerry do you have that line item for the resurfacing I don't have it off top of my head I believe it's 488 000. there is a presentation if you'd like me to go through it it's in there I've got the presentation yeah and you'll see the second page of the presentation I think at the bottom line where the 439 198.90 yes so were those EX those were expenses paid out of this budget or they were paid by moving funds inside the city budget it's by moving funds inside the city budget you guys move 439 000. yes sir okay I'll yield the floor no is this project or any funding where is that in Jeopardy of losing any funding on this project by not moving forward on this so the the the way the project is scoped per cdbg funds so there's federal funds attached to this right including All The Pedestrian improvements the Ada sidewalks the bull bouts and that's the reduction that was included into the scope of work in addition to that because of the condition of the roadway of resurfacing dollars were allocated as part of this original project that was presented to council at the original award that included the resurfacing line item as well thank you for that representative molinard followed by represent Canales thank you mayor good morning um was referenced this project itself was there any community outreach done that said hey the citizens want traffic calming devices yes representatives there was a lot of public meetings as representative vanilla stated as well again just going back and having the dialogue with the community that ultimately yielded the scope of work and the changes that's proposed for you today so they were in favor of the traffic calming devices that's overall okay yes because there was a reduction of all abouts what the changeover does today is is allocates uh it puts those ball belts back into the project also do you by any chance happen to have any uh statistical data between Pershing and Gateway on that troll bridge side there of any accidents motor vehicle accidents anything like that I don't have the top of my head representative Mullen Arbor we're starting to follow up with data that we have well I see a representative and mayor Pro tem excuse me anello shaking her head so I assume she probably knows a little bit more but thank you thank you representative Canales yeah I just wanted to make sure we understand here the the 181 778 dollars in the change order is that coming from the federal Community Development block grant funds or is that coming is that the addition of some of the streets of Maintenance resurfacing funds those are federal dollars the original allocation for the resurfacing did come before Council as part of the award that was part of that motion and so that that was approved through city council the 181 thousand that's proposed before you today is coming from the cdbg funds and we have those that those uh dollars available from that gears allocation of cdbg funds that is correct okay uh and and just so the public is aware too these cdbg projects Community Development block grant projects they're federally funded and this is funds that the community itself the neighborhood itself would have applied for correct that's correct do you do you know off the top of your head it was this last year's cdbg program or does it go back further than that it goes further than that um I want to say it's three years uh going back um just the public feedback and information and design um that's this is where we're at it's under construction now okay and so this change order brings us back to all of the amenities that the community applied for and requested in their application that's correct okay thank you uh representative Kennedy thank you very much but some City funds were put into this project right it's part of the year they weren't cdbg yeah correct it's part of the original award um when this was awarded it included a line item before resurfacing of savings um from their servicing accounts to be able to complete this project again we try to leverage local dollars with the federal dollars to be able to complete a project and so this allowed the street to be resurfaced as part of this project to be complete now the the action itself when the contract Construction contract was awarded that's when the uh the approval also for those Federal for those local funds were included in the contract if I wanted to be clear that the money we're talking about adding to this Project's coming out of City funds not federal cdbg funds right that's part of the original award that's not that action is not before you today representative Kennedy thank you thank you representative Kennedy uh mayor Pro Tem thank you mayor I I did just want to clear up with Sam just cleared up that this is the federal fund part we're talking about and understanding that um the community was presented along with the council a scope of work um through the cdbg funding of 2017 or 18 I believe um that changed the community was upset we did have to align with what was presented to the federal government and that's what we're doing here today so um thank you all thank you no other questions we have a motion second here's a motion made by representative riveta seconded by representative Hernandez to approve item number eight on that motion call for the vote representative anello hi thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously we now turn to page five items 13 and 14. item 13 is discussion in action that the city of El Paso re evaluate and repurpose as appropriate the now insufficient funds for constructing a new multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment center any sports facility or other building within the area bound up by West Overland Avenue to the north South Santa Fe Street to the east west Paisano drive to the South Leon Street to the west and that no buildings within this area be condemned or demolished and to begin examining the use of these funds specific to what the voters approved with an existing City facilities that may be renovated or upgraded to honor the will of the voters item 14 is discussion in action on the presentation providing pre-final results of the multi-purpose arts and performance center programming and feasibility study the mayor requested item 14 be first the presentation yeah I'd like to see the presentation first and then I'd like to have a public comment Mrs good morning members of council San Rodriguez chief operations officer invite you can bring in bring up the presentation please as they're bringing up the presentation I'd like to kind of share with you a little bit of history on the project the multi-purpose arts and Performing Arts and entertainment center it's something that's been talked about in our community for many years over 20 years dating back to sports commission study back in 2006 was discussed as part of the 2015 downtown plan back in the early 2010 2012. in addition to that in June of 2012 there was a downtown Sports facility study as well that looked at the possibility of a ballpark baseball ballpark an arena and as in a soccer stadium that ultimately led to the bond proposition that was approved by City Council in August of that year and ultimately approved by the voters in November of 2012 for the arena or the MPC project 72 percent of the voters did vote for the Iran proposition as as included in the bond for the 2012 quality of life as part of the development of that project we had Consultants develop a study the HKS studies where they looked at context a master planning study Urban Design study that looked and evaluated multiple sites four sites were validated as part of that public and there's a lot of public engagement as well that was included as part of that process the four sites included right behind our city hall here that what they call the Rail Yards they included a site North of San Jacinto as well as a site in the Horseshoe sales area in downtown South of San Antonio between Stanton and El Paso and then the union Plaza area that was ultimately selected as part of the site selection criteria it included multiple factors such as Urban Design the Synergy with the convention center those kinds of elements were included as part of the decision process it also looked at Transportation acts as a streetcar the proposed RTS systems that ultimately led to the selection of the site by the city council at that time the various sites the union Plaza ended up with a score of 10 with a side North of San Jacinto at five and then the other two ranked three and two moving forward after the selection of the site by city council the city did move forward with acquisition and relocation of the facility of the tenants as well as the litigation of the of the project that began in those around those times and which pretty much has to start the project of until today um in conjunction to that over the years the city also discussed the parking situation in our downtown so there was a parking study that was completed by the city that looked at all the parking all the parking facilities throughout our downtown and looked at all the parking structures through that process the city also incentivized two projects in our downtown as part of the Plaza hotel with the new parking garage there as well as well as the West our Tower the results of that parking study basically stated and resulted that there's enough parking to accommodate a facility like this with multiple events downtown allowing this project to move forward with that particular aspect of it uh what we have before you uh today Mr Rodriguez your your program isn't yep I'm not I'm not going through the slides yeah I'll just give me some background and we'll get into the results uh thank you representative um no worries uh so as part of the study and what we'll be presented to you today uh we tasked for the city council Direction back last at the end of 21. we asked the consultant to look at the existing facility to look at the existing location uh provide a programming study a feasibility study with the amount of money that's still available and to clarify for everybody we have 153 million dollars that's still available in the budget we have under contract just over six million dollars and then we have an allocation for public art of 3.5 million dollars so overall what has not been spent for the project is 163 million dollars we asked the consultant to look at different things the feasibility of a project we asked them to look at the programming side of it what is our Market Gap in terms of events that we're missing out on as a city as a community we asked them to look at the architectural the massing of a facility like this and what it would look like in context to the union Plaza in context to the convention center and the surrounding buildings in our Urban Fabric in our downtown they've done that so you'll see that from the Consultants today really important because part of the direction also included that we work with Max Grossman and his legal team to resolve the legal issues a lot of them stemming from the preservation of existing structures and one of the solutions that's proposed and we'll be sharing with you today saves 12 of those structures which we leave is a really great story behind that and then you'll see some details on that as well um just to highlight some of the the high points that you'll see today we did engage the public starting in May of last year we had over 1500 online survey results on that part of the backup for today in addition we had hundreds of attendees come to our public meetings at the center for civic engagement as well as the Museum of Art really really proud of the the work that the team did with in terms of engaging the public and being able to provide the venues to get that feedback what you found what we found through the survey is that 89.1 percent of the public did favor the NPC facility of the current location provided that we restored the buildings and reimagine those existing buildings as part of the urban and ultimately the project itself the feasibility it also included recommendations getting recommendations from from the Consultants as to how to incorporate those buildings into the facility as well um the as I stated the current one of the options that's proposed you'll see three options presented to you today all three options preserve 12 structures seven of which were identified as independently eligible for historic designation by the El Paso County study we think that's really important as we work on the legal side and we start discussions with Max girlsman and his team on that side of it in addition to all the different aspects of that we also asked the consultant to provide us an operating model and you'll see those numbers today as well because we wanted to look at not not just the facility that we can afford but what a facility uh if a facility is going to be able to make money in order to be able to attract a good partner to build and operate the facility and ensure that we're getting the big benefit of the anticipated benefit of this facility for our community one of the things just to highlight as I'm going to turn the presentation here over to Daniela to continue with the process a big component of what you'll be seeing here in the next couple Council meetings is the revitalization of Union Plaza we believe this project um as has been presented and with the strategy behind it being able to go back to Union Plaza and Revitalize that area dating back to the 1990s the city council adopted design standards and incentive policies for this area that goes from Santa Fe all the way to Union Depot and down border by Paisano that's the whole reason behind the Synergy being in the location that's that's before you today as well thank you um so that's the summary of of what I wanted to talk to you today um and I'm going to turn it over to Daniela uh to continue the presentation good morning mayor and Council Daniela Casada I'm the Chief Architect for the city of El Paso I work under the Capital Improvements Department good morning good morning all and I was the project manager for the feasibility study so let me introduce you to the team they're here today they're also going to present their portion of the key findings as part of the pre-final results we have from Gensler Barry hand and we have from Legends Michael Delano Adam Kearns and I believe Bill Bill Rhoda excuse me our local consultant is Jennifer Countryman she was in charge of our architectural and structural assessment of existing facilities so today's presentation just an overview of the agenda we're going to cover four main items one I'm going to give you an overview of what the process and what the deliverables are for this feasibility study I'm going to walk you through the results of the steering committee and our public engagement efforts and then I'm going to hand it over to the Consultants to walk you through their key findings of the market and economic assessments as well as their recommendations for site plan building massing and their typology assessment assessments and Analysis just as Sam mentioned this feasibility study came as the result of a council directive given to us in the fall of 2021 as we have presented from the beginning this process was going to conclude in early 2023 which is why we're here presenting the pre-final results to you all what you will see today is the Consultants have considered everything that Council directed them to which were to provide Financial models that s that include the estimates of not only the capital cost but operating costs identify public-private partnership opportunities as well as opportunities for really incorporating the existing buildings and the character of the neighborhood into a project that would be vibrant and unique to El Paso in our community our process and approach was really a three-prong strategy we looked at the market and economic assessment the architectural and historic assessment of existing conditions and how that tied into the site program and the Urban Design for an overall cohesive master plan of the area and Within These two last prongs we had the steering committee and public input which were a very important data point for the Consultants who also consider moving forward so moving on to our public engagement we kicked off the effort by having two robust work sessions with a steering committee our steering committee was comprised of community leaders 12 were invited nine were able to participate and these work sessions were really a collaborative effort for the Searing committee to craft a vision and The Guiding design principles that would inform the project development as the feasibility study moved forward the vision and I'm going to summarize for you really captures what the project should deliver for the community it should Breathe new life into downtown it should support our local markets and businesses family events as well it should be porous and integrative and it should support Community well-being and connection it should really be a place for El pasoans to share Community well-being and to really have out-of-towners Marvel at El Paso and what our city does offer The Guiding design principles that came out of the steering committee work session are the following that the project needs to be authentic and it should really retain the connections to our local history and enable continued organic growth in this area it should be integrated so that it takes cue from its neighbors the neighboring context as far as scale and building typology it should be generative as in producing more local business growth so it really serves as a Community Asset very important is that it is flexible so we want a venue that can operate multiple days out of the year as many as possible have very many different kinds of events for different Target audiences it should be inviting so it could welcome people from all different walks of life and it should be able to be accessible and very importantly as well it should be vibrant in that it celebrates the rich culture of El Paso so it could really become a place of Pride for the community the design considerations and I'll just go over the most important ones the site really should respond to the surrounding context and it should respect the neighborhood scale it should generate a vibrant street life for the area and it should draw investment and be financially viable what the site should not be is a monolithic structure that is disconnected from the context it should not be flashy or exclusive and it should really not be an entirely new place that disregards its local history the steering committee results were first shared with the public in our June public meeting which was a hybrid meeting then the key findings from the market assessment results were shared with the public in our second public meeting which took place in September 15th which you could see in the photographs here following those meetings we launched on that same day September 15th our public online engagement this was very important because not everyone feels comfortable attending a public meeting and so we wanted the the community to feel that they had a voice and make it accessible to them to a pine on the project you could see here the district representation of survey participants all districts participated and the summary of our public engagement efforts are as follows 61 percent approve the project period 89.1 percent approved the MPC project as a reimagined project that incorporates the existing buildings through adaptive reuse into the project 75.7 percent think that it's important to preserve the memories and history in our built environment and we saw and you could see in the backup all the individual questions that were presented to the public through the survey but we saw that there was a lot of support for seeing the integration of outdoor events and the existing Urban context into the project over 50 percent also support an indoor facility that can host concerts family shows sporting events or open style events and I'm going to hand the presentation over to our Consultants now thank you Danielle good morning Bill Rhoda president of Legends Global planning what I'd like to do today is walk you through a brief presentation on High level uh overview of the work that we did as well as the results so from a study before you get started uh Legends is where Legends is a company that's based in Dallas Dallas okay might as well thank you we have offices all over the world La New York Madrid London as well I myself have worked in the sports industry uh the entertainment industry for about 30 years on the Consulting side great thanks for that so the methodology that we employed for this project is very similar to the work that we do all around the country on a majority of the projects that have been built in this country in a very similar fashion so we we undertake stakeholder engagement we understand the local market conditions what the competitive landscape is we Benchmark comparable buildings around the country we talked to actual promoters to understand what they would like to see in a building what type of demand is there and what type of events would they actually bring from that information we build out what we believe is the appropriate building program building program means the number of seats the types of amenities that you needed into a building that translates into a square footage which then allows us to convert that to a construction cost and a total project cost which helps us develop the financial projections for how these buildings will operate from a financial perspective of the operating revenues and the operating expenses and then as well as taking a look at the economic and fiscal impacts that would be generated as a result of this project so for the stakeholder and the promoter feedback you know we've talked to to key groups out in the industry that would be expected to use this type of facility the information that we received back was there is a strong Market need for a new venue in El Paso there is limited market competition when you look at the the routing area of between Dallas and Phoenix this is an ideal area that shows can stop and use a building like this there's a desire for a multi-purpose for a flexible venue that could offer a variety of seating capacities and options there's a significant positive impact from the Mexican market on a facility of this type of of magnitude and this type of project could also have a potential for redevelopment of downtown the proposed Market sustainable venues that we looked at included what we call a multi-purpose Arena this is a venue that could be anywhere from eight to twelve thousand seats it could accommodate concerts family shows sporting events we have a seating capacity of about 12 000 we believe is the market demand in this market for that concerts would take about 22 percent of the total utilization other events would be about 27 and non-ticket events would be about 51 percent the other type of venue that we took a look at and we developed an option for is what we call flexible hybrid hybrid venue it would accommodate the majority of the market demand it would accommodate about 60 percent concerts three percent other events and about 37 percent non-ticket events this is very similar to a building that was built in Irving in the Music Factory which is about 4 000 seats that are covered and it has the opportunity the option to open the doors and have four thousand seats in an outdoor configuration as well so a total of 8 000 seats we put together uh utilization for both of these Concepts so you can see that the total utilization of a 12 000 seat building would be about 114 events average attendance of about 5400. that generates about 441 000 total attendees that would be using the facility the hybrid venue obviously it has a smaller capacity you're talking four thousand indoor seats four thousand outdoor has 121 so it actually has a larger event load but a smaller average attendance which results in 262 000 people per year so when we generate the building program from from the arena perspective the multi-purpose facility we would see a seating capacity of about 12 000 we would see the opportunity to create premium seating which helps generate revenue for the building a thousand total premium seats which is made up of 600 club seats 20 lows boxes and 20 private Suites other amenities would be access to parking spaces we'd see 40 concession points of sale restrooms and obviously ability to have locker rooms and green rooms for the events and the entertainers the flexible hybrid venue would be a total capacity of about eight thousand mixed between permanent and outdoor seating premium seating would be about 250 club seats and you'd have some VIP loge boxes and that smaller capacity obviously has an impact on the amount of parking and the concessions and the restrooms that you need as well so all of that leads to what does that mean from a building perspective and if you're looking at the building program scenarios I think we're missing a one on the second line for the arena it should be eight ten thousand twelve thousand fifteen thousand so if you're looking at that range of facility sizes that turns into a building square footage of 228 to basically 427 000 square feet the square footage of a building is what drives the total project cost the construction cost of that is driven by that so you can see the estimated project cost which is a combination of construction costs as well as soft costs would be anywhere from 258 million to 483 million dollars when you add 30 million dollars for the renovation the existing buildings you can see it's 287 to 513 million dollars depending on the size of a multi-purpose facility when you look at the scenarios for what we call the flex flexible hybrid venue We have basically four scenarios at four thousand and four scenarios at 62.50 and really the difference in those is the amount of square footage that's allocated to each of those seats which then means the types of amenities that you have so a smaller building would be a cheaper building which would have less amenities for those people in all scenarios you're looking at a four thousand seat covered facility total estimated project costs about 100 million to 125 million and then when you throw in the the renovation of the existing buildings it's about 130 to 154 million dollars if you take the average of the high and the low it's about 143 million dollars of the ex and when you include the renovation of the existing buildings on the larger capacity side you get to when you include the renovation the existing buildings you get to about 186 million to 225 million so what we believe is the flexible hybrid venue when you look at the average price does fit within the existing budget that the city has today of the 153 million dollars so we put together Financial models for three proposed models one would be a 12 000 seat Arena one would be a flexible what I call hybrid a which is four thousand indoor and four thousand outdoor and then the larger building which would be 6500 indoor and 1500 outdoor and you can look at the project costs that we've estimated for each of those it's 386 million for the 12 000 seat 113 million dollars uh for the flexible hybrid a and then you throw on the additional 30 million which gets back to that 143 million that I just mentioned in the flexible hybrid B uh would be 183 million plus 30 million you look at this the economic impact related to each of those on a Net Present Value to the city is anywhere from a low of 338 million dollars on the hybrid venue a which is the smaller one that fits within the city's current budget to 571 million dollars on the larger Arena which which drove a larger attendance into the to the area from a financial projection perspective we put together estimates for revenues and expenses of the building you can see here that we we show each of these buildings is somewhat similar they would all operate at a profit venue a and venue B 2.4 to 2.5 we actually projected that venue a which is a smaller one would make a little more money because you could save money on operating expenses with a smaller square footage and Arena would be about 2.6 million dollars we also took a look at the partnership opportunities meaning how are these buildings around the country typically owned and operated the majority of Bill of multi-purpose what I call Municipal Arenas around the country are all publicly owned typically all publicly financed and I would say it's a mixture of whether it's a public-private partnership or a public-private owner operating model about 63 percent of those are publicly owned and then on the flexible venues there most of these have been privately owned and they're also privately operated the recommended ownership structure based off what we've seen is having the venue owner be a venue Authority and the operator be some type of private management company that would report to the public with an exclusive promoter booking agreement with something like Live Nation that would drive the content through this building so I'm going to turn it over to Jennifer yeah good morning my name is Jennifer Countryman and I'm the local architect on gensler's team and my role was to analyze the existing buildings and the context where are you from again awesome thank you I uh preservation projects downtown and in our local community and I've personally invested in restoring the trust building in downtown El Paso and I think that's important to share with you so that you know that I have hands-on experience and come to you with eyes wide open about historic preservation efforts and what that means on that note I want you to know that I believe that there's a way to develop and preserve downtown and its gyms at the same time and on the same project and this presentation and the work that Gensler is going to show you shows how we can do that the presentation and the designs that you're going to see they fund the rehabilitation of the Project's area's most culturally significant buildings 58 of the existing buildings on site will receive funding to help rehabilitate them um these designs prioritize they bring together different priorities and perspectives and they're all based on an extremely strong belief that the existing buildings have an incredible potential to enrich the multi-purpose Performing Arts Center through strategic urban planning which Gensler is going to show how they achieved in this first slide you're going to see how all of the existing buildings on the North and on the west side of the property whether they're owned by the city or not all of them are preserved so that's the three that you see in black the ones that you see in Orange the ones that you see in Gray all of those all of those that you see 58 of them that is the ones that were most cherished by the community um so through this project all of those will receive funding and they'll be completely rehabilitated one of the things that's less noticeable about the Gensler designs that you're going to see is how they were able to piece together the needed building footprint using the least dense portion of the project area which is the southeast side okay using mainly a lot even though you see that area in blue a lot of it is already vacant they piece together streets parking lots alleys to get all the necessary square footage that you see so that area in blue and you can see through the orange how like for example the one on the right right above the tros fire station on the Southeast corner is largely except for the large for the little piece at the bottom it's largely just a parking lot the blue that you see on the left completely a parking lot so they tried to use everything that was least dense only seven buildings are proposed to be demolished two are made of concrete block which you can go out and buy and is still a common you know system to build buildings a couple have a concrete structural system one has a structural system made of steel which you'll see in generic shopping centers one is made of Brook brick and one is weight of a wood post and beam system but the majority of these are ones that are systems that you could recreate today and what it does by placing the first of all Paisano is extremely high traffic you know cars have hit some of those existing buildings and to the right of the project area is largely a parking lot so what the new building does is it buffers the more intricate detail of the existing buildings that we're preserving and protects that rich Urban experience um so so some of these so all the buildings to the north all of these and all the ones on the west they can all be saved but the other thing I want to speak to you is about time because time is of essence and as you know I did the architectural and with the help of a structural engineer the structural assessment there's water coming through the roofs there's Roots growing through the foundations and there's fires that have taken place and but they are still in time to be rehabilitated but more than fear like I want to really leave you guys inspired um we have found a way that is like a win-win there are many uses to incorporate into the multi-purpose Performing Arts Center these buildings admin and Security offices and stations unique food and beverage experiences creation of callejones and passageways between buildings that form mixed-use pedestrian experiences pre-assembly functions street performances places for micro retail there's just a lot of opportunities that can bring back that street life with the Synergy that the multi-purpose Performing Arts Center brings there's a lot of new technology as well 3D scanning used to be primarily for the interior of buildings we think that on this project we could scan the exterior of buildings and create like a model that we could use not only to help with the construction documents to help rehabilitate them but also to use like in Virtual Museum exhibits or educational is in it where you can visit how it was before all these great things happened um so um before I go I just want to let you know that please know that the designs you see are heavy and prioritize historic preservation and they use City funds to rehabilitate existing buildings in duranguito and this project at this location injects funds into those incredibly important buildings to our community and helps fund what will be a very intense labor effort and thank you very much oh and with that this is Barry hand from Gensler he's the principal thank you very much ah that Arrow okay good morning Mr Mayor and Council my name is Barry hand I'm an architect and a planner with Gensler located in Dallas also serve as Regional practice area leader for cities in Urban Design a great setup by uh Daniella on the community engagement and Mr Rhoda the financial background that he gave you and then then last but not certainly not least Miss countryman's very passionate explanation of the existing conditions there uh the last piece we're going to walk you through about a dozen slides here just showing you kind of some drawings actually images but they're not designs and I want to stress that they're not designs that are hard or locked in they're really just partial layouts scaled test fits and density analysis as Miss Countryman alluded to as to what could go go in that during gizo area So the plan you've got in front of you right here goes all the way up to the convention center uh this is not our site which you know which Jennifer was walking through was really that at Overland down to Paisano but we always like to take into account what we call area of consideration if you did the project what could ultimately happen in this District so this is a bit of a district Place making uh idea that shows the north-south axis from the convention center where you can see that the theater is down Chihuahua to we think there needs to be a Terminus to that axis and then east west on Overland we think that's a really fantastic potential Lifestyle Street that you already see setting up on Leon Leon and Durango there are some lifestyle tenants that are setting up on those those two streets and we think this could expand as lifestyle uses into the Chihuahua and Overland area with something like a catalytic anchor of this entertainment venue uh so we talked about there's going to be two just two test fit options that we show you again these are not designs they're far far far from building designs but it's really about taking the information from the public taking the financial information of what is the gap in the market that El Paso would be best served by there are certain venues that wouldn't do you any good to build because you've either already got it in your Market or you just don't need it there are certain building types for entertainment that you could build and ultimately draw more entertainment acts as Mr Rhoda said so to Jennifer's Point Let's kind of set context up here on Overland is where you see kind of the pink color buildings those are the existing the laundry the Mansion so we foresee maintaining that very neighborhood one and two story scale building infrastructure along Overland and then as I mentioned turning Chihuahua into some form of pedestrian and lifestyle axis that leads down to an entertainment venue the the footprint that you see here in purple indicates as Mr Rhoda said the hybrid venue which is kind of an indoor outdoor concert venue somewhat like the Music Factory in Irving Texas and we've somewhat stitched a footprint for a building like that that would seat four thousand n four thousand out with kind of kind of stitched it in as just Jennifer explained uh stitched it in between all those buildings buildings like this with promoters like Live Nation are really sensitive they're drawing acts who want to come to the best state of the art facilities so believe it or not service is the lifeblood of these so as Jennifer said the more the more vehicular uses down along Paisano would which would be major vehicular and service access but then you can see the existing buildings going up and around that creating kind of a pedestrian District or heritage Heritage Village for El Paso again the purple buildings along Overland would stay in place in an Adaptive reuse form whether it's restaurants or Boutique office or even some small-scale residential allowing that part of the community in the district to be activated seven days a week and that's important in these venues as you know they're not open all the time it's important to surround them with Street and pedestrian scale uses that can be activated seven days a week so anyway the one on the left would be the 4000 in 4000 out hybrid venue what's shown here is the 6500 seat covered venue footprint and then down on the bottom right of that one you can see the fire station we think the fire station is a fantastic opportunity to integrate into the project as an entry entry sequence to the building and then the footprint on the right because it was in the financial analysis we wanted to test what would it take to build an eight to twelve thousand seat Arena that could support support basketball that's what you see on the right that rectangular shape that goes further up into the site and I want to note that this would not support hockey hockey has a has a deeper floor footprint and would not likely fit on that parcel so again on these Footprints let me get to some massing studies in a minute just for you but you can see the way the existing cultural buildings surround this uh this proposed entertainment venue all right so this is the hybrid facility these again you can see these are not building designs they're just showing you massing studies of scale and density so we're kind of looking across Overland into the site you can see the laundry building and the other existing buildings on the right side of the image there and then this is kind of the scale of that indoor outdoor concert venue we're actually proposing adding some lifestyle buildings on that front corner to further embellish The Pedestrian vitality and activation on those streets so you can see on the bottom right image that's looking down Chihuahua into the district to the entry sequence so so we see this very much as an asset of the convention center this is an addition to the assets that the convention center could use we met with them and they talked about needing additional space from time to time for meetings that they're pursuing but also conducting so we see this as a tremendous lifestyle asset that to your Convention Center District this is just a plan diagram that shows how the building fits on the site and you can see a little bit more details starting to come together for The Pedestrian Place making this is a very very conceptual cross-section of how we could sink the floor of the building which is not uncommon a little bit to keep the scale of this building down you can see the the vertical height of this ability will need to be somewhere around up along Paisano around 55 feet but then as you get back to Overland the scale tapers back down to a more neighborhood scale so the next one we want to look at again this is the existing uh Urban fabric you have in there with one and two story commercial buildings the next one we want to look at oh this sorry this is actually a bird's eye view looking down from the convention center down Chihuahua into the district we're very much rehabilitating the existing buildings they're on Overland and then adding to that fabric to create that critical mass again we want to activate Chihuahua I mean Overland all the way over to Lyon and Durango as a bit of a pedestrian District so that when people do come and go to concerts and events they have a place to hang out and eat and as you know outdoor dining is just as big now as ever all right the second one we want to show you is a potential Arena what would an 8 to 12 000 seat Arena what would be the impact of that on the neighborhood so again you can see the existing buildings outlined in blue there there's an aerial shot on the top right image that you can see looking down into the district this is what an arena would would take scale wise in that District we modeled this somewhat after the Moody Center that our firm just finished in Austin that's for the University of Texas basketball and it's really built as a concert facility but University of Texas plays basketball in there so this is similar to The Moody Center footprint that you can see for basketball laid down there it's tight I'll be honest with you it's tight but we believe we can make that work and then again the axis of Chihuahua running up toward the convention center we think is really important to terminate there on the the venue this is just a cross section again through both directions you can see the top one is a longitudinal section we're proposing dropping the ball down into the ground here so that it takes a little bit of the vertical scale off the building in that neighborhood and then that bottom section is just turned 90 degrees looking through kind of the short cross section of the building uh again this is what the the neighborhood looks like as it is today and then if we were to drop new buildings I'm just going to toggle back and forth for you here if we were to drop that scale of a building in that neighborhood we we really want this to be a catalytic anchor uh for these rehabilitated buildings and as Jennifer said we're excited about this opportunity for this part of El Paso and the catalytic effect it could have on development south of the convention center and ultimately what it would do for your pursuing meetings and conventions and that's I'm going to turn this back to Sam is that right thank you thank you sir um yeah just to wrap up um and we'll open it up for questions from members of council you know when we started this study we wanted to answer all those questions the discussions if some of you all remember was what is the current cost of the NPC if we were to build it today given the covet impacts and Construction Construction increases that we've seen in the industry um this this study has yielded some of those answers for for city council for you to make an informed decision today it delivers on a signature project from the 2012 quality of life this is the third one we have the Mexican-American Cultural Center that's currently under construction we have the children museum that's under construction as well this the both are scheduled to start to be uh completed this year and then open into 24 with the with the hybrid option that's presented to you all today is certainly an opportunity for us to complete that third signature project as part of that quality of live Bond what you saw today again just to reiterate something that's within budget the 153 million dollars on that's currently available the operating model um provides an opportunity to yield a profit on all the different Alternatives that were proposed to you today more important historic there's a lot of information and information provided to you all I think being able to invest the kind of money into this site will certainly provides a better opportunity for those buildings to receive that investment to be able to bring them back to life in this uh this option uh the hybrid option was certainly be able to do that also understanding the parking situation as I explained the parking study was completed and does provide ample parking for this facility and in conjunction with other concurrent events downtown but also the the the very closeness to the international ports of Entry you heard from the Consultants that the Juarez markets are important this location provides a key component of that being able to have people within walking distance or A Streetcar right away from from our Mexican visitors right across the border as well as the new hotels there's a lot of tells an investment that's been in and around this area for regional shows folks have the opportunity to stay or even our residents to have a staycation and visit a show downtown certainly the location will provide that for them as well and then as I mentioned last was the union Plaza as well a really important part of our community in our downtown fabric has certainly been very prominent over the last 30 years again going back to the 90s as to how important this area is back of our downtown our Convention Center in this area has a great opportunity to be be brought to life so with that completes the presentation we'll be happy to answer any questions the Consultants or myself are available about that I have a question for you so you're looking at the Hybrid seats four thousand in North 4000 outdoor is that the way it's set up to be let's say to be built is it's set up to adapt to growth in the facility or is it set up just to be built and that's it and no further building will come after it's completed the the way the design you know if that's the intent of of the council and and the project was is for it to allow for expansion of additional cover space it would have to start we would have to start the design with that in mind meaning that the space would need to be you know we would design it in a way that would allow for expansion but that's certainly a design consideration that could be taken into account if ultimately the goal is to grow and expand that facility we would just need to take that into account again at the onset of the design so that we don't go back and redo things that we anticipate expansion in the future okay my next question into that would be so you cannot use cos for quality of life items once completed this is still considered a quality of life item and can cos be issued or will they have to go back for public approval um May as Carla to time in but like any other this becomes part of our facility whether it's the ballpark whether it's a library whether it's a recreation center as part of our facilities my understanding the certificates of obligation are are eligible to be able to maintain our facilities at that point because it becomes a maintenance cost Capital maintenance cost so if we go over the amount today we have to go back to the voters if we build it at a smaller hybrid if we expand it we don't have to go back to the voters we can issue cos then again yeah again if the intent is to expand it in the future and city council provides that direction that we want to expand and make that flexible obviously CEOs would also be a direction of a council in the future as well so Carl I don't know if you have anything to add to that um also in talking to Robert we did make a change to the debt management policy with Twitter allow for that and then part of the litigation mayoral does allow the council to acquire additional sources of revenue to make up for additional funding needs okay and um okay thank you thank you for that now I have uh Miss Casada I have a question you were talking about public meetings yes sir what was the locations of all the public meetings how many did we have what was the location and the attendance per meeting so we had two meetings and it in 23rd it was in the center for civic empowerment the blue blame building that was a hybrid meeting so in attendance we had approximately 50 people in person and an additional 30 people hybrid so they they signed in via the the link and then the second meeting which was September 15th it was entirely in person it was at the Museum of Art and we had approximately anywhere from 75 to 80 participants in that meeting we had approximately 75 actually sign in but we also saw a lot of people that either missed the sign-in sheet or just chose not to but each meeting was well attended with over 70 participants thanks now in your survey that you conducted what was the number of participants we had 1 466 people actually complete the survey we had more begin the survey but for whatever reason decided not to complete it so it was 1466 completed surveys and it you broke it down by districts so we one of the questions and it was voluntary was asking people what district they resided in just so we could have an idea of how much of the community was being represented in the survey and we had a very good representation from all the districts district one had the most participation though thank you for that information um and that uh I have no other question so representative Hernandez thank you mayor I'm going to postpone any questions until I hear from public comment but I did want to give a great thanks and a deep gratitude for the work that you've conducted I'm a I've shared this in the past with my colleagues I'm an architecture school dropout after three years and I did a lot of my case studies and looking at the work that Gensler has done and I'm very profoundly proud of the the work you do worldwide but most importantly the the work that you've shared here with our community and just really excited about the the work that you all have done here today so I didn't want to miss the opportunity to thank you for coming to our community and spending the past year making proposals and alternative options for us to consider and happy New Year and I really enjoyed your presentations thank you I do want to take a public comment unless you want to wait for public comment one quick question and then we're not we're going to go to public comment next and I'm sure we'll have a lot more for you after that thank you mayor uh miss quesada one more time so um I'm not sure exactly what word you're calling them you said you would requested 12 people but nine the steering committee participants yes okay so 12 were invited only nine were able to participate um one of the things we asked of the steering committee was that they commit to the two work sessions it was important that participants were able to complete the full um focus group work session and so the participants that declined were ones that couldn't commit the to the two work session so we had a total of nine steering committee members what was the selection criteria for that so these were selected as Community leaders their participation in various Community boards so in other words the way they give back to the community via again participation their time either neighborhood association leaders people that have served on board such as our City Planning Commission our Historic Landmark commission so people that have shown to be Civic leaders in our community okay and was there anyone living in that proximity maybe in a two-mile radius that is not associated to a board that is not as um you know we did have a neighborhood association president from the Sunset Heights neighborhood which is within approximately a mile and a half radius okay but I'm saying not not a president just someone that lives in the area we did not have just a question okay all right thank you very much and with that we'll say questions after public comment thank you all again for being here and as representative we've done this happy New Years to all uh Miss Prine yes mayor thank you we do have 83 members of the public that signed up to speak on this item the first person is Leonard Goodman followed by William Kell Michael Bray Adara Margo John Cook Desiree Manzano Manzanares and and I know that we do have um three minute time limit and I appreciate everyone staying within or or below um I was asked to make it a little less but I'm going to stay with the three because I respect your house time for being here but I know there's going to be a lot of different opinions on both sides I do ask that everyone respect everyone's opinion and without Mr Goodman mayor thank you I know you made that comment about the three minutes for my purpose so I appreciate that no that would have been if uh no that would have been if Richard [Laughter] thank you uh first off I was not aware mayor and Council I appreciate uh and happy New Year to all of you and I appreciate you giving us the opportunity to speak I thought the presentation that we just saw was tremendous and most of my remarks were going to be made based on not knowing about that presentation but I will highlight some points and it'll certainly hopefully be fairly brief my position was the chairman of the quality of life bond issue in 2012. I along with many other El pasoans had gone out to the community went out and received a huge input at various institutions or meetings Civic meetings spoke to over 50 groups and we got great input and as you know this particular bond issue proposition 2 passed by over 70 percent the other issue that I think is very important is that each district supported that particular Bond so all eight districts were in favor of the particular Bond proposition 2. uh again the multi-purpose facility or more people multi-purpose Center was something that people wanted to have and they were interested in doing it I don't know what the vote is going to be as far as what you're going to entertain whether you're going to still consider trying to abandon this project I hope after this presentation you reassess that because there are some great opportunities I personally believe that the hybrid is a great opportunity however I'm a little bit more in favor of the larger facility if that's the route we go but it all has to be done economically the right way but I will say that I think most people feel that if the council does decide to abandon this project that you're not listening to your constituents and it sets a terrible precedent for this community and I think it also separate Also may jeopardize other issues that come up I.E the three Bond issues that were just supported uh within the last couple of months is that going to be something that the city council is going to also consider uh and do something about the one thing that I believe is important is that we as a community regard our history and I think what they talked about today in the rehab of some of these buildings is a great opportunity and as a fourth generation El Paso on both sides of my family history is important but the historical partnership Council thank you very much sir thank you appreciate your time the next speaker is William Kell followed by Michael Bray Adair Margo John Cook good morning sir you have three minutes uh good morning my name is William Kell I'm the uh Chief Operating Officer for Franklin Mountain Investments Happy New Year to all of you and congratulations to the new council members I want to make just a few points uh this uh this agenda item was posted during the holidays and it's been very very difficult to respond to it because everybody's traveling not everybody but a lot of people are traveling they're spending time with family a lot of things are shut down including some of the representatives were very difficult to reach because they were out of town or or not available and and in fact the email system for the new Representatives was not even available I think until this morning the I.T department for the city was closed and so I had made communication all the more difficult and I think we need to make sure we've got good transparency on this issue going forward and people have an opportunity to vet the issue and speaking of vetting the issue again I I would I would Echo some of the comments that that Trevor made that a wonderful presentation by ginsler lots of information there's been community outreach there's been surveys there's been drawings there's been numbers there's been all kinds of things and the question that I would pose to the council is where is the similar information for diverting the funds to the Civic Center and to the Abraham Chavez theater what is that going to cost what is that going to look like how big is it going to be how long is it going to take what are the disruptions going to be what are the economic impacts of the disruption what are the legalities of it what legal challenges might arise from that etc etc etc I don't sense that there's been enough public information or discourse or Outreach on the issue and I think it would not be wise to divert funds without a similar level of vetting on on the issue and my last point is that we're on the map now El Paso I I deal with people all over the state and all over the country on a regular basis and people know about El Paso so they they see what we're doing they like it they see how fantastic the turnaround has been and young people in El Paso love what they're what what what's happening we have people downtown on the at the plaza all the time you've all seen that we have conventions beginning to come back to town we have City Pride Community Pride that has risen as a result of the Redevelopment efforts and I think it would be not not wise to stop that momentum especially when as twipper said uh 70 of the voters approve this back in about 10 years ago during an election that had like 102 000 voters that that turned out to vote for that so I would ask you to vote to table item 13 to give the community and to give yourselves more just as importantly time to really vet what this issue means thank you thank you the next speaker is Michael Bray followed by Adair Margot John Cook Desiree Manzanares Jim sure good morning sir you'll have three minutes thank you very much good morning mayor city council city manager and staff my name is Michael Bray many of you might recognize me from some of the board's commissions organizations what have you that I've worked with over the last 30 40 years oh my God I feel a little bit old but today I'm not representing any of them I want to make that very clear I'm not speaking for any other organization strictly for myself as a committed voter here first of all I want to congratulate all the new city Representatives that was uh that was a a great thing I think I'm very excited about the opportunities here you were elected primarily because if you're a keen sense of what your community is looking forward to you're elected to bring positive changes here to the El Paso Marketplace here I'm here speaking uh this is the first I've seen the number 14 plan that's a lot of information that's pretty exciting stuff I'm here to speak against item number 13. and here's why El pasoons overwhelmingly 72 percent voted for a new multi-purpose Center uh back in what was it 2012 10 years ago Bonds were issued bondholders expect a certain performance there property owners have made their own private investments in their own buildings based on the promise of having a news facility built downtown item number 13 would ask you to violate the public trust by abandoning their word abandoning the public will the city credibility is on the line here the voters who voted for Bond issues are now going to take a look at every time the city if you pass that every time you now go back to the voters and ask for something are you going to come back later on and and change your mind here item number 13 was presented by somebody who's made no significant investment in the downtown area pays no taxes I made a couple of questionable I guess timing wise donations lately here that we saw a couple weeks ago we saw this morning here but they're asking you they don't have a commitment to the El Paso area here like we do so I'm here to suggest that and and thank you for the mayor and for Council for bringing these two things together because the way it was presented first of all they wanted you to just abandon the whole thing because they didn't want to hear they didn't want you to hear what was presented here so I'm going to ask you to vote against item number 13. take this into advice thank you Mr and come back a new um vote thank you very much the next speaker is a dare Margo followed by John Cook Desiree man salares good morning ma'am you have three good morning mayor and Council a little over 10 years ago November 2012 El pasoans voted in favor of a quality of life bond that included three signature projects a children's museum cultural center and multi-purpose Center 71.6 percent voted as you have heard in favor of these projects El pasoans wanted and enliven downtown benefiting everyone they still do the Children's Museum and Mexican American Cultural Center are underway the MPC is not tied up in litigation for nearly six years costing El Paso taxpayers millions of dollars it's been fun funded by someone who doesn't live in El Paso who doesn't pay taxes or vote and it's been spearheaded by a professor who calls himself a historic preservationist it's ironic that a lawsuit touting itself as saving El Paso's history has been killing it to see historic properties bought in anticipation of a major city investment then dumped because of a prolonged lawsuit is heartbreaking the Tom Lee Institute offers walking tours of historic buildings downtown and is a third generation El pasoin I've never seen more downtown buildings South of San Jacinto Plaza in such sad decay but there's a light at the end of the tunnel the lawsuit and its appeals have been lost to date and since April this international law firm ginsler has been paid eight hundred thousand dollars to propose what we heard this morning I like Tripper didn't know it was going to to uh be here but it is so exciting to think that they could design an MPC while maintaining the character of a neighborhood they've shown how historic buildings within the footprint that were going to be demolished can be repurposed and used for multiple programming events isn't this reason for rejoicing to have an NPC while maintaining a neighborhood yet today you are voting on abandoning the MPC project supported by over 70 percent of El Paso voters just as it is about to be realized is this representative government and after spending eight hundred thousand dollars with a great design firm ginsler you're voting to cancel the project before seeing their plan is this fiscal responsibility your votes will reveal whether you understand your position as being a servant of the people or whether you are fiscally responsible your votes today will reveal which of you deserve to represent a great city thank you next is former mayor John Cook good morning sir you have three minutes welcome uh Happy New Year to all of you in 2008 I was the third El Paso mayor elected to the as the president of the Texas Municipal League and I thought wow this is a fantastic opportunity for me to promote El Paso and and I even asked the uh the executive director for the league it would be possible to bring the tml convention to El Paso and he called me to the aside and said John I hate to tell you this but uh it's not going to happen and I said why and he said for two reasons number one you don't have enough Downtown hotel rooms to support a major convention you need at least eight hundred to a thousand and that number's probably changed over the years now within walking distance of your convention center and he was quite candid with me he told me even some of the hotels that you call downtown hotels are not downtown hotels we were saying that the hotel by UTEP was part of the downtown inventory we were claiming all the rooms in the Camino Real as being part of the inventory when only about 25 percent of them could be used so I said okay let me go back and and build some more hotels and they said well you got another problem your Convention Center isn't big enough yeah you can do the exhibit hall you can do meals you can do meeting spaces but you can't do them all at once you need a larger Convention Center so I came back to El Paso worked with the city manager worked with the staff and we said well let's give incentives to the the hotel people to build more Hotel bills and you can see the result of that they made their commitment they put their money where their mouth was and they built the hotel rooms for us but the other thing that's really important is that we we have to have a Convention Center that supports them otherwise the investment that they've made in good faith is probably not going to be realistic in the in the long run so I hope that you don't go with that hybrid version because if you're going to go under 12 000 seats and as an Annex to the convention center it's just not going to work and it's not going to improve the hotel business and it's not going to improve the convention business thank you very much and have a blessed day you notice I didn't even need three minutes thank you thank you mayor Linux speaker is Desiree Manzanares followed by Jim Sher and Henry Felix good morning ma'am you have three minutes good morning good morning Council good morning mayor I am here on behalf of the El Paso Hispanic chamber of commerce the way that we typically gauge how our membership feels and how we advocate for a particular purpose or cause is we run a survey and we've been doing so on especially on the multi-purpose arena for months just to kind of get a gauge of how our membership feels so after we went ahead and I have surveys for all of you little gifts what we found is that 75 percent of our members want a modified plan which is kind of what we saw earlier the the venue a or venue B but if they don't see a modified plan what they want to do is 52 percent want to drop the entire multi-purpose Arena unless a modified plant is put in place that takes a priority on how much money is left within this fund and looking at something smaller as they had mentioned the 8 000 to 10 000 seat if that's what's available and we can modify that plan our members are in favor if it's not and it's going to be trying to push a higher amount of money to it or more seating than what's been expected they do not want to be a part of it alternative ideas because we didn't just ask do you want it do you not we wanted to get an idea of what was acceptable for them so that you guys have a landing board to kind of look at 60 of our members which is 1500 uh support continuing the revitalization of downtown we understand that downtown is pivotal for economic growth for small businesses for a number of things even us as a chamber it's hard for us to host different events we have five major conferences there's not a lot of places where we can host that so we agree that something is needed downtown but we asked for suggestions and we got minimizing its size investing in a soccer stadium that would serve our current soccer team and could be one of the things was having a a top that could come up and down so that you could use it for different different things concerts and closed closed roof events um cultural aspects thrown in and then of course upgrading venues so if if there is nothing to do and we're not able to we're not able to push this any further what they have mentioned is using existing funds to upgrade current venues downtown one of them in specific that was mentioned is the Abraham Chavez Center and kind of funneling that money into making that a more a bigger space a more sustainable thing that can kind of push more business downtown and that is what we are here to do is to advocate for small business so as I said we are not saying that we are for or against we are just letting you guys know what our members feel and thank you so much I know that's no easy task and also happy holidays a new year thank you same to you the next speaker is Jim Sher Mr Sheriff here in the queue star six please to unmute your telephone Jim sure star six please good morning you have three minutes thank you over 12 years ago mayor Henry Cisneros came to El Paso to discuss how San Antonio transformed its downtown reminding us but in the 1970s downtown San Antonio had a putrid Canal it was unsafe to walk with Holmes and crime San Antonio established a 30-year plan beginning with with a Federal grant called udac to extend the canal to its convention center with a new Marriott Hotel leveraging public monies with private monies for a public-private partnership mayor Cisneros told us in El Paso the importance of staying the course to build the future he said that like in El Paso many tried to derail or change directions but city leaders stood firm both publicly and privately and stayed the course today San Antonio is the number one tourist Convention Center in Texas in 2006 well El Paso had a the King downtown there hadn't been a new private building built since 1970s uh the city created adopted a plan to be a convention and tourist destination the city created pro programs to rejuvenate downtown as the Heart of the City Plaza Theater San Jacinto Plaza El Paso speed improvements a new stadium for baseball and soccer teams and the voters of El Paso approved nearly 500 million dollars for museums cultural center and the multi-purpose facility we're talking about to be a viable Convention Center the city the city said we needed 1 000 new hotel rooms downtown state laws were were a state law changes were obtained to allow El Paso to provide economic incentives uh to develop hotels for convention business when the bond issue passed El Paso and stepped up to the plate and put their money and passion in rebuilding our city expecting the multi-purpose facility to be built now seven hotels been built by cashless today we have over 1 000 rooms downtown and more are on the horizon over 600 visitors a day come downtown as we pass through the covert years conventions are coming to El Paso like the Texas Democratic presidential convection next year and the architect's convention this past fall conventions are great for a community restaurant stores entertainment jobs tax revenues including millions and hot tax revenues for the city county and state the Hotel and center packages were necessary to finance each hotel and relied a relied upon having a Convention Center please do not cancel Advance reduced business because of construction or to have to put us in a position of having to stay changed the position on top tax to El Paso please take no affirmative thank you Mr chairman you've reached the three-minute limit sir thank you thank you sir the next statement was submitted by Henry Felix and it reads dear Representatives please do not vote to abandon the building of the multi-purpose arena in downtown El Paso stand up in unison to continue to complete the multi-purpose Arena as voted on by El pasoans stand together to build their arena in the disputed durangito area of El Paso the location is vital to bring together the long-term goal of revitalizing downtown El Paso to go along with the many other projects that have been completed and are continuing to happen million million have been directed to revitalizing downtown in the arena is a major part actually the centerpiece of the plan to bring together the long-term blend plan to bring El Paso into the 21st century along with many major cities within the United States abandoning the project will only keep us Lost in Time like we have been for so long businesses want to come here and a new Arena will help that endeavor think outside the box and respect the will of the voters and what we voted for so long ago I am 78 years old and was hoping to have been enjoying going to the new Arena by now but given the status it is doubtful I will live long enough to see the arena I voted for as a side note I have lived here my entire life and the only time I ever visited durangito is when I made a wrong turn downtown there is nothing there worth seeing and definitely not a must-see tourist stop in fact being down there feels unsafe we need to move on and look to the Future some old Chinese Laundry is not on my bucket list by Max Grossman and his supporters to The Bitter End do not vote to abandon the building of the multi-purpose Arena thank you in advance for your consideration Henry Felix the next speaker is Jack Chapman followed by Joe goodenreth Jack Chapman Joe goodenwrath Stuart and Nancy shyloff Guillermo Garcia William Hill I don't see Mr Chapman Mr gluten Wrath good morning mayor city council City staff Happy New Year my name is Joe gutenrath I'm the executive director of the El Paso downtown Management District I'm here on behalf of the DMD board of directors made up of downtown property and business owners and tenants to ask you to vote against item 13 or at least table it for the time being I have repeated our support for the MPC project so many times I thought I would share a little different perspective almost nine years ago I was living over a thousand miles away in a mid-sized City proud of proud of its Community but often overlooked not much different than El Paso but the opportunity to be a part of something special here caught my eye so I started to do my research all of those plans Sam mentioned earlier I've I've thumbed through Page by Page and those plans as noted were adopted by the city council back in I noticed in back in 2006 I recommended I read about a recommended Arena and its placement around Santa Fe at the same location later identified and current and confirmed by those other studies a site that takes advantage of passive Investments infrastructure and parking assets which I should note that have been increased by over a thousand structured parking spots in the last two years as previously mentioned I read articles about the proposed 2012 quality of life bonds which would bring this Vision to life and then the community's overwhelming support of this Vision these elements indicated to me that El pasoans wanted more they loved their city and wanted to see it reach its highest potential and they wanted to build an economy that could support its growth and attract people to our great City it's a vision I bought into relocated here with my family and have been proud to play a small role in the implementation of that vision and revitalization of our downtown today our downtown is much different than it was eight years ago thanks to the commitment to that Vision by the public sector and the private sector followed by public and private Investments and it has supported the engagement of the entire El Paso Community even with that success we have a long way to go to enable our community to reach its full potential today you're considering an item an item to do away with a Cornerstone of that Vision even worse there's no New Vision to be offered by those supporting the termination of the MPC project the Gensler study as you just saw offers a variety of Alternatives and a pathway towards fulfilling the will of the voters maintaining our vision and meeting the desires of diverse interests as the council who will lead our city over the next two years I ask that you do just that lead our community forward not backwards listen and work with all of us and continue a vision that has transformed this community for the betterment of all El pasoans including in closing tomorrow and every day that follows there will be people just like I was nine years ago doing their research on El Paso they will be locals there will be college students medical and Dentistry students members of the military and people looking to invest in our community let's give them the same reasons to come here that you gave me please vote against item 13. thank you sir the next statement was submitted by Stuart and Nancy shyloff and it reads Mr Kennedy when we voted for the multi-purpose Center in downtown we knew exactly what we were voting on and the selection of the area for the stadium was fined by us as the area is just buildings that are in this risk repair one that is not a tourist area nor will it ever be we still believe that it will be a huge economic driver for our city and hope that you don't kill the project tomorrow while we agree that the convention center needs to be expanded to attract larger conventions please don't do it with a leftover Bond money build a rescale multi-purpose Center thanks Steward and Nancy the next speaker is Guillermo Garcia followed by William helm Guillermo Garcia he will be followed by William Helm good morning sir you have three minutes hey and good morning good morning I think it's time to stop keeping El Paso in the past not because history is not important big boss is just time to move forward New Year keep doing what you guys were doing we're doing great progress downtown residents people want to be here but not in the current conditions I mean if you guys honestly walk over there there is maybe a glimpse of something historic there and then even now they're giving you options to preserve some of that to give everything moving the right direction we need it the study says so we want it we bought it for it everybody is going to be accommodated along with the options that they're providing and then this still year after year being held back you know and I think it's time to just by the bullet and keep moving forward in El Paso we're finally growing I see that we have a new faces not only in city council but also a lot of new people are moving into El Paso and we can see it but one of the comments that if you walk over there it looks like a war zone you know it's time to actually do something with what you guys started and or just give it back just give it back to the to us the property owners of the area and then just let us fix it but it's the way that it is is just terrible for the city so that's the only thing that I have to say but thank you for you guys thank you sir the next speaker is William helm he will be followed by Juan Martinez Rafael Garcia good morning sir you have three minutes thank you good morning mayor council city manager and happy New Year I'm William Helm AIA and I come here today is a downtown business owner a downtown property owner of a historic trust design building and as a citizen architect I actively practicing in the preservation of our architectural heritage ten years ago this past November we as a community came together an overwhelming support of the quality of life Bond projects that the MPC is the centerpiece of since 2012 because of the private investment in downtown hotels that has already occurred through incentive Partnerships with the city we've already been able to attract new events and conferences to El Paso those include in October of 22 after years of behind the scenes lobbying on the on the part of our local AIA chapter we were able to once again host the Texas Society of Architects annual conference here in El Paso for the first time after 45 long years we've been able to achieve these things we would not have been able to achieve these things without the leadership of Prior councils that have set us on this course to improve our downtown as a destination but our work as a community is not done we need more event and meeting space in our downtown campus to bring new events and larger campuses or larger conferences to El Paso today in agenda item 14 we have seen the first results of the feasibility and programming study for the MPC underway by the city's consultant Gensler this study is necessary work important work completed on behalf of council by a nationally renowned expert team of Architects and planners with this information for the first time since the MPC became embroiled in a controversy over historic building fabric this study has provided a means to conduct public Outreach and have an open dialogue with stakeholders and citizens in our community the study is shown in the exhibits presented here today in item 14 something that us as Architects have known all along but not been able to have an intelligent conversation with you about what we've seen here today is not hyperbole but hard facts that dispel the myth that as a community we have to choose between building the voter approved NPC or preserve our architectural heritage it is not a choice between the two the reality is that with smart planning we can achieve both and in so doing make the union Plaza District a vibrant neighborhood a dynamic destination and a center of entertainment for all the citizens of our region I urge you today to not take premature action on item 13 but rather carefully consider the data presented in item 14. honor the will of the voters of the 2012 Bond our tax dollars project thank you sir thank you the next statement was submitted by the general manager from Podium finish the statement reads dear mayor and Council as they say if you build it they will come from far far far away to enjoy a great city as a citizen of El Paso I wholehearted wholeheartedly support efforts to revitalize our downtown and I am deeply concerned about the efforts to abandon the downtown NPC and Union Plaza a long-term vision and efforts by the public and private sectors have transformed our downtown into a vibrant Place welcoming and accessible to all but El Paso is one of this is one of the few if not only major cities in the United States that does not have a modern large-scale multi-purpose Center this facility is a major Cornerstone of our downtown revitalization strategy and is look and its location was identified in numerous studies for its potential to support the facility and generate the greatest impact to our community the project is not just about the creation of a place to have events but components of a large of a larger Economic Development strategy that our city government and private sector have been pursuing for over 15 years it's meant to grow our economy attract out-of-town visitors and spur additional investments in our downtown the 20 2012 quality of life Bond initiative and all actions by the city up until today have created a vision for the future of downtown El Paso it has helped usher in unprecedented private sector Investments that this community has not seen in Generations abruptly abandoning this project and vision sends a horrible message to individuals and companies who want to invest in our community it tells them our city government is unstable and that promises made can be promises broken the abandonment of this of the arena is in about one project it is a demonstration of how our city does business we need a strong reliable council with a bold vision for those who are quick to abandon this project with other promises or ideas asked you to back that up what evidence or public vetting have you done to evaluate those ideas are you being quick to recklessly spend taxpayer dollars for something that has not been thoroughly evaluated by experts something that is a quick fix but not what the voters said they wanted ask you to consider the bigger long-term consequences of abandoning the MPC as a citizen owner of real estate on Texas Avenue and small business owner of this great City I support the efforts that will bring a multi-purpose performance and entertainment center help save historically significant buildings and Revitalize and activate the union Plaza Union Plaza area more importantly efforts that help build the downtown economy that provides opportunities for investors to refurbish the historic structures attracts conventions and out-of-town visitors and provides more activation and event days for our community to enjoy we were promised a state-of-the-art space for entertainment and I expect any my representative and mayor to support the vision please support pushing the multi-purpose Center forward we are planting our small seed in downtown area will you together we will watch our city bloom in its own very special way general manager Podium Finnish sport Boutique thank you the next speaker is Juan Martinez followed by Rafael Garcia good morning um my name is Juan Martinez born in ciudad Juarez lived all my life here in El Paso um I love history I love talking to my children about history I tell them about the stories of being an infant and my mom would take the bus to Sacred Heart she would put me in daycare while she was learning and studying to get her GED of being a toddler and my grandma would take the bus with me we'd come down to the Placita we would go to the stores we would go to the bank so she could pay her bills we always ended with her buying me a Slurpee at Woolworth I love history I I always try to teach my kids especially our culture but any good City needs to prosper I mean this past Saturday we all hugged and kissed someone and wished him a prosperous New Year a business can't be successful if it doesn't change the same with a city you know everything we heard today everything that the voters have said is let's just do this let's cut the BS let's get to work and let's do this for the city let's do this for the people plain and simple I'm a taxpayer I'm just a regular John Doe we need this the city needs this we need a better downtown like the other prosperous cities we need a downtown we've been working on our downtown to revelize it to to make it better for our people um the people that lived there lived in slums it wasn't like they were living in a great place the owners of those buildings weren't keeping it up to date they didn't care about the people in my opinion because they left them in the slums we can do better for them if they're still people living there we need this for our downtown that's pretty much what I have to say thank you sir thank you thank you the next speaker is Rafael Garcia good morning sir you have three minutes thank you good morning mayor and Council it's great to be here with you today I'm Rafael Garcia I'm a Jesuit priest pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the Segundo Barrio and prior to becoming a priest I Was An Architect a practicing architect in Florida uh I urge you to uh to vote to reloc relocate the existing funds towards improving the existing buildings rather than than uh embarking a huge project that's going to end up being Adept for the people uh who is going to end up paying for this project even though it sounds great and the presentation was very impressive but from what I know the stadium is still not self-sustaining it's still a burden on taxpayers at the church and I see the streetcar coming around constantly when it comes it's always empty typically it's empty so some of these projects have to be evaluated about how is it going to affect the regular person I'm also been uh it's amazing I learned this and you can correct me if I'm wrong but I understand El Paso has more debt uh than Dallas Houston or San Antonio Austin so we have to be we have to take that into account for the responsibility of the people the use of taxpayer funds addressing basic needs at so many parts of our city still need and focusing on the neglected parts of our city because there are also people human beings that live in the city and work in the city I I think we have to it's we it's important to preserve neighborhoods it's important to uh respect the communities that have lived there historically gentrification is a is a real problem throughout the United States and it's not helping to uh you know to help us grow in an integral way I think it's important that we ask the question what is quality of life who defines quality of life who's that who's included and who's excluded who benefits and it's usually a small minority ends up making the ends up gaining and a lot of people are excluded I see that constantly with the people I serve and I think it's important that we think about who who is creating this Narrative of quality of life what is quality of life what does it mean to the average person working person or person who is poor and uh what is the meaning of progress who who progresses and who dig digresses so I think it's important that we keep those things in mind and as a priest uh given my vocation of what I'm doing I have to my role and I'm happy to do is to be an advocate for the working class the poor the people that I serve there are also people that deserve a quality of life as well let's keep that in mind and not overburden the citizens with a lot of more debt thank you thank you sir my next statement the next statement [Applause] was submitted by a group and it reads dear mayor Lisa in El Paso city council we are we are a group of owners representing the vast majority of downtown El Paso hotel rooms we have made substantial initial and ongoing Financial outlays as well as other commitments in an effort to revitalize downtown El Paso we believe that the building of a new multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment facility NPC is a critical piece of the revitalization efforts we are concerned about the city council's rushed effort over the holidays to take action on such a significant matter without fully betting and understanding the long-term financial implications engaging investor and operator stakeholders as well as legal implications including implications on a number of the financial incentive agreements that the city entered into with us to build our or renovate our downtown hotels we have had minimal time to examine the impact of the proposed agenda item on our contracts with the city and potential State overlap accordingly we requested that City postpone any action at this time on the agenda item for a minimum of 30 days until the potential consequence of this action including its economic impact to our hotels the impact on our 380 agreements with the city and any resulting liability on the part of the city can be appropriately assessed discussed and addressed as needed a postponement would allow time to carefully consider these issues and discuss the impacts before any action is taken additionally many advisors and stakeholders in this process are not available thank you the next speaker is Lisa Turner followed by Sarah Lo Syria Oscar Martinez Marilyn Guida I don't see Miss Turner Sarah lauricia Oscar hello city thank you it's hi I'm Sarah laucerica good morning and good morning everyone I um and my husband recently moved here from Memphis Tennessee I'll tell you it's a little bit of a shock topography a little different I must say but I do want to say that upon moving here we did from from many of our friends and and um they said you're moving where where is that I said it's El Paso Texas and it's kind of in the corner but um they said isn't that a dangerous place and I hated to hear that because now we live here and it's absolutely wonderful it's fabulous here we love it my husband is the chief of pathology for the entire tenant system hmm he has a very hard time recruiting other Physicians here and I wanted to make a point of that I wish he could be here but unfortunately he can't but I want to be a part of changing that reputation in this city I think a multi-purpose Center will put us on the path to make that change to transforming this city I think it's very important it'll take a while I know to make that transformation but I think it's going to put us on the road for a better reputation and able to bring Talent here skills that are really very much needed so thanks for your time thank you the next speaker is Oscar Martinez followed by Maryland Guida Dr Sharon miles bornart Wesley Lawrence good morning sir you have three minutes good morning my name is Oscar Martinez I'm a retired Professor history professor and a coordinator with the Community First coalition Mr Mayor and city council Representatives I urge you to approve item 13. and abandoned the building of a tax supported Arena because one the voters did not vote for it there was nothing in the 2012 ballot initiative that said the city should build an arena or that such a facility should be located in durangito to duranguito is Hallowed Ground to indigenous people and people of Mexican descent the neighborhood is also the birthplace of El Paso durangito should be developed as a historic district where our Rich Multicultural Heritage can be celebrated and where Heritage tourism a source of Economic Development far superior to that of a sports arena can thrive three opposition to attack supported Arena among El pasoans is overwhelming as supported by numerous polls in the recent election of candidates who are against the project including our current mayor and the new three City Representatives and four most importantly it would be immoral for the city which has burdened its residents with very high taxes and astronomical debt to take on such an expensive undertaking put the money that is available in the convention center and the Abraham Chavez theater I would urge the folks who want an Arena built in El Paso to fund it themselves and to find a place other than durangito on which to build it those who contribute the most money to the facility could have their names in big letters engraved at the entrance that would earn them the Acclaim of the community just think investors would cash in on all the profits from sports and entertainment events I think that would be a great options for El pasoans who still have the arena dream thank you the next speaker is Marilyn Guida followed by Dr Sharon miles bonard Wesley Lawrence Christopher Falk Graciela blandin good morning Miss Guida star sixth place to end major telephone Maryland Guida star sixth place Marilyn Guida star six to unmute your telephone Miss Guida star six I see you in the queue however your your telephone is on mute star six please we'll move on with Dr Sharon miles boneart followed by Wesley Lawrence Christopher Falk Graciela blandin Andrea Hutchins good morning ma'am you have three minutes good morning mayor and Council I'm Sharon miles boneart I'm a member of the open space Advisory board but today I'm here as a second generation El Paso when I was born here my grandmother was born in Mexico my mother was born not too far from here so um I am here speaking for myself good morning on item number 13 it's never too late to cancel a bad plan uh what the original budget is and what is being spent and what is being projected for the original for this project um you know when you have a house you only spend what you've got you don't keep going into debt for things you want you might go into debt for things you need but not just want number 14 item 14. uh as a person who has been an editor of a National Journal and I spent a lot of time doing research um the presentation that we received today from the Gensler Group which was very very impressive it's very flawed too and it was identified that they met with people who are um let's see a community steering committee and the leaders of El Paso where were the average people the people that don't have telephones the people that don't have computer access where were they in this research uh the hybrid meetings two hybrid meetings for this much money doesn't doesn't wash it just doesn't wash uh the online survey that was really interesting to me because I have like many people have more than one email address so I was just checking it out to see how good their research was okay I used both of my well two of my emails and I entered all the information that they asked for but I diversely canceled myself out so if I can do that what about other people who might have four or five emails they could have loaded the responses and the other thing is is that the distractors or the items were very slanted and this presentation that they gave was equally slanted toward um it with the exception of Miss and I can't remember her name I wanted to say she's the Arctic architect um that was that I was tremendously impressed with but the research component of this no it doesn't wash it it was flawed and it would sound good to anybody who hasn't spent a good number of years in the in research but I've got to agree with Dr Martinez that vote Yes for number 13 vote no for number 14. thank you and goodbye the next speaker is Wesley Lawrence followed by Christopher Falk Graciela blandin Andrea Hutchins Scott Lynch good morning you have three minutes good morning it's it's good to see you so much today Mayor Lee sir members of council many of which I haven't seen since last year um I I stand here today in support of item number 13 and ask you to end the arena project once and for all well well I am impressed by the presentation by the Kinsler group it does remind me of the Glass Beach study in some ways this project is very flawed it pushed poor people of color out of their homes when in fact downtown El Paso has the ability to be similar to what Scottsdale does and in their historic district we can build a historic district that really highlights though that highlights chihuahuita and the Sacred Heart neighborhoods you know one of the things that that bothers me and then we need to be clear about this is that we never voted on an arena I talked to my parents for voting age back in 2012. they voted for the bond but the reason they voted for that was because they were told by many of the people going out and speaking on about the bond was that if we didn't vote for this Bond we would not get a AAA baseball team here in El Paso and and that's what a lot of people fell for this Bond should have been a line item Bond so that if you wanted to improve the zoo or other aspects of quality of life but you didn't want a multi-purpose Center then that's fine but that's not how that went we ASL passwords were tricked into voting for this project it was a project that quite honestly could have been placed in northeast El Paso it could have been placed on East El Paso which is currently growing at a historic rate but instead we decided to push people out of their homes it's not what government's supposed to do government's supposed to be there for the people to uplift people out of poverty to uplift people in their communities to ensuring that their voices are being heard I find it alarming and shocking that the residents who live in duranguito were not a part of this study they were not communicated to they were not asked how they they feel about losing their homes they were not asked about the historic aspects of how long their families have lived there and the roots that they developed I think that if you know when we talk about how some of these historic buildings are in CIS disregard it's because city council does not hold these developers accountable you know if you're going to buy these buildings uplift them keep them historical invest in them open local businesses that invest in our communities but they're not doing that they're letting them just sit there and rot and then they come to you to ask to demolish them it's hypocritical you know if they want an arena if they want to build it let's build it and they will come ideology well then God darn they should build the damn thing shouldn't be done by taxpayers so I hope that you'll support item number 13 let these people come back to their homes invest in historic preservation and finally listen to the people that actually care about El Paso that are in it for the money thank you and have a nice day the next speaker is Christopher Hulk Christopher Folk he will be followed by Graciela blandin Andrea Hutchins Scott Lynch Robert Storch good morning sir you have three minutes okay thank you my name is Christopher Falk and I've been in this uh fight over the duranguito and the arena since its Inception and I just want to push back on a couple things I've heard uh number one the people when they voted on the quality of life bonds did not know that the birthplace of El Paso the historic historical aspect of El Paso would be demolished for a sports arena and another thing I'd like to push back on is a dare Margo's Mr Goodman's Mr Braves excuse me sir that's not um okay please The Narrative that uh now uh 70 some percent of the people wanted this Sports Arena to go through uh the fact is uh four or five years ago there was a petition in which I participated in I was out in the hot sun 100 degree weather getting signatures and we had more than enough signatures to let the people vote on this issue whether they wanted a a sports arena in the duranguito and the city fought tooth and nail to cancel it and so I lost I lost my faith in this representative system because we should have there should have been a vote there and all these millions of dollars even this feasibility study should not if he's even taken place at the time the poll said over 60 percent of the people favored moving the arena and not destroying the durangito but the city and the people in back of the candidates would not let it happen so everything that's transpired all the lawsuits everything should never have happened thank you thank you the next speaker is Graciela blandin followed by Andrea Hutchins Scott Lynch Robert Storch good morning you have three minutes good morning everybody my name is Graciela I'm a student and I'm really happy to introduce myself to the new council members especially representative Kennedy I'm your constituent sir and as your constituent I'm asking for you and the rest of this Council to vote in favor of item 13 today I want to remind this Council that this vote is one of the first key moments in your time as public servants the fiscal and legal arguments not to mention the moral ones for why the Serena cannot proceed have been repeated Ad nauseam since 2017. I mean we've been doing the same speech since 2017 and I'm sure everyone has reviewed those arguments carefully but I'd like to make a political argument today perhaps even as an attempt to offer a very humble piece of advice as you embark on your tenure a good leader knows when to give up I love concerts me and my friends we are the fabled young people that everyone has been referring to um and I'm telling you it's not worth it a city is not a business and the presentation had few social considerations is the Line in the Sand it's more than keeping the promises you made on the campaign Trail it's more than the arena it's more than the budget this issue is about who gets a voice in this Council and how we run our city and your vote is going to let young people know let me know whose side you're on because it's all out in the open we know whose pockets are going to get lined if we take on more debt and we know who gets left behind and one thing that I expect from my Representatives is coherency and consistency in the type of politics they deal in and the type of values that they'll bring to their work here and I'm really looking forward to finding out what those values are today and I hope to count on y'all as allies to the people fighting to protect their neighborhoods thank you thank you the next speaker is Andrea Hutchins followed by Scott Lynch Robert storage commissioner David Stout Alicia Villa good morning you have three minutes good morning good morning mayor City Representatives my name is Andrea Hutchins I am the president and CEO of the El Paso chamber thank you to our new and elect our elected and newly elected city council Representatives who took the time to call and meet with the chamber the DMD and our business community over the holidays to hear the concerns and the hopes for today's discussions in the 1600s when modern day El Paso was settled it was done so by men on Horseback I assume that no one came here today on Horseback instead we enjoy the investment made by Generations before us on our current roadway system our electrical grid and even this very building that I am standing in today I am sure over the years there have been those who have said no to all of these modern day investments in fact some of them are still fighting our I-10 expansion and I assume that most of the comments that were made here this morning were done written prior to the item number 14 being addressed it is easy to say no to progress saying no is comfortable and it involves no risk unfortunately it also robs future generations of their right to enjoy the Investments made by Generations before them I would encourage the city council that preservation and progress are not mutually exclusive I personally have been a huge proponent of historic preservation and remain so yet I'm also a staunch advocate for economic development while you can be pro-historic preservation and pro-economic development at the same time you cannot be pro-economic development and anti-progress at the same time in 2012 102 000 El pasoans thought it right and good to invest in the future of this community by approving a bond initiative that would significantly alter the quality of life in our community for the better the El Paso chamber membership encouraged the El Paso chamber to advocate for progress in this issue the approximate one-third who did not advocate for us to to speak to this issue cited litigation fatigue as the main reason why some here today would argue the merits of that vote and would justify throwing out the entirety of the remaining project on a number of ever-changing and completely unsatisfiable merits as you are aware City staff have put forth a plan of compromise as the foundation it is a plan which aligns with the quality of life Bond and met the city council's objectives of finding a compromise it stays within budget it saves all of the historic structures revitalizes the union Plaza provides an increased likelihood that investors will refurbish other historic districts and and structures provides increased opportunities for convention attraction and so on I don't know of a single elected official who isn't publicly pro-economic development repeatedly council members espouse to be pro-economic development but yet when the time comes to make hard decisions those decisions which might truly move the needle on economic development those same elected officials do not always have the gumption to do so because those decisions are not always popular I encourage the council to listen to the 102 000 El pasoans who voted in favor of progress and the dozens of individuals who have spoken in favor of item number 14 and against item number 13 by preserving Our Heritage while providing a way forward for progress thank you ma'am the next speaker is Scott Lynch followed by Robert Storch commissioner David Stout Alicia Villa Antonio Morales good morning sir you have three minutes good morning Mr Mayor good morning city council I agree with Andrea and a lot of the other speakers I'm here to speak against item 13 and 4 item 14. I'm not going to repeat what everyone else said before but I want to point out a few things I think no one has mentioned before El Paso always talks about being the post of choice for for soldiers for Fort Bliss right Department of Defense specifically states that they care about quality of life as one of their top three major initiatives for deciding whether they're going to expand the base or they're going to close a base so if you look at any kind of soldier forums they're always talking about the lack of things to do in El Paso this is something that is geared directly towards soldiers of the correct demographic a lot of times when the soldiers deploy the spouses are left behind and they want things to do that are family friendly it's also going to increase the number of flights that we have at the airport that we can all benefit from it's going to help with college recruitment the one lady from from Memphis mentioned that her husband has problem recruiting Physicians I've heard that before not just physicians at at uh Texas Tech but Utah professors Apostle community college students as well so all these things people really care about you know quality of life and then I think the most important thing is we need housing downtown and that's not going to happen until there's things to do so once we get housing we're going to get or once we have this Arena we're going to have you know more retail stores we're going to have more you know dry cleaners more restaurants things that are open later at night so right now if you go downtown on a Tuesday or Wednesday like you know past happy hour most things are closed right so people are not living downtown I think this project will help explore that development it's not the the magic answer but it's definitely a step in the right direction so I urge you to vote no I'm 13 and in favor of 14. thank you thank you sir the next speaker is Robert Storch followed by commissioner David Stout Alicia Villa Antonio Morales hold on one second please yes I would like to make a motion to recess for 10 minutes yeah just that way everybody can um freshen up and make sure we don't miss anybody so reach those for 10 minutes there's a motion Teresa is there a second second there's a motion and a second to recess for 10 minutes all in favor aye anyone opposed the meeting is in recess at 11 59 A.M Miss Prime is it 10 minutes already yes sir thank you council is there a motion to reconvene there's a motion in a second to reconvene the city council meeting all in favor anyone opposed the meeting is back in session at 12 15 pm yes thank you Miss Prine I know that we only have representative um Canales yeah mayor can we take call to the public since uh noon has passed yeah we only have four people for Call of the public yes we'll take that thank you sir well now move to call to the public the El Paso city council is a local government body chart with serving all of the citizens of the city and the meetings must be focused on the meeting at church 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 and attendants are expected to display civility under Quorum that is respectful to other persons without the use of insulting profane threat in or abusive language public comment will not be used for personal attacks against a person or group's character or Integrity which are not pertinent to City business nor May any member of the public uses foreign 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 forward be posted on a future agenda this afternoon we have four members of the public that signed up to speak the first person is Wally Scheck this check will be followed by Lauren vanderveer Cynthia Renteria and arnulfo Hernandez good afternoon Miss check you have three minutes ma'am the good ones the old ones and the new ones and for the ones that don't know me I miss Sheikh and today is my 357 agenda I'm a World War pride and this has been the first time that this has ever accomplished as a world bright that 70 years a labor of love is completed in my four books and those four books belong to El pasoin and there are right now at the printing company about 200 boxes and I would like for you people forget the arena and start a book publishing industry in El Paso and this is my down payment and if they are sold this is 80 000 for a free press Alpac social health the freedom press Philadelphia the Bell oh and New York the States you and this is not a dream pipe I'm working on it I'm 94 in four months I don't have time to race for politics or red tape and I have a person on my side and Mr Mayor I put it in your trust because when you campaigned the first time you said it's all about trust and this is what's all about in every mayor every Governor can come to El Paso and see those books lined up right here for the people this is the people's house and we inherited unfortunate through Wilson and I know my limit is up and you can get in touch with me I have a patriotic room and I cannot bring the whole room down here so I'm gonna set it up for the freedom press in El Paso and I have a lot of people behind me and God bless every one of you work together and remember our mayor is the channel and he is the colonel taking order from a channel Mr remember when you cut the water cleared the first time and you got sworn in and I told you that and I do not believe in anyone is against this project because long after I'm gone I think it's going to be my income from Social cities to El Paso see you 25 more times I was sick thank you music thank you Miss shek thank you the next speaker is Lauren Vandiver Lauren Vandiver we'll move on to Cynthia Renteria Ms renteria's topic is concerned citizen good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes good afternoon good afternoon good afternoon mayor and Council I have signed up to speak on items 13 and 14 but I want to take this moment to to talk to you about my concern that I've heard over and over today as the item 13 and 14 is being discussed that the voters voted to put the arena item 13 and 14 can only be discussed during that time not in public comment please okay thank you I'm going to can I read what I was going to say no you can do that on item 13 and 14 when you're signed up for them yes so you can talk about that at that time okay so I'm going to say that my concern right now is of the process um and of of the process that you're having that we've had for the past six years and I'm hoping that when we get back to item 13 that this will finally be resolved today thank you the next speaker is Arnold Hernandez Mr Hernandez's topic is a time to celebrate and give back yes it if he'll bring up the elbow Mr Hernandez will be using it please good afternoon sir you have three minutes thank you my name is Arnold Hernandez just not put it up here um and I speak for myself today I don't represent an agency governmental or private I don't hold any titles no CEO no president no nothing I am an El pasoan and a taxpayer gives me standing to stand before you um thank you to Mr Molina and Miss anello for placing item 13 on the on the ballot on the Dollar on the agenda um got it okay um congratulations to Mr Brian Kennedy art funeral and Chris Canales on your election and your constituents thank you to justice justice and their young and talented president Veronica for get out the vote campaign thank you to the Democratic party of El Paso for supporting our Torres and opposing the rulers puppet and urging voters to vote for Brian and Chris Canales thank you to the El Paso democratic I guess part of East for supporting art funeral but last but not least I want to take the time to thank our David it's in the biblical David and Goliath the character in the book of Samuel young David defeating the Giant in a hand-to-hand combat I'm referring to Dr Max Grossman that young Brash and Brilliant UTEP professor of Art and Architectural history and many more accomplishments who is no more than five feet tall but is a giant in the political arena in El Paso thanks to him the rulers wish to destroy durangito and replace it with an arena Mr Hernandez this this is for a topic not on the agenda you're speaking about item 13 which is on the agenda which we will resume after the call to the public is completed okay and so we want to take him for his actions and that he's taken so far thank you thank you mayor that concludes call to the public thank you freaking uh pursuing back to item 13 and 14. yes sir we were taking public comment on items 13 and 14 the next speaker is Robert Storch followed by Commissioners David Stout Alicia Villa Antonio Morales good afternoon Mr stortch you have three minutes sir okay thank you good afternoon I'm Bob Storch I live in Sunset Heights in 2012 I voted for the quality of life bonds I did not however vote to destroy an historic neighborhood or build a facility we can no longer afford at the time the idea of the Arena was vague and the location unknown as plans developed and the location decided I no longer support the concept of an arena I don't understand what this facility would do that the convention center Abraham Chavez the plaza Don Haskins or the County Coliseum can't do most of the bond money has now been spent litigating the need purpose and location there is no reason to spend more money we don't have to destroy a neighborhood we can't replace to build a facility of questionable Community value there is much to do to improve the quality of life in El Paso this boondoggle must be put out of its misery today vote to approve item 13. and let me say I drove all the way to Austin to address the Texas Transportation Commission on downtown 10. they allow three minutes but when 80 people signed up to speak against something on the agenda they cut our time to a minute and a half good on you for taking remote comments and giving people their full say thank you very much thank you sir [Applause] good afternoon commissioner Stout you have three minutes sir thank you very much good afternoon Council my name is David Stout I am the El Paso County Commissioner for Precinct 2. as many of you may know durangito is in Precinct 2. first I'd like to congratulate the new members of the council and their victories and being sworn in uh this morning it gives me hope that your presence on this board will mean that the city will belong to the people once again and not only to a handful of people with Deep Pockets I say that because we as elected officials are charged with making fiscal responsible decisions for the well-being of our community not only a select few I am very proud to be part of the movement to save durangito and to bring true progress to our downtown I hope you will join myself repinello rep molinarin the thousands of other El pasoans who support historic preservation Heritage tourism the arts and culture oriented small businesses in this case it is not progress to destroy an Irreplaceable Community Asset a neighborhood and treat people as disposable pieces to move around as though who as those who may have money in power please or spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to do so in the name of a project that proposes nothing exceptional other than luxury boxes that the vast majority of el pasoans will not be able to afford I like you new members of council went through an election cycle this year and I'm starting a third term as I was speaking to my constituents I heard so many backing my position on this issue and I believe it is in large part why I was reelected it is also why I feel I have a mandate to continue my advocacy here I like you have had thousands of dollars spent by Arena proponents to try and take me out of this office but despite that I received the voter's approval so have you you received the voter's approval they spoke very clearly in all of your races and in my opinion you also have the same mandate please do the right thing please listen to the voters and supporters who gave you this great opportunity to be true public servants please pay no heed to the misinformation and gaslighting that has been so grossly spewed by certain individuals over the past six years and after hearing some of the public testimony today apparently it unfortunately continues to be disseminated and proliferated please help us save durangito thank you thank you the next speaker is Alicia Villa Alicia Villa followed by Antonia Morales Alicia Villa Miss Villa star six please to unmute your telephone good afternoon you have three minutes Miss via you're back on mute star six please good afternoon you have three minutes go ahead Miss Villa your microphone is active ma'am go ahead we can't hear you miss via I can't hear Miss via we'll move on to Antonia Morales Miss Prime can you hear me this is representative vanilla yes ma'am I can hear Miss via on our end I don't know if there's some kind of technological problem over on yours hello oh now we can hello go ahead Miss Villa I can hear you now okay okay uh good morning mayor and City Council Members I was born and raised in El Paso in one of the original neighborhoods and I asked this government not to destroy durangito the first neighborhood of El Paso it would be destroying the history of El Paso the city should invest in repairing the building that the CV thought that by making holes in the buildings that they would fall but it's been six years and the buildings are still standing they are well built this neighborhood will be a great tourist attraction if well promoted a puzzle has great artists musicians performers of all ages local vendors can can bring and sell their artistic items here this will bring Revenue to our city and also we and Arena will only bring entertainment to the city that not all residents can afford we already have a beautiful sambal stadium and at them heskin Center and that will support our University we have a convention center and a Coliseum we do not need an arena it will be wasting our tax dollars so please protect El Paso history for our future Generations thank you thank you the next speaker is Antonia Morales good morning Miss Morales you have three minutes do we need an summary that's fine we don't have an interpreter mayor we did not suggest that requests yes durangito tengos um foreign English no if we were from Michigan is Olympia foreign [Music] foreign foreign gracias Miss Morales is in favor of item 13 as she's lived in durangito for many years and has worked hard to keep the area safe for the children around there the next speaker is Carmen Rodriguez followed by Cynthia Renteria Jose Rodriguez Yolanda Leyva Abel Legazpi anareza Carmen Rodriguez coming up good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes good afternoon thank you good afternoon good afternoon to this new city council and the new Administration I'm very happy to be here and to see you uh ready to take on the difficult issues of our city this project this particular project has generated several uh very expensive studies conducted both prior to and after the election of 2012. I have reviewed most of the studies and none have resulted in anything other than what the arena promoters wanted the present study is no different well it is impressive uh resident surveys are always formulated in order to generate new numbers and numbers can't be manipulated how do the 71 percent favorable boasts in 2012 the many uh which were only 37 percent of all the voters at that time and many who only wanted a children's museum or a Mexican-American Cultural Center and whose vote was counted in those 71 percent how do those numbers square with today's political reality which is that five districts have constituents now that are in favor of abandoning the project five districts contain the political will to make a change in the direction that the city has been going conclusions of what is wanted and what would be ideal projections uh and and to please as many people as possible is what I heard during the presentation no details no procedures if this is what the study offers it is not significant enough to move forward as Miss bonark so aptly described this city has been like a vehicle heading towards a vision that its passengers did not agree to travel to one of the reasons is this trip has been misguided is that the vision did not originate with the people nor with the people's Representatives it originated with a small number of influentials who chose to discard the elderly uneducated downtown dwellers they chose to ignore our history and culture including the fact that financially strapped taxpayers would be required to pay the bill when some of the passengers decided to board the vehicle the road looked straight and smooth however when they began to see the truth of their destination the falsity of the representations those who would suffer the many who would never benefit and the beneficial hardships as father Garcia mentioned all would endure they became convinced the trip was not worth taking Justice we have a news we changed drivers and you are in that thank you thank you very much next speaker is Cynthia Renteria followed by Jose Rodriguez Yolanda Leyva Abel legaspi good afternoon Mr anteria you have three minutes good afternoon mayor and Council take two I'm here to express my support for item 13. add up my opposition to the construction of an arena in the historic durangito neighborhood as someone who loves museums and libraries I supported the 2012 quality of life bonds however at the time I nor anyone else that voted in 2012 knew that the real plan was to build an arena in durangito the fact that fact was not revealed until 2016. so it is not true that the voters in 2012 were in favor of destroying durangito to build an arena since then as many of you know there has been opposition at the latest feasibility study Community engagements the meeting that was held in the summer in which it was just stated in the presentation about 50 people attended the majority were against proceeding with the arena in durangito but that was somehow or conveniently left out of the present today's presentation this issue is an issue that has been in the news and in several forums over the past six years going on seven there the three new reps for districts one six and eight Express their desire to abandon the arena project in duranguito during their campaign to say that they don't know the issue is to underestimate and call into question their experience professionalism and years of Public Service Mr Canales was chief of staff for the previous District 8 representative Mr Fierro is a former State Rep Mr Kennedy is a veteran and has served on numerous boards and commissions their combined experience speaks for speaks for itself and the voters trust that they know what they're doing this vote isn't premature it's long overdue restore public trust by voting in favor of item 13. thank you the next speaker is Jose Rodriguez Jose Rodriguez followed by Yolanda Leyva Ebola gaspi Ana Resa Soledad munis good afternoon Mr Rodriguez you have three minutes sir good afternoon good afternoon Senator Council happy New Year everyone uh it's a pleasure to be here you brought me out of retirement um you look good though senator and his County attorney for five terms and then uh in the Texas Senate for 10 years I only mentioned that because I appreciate the tough tough decisions that you as public servants have to make I've been a part of that I've witnessed it and it takes a lot of courage to make the right decision and I would suggest to you that the right decision is always made based on the facts on the data on the science on information that one can appreciate supports the reasoning behind the decisions and you know that I'm also currently the on the board of directors of the uh Tech preservation Texas a Statewide organization that deals with historic preservation and that's why I'm here and I'm not representing them I'm here as a historic preservationist myself and as a taxpayer and I just want to make a couple of points because everybody has already covered quite a bit of Waterfront here and very eloquently in some cases um it's been mentioned that the voters supported this during the testimony in Austin the city's own Witnesses testified that they were instructed by a consultant not to use the word arena in the bond issuance because that might not get the support of the voters so I want to stress that that the voters from the beginning were deceived as to what it is that people had in mind with regard to this multi-purpose Fine Arts Center number two there's been the issue raised about Economic Development progress and whether or not we support downtown revitalization we all and in fact this was pointed out all of us elected officials support uh Economic Development the question is in what way do we want to achieve Economic Development The Proposal before us has been that an arena will get us there I I commend to you this book the new Urban crisis by Richard Florida that some of you may be familiar with is a preeminent urbanist in this country where the conclusions in there are that Arenas do not promote Economic Development they're a drain on City budgets and on taxpayers secondly on the other hand the historic preservation is the national the state and local point that economic development is driven by thank you Senators Rodriguez thank you please take that into consideration thank you sir the next speaker is Yolanda Leyva followed by Abel legaspi anaresa Soledad munis good afternoon Miss Levi you have three minutes good afternoon good afternoon mayor and city council welcome to the new members and happy New Year I'm Dr Yolanda Chavez Leyva and I'm here on behalf of Paso Del Sur as many of you know positive suit has stood in solidarity with the residents of butter lurangito since 2016. we were founded in 2006 to stand with vulnerable communities and to fight their displacement and to preserve historic buildings at Muslims have never voted to build an arena in durangito before 2012 anytime an arena was on a ballot it lost then city manager Joyce Wilson and the paso del Norte group now the Border Plex Alliance hired Rick Harrow a sports consultant to come give recommendations for the bond language at his recommendation the 2012 Bond ballot deliberately avoided Saints sports arena and it was bundled with quality of life projects like the Children's Museum like improvements to libraries voters never knew that they were voting for a sports arena in durangito since 2016 when durangita was announced as the site for this Arena thousands of el pasoons has have stood in opposition to it they have spoken at city meetings they have marched in rallies in support of the residents and they have signed petitions not once but twice to make durangito historic district it's a lie that voters voted for an arena in duranguito which is why six years later the opposition is still strong today is the day to stop the lies and to end the plan to build an arena in duranguito thank you thank you the next speaker is Abel legaspi followed by Anna Resa Soledad good afternoon sir you have three minutes hello ladies and gentlemen of the public city council women and city councilman a happy New Year so I've had the opportunity to meet each and every one of you I know that some of you care about security I know that some of you understand business and I understand I know that some of you understand responsible public administration the opponents of this project will have you believe that this multi-purpose Center is destroying history that it's displacing people but the outcome of what we see it and how we see it today makes me believe that these individuals are attempting to keep the area repressed let's look at it look at it now and and walk it now items the item 13 states that repurposing of funds repurposing of funds I I don't know if that's um legitimate or not I'm not questioning the legitimacy of your actions this morning but I will tell you that the voters approve this quality of life Bond now with all due respect to the newly elected City city council members you got elected with 5.65 percent of your of the registered voters in your District now what's to say that you are representing all the districts that you're representing the people the will of the people now collectively you represent 160 624 out of 9080 that voted you in City Council Members I would ask you to reconsider going against the will of the voters this decision cannot be an all or nothing proposition it can't abandoning the arena means abandoning the area now and if you wish to do so if you wish to actually go and attempt to repurpose these funds I would ask I would ask that you take it to the voters I would ask that either the voters decide whether to increase the funding or abandon it whatsoever I don't I don't believe that this decision needs to be made by a handful of people now I thank you for your hard work and your dedication and public service I understand how hard it is to make decisions decisions where you'll have oppositions decisions that are going to be hard but please don't abandon the area don't abandon Union Plaza don't abandon the people there they still require some sort of investment some sort of investment from you and the public thank you thank you the next speaker is Ana Resa followed by Soledad munis Miss Reza star 6 to unmute your telephone good morning mayor mayor and city council I live in District 7. um recently in the past year Albuquerque New Mexico failed on building an arena because the voters rejected it many people have been mentioning that the bomb path this is what the voters want but let's recall that in court we heard from a former city manager Wilson in saying that that they didn't use the word Arena because they knew the voters were rejected so the argument that voters voted for it is very shady and my question to those that keep bringing it up is how can we really trust you if you keep using this argument and knowing the truth the vision has gone out we need to move on and stop wasting our tests their money and let those that want it invest in it in themselves and stop forcing past fairs to invest our hard or we're working across um Community we need to be careful and conscious how we spend our money we have a very big humanitarian lead right now there are migrants right now in Union Plaza in by Greyhound in Sacred Heart out in the streets Rita's went this afternoon and it's the same story my 87 year old mom thought and she started crying like how can we be doing that so stop wasting our money six years is enough I support item 13 and don't support item 14. thank you for your time the next speaker is Soledad Muniz followed by romelia Mendoza good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes hello my name is I am daughter of romelia Mendoza I was born and raised in the rangito my family and I our favorite in favor to cancel the arena project I am really worried about my mom's home and other people that live there right now please cancel the arena project and relocate the remaining quality of my life on funds to existing facilities we are against the city's disabilities study and it only goes over budget by millions it also demolish demolishes at least half of the rangito it eliminates the street of Chihuahua which right now it's really necessary to it for it to be open for people that live there and for their safety I am really worried about my family's home and the well-being of my mother I wish you the best luck this new year thank you in advance for voting in favor of item 13. thank you the next speaker is romelia Mendoza romelia Mendoza good afternoon mommy you have three minutes foreign foreign foreign foreign is historical no quieren located foreign [Applause] you will be escorted outside the chambers please we need to maintain the Quorum so everyone else can be heard Miss Mendoza is in favor of item 13 as she lives in the durangito area the next statement was received from Damian Andrade and it reads dear mayor City representatives and city clerk I'm sending this email to speak in favor of item 13 and wish for it to be read into the record for the January 3rd 2023 meeting I have been against the destruction of our neighborhoods for the construction of this Arena project for years at this point this is not what the people voted for and is it not unlike many other instances we have seen all over the country the promises of economic prosperity and progress from Sports venue construction only benefit a few and the burden on the public will be great and long lasting downtown is also just a horrible place to add another large venue it will create a ton of traffic the quality of life Bond money should be used to properly fund all other projects we were told of it is a huge disservice to society as a whole that people are allowed to buy your properties just to sit on them and let them crumble waiting to cash in and then this image of dilapidated building is projected onto the residence it is a great propaganda tool this public procession that an area is ugly and we should just get rid of it already is not an accident we can and should beautify our neighborhoods for the people already living in in them not wait until it becomes a trendy area or until we build some shiny new entertainment thing and not allow it to price people out of their own neighborhood the fact is there is little Financial incentive for landlords to make investments in properties occupied by lower income people in particular contrary to the common sense of a regular homeowner who actually does want to take care of their own home one can easily observe this in neighborhoods across El Paso and by speaking to the people who feel they have no power to demand the home they are paying their hard-earned money to live in be properly maintained let us hope this too in the future can change but for now let's stop the demolition thank you for your time and I did this under three minutes Damian Andrade District 2 Resident the next statement was submitted by Veronica Carrillo dear city council members I'm writing in support of canceling the arena project in durangito while I understand the desire for additional amenities and services it would be more cost effective and efficient to utilize funds to improve the Abraham Chavez theater and Convention Center the estimated cost of the Arena as stated by the consultant the city hired ranges between 143 million dollars to 413 million dollars and would include high-priced VIP amenities like luxury suites and club seats this is outrageous and unconscionable in a city where the average income and the median income are just over twenty six thousand dollars I urge you to cancel the project in duranguito and use the funds to improve existing buildings in a way that will make them inclusive and accessible to all El Paso and sincerely Veronica Carrillo the next speaker is David Romo followed by Marcos Munoz and Peter schwarzfein David Romo it we will be needing the Elmo for this one good afternoon Mr drama you'll have three minutes are we able to alternate the screens I.T go ahead Mr Romo you have three minutes go ahead Mr Romo good morning mayor and Council Happy New Year my name is David Roman I'm a historian that focuses on El Paso and I've been studying durangito and Segundo Barrio for decades I'm also um one one of the participants in an alternative plan for the rebirth of durangito and we started that with the residents back in 2016 when city council decided to take durangito off the chopping block and today I want to give you a very short history of um not only durangito and I would like to invite you to come and meet with the residents in durangito and I would love to give you a history tour of durangito we proposed that to the San Francisco Consultant Group that has presented this plan but they were told that they were not allowed to meet with us there so that's part of what's problematic they had said that they had met with an art historian but could not meet with us I think it's an incomplete study we need to see the history behind the history including a lot of the history of these studies so in 2020 what did people vote for they voted for the issuance of 228 million dollars in bonds for Museum cultural multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment and Library facilities improvements it says nowhere that this was an arena in durangito or even a new building in Spanish it's even more kind of diluted and misleading they're saying La missions it was deliberate Liberty done this way by a study by a consultant that was hired by the city by the name of Recaro there's a there's been a lot of studies why the need for these studies well in 2000 uh mayor Carlos Ramirez tried to to create an arena in downtown El Paso it was soundly um uh soundly opposed by by the community so you have can we oh I see so you have studies such as the glass speech study that says how are we going to improve the image of El Paso well we need to get rid of people who represent male 50 to 60 year old Grady dirty Lacy speak Spanish and uneducated and we need to replace them with a whole other demographic which is the demographic of the upper middle classes represented by people like Penelope Cruz for a long time the city has has geared its interests not to the people themselves if you want this project to be truly representative you need to include people like Donita and romelia who are the true Experts of their Community not people from San Francisco who don't know our history thank you very much thank you the next speaker is Marcos Munoz Marcos Munoz followed by Peter schwartzfein Mario Porres Cheyenne Lozano Levi Chacon good afternoon Mr Munoz you have three minutes good afternoon uh good yeah good afternoon I'm here to speak in support of the residents of durangito and in opposition of the findings of a misleading and narrow-minded study it's very telling that Gensler was willing to negotiate with Max Grossman but not the residents it's very telling that no Resident was a part of the steering committee it says a lot about whose voices these uh studies value and what they mean when they say community when they talk of community input this point is really brought to ahead when you see the mock-ups and notice how their venues literally push out the residents if you look closely you'll notice that umita and romelia will have trouble opening their front door since it'll push up right against the walls of the Arena I also want to talk about the misleading nature of the survey I'm grateful that mayor Lisa asked Miss Casella questions about the survey and its responses but I hope he pushes a little bit further the study touts a whopping 89.1 percent approval of the project with restoration of the buildings but this is misleading and manipulative survey respondents were presented with a false choice either the NPC is built in durangito or the area is left without improvements it's not a question it's a trap if I were to survey a thousand people if they would rather give me the keys to their house and 500 or the Keystone House in one dollar I'd be able to present to you a finding saying that 100 of el pasoans want to give me the keys to their house and a dollar the survey conducted by Gensler did not offer an option of an alternate of an alternative location and only offered a false choice of restoring the buildings with the arena or leaving the buildings to Decay and is therefore useless to this discussion abandoning abandoning the arena does not mean abandoning the area lastly I want to touch on a point callously raised by business people and supporters of the Arena so much of the opposition um to the neighborhood and its residents centers on the LIE that it's a dead neighborhood this neighborhood has always been full of life even under constant threat of Demolition and harassment throughout the six years of struggle the community has banded together to hold mercaditos they've had celebrations they've had posadas beautification days with murals a community garden historical tours live music movie nights and various workshops I guess if you happen to take the wrong turn on the right day you might see a chance to enjoy these celebrations of life I urge you to vote Yes on item 13 and no on 14 to stand against misinformation and in support of the residents thank you thank you statement was submitted by former representative Peter schwartzfein and it reads compromises something of a challenging word these days nationally we have seen this play out in the dysfunction and lack of our federal leadership on a myriad of issues over decades but locally we are seeing how difficult compromises to this is unfortunate because many times when we compromise we get better solutions for our community this week we have seen an opportunity to finally learn about the MPC project unless that presentation and discussion is silenced by opponents of this voter approved project the design and feasibility study deals with most groups concerns with the city's downtown multi-purpose Center and will be presented for the first time at city council January 3rd the current design recommendation by against Larry design firm hired for this eight hundred thousand dollar design and feasibility study is a truly a compromised solution that delivers a multi-purpose Center project under budget and leaves a historic and residential buildings in the MPC footprint Arena untouched for a walkable Heritage Pavilion while also contain continuing the economic momentum momentum of downtown and provides an economic anchor for entertainment and Heritage tourism in our community as well as honoring the will of Voters in 2012. the feasibility and design study developed by Gensler was a data-led process that looked at multiple data points including market assessment program analysis architectural structural assessment economic impact analysis and Community input out of this progress out of this process a number of important points were made that will not only allow this facility to be built under the budget of the voter approved 180 million dollars but we'll have the money to be able to invest in preserving and rehabilitating historic structures within the union Plaza MPC footprint for example the price to construct the hybrid option will come in at 142 million dollars with the entertainment facility occupying mostly vacant parking lots and non-historic warehouses along Santa Fe Street and Paisano the compromise option based upon markets research and Community input could lead to possibly 10 million dollars or more to preserve seven buildings identified as culturally significant including the Chinese laundromat the Mansion as well as the grocery Gallery building amongst others Gensler has identified a clear Market Gap and confirmed with entertainment industry experts on the need for a modern mid-size to large facility currently according to this market analysis there are over 80 events our community is missing out on only as a facility close to the sides is the Antiquated and dilapidated El Paso County Coliseum opponents of the NPC believe that these buildings this will fix the themselves up through federal and state tax credits given to the private sector yet the fact remains that just abandoning this NPC Arena project to spend money on the convention center does not offer funds to fix up historic structures not not to mention voters in 2012 did not approve for money to spend to rehabilitate our Convention Center and I reached the three minutes the thank you statement continues but I will share with Council the next statement the next speaker is Mario porras followed by Cheyenne Lozano Levi Chacon good afternoon sir you have three minutes thank you good afternoon good afternoon mayor city council um student manager and team I'm here to oppose uh item 13. um and I wanted to provide just a different perspective I think that um that I've seen throughout my career some of you know me and I they know you know um I work different projects in support of not only El Paso but I see my region as El Paso and Juarez uh as it has been mentioned before um between uh they said I think Phoenix Phoenix and Dallas you know there are no uh major venues like this one that's being proposed what I can tell you is that also we're very isolated as a region right and we're on average almost 500 miles away on any direction to any big to any of the next big uh regions uh South north east or west and one of my you know part of the vision that I have part of the perspective that I would like to see part of my dreams is that eventually we can end up working more closer with Juarez as well and this is what makes us unique our geography you know passing Juarez has been one of the largest border regions in at least in the continent intercontinent or at least in between the US and Mexico um part of our biggest assets is again geography and it starts in our downtowns both El Paso and Juarez I love to see that at some point in the long term we have more projects working together and this also involves even if what is working with Juarez where can downtown Juarez be also there are I know there have they've been working on some Redevelopment plans there's a potential uh project for a Convention Center in Juarez downtown um seeing you know connecting these projects from our you know mass transportation between the two downtowns our convention centers our stadiums I think would only just makes us more unique you know not only nationally but globally between you know El pasos so I think just having this providing this Vision this perspective of more of a regional uh way that we continue more long term with our sister city of Philadelphia I think we would really benefit as a region uh not only on this side but on the other side and we'll make this even more unique thank you thank you the next speaker or the next statement was submitted by Cheyenne Lozano to whom it may concern my name is Cheyenne Lozano and I am sending this statement to show my support as a citizen of El Paso of item 13 related to the re-evaluation of plans to the area commonly known as durangito this historic district has had significant support from the community to be preserved because of the cultural and historical significance it holds and as as a longtime resident of El Paso I have learned more about my City's diverse history in listening to those interested in preserving this location they carry with them a true sense of pride in the history of El Paso and the locations like durangito should be places of learning as much as it is a place of living I am not blind to the troubles our downtown faces economically but actions such as this are not always looked upon kindly by Future Generations that see the loss of something Irreplaceable as unforget Unforgettable El Paso has always been a place of meeting mixing and diversity in the history of this area and the Legacy matters and all actions taken by their discovering body These funds formally planned for the new construction can be used in other community Improvement projects that we now know would be better after all these years since these plans were originally made our city state and world have shifted significantly since these plans were made so at the very least they should be put under consideration as to how they will be truly they will truly be a benefit or a detriment to our downtown area thank you for your consideration sincerely Cheyenne Lozano my next speaker is Levi Chacon Levi Chacon followed by Salford Jose Quintero Ingrid Leyva Levi checkpoint if you're in the Q star six to a mute your telephone Levi check on star six I don't see that phone number in the queue the next statement was submitted by selfa chew and it reads it is time to recognize that El Paso residents have expressed a rejection to destroy ludangito the project to be built and Arena has already caused so much grief and torture the residents have civil and human rights that have not have been disregarded abandoning the project to construct an arena is the best decision you can take on behalf of this city not only basic respect for the residents of this neighborhood will prevail but resources will be used for viable and urgently needed programs benefiting the entire city thank you self Achu next speaker is Jose Quintero followed by Ingrid Leyva Michael Parra good afternoon you have three minutes good afternoon hi my name is Jose I'm the support of the residents of the rangito under registered voter in District 3. we are entering the seventh year since the planet place in Arena durangito was announced since then supporters of the residents have protested rallied prevented attempts at demolition on two occasions occupied the neighborhood night and day for months and continue to show no signs of letting up we've heard the same talking points from pro-displacement parties over and over again it's a vocal minority we are outside agitators it's the overwhelming majority that supports the arena in the rangito it's tired it's inaccurate and the fact that we have people still saying this with the straight face is embarrassing we've always heard about this invisible group of four voters who support the arena however when it comes time to time to speak up all we see and all we hear from is the business class are the Developers I helped lead a petition run that gathered over 4 000 signatures in support of preserving durangito it was unpaid it was volunteer run was signed by registered voters from every single District in this city and was validated by the county clerk we went door-to-door knocking talking and engaging with thousands of el pasoans face to face getting signatures was not hard the most difficult part was trying to get to the next house when everyone wanted to talk to us about how wrong the city's stance was this idea that the fight has been led by Max Grossman or JP Bryan is a cop-out it allows the business class to write op-eds that single out one person while ignoring the thousands in this city who have been actively opposing the arena in this location for years it erases the work that Community organizations have put in to prevent displacement the supporters who have broken bed with residents who have been arrested who have slept on the Cobblestone sidewalks on Chihuahua Street for months on end to ensure that no illegal attempts at demolition occur again and those who have literally stood in front of bulldozers and put our bodies on the line to prevent continued attempts at destruction led by this city most importantly it erases the residents of durangito who have struggled against losing their homes residents like Dona Julia and her grandson were forcefully evicted and removed from their community residents like Candelaria Garcia who have passed away during the struggle were chavita Ortiz who passed away after being forced out of his home Oran Pittman who passed away in her home is being harassed by slumlords and it erases residents like Donita and romelia who are still here and are still fighting seven years later it's time to acknowledge that the arena is no longer feasible it never was since the day it was announced the city has been met with Fierce resistance in support of the residents of zurangito we will continue to show up and we will continue to fight any attempts at displacement My Hope Is that with this new Council we can move forward in a better way one that takes down the fences of romelia in their neighborhood one that takes responsibility for the mistakes that the city reps have made in the past and puts in the work necessary to allocate funds to repairing the Damage Done to building streets and sidewalks due to the intentional intentional negligence of Prior Representatives thank you for your time thank you the next speaker is Ingrid labor and Grant label followed by Michael Parra Adriana Montoya good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes good afternoon horrorless foreign Camina [Music] communities Tito Antonio Morales possibilities how can anyone ever consider destructing constructing a history by destroying it the lack of transparency and manipulation of language that didn't mention a sports arena in the 2012 balut that has such a low body turnout 27 of the registered voters participated in that balut and that it didn't even mention that it was planned to be constructed instead of such an important historic neighborhood is part of the same opposition that is willing to offer migrants one dollar to hold signs to stand for a conflict that they don't even understand something that happened three days ago we have testimonies time indeed is very important and for each day that Anita and my community remain fenced we a whole movement of artists students historians social justice activists preservationists musicians Scholars and filmmakers from all over will remain solid till our neighborhood is taken back by the people who actually inhabit them thank you so much thank you the next statement was submitted by Michael Parra and it reads dear representative Kennedy I understand city council is scheduled to consider item 13 which kills a downtown MPC Arena projects this Thursday January 3rd 2023 I am quite concerned that the long-term vision and efforts by the public and private sectors to Suave to see a vibrant downtown El Paso one that grows our economy attracts out of town visitors and Spurs additional investment will be derailed by the actions of city council to abandon the downtown MPC in Union Plaza the future of downtown El Paso must continue to remain vibrant abruptly abandoning this project Envision sends a horrible message to individuals and companies who want to invest in our community we must continue to be bold in our vision I support the efforts to bring in a multi-purpose performance and entertainment center help save historically significant buildings and Revitalize Union Plaza and the greater downtown area I ask that you and the mayor support the efforts to push an NPC arena in downtown El Paso forward cordially Michael R Parra the next speaker is Adriana Montoya Adriana Montoya star six please join me your telephone good afternoon Miss Montoya you have three minutes hi can you hear me yes okay perfect uh good afternoon my name is Adriana Montoya and I'm a native alpaclin and student organizer studying public administration and Heritage tourism at University and I'm also a granddaughter and immigrant who grew up just a few blocks from the battery on the agenda today um I'm tuning in today in favor of item 13 urging the city of El Paso to repurpose the now insufficient funds for constructing any facility in the historical donipo neighborhood and instead use them for another voter approved purpose and as a student who has traveled across Texas quite frequently during the past few years I have sung the Praises of El Paso's Rich history and cultural resources to anyone who will listen And for those who have never had a chance to travel to West Texas people are with the out fail always amazed to hear about the history of the Border it's peaceful and especially the little neighborhood called where it all started and I tell them about how durangita was part of the original 215 acre parcel land that would come to be known as El Paso settled in 1827 by wealthy merchants how an H in 1905 it was home to the largest Chinatown in Texas and how in the 1910s it even served as a hideout for this Infamous revolutionary known as Pancho Villa but then I also have to tell them that how as of today durangito stands surrounded by Chamberlain's fence holes in some buildings put there by the city ordered demolition all while elderly residents must become activists to fight for their right to exist in their own neighborhood but we have now entered a new year of this fight with a new Council and hopefully a new direction for this discussion which has gone on for far too long I asked Council today that one of your New Year's resolutions be to make a commitment to preserve our beautiful City's history and honor the community that has come together in recent years to make durangito a place of art culture service and memory we know at least seven buildings in duranguito qualify for designation under the national register of historic places and the entire area can be developed for Heritage tourism we also know that El Paso is strong because of who we are and where we come from so please repurpose these funds which were initially meant for Demolition and use them instead for something productive that still abides by the will of the voters um I want you to notice that I'm not someone in real estate I'm not a developer I'm not a politician I'm not a business person but notice that it is these individuals who have made up the majority of those who support the arena today it is not working class people it is not the underprivileged it is not historian not residents and not young people like myself uh so I urge Council to ask yourself if voters elected you to be beholden exclusively to these Elite individuals or to all El pasoans so when I told history of El Paso I really want to be able to say that our leaders value our past and the role it plays in our Collective future so please affirm item 13. thank you the next statement was submitted by Kim Schulte and it reads as an El Paso Citizen and voter I would like to see the city council repurpose the remaining funds that were designated for the construction of a multi-purpose arts and entertainment center one eye and other voters initially voted on community Improvement projects there was no mention that the cost would involve the loss of historic buildings such as those in the durangito neighborhood historic preservation has not been prioritized as it should be in El Paso preserving our history provides a link to the origins of our community it helps us to understand our past and to appreciate that people have come before us I believe the use of the remaining multi-purpose funds to improve current structures is in keeping with the intention of what in Iowa their voters originally voted for Community enhancement not Community demolition thank you Kim Schulte the next statement was submitted by Mark Walker mayor Lisa Representatives Kennedy anello Hernandez Molina Salcido Fierro Rivera and Canales just over 10 years ago Paso voters concerned about the discretion of the city and wishing to secure a better future for their families overwhelmingly passed measures to approve quality of life projects and the funding for them the voters of El Paso spoke years ago about the direction they wish to take for improving the quality of life and the prospects for better employment for themselves and their children the arena was a central feature to securing the better quality of life and unfortunately it remains only a plan you know the statistics better than I do when I moved here in 1985 straight out of law school many transplants like me came for Quality jobs and fairly competitive amenities over the years El Paso has lost many quality employers and now battles terrible image problems across the country that make Recruitment and Retention of the best and brightest Natives and the transplants more and more difficult in contrast to the rest of Texas El Paso's population has remained stagnant overall and the statistics show that more young El pasoans leave and stay away particularly those who attain higher education in 1985 the El Paso legal Community was very competitive with the rest of the state in wages and young for young lawyers median starting salaries for law school graduates is now about one hundred and forty thousand dollars and to 150 000 but median starting law graduate salaries in El Paso now are less than one hundred thousand dollars the number of lawyers in El Paso that remain stagnant for about 20 years as El Paso Law Firm starting salaries have lagged further and further behind firms in virtually every other Texas City the same is true for other professions including accountants while there have been a number of positive developments in El Paso such as expansion of the medical school the creation of a dental and nursing schools the expansion of UTEP the creation of of the baseball park much more remains to be done if we are to have a chance to reverse the trend of stagnation that is revealed in the population and employment statistics the bright young people who want to we want to attract and retain have embraced quality of life as essential components of their selection criteria for where they be want to work and live employers know this and in order to recruit the employers who bring the Bright Young employees we have to show how good life can be not just how many smart people graduate from the institutions of higher education other communities know this and have successfully looked into Arenas as anchors of amenity bundling in urban centers studies show merits and benefits the city of Columbus Ohio where our firm has one of its offices successfully created a vibrant district with an arena as a focal point as seen in Arena District dot com Columbus is not unlike El Paso in many ways and I would gladly put you in touch with people there or in Detroit or many other places where a city embraced the arena for important roles and plays and Improvement quality of life finally when you take a moment to talk about the voters the three minutes we will share the rest of the comments with Council the next speaker is Carol Cassidy Carol Cassidy star six to unmute your telepole Carol Cassidy I don't see Miss Cassidy's phone number in the queue Dorian payan star six to unmute your telephone Dorian payan I don't see Miss bayan's phone number in the queue either the next statement was submitted by Rodolfo benavidez and it reads dear representative Kennedy as one of your constituents allow me to ask you who cared or fought for the people and or buildings in the durangito area before November 2012. as a citizen of El Paso I wholeheartedly support efforts to revitalize our downtown and I am deeply concerned about the efforts to abandon the downtown MPC in Union Plaza a long-term vision and efforts by the public and private sectors have transformed our downtown into a vibrant Place welcoming and accessible to all but El Paso is one of the few if not the only major cities in the United States that does not have a modern large-scale multi-purpose Center this facility is a major Cornerstone of our downtown revitalization strategy and its location was identified in numerous studies for its potential to support the facility and generate the greatest impact on the community the project is not about just the creation of a place to have events but a component of a larger economic development strategy that our city government and private sector have been pursuing for over 15 years it's meant to grow our economy attract out of town visitors and spur additional investment in our downtown the 2012 quality of life Bond initiative and all actions by the city up until today have created a vision for the future of downtown El Paso it has helped usher in unprecedented private sector investment that this community has not seen in Generations abruptly abandoning this project Envision sends a horrible message to individuals and companies who want to invest in our community it tells them our city government is unstable and that promises may can be promises broken the abandonment of the Arena isn't about only one project it is a demonstration of how our city does business we need a strong reliable council with a bold vision for those who are quick to imagine this project with other promises or ideas I ask you to back that up what evidence or public bidding have you done to evaluate those ideas are you being quickly to wreck recklessly spent tax payer dollars for something that has not been thoroughly evaluated by experts something that is a quick fix but not what the voters said they wanted I asked you to consider the bigger long-term consequences of abandoning the NPC as a citizen of this great City I support the efforts that will bring in a multi-purpose performance and entertainment center help save historically significant buildings and Revitalize and activate the union Plaza area more importantly efforts that helped build a downtown economy that provides opportunities for investors to refurbish the historic structures attracts conventions and out of town visitors and provides more activation and event days for our community to enjoy we were promised a state-of-the-art space for entertainment and I respect my representative and mayor to support that Vision please support pushing them multi-purpose Center forward I wish you and your team and your family the best for 2023 sincerely Abe the next speaker is Selena Galicia Selena Galicia followed by Melissa arachiga Aurelio Valdez which write deliris Montanez Philip Lane good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes good afternoon hi my name is filmmaker I'm just gonna be quick um it's been six years since duranito was closed and it's been six years since the residents um oh you can hear me it's because I'm I'm sure I'm sorry should I start over Okay no so it's been since six years since was closed and it's been six years since the original residents were displaced and those ladies Donita and romelia were here they have been by themselves uh we've been fighting with these people and with the community and we don't need this fancy structure that's just going to bring chaos and which represents violence to downtown residents violence in the way that their rights their rights of citizens have been violated the plants they look really nice and pretty um people are all about progress and development but at what cost like we've been um we've heard opinions today from people that won't even go to rangito or people that won't even step a foot on downtown um so yeah those service they never considered the actual Resonance of the of the area um uh these two ladies that are here they're going to be affected by that by all this they're unseen and they're being diminished if they say they want to be be like uh other bigger bigger cities bigger cities I think they respect and repropos their historical buildings um so is this called uh progress progress shouldn't be equal to destruction uh so yes uh build the arena but not in durangito and not with our money the next speaker is Melissa adichiga Melissa good afternoon you have three minutes hello Melissa arichiga you have three minutes yes can you hear me yes go ahead ma'am okay my name is Melissa rechica I am the co-founder of a non-profit called buried under the blue I am here today on behalf of the families of Palo Verde La Loma and Bishop the three communities destroyed to build the Dodger Stadium in the early 50s the Los Angeles city council and Council no different than the council today deciding to destroy three communities in the name of creating public housing but in reality they were destroyed for profit the three communities of Palo Verde La Loma and Bishop were true in self-sustainable communities no different than the community of Durango we grew our own vegetables raised our own meat today we are realizing as a nation the damaging effects of destroying indigenous communities and their long-term effects on the growth of the people I stand here before you as a survivor of the destruction of the three communities by a city council who used its power of eminent domain to transfer private land to a corporation for their benefit I asked at the council to take a stand against the destruction of Durango Bonito our organization buried under the blue stands 100 in solidarity with the residents of the Ranchito the decision that's before you today will not only destroy their communities because future trauma to the children of the current residents it is the responsibility of the city council to protect the house safety and Welfare of all its residents thank you very much thank you the next speaker is Aurelio Valdez Jr followed by Rich Wright Delirious montagnes Phillip Lane good afternoon sir you have three minutes and our name is I'm a human rights actor good afternoon oh I'm sorry little heart hello okay good afternoon um good afternoon my name is Roy Valdez Jr I'm a human rights Advocate on the local State national level philosophy qa2 plus youth um I'm here because when I heard about this and I've heard about it sometime months ago I was very worried about it I'm here to support uh agenda item 13 and for many reasons for decades 79901 a zip code in our own city of El Paso has been the fifth poorest zip code in the entire country the city's own Department of Civic empowerment has estimated an annual budget of 80 million dollars a year to Aid all of those in our community experiencing homelessness and now with an increase in people seeking Asylum and a dream for better quality of life last excuse me and now with an increase in people seeking Asylum and a dream for a better quality life the last goddamn thing you all should be worried about is an arena we have issues with homelessness we have a lot of other issues we need to get to and I will know I can't say God damn pursuant to scotus Leonard B Robinson thank you the next speaker is Rich Wright Mr Right star six please to unmute your telephone Rich Wright star sixth place to unmute your telephone good afternoon sir you'll have three minutes hello yes sir okay says on okay hey uh I'm sorry I'm not there in person today I think you know what I mean but uh I'm trusting the newly elected members of city council to uh make me proud uh it's fun to watch the vested interest in their proxies squirm as they try to salvage this product you know um 2018 uh JP Morgan I mean JP Bryan and uh Max Grossman were on a conference call with uh mayor D Margo and Woody hunt to talk about a solution to their lawsuit and uh Mr Brian came up with a plan for the the rangito neighborhood that would allow an arena and preserve the houses there but it was rejected by the city I don't know why but now they're trying to bring back something just like that I guess they thought they were winning there I am here today to advocate for the taxpayers of El Paso by Design all those quality of life bonds cost the taxpayers money that's why they're voted on it because they're supposed to cost the taxpayers money to improve their quality of life unfortunately mostly those quality of life projects in El Paso have only benefited a limited few uh the Consultants Legend said that uh they came up with an economic feasibility study that claims the arena will make money that it won't cost any more taxpayer subsidies well you know Consultants can make an easability study jump through a hoop they can make an economic feasibility study smoke a cigar and write a pony an 800k can buy a swell economic feasibility study I don't believe it if they can make that well I just don't believe that's an objective study I think if if it can make money then the private sector should jump on that um I think uh we've been paying too much for too long and getting too little from the city look at our streets our streets are crumbling every year our taxes go up and every year our uh Services go down El Paso has very limited amount of entertainment dollars uh we're not like Columbus or San Antonio or Austin where there's a huge uh Community around them that's not just in the city but also communities around them and uh we we can't afford it thank you Mr Wright your first three minutes limit thank you okay well thank you very much for your time thank you the next speaker is Delirious montagnes followed by Philip Lang good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes good afternoon uh mayor on Cedar rips um welcome and I'm excited to see three new faces at the city hall these are all the notes that I took from the individuals that actually came to speak to us today first of all I want to say I have been in El Paso for now 23 years so El Paso is my home um the memories that come to me from my grandparents is whenever we were at the holidays in their poor little house with uh my parents and my brother so I am standing here today number one opposing on to number 14. um I am a lieutenant colonel retire just like the city manager and as he knows we do a lot of things in the military and I work in budget I was in operations and I was in logistics and I was a very good at doing Powerpoints and presenting presentations to higher apps and I can tell you if you think that that project is going to cost you 153 million you're out of your mind in couple of years you're going to have another certificate of obligations going to the taxpayers and you guys are going to increase your tax payers dollars again so I am in support of durangito during my entire campaign and I had three Witnesses here have Brian I have our Fierro and I have Canales I always say that I didn't opposed to the arena because the funds were allocated by the federal government I keep hearing that that money is from the city that money came from somewhere and I opposed to doing the arena at durangito that is their home and the city I say they city as a whole have failed the community because they did not refurnish those buildings now on issue number 13 I want to thank let me see my time I want to thank representative vanilla anello and molinar to bringing it up the only issue that I have with number 13 is again those are federal allocated funds so I don't know how does that work but Federal money that is allocated for an for a project has to be used for that project I want to thank the individual that actually brought the um preposition that or what that was on the voting in 2012 because I think that I was in Japan in 2012 so I don't even remember voting for that but that proposition specifically states that the voters didn't vote for an arena so I don't understand why are we trying to allocate those funds to the arena thank you and have a great day thank you the next speaker is Philip Lane Philip lane star six good afternoon you have three minutes hi my name is Philip Blaine I'm a resident of District Six and I'm speaking in favor of agenda item number 13 and against item number 14. since the November 2012 bond election there's been much public and City discussion about an arena but voters were not asked to vote on an arena today's presentation on item number 14 reinforced for me that Sports and not performing arts or culture was the Catalyst for that 2012 bond election the use of the facility for sports was not included in the language presented to voters in the bond election which read proposition Museum cultural performing arts and Library facilities the issuance of 228 million 250 000 General obligation bonds for Museum cultural multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment and Library facilities improvements including new children's museum cultural heritage center and interactive digital wall the bond election did not call for a new multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment facility just improvements to existing facilities and voting for either option on item 14 represents the Betrayal of what was presented to voters in 2012. I believe voting for item 13 best reflects the original intent of the voters back in November 2012 and I'm asking city council to vote in favor of item 13 and to vote against either option of item 14. the next speaker Isa Elena de nojosa star sixth place to end major telephone good afternoon you have three minutes hello hello go ahead ma'am hi good morning mayor and council members my name is Alana dinojosa I am a PhD candidate in Chicano studies at UCLA and I'm a historian of El Paso particularly the Chinese food and I'm calling you all today vocally opposed the sports arena in duranguito I'm a historian of the tembisa treaty like I said which as many of you may know displays thousands of residents in El Paso South Side it destroyed multiple vibrant neighborhoods it devastated those communities and so I absolutely oppose displacing the vulnerable citizens of durangito and demolishing their historic pario along with what Max Grossman has identified as 12 buildings that are eligible for the national register of historic places I'm calling here representing myself as an advocate of historic and Community preservation and particularly the stories and the places of marginalized communities like durangito I I was there a handful of years ago in duranguito when dozens linked arms to defend many of the historic buildings when developers illegally tried to demolish them I moved to El Paso about three months ago and as a new member of this community I'm here to continue defending durangito my friends here in El Paso have repeatedly told me that they did not vote for the sports arena in durangito and so the city of Epica cannot move forward with this agenda with or without the funds there have been countless National studies on Sports Arenas and their impact on local economies that have shown that Sports Arenas do not meaningfully Revitalize downtowns and I believe that only defending the citizens of durangito investing in this neighborhood and protecting and celebrating the rich cultural history of durangita will meaningfully Revitalize downtown El Paso like many others have said today I think this means that we need to reimagine durangito the birthplace of El Paso as a cherished cultural hub for the citizens of El Paso in a place where fossils can celebrate their history and the meaningful contributions of indigenous folks Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans and Apostle I think examples of this we can see in La Mesilla in Las Cruces we can see it in down Old Town Albuquerque and La porcito Olvera in Los Angeles and I'm also convinced that part of this reimagining must include investing in dignified affordable housing and enhanced quality of life for working class durangito residents it's so heartbreaking that so many have already been displaced from durangito and the city needs to make amends with these residents it needs to work alongside the residents to make durangito a place where not only businesses and tourism can Thrive which I believe it absolutely can but where residents and families can Thrive as well and so like many others here today I'm calling on the council to absolutely abandon the sports arena and thank you you've reached the three minutes thank you ma'am thank you the next speaker is Theodora Dia Nueva deodora Villanueva star six to a major telephone Theodora Villanueva star six I don't see Miss villanueva's phone number in the queue Linda Savala star six please Linda Savala star six please good afternoon you have three minutes Miss Savala you're back on mute star six please we can hear you now go ahead ma'am hello yes ma'am go ahead yes good afternoon mayor Lisa and city council and new members welcome my name is Linda Savala and I am I would like to support item number 13. the durangito neighborhood has a lot of history and I believe that the city of El Paso would benefit from turning it into a tourist attraction I also support historic preservation here in El Paso many out of town visitors come here seeking old western towns and they ask us where can we go visit we've heard that this is an old cowboy town also our long-time residents here in duranguito chihuahuita and Segundo Barrio are very worried that they too will be displaced I am asking our mayor and city council members to please support a vote and vote for item 13. and congratulations to our new city council members thank you very much thank you the next speaker is Angel uyoa sixth place to unmute your telephone angel uyoa star six please good afternoon you have three minutes hello go ahead you have three minutes hello thank you good afternoon um happy thankful and welcome to the new representative after this pathway districting I am now a member of District 8 under Chris Canales no longer under district one here today asking new Council to vote Yes on item 13 and please do not use any of these funds to build a stadium a recreation center whatever in the duraguto neighborhood area historically a community the voters the constituents whatever you consider the majority have spoken out against these plans the durangito area means a lot to us and that the parent by the constant struggle to save the area to preserve the culture of the neighborhood through community events medicalito's holiday celebrations all of it the majority of durangito at the moment is fenced up but we still go out there we honor the community honors history and recognize the residents whenever we're invited to do so looks like a war zone however is incredibly racist and distasteful there are homes there people created lives there and if you ever attended one of these community events you will see for yourself how loved this neighborhood is the site has been very painful for the residents and those who care especially Antonio Morales and romelia Mendoza who many city workers many developers and even some council members have treated very very poorly as you couldn't even have an interpreter for them today the funds from the 2012 bond election can be used elsewhere not to tear down please reconsider reallocating other funds to restore the neighborhood for service history and occult its culture sorry and protect protect residents and restore it at home as the residents of durangito what they want do not assume that what you have planned and are constantly pushing on them is what they want I've heard many before me also speak on what young people want what we don't want your Arenas I promise we don't the developers from out of town that spoke earlier I'm sorry but I forgot your name they're lying to you as well we don't want this no inspiration centers no big business no development do not give them not your profit Venture this is home for people if you want fake Mexican culture move to Austin and if you want an arena build it in your neighborhood thank you the next speaker is Arnold Hernandez followed by Yolanda jigner Dora Oaxaca Richard Clarence Hernandez Yolanda Hiner Dora Oaxaca good afternoon sir you'll have three minutes good afternoon mayor city council I believe that saving durangito and placing the arena in some other place can coexist so on that I speak in favor of item 13 and I speak in opposition to item 14. thank you to uh representative Molina and representative vanilla for praising item 13 on the agenda the voters in District 1 6 and 8 have spoken loud and clear our vote is not for sale city council belongs to us the voters not that the rulers of El Paso to the new majority on the city council we say vote no on the arena in the footprints of durangito vote Yes on saving durangito and vote Yes on using remaining quality of life Bond money for other needs vote Yes on item 13 don't be intimidated and don't be timid remember great associate Justice Benjamin cardoso once said let the timorous stay home right Mr Kennedy time is of the essence though we need a motion following your vote on 13. you need to instruct your city manager to order your City attorney to immediately email the Texas Supreme Court with the message that in light of your vote on item 13 the city is dismissing its appeal case in the arena matter she should attach a dismissal with prejudice of the case and request a conform file copy of the dismissal item 14. the January's sixth Insurrection on our nation's capital was an attack on democracy the January 3rd pre-feasibility study of placing the arena on the footprints of durangito it's an Insurrection orchestrated by the rulers of El Paso using city employees this is a shot Over The Vow city council they are telling you you may be the voter selected to rep you might be the representative elected to represent the voters but we are the rulers of El Paso the puppeteers who control City Hall they are wrong there's a new sheriff in town the new sheriff is the majority of lack of Voters that you represent save the presentation for the arena on another place now take actions to stop this direct insurrectionist attack may awardee warn you said he spoke on on the in support of the mayor's veto on the extension of the city manager's contract and expressed concern officers expanding authority over City Hall he said the city managers played for the employees today on the council stay on target on uh place if we can stay on the item it's part of it you're I know but thank you Mr Hernandez thank you the next speaker is Yolanda followed by Dora Oaxaca Richard Clarence Gabe Valencia good afternoon Miss heena if you have three minutes afternoon good afternoon mayor and Council good afternoon ma'am my name is Yolanda jiner and I want to wish you all a Happy New Year and congratulations to the new council members uh I'm I'm here today I've been a real estate attorney in El Paso for over 20 years and in that capacity I've been able to represent many of the developers that have brought these projects to El Paso that is moving our city forward I think you all can see that there's been a lot of change particularly in the last five to ten years and I've had a front row seat to assist in a small part on some of that in that same vein I have been able to represent some developers that have put some money and investment into downtown when no one else would working together with elected officials and City staff to make a commitment to revitalize our downtown and to start the Renaissance of downtown today I'm very honored to be representing Franklin Mountain Investments and Paul Foster who as you all know has been the Catalyst for many of the Restorations of the historic buildings in downtown to include The Plaza Hotel the Mills building and more recently we've started the crest building and so Mr Foster has a lot of passion and love for these historic buildings and for downtown and El Paso as a whole unfortunately he was not able to be here today but he did ask me to read a message that he had sent each and every one of you last night and with that I'd like to read that dear mayor and Council first I want to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and prosperous new year and I'd like to congratulate each and every one of you for having the pride in your community and determination to require to seek and win public office as representatives of the citizens of this great City I believe is your responsibility to carry out the wishes of your constituencies I am concerned that a number of you have been planning to abandon the efforts of your predecessors to finance and construct a mobile Purpose Center in the downtown of El Paso as you all know this measure was passed and approved overwhelmingly in 2012 by the voters of El Paso and it is it has been delayed for almost 10 years with various legal and political tactics that have cost our city millions of dollars and today it has cost us the NPC that our citizens so richly deserve I would like to remind you that you are not elected to office to carry out your personal agendas or wishes you are elected to represent your constituents and even though the delay tactics employed by a very small minority of el pasoans and funded primarily by an interloper who has no Financial or personal interest in El Paso has set us back more than 10 years and cost us more than 100 million dollars in legal cost and increase material and construction costs the citizens of this great City want and deserve a great quality of life project enjoyed by every other city of our size in this nation as our elected representatives you have a moral and ethical responsibility to provide thank you for your constituents thank you mindfully request that you take responsibility seriously thank you Mr the next speaker is Dora Oaxaca good afternoon Miss Oaxaca you have three minutes ma'am good afternoon I'm here to speak against item 13 because it's very concerning and I'm here to speak in favor of item 14 because it shows historic preservation and moving forward with the will of the people also I want to make clear that the first neighborhood in El Paso was chihuahuita and the county seat was San Elizario Texas and the term durangito was coined it didn't exist I've been living here all my life I was born in El Segundo raised in the Mission Valley and this is the first time in these past years that they've used this term durangito or gringolandia like our Senator called it that it was going to be to create scared tactics and political tactics against the NPC and against the will of people I'm here also to share with you that as former chair of the democratic party it took a lot of sweat and tears to bring this the 2024 State Convention to El Paso and it was 20 years ago that that um I'm sorry it had been 20 years since we uh since we won the booking and securing that convention that was one of my top priorities so my concern is with you Mr Kennedy because when I spoke to you you told me you wanted to extend you wanted to expand and you wanted to renovate and I asked you how are you going to safeguard any conventions that are going that are coming to El Paso or any future conventions and you responded with some kind of of wall or curtain and you know that is not possible because it is going to be problematic if any Dent happens to the convention then we're putting at risk not only the state democratic party convention in 2024 in a presidential year that is unprecedented that we've never had to other conventions coming to El Paso the other is that this effort and for the public this is for the Public's interest this effort of doing away with the MPC and the voters will has been all but a person by the name of J.P Bryant who's a oil tycoon in Houston and I can tell you that even Houston this is how much of an outside person he is he used to named him J.P Brian Day so think about it these are out of town folks that are using resources and giving you Mr molinar money and so many others to buy out your vote so they can make their Houston city more powerful and other cities than ours thank you the next speaker submitted a statement his name is Rick Clarence and it reads dear representative Kennedy I am writing to express my opposition to item number 13. as a citizen of El Paso I wholeheartedly support efforts to revitalize our downtown and I am deeply concerned about the efforts to abandon the downtown MPC in Union Plaza a long-term vision and efforts by the public and private sectors have transformed our city our downtown into a vibrant Place welcoming and accessible to all but El Paso is one of the few if not only the major cities in the United States that does not have a modern large scale multi-purpose Center this facility is a major Cornerstone of our downtown revitalization strategy and its location was identified in numerous studies for its potential to support the facility and generate the greatest impact on the community the project is not just about the creation of a place to have events but a component of a larger Economic Development strategy that our city government and private sector have been pursuing for over 15 years his it's meant to grow our economy attract out of town visitors and spur additional investment in our downtown the 2012 quality of life Bond initiative and all actions by the city up until today have created a vision for the future of downtown El Paso it has helped usher in unprecedented private sector investment that this community has not seen in Generations abruptly abandoning this project envisioned sends a horrible message to individuals and companies who want to invest in our community it tells them our city government is unstable and that promises made can be promises broken the abandonment of the arena is in about one project it is a demonstration of how our city does business we need a strong reliable council with a bull Vision that will maintain a continuity of all planning and work that has been Faithfully carried forward and built piece by piece for almost two decades able to kill the arena planned Tuesday could derail over 15 years of worth of public and private Investments jeopardize future Investments and leave downtown El Paso still as the one of the only if not the only cities are size without a modern large-scale facility sincerely Richard Clarence the next statement was submitted by Gabe Valencia dear mayor and city council as a citizen of El Paso I wholeheartedly support efforts to revitalize our downtown I am deeply concerned about the efforts to abandon the downtown NPC and Union Plaza a long-term vision and efforts by the public and private sectors have transformed our downtown into a vibrant Place welcome in welcoming and accessible to all but El Paso is one of the few if only if not the only major cities in the United States that does not have a modern large-scale multi-purpose Center this facility is a major Cornerstone in our downtown revitalization strategy and its location is identified in numerous studies for its potential to support the facility and generate the greatest impact in the community the project is not just about the creation of a place to have events but a component of a larger economic developmental strategy that our city government and private sector have been pursuing for over 15 years it's meant to grow our economy attract out of town visitors and spur additional investments in our downtown the 20 2012 the 2012 uh quality of life Bond initiative and all actions by the city up until today have created a vision for the future of downtown El Paso it has helped Usher in unprecedented private sector investments in this community and has not seen in Generations abruptly abandoning this project Envision sends a horrible message to individuals and companies who wants to invest in our community it tells them our city government is unstable and the promises made can be promises broken the abandonment of the arena is in about one project it is demonstration of how our city does business and we need a strong reliable Council on Bold vision for those who are quick to abandon the project with other promises or ideas I ask you to back that up with evidence of a public vetting or public vetting that you've done with these ideas are you quick to are you being quick to recklessly spend taxpayer dollars or something that has not been thoroughly evaluated by experts something that has a quick fix but not that's what the voters have said they wanted I ask you to consider the bigger long-term consequences of abandoning the NPC as a citizen of this great City I support the efforts that will bring in a multi-purpose performance and entertainment center help save historically significant we all needs a revitalizing and activate the union Plaza area more importantly efforts to help build the downtown economy that provides opportunities for investors to refurbish the historic structures attracts conventions and out of town visitors and provides more activation and events event days for our community to enjoy we were promised a state of the art space for the entertainment and I expect my representative mayor to support that Vision please support pushing the multi-purpose Center forward the next speaker is Vanessa Medrano Vanessa Medrano star sixth place to unmute your telephone Vanessa Medrano star sixth place to unmute your telephone Vanessa Medrano I see your phone number in the Q star six please good afternoon you'll have three minutes can you hear me yes okay my name is Vanessa Medrano I was born and raised in El Paso and I have lived here most of my life I live here currently I am your constituents and I am among the voices of the youth that the older and wealthier people have mentioned today I live in district 7 which is under Mr Henry Rivera and I am in favor of item number 13. it is very apparent that the city council does not have the funds to pursue the multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment center it has also been made abundantly clear that the plan location for the center is Up For Debate it is located in a historically Mexican and Mexican-American neighborhood known as durangito and we can ignore we cannot ignore the racial tones the plan to build there has had when historically white communities and neighborhoods have been well preserved and supported by our city government we need to acknowledge that centers Arenas and stadiums built to quote unquote help local communities rarely do and the simple literature church can prove that to you all I recommend looking into the Stanford Institution for economic politics research which goes over professional league stadiums which would have a much higher drawing than this Center ever would have and showed that even professional grade stadiums do not help local com economies or cover Community spending for the spending that erects them have you all actually made sure that El Paso voters were aware of this when they supposedly voted for this 10 years ago or are you going to continue listening to a flawed bias study uh to make this decision you know the studies that were done by people who are very motivated to line wealthy out of town Pockets with this project I ask that you please use this money to move away from the unnecessary projects of previous City councils and invest in existing buildings and projects some of you have been explicitly elected because you have spoken out against The Reckless spending by our city government and the high property taxes El pasoans have to pay please stop wasting money on this project and embrace El Paso's beautiful history of resilience instead of treating it as something to be erased thank you my next speaker is John barela John barrella followed by Dr Richard bonard Adriana Muniz good afternoon Mr balala you have three minutes sir good afternoon mayor Representatives it's a pleasure to be with all of you today happy New Year you too and to the new members of the council congratulations look forward to working with you um I am the CEO of the Border Plex Alliance and uh it's been a long day lots of emotions some anger one thing that we all are very passionate about is our community and our city we all want to see it move forward and that's the good news and with that I believe that there's always an opportunity to compromise and to move our community forward with that being said I don't want to repeat what has been said by the many other speakers today other than to point out that the expansion and relocation opportunities that have been taking place in El Paso have been unprecedented and almost unvariably the people that come in to visit our community have preconceived notions about who we are and usually it's wrong but when they come in and see our downtown the revitalization that has occurred the efforts that have been made both in the private and public sector to improve the quality of life for every citizen in El Paso it's nothing short of remarkable to see people say El Paso surprises the heck out of me and it's a great place to be and once they come and visit they invariably decide to expand or relocate and invest in our great community and private sector jobs I do want to express a cautionary tale however that's of Albuquerque Albuquerque narrowly defeated efforts to prepare to provide a Performing Arts Center for its citizens and a baseball stadium not an arena as was mentioned before Albuquerque's downtown is deteriorated dramatically crime is much much higher now in Albuquerque than it was 20 years ago private investment doesn't exist and the irony of the whole situation in Albuquerque is that housing has deteriorated greatly in the historical nature of downtown housing in Albuquerque has deteriorated I saw it firsthand and it's a sad story what was presented today by the Gensler group to me is perhaps a starting point for compromise I know in today's world sometimes between anger and emotion compromise is not a positive term it was mentioned earlier by representative former representative schwartzbein sometimes compromise comes up with the best ideas and the best plans as long as we have the heart to work together that's what I hope to represent today in my comments and again I wish you all of you a Happy New Year and I look forward to working with you in the year ahead God bless all of you thank you sir the next speaker is Dr Rick bonard followed by Adriana Muniz good afternoon sir you'll have three minutes good afternoon mayor and Council thank you for allowing me to speak and happy New Year I want to speak purely as a pragmatist today without any Pride or passion regarding this article I'm a member of boak but I'm not speaking as a member of boec I'm speaking as an individual um it's true that in 2012 there was a quality of life Bond measure that was voted on and that's voter approval for borrowing but that's not just the price or the project but them together and as mayor former mayor cook pointed out the vision back in the day and he would know because he was presiding at that time was to build an arena that would accommodate a large enough venue to attract things downtown other venues and other conventions and that that has to be of a size that's appropriate to promote that threshold that Synergy unfortunately that size venue that you've seen in your report is three times greater than the amount of money that you have and that makes moving forward with that project simply not feasible it's just unaffordable it's sad but true that's the State of Affairs we all have dreams we all have wishes we all have desires but sometimes those are unachievable and the main problem that you have is money it's just not the amount of money that you have doesn't match the size of project you would desire so the other thing that I found very ironic is that we are going to have a democratic convention come here without this convention center so it's not necessarily so that you have to have that type of venue to attract these types of conventions I would encourage you to use this money that you have remaining in a responsible manner to size a project that actually fits the need and the and what we have available thank you thank you sir the next speaker is Adriana Muniz followed by Annette Vela good afternoon you have three minutes good afternoon how's everyone doing I'm hungry good afternoon are you guys hungry I'm hungry we've all been sitting back here but as was previously stated I'm really excited to see all of the investment and love that we have in our community um I will admit that I was one of the young ones that left early I left at 18 I was like and I'm leaving but as I was leaving and I went and I made my life in Philadelphia New York and Panama as an artist the thing that was amazing that people always took away from our interactions was like my Integrity were my values were the love I had to express the truly amazing and unique place that is El Paso and I didn't get to appreciate it until I left and so now that I've been back and I've been an educator and working with over 500 students in El Paso we are hungry for our history we're hungry to get to know the areas of our birthplace whether it be here downtown and all the ways that it traverses the Rio Grande it is truly beautiful and amazing I have really encouraged people to just become curious how can you love a person much less a child if you don't get to know them come to the rangito come to our events the way that people are so loving and welcoming and eager to just get to know you to offer a helping hand to also tell you the story of the women that have fortified this neighborhood but not only that the amazing texture and Landscape of where we're from my parents came from Juarez and I'm proud wherever I go to explain to them about this the beauty of this area now you're proposing with with 13 I'm in favor of it okay have your Arena don't have it in durangito let's put that money and make it a place where people get to learn where they're from we're talking about Heritage tourism I have gotten the distinct privilege to have people come on buses and ask questions and entertain them with our stories with our stories that deserve a spot that deserve a spot in their neighborhood let's make them beautiful let's paint them they've already done that just open up the gates we'll continue to do so I'm sure that just like my friends Jose and Ingrid have already done going door to door explaining to people educating people having a great time and a great conversation we will have El pasoons like we already do riled up to preserving this area making it beautiful and being on the line of progress without excluding our elders that have made it possible the values that Donita and romelia have instilled in us as young people young adults and those coming after us are the things that make el pasoons and I'm so in love with it so I hope that you guys will please be in favor of 13. muchas gracias the next speaker is Annette Vela Annette Vela star six please to unmute your telephone good afternoon you have three minutes good good afternoon mayor Lister and City Council Members Happy New Year um I am calling because I am in favor of canceling the destruction of durangito um I honestly believe that we could direct those funds elsewhere if you want to attract and improve the image of El Paso let's bring back that beautiful idea of having Wolf Lake Lodge here that would be a wonderful entertainment for for family and children um I'm afraid that this so-called Arena will not be a success I am very much afraid that it will be a waste of money um what happens if it is not a success what will you use it for please do not tell me you will use it to house the migrants that we are now experiencing coming over our Bridge that go thank you the next statement was submitted by Sylvia merhill Fritz and it reads I am writing in support of keeping durangito intact the city has wasted millions and fighting to build an arena that was not specifically voted for by the way it was listed in the ballot we must keep this historical area as it represents the heritage of so many that had come through and built El Paso I believe the remaining millions should be by dividing the funds to projects people of El Paso frequent I also believe funds towards plans to make durangito an attractive historic place for people visiting El Paso thank you Sylvia merhill Fritz the next speaker is Petra licon petrolicon star six to unmute your telephone Petra licon star 6 20 meter telephone oh petrolicon star six I don't see Miss likon's phone number in the queue next speaker is Enrique guajardo Enrique guajardo Seton Negron he will be followed by Stefan posinger Marilyn Guida Leola Westbrook Lawrence James penado good afternoon sir you have three minutes good afternoon good afternoon honorable mayor and Council and happy New Year congratulations to you new members a quick tip watch out for the hot bikes we don't want any hot bike moments here especially from District 7. uh my name is Sito Negron I'm a resident of Sunset Heights and I also was a member of the steering committee as you all heard a little bit earlier I appreciate some of the language that's been used uh from their report they talk about scale and flow for example uh sound beautiful sounding Concepts but this wasn't truly an open examination of alternatives to include the proposal under item 13 which members of the steering committee not just myself repeatedly asked for underlying the report is a continued insistence on construction of a large building a new and large building the insistence on turning durangito into a big box dominated entertainment Zone and a disregard for its actual existence as a neighborhood we were confined to the arena footprint not allowed to look outside of the box as it were any other options were abandoned there's a lot of that sleight of hand going on here for example you've heard a lot about the 2012 vote nobody voted to put an arena on duranguito let's talk about neighborhoods Sunset Heights is connected to San Francisco which is connected to dunangito across Paisano is Segundo vario in chihuahuita to the east is Magoffin other connected neighborhoods include Rio Grande Rim current chamisal Five Points Golden Hill durazno a great city is made up of great neighborhoods it's disheartening to hear previous speakers here so flippantly disregard the fact that duranguito is a neighborhood if it was a slum fix it but it was not a slum y'all trying to play Sim City but guess what these are real people and real taxpayer dollars none of the survey questions in this report involve people or neighborhoods or go outside the box although it does finally acknowledge the historic values of several buildings that's a good step but it is the neighborhood itself El Paso's first urban neighborhood that is historic it is the people who give it life it's ironic that we hear about bringing back street performances and other signs of life when it was the city that snuffed most of it out in the first place and yet the remaining residents and their supporters persevere I urge you all to check it out I'm hopeful this new Council takes the opportunity now to Center people in the planning process and restore duranguito as a neighborhood that is where our community's true value lies so I respectfully ask that you take no action on item 14 and indeed instead proceed with the proposed alternative which honors voter wishes is fiscally responsible and values Community as per item 13. thank you the next speaker is Stefan posiger good afternoon you have three minutes mayor council uh city manager and staff and obviously congratulations to all the new members of council you truly know the power of a vote and welcome to your first meeting um promise they get better um lifelong El Paso in here currently living in Sunset Heights for over 11 plus years I've moved down there with my wife just before we passed the quality of life bounds we wanted to put our family where our thoughts were with downtown so yes this is very important to myself and my family as well as the other downtown projects that we've completed from the ballpark to now the Children's Museum La nube our Cultural Center our Majestic cities Winterfest thanks for bringing the ice back but now today what we saw Daniella Gensler I was very much impressed with what I saw I had no idea where this project could go this was the first time I had seen it and and what I had heard today that truly is somewhat of a compromise which I thought was great and and based on that alone some other people said today this is something that should probably be tabled based on the new information we received and I would encourage our Council to table this from January 3rd to move on now if you were to take action I would vote no for four for 13 and yes for 14. and if you voted yes for 14 and we were to take action today honestly I'd shoot for the stars we were talking about only doubling what was voted on in 2012 to bring a 12 000 seat Arena and I believe mayor you said if that happened it had to be something that would be taken to the voters correct that that I'd like to hear more about that just just so we we understand it and if that were in the if that were the case I I mean that's impressive to me and and maybe it is something we should take to the voters um you know if there's one thing I know about El pasoans they love El Paso um and and they want to see our city move forward they want to see it grow and they still want to see us maintain our cultural relevance and what they want us to stay true to our Roots I know that about El Paso I've been here 41 years okay so I got to tell you the projects that I saw today or the idea behind that project I think did just that to our cultural relevance and helping us move forward so you know let's talk about postponing today but let's seriously consider taking this to a vote if El pasoans want this let's see if they want it if they don't they don't we're talking Hispanic Chambers said 52 48 we have a very good opposition and proponent representation here today let's let El Paso speak for themselves you all can be the heroes new and existing mayor we can do this and and let's see what El pasoans say it's a very emotional issue I agree with uh John Barella let's take the emotion out of it let's take the emotion out of the council let's bring it to the people of El Paso thank you guys very much Happy New Year thank you sir the next speaker is Marilyn Guida is Guida star six please join me your telephone Maryland Guida star six please to unmute your telephone good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes thank you hello greetings mayor and Council I encourage each of you to vote to preserve and protect I mean I'm going to say one of the historic cores of El Paso gorengito by moving the arena also known as multi-purpose Center to another location and I specifically mentioned during gito as one of the historic cores because I know a little tiny bit about this Region's history and there were many areas where people got together and yes they're going to believe that they are the number one I think it would be really hard to figure that out at any rate um let's not forget there was no mention as so many people have said no mention of the location of the MPC in the item on which El pasoons voted November 6 2012. moreover it was called the multi-purpose arts and entertainment facility which somehow started turning into the word Arena and I don't know did we ever really hear what what exactly Sports thing was being planned why why is this sort of hardly ever been clear um when this issue arose between durangito and the and the MPC I attended several meetings held in durangito by the community and listened to those who'd been living there for many years even some individuals who had lived there as children and remembered the name durandito and I want to emphasize I heard someone who acknowledged this she was much older than when she first lived there um so I think it's a legitimate name um I also listened to several presentations by historians who confirmed the Deep history of durangito and um I was also present when local El pasoans presented a concept to provide a way to bring durangito into a vibrant area with housing with the Arts with restaurants with whatever local entrepreneurs could imagine and that this will draw locals and out-of-town visitors so many other Southwest cities have succeeded with small-scale ways to achieve historic preservation let's let the community tell us what they want to do and please put the arena somewhere else thank you thank you the next speaker is Leola Westbrook Lawrence good afternoon you have three minutes thank you good afternoon ma'am good afternoon mayor and council members um I recognize it's been a very long day and probably most of you haven't eaten yet so we'll make my comments brief um and I'm a new Resident to the city and to District a and I first of all I want to just take this opportunity to thank all the El pasoans has been the probably the warmest welcome of any City I've ever been in and so it is important for me to come up today just to speak on what I've been hearing I've been listening a lot to both sides of what this proposals have meant to the people who live in the community and I and I can hear the fear and the voices that their way of life their history their families all of their stories will get erased I also hear the other side of people wanting to bring businesses revitalizations to the community bringing in Revenue so that all the things that can help preserve those communities and all the the agendas and ideas that people want to do within their communities can Thrive so I'm here today in support of the NPC I understand the emotions behind all of it but one thing that has resonated time and time again for me has been the word compromise what I've seen in the proposals have been Best of Both Worlds and in my world when you have both sides very upset is usually the right solution because both sides have given up a little bit of something in order to make for the greater good so um again I I just want to say thank you to this opportunity to listen to Listen to everyone and speak out on behalf of you know growth and development but also preservation of the communities I hear them I understand that nobody wants to be erased but also growing so that you can preserve that you can keep in place for future Generations so thank you for listening to me happy New Year and I hope we all can find a solution that makes everyone happy thank you welcome to El Paso thank you I appreciate the next statement was submitted by Richard Hinata from El Paso young Democrats and it says good day honorable mayor and Council we would first like to congratulate the new Representatives on their elections as well as representative Salcido on her re-election may your tenures be blessed in your leadership be guided by grace and wisdom the debate on this Arena has troubled our community for over the last decade and we will all be relieved to have it put behind us that decade was riddled with complications and obstacles both directly as a result of this project and outside of it and when the playing field changes as drastically as the one before us has there is wisdom in taking a step back and reassessing our delt hand the El Paso young Democrats have yet to see convincing reputable or reliable data indicating that the expenditure of taxpayer funds for the purpose of displacing residents of El Paso's First Neighborhood will result in a positive outcome for El Paso or its people furthermore epyd has yet to see reliable data that would suggest the currently proposed NPC will have a positive impact on City finances on the contrary there is a startling amount of evidence and precedent pointing to this project being a disastrous Money Pit for El Paso apyd does not support moving forward with the MPC project there are numerous issues with it ranging from the moral to financial we do not find the project to be in the best interest of El Paso and El pasoans but in the interest of a select few we hope to see see the council move away from this project with this vote to the representatives who have shared these views and have provided time to make this vote happen we congratulate and thank you for those new voices without whom this step in the direction of a better future for El Paso would not be possible we congratulate and thank you to and look forward to working together with you in service to our community respectfully El Paso young Democrats the next speaker is James baynado James peinado James Bernardo star six if you're in the queue good afternoon three minutes I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year I'm speaking on behalf of the El Paso Republican Liberty caucus um you know this is the first meeting of the year and uh as with all you know New Year's traditions this is a really a wonderful opportunity to get a fresh start on a problem that has uh you know delayed El Paso's progress for years um this project for an arena was initiated under false pretenses and I'll say that most of our membership voted against the quality of life Bond projects to begin with because we feel that it is inappropriate or just not the best city government is not the best Institution for spurring local business development and providing entertainment uh the city needs to uh learn from mistakes that have caused uh you know dragging litigation for years and and take the opportunity I want to thank uh Mr molinar representative Molina representative vanilla for for putting in agenda item 13 and we speak in favor of it because it's an opportunity for a fresh start um you know they told us back in 2012 that we were not voting on whether or not we're going to get a baseball stadium only how we're going to pay for it and we ended up even having to pay for the baseball stadium out of uh certificates of obligation and General Revenue most of the quality of life projects uh almost I don't know if any of them came on time or under budget and it's just really time for the new city council to reflect on all of these mistakes from previous administrations that have cost quality of life real quality of life to the people of El Paso with Rising uh property taxes with no end in sight more certificate of obligation Bond debt for the city of El Paso than all the other major cities of Texas combine major cities of Texas combined uh think of a vision for the new year a vision where I mean I know that proponents of agenda item 14 the study say that this is a good compromise but we should not compromise with people who use government as special interests and call it uh good for business uh this is this is definitely not free market Enterprise which is one of our uh core values we need to uh get back to putting our faith in the people of El Paso to decide what we do with our own money and have city government really just focus on the the Basic Essentials uh streets uh Public Safety those should be your primary focus and you should focus on doing a good job at that you should not be getting into these controversial projects uh that you know you deceive voters even uh Joyce Wilson and court records said that they did not put Arena on the quality of life on projects uh to begin with because they knew it was controversial so there was a lot of deception uh you know I don't really like the people of duranguito you know they had a thriving neighborhood you've reached the three-minute limit sir thank you thank you for your time I wish you all happy New Year the next statement was received from Veronica Carvajal and it reads mayor and Council please vote Yes on item 13. thank you representatives anello and Molina for placing this item on the agenda you can say yes without violating the contract with the voters from the 2012 bond election per ordinance 017849 you can see the you can use the remaining Bond money to improve renovate and equip existing facilities to deliver the project listed as a multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment facility located in downtown El Paso the funds can be used at the convention center and the Abraham Chavez theater center the fund should not be used in any way to destroy or crowd out the historic buildings in durangito that should be repaired and developed into a Heritage tourism area and affordable housing so that the neighborhood thrives 24 hours a day as it is used to I want to thank Antonio Morales and romelia Mendoza for the courage they have shown in protecting their homes and leading the fight to preserve durangito thank you to Paseo Del Sur and Dr Max Grossman for continuing to teach us about the value of durangito and other South Side neighborhoods thank you Veronica Carvajal District 2 Resident the next speaker is Max Grossman followed by Michael Apodaca and the final speaker Gabriela Marcelo Dr Max Grossman if you're in the Q sir star 6 to unmute your telephone yes can you hear me yes sir good go ahead sir you'll have three minutes great thank you so much first uh thank you for this opportunity Happy New Year I want to congratulate our three new Representatives uh who enter city council with a strong mandate all three won by double digit margins and all three made pretty strong statements uh in favor of making a change with regards to this project the fact is El pasoans are very uncomfortable with eminent domain displacement and mass demolition of cultural assets for an entertainment project bottom line not a hospital not a police station not a fed not a freeway basketball and Beyonce concerts okay eminent domain displacement and mass demolition it's not acceptable and that is the reason people are so fiercely opposed to the project and I want to thank Joe molinar and Alex anello for Having the courage to co-sponsor this agenda item and and finally take this forward and hopefully move things in a different direction to those who complain that we do not have sufficient time for Community input as we've read in at least one op-ed in the paper recently I want to remind you that on October 13 2016 this project was announced and only five days later the city council gave itself eminent domain Authority and displacement powers only five days without communicating properly with the residents or Community groups here we are six years and two months later and it just seems to me to be really audacious to even suggest that there has not been sufficient time for Community input our three new city council reps are very well informed as almost everybody is who reads a newspaper or watches television reports the term Arena is coming back into usage the city had gone to MPC for many years denied that basketball could potentially be part of the plan and now I'm looking at a feasibility study that includes a depiction of a basketball arena and here we are back to the private agenda that clearly lies behind this project I just want to make clear with all due respect to the new hotel owners we don't owe them an arena okay it's America private capital investment they can build one of their own expense we're grateful for what they've done some of these projects are really great we don't owe them an arena next thing Sunland Park why is that not in the study there's an arena under construction it's in the feasibility study phase people really need to take a look at that and finally in the expenditures in the feasibility study where's debt Servicing none of those options are profitable because debt servicing is not included on the list as it is for the ballpark spreadsheets for example and of course it's not supported by hot tax in any case I could go on and on I want to thank again uh Joe and Alex Joe molinar and Alex anello for the courage to move forward on this and I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak today and I want to thank all the other speakers thank you the next speaker is Michael thank you bye now Michael Apodaca Michael Apodaca Gabriela Marcelo star six please to unmute your telephone Gabriela Marcelo star six please to unmute your telephone Gabriela Marcela good afternoon you have three minutes hi good morning go ahead you have three minutes yes hi my hello and I just um want to say that it's not pronounced durangito it's Durango and it's easy to fall in love with uranquito if you're not a racist and a classist she's endured and survived her days of Glory gone by some yet she continues to enchant the minds souls and hearts of many I asked for city council to no longer misrepresent the voice of opossums and say thank you Miss Marcella Marcelo we can't hear you foreign yes ma'am go ahead oh okay well my name is Mariela Marcelo and I just want to say that it do wrong detail it's durangito it's easy to fall in love with durangito he's endured and survived of Glory gone by Sun is to enchant the Mind souls and hearts of many can you hear me you're cutting in and out ma'am and I we've heard your comment twice now I'm not sure if you had anything else to say that's a you I'm sorry you're breaking up there's Marcelo yes can you hear me it's it's uh you're breaking in and out you still have a minute 23 seconds left I think we lost Miss Marcelo mayor I've called everyone that signed up to speak on this item thank you and I appreciate everybody that came down to talk uh all the some people that submitted a statements and um also the people that called in and I want to thank everyone I think for the most part everybody was very respectful and um we do have two sides and um like I said for the most part everyone respect that what other people for the most part have to say and that is what we wanted to see so I thank you for that and with that we have um any um I will take questions from council members representative this fan what's up I think no we lost her Michael Apodaca hello Michael up I think may be there um oh there he is there he is go ahead sir thank you Mary thank you Marion Council um sorry you can even take your breath for a minute you're okay I literally ran from the courthouse so um I just wanted to speak on behalf I am taking a neutral response on this but I did hear there was a previous speaker who did speak behalf again my name is Michael blacka I'm the chair of the El Paso County Democratic party um and so uh the reason I'm here is uh one I just wanted to make clear on the position because there was a previous speaker that did speak who sounded like their behalf of the party um our party takes no stance on this issue I believe the council members will make a decision on the best decision for our city especially for this issue that's been around for the last 13 years but also uh personally uh you know what I do believe is I you know one of the points that I think has been made from other folks and especially that speaker is that there's an issue that we have with convention space here in this city and so I really do what I do hope that this Council can look at versus you know looking at this money that we have already spent to see how we could continue to expand to see if there's ways we could expand uh uh meeting spaces and expand our Convention Center so that we could bring bigger and better conventions here into the city like the convention that we're bringing in in 2024. um so you know with that said I think that's the issue I want to have I just wanted to mention I just want to clarify a previous speaker's uh statements that we don't the party doesn't support either you know in favor or against this Arena project but I do think there are members of opportunity to have decisions on both sides of this but at least for us I think one thing that this Council should look into is to see how we could better expand the convention center area so that we bring in those conventions and bring in better conventions but while the same time preserving our history of our city so thank you so much and I apologize for being very out of our office well you still you still have a minute if you want to take a breath and no that's fine thank you I know you probably have talked all day about this heard both sides and everything so I do believe um I will take that water after after I'm done um but I do believe you all will make the best decision I hope it's a worth a well a worthy decision because us as members of the city have been waiting for some resolution for the last 12 years on this issue so thank you sir and thank you for being here thank you thank you that's in the queue now she had signed up to speak I think she was having technical difficulties Theodora the Nueva star sixth place to unmute your telephone go ahead ma'am you have three minutes uh good afternoon mayor and representative happy New Year and I'm only here to just um give my information as to how I feel and I'm talking for my uh Association also because we have talked about this and we feel that durangito is one of the communities who always comes around to help us out and we're from the valvede neighborhood association and so now we just want to come up to you all and ask you to please help durangito because as the elderly there you know that there's a lot of kids a lot of elderly and they're very nervous very depressed of what's going on they have asked us can you do something for us all we offer getting signatures because at this time uh we were not aware of all this that's going on but we are trying to help them and we also want to work with the representative that came in the new ones because they have already heard us and we would we just want to ask that you do not bring in that Arena and please help the people because the elderly they're going through uh hardships they're going to heartache they're going through a lot for you all to say throw them out into the sights of the El Paso area and put the arena inside I think you should all look into that and really think about the elderly and the children why do we want to get rid of them we need them here El Paso started with a little bit of people now where a lot of people and the ones that are here for so many years have already worked hard they did all the job we put all our kids through school they went to college they became Mayors they became attorneys they became people up there and all we're asking is for you all to remember who put all of you up there your parents your grandparents somebody did so all we ask is that don't throw the elderly and the children out of El Paso don't commit we say don't commit the imminent domain because people are not rich anymore they don't work anymore they don't make money easily anymore even the downtown area everything is closed down when the young people used to be the elderlies right now that's all I have to say please take the people into the consideration that they need don't get rid of them the way it's being planned please forget that Arena because all we're going to bring is trouble at this time we have a hard time getting 9-1-1 to send us an officer and if we have all those people coming down to Arenas to do those uh fights or whatever what happens to us right now we're having thank you you've reached the three-minute limit mayor we have one more person that signed up thank you thank you ma'am bye-bye we have one more person that signed up at inadvertently use the wrong form but she did sign up go ahead ma'am Nicole and Tebby good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes good afternoon hello mayor hello city council members um thank you I'm sorry I clicked the wrong form um my name is Nicole and Tebby um I'm a professor of art at the University of Arizona in Tucson I moved to El Paso when I was nine years old I attended Elementary Middle School High School graduated from UTEP with a bachelor's of Art and then I returned to teach at UTEP and EPCC I then moved away and I lived in places like Los Angeles and New York the types of cities the glass speech study purported to Aspire to these cities are attractive to people from all over the world precisely because they are rich in diverse cultures and histories in El Paso The Artful and intellectual Gateway is the Crown Jewel of the city I've learned more about compassion community art and resilience from the community you see before you today than anywhere else that I have lived this is El Paso's greatest treasure and Export I urge you to go for the new members of the council I urge you to go to duranguito meet the courageous Community who has been fighting to preserve it learn about the extraordinary history that continues to unfold and above all I beg you to honor the courage of Donita romelia and Paseo Del Sur and make the choices that enshrine this Barrio for future Generations because it is irreplaceable and any plan should enrich what is existing not the other way around thank you so much thank you Canales are we finished with the signed up public comment yes sir mayor I move that we recess until 305. okay you want a 10-minute recess until yeah until 305. all right mayor I was gonna I was gonna to ask something as well before we make that motion representative Canales I I personally would like to hear from our legal team I know the new members of council have not been purview to all of the legal challenges and so I would ask that perhaps we can take that break and then go into executive would you be willing to accept a motion to return to executive we can um when we come back I can withdraw my motion for now I'm sorry I can withdraw my motion for now to recess I'll second yours hold on a second from now on please uh allow me to call you and please put your name up I do have representative Bureau has to speak next yeah thank you mayor and before we move to Executive or or where we're gonna go next I'd like somebody to read the original Bond language um does anybody have that available I know that uh representative um Canales wants to take a just a brief recess and then come back for a minute so we'll take a 10 minute recess and then come back and do whatever we need to do and if we need the recess also after that to Executive session okay so as long as it's prior to Executive right thank you thank you so um Mr Prime we want to take a 10 minute recess so is there a motion to recess yeah it's all moved second there's a motion and a second to recess for 10 minutes all in favor anyone opposed the city council meeting is in recess at 2 58 pm thank you is that foreign policemen there's a motion in a second to reconvene the city council meeting all in favor anyone opposed the meeting is back in session at 3 14 pm we're still on items 13 and 14. we still have I think will you if you want to go representative Hernandez now but I think uh representative Fiero had asked a question to be read me okay yeah go ahead um thank you I moved to retirement executive session there's a motion and a second to return to Executive session all in favor yes anyone opposed and the city council of the city of El Paso May retired to Executive session pursuant to section 3.5 a of the El Paso City Charter in the Texas government code chapter 551 sub chapter D to discuss item number 13 discussion in action that the city of El Paso reevaluate and repurpose as appropriate that now insufficient funds for constructing a new multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment center any sports facility or other building within the area bounded by West Oberlin Avenue to the north South Santa Fe Street to the east west Paisano drive to the South and Leon Street to the west and that no buildings within this area be condent or demolished and to begin examining the use of these funds specific to what the voters approved within existing City facilities that may be renovated or upgraded to honor the will of the voters and item 14 discussion in action on the presentation providing pre-final results of the multi-purpose arts and performance center programming and feasibility study these items are taken into executive session under 551.071 consultation with attorney and 551.072 deliberation regarding real property it is 3 16 pm foreign okay is there a motion to come out of executive session there's a motion and a second to come out of executive session all in favor anyone opposed the meeting is back in session at 5 55 pm did you um representative um okay I wanted to make sure I took it off and then I realized I've been around okay thank you uh thank you very much representative Hernandez mm-hmm thank you mayor um so I just wanted to share some thoughts with you and I'd like to propose a motion today um I think uh well first I want to thank all of the residents and passionate members of the business community and and others for sharing your your vision sharing your thoughts your voice matters and we've taken that seriously and I just wanted to just just share my support for the study that genzer presented today um I think there are some very good ideas that deserve public vetting um I think it's important when I approved um and and voted to to approve the the eight hundred thousand dollars for the study I even got backlash for my community and say why that's because we all have the same passion to push the City community and the community forward and we want to make sure that we heard your voices I felt at the time city council they made concerted efforts to to make sure that we listened and we accepted historic preservation as part of reimagining the footprint of the Union Plaza and I think that study gets us closer to that and I would plead to this Council for the opportunity to share this recommendation to the public do proper vetting allow for Gensler and City staff to go to each individual District to meet with your constituents to share that information within your neighborhoods within your constituency so we can get that feedback because this is a pre-final report we'd like to close this report and settle that you know I know that's what my constituents would want is to have the opportunity to share their thoughts on on this plan and so I would I would move to give that opportunity to the public having almost spent a million dollars of voter approved dollars I think at minimum we owe to the public the opportunity to hear the plan and so my motion would be to to allow and direct the city manager the City attorney and to work with our Consultants to do public engagement over the next 90 days that would take us to 12 weeks would push us to the city council meeting of March 28th of 2023 and so the the intent would be to allow for our City attorney to do very much needed legal vetting because we are actively in a lawsuit in this on this issue but most importantly it would allow for the public to to share their input with their representatives and with their mayor and that's what we were elected to do to listen so I just wanted to share that antidote this issue is so nuanced we've been dealing with it for years and when I was first elected into Council in 2017 I was never supported by any anybody in this community being the first time political newcomer I have staunchly supported building a multi-purpose Center because of what it could bring to our community um and I think the the greatest uh statistic that really resonated with me is the economic output into our community when you look at the Net Present Value economic output even for the smallest version of the multi-purpose Center would be greater that how economic output would be greater than the amount of revenues I have in the general fund so when we really talk about Economic Development helping save taxpayer dollars we know it's in the data that it's going to increase revenues when I increase sales tax revenues that means I Rely Less on property taxpayers property tax dollars it means I reduce the burden from property taxpayers to events and to these other tourist Heritage type of Tourism amenities like a multi-purpose Center and and that is my chief concern here how do we bring entertainment to our community preserve our history and increase our Revenue so I can reduce the burden to taxpayers I think this plan does that I think it's a good compromise and I would hope that Council would at least at minimum allow for us to go out to the public and hear their thoughts on this new proposal uh representative molinar thank you very much mayor um I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year thank you very much for burying the burden being here about nine hours now and um it's going to be a good meeting either way I also like to take this time to congratulate and welcome aboard district one city representative Brian Kennedy District Six representative art Fiero and District H representative Chris Canales thank you gentlemen for doing the hard work of running the campaign efforts that you did and coming out Victoria so welcome aboard look forward to working with you so one of the things as we sponsor for this Ballot or excuse me for this item rather is um I strongly believe that a wrong and Injustice was done to us as a community and I'm going back even before November of 2012. okay somebody the powers that be did something collaborated and said hey this is what we're going to do this is what we want and okay but when it came down to putting it towards the voters I'm going to say we were deceived and I was one that voted for it okay so so I was deceived okay and I don't like that I was deceived at the ballot at the voting booth and so it's not good and all of this has been proven in a court of law in Travis County so you can go back and take a look at that and say why and now we continue to perpetuate a falsehood by doing what we're doing okay and I will tell you this and I'll we'll say it loud and clear I did not vote for authorizing the almost eight hundred thousand dollars to the Gensler group any other subcontractors to do a study I did not okay so the timing of item 13. yes it was posted on December the 21st on a Wednesday and here we are on January the 3rd so it's roughly 13 days almost two weeks and so I've been hearing from different people here tonight that we didn't have ample time well guess what this whole room has been filled from the very morning it's not just about the screening ceremonies people are here people are concerned people want to voice their opinions we respect that I see a few signs in the audience and um you know we you heard you heard the message loud and clear so it's not that you were yeah you were enjoying some holiday time off you were eating sharing family uh moments and things like that so that's good but you also took the time to learn about that and you also took the time to call our office and you also took the time to email my office for sure and we did respond to you as well on certain things okay so my thing is this this has been over 10 years 10 years I really don't believe 90 days is going to make a difference and we talk about our new three newly elected officials well guess what they may be new to city council but they've been dedicated public servants our district one city representative Mr Brian Kennedy former U.S army U.S army veteran as a public servant he has been in the public sector for a long time the private sector for a long time I'm sure prior to his even being committed to run for office he did a lot of research on what's going to entail to become the city councilman I know I had at least two or maybe three discussions with him on certain things that happened uh representative art Fierro same thing served in our state legislature for many years dedicated public servant he wasn't finished he's here today and he wants to continue another four years as a public servant helping our community so I applaud you for that as well representative Chris Canales okay and the chief of staff for former city representative lizaraga so you don't just become the chief of staff because it's a title you know he worked it he earned it and so I respect him for that as well so we're not rookies rookies trying to do a job here and the other thing too is that people have emailed and called and said hey well we have a migrant crisis a humanitarian crisis that should take precedence well yes it should but you know what this has been for 10 years and it's not where putting one over the other but we're a multi-purpose or excuse me a multi-functioning government hey we can handle different things at the same time we did it with covid we were still open for business at certain extents you know I know our city manager says it has impacted us operationally and financially our Workforce and it did but we still continued on and we marched on we went from the worst city to the best and getting shots in the arm and overcoming it to a point because we still have covered with us and we have other things as well as far as the research once again this has been litigated this has been talked about this has been discussed and where are we at uh we're not moving any further we're just just we're in limbo we're in limbo mode we're not doing anything well to get that and what do we need to do spend more additional funds out of maybe the 154 million that's left and I I just don't agree with spending more money for other things as well um I like to close with this a couple of things you know we talk about Economic Development we talk about transforming the city of El Paso well I can tell you you know earlier in December 2021 2022 excuse me I read the proclamation for the Sun Bowl Mr Bernie Olivas and some of his people were here and I read the proclamation I spotted out a number on how much money that sunbel the 89th Sunburn by the way delivers to the city and he corrected means 20 million dollars so we're doing something well we're doing something right we do have conventions coming up the major one the Democratic Convention here for the state in 2024 we look forward to that this year we have a fire convention coming in we have a neighborhood convention coming in and there's probably countless others that I'm probably not aware of but they're coming in our hotels are filled they're being utilized to the best of their ability they're selling food they're selling beverages hey I stay in these hotels I'll be the first to say that and do it well and to me it's not this is the multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment center is not is definitely not the Panacea for making El Paso bigger better or stronger I'll I'll tell you this we are strong we are healthy and we stand alone we don't have to follow Austin we don't have to follow Dallas we don't have to follow Amarillo we are El Paso I was born and raised here I'm proud I'm a second generation El pasoan Texan and American I am a public servant and yes we are dedicated to doing the right thing and it goes back once again a wrong a wrong was put upon us and we need to correct that wrong so I would strongly encourage members of city council to do the right thing and support item number 13. thank you thank you representative followed by representative thank you mayor and and I really want to applaud representative alternate mayor approach him well enough for everything he just said I like him did not support the eight hundred thousand dollars for the study because this issue is not just about historic preservation it's not about adaptive reuse for these buildings it's about our community um for since 2016 we have had a divided community over this issue there's been a lack of trust in this community and I think many people said it today we saw that in this election right the community really turned around they've always made this an issue um and we're seeing results and and I think that postponing this item is not going to do anything for our community it's not going to do anything for rebuilding trust in the city we have properly vetted this over and over I think that it is time to start this New Year um and working together with those who want to see a multi-purpose Center and those who want to save donaghetto because both of those things are possible and so with that I will not be supporting the motion to postpone but I would also like to make a motion to approve item 13. thank you mayor second representative um shall see them thank you mayor I just want to thank all the guest speakers here that came to speak to us it's been a very passionate topic and I also want to thank Gensler and Associates for the presentation they gave us on November the 9th 2021 I I had put on a motion for us to you know compromise and and come up with the best solution for us to to know what everybody wanted and then as a result that this study came about it was passed and I think it needs to come to the fruition of it my constituents do want to know you know what the end of the study looks like just because they need to know data information cost and so that that is why I brought that item in the first place until we could have some data points in order to be able to make our decisions and so that that is I think it still needs to come to a fruition just for the bare minimum of the public expecting this this presentation to come before them so that's just the part on that I'm not saying I'm in support of any of those projects I'm not saying that I'm in support of the projects that are over budget I'm not saying any of that I just think it needs to come to a fruition for that study on item 13 I mean the more I heard you know hearing everybody's side I hear so much division for and against and I'm just trying to figure out what is going to be the best way to find a resolution for this and I think it needs to be to go back to the voters I honestly asked a lot of questions on uh executive session in regards to what it would take in order for it to go back to the voters because at the end of the day I keep hearing that people weren't sure of what they voted for where it was at how much it was going to cost and I think that we have all those data points now and can get anything else that they want now as well and I think it needs and it definitely needs to be go back to the voters and I want a motion to basically send it to City attorney and the bound Council to be able to come up with some possible solutions of an and also analyze what it needs to take in order for us to send it back to the voters as well and I'll go ahead and revert to what I would need to add to that motion in order to do that to city manager I think you just made the motion I mean just a matter of what how specific you want to be in terms of what do you want the voters to vote on I think that the voters need to know how much every project proposed project is going to cost and what location it's going to be at so that it is very clear of what the voters will list I am very proponent for the voters to Prevail and what they want and I feel that there's been a lot of ambiguity and so I think that now getting these data points will give them Clarity of where what locations how much it would cost in order for them to make the decision the voters should make this decision I think that it would just uh depend on how the council votes because the Gensler presentation was put before the council does meet the objectives of this agenda item in that it is an existing facility because we the warehouses that would be torn down in order to do the hybrid model would accommodate the agenda item and address it and also it would also address the historic structures and renovate those if there's a different site we would have to go and do the work as this agenda item um speaks to so if it's not what gentler recommended then we'd have to look at different sites and we don't have those numbers right now because we don't know what those sites would be we'd have to do the vetting and have to do the analysis to come back and then say what that would cost it might be within the budget it might be a little bit more I don't know at this particular time because we would have to do the work and bring that back to council even if this item number 13 passes the way it's worded it asks us to do the analysis on existing facilities or another part of the downtown area and we would have to do that analysis and bring that back to the city council in as it relates to the the funds that are allocated for the study is there funds enough to to vet what is being proposed because when we were there an executive session there were just so many questions about Bond legal leash issues that weren't being able to be answered because nobody has an idea of what they're proposing where they're proposing it so is there are there funds in that study that can further look at what is being asked right now no that that particular fund and the purpose for that fund was to do this analysis this feasibility study on this particular piece that we recommend it to the council that was presented by gansler today that would have to be another set of dollars put together to look at other type of uh of a feasibility study on any other City facility and or Another Part of downtown okay and so I mean I don't know if the motion was pretty clear but it's just to get the options of what it would take to give it back to the voters and for them to be the ones that vote on this and know exactly all the details and let them make the choice so that that is my motion I'm hoping I can get a second um I don't know how this Council my colleagues feel Senator Canales followed by representative so I I don't hear a second so you have a question under motion okay go ahead ma'am thank you mayor um just a point of clarification um let me read the motion back into the record um because it would address your concern if it's passed today um it would be to move to direct the city manager and City attorney to postpone the vote until after public input is received from the Gensler study in each district and to properly vet legal challenges with the relocation and report back to City Council on March 28th of 2023 and we could add vet legal challenges with relocation and other questions by city council well I wanted the City attorney and bond counsel to come up with options of what the language would have to look like in order for it to go out to the voters would that be broad enough language Mrs Neiman to report back on March of what the what your findings legal findings were I I I apologize I had to step out and speak to representative Kennedy what is the question that you're asking me um I I had a motion on the table um that was seconded by representative Rivera representative sassy though is um asking for a legal explanation as to how to present a question back to the voters as it relates to the location and cost and so by motion reads that was seconded by representative Rivera moved to direct city manager and City attorney to postpone the vote until after public input is received from the cancer study in each district and to properly vet legal challenges or questions with the relocation and report back to City Council on March 28th would that be broad enough to address representative's concern yes ma'am that that's broad enough and yeah and I just think that that's important you know as uh I won graciously from the voters by 64 I did hear their concerns and and a lot of them did have concerning you know with wording and with cost and I just think that the best approach would be to give it back to the voters and so I think that that's important for us to really not discount that part of it and let them make the decision foreign no I know all right represent Canales okay forgive me as I start from the basics here um in my comments I plan to reference the language of both the 2012 quality of life button ordinance and then the resulting ballot language that that voters saw in the ballot and so I want to start by reading the relevant parts of those today so that we all start with the same understanding of them the relevant description in the bond ordinance reads shall the city council of the city of El Paso Texas be authorized to issue General obligation bonds of the city in the principal amount of 228 million 250 000 for permanent public improvements and public purposes to wit acquiring constructing improving renovating and equipping new and existing Library Museum cultural and Performing Arts facilities and improvements including the acquisition of land and rights of way for such projects and acquiring and installing public art related to and being part of some or all of the four are going such projects to include the following and here there were several categories but under the category of arts and entertainment it reads multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment facility located in downtown El Paso and now the proposed ballot language in the bond ordinance that was passed on August 7th so it's just the proposed language reads the issuance of 228 million 250 000 Dollars General obligation bonds for Museum cultural performing arts and Library facilities improvements with the option to select for or against uh the final language that actually made it on the ballot in November 2012 reads the same except it adds added at the end uh an additional phrase that said including new children's museum cultural heritage center and interactive digital wall again with the option to select for or against so the final ballot language that made it on the ballot that voters saw it explicitly specified which specif which facilities had to be newly constructed those being a children's museum which we now know as lanube currently under construction a cultural heritage center which we now know as the Mexican-American cultural center or Mac which is also under construction and an interactive digital wall which is completed it's the digi wall at the Museum of History um the ballot language did not specify the multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment facility located in downtown El Paso as it was described in the bond ordinance had to be a new construction so it simply falls under the the language of acquiring constructing improving renovating and equipping new and existing Library Museum cultural and Performing Arts facilities and improvements so even a fairly conservative reading of the language in in both the ballot language and the bond ordinance seems to explicitly allow improvements of existing facilities and the language of today's agenda item number three uh proposes that and neither of those documents makes any promise of a new multi-purpose facility a large or medium Arena a hybrid concert venue or any other new facility um I'll say this I don't think that constructing a new multi-purpose performing performing arts and entertainment facility would necessarily have been a bad idea back in 2012. inflation wasn't a big threat in 2012 the core inflation rate was less than two percent interest rates were at their lowest they had been in in two centuries um it wasn't a bad time for the city to borrow money and uh you know by selling bonds for a project like a new performance venue but I think what made the MPC project more and more difficult over time was the ultimate selection of the site in 2017 and early 2017. but frankly I I think durangito is a bad location for this project uh even if the council ultimately decides to persist with the project um I will oppose personally locating the construction at in at durangito in the durangito location so citing the proposed project there displaced residents only for those housing units to then sit empty for five plus years um and it awoke a resistance to this project that I think we've seen very clearly here today from the speakers uh the opposition to this site was clearly anticipated uh it made itself very clear in the build up to when the location was finally selected in 2017 but I think that those making and supporting the decision in 2017 must have believed that the project was an Unstoppable force and that the community opposition could just be overcome um and yet here we are many years later still facing litigation still facing significant Community opposition that we've seen here today and and facing now the reality that we can't afford anything really close to the scale of what was envisioned when durangita was first identified as the site in 2017. um the the pre-final results of the Gensler feasibility study that was presented to us today show that there's a clear need to Pivot away from a large Arena if we mean to stay within the budget that was approved by the voters um yes the city has already purchased property and there are some sunk costs but I think it would be a classic sunk cost fallacy to believe that we have to persist with something that's no longer financially feasible or attainable in our current economic situation so I think we can find good use for the properties that the city's already purchased there are some complications but there are things that can be worked through and we don't need to do that today this item only calls for us to begin examining the use of those funds that's the exact words from the from the agenda item um the city government owns lots of property all across El Paso that has no active plan for redevelopment we have some time to work with with the properties the city already owns um I I think if the project has to Pivot regardless in order to stay below or really anywhere near the the allocated budget from the quality of life bonds I would see far more value to the community in pivoting to the Improvement of an existing facility um speaking of pivoting I kind of want to Pivot in my remarks here to the topic of Community Support uh in truth I've been pretty disheartened by some of the comments I've seen and heard today calling the opposition uh to The Venue a small group of loud voices or a vocal minority I think that these comments are really disingenuous and honestly they're very myopic um it's the unfortunate reality yes a lot of people brought it up actually on both sides that the level of direct political participation in El Paso is pretty low uh in the build up to this meeting I counted 15 emails in support of persisting with the NPC at its current location and 14 emails in favor of reallocating the funds and I tallied the speakers today there were 30 in favor of proceeding with the MPC in the current location and 48 in favor of the changes proposed in in item number 13. so it those numbers hardly represent a Groundswell in in either direction but I can say that I've spent a whole lot of time recently uh going to voters directly over the last few months um having block walked to thousands of homes in in District 8 and spoken with hundreds of people at their doors I've heard far more than a small minority uh Express their opposition to the project and of course In fairness I heard some support from people at their doors too but this is hardly a tiny opposition that's holding out until they're finally overrun the opposition has been significant and widespread and very interestingly to me it seems to come from people across the entire political spectrum and and it spans various rationales as well some people uh don't like the spending on a new entertainment venue during the economic recovery from the pandemic uh some people oppose taking on new debt at the current High interest rates some people uh really value the preservation of the buildings that are in the durangito site uh and then some people oppose displacement of residents in a predominantly low-income neighborhood and for a non-emergency purpose um but we've seen here today progressives and Libertarians and classic free market conservatives and they've told us uh in in their comments today various reasons why they thought this project was a bad idea is a bad idea in the in the context of of now of 2023 um when I was block walking I frequently Asked people about the potential of using the funds to instead upgrade existing facilities it's something that had been suggested publicly by mayor Lisa a few months ago and the reception to that to that idea was overwhelmingly positive um so I'll start to summarize here I know I'm getting wordy but I want to make sure that I express my ideas here very quick very clearly at the end I I don't just I don't support the displacement of of the residents of durangito for this project um I think that improving existing facilities an option that as we we heard is explicitly available to the city in the language of the 2012 quality of life Bond ordinance provides us with a good option to make meaningful upgrades to what we have and still leave us with a top quality performing arts and entertainment facility um the city has paid eight hundred thousand dollars now for a feasibility study showing that a new venue likely would be supported by demand for concerts and and that it could be potentially profitable and the results of that study are available for the public right so uh it's essentially available for free to any private sector investor who might want to put up the capital for a similar project so that it can be built privately uh without taxpayer funds and in a location without such heavy opposition um and you know there's even a pro forma analysis uh available for for people for free essentially um so I I know that if this item passes today it'll be labeled by some people as as anti-progress and I can't speak for everyone up here but I imagine they'd say the same I I can guarantee you that I'm not anti-progress um I am however of the mindset that it's that this kind of project only represents progress for a community when it's done with the buy-in of the full community and when it isn't built on the backs of of some people and doesn't steamroll a low-income neighborhood to provide for the entertainment of some people um unless something changes dramatically up here in the next few minutes and and you know I guess that's possible theoretically I I plan to support item 13 today um uh I do want to say I I know among uh some people who will disagree with me today or are folks who I really look forward to working with on on various other things that can help our community and I hope that my decision today doesn't dissuade you from coming to me to to talk about future uh issues and items that we'll work on as a council I have to do what I think is right and what I've heard directly from a majority of my constituents uh that they think is right uh but I I'm sure that we'll all be in agreement on what we think is right in in many other situations over the next four years of of my term and I want to and I plan to be someone who you can work with on these things uh but ultimately I was elected by the voters to make tough decisions and and this is a very tough decision today but I think it's a decision that's the most prudent uh that protects the interests of El Paso's taxpayers that provides the stewardship of renters and low-income constituents and neighborhoods that I think is among the biggest duties of of us as elected officials and ultimately that does the greatest amount of good for our community I'm being cut off at 10 minutes but uh yes sir thank you thank you sir thank you representative I'm very well said thank you mayor oh again this issue isn't we're not the ones that decided where to put it the I believe the previous council did that had uh had it been left up to the uh to the voters instead of location of course it couldn't be because the city needed to look staff needed to do their due diligence and and uh research that before we came on to console ourselves I believe the studies have been done four times correct me I'm wrong uh Miss Niemann but uh I believe that had there been a plan in place we would have we would have taken the issue that we did we're doing today and and asked that uh maybe a second location be identified the fact is that it wasn't until today after the visibility study by the staff and and presenters was was done that every everything seemed to be falling in place all of a sudden it was meeting the uh the requirements that were were being proposed by the people uh that they were approached during meetings and now all of a sudden it's not by those same people that uh that uh heard this presentation before I understand that if we pull this project or when first and foremost just to correct a bit I I know staff I know Mr cortina's and his staff will not engage in a in a financial status if the interest rates are high they're always looking for the lowest interest rate possible but uh I understand that that if we don't go through this uh Miss Neiman how much is the city responsible for as far as penalties and and everything else that'll come out of the taxpayers money so so it's just on purchasing the property the properties and then we've also spent about three million in in two million in litigation so that's that's money that's already spent that we would have to account for in terms of moving the project could you tell me could you tell me that number again please you came in kind of low so it's it's defer to the numbers Robert it's 13. we've spent a 12 just under 17 million dollars to date that does not include just to be clear does not include paying the Gensler folks with the completion of the study that they were tasked to do there's additionally about a six million dollars of previously approved City contracts related to the project and there's also the additional two percent of the Arts that goes along with the issuance of these bonds of this project and so as of today actual expenditures out the door just under 17 million thank you sir and with that said I wouldn't want to I wouldn't want to burden the tax rate with that or for 17 mil when and and not get anything in return I think with my colleague representative Hernandez proposed as an uh representative Salcido is a study to come back and possibly go to the voters again and we can tell if this project is one or Not by the voters themselves after so long for 72 percent of the people who vote for it and uh demand uh demand that this this be built whether it be in in the Durango area or in in another location um that would be fine it would work for everyone involved and uh then of course the uh the uh property that the city owns right now could be restored to something historic or some kind of an Old Town fashion type deal that we can bring in uh tourist dollars into it or and and that would be feasible so um kind of short I just would like to say that I would definitely uh hope that colleagues support the the vote to bring this back in 90 days and if in 90 days it doesn't work then you'll you'll probably have a unanimous decision not to not to build this thank you mayor thank you and I think it's also fair to say that that property still has value today but you know we talked about the value of 15 million dollars it was purchase based on the way uh property has gone up in value I would say that that property today does have value so it's not a loss to revenue because we've spent that type of money on the property we did pay appraised value if I'm not mistaken or somewhere in that area right so I just want to make sure we're fair when we when we say that and you weren't shooting from the hip with an empty gun right I'm sorry and you weren't shooting with it from the hip with an empty gun right yeah okay thank you yes sir thank you representative um pardon me that was your comment all right I won't speak before you anymore represents um I've done this there were some questions that were brought up that that we didn't have an opportunity to to vet and and that looks at the assumptions of of the genza report today um there was questions about what what contingency were factored into the overall cost of the multi-purpose Center there's questions regarding um the the lifespan of the total debt issuance uh if in the event the council issued that debt what would be potential interest rates um and so I'm just I just wanted to add an ask from the dancer folks could you tell us if contingency was considered and as part of your model wouldn't would interest rates were factored into the models I wrote it from Legends from the construction costs were you uh please um introduce yourself again sir please Bill Rhoda from Legends thank you sir I'm a construction cost perspective we had about 10 contingency built into the soft costs the soft cost for about 30 percent of the total and then from an escalation standpoint we assumed another 10 increase in construction costs to a start date of first quarter of 2024. and do you think under the current economic um environment that would be an appropriate um contingency and and 10 increase to the construction costs we do for where it's at today okay um is there any indication on your part that you would consider the the report and the forecast as it relates to the construction costs could that ever go over for the hybrid Model A and B or are you all firm that that could be the overall cost for construction we we believe the facility can be designed for that budget okay thank you and then for for again sorry I just wanted to um hear a little bit for from you as to you know some of the concerns you've heard today in public comment um is there anything else that you would like to add as it relates to the study and how it could address some of the concerns you've heard from from folks who are concerned about historic preservation well Barry hand principal with ginsler um question um it is a priority amongst the design team to utilize the existing buildings there we don't always get the wealth of historically Rich culturally Rich buildings in a neighborhood grid like exists there on Overland I could walk you through a lot of projects where we we work really hard to kind of recreate environments like that so I will tell you when we walked the site back in the summer it was about 104 degrees by the way when we walked the site the first thing our team noticed was the axis from the convention center down to Chihuahua and we all said this is it this is the entry sequence to the entire neighborhood so we love the buildings the small neighborhood scale commercial buildings that are there we think that they could be repurposed or adaptively reused into other commercial and lifestyle uses that really bring a richness to the entertainment venue that's ultimately there whatever it is like I said we're very interested in the buildings that are there kind of creating that storefront along Overland and on down to Lyon I don't know if that answers your question no I was just I was wondering if there was any any other information you wanted to share with Council that you felt was important for us as we um make this really difficult decision today as it relates to your plan and how it could address any concerns from the public yeah uh just probably two things and we talked about this a lot in the green room um the designs it's not really building designs at this point we've shown you test fits of General footprints that the geometry and dimensional science behind these type venues require we've just kind of laid those in to show the impact there is in fact more work that could be done in your proposed 90 days that bring a higher resolution to hopefully the decision making that has to be done in in April and the other thing I would just say is keep an open mind I mean the the blocks and the stacking diagrams that you saw this morning that is the very beginnings of analysis in these these design processes and and we'd love to bring a higher resolution a proposal in April that that shows you know eye level Place making of outdoor dining and those lifestyle uses that accompany venues like this um this is not just an entertainment venue project it's a Neighborhood Place making project and the buildings that are there now are an extremely rich component or pallet that we have to work with we look forward to integrating as many of those as we possibly can thank you for your time I just wanted to make sure to check in with you to see if you had any additional feedback to share I appreciate it no thank you for having us and for Mrs Neiman I'll I'll turn over here um you know my concern is that members of council um don't want to properly vet the legal issues and so um and I know you can't say much um you know or whatever you feel comfortable with sharing um you know I feel there's a lot of risk with the proposal here today um and it's my duty to protect you the taxpayer um to make sure that um we're not sued okay and and if we are that we have a defensible argument and um if we were to abandon today without doing our due diligence doing any legal analysis um Can can you just describe you know what those potential risks can be what we can expect and what the public can expect if we move forward today with abandoning the site um and and whatever you can share today because my concern really is how this positions this Council and this city for greater legal threat and great risk foreign we have a motion my question was to Mrs Mrs Neiman pardon me I just posed a question to Mrs Neiman representative Hernandez without um before we before I'm sorry I think we had our inner objection here I'm sorry I'm Jennifer Countryman from the local architect from Countryman Co um you know no matter I know we had unlimited time to present this morning but it's still we've been working on this for almost a year and it's a lot to absorb in one day and so just a few clarifications I applaud your interest in like extending the time to carefully look at what was prepared for a long time because I just wanted to make one clarification that no residents are displaced in either of the design options all of those properties remain all um the properties were sold and they were bought by the city and the ones that remain we we are very respectful of that and made sure that those remain untouched and I just wanted to make that clarification and what the designs that were proposed thank you for for that information Mrs Neiman thank you representative and on this so without um without disclosing any attorney-client Communications that we've had and I know that you've heard from the public and it's it's a difficult decision that you all are considering there there are still as the public is aware there is a still a pending lawsuit at the Texas Supreme Court that is of great importance the city not just on this project but on future projects that is that is something that the council should weigh as well as because of the amount of litigation that this project um has already encountered and has continued to encounter and the up and and the different voices here I wouldn't it wouldn't surprise me if if the council was faced with more legal battles as a result of an action that was that was taken here today I would ask as I did earlier that you give us additional time even coming into this situation today we had not had an opportunity to hear from the council in terms of what this proposal meant item number 13 and there were still questions that I think the legal team needs to bet and discuss and be able to give you a more thorough explanation of potential ramifications of a vote on item 13 today thank you thank you and then just to wrap up my my thoughts um these are city-owned facilities the majority of them there are assets they belong to the taxpayer and there has been a plan to propose a read adaptive use to save those structures and in good faith this Council had for years has have been faced with challenging how do we um meet the the demands of the public but make sure that we are providing progress that is going to have the greatest economic output for our community that is what we directed our city manager and Consultants to review where are we going to have the greatest economic output for this community and that's this plan I know it's not what everybody wants to to hear but I really am A True Believer that um after discourse after um listening to different studies everything points to this location and the greatest part is that we've just heard from Consultants we're not displacing anybody we are going to celebrate our culture we are going to preserve historic buildings there is no other plan today that's going to preserve these historic buildings in this footprint other than the the Gans or what and so I would plea again to this Council if we can have that time to public vet any legal challenges there are greater things that um that that we understand that could have serious implications to the taxpayer we owe it to the taxpayers to do that public vetting and we need to present those findings to the public as well and I would just urge you to to at least postpone this item until after public input thank you man and one question I do have um what kind of money factor that y'all use when you determine the cost of borrowing money that it's going to cost us so much money I know that I'd ask an executive session and and that you guys want to tell us what the rate will be in 2024 when we when that money is brought forward make sure we want to clarify I believe they answered the question about what they built in as far as contingency on the project if you're talking about issuing the remaining debt I've shown that and we've talked about that during the last couple of years we're not talking about if we go the three point you know 300 million you know additional debt will allowed me at that time in 2024. but we're not doing the 300 million mayor okay it would be it would be 143 uh that would be there so you don't have both proposals on the table no we are just considering the 143 million dollars that's what we're recommending in the staff okay but I understand what the council is considering right now as well but but to your question to 143 and in terms of basis points Robert can answer that question as we've presented that before in terms of what because that's gone up uh and then they presented earlier about what they factored in in terms of inflation so what some money you think in 2024 what the rate what's the rate will be so we've been very very conservative we've been using seven percent in future years okay thank you and with that uh I'm going to ask one more question and we're going to call the question I think uh We've um we've exercised um the subjects so representative uh Canales yeah I'll be much quicker this time I just wanted to clarify that displacement of people doesn't necessarily mean that you put a building where their house used to be people are displaced in other ways uh by being you know increasing property values being passed through to them in their rents uh people are displaced by having a loud concert venue being built next to their house and they can't sleep anymore there are different ways that people are displaced from a neighborhood that aren't just directly replacing their house with something else I just wanted to make that clarification thank you and I do want to thank again everyone who has been here through the beginning and also people that still have items on the agenda I thank you for for being here and everyone who has spoken to us I do want to tell you that year to date so far this year this has been the shortest meeting we've had so we'll be okay um with that Miss Prine as mayor there's a motion made by representative Hernandez seconded by representative Rivera and this is to move to direct city manager and City attorney to postpone the vote until after public input is received of the Gensler study in each district and to properly bet legal challenges and questions with a relocation and report back to the city council on March 28 2023. on that motion call for the vote representative anello no in the voting session and the motion fails three to four representative Kennedy abstaining Representatives anelo the motion fails can we take the next motion the next motion was made by representative anello seconded by representative molinar to approve item number 13. and this is at the city of El Paso reevaluate and repurpose as appropriate the now insufficient funds for constructing a new multi-purpose performing arts and entertainment center any sports facility or other building within the area bounded by West Oberlin Avenue to the north South Santa Fe Street to the east west Paisano drive to the South and Leon Street to the west and that no buildings within this area be condemned or demolished and to begin examining the use of these funds specific to what the voters approve within existing City facilities that may be renovated or upgraded to honor the will of the voters representative before we um we do have a question Laura real quick because my motion was to motion to direct the City attorney and the bond Council to look at options to send this back to the voters um and I didn't hear I didn't get a second I I thought I did get a second for to send this back to the voters I think this was uh first if I'm not mistaken representative molinar's motion was first if that one does not passed then we'll go to yours okay okay but you don't you didn't get a second that I know okay I just think it's important to send this back to the voters thank you so we'll take the motion as read this is a motion to approve by representative anello secondary by representative molinar mayor I have deliberation deliberation on this motion may I ask questions okay so the the languages discussion in action that the city of El Paso will reevaluate and repurpose in an appropriate the now insufficient funds which which I think the study has demonstrated that there is sufficient fund so you know I don't feel comfortable approving that language because we have been demonstrated time and time again that there is a plan within the voter approved budget and so you know I think that in itself is a flawed statement but the notion that we would abandon the footprint where we've already spent 20 million and those that have been encumbered and relocation fees we've also spent dollars for legal fees we've spent dollars to purchase properties studies and so if this item is passed without vetting the current site that's been selected several times that has also been approved through court of appeals that we can build that facility there um what is there I I want to make sure the public understands that there is great risk to abandoning this location is there any other information that is prudent so that we can further reduce the risk to the city before we move forward with approving this item to ban in the location again we do have a motion in a second and I will take the motion that was yes that was to to the City attorney Neiman well I do want to take the motion in a second go ahead and after that we'll take the motion so I would reiterate the the president that the council is considering um ignoring in terms of the what the eighth court of appeals said over over the site in the Antiquities code um that opinion exposes the city to further liability in other instances and other projects that you all would want to proceed with other entities or people within file suit alleging the same type of waiver of immunity from suit we are waiting for a decision from the Texas Supreme Court we're hopeful that the Texas Supreme Court would have returned that decision we had a very similar decision out of the third court of appeals that agreed with us and moving away from that site you would abandon that appeal and you would be left with really bad precedent in El Paso so anybody else could sue over any other public project when it comes to an Antiquities code violation what about rule the rule 11 the current issue with that site you know there's there was a request from Council to to board it up to to protect some of those facilities I mean is all of that abandoned are we abandoning the preservation of those structures that have already been structurally deteriorated through neglect and deteriorated through partial demolition um no so from from if you if you were to move the site away then that that those questions would have to be answered or closed up in terms of of what we do I don't believe we're receiving direction from Council today on what to do with the current site at this point I think it's it's a matter of moving forward but there's no direction on how to preserve those or what to do with the site so you would have a blighted site for however long until Council directs us to do something with that with with those facilities yeah I just want to reiterate this I feel this is really premature um you know it it even at times on certain issues that we we can't talk about publicly um is is irresponsible leaving this site these these facilities these structures are are deteriorating they need emergency um support to to fix those we can't use um Bond dollars because this Council just voted to um to relocate the the multi-purpose Center and so you know I just want to have this Council understand going Eyes Wide in that there there are some great legal threats and questions that are that our City attorney desperately needs guidance for and we need to have a serious conversation what that means and I'm very concerned with moving forward with this item without properly vetting that and I just want to make sure that the public is aware that the city is at Great risk to abandon this location thank you and I think it's important that we're not abandoning the project and it is going to stay downtown as it's proposed in the language so I just want to make sure that the way the item is written that it still stays within city-owned buildings within the downtown footprint so the project is not going to be abandoned and with that I'm going to call the question you got two one second you got like one second since one one more short question here um even if the site is deselected or the project has moved elsewhere the city will still own the the properties uh within the the current footprint um as I understand the the city would still be able to conduct an archaeological survey of that property no sir that's not correct we are we are prohibited from doing anything on the site based on the decision of the eighth Court of Appeals so so that is pending litigation that has not been resolved that the Texas Supreme Court so that would have to come back to the eighth court of appeals and would like to have to go to trial on that however if you're abandoning the site then it makes it moot in terms of whether or not you're going to build there so it leaves a lot of pending issues that I can't give you the best advice certainly not an open session I understand I I think my hang up here is that I don't see what would preclude the city from uh not not right away conducting an archaeological survey because I understand we're waiting to hear back about the possibility of that but it would be theoretically possible given a future decision in the court of appeals if there was a favorable return from the court of appeals uh so so I I'm just not understanding necessarily how it would be moot it doesn't work that way so if you step away from the site then we'd have to report to the court that we're no longer proceeding on that site there's a mutinous arguments or that that I can explain behind closed doors in regards represento and everyone's already had more than one we really are is thank you mayor this is my second time um I just want to say that we don't need to to what representative Canales were saying we don't need an archaeological study and in fact City staff and city manager proposed using a set-aside fund to restore these buildings before representative Salcido's emotion would then approved the ginzo study so I think we do know that we have funds we do have a contingency in place to address the condition of these buildings and we will be addressing that in a future meeting so thank you mayor for allowing me to speak one more time all right Miss Prine we actually we actually at the time did say we would use general fund dollars I I believe the amount was sixty thousand dollars or less um no yes ma'am yes ma'am but I just wanted to be clear so everyone on the council especially the new council members uh we don't have a fund set aside for this it's just that we went and identified some funds when the council said that we wanted to preserve some of the facilities we don't have a fund set up or there's not an account for these buildings but we did identify savings like we were discussed earlier on another agenda item we did identify savings that we then allocated for the purpose of attempting to to put towards these buildings but we couldn't because it's in litigation and I think if we started um trying to make adjustments or improvements to the building we didn't want to be sued for that as well and so I know that sounds very uh sticky but it but it is because it's all in litigation and so it this particular time I I don't know where we would proceed because we need legal advice relative to what we can or cannot do on the facilities on the grounds based on the fact that it is in in litigation all right no all right thank you mayor and so can for the authors of this item our rules this is on the new item but that's not what our rule said point of order uh point of order uh hold on represent canale spoke three times as well all right hold on I'll take care of this I'm running the meeting this will be the last question from anybody I guess there's a one question and then we are going to call the question regardless of who lights up mayor I just have a clarifying question for the uh for for yourself or for um if you could pose a question to the sponsors of this item can can you provide guidance to the city manager what facilities or where are you proposing to relocate this is it the intent for for them to come back and give you an option because they've they've done that already so can Mary can you ask what the plan is or what your plan is for the alternative it's not my plan to start with number one number two is the artem and the agendas to bring it back so we've asked the city team and it's not we it's your city council has asked that the city manager or the city bring back City items on any city building so it's not my plan no one's planned we've asked the city manager to bring it back and that's what we uh we hope will happen Okay so the direction is to and direct the city management the way the item reached well it doesn't say any it doesn't say a facility to look at it and then obviously to look at other buildings so that would mean he would bring back to the city council any other proposals when are they expected to bring it back and I'm just trying to like let's just go back in a week if he has to answer that he has he has no timeline or he can be back in two weeks or a month that's up to him I'm just trying to look for further clarification as to what the alternate plan is here what are we what are we sharing with the public which facilities are we reviewing are you looking at the entire footprint of downtown um you know I think we owe it to City staff to give them more clarification because they did exactly what this item says is to reevaluate repurpose re-adaptive use of existing City structures and that's what we're doing at the current MPC site so I just I'm trying to get the more clarification so they can come back and give you that answer that you're seeking I think the item on the item that was is in the downtown footprint and bring back city-owned buildings yeah you can bring it back in two weeks if he's ready he can bring him back in a year if he's ready that'll be up to him it's not determined and he's not in any timeline so he brings it back when Mr Gonzalez and his team is ready is a loser could they be private they're just going by what it says I'm not going to change the item no no that's not what the item says so you can't ask me to tell you something different than the item says the item says and I'm and I'm not the author of the item there's two uh your city council members that author the uh author the item and that's what uh it's asked for you and your council members to vote on not what I think and not what I want I'm sorry mayor I was directing my question to you as a presiding officer but it's it's really open to the authors of of this item I understand that but you're asking me to to tell you what they they're thinking and what they want and that's not proper like I said it wasn't my item if it was my item I'll tell you exactly what I why I put it and when I put it down there but I didn't do that okay so it's only City facilities or can they be private it's a city facilities on there that's what it says was there any intent to look at um any other downtown Properties or just strictly city city facilities they wanted as a proposal anything they wanted I mean I would think that they could do that and Council would have the right to Abode yes or no okay once your social Mr Gonzalez I was trying to give you more clarification on the broadness of the the item right now says that it's city-owned facilities but again any item can be put on the traditional that may have a different option well well we'll respect the wishes of the of the vote uh however what you just said I mean that gives us a little latitude we we will see if that's in the mix based on what we look at uh given the the time that we have to look at it mayor thank you yes without Miss Prine yes mayor so there is a motion made by representative anello seconded by Robertson representative Molina to approve item 13 as stated on that motion call for the vote representative anello yes thank you in the voting session and the motion passes four two three Representatives anello molinar Fierro Canales vote in I Representatives Hernandez Salcido Rivera representative Kennedy abstaining thank you [Applause] can we go to item number two huh representative Salcido had a motion in the table and I seconded that the motion to send it back to the voters item passed I know she's asking for a legal opinion on what it would take to send it to the voters and I seconded that I'm sorry the items are already passed and the item Now we move forward to the next item we can put an item on the agenda in two weeks to see what it would take to take it to the voters [Applause] excuse me please maintain decorum and Chambers please thank you [Applause] vote on an issue I mean I it was a legal assessment that uh absolutely if you want to do that let's put it on the agenda in two weeks because this item's over with they've already we've already taken both we've already taken action on it is that correct Miss Pine yes mayor the main motion has been passed Council wants to reconsider it the motion has to be made by someone on the prevailing side that's what I'm saying so we can put an item on the agenda in two weeks to see what it would take to take it to the voters again thank you for that we'll go the next item thank you is there the next item is number 14 I'm sorry 15. and this is presentation discussion in action by the city manager's office and office of emergency management providing information on Key activities efforts and processes related to the migrant crisis can we pull up the presentation please hold on chief hey um first I think we'll do the real quickly we'll do the emergency items because then they need to be done real quickly and then I think we'd like to take item 23 next per representative Salcido so if we can just take the emergency items real quick the emergency ordinance mayor yes ma'am okay that's item number this is discussion in action on an emergency ordinance extending emergency ordinance number 01933 authorizing the city manager to assign personnel and resources to assist in addressing the humanitarian and Public Safety crisis resulting from a mass migration through El Paso three we're taking all three together right huh we're taking all three yes sir did you want to take all four there's four all four okay number nineteen is discussion in action on an emergency ordinance reenacting emergency ordinance number zero one nine zero three five extending a disaster declaration due to a public health emergency item 20 is discussion in action on an emergency ordinance reenacting emergency ordinance number zero one nine zero three six instituting emergency measures penalty is provided in Section 8 and item 21 is discussion in action on an emergency ordinance reenacting emergency ordinance number zero one nine two four one allowing temporary uses on the public right-of-way and private property by suspending various city ordinances penalty is provided in section six motion to approved second there's emotions mayor I texted you that I have questions on item 18. pardon me I just texted you that I have questions on item 18. go ahead ma'am um I I sorry I can't say anyone but myself but uh Chief Rodriguez you know last time we were here I had a lot of concern about what the state would be doing um what DPS is doing I've received numerous emails about individuals being stopped getting into Ubers by DPS I have received concern about DPS setting up like those shipping storage containers can you tell us what is going on Jorge Rodriguez Emergency Management coordinator for the office of emergency management so that as uh previously described that's in a state operation that's not part of the request that we have made to the state for for the migrant crisis okay but that is happening and that is part of us calling in the state for help this is what they do this was my concern and so what are we getting from the state because last time we were here we hadn't received anything from them and all we're hearing now is that they are harassing our community members no no so what are we receiving from the state sure so as as we previously stated on the request for the state have been for for transportation that Transportation uh has been limited over the last couple weeks uh support staff personnel and uh so that continues to to be offered in an additional law enforcement support uh to not only protect your community but the migrants in the downtown area so that that continues but they're also spread out throughout the city stopping people doing random stops um at peoples and Ubers in their neighborhoods and their cul-de-sacs and we think that's appropriate no ma'am uh what I'm referring to is is the law enforcement support that's been provided again downtown to protect our community our migrants in that area uh anything outside of that is uh is a state operation that we're not involved in well I'm disappointed I'm disappointed that this is happening that this isn't even been talked about today that we're not sending out emails about this that we're just supposed to hear from our community and we have nothing to say to them I'd also like to ask about police officers removing items from downtown from migrants I you know I know we're trying to get people into shelter I know that there are state laws but I don't understand why our own actions among City departments are contradicting each other so that is working in conjunction as we've talked about we've sent correspondence we've done numerous media interviews we've talked about the need to clean the streets it's a health and safety issue it's about going through on a daily basis we're hitting it three times a day the initial one in the early in the morning that's the one we do where we do the serious cleanup it's about picking up all the leftover blankets all the other stuff that's discarded on the ground it's not about taking their personal belongings away it's about getting them to move over so we can go through clean the streets to clean all the dumpsters out make sure the porta potties are tended to the sanitation standard stations are refurnished and and cleaned down and it's about trying to keep the community safe so I'm not sure what you're talking about as far as taking items away the only thing they have taken away has been tense and that's following the state law of no camping in the streets again a state law that we are not forced to enforce that we have the choice to not enforce especially during this situation I've heard from ngos I've heard from churches that are just they are really upset about the actions by the police and and I'm being asked to approve this today I I you know I'm really uncomfortable with that and I'm uncomfortable what's been happening in this community and that the lack of communication about it thank you mayor thank you thank you chief and with that we have a motion in a second yes mayor the motion was made by representative Rivera seconded by representative Fierro and this is to approve the emergency ordinances on items 18 19 20 and 21. on that motion call for the vote representative anello representative anello he's not she's not there okay we lost representative anello she lost connection it looks like mayor do you consent yes ma'am thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously representative anello not present mayor which item 21 is 23. yes ma'am right representative yeah item 23 is a public hearing on an ordinance granting Aid franchise for Star Inc DBA revive mobile Health to operate a non-emergency ambulance transfer service good evening mayor and Council uh welcome to the new members of the council and to congratulations to the newly elected members including incumbent Miss representative Salcido Happy New Year's Chief happy New Years mayor based on our continuous assessment of the application that was uh provided by star DBA revive mobile Health the El Paso Fire Department uh will find that there's no need right now to expand the services provided within the community we currently have three ambulance providers that are providing franchise service to our community with a total of 58 units and they respond to over 50 000 transports a year within the last three years those three ambulance providers have been able to provide increase the level of service that they provide to the community they've added 14 units and then we are consistently uh um evaluating the performance of these these ambulance providers and those the levels of services they're providing to the community um and uh they consistently uh are are responding to uh within the guidelines that are provided within the ordinance specifically is within 80 minutes 90 of the time um they're required to respond within 80 minutes 90 of the time and all three ambulance providers are are exceeding that 90 percentile thank you based on the the evaluations that we do for um with with our medical stakeholders throughout the community we investigate all complaints that are made against the ambulance providers and the transport services and by that we we evaluate and we provide root cause analysis and based on that root cause analysis we found that lack of bed availability within the within the receiving facilities a shortage of healthcare providers around the community a requesting of the wrong level of care miscommunication and delays at the facilities that are transferring the patients out as the root cause of any of the majority of the complaints that are received like I said we meet with the stakeholders monthly and quarterly monthly we were meeting with hospital hospital and health care providers through borderac and and Community Medical providers our mental health organizations and our EMS agencies quarterly we're meeting with hospitals Allied Health Care and hospice and other other health care agencies to constantly evaluate and audit the level of response that are available through to to the community in addition finally some of the things one of the concerns that we have with adding additional services to the community there's a national shortage of EMTs as we are experiencing here in our in our community EMTs this EMT it's shortage has been acknowledged at the state level through dishes by allowing us to have a waiver in place providing some relief in that the EMTs that are required to drive the ambulances we can now use a certified driver instead of an EMT and then also there's been Senate Bill eight which is allocated over 21.7 million to help with the training and recruitment of additional EMTs so I believe that by adding an additional medical provider to this community it would be irresponsible based on the um the facts that we don't want to deplete that pool of available EMTs available to respond to the community any questions there's no question sir I'm sorry there's no questions I know we have uh quite a few people signed uh representative we have a lot of public comments probably 23. 30. can we hear the public it looks like they're all still here too so public comment please yes sir the first person is you'll see albari followed by Robert Campion Brandon Lopez Michael Gonzalez Yvette Garcia Joseph Albury thank you Robert Campion followed by Brandon Lopez good evening you have three minutes hi good evening Marin Council first let me commend your legislative endurance this has been quite a meeting to start the start the new year my name is Rob Campion I'm president of Elite Medical Transport Elite Medical Transport has provided Ambulance Service to the city of El Paso since 2007. in regards to the agenda item before you today we request your careful consideration of a few items the first item is the legal name of the applicant as presented on the ordinance star Inc is listed in the ordinance but it is not the applicant that you're voting on Star Inc according to the Texas Secretary of State website is a foreign for-profit entity in forfeiture status we believe that in order to properly consider this ordinance and allow the public due diligence that an ordinance listing the proper legal name of the applicant is necessary simply an ordinance naming a non-entity cannot be passed the second item comes from the city health and safety code and following up with the chief's comments it places the burden of proof upon the applicant to demonstrate a need for additional services the existing providers continue to meet the needs of the community and demonstrate this capacity through regular reporting to the fire department the applicant has made numerous public claims regarding excessive ambulance wait times to quote ambulance times are over four hours minimum the vast majority of the time these claims are misleading hyperbolic and generally false data disproving these claims has been submitted to the city in regular reports and upon request the applicant has provided nothing more than exaggerated opinion to support their application if you believe that ambulance service is meeting the needs of the community we encourage you to vote in a on this item if you believe that additional services are required we encourage you to First consider the propriety of this ordinance and the propriety of the applicant prior to voting thank you thank you the next speaker is Brandon Lopez followed by Michael Gonzalez Yvette Garcia good evening sir you have three minutes thank you my name is Brandon Lopez I've been an EMT for three and a half years um when serving and talking to a lot of the nursing homes and dialysis a lot of them was a lot of complaints about delays from possibly going from two to four hours a lot of that being that there's not enough units to help the people of El Paso and I have seen that because I have worked for all three of the companies that are currently here um I honestly can't really say how much that we need of revive is needed by El Paso but I do know that revive can make a huge difference to the community and also to the EMT shortage problem thank you the next speaker is Michael Gonzalez followed by Yvette Garcia Michael Gonzalez Yvette Garcia followed by Mary Weaver Wesley Lawrence Alberto Truax Chris cordier good evening ma'am you have three minutes good evening mayor and Council my name is Ivette Garcia and I am Michael sarabia's mom and I come before you in support and to respectfully ask that you support revive mobile health and these young men whom I admire respect because of their years of experience I am a retiree of the city of El Paso I worked here for a little over 20 years and the last 18 in the Department of community and human development the feel good Department I loved it because its main goal was to improve the quality of life for El pestilence just as revive mobile Health strives to do in working in CDA I work closely with the city representatives and their administrative staff and admire the council as their passion and goal is to work and work hard in making the lives of their constituents better by fighting for them so that they may be provided with better infrastructure Social Services emergency shelter and medical services in our city of El Paso unfortunately sometimes having to fight for for us against other entities whose first priority should be providing and always looking to provide the best for your constituents these young professionals are continuously working hard and providing for the health care and humanitarian needs of our city and always using their resources to step up and do the work as hard as it may be be in favor of providing non-emergency ambulance service right now the lack of private ambulance companies is unfortunately leaving your constituents underserved There's real there really isn't a legitimate reason why we shouldn't have as good and prompt ambulance services as other cities in our state Michael is my firstborn born and raised here in El Paso he made his debut at the original Providence Memorial Hospital he has always been a caring and thoughtful person wise Beyond his years he always liked to hang out with older people found them more interesting in middle school he made his decision to attend Socorro high school as they had the host a program which stands for Health occupation students of America it was his passion Michael was very active in his church at Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini he became an ultra server as a t as he became an ultra server as a teenager a sacristan in participating in the youth group he began to serve his community and the underprivileged the seed was planted and he has carried his love of service since then here he is before you asking your support to continue his service in his community at another level using his level community service and his continued education in the medical field at UTEP in order to serve our city he is planting the seed for his children and his nieces and nephews he has always been a good boy and now a good man and I am a very proud mom thank you Miss Garcia You've reached the three minutes thank you thank you God bless you the next speaker is Mary Weaver followed by Wesley Lawrence Alberto hello Happy New Year I'm just an ordinary citizen voter of El Paso I'm standing before you here today to ask you to vote Yes on what I consider a basic medical need it's a right non-emergent ambulance transfer is a service that most of el pasoans will need at one time in their lives currently the wait times I have experienced through my mother have been excessive I must be the 10 percent we have waited between four and six hours to get picked up from the hospital of Providence East and there was a time that because of the home that she lives in they have a cut off time where they can receive patients so she has actually had to spend an additional night in the hospital because she could not get picked up in time it's just alarming to me that we can take up a bed in a hospital just because we couldn't get picked up by a non-emergent transfer I can recite statistics on what other cities have but what is important is what El Paso doesn't have that is satisfactory wait times for non-emergent ambulance transports what troubles me is if a physician wants to open a medical practice we welcome them with open arms as our city is constantly growing and the wait times in doctor's office can take hours medicine and Medical Care does not follow a schedule each and every patient is unique and deserves the time it takes to care of their individual needs revive mobile health is an El Paso established company that has proven their commitment to El Paso they took charge during the pandemic offering testing services to thousands of employ of el pasoans they worked endless hours to make sure testing was available and to help and assist in the times that were incredibly stressful they volunteered their time for search of rescue of hikers they are members of our community they are the community to quote President Kennedy we do things not because they are easy but because they are hard it is easy to say that the current amount of ambulances available for non-emergent transport is satisfactory but the hard reality is it is not however today is the day you've reached the three-minute member thank you thank you the next speaker is Wesley Lawrence followed by Alberto Truax Chris Cartier Christine Sarabia good evening sir you'll have three minutes thank you it's good to see you again mayor and Council I urge you to vote Yes on this item as someone who has family members that constantly rely on ambulance services it's important that our our ambulance wait times are better than satisfactory I think we should always strive to be better than that I applaud the work of revive their local Al basswinds and as someone who supports salopasons 100 of the time it's it's good to know that there are people out there that are that are doing God's work you know they're out there helping the migrants they're out there helping us during covet and this is work that we should not ignore El pasoans protect El pasoans and we learned this after the August 3rd tragedy we've learned this with the covid pandemic and we're learning this now with a migrant humanitarian crisis on our Southern border um we know that investing in local companies keeps tax dollars that are vital for uh programs such as streets and maintenance in our city it's important to note that you know people have a god-given right to health care I truly believe that Healthcare is a human right and in doing so we have to make sure they're able to get to their their their their their places of about well-being in a reasonable time you know my my aunt had a stroke two years ago and and the wait time to get her from the house um to the hospital ranged not going to say it was bad but it definitely was not satisfactory it definitely could have been better and with my uncle constantly going to the hospital now as well um those wait times are huge I remember one time my aunt had a stroke it was more convenient for us to call a lift to get her to a to a close doctor than it was to use an non-emergency Ambulance Service and and they have you know they have Medicare provided by the US government top of the line health insurance and that was something that that made me wonder at that time could we do better the answer to that is obviously yes I applaud our First Responders our firefighters and ambulance drivers our EMTs that work with the city and for the city they are great people a lot of them are local talent and it's important that we that we work to embrace both sides of the situation and that we listen learn and we react so that every El pasoin is safe healthy and that their voices feel heard especially in times of medical need thank you thank you the next speaker is Alberto trucks followed by Chris courtier Christine Sarabia and roel Garcia good evening sir you have three minutes good evening uh I wrote good morning on here but we've been here a long time so uh good afternoon mayor and city council staff as well I just want to well my name is Alberto Truax I want to thank you for the time to be here I also want to thank God for this opportunity um it's been difficult to get here and I really really appreciate that um I appreciate the fact that It's been a a struggle to get to this point because it means something more right it means something that um we've worked really really hard to develop this team this um I guess we're going to be like an agency I guess um but we've developed it to the standard that the state has set I pray that we've developed it to your standard because um what I've learned is that all we can do is our best right and uh we're presenting our best to you today and I I really hope that's enough to to you um it's a it's a lot to go through right um I'm a graduate of Cathedral High School I've learned that since uh a very young age that you just give your best and you do your best to be the best and that's your standard I went to U.S Navy I had two combat tours uh I've been gone since I've been 18 so it's been a long time coming so I feel really really proud to be back in El Paso offer my services to not only this city but to this company I think it's important that I give myself to something more than just me and I think that this is part of my journey God has led me here today to be in front of you and I I really really thank him for that um there's a lot of data that we've we're going to try to present to you today I hope it's sufficient for you to make a decision in favor of us um that's about all I have for today but thank you guys thank you thank you for your service also the next speaker is Chris cordier followed by Christine Sarabia and roel Garcia good evening sir you have three minutes good evening I also had a good morning written on my statements so um I just wanted to thank you all for your mental and physical stamina in caring to me this long uh Mr mayor council members my name is Chris cordier I thank you in advance for affording me this opportunity to share my thoughts um I'm here in support of the city granting approval of the ordinance I would allow revive medical to provide non-emergent medical transportation I've been a registered nurse for nearly 15 years the first 11 years were spent working in the emergency room and to my knowledge there are only three ambulance companies operating in El Paso in addition to El Paso Fire and I'd just like to say one thing I don't understand the rationale about not wanting an additional Ambulance Company in El Paso to that it would create an EMS shortage or a paramedic shortage it's the same type of logic that you wouldn't build another hospital because it would create a nursing shortage if the community needs a service then you should provide that service um for the great amount the city has grown over the last 15 years it's shocking that the city would not have already dressed the growing disparity between the ambulance providers and our growing community um I myself would not enjoy waiting hours just for medical transport to go across the street yet we are here today hopefully to take a step in the right direction in these past 14 years and 10 months spent in nursing I've personally witnessed patients that waited in excess of three hours for a simple transport home or back to their Skilled Nursing Facility and this happens in the different units of a hospital as well when patients have been discharged home any patient that unnecessarily occupies a bed delays that entire process the patient walks into the ER they can't get in the ER room because ER is holding a patient ER is holding a patient because patient's filling the bed up in the floors because they can't get home um so it delays every patient in the chain of care from their next step with additional ambulances available to transport patients out of the hospital hospital beds would become available and then patients could receive care secondly the patient backup places further stress on an already strained system um ERS are already short staffed and busier than ever truly ill individuals are made to wait in the ER lobbies and suffer some deteriorate further some even die in our Hospital lobbies um all because there wasn't an extra ambulance to transport somebody home in a timely fashion and these aren't just hospital patients these are members of your community children elderly chronically ill and possibly are friends but they're most all definitely your constituents and as their elected representatives this burden falls upon you you have the obligation and the duty to vote in the best interest of this community sir thank you the next speaker is Christine sarabian followed by Royal Garcia Dr Robert Phelan good evening ma'am you have three minutes good evening good evening everyone uh today I humbly ask that revive mobile Health be granted a city franchise agreement that will allow them to operate within the city limits to help with non-emergent transfers doing this will allow the city to make bigger strides to reach their goals in 2023 to improve health and safety why is this important to El Paso well according to the National Conference of state legislators approximately 3.6 million Americans miss or delay medical care because of a lack of appropriate transportation non-emergent medical transports can be used to coordinate medical trips with providers who serve similar populations I'm sure you all are well aware of our high risk populations that we have 18.8 percent of people in El Paso live below poverty level 13.1 percent of people in El Paso are 65 and older to take care of some of these individuals there are currently 25 nursing homes and 16 assisted living facilities according to the Center for Disease Control it estimates that 78 percent of adult populations aged 55 and older will have at least one chronic health condition one of The Chronic health conditions that affects El Paso's predominantly Hispanic population is kidney disease one in seven people will have chronic kidney disease and 71 percent will require dialysis up to three times per week El Paso currently has 43 dialysis centers to serve this population patients rely on non-emergent medical transports to get to appointments and to avoid emergency room visits this is not only important just to El Paso but to everyone in the U.S that's why there have been acts written to protect the public the consolidation Appropriations Act of 2021 required states to provide non-emergency transport as a Medicaid benefit the Affordable Care Act requires that non-emergency medical transportation be offered to low-income Americans This reduces the financial burden on the state and federal governments with unnecessary 911 transports and emergency room visits Congress also passed the deficit reduction Act of 2005 to allow states to have more options to deliver their non-emergency medical transport that should be provided with reasonable promptness to all eligible individuals recipients must be allowed the freedom of choice of their transportation provider let revive mobile health help the city reach its goals in 2023 thank you all for your time and attention thank you the next speaker is roel Garcia Royal Garcia followed by Dr Robert Phelan Jamil Motrin Carlos Alarcon and Michael Sarabia good evening sir you have three minutes good evening sir good evening mayor good evening Council good evening fellow El pasants I come to you today humbly ask you to vote for mobile revive health I don't have statistics I have true facts my mother was hospitalized at UMC unfortunately for us she her condition was bad to where we asked if she could be released and hospice take her into her house it took six hours to transport my mom from UMC to her house that wasn't the only one unfortunately my father is in the same situation my father is currently housed at the Veterans Center on Diana and Kenworthy he had an emergency where they stabilized him there and it was requested by the nurses at the center to take him into Beaumont Unfortunately they couldn't transport him so there we were again waiting for two hours it got so much to where my dad couldn't stand it and he is not one to complain we personally got him in our vehicle and took him to Beaumont well to top that off a couple of weeks ago my brother-in-law started complaining that he had a real bad pain in the side of his on his right side we took him to the emergency and they stabilized him and he had to be transported from one of those the summit emergency care to Providence East again it took six hours to transport him all this data all the statistics that were told to us earlier I don't know where they're coming from because I just told you three that took more than four hours I humbly ask you guys listen to what we're telling you we're not making up stories we're telling you facts please vote for revive mobile thank you thank you the next statement was submitted to be read into the record and it says I want to tell the city council we have to wait for hours for patients to be transferred to waiting operating rooms and ICU beds this is a huge problem this will be solved by allowing more ambulance operations to work in El Paso patients suffer huge avoidable delays in medical and surgical care because of ambulance delays this will be solved by allowing more ambulance operators into the city of El Paso please see these factual reports thank you for taking your time to read this Dr Robert J feiling III MD emergency medicine and I did forward all the reports to council the next statement was submitted by Jamil J Moe Trench to whom it may concern I am the chief I'm chief of Texas rescue Patrol and desert Haven EMS we are a first responder organization and ambulance provider serving communities locally in El Paso and hudspeth County when I founded our organization in 2017 it was a it was met with a barrage of resistance from local providers in the area unfortunately I soon realized that our most compelling deficiency in this region is not our lack of resources but rather our toxic territorial behaviors which stifle our ability to work together and deliver the resources our community communities need through perseverance unwavering dedication and assistance from local community leaders our agency flourished and grew in spite of the resistance we Face from local providers over the last six years my agency has responded to hundreds of calls for service and have saved many lives none of this would have been possible without the support of the individuals who in spite of political ramifications elected to stand with us and support our cause these individuals knew in their hearts that our agency would only serve to enhance the resources available to our local community as Community leaders this their decision to support our agency was in line with the best interests of the community and not with individuals who held self-serving special interests as chief of Texas rescue Patrol I am afforded with the great privilege of working closely with numerous agencies include in two counties this experience has allowed me to work with some of the most dedicated and professional individuals in our region Michael Sarabi and Carlos Alarcon are two individuals I've had the great privilege to work with and I'm confident in their ability to operate a professional agency that will enhance the services available to our community the facts are clear our local Health Care system in El Paso is greatly underserved in wait times for inter-facility patient transfers are uncedingly long there are a variety of reasons why this is happening all stakeholders involved make valid points as to why this is happening but if we are completely being honest with ourselves what an additional ambulance providers serve to make matters worse or would an additional ambulance provider enhance the services available to our community personally I firmly believe the latter to be true I think that any reasonable person looking at this would agree that allowing revive medical to provide ambulance Transport Services would only serve to strengthen our local Health Care system so in closing I respectfully request that you lead with your hearts lives are at stake and the decision you make will have a lasting impact on the lives of many people as you gather on January 3rd 2023 to discuss the issue I implore you to please vote with the best interest of our community at the Forefront of our decision making process and allow the chips fall where they may thank you for taking time to read this email and this in its entirety thank you for the public service and commitment to serving our community if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to me best regards and r e m t Chief and administration to record Texas rescue Patrol thank you the next speaker is Carlos Alarcon followed by Michael Sarabia good evening everybody a quick question just want to confirm since we are on the item we're allowed to present and provide our information through our presentation you'll have three minutes you have three minutes thank you very much well thank you very much one of the things um that what I emphasize is that as we have talked to many of you before my name is Carlos salarcon I am a paramedic we're the only Ambulance Company El Paso that's owned by clinicians that have been in the back of an ambulance taking care of patients we saw the needs by working for other providers low income low wages that are the needs for additional increase and level of care and that's what we established the organization as you can see most of the people on on our left side are hearing support of revive mobile Health if I can ask you guys to stand up real quick and then throughout the morning there's a lot of people that unfortunately had to return to work and I can guarantee that there was probably over 100 individuals including uh the multitude of letters that were sent to city clerk which is about a 900 letters of support from the community we already heard from Mr Chris courtier who has been is a subject matter expert in emergency medicine as a nurse Dr Phelan is also a subject matter expert with emergency medicine one of the things I would like to point out besides the fact that you know we have been involved with the community is that Chief killings mentioned that there's 58 ambulances in El Paso El Paso Fire Department has 27 ambulance active and as you can see there's a piece of paper that we added to our presentation and you can see the other private ambulance companies add up to a total of 30 private ambulance units in the city of El Paso however you have to take consideration that life Elite Medical Transport provides services to the city of Socorro city of Horizon and City and and other municipalities which means that they don't actually make up the numbers to transport patients within the city of El Paso for inter-facility transport so there's still a great need to serve our community um also a kind of a reminder that um you know we've um I have worked for Elite Medical Transport I have worked for uh Pro action for Life ambulance I've seen those needs one of my last tenures was an employee of the hospitals of Providence as an EMS liaison and I saw firsthand the need and the delays for transport I myself had to wait five hours to be transported from UMC to Maine UMC and this was November 14th one of the other things that I would like to emphasize is that added there you have a letter of support from Dr ascencion Mena who's the medical director for Life Ambulance Service you also have a letter of support from Jacob Cintron the CEO from University Medical Center stating that there is a dire need for additional non-emergency ambulance transport in El Paso thank you very much thank you the next speaker is Michael Sarabia followed by Jose Padilla Debbie Baird Tony Baird Jessica velarde good evening sir you have three minutes good evening I come to you today as a fellow citizen business owner philanthropist a man who was born and raised in El Paso Texas to support revive mobile health for an ambulance franchise in the much needed Committee of El Paso as a clinician-registered nurse paramedic and UTEP alumni I feel that it is the the evidence is clear we have over 970 letters of support including Jacob sintron president and CEO which represents University Medical Center and many many uh people from Physicians nurses and the medical community and the tens of thousands that UMC facilities see on a yearly basis Ascension Mana which is the medical director for Life ambulance which is a hundred percent needed to run their company and is involved in all aspects of their company including all the first responder organizations they have an mou with David Marcus tdam Region 4 Texas Department of Emergency Management he's the chief here medical directors of the hospitals of Providence such as Kenneth baruman which is the medical director for t-hop and former medical director of over 15 years for El Paso Fire Department and many more we would like to fill the Gap and feel the needs of the community we also would like to raise the standard of medicine and just work in in our passion this is our passion that's what I went to school for please do not drive the only born and raised company that is raising the standard of EMS and revived the much needed ambulance child support service in in El Paso Dominion ambulance their owner is in San Antonio Elite their owner is in New Mexico life I don't know but here I know Carlos and I we're born and raised here products of El Paso look at look at our website look at the minions website they don't have one we're very transparent with with the with the people um look at Elite non-emergent website requesting four to 24 hours advanced notice on their own website for this non-emergent transport please I do not want to move my whole family and that you saw laying down outside to a different different city because we will go and and do the right thing listen to the voters listen to the medical community thank you thank you the next statement was submitted by Jose Padilla and it reads good morning and happy New Year today I'm reaching out to furnish my full support to revive Medical Mobile Health to be warranted the ability to provide non-emergent ambulance services in our community in the past three years alone the El Paso County area has seen an increase of almost four to five percent in population since 2019 alone this growth has put a strain on medical transport services and is vital that we get that this item passed by city council my mother who is diabetic has been a first-hand witness to the insufficiency of medical transport in the area she has had to wait more for more than four to six hours on several occasions to be transported to her medical clinic to be seen by her endocrinologist for a non-emergency visit on a handful of times I've had to take time off work to transport my mother myself when I know EMTs or paramedics are better option because they are trained and are better equipped to do the transport also is there a reason why other medical transports are not allowing other companies to help with the workload when there is an obvious need for it the Alia paulistic Market that has constrained the market only suppresses the services needed in this community we the Citizens need choices when one is not available for transport we need to be able to pick up the phone and call the next company for a quicker response is there a reason why competition is not being exercised in this field we cannot allow a handful of companies to dictate who we can choose pre-market right I have seen firsthand how revive medical has been involved in our community for years now from the start of the pandemic where they were the one of the first companies to team up with another to provide covet testing sites all over the city to providing medical assistance and even feeding the migrant search that has affected our city as of recent they are homegrown professional company that is ready to take on the needs of this community and I please urge you to pass item 23 in today's agenda thank you for your time and we hope to see your full support of revive Medical Mobile Health have a great rest of your week Jose Padilla sales and marketing director Blackjack boots our next speaker is Debbie Baird Debbie Baird will be followed by Tony Baird Jessica velarde Rachel herrickson good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes thank you good evening good evening Marion City Council Members Happy New Year my name is Debbie Baird and I feel like I need to say I'm born and raisal password I am the administrator for Dominion ambulance we have been providing ambulance services to the Past Community for over 15 years today you are taking vote on if there is a need for another franchise ambulance provider in El Paso excuse let me slow down let me bring to light and briefly discuss the application process and becoming an EMS provider in the state of Texas in order to be granted an EMS license you must produce with your application to the state letters of approval from each municipality and or county in which you plan to provide service there are three vital points that need to be met and addressed in this letter of approval that needs to be obtained one that the addition of another licensed EMS provider will not interfere with or adversely affect the licensed EMS providers already operating operating in said County two that the addition of another licensed EMS provider will remedy and an existing provider shortage that cannot be resolved through the use of licensed EMS providers already operating in said County and three the addition of another licensed EMS provider will not cause an oversupply of licensed EMS providers in said County today's applicant revive mobile Health went through this application process this past year it was not able to obtain these letters of approval not all municipalities in El Paso felt there was a need to grant them their approval revive was never granted a state license due to their lack to obtain the necessity needed to produce to the state they have obtained an EMS state license through a business transaction with Southwest Texas ambulance response from Laredo Texas I would also like to share that as being a franchise ambulance provider we are required to report our call responses to the fire department there are performance measures that need to be upheld in order to renew our franchise every two years Dominion ambulance along with life ambulance and Elite Medical Transport demonstrate compliance through this reporting proving there is no Gap to be filled and there is not a need of an additional provider thank you for your time the next speaker is Tony Baird followed by Jessica velarde Rachel herrickson Jennifer citone good evening sir you have three minutes good evening mayor and Council thank you for letting me speak on this matter I just want to make it real quick and easy to bring up a quick issue I have with the revived Medical's application process they're offering two ambulances for the city coming in expecting to run calls with two ambulances available um I don't know if you understand the franchise agreement we do do FMS weeks which for seven days straight we back up the fire department assisting calls that they're not able to handle we do not feel too ambulances enough because there's times we're on two to possibly three we call them FMS calls at the same time those are calls that come in through 9-1-1 dispatch and are given as Omega calls to the private service we have to respond to these calls for seven days straight so whatever our private businesses we have to drop what we're doing to go do these calls they're coming in on their application they have two ambulances listed which is a concern two ambassy is not going to be able to handle this so we're gonna have to pick up the slack on their calls that they can do secondly I want to bring up a point they're only offering two ambulances to the city of El Paso when their application was filled out December 1st if you go back on their social media page that they like to post about they've had four ambulances listed since August of 2022. they're only giving you 50 to El Paso that's all they're offering thank you very much the next speaker is Jessica velarde followed by Rachel herrickson Jennifer suttony good evening ma'am you have three minutes good evening mayor and city council I wish you all a Happy New Year my name is Jessica velarde management of light ambulance services life has been providing services to the citizens of El Paso since 1984. we ask of you to please ponder about integrating this franchise into our community because of the negative impact it will have on the three current city franchise providers live dominion and Elite the negative impact that we would face is a much greater EMS personal shortage and a much greater shortage in transports as our chief mentioned prior since covet Emergency Medical Services has seen the biggest shortage of EMS Personnel in history of EMS the Statewide number shows only 27 percent of EMS Personnel are working in EMS adding another ambulance provider into our community will not change response times it would only hurt us because the few EMS Personnel that each of the current providers have will then be divided by the four providers life ambulance services currently has 29 ambulances ready for use however however we are only using 17. um due to EMS personal shortages providers Statewide have seen in the last two years a 32 percent wage increase cost Medicaid ambulance rate have not increased since 2009 in fact they have decreased Medical Supply costs increased from 15 to 100 percent in some cases fuel costs have skyrocketed especially diesel cost it's insane our EMS margins to operate is extremely tight ambulance providers is a different um than any other type of businesses because our service is provided regardless of the patient's ability to pay furthermore the addition of another ambulance provider in our community will hurt us will hurt more than one of us mayor and city council please vote no thank you for your time and for allowing us to speak today thank you the next speaker is Rachel herrickson followed by Jennifer sutono Scott Harry good evening ma'am you have three minutes thank you um good evening my name is Rachel harack saying I am president of Life ambulance and I would like to ask the mayor and Council today to please support the fire department's recommendation um I would also like to say um to say no to Star Mobile Medical Health I believe that the franchise has um applicant has some questionable business practices that I want to discuss because um the population that we serve is the most vulnerable population and so I want to I want you to carefully consider these options the state of Texas has seen major Fraud and Abuse in the ambulance industry the state now requires a provider to establish necessity to operate in an area revived could not re back excuse me revive could not get the required approval letters that they needed from all the Incorporated cities to meet the state requirement so they purchased an ambulance company that was established prior to the requirement to get around the rules the franchise application they turned into the fire department is misleading the name star Inc which has filled out on the application and is is incorrect the legal name is South Texas ambulance response Inc which makes the legal franchise document itself not even valid the financial interest information that was given to the fire department was not properly disclosed the Secretary of State's website shows the corporation South Texas ambulance response Inc which holds the EMS license that the financial interest is actually Sam L Hodge a wisdom L Hodge who is actually out of Houston we believe that the financial interests may not have been disclosed properly because the Secretary of State site also shows that elhaj has multiple tax forfeitures in excuse me and including an EMS agency unfortunately Houston has seen the highest amount of fraud in the EMS industry the El Paso Market has not experienced this type of fraud because El Paso Fire has been extremely proficient in vetting applicants El pacifier also has performed a detailed audit on the three ambulance franchise providers and the data shows that we are in compliance with the franchise requirements please support El Paso Fire by voting no today and thank you for the opportunity to speak the next speaker is Jennifer sutono follow Scott Harry Tapia good evening ma'am you have three minutes good evening mayor and council members my name is Jennifer sutono and I am an army veteran and a master's prepared registered nurse I have worked in this community's Health Care system as a registered nurse since I left the military in 1998. um inter-facility transport is typically accomplished through ground transportation and it's a critical part of today's Health Care system that I don't think is considered as much as it needs to be it allows facilities to transfer patients needing Specialized Care that cannot adequately be performed at their current location so this has nothing to do with 9-1-1 or fire Medical Services although I'm learning they have oversight of non-emergent ambulance services hospitals are always in need of ambulance transports for a variety of reasons a specific specialty may not be available at the hospital either it's not offered or it can't be staffed um such as highly Technical Services like neurosurgery or cardiac surgery as an example a patient may require ambulance transport back to their original settings such as in cases of nursing home or long-term care long-term care patients regardless of the reasons ambulance transfers occur occur quite routinely I think when I started working as a nurse here in 1998 we had the same three ambulance services doing non-emergent transfers so um I will tell you I've worked in one of the busiest emergency rooms in this city as a staff nurse as a charge nurse I've run Critical Care departments I've worked as a chief nursing officer at the hospitals of Providence East Campus and the reason that I'm really here today is to share my personal experience with you I don't work for any of these organizations now I don't work in any of these Hospitals now although my role as a registered nurse changed quite a bit over the years one thing that has remained the same since 1998 is this issue of delays with non-emergent transfers I can give you as many cases as you'd like to hear about but quite honestly I didn't record them all so I can respect that ambulance services franchise services that exist that are self-reporting their own data that they meet the 80 minute threshold 90 percent of the time imagine that self-reported [Applause] so those those ambulance transfer times aren't reported by anybody but those companies imagine that I've witnessed this as a nurse directly coordinating with these companies for non-emergent transfers um I've witnessed it um as a family member and Friends of patients needing private ambulance services to get a desk to get to a destination that can meet their medical needs and I'm talking about other clinicians so if they had a way they could call and maybe get some help without having to go through the non-emergent services I'm sure they use that but still experience significant delays if you leave today's session without recalling any of the details or statistics thank you the next speaker is Scott Perry Scott Heron he left okay the next statement is from Dale Tapia it says to whom it may concern this letter is in regards of items 23 star Inc DBA revive mobile health application to become an ambulance provider within El Paso city limits my name is Dale Tapia and I am an EMT and er staff for a City Hospital I am presenting my point of view in the increased need for a new Ambulance Service to provide services to the city of El Paso Texas as we are aware well aware of the influx in population within the past couple of years same does the need for EMS providers throughout the city has increased its demand for my professional opinion I have seen how the influx of people has affected not only the transport time of patient but as well the care for them as you all well aware I am a current ER staff and are involved in plenty of logistics that happen within the ER and as such I am vouching for revive Medical Mobile Health to become a new provider to the city of El Paso typically the wait time for a patient to be transported out of the hospital to their final destination is within 1.5 hours to up to four hours this is not to mention if it is a critical patient we must deploy an FMS unit so that transport of that patient can be done immediately currently the city has three major ambulance providers which are being overwhelmed creating the delay in transport and in some even the response time to outside City emergencies having a fourth ambulance provider would alleviate in some Essence the supply and demand needs to all hospitals as part of the ER steps noting the increase in demand for patient transport we are vouching for revive Medical Health not just as Transport service but for personal experience have worked with one of the owners Carlos Alarcon and can say he is professional individual while providing care and representing the EMS Community as a previous employer to Mr I know he will provide the care needed to El Paso and will continue to excel in the providing adequate and Professional Care to the needs of the city best regards Dale Tapia the next statement was submitted by Diana Felix for Dana Felix good morning I am a lifelong resident of El Paso and I am concerned with the tremendous growth of our city and the need for more ambulance services patients shouldn't have to wait hours to be transported from one facility to another please allow for more private ambulance services to meet this growing need to provide efficient Professional Medical Care and transportation services to those who have larger heavier issues to deal with than getting from one Care Facility to another thank you for your time and attention to this matter concerned citizen Diana Felix the next speaker is Charlie Nevada followed by Raul Garcia Justin Devine Aaron Hutchins Dora Oaxaca David monares good evening you have three minutes sir good evening thank you so much my name is Charlie Navarre happy New Year everybody I'm the owner of craze craze has a fleet of food trucks where I'm involved in many events all over the city being involved in these events I've gotten to see revive and their staff how they take care of their team how they take care of the people are that are in need as well as the equipment that they bring along with that I've seen basically all the other companies that invite that provide EMS I definitely support revive in their ambulances um I was also recently admitted to the emergency room myself it was my first emergency room visit in my entire life it was extremely scary and the person that was attending the doctor was telling me was a previous employee of revive that just showed me the quality of people that they have on theirs on their staff and I know that I've seen that firsthand over and over again so I definitely support them over again over and over again thank you speaker is Raul Garcia followed by Justin Devine Aaron Hutchins good evening sir you have three minutes hello good evening good evening um I want to state that I know Michael personally from high school all he ever wanted to do was exactly what he's wanting to do still help out the community that's always been in his agenda and the moment that he started revive I've seen it they always go out of their way to help out our community in every single way such as you've seen as the Immigrant uh population has grown they have been out there our migrant situation they have been out there feeding them clothing them that's the kind of people that they are me myself I am in marketing I have a marketing firm and I can tell you I have 64 customers that are currently on a magazine all these 64 customers who's our business owners here in El Paso have signed the petition to have revived here what is that telling you us El Paso the business owners we want revive we want them to be part of our community we want them to help out as far as as far as um what we're discussing today real life is not trying to replace El Paso's Emergency Medical Service they are just trying to fill the current gap which is very obvious where the population fluctuating between 974 000 to 1.2 million we don't have enough non-emergency ambulances but for inter-facility transports in another if another search were to occur such as our current ones such as covid our city will not be ready to take on take up upon it there is one private ambulance for every 325 000 residents in our El Paso Metropolitan in El Paso compared to private ambulances per every 115 115 000 residents in cities like San Antonio and Dallas Uh current inter-facility transports and that's what we're talking about the inter-facility have delays of up to several hours up to like you heard it right now from different citizens of El Paso up to 12 hours 4 to 12 hours and this is not made up numbers these people like myself that have a mother has a mother that has to attend dialysis we have to wait for more than four hours so I I really don't see where we're getting accused of an exaggeration but I demand that you please hear our community that you hear our business owners here in El Paso that are rooting in favor that we're here I can tell you since nine o'clock not everybody was able to stay here 12 hours such as myself you know but if you saw the room fill up all back here we had over a hundred different business owners that are part of our community that are rooting in favor of revive medical thank you thank you and divine followed by Aaron Hutchins good evening you have three minutes good evening Mr Mayor city council and staff my name is Justin Levine I'm a paramedic with revive so a little bit about my background I'm not from here I'm originally from Mississippi I live in El Paso by the way of the army and I love this city I have uh I'm currently serving I have nine and a half years of military experience with positions ranging from infantry platoon medic all the way to Medical platoon Sergeant dealing with medical operations I'll just tell you a little bit about why revive is so important and why some of these other agencies are terrified of it some will discuss are lacking Health Care infrastructure so I'll discuss this I already know revive is a company I continuously want to associate and work with even post-military career I give a lot of time to them now I would love to see it grow and I would love to see the positive benefit from this city that I choose that I will choose to stay in for its employees the opportunities to advance are nearly unmatched they have also created an environment that Fosters cohesion community outreach and engagement and Progressive Medical learning to grow as professional clinicians that take pride in their community revive provides by far the most Progressive Sops and yes I have read the Sops from the other agencies and training for patient care why does this matter so in regards to Critical Care transports providing evidence-based medicine whether that means anything to you or not it's it's important to us as clinicians providing evidence-based medicine dramatically improves prognosis for these patients and can prevent short and long-term untoward effects not all services out here are willing to perform at this level I'll leave you with this just think any one of these patients that we see they could be a family member friend or it could even be yourself would you not want the best possible care for them this matters to me this matters to El Paso thank you the next speaker is Aaron Hutchins followed by David monares but it means here you have three minutes good evening I'm Aaron Hutchins I uh I haven't been working for revive that long um but since I've been working I've been already been impressed by what I've seen there the professionalism the dedication uh to the community honestly is the community because uh what first brought me to revive the first time I saw revive was out working at the uh the Afghan migrant camps back last year um the second time I saw him pop up it was them pushing forward on the uh the kova testing um covet sites helping the city with that because I don't I don't know I was working at William Beaumont at the time doing contact tracing for the US Army and uh there was a point in there was a dark time in El Paso right there there was a lot of people that were sick there was a lot of people that either weren't getting tested a lot of times people weren't getting tested because they didn't want to wait in line that long and uh revive was there revive was helping with that revive isn't transporting migrants from this current crisis but they are out there they're out there providing you know food to them they're out there providing heaters they're out there assessing them you know finding out which guys need to go to the hospital and then working with the fire department to get there I have uh 14 years experience in the military I uh just recently got out last October uh my current my last role in the military was a critical care flight paramedic um taking care of some of the best customers in the world um over as recently in Afghanistan um and we have a motto with uh the Medevac or you know what they call us dust off and that's an acronym that stands for dedicated unhesitating service to our fighting forces and um that's something I'm not seeing here with the uh with the other non-emergent um transports is there is not that unhesitating that's that word that I like to I like to fixate on as soon as I got out of the military I was like I didn't rethink I was going to stay here in El Paso but El Paso is my home now um I live here you guys took care of me in between deployments my uh my youngest daughter was born here I'll uh my first night getting on the military is how do I give back to this community and I started working at an ER here um it's a downtown ER so one of the big ones and we have patients that are there for three or four hours waiting on a transport from that's from call time um that's patient is packaged up ready to go I can get him out of a bed back home back to a nursing facility wherever they need to go but they're occupying a bed that somebody in the lobby needs and they're not getting to these beds because we're waiting on those trucks I'm gonna um finish so I'm going to say like this company represents El Paso you know Mike has 19 years of experience Carlos has 20 years of experience working here in El Paso helping the community and I think that's great that you know Local Company local workers and everybody I go to work and everybody loves being there the reason the other franchises don't want us to operate here is because they're not afraid of us taking their calls there's plenty of calls to go around they're afraid that when I get off my ambulance my clean Ambulance with my properly working equipment with my healthy partner they're afraid okay sir you've reached the three minutes they're afraid the hospital is going to call the next speaker is David monares good evening sir you have three minutes city council good afternoon mayor good evening um I'm an 18 year old so I'm not as cool as the rest of everybody else here but this is about the community and um I want to share my experience recently my grandfather had passed away and that's what really pushed me to become an EMT and they have taken me in and gave me my first job and I'm glad to do what I love to do I have done clinicals with these other ambulance companies and I'm grateful that they also gave me an opportunity as well but with them they get offered a culture continued education something that I do at the end of the day want to become a paramedic and learn and be as cool as my boss my co-workers and everybody else so at this point I just want to say thank you and for everything that's going on again my family it was grateful as something as having always having an opportunity like this and for me to give back to community as a young age man am I glad to start and Beyond those late calls I'm glad to work at those late hours everything and I'm glad to put in my part on my behalf at such a young age and being able to to do this and again as one day to be as cool as them I can't can't really just say anything else as how awesome they are and how awesome they really are treating everything one thing and lastly my grandfather taught me integrity and I always want to show that with my patients do the right thing even though no one's looking and something that he also didn't teach me kind of just picked up what he did was you practice until you can no longer get it wrong and you do everything right for your patient and you stand it by your patient something that again was instilled by me at a very young age by my grandfather that's it that's all I have to say thank you sir the next statement was submitted by Jacob synthron and it reads as CEO of University the medical center I am writing to you today in support of revive medic mobile health and their application for an ambulance franchise agreement between the city of El Paso and their Ambulance Service I speak from first-hand experiences and accounts and feel that it is important to allow this additional Ambulance Service to operate within the city to keep up with the demand of El Paso's growing Health Care needs I view the decision made from city council Representatives significantly impacts the capabilities of service within El Paso County and El Paso County facilities within El Paso city in speaking directly with numerous Community citizens and health care providers about their experiences where the current state of non-emergent inter-facility transports within the city and county hospitals as well as freestanding emergency rooms there have been consistent delays with response times revive has been a great Community partner not only with a recent pandemic but also providing medical services at a multitude of events throughout the city and county I believe that allowing revive to serve the community will not only improve response capabilities but will also decrease transport delays to definitive care for inter-facility transports I believe that the city and county of El Paso will benefit from more options in private ambulance services to fill the gaps in the pre-hospital care setting and non-emergent transports I support the approval of the city council item please do not hesitate to contact my office for any questions or needs for information sincerely R Jacobson thrawn president and CEO the next speaker is Kimberly Barnes [Applause] good evening ma'am you have three minutes hello my name is Kimberly Barnes I'm from Scott Hulse and I wanted to I know a lot of people have addressed kind of the more substantive and more personal reasons why they think that revive should be granted the franchise but I just wanted to um address something that I heard from one of the speakers about the um how it is or she mentioned some of the unethical business practices of revive and I just wanted to mention a couple things about that um I don't believe it's unethical to acquire a business um I don't really understand what exactly is unethical about doing that and also I wanted to mention that any misleading influ excuse me sorry I kind of ran up here and so I'm a little flustered but the misleading information in the financial reports has more to do with the timing of the filing of the public information report rather than anything malicious or anything like that because the public information reports are due in the middle of the year and the the acquisition occurred after the middle of the year and so that's why the the financial reports did not express the names of the new owners and I just wanted to address those facts and thank you very much thank you mayor that concludes public comment on this item thank you and with that we have represent Canales um Chief killings I have a few questions for you if you don't mind uh I I really I really value your your recommendation here and and you know I will value the recommendations of staff regularly that's that's I think good practice you're an expert in this um but but I do want to understand a little bit better why stats recommendation is is not to approve here right so I'm sorry if you don't mind a few specific ones first uh does revive meet all the requirements they need to operate a non-emergent medical transport here so there are some inconsistencies in the application that revive uh applied uh submitted uh this is the fourth application that we received from from from them uh the other ones did not qualify uh there are some inconsistencies as far as was stated uh in the title uh star Inc uh the dishes license that revive is operating under is under southwest or South Texas ambulance response which is a completely different company than star Inc which is no longer valid um they did not uh they did not uh as was stated earlier they did not uh properly divulge the ownership uh out of Houston for the parent company that they're operating under we we did go back and ask that they validated every all the information that was in there they validated that and so we we submitted the application on that we knew that we once we were submitted it those inconsistencies combined with the the uh the the the fact that there's no need within the within the city of El Paso uh is why we're uh recommending not moving forward with uh with the franchise with with them and if a franchise was awarded here they would be audited for compliance with the terms of the franchise agreement just like any other franchise just like with any other franchise okay so I'm looking at the response report here uh it's it's showing percent of response times under 80 minutes I see in the franchise agreement that's the minimum requirement right that's the standard that's been set um by the ordinance governing franchise yes okay if so uh I guess in your expert opinion would you say that 80 minutes is a good response time you're we're talking about non-emergent transports so uh in the case where somebody has a doctor's appointment or needs to receive a scheduled appointment uh that 80 minutes is what's been set as a standard okay I guess I'm just trying to understand if that's if that's good or if that's just what's acceptable and something faster than that would be considered good or what would be considered excellent faster is always better of course you know but um as and another thing that that we've failed to or we haven't really focused on here is is that um the the ambulances that obviously are the agencies that operate under the franchise agreement are essentially the backup to our emergency system right um if if they're not able to meet the requirements that are outlined within the franchise then those requirements fall to us as the El Paso Fire Department and we have to use resources that we have to supplement those those agencies uh so it's in our best interest to make sure that those agencies are performing well and it's in the best interest because we have an obligation to perform to provide emergency services to the city of El Paso and if we have to divert our resources to supplement a lack of performance from our franchisees then we're not satisfying our mission and we're not providing that exceptional level of service so um if if there was a need a legitimate need that I figured that I thought for one minute that adding an additional Ambulance Service to this would would solve then I would be up here telling you to please give us more uh franchise e applicants and please vote vote more in as we have in the past but right now we do not have the need for an additional ambulance services there's multiple uh factors there's multiple variables that impact wait times uh and and the a lot of the examples that were provided here tonight um and and I did outline those earlier some of those staff availability bed availability at the receiving and the um transferring facilities um miscommunication from you know whether a patient has been discharged or not uh scheduling conflicts uh whether that you know from from the transferring Hospital there's multiple reasons why a delay would occur not just because there's not available ambulances the ambulances that they have they've expanded uh and I when I say they talk about the franchisees they've expanded the number of ambulances available to this community in in response to the increasing demand um so and and as the performance metrics show they they have consistently um exceeded those values um am I correct in understanding that it's not a case where you have like one franchisee stood up at any given moment they're all essentially responsible 24 hours for this for non-emergent transport correct and so they would also fill in for each other I guess if they feel slack for each other and then the last resort would be using uh what would otherwise be emergency transport vehicles fire department ambulances correct so they they fill in for each other and back each other up and they also back up the El Paso Fire Department uh in cases where we have large incidents uh and we run out of ambulances for the city of El Paso our our franchisees are the ones that call we call to back up for emergent transports okay all right so there's a there's a mutual a relationship there I I honestly still don't know how I'm going to vote here I I really do value your your input here um if if I do vote the other way I I don't want you to think that it's disregarding your your opinion here I think it's important um I I do think that it's somewhat low risk here I've looked at the franchise agreement um it's an initial term only running through April 30th so three four months um and their response time requirements are the same as everybody else's 80 minutes for at least 90 percent of the time and if it's a request for service coming from you then it's a 25 minute required response time and the city can terminate the the franchise agreement for any failure to meet public protection welfare or even for convenience um and so I think if we Grant this franchise agreement and it's very obvious that they're not performing the city has a lot of options to terminate this very quickly um and so I I just personally see it as a very low risk uh proposition here to Grant a franchise and if it doesn't work then it can be terminated really quickly so that's kind of driving my thinking here if I choose to vote uh to Grant the franchise so again I don't want you to think that it's disregarding your your expert opinion here um I think there is still one pending question about the business entity I'm looking here at the comptroller website I see South Texas ambulance response Inc uh registered agent name Michael Sarabia it's status is active and address on on pelicano is that the correct is this the one you you said they they submitted an application with an incorrect business name and then they corrected that with you after the fact is this the correct the corrected one the the correct the the business name that has the state uh EMS license is uh South Texas ambulance response doing and then they're doing business okay so I would imagine that this is the right one and shows that I mean this is not the EMS license this is just the license to the right to transact business in Texas but I do see this here and registered here in El Paso on pelicano so I I assume that's the right one um I guess that's the end of my questions thank you for for answering and uh thank you representative Fernandez uh hold on please ma'am excuse me ma'am you cannot approach that unless you ask the question please you have three minutes just like everyone else did so I just want to be respectful of your time and everyone else representative thank you mayor thank you mayor Chief in in all this uh to in uh replica see some pretty pretty fair questions um and you know how I feel about staff and how I support you all but what is this constant talk about delays of 1.5 to 4 hours where even the CEO for UMC Jacobson drone even mentions how can you explain that excuse me hello go ahead sir thank you so um I can I can have uh Chief davidis he's uh assistant chief that oversees directly oversees our community health uh Division and and manages directly the contracts with the franchise ambulance services and then also guides their performance he can speak a little bit further as to uh that question good evening and happy New Year happy New Year um so the question you asked was about you know what's about for the device so one thing is that in during during covert times 2020 uh we had a lot of patients that were being moved in and out we had a third destinations we had hospitals that were made up we had patients that were going in and out of town um both ways so our ability to transfer those patients became very evident into what we had to do and we had to make sure that we had enough families to do so so that opened up the doors for us to be able to evaluate all the components that impact the patient transfers not an emergency patient transfers as well as emergency patient transfers so we started looking at all the components we started working with all our partners all our stakeholders and started getting input from them and started really understanding how the impact that those going on so we meet with we meet with our partners stakeholders monthly and quality and we address any concerns we represent with our meetings we represent the ambulance transfer service emerging non-emergent and so when they when we've been together and we discuss any any uh issues that they might have with transfers we we write we right away we try to find the root cause because like the chief said it doesn't benefit us it doesn't benefit the city if we need an additional ambulance transfers and they and they cannot perform it is uh services that are available are not meaning that the criteria because that falls in the city to provide that service so we evaluate the needs we evaluate the situations and then we go ahead and try to address them but in all the meetings they've had you know in other other abuse I've had with the stakeholders in all the companies that I review lack of ambulance service provides is not one of the reasons why that is not the root cause say we we give you examples just like they did of whether the root causes and some of the things that we discovered and he falls back to what Chief said staff is an issue Staffing at the hospitals Staffing at the nursing homes Staffing at those facilities still lays transports uh what are you in the wrong service delays transports you know we're we're victims ourselves when we deliver a patient to a hospital we wait because there's not enough Staffing there's not enough room when we pick up a patient and do an emergency transfer from one facility to another we wait because there's not enough Staffing there's not enough room at the other facility and all the stories that they mentioned some of the stories they mentioned we did investigate those incidents and we found the root cause of it and it was not a lack of shortage of stuff so when we come up here and explain to you that there is not a need is because we've done a due diligence in looking at and assessing the needs of the community the needs of those facilities and if there is the need for Diamond service that's just the reason why thank you sir and uh with with El Paso's growth and with the uh with the uh migrant issue uh and this this community just expanding both ways east west north uh South uh you still feel that you're adequate enough to to provide that service for everyone yes sir we still feel it's adequate enough simply because it said there's metrics that we put in the audience to make sure that they're they're compliant and that they're meeting the needs of the community now we'll say management might be some might be seem like long time for some some individuals the thing is it's not emergency transports anything that is under 60 Minutes that a hospital needs we're there to respond we're there to do those transports because they're no longer non-emergent there's a need for this individual to be transported and so we step up to the plate and we transport those individuals the private ambulances are not allowed or the ordinance are not allowed to go with lights and service across the street when they do transfers because they're not emergency social emergency transports are done by us and so as again I sit here and say based on the evaluation that we've done and the opportunities that we have with our stakeholders should be able to have that open communication uh in in meeting their needs I can say honestly sit here and say that there is not a need for another additional having service and the current issue I understand was uh paramedics correct it is paramedics and how do you how does fire departments is able to sustain all the paramedics for their ambulances as well yes sir so there is a national shortage of EMTs Across the Nation and so to the point where the Senate plate has been passed to provide funding you know for for the State of Texas in a region we are we're going to receive over 640 000 uh in one is to go ahead and provide training provide uh provide training retention and recruiting and that one is going to committee but it's not the only thing that that's going to be impacted because there's not enough uh accredited programs to be able to put instant paramedics there's not enough Clinical Services to be able to sustain a vast amount of paramedics and EMTs and so the way the fire department does it is number one we do we do have a recruiting number two we put our paramedics to our own training program so we're able to go ahead and and increase our numbers I mean I'll be honest we struggle too because of the shortage of EMTs in the industry but we take a individual from the street and we train them how to be an EMT in through our program okay and my final statement is I guess would be that the the fact is that uh uh the delays really really bother me on that because whether it's emergency or non-emergency every patient is critical every person um and so I I thank you for the input and I thank you for for presenting what you present thank you so much thank you thank you Chief uh representative um Salcido thank you mayor um I do share a couple of concerns as representative Canal has mentioned and also representative Rivera but I do have some more I do have additional questions for you um in regards to this franchise has this company satisfied all the franchisee requirements to be approved I believe the inconsistencies within the application are making us give you the recommendation that they should not be considered for franchise um application please excuse me please and so basically if this is in front of us is because it's fulfilled the requirements in order to come before us for a vote correct correct okay um so what what are the current wait times that you're seeing I know that I saw this chart but when you said that's the minimum 80 minutes you said or what are what are we currently seeing right now the weight well based on the the the graph that we had provided you um you could see that some of the ambulance providers are actually meeting the 80 minute Threshold at least 98 of the time and do we currently pay over time for our fire department to handle non-emergency transfers do we pay overtime do we currently use our our EMT or our trucks in order to address these needs so if if somebody was not meeting a metrics or if the the the the there was a complaint coming from a hospital provider or a medical provider we would use on duty staff to so we would take from emergent our on-duty staff to address those those wait times okay and does this franchise provide revenue for the city of El Paso I'm sorry does this franchise provide additional Revenue to the city of El Paso yes yes okay you know and that's how thank you so much for answering all my questions I you know I'm always in support for a qualified competitors a competition always can drive wait times lower we know right now over 80 minutes I think that any any other additional help will help with those wait times and ultimately the voters when the the constituents when El Paso wins if they can get a ambulance service to them faster than than anything I think if I know that you mentioned some metrics here and if something wasn't too pan out this is the contract that can be easily I guess reverted or I guess taken away is that is that also an option right so if any of our if any of our franchisees are not meeting the the obligations of the franchise or are operating outside of the franchise then yes we can we could take action what are the metrics that they have to meet for us if this franchise is um approved so the and and I I'll defer to Chief delades he's more intimately familiar with all the metrics that that are listed out