What a nice full room. Yeah. I don't see them. Yeah. Okay. Well, good morning everyone and welcome to city council chambers. It's good to see a a full room today and I hope everyone has had a great holiday season and it uh is a great start to the 26 new year. Miss Pry. >> Good morning everyone and welcome to the presentation of the mayor's proclamations. We begin this morning with a pledge of allegiance with students from the Alysia Archon International School in Isleta Middle School and Eastward Nolles International School. At the invitation of City Representative Lily Lemon, we have Alexa Salenas, Luis Diego Salenas, and Ari Ariana Chavez. >> Good morning. >> Hi. Good morning. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Is this >> my little one? >> No. >> Thank you. Thank you, Josh. >> It's not yours. >> My chair was really thin today. >> Oh, we found your chair. >> I think we found your chair. I am start off the year right. >> Why didn't you? >> I got lazy. >> All right. Ready? One, two, three. It's not like >> cut my head on. >> Yeah, my chair wasn't that stretched. >> So, >> yeah. Thank you for your help. I thought you guys >> kind of just lining bothering me. >> You guys please be seated. Well, as we bring this uh first city council meeting to an order, I just want to reflect on last year and and let everyone know not to forget what happened in the past. So, this actually marks one year for us that are sitting on this das six of us that we were sworn into office. So, it's been a really really good year for for us and we have a wonderful year ahead of us. So, congratulations to all the city council members uh that were sworn in today, a year ago, and it's been a great year, and I'm looking forward to a wonderful 2026 with you guys. So, congratulations. >> Okay, Miss Fry. >> Yes, mayor. That brings us to the mayor's proclamations. For those of you receiving a proclamation this morning, your group will have up to four minutes collectively to come to the podium and receive the pro proclamation. The first proclamation is Lady Rumble Day. Wow, look at this. >> Wow. >> Mhm. Wow. >> Wow. Look at this. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Thank you guys for having us. Good morning, >> Johnson and members of city council. My name is Franchesca Hakov. >> Give me Give me one quick second repres. >> We're going to read something first. >> Oh, go ahead. >> Thank you, Mayor. As we see all the accolades and all the excitement that you've brought to El Paso, I'm going to read the proclamation and then we'll we'll hear from you. The proclamation save El Paso, Texas. Whereas Lady Rumble Basketball, a proud 501c3 nonprofit organization based in El Paso, empowers young female athletes through competitive basketball mentorship and academic support, ensuring that every girl has the opportunity to pursue excellence by removing financial barriers. And whereas Lady Rumble has risen to national prominence, winning the 2025 AAOU World Championship and the 2025 West Coast National Championship and is consistently ranked among the top youth basketball teams in Texas and the nation, establishing El Paso as a rising force on the national stage. And whereas the team composed of dedicated athletes in the class of 2032 has proudly represented our city in Dallas, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Nashville, dominating their competition through resilience, talent, and teamwork against some of the most elite programs in the nation. And whereas under the leadership of coach Francesca and Albert Hakovo, Lady Rumble has built a culture of discipline integrity and sportsmanship, cultivating not only championship athletes, but also future leaders who embody the values of hard work, unity, and perseverance. And whereas Lady Rumble continues to push boundaries for El Paso athletics by striving to become the first team from El Paso to qualify for Nike Junior EyL, the nation's most prestigious youth basketball circuit. An achievement that would place El Paso basketball family on the map and open doors for other local athletes. and now therefore be a proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso recognizing Lady Rumble's mission to inspire young women to dream boldly, pursue education, and embrace community, proving that with opportunity and support, our youth can excel at the highest levels while bringing pride and recognition to the city of El Paso. Sign the Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson. Good morning. >> Good morning, Mayor Johnson and members of city council. My name is Francesca Hakobo and I am one of the proud head coaches of Lady Rumble Basketball, a registered 501c nonprofit organization and elite girls basketball program. On behalf of our entire program, I want to thank you for this incredible honor. Lady Rumble competes against the strongest youth basketball programs in the country. And over the past two years, our results speak for themselves. We have won 11 regional championships, one international tournament, and this past summer, we dominated this national stage, capturing two national titles, the AA World Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, and West Coast National Champion in Las Vegas. >> Wow. Um, I just wanted to end with the continued success of our program is made possible by community support and donations which are vital to removing financial barriers and allowing us to continue developing confidence, disciplined young women who excel on the court, in the classroom, and in life. We invite the community to follow our journey on social media as we continue representing El Paso on the national stage. Thank you, Mayor Johnson and Council for recognizing these athletes and for supporting programs that invest in the future of our youth. Thank you. >> Now, coach, do we have enough time for them to introduce themselves? >> Oh, sure. >> Do you want one by one? >> Sure. >> Go ahead, Charlotte. Remember, >> good morning. My name is Charlotte Dudon. I'm from um the east side and I'm in sixth grade. >> Good morning. My name is Alina Navarete. I'm from the Upper Valley and I'm in sixth grade. >> Good morning. I'm AA Salceto. I'm from the east side and I'm in sixth grade. >> Good morning. My name is Amari Car. I live on the northeast and I'm in sixth grade. >> Good morning. My name is Arena Pew. I live on the west side and I'm in sixth grade. Good morning. My name is Ania Burrow. I am from the east side and I'm in sixth grade. >> Good morning. My name is Hannah Hakovo. I'm from the east side and I'm in sixth grade. >> Good morning. My name is Maya Blackco. I'm from the Northeast and I'm in sixth grade. >> Good morning. My name is Mia Fain. I'm from Santa Teresa and I'm in sixth grade. Good morning. My name is Kayen Taco. I'm from the east side and I'm a sixth grader. Good morning. My name is Jelina Hernandez. I'm from Katio, Texas and I'm in seventh grade. Good morning. I'm Camila Hall. I'm from the east side and I'm in seventh grade. >> Good morning. My name is Elsie Salceo. I'm from the east side and I'm in seventh grade. Good morning. My name is Lana Watts. I'm from the east side and I'm in eighth grade. >> Good morning. My name is Natalya Varela. I'm from the west side and I'm in eighth grade. >> Good morning. My name is Celeste Hill. I'm from the east side and I'm in eighth grade. Good morning. My name is Lucy Woodard. I'm from the east side and I'm in eighth grade. >> Good morning. My name is Victoria Sanchez. I'm from the west side and I'm in seventh grade. Good morning. My name is Angelique Rios. I'm from Anthony and I'm in seventh grade. >> Good morning. My name is Alana Alfia Stukes. I'm from the Northeast and I'm in seventh grade. >> Is that it? What about the other coach? >> Parent. Okay. Well, you know, we we know the hard work and dedication that goes into winning championships. And it's my understanding that you guys train year round, even on weekends. So, that dedication is incredible. I also watched you guys on YouTube at one of your semifinals where you uh your game against the West Texas Blazers. You guys remember that game? And you beat them up pretty good. And the score that I saw was 30 to to 54. So you guys are really really good. You have a really nice uh games out there on YouTube that anyone wants to watch that go out and take a look. They're really really good games and you guys are very very talented. And coach, can you tell us can you come back up and maybe tell us some ways we can support you guys? >> Oh, thank you. Um honestly, it's just donations. we we really look to the community because a lot of these girls do have some financial barriers and so just getting our name out there. We we do a lot of um fundraising in in our local community and and it takes a community to help a group like this get recognized in that national level. We're actually thankful to those who have already donated and helped us out um you know by spreading the word, reposting us. uh we we've gotten to to get to that national stage because of of the community themselves. So just community support is really what we need for these girls because it's not cheap getting these girls out of El Paso to compete at that national level. And so we just need community support overall is what we do need. >> Okay. Good. And and your community is behind you and >> they are. Yes, sir. They have been. Yes. >> Good. And and and again we want to thank you guys for all that you've done. Continue to do good in school. continue to represent El Paso on the national stage. We are so very, very proud of you and the city of El Paso is behind you. So, congratulations you guys. >> Thank you guys. Thank you so much. >> Charlotte, go that way. Baby, you're going to take a picture, babe. Go that way. Uhhuh. Uh, how we set up when we uh win. Miss Bryan. >> And the next proclamation is Estin Davis Day. >> Representative Rocha. Thank you, mayor. I'll let everyone come up to the podium. It is my esteemed honor to be reading this proclamation this morning. Hold on. There we go. Whereas Estee Davis was a true icon in El Paso, an entrepreneurial pioneer who for more than 70 years operated Eststein's East Side Barber Shop at the corner of Pedras and Alameda, becoming one of the first black women business owners in El Paso, Texas. And whereas her barberh shop blossomed into a place of fellowship, cultural pride, and community connection, featuring her renowned wall of fame, honoring notable black Americans, including the history making 1966 all black starting lineup of the Texas Western Miners. And whereas Estee Davis extended her entrepreneurial spirit beyond her barberh shop by founding Est's fashion model agency, the only blackowned modeling agency of its kind in the southwest for more than 30 years and by establishing the Miss Black El Paso Southwest Scholarship Pageant, which empowered countless young women with confidence, opportunity, and educational support. And whereas she also helped co-found the McCall neighborhood center, an essential cultural and historical hub in El Paso and served as a devoted member of Shiloh Baptist Church for more than seven decades, shaping youth programs, community events, and the longstanding annual Easter parade that brought families together year after year. And whereas her leadership extended into historical preservation as well as she served as president of the El Paso chapter of the 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Association, helping to honor and preserve the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers. And whereas Estee Davis's life was defined by service, mentorship, creativity, and a deep commitment to uplifting her community, leaving an indelible legacy that continues to inspire generations of El Pasoans. And whereas her passing at the age of 92 is felt as a profound loss across the city, but her impact will endure through the institutions she built, the people she touched, and the history she preserved. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of this city of El Paso, encouraging all residents to honor her memory by continuing her lifelong work of empowerment, service, cultural pride, and community uplift. November 14th shall be known as Estee Davis Day. Signed by the Honorable Mayor, Renard Johnson. >> Thank you. GOOD MORNING. >> GOOD MORNING. Good morning. Yeah, you have to excuse me a little bit because I've been fighting what I think calling the flu. >> Yes. >> So, the last several days I've been down, but uh through my relatives, they've given me a few shots, good shots, not not bad shots, safe shots, and I've made sure I was prepared for today. Okay. Thank you all very much for this this wonderful way of honoring my mother, Mayor Johnson, city council, all the members, and probably more important the people that are in the stand back behind me who have worked with me, worked with my mother in particular and all the things that she had she did for the community. Quickly though, on September the 25th, 2022, we forced my mother to retire. If some of y'all may remember, we had to force her to get out of the barber shop. And a week later, she got into put on a robe, forced me to to drive her down on Alamita Street and said, "I have something I want to show you." We made a right turn by Jefferson High School. We rode all the way down Alamita to Pedras and she told me, "Drive slow." And she said, "I want you to look on the left and the right side and see what going on." I didn't know what she wanted me to look at, but by the time we got there, she said, "I have a mission for you. I want you to rebirth what used to be East Side South Central." My mother had a love and a passion for South Central. She was committed to the brown, black, and white members of her community. And especially her partnership with the business community. She was a staunch advocate for everything that was important about South Central. In fact, she had an opportunity to move and live somewhere else that I was trying to push her to. and she said, "I'm not leaving my house. It's in South Central." She built it. South Central was so important to her that she'd even walk and visit the different restaurants, eat in those different restaurants, and they remember her when we had the homegoing service. But the other thing that she felt was so important was finding a way so that her community could be the best that it could be and the people in that community. She loved everyone and many of you remember because some of those who mayors, judges, etc. used to walk by her barber shop when they were going to Buoie or to Jefferson High School and she would always wave at him every morning, never turning anyone down. When she said rebirth east side central, that gave us the vision to create a 5013C initiative called the East Side Central Coalition and our focus on rebirth in that community. In the next uh months and years, we're going to hope to be her force working through her vision to deliver on that promise. Thank you. Representative Canales. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, and I think almost everyone in the room uh knows the impact that Miss Esteine Davis had on this community and continues to have, as you said, Mr. Davis, through uh the the lasting impact of of the things that she has set up. Um, I think it's important to give a plug to the Black Business Living Museum. Uh, this is a project of the East Central Coalition. um that is open at 106 North Pedras in the building of the uh of the barber shop. Uh it has it has preserved Miss Estein's barber shop, including her historic wall of fame. Uh but also features uh a really uh important and powerful exhibit in the back uh about the neighborhood, about black business in El Paso, um and about the contributions of your mother and her neighbors and her friends and everybody who worked hard to uh make that community what it was. And so, um, I I think everybody in El Paso should go look at this museum. Uh, it's not large. One can go and and, uh, read through it and learn from it in a short amount of time. Uh but they should go because uh I think uh what what you all in the East Side Central Coalition are doing there is is capturing a very important piece of El Paso's uh history and as you said uh pushing pushing into the future to to help that neighborhood uh to to become the the jewel of El Paso that it has always been and and and uh will be in the future. So, um, with that said, I I just wanted to, uh, say that I think you know as well as anyone, your your mother touched a lot of people. >> Um, she cut a lot of people's hair, first of all, that shop was open for quite a long time, but but beyond that, um, you know, she she really has been a pillar of our community for so long. and um and my my condolences to to you and your family and um I I want you to know that that uh all of El Paso uh stands with you and and remembers your mother uh and I I think will continue to do so for quite a long time because uh she's she's made a huge impact. So >> thank you. Thank you, >> Representative Fier. >> Thank you, Mayor. You know, the the last time we had the pleasure of of seeing your mom was at the uh history museum and there was an exhibit there and she's just the most dynamic person and she left a lasting mark on my daughter. Uh my daughter's 16 years old now. I guess it was a year and a half ago, two years ago when this event happened. But she's just she's just a dynamic woman. I had the honor and pleasure during the 87th session to um file HR 1042 uh in in honor of your your mom and all the great things that she did in El Paso and and Representative Rocha touched on many many great things that she she did in our community. The one thing she left out, and I had to bring it up because Bernie Olivas is in the audience, is she was responsible for a whole bunch of Sumbo floats and helping uh decorating, designing them, and so it's she just touched everybody. Thank you for everything you you've done for us and she did for us and and for being here and allowing us this opportunity. Thank you Mayor. >> You got it. And my friend, I'm just going to add a few things here that you know your mother most may not know, but she moved here at the age of six from Troy, Texas >> to El Paso. And she started cutting hair originally on Fort Bliss in in the 1950s. And she was a mentor to so many, especially our youth. And as represent FO mentioned, most people don't know, but she helped design floats for the Thanksgiving parade beginning in 1982. I will always remember uh your mom's warmth and unwavering dedication to this community and she was always uplifting others and uh she is truly an icon of El Paso and her passing leaves so much work for us to continue to do. And I know that you're going to continue the legacy and all the great work that your mom wanted you to do. And your mom was not only a person that uh when I was young, I remember going into the barber shop, you know, my uncle took me in there and I remember your mom uh for all of the great thing that she's done for this community. So today we're honoring your mother and congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. May I quickly say when you went into that chair, I hope she didn't smack you across the head like the countless many others she used to smack in the head for not acting right or not. >> She was your mother. I can tell you that. >> Thank you, my friend. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. How we doing? Good to see you sir. All right, let's go ahead and do two rows. If you're a little shorter, I'll have you selfidentify and come on up to the front. They're Yeah just >> Oh my god. Give me my number. >> You remember me from the >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay, Miss Brian. >> The final proclamation is Lonear Emmy Awards. >> Good morning. If we could have all of the Lonear Emmy Award winners come forward please. >> Wow, look at this. >> We're waiting for a few more. Wow. >> Yeah. Look at >> Good morning everyone. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Mayor, it is it is indeed an honor. I've done this twice before um in my first term to recognize the Lonear Emmy award winners from our area. And because um this is an honor that is bestowed on Telundo and PBS, uh I'm going to do something a little bit different with your permission. >> Sure, let's do it. Emmy Lonear Academia National Emmy Reales. import. Noticios lonear excellencia narult info. The testimony. National PBS Lonear Emmy Award winners day. Good morning. >> Morning. >> Morning. >> Look at all those emies. This is great. >> You guys have the mic. >> Alejandro. >> Good morning. My name is Alinda Garcia. I'm the news director for Noticia's El Paso or Alvent as many of you know it. Uh we have been informing and empowering the El Paso community for over 40 years and today I feel pleased to receive this recognition. Canalis was nominated for the Lonear Emmy Awards, one of the most prestigious awards journalists can receive. We were nominated for 14 categories, winning six out of those nominations, including best morning show, reports on border issues, diversity, public service announcement, producer, and photographer. I strongly believe that our job is more important than ever. Many of our community members rely on us to understand not only local but also state and federal laws and any changes that come as the year uh 2026 starts and under this administration as well. Therefore, I personally want to express my gratitude to city rep Leillemon for acknowledging the hard work that every single day one of the individuals, all of the individuals that are here in front of you do cuz news never stop. Thank you. >> Good morning. Good morning, uh, Mayor Bernard, city council members, uh, represent El Paso team, I want to express our deepest gratitude to the El Paso City Council for this incredible recognition, winning 12 Lawnstar Emmy awards, including best newscast in Texas best breaking news coverage, best documentary, and honors for our anchors and reporters is a tremendous achievement. But beyond the awards, we truly what truly define us, it's our mission. To be a newscast with a human face in a city like El Paso, Spanish language news is essential. We don't just report tragedies. We highlight stories of resilience, success, and hope. We are also the only station serving our community with the Telmundo response consumer unit, Telmundo Quarentayo Responde, where we recovered more than $700,000 for people affected by fraud, broken promises, and unfair practices. That's real service. That's commitment. This recognition belongs not only to us but to the entire community that trusts us every day. We will continue working with passion to inform, protect, and celebrate the stories that unite us. Together, let's keep proving that local journalism matters and that we serve if that if we serve with heart, we can change lives. Thank you, El Paso, for allowing us to be your voice. Thank you. Thank you. >> Can Can we get >> from PBS? Someone from PBS. >> Good morning. >> You guys are such great speakers. Um I tend to be behind the camera. Um but I just wanted to share my gratitude as well to everyone here in city council and uh as a nonprofit PBS El Paso has really um put in the work this year. And I mean, for as long as I've been with PBS, we've really put in the work, and it's such an honor, and we don't take it lightly, to have the responsibility of telling the stories through a more educational lens. Um, it is my honor to be producer at PBS El Paso, and it is my honor to be able to tell the stories of El Paso. Um, we won this award for a story called Nagra Dal Lupe, a symbol of hope in the borderland. And I'm just so extremely proud to be able to shed some light um and be part of the storytelling of the amazing culture and the amazing art that El Paso has to offer. We've been through so much as a nonprofit organization losing our federal funding. So right now, uh we do ask our community of El Paso that if you would like to protect your local public media, just make any donation that you can possibly make at this time. And we really really appreciate all the support our amazing community has given us. Um, we are on a low budget being a nonprofit, so this really, really means so much that we were able to get this recognition. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, there there's a lot of familiar faces to us that are there. So, would they mind coming up and introducing themselves? >> Uh, yes. Good morning. I'm one of the news anchors for Thank you so much. >> Hi, good morning. I'm Chantel Sanores. I'm the evening news anchor and also I'm in charge of the respond unit. Thank you so much for this recognition. >> Hi, good morning. I'm Sophia Perez. I'm a reporter for Telmundo. uh one of the reporters that's always calling you to do interviews. So yeah, but thank you very much for this recognition. Um a lot of the times we divide into, you know, this is my news team, this is my news team, but we are all journalists and we're always working for our community. >> Thank you guys. Who's next? Come. >> Sorry, I missed the ladies first, but uh my name is Emanuel Espara and I'm the sports anchor at Tundo and thank you for having us. Hello. Good morning. Hello, good morning everyone. My name is Jacqueline Mata, week news anchor and weather presenter. But most importantly during the weekdays, you can see me being a reporter and doing what my passion is, reporting on community issues. And as the Lonear Emmy award that I won, border issues that impact my community, my hometown. Thank you all for this um acknowledgement and the fact that we're bringing quality journalism to this community, to this city. And also thank you so much to my team and Alina Garcia, my news director for believing not only in me but in each and every single one of the team members and onas paso. Thank you all. >> Hello. My name is Stephanie Chavez. I'm a reporter but sometimes I anchor, sometimes I do weather. But no matter what I do, um I remember that I am the voice of my community. And it is an honor to do it in Spanish as well because we have a lot of our community that are Hispanics and they also need to know what is going on. And I know um we represent you guys. We're your voice as well. So, thank you for all you do and also acknowledging all our Hispanic journalists that we are also the community and thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Hi, Miguel Contas, reporter for channel 26. Uh and Hola Constan. >> Good morning, everybody. >> Good morning. >> Thank you for this recognition and uh we're very proud. I'm personally very proud to be working with such good people and such uh professional people. Uh PBS. Is that it? Well, thank you guys for everything that you do for El Pas. Is there one more? >> Yes, I thought so. >> Sorry. Well, first I forgot to say my name. My name is Valeria Lisa Perez. But also, I wanted to um mention the uh senior producer, also our station manager. She wasn't able to be here, Emily Des Santos as well. >> Oh, very good. >> Well, thank you guys for all that you do for El Paso. And I just wanted to to let everyone know that some of the other media markets that you guys beat out for the Lonear Emmy Awards, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and the RGV. And look at all these awards here. And again, this this recognizes the highest professionals and honors for regional TV. It's judged by your peers, TV professionals from around the regions. And there's a lot of Emmys there. And firsthand, I know what it takes to to bring home an Emmy. And uh my daughter's mother has a few of those Emmys uh in her in her possession as well. So, I understand what it takes. And I want to thank you guys for all that you do for the community, the stories that you tell, and just the professionalism that you have shown to El Paso for the many, many, many years that you have been doing this. So, a big big congratulations to each and every one of you. And you've walked in with so many Emmys this year. Maybe next year it'll be double that amount because it is very, very hard to do. And and I know some of you are doing double duty, some of you are doing weather, some of you are doing reporting, some of you are MMJs. You guys are doing whatever it takes to get the stories done. So, thank you for representing El Paso and always shining a bright light on this community. Thank you guys. It's the studio. Yeah. Congratulations. Okay. >> Okay. Okay, Miss Bryan, you ready? >> You ready? >> Yes, Mayor. >> Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso City Council for Tuesday, January 6, 2026. Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in council chambers along with Mayor Pro Tim Chavez, Representative Aso, Representative Boyjo, Representative Nino, alternate Mayor Pro Tim Fiero, Representative Lemon, and Representative Canales. It is 10:02 a.m. Now, will everyone please silence their electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by El Paso Police Senior Chaplain David Mayfield. Good morning. Happy new year. I invite those present to join me as I pray. Gracious God, as we gather at the beginning of a new year, we give thanks for the gift of time, for renewed purpose, and for this opportunity to serve once more. We thank you for the city of El Paso, its deep roots, its border location that shapes our identity, and its people whose lives are intertwined across cultures, nations, and generations. In this place of meeting and movement, of challenge and opportunity, help us to see not only issues to be managed, but neighbors to be served. As this council begins its work for 2026, grant wisdom for the decisions that affect our economy, our workforce, and the livelihoods of families throughout this region. May policies foster opportunity, fairness, and long-term stability so that work is dignified, businesses can flourish, and no one is forgotten. In matters touching the border, grant compassion alongside clarity, cooperation alongside responsibility. Help leaders seek solutions that are humane, lawful, and attentive to the real lives impacted by every decision. Bless the conversations held here today. Give patience when perspectives differ. courage when difficult choices must be made and unity of purpose in seeking the common good. May this new year be marked by thoughtful leadership, shared responsibility and hope for all who call El Paso home. We offer this prayer in a spirit of gratitude and hope. Amen. Thank you. Okay, Miss Bryan. >> Thank you. That brings us to public comment on consent agenda and regular agenda items. This morning, we have Miss Jamie Fiser who signed up to speak at 10:00 regarding item number 27. Item 27 is a the award of solicitation 2025 0545 East Regional Park phase 2 to Grayson Engineering and Construction. Good morning, Miss Fischer. You have three minutes. >> Good morning, city council and Mr. Mayor. >> Good morning. >> My name is Jamie Fischer. I'm the founder of Pickle Ball El Paso. And with me today, I have our new president, Ida Chvida, and a couple of our members. And we are all thrilled, so excited to see that the beast has moved into the approval phase with 10 pickle ball courts in it, needless to say. So, this has been an arduous, a long process. I remember seeing Representative Nino at the public comment meetings along with his predecessor, Representative Salceto. I know Dion Mack worked on this hard and we've got to do a shout out to Carla and the capital improvement team people. It's been a long process, so we're glad to see it come to fruition. We would have more people here. We usually fill up a couple of rows, but we got caught in the holiday switch over and we've got people taking their parents to the doctor and going back to work. So, please know that they are here with us in spirit and they're excited for this project to begin. So, speaking of the holidays, I was truly blessed to have both of my adult children home for the holidays, plus the husband and the girlfriend. And my husband said, "Uh, what are we going to do together?" And it was him that suggested pickle ball, not me. I don't My children did not get the sports gene. I think they were switched to the hospital. But they're lovely people. They're lovely people. So, we're going to keep them. So, anyway, they all said, "We can't do that. We don't have the hand to ball, but the paddle is so short." I said, "You're going to do this." And we went out there and we just started whacking at stuff. And there was laughter and there was joy and we had a great time. And so, that's one thing this sport's good for because the paddle is small and easy to handle. It's quick for people to learn. Now, for the rest of us and the rest of the year at our facilities, we have open play and there's a paddle rack. You put your paddle in. About every 20 minutes, people come off the court and the next four go in. So, you don't have to know anybody. You don't have to set up a match. And this is priceless for our military people. When they relocate to El Paso, they show up to play and they get to meet people. It's also great for the tourists. I've been to other cities and you can't walk in a public gym unless you buy a membership. Cincinnati, nobody's saying who it is. My daughter lives there. But we are doing a great job taking care of all parts of our community. It's physical, it's social, and this is going to be a great boom for El Paso. I hope you will support uh agenda item 27. Thank you. >> Thank you. That brings us to call to the public. The El Paso City Council is the local government body charged with serving the citizens and the meetings must be focused on the meeting at charge. The city council meetings are public meetings under the Texas Open Meetings Act. Public comment is an accommodation and not a requirement of city council. All persons in attendance are expected to display civility and decorum that is respectful to other persons without the use of insulting, profane, threatening, or abusive language. Public comment will not be used for personal attacks, nor may any member of the public use this forum for political statements or campaigning. Please note that during call to the public, the city council may not deliberate or decide any subject that is not on the agenda. However, council may propose that a topic brought forth be posted on a future agenda. This morning, we have eight members of the public that signed up to speak. The first person is Elizabeth Crawford. I don't see Miss Crawford in the queue. We'll move on to Claudia Contra Siller and Miss Siller's topic is creal and she will be sharing her comments in Spanish. We will be using Wartley this morning. You can follow along by scanning the QR code that's going to appear on the screen. But first, I'm going to say a words in English. I've been coming here 11 months and I I have the Mexican flag here. I don't know it's not why it's not appearing in Okay, here it is. So, I want to congratulate all the news anchors that were here earlier and that's proof that uh Mexicans can achieve everything. I was raised in Huarees. I w I came here without speaking any English. And right now my mission is to tell people to wake up and report animal cruelty. Also, I want to say thank you to everybody that showed up to my party to back the blue and also against animal cruelty. The community believes in the mission. I got several businesses to back me up including Social Bakery. They donated 60 breads, blue breads to back the blue. Please flood them with business and uh animal cruelty. say animal services return. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Ron Ko. Mr. Ko's topic is exercising his constitutional rights to the rescue 1983 animal services. He will be followed by Karen Washington. Good morning. >> Good morning. I'm sorry. Good morning, Ron. >> This morning trying to get rid of a picture so I can get to the others. So, here we are. First meeting of 2026. And we still have the same old problems. Hopefully, we're going to get them fixed. Um, there was in your positive meetings a comment made by somebody that they didn't want best friends involved with our shelter anymore. And I understand that Terry said that wasn't up to her. It was up to the people. Okay, so let's discuss this. Protesters act El Paso leaders for better care for abandoned animals in the city. Kay Fox El Paso Animal Services criticized for handling of stray animals. Uh, Facebook login found lost pets podcast stray leadership. Why city of El Paso is again looking for animal services directors after years of turnover and public criticism. Enough is enough. El Paso protests about stray and loose. Your community is speaking loud to you. The problem isn't that the people want best friends. The people don't want best friends. But nobody's paying attention to what your community is saying. Definitely. This is something that just needs to end, guys. We've got a chance of fixing the city and we need to do it. Um uh representative, this is uh I forget what station it is, called for high number of stray cats and dogs as a public safety issue. As city council, we have to really step up to the plate for the safety of the community when it comes to animals. So, what have we done? That was a little over a year ago that was said. If you want more, Google it. We have had enough. perfect example of things that shouldn't be happening that do. El Paso, Texas animal services shelter report 2124 in the missing calling column. In other words, strays that disappeared that were in the shelter. We have um 542 across the line. Yet in the shelter report, it shows a total of 11. How did we go from 542 to 11? Okay. The the other thing, dog live release rate, it shows a total of 5246 and cat 4522, which gives you an actual of 48.84 84 live release rate. According to the shelter report, it's 84%. Where was ASAC when they were going over the shelter reports to point out the fact that somebody altered the shelter reports which against the law from what I understand. >> Thank you, Mr. Ko. >> Fix it, guys. >> The next speaker >> is Karen Washington, also speaking on animal services. She will be followed by Darlene Renon. Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor, city council. Happy new year. >> Happy new year. >> I for one and certainly uh hopeful for a better year regarding animal services and animal control. We have here El Paso City Ordinance Title 7. Once a dog comes into the hands of someone and it's not chipped, the owner has three days to come forward. With a microchip, it has six days to come forward. then it becomes property of said person who found the dog. And be honest with y'all, I don't really like coming here. Um, but when an issue arises and I feel it needs your attention, I will be here. So again, I'm going to ask you all, who is running the circus of animal services? There are two issues that I need to voice. Number one, El Paso City Ordinance Title 7. Why have this ordinance if both El Paso Police Department and animal control officers are not aware of it? or maybe they are and they just don't care. I rescued a dog from the middle of the street back in November. I scanned the matted dog. He was full of stickers and I found no microchip. I had him groomed and I got him vet care $400 later. So 11 days later, 11 days, a couple reached out asking if positive still had this dog. To the point, this is to the point. Animal control became involved as well as El Paso PD. It turned out that the dog was chipped and El Paso Police Department threatened that if the dog was not returned to the owner, the foster mom would be charged with theft as dogs are considered property in our great state of Texas. I'm well aware of the dog cases are a civil matter and they must be handled in a court of civil law. I have experience in this. Trust me, it's pathetic that a paid animal control officer did not know Title 7. After six days with the microchip, this dog belonged to positive rescuers. Yet, we were threatened to return the dog. I have filed a complaint, a formal complaint with internal affairs as well because this was not an El Paso Police Department matter, but a civil matter. Number two, New Year's Eve last Wednesday, a dog I rescued back in September had escaped her foster home, and I was asked for help in rescuing her again. So, I set a trap Wednesday evening, Thursday morning, New Year's Day, at approximately 8:00. For some reason, six animal control trucks arrived to the area where my trap was set up. Six trucks for one dog. These animal control officers saw the dog. They followed her in their trucks with their lights flashing as if they were in pursuit of an escaped convict, not a helpless dog. They even had catch poles in hand. She ran for her life, terrified. Now, you all tell me, was this necessary? Forget for a moment that I rescue dogs. I'm a taxpayer. I help pay these employees salaries and I'm disgusted with wasting resources. The unprofessionalism, the lies told about this dog by animal control supervisor that a bite report had been made. Anyway, I we we need somebody in charge of animal that cares. Okay. Thank you. >> The next speaker is Darlene Rinkon. Her topic is also animal services. She will be followed by Denise Rodri Rodriguez. Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor and city council. >> Good morning. >> I'm here to speak on in conjunction with what Karen just said. >> I was the one who went out. I was checking the trap that was set up behind Circle K because we had gotten the report on the dog. I went to check the trap. When I did, I turned around. Here comes an animal control truck. So, I flagged him down thinking, "Okay, they're looking for a dog, not the dog we're looking for. If I see the dog, I can alert them that where it's at." In the meantime, I tell him, he tells me, "Black and white German Shepherd mix." I said, "We've got a trap set up." I pointed behind me to the trap. I said, "We're aware of the dog." On his radio, I hear she's at Southwest University. When I look to my left, coming up behind him is another truck. Now, that's two trucks for one little dog. So, I went back to Southwest University. I go to the ball field where the dog to the left, two animal control officers with catch poles. I see the dog running across the field towards where these guys are. I look to my right, two animal control trucks, catch poles. They're running this poor dog to death. I went out on the street. I'm trying to follow these guys and see what's going on with this dog. Two more animal control trucks. Six. I said, "No, something's not right." So, I went to look for the dog. Couldn't find the dog. They were still out there. And I mean, they're speeding through these streets. Someone would have stepped off the curb, a car pull out in front of them. You're talking about a catastrophic event. But they didn't care because I pulled one of them over and he rolled down his window and I said, "You guys need to back off. We're aware of this dog." I said, "I volunteered." And he's like, "Well, who are you?" And I said, "I volunteer with Positive Rescuers. We're aware of the dog. We have a trap set. She's being handled." Well, that's nice that you have community concern. And I said, "Who are you?" Officer Rivera badge number. And he said, "You have a nice day." And I said, "Please back off. You're scaring the dog to death. She's going to run out into traffic." Nope. They cruise. I mean, they I can't say cruise. It's just like Karen said, like they were chasing down an escape convict. I mean, seriously, what a waste of resources. And these guys don't know what they're doing. I'm sorry. They need to work with an expert. She's been doing this over 23 years. I go out with her. I know how to trap dogs now, but they don't they don't want an a woman, I believe, telling them what to do. And she knows what to do. But these guys are wasting resources. And just like we are taxpayers, we're paying their money. They need to back off. They need to learn and be trained. >> Thank you. The next speaker is Denise Rodriguez. Miss Rodriguez, star six, please to unmute your microphone. Miss Rodriguez's topic is bar regulations on closing times. Good morning. You have three minutes. >> Hi, good morning and happy new year to everybody. Um, my name is Denise Rodriguez and I am a resident here in El Paso, Texas. Today I would like to address the constant increasing number of fatalities that are a result of drunk and reckless driving. As a born and raised citizen of El Paso, Texas, I am not able to recall a day in recent times where a death caused by drunk or reckless driving hasn't occurred. We see a minimum one injury every single day. We should not have to fear leaving our homes due to the lack of action being taken against the matter. Citizens are unfairly losing mothers, fathers, and even children. Our people and children deserve a safe environment. Few years ago, El Paso was considered one of the safest cities in the US. I I encourage you all to ask anybody outside of the city or even state what first comes to mind when El Paso is mentioned. I guarantee the answer would be similar to where the worst drivers are. Recently, we lost a 17-year-old to impaired driving. This is why I am pleading to the council to require all bars and clubs to close no later than than 12 a.m. Those two hours can save a lot of lives, as well as having a mandatory breathalyzer test before exiting the establishment. This would certainly give the people more peace of mind. Thank you for listening to my concerns and please help us create a safer community. Thank you. The next speaker is Jesse Romero. Mr. Romero's topic is San Hasinto Plaza and additional parking. He will be followed by Eduardo Chavez. >> Good morning. >> Morning, city council. Good morning, mayor. >> Morning. that um I worked three days of the week in San Jose Plaza for the uh I was at the Winterfest, excuse me. It was fantastic. That's the only word I can describe about the Winterfest. It was fantastic. And I want to thank the city, the um parks and uh parks and recreation and all the people who worked and put in the music. They had salsa, they had kumbas, they had country. It was fantastic. I spent three days there for a month. I was in heaven. It was more like a family gathering. It really was because they were taking pictures doing doing all kinds of good stuff. So if you didn't get a chance to go to a park, you know, for this weekend or for the Winterfest, if you didn't do it this year, do it next year. It's fantastic. And the best thing to do if it's grow and it grew a lot and we had thousands of people there, but a lot of the people from El Paso and um a lot big section or big part were from Huades Huades and a lot of from Chihuahua. You imagine you come to Chihuahua 4 hours wait an hour and an hour and a half an hour and a half in the line to cross over here and to come shop and everything. And that's good. That's very good for Al Paso. But Winterfest was fantastic. Now how do we make Winterfest better? How about expanding the plaza? It's a small little area, but you can go across the street on the north side and there's parking there. You know, it's it's time for El Paso to grow bigger and make the plaza grow bigger because when I was in when I was younger, I used to sell newspapers there. Yeah, it's a long time ago to the Herald Post. The Her Post is gone. The alligators are gone, but I'm still here. You know, that's the good part. Now, the thing is that we need to grow, you know, the placita because it's good. It's good for tourism. It's good for the people. And it's really nice. The concerts are good. Everything was nice. Now, how do we find parking? Well, you know what? You got to We had parking there for a long time, but we never utilized it. And that's the part on top of the freeway. Think about it. People don't want to come to El Paso or downtown because why? The parking. It is not good. They're saying, "Well, yeah, if I go over there, I have to find this or I'll get a ticket. The tickets cost what? $20 or something like that." I don't know. But we need to get in other words, it would be nice if El Paso thought in the future. You know, we've been here a long time. You know, I've been here and I've seen that. And it would be nice to have the Blista get bigger for more people. It really would be nice. And you say parking, we do have parking spaces right off the street. And it's just a matter of time. And if you all get together and get organized, it'll be good. It'll be good for El Paso. It really good. And be good for tourism. And I was reading the paper that the biggest tourists the biggest uh tourism in El Paso are from Mexico. They really are. And it's really good. It's good for business. It's good for us. And it's good for our stores. Look at Walmart. Look at all the shopping centers who receive all the monies and that money is coming into El Paso. So, thank you very much. Have a good day and um Okay, >> thank you for those comments. >> Wait, that's way to go. Okay, thank you. >> Thank you for the comments. >> The next speaker is Eduardo Chavez. He will be followed by Elizabeth Crawford. Mr. Chavez's topic is water and no more raising our water bill. Guess who? I'm back again. Shake off the new year. Bring it in. Hey, I just left uh that uh yesterday I went to the county meeting and I uh had a good meeting with our uh representative out there in Montana Vista, uh Jackie Butler. She is so nice, so beautiful that she even made a town hall meeting on Thursday for all my people out there to come and and tell them their story about the water and sewer. Plus, I told him, you know, once you're there, tell them your all your complaints. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut because I think it's going to be a big day for her. I feel sorry for her, but she's a beautiful lady. I wish you guys would go out there and tell them home in your neighborhood or your district. I know you used to go with once in a while. And uh um oh, one thing I was going to ask the city manager, who is in charge of uh allocating or uh uh looking over the books or auditing the water department? I think somebody needs to check how much things they're spending. You know, there's u the old uh where we used to pay our bills in uh at airport. They got a fence around the the uh area there. Corkcrew, rod, iron. I mean, I don't even think you guys can afford to have that at your house. Why do we spend something like that on on on municipal money? Secondly, they got all these backup generators, millions of dollars that sitting there. I think one of them is like uh a million and.3 million just sitting there. I've seen one that's been sitting there for since 2006. I don't think it's ever even got started. So, what is that money going to? We have to pay for it. Now, another thing I found out, Dell City, Dell City had the best water ever. Well, now that I've been selling the uh water systems, I found out that they got contaminated water. Well, but the smart people of uh of our water department. Yes, I'm directing you guys. You went and bought all the water right from the people because you thought you were so smart. Get good clean water. Well, God punished us by giving all these earthquakes and now all that water is contaminated. Now the farmers and all the people that are out there want are have rumors that they want to sue the city of El Paso because you got the rights to take care of the water. Are we going to pay for that too? Somebody need to uh come down and and start checking where this money that the the water department wants to get a raise. And before they get a raise, make sure it's going to the right place. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Chavez. >> And the final speaker is Elizabeth Crawford. Miss Crawford's topic is light, darkness, and abortion. Miss Crawford, good morning. You have three minutes. >> Good morning and thank you. Good morning. Oh my on January 6, which is often called three kings day, uh we're reminded of of the magi. As we think about the nativity, the incarnation, we're reminded of light coming into the darkness. King Herod called Herod the Great, the rul ruler of Judea who ruled at the time of the massive Roman Empire when the Lord Jesus conceived by the Holy Spirit was born of the Virgin Mary. The historian Josephus, a Jew who lived centuries back, wrote about Herod. He had a reputation for brutality and cruelty. He's described as paranoid to keep his power and sick with cruelty. In his attempt to destroy the Christ child, desperate to preserve his throne from this king of the Jews that had been born, Herod committed the horrific massacre named in history as a massacre or slaughter of the innocents, wiping out babies in and around Bethlehem, two years old and under. Um, the scripture records this in in Matthew 2. Um, I would like to read some quotes by an abortionist in our day that show a similar brutality, cruelty, sickness of mind that exists to go to work daily and do what abortionists do. Uh, the abortionist sent us these quotations. Quote, "You have to be a bit schizophrenic. In one room, you encourage a patient that the slight irregularity in the fetal heart is not important, that she's going to have a fine, healthy baby. Then in the next room you assure another woman on whom you just did an abortion that it's a good thing that the heartbeat is already irregular. She has nothing to worry about. She will not have a live baby. Another quote somebody has to do it and unfortunately we are the executioners in this instant. Another quote there is a lot of activity in the uterus. That's obviously the fetus being distressed kicking violently. That's to all intensive purposes the death trauma. Um, the abortionist, the life of the abortionist is a dark dark person living in a dark dark world. This month, as as um the the life and legacy of Martin Luther King is being recognized, we need to know that his niece Alvda King is a very outspoken and bold speaker against abortion. She refers to abortion as womb lynching. She herself had several abortions and longs to warn ladies of the devastating aftermath that comes with abortion. Um, and speaking of the Christ child, um, and John John the Baptizer and his announcement of the Christ child, we read these beautiful words in Luke chapter 1 about the Lord Jesus to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their s sins through the tender mercy of our God. Whereby the dayspring from on high visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. The Christ child came to bring light and to dispel the darkness. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That concludes call to the public. That brings us to the consent agenda. >> Okay. >> 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 item has been taken, the item has been approved. Council may however reconsider any item at any time during the meeting. >> Mayor Pro10. >> Thank you, Miss Prine. >> I make a motion to approve the consent agenda with the following revisions. Page 11, item 26, take item to at 11 a.m. per strategic and legislative affairs. Thank you. >> All right, there's a motion. Is there a second? >> Second. >> All right, there's a motion in a second. Any discussion on the consent agenda? >> Miss Prime. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Prom Chavez, seconded by alternate mayor prom to approve the consent agenda as revised. On that motion, call for the vote. Hi, >> Mayor Proim Chavez. >> I thank you. In the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. >> I believe that brings us to the first readings. Miss Fry. >> Yes, sir. This is on page six. And council, per the rules of order, no use of personal cellular devices, no personal communication should take place on the deis while the meeting is in session. Once you obtain the floor from the mayor, you will have up to 10 minutes for debate and may speak twice per debatable motion. Please speak into the microphone and refrain from side conversations at the deas while the meeting is in session. If you're joining us through Teams, please make sure your microphones are muted to reduce any interruptions. >> Represent Lemon. Mayor make a motion to move on the reading of the first uh ordinances. >> Okay. Is there a second? >> Second. >> All right, Miss Prime. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Lily, seconded by Representative Nino, and this is to approve the first reading of ordinances. These are items 10 to 18. On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay, Miss Bryant, we're going to take item number 24 next on page 10. >> Yes, sir. Item number 24 is discussion and action on a resolution to rename East Sai Sports Complex at 14380 Montwood Drive to Richard A. Castro East Site Sports Complex in honor of Mr. Castro's outstanding dedication to the community of El Paso. This is Representative Nino's item. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Can we have a presentation on this one? >> Yes, Mayor. So, um, I'm sure a lot of us are aware of the great work that Dr. Richard Aaso has done. you know, a couple of individuals from the community reached out to my office and they went through the process of obtaining signatures, getting the community involved, getting the parks and wreck recommendation to rename this park. I'm not going to go too much into the background of the work that Mr. Castro has done because there is a great presentation that is about to be presented, but Mr. Castro, thank you for all the work that you have done for our community, the investment in not just sports, but also education. But uh I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Don Leas who's the applicant who has been working along with my office and will be doing today's presentation. Mr. Leas, >> good morning. >> Good morning, city council, mayor, staff, and happy new year. It's a great pleasure of mine to be here to be able to speak on behalf of all of the things that Richard Astro has done for this community. Throughout his career here in El Paso, his focus has been on how can I make the community better. And one of his focuses has been on youth. How can I help youth become the productive citizens that they actually have the right and the ability to to become. So he has focused on sports. Obviously through sports he has become a tremendous mentor for thousands of kids here in El Paso over the decades that he has been doing this. Not only has he given of his wealth, but he has given of his time to be a coach, to be a mentor, to just help these kids understand that they can become anything that they strive to if they have certain disciplines that are really intrinsic to him. And that is you have to have a good work ethic. You have to be responsible. You have to be able to make accountability for yourself. That's what he has done. He is one of the hidden jewels in this community that has really not been recognized to the degree of what he has contributed to the community. There isn't a building in El Paso that's named after him. There isn't anything that is named after him. Not that he has sought that, but he deserves that. He absolutely deserves to have that recognition because he is one of the greatest mentors that this community has had. And yet when people talk about Mr. Castro, they talk about the things that they they know about the the McDonald's. They talk about the McDonald's tournament. The McDonald's tournament serves many purposes that really aren't really known. It allows our kids to be able to be showcased on a national basis. Coaches come in here to recruit kids from high schools. That gives our kids the opportunity to be seen by these coaches. Otherwise, they wouldn't. At one time, Mr. Castro not only funded but coached El Paso teams that went all over the United States playing other teams. What an opportunity for these kids to get out there and be recognized not only for for their talents but just for what they for who they are. He provided that for them. He provided that opportunity for them. He has always known that the the athletic fields whether they it be on a court or on a field was an extension of education. He knew that the learning that was taking place in that environment transferred over to the classroom to life in general. You're going to hear from some people here today that have experienced that benefit of being mentored by Richard A. Castro. I hope that city council today understands that the naming of this park is just the beginning of what should be done for Richard A. Castro and to really immoral immoralize the fact that his contributions will go on for decades. in this park. I would like council to take note that anything else that goes on in this park should be named Richard A. Castro. Whether it be whatever happens, if there's a swimming pool, if there's a any kind of recreation center, it should bear the name of Richard A. Castro. With that, I'll turn it over to uh well, these slides here, these slides are are are something that uh u I need to talk about. These slides talk about all the the things that Richard Castro has done, but they're not just talking about trophies and scoreboards. We're talking about opportunities. opportunities that have been presented because of what Richard A. Costro has done for decades. Dr. Richard Castro didn't just support youth sports financially. He made sure kids who might not otherwise have a chance were able to step onto a field or a court, put on a uniform, and feel like they really belonged. Thousands of young people in El Paso learned discipline, teamwork, confidence, and resilience because someone believed in them before they ever believed in themselves. That kind of impact doesn't end when the game is over. It carries into the classroom, careers, families, and the future. These slides that are being shown here represent more than just programs. They represent life changed. Life changes and overall it has enriched this community because of what he has done. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dan. >> Thank you, Dan. And I believe there's two more individuals that are also going to be speaking who were uh Mr. Kaso was a coach for, right, Mr. Olivus? >> Yes. >> Are they here? >> Yes. >> Yeah. Yeah. Good morning. >> Good morning. Good morning, city council. Good morning, mayor. Um, it's my honor to stand before you. Uh, as we mentioned, Dr. Richard Costro, I know him for the last 40 years as coach. I was one product of his uh, coaching from a young age. Uh, learning the valuable lessons of not giving up, giving everything you have. um he's provided me, you know, besides my my father and my brother, he's been probably the most uh one of my greatest mentors growing up. Uh but it's just the tip of the iceberg. This man has done that for thousands of kids across whether it's through coaching, whether it's through funding, whatever the case may be. This man has always been who what you see. He's a generous uh caring man that really focuses on the youth of El Paso doing the best and leading into education. Education was huge. I was a young man uh that was lost for a while. Uh going back and forth not knowing what to do. He brought me after this was several years after uh being coached by him. He brought me back to help him coach his youngest son uh DJ at that time to coach. And that again reignited the fire inside of me of what I really wanted to do. Uh working with kids was what I want, you know, a passion that I didn't realize how much I wanted. I decided to go back to school. Uh got my education, became a teacher, and now taking the lessons he's instilled in me, I've become a coach outside of a youth organization, and also just trying to teach the same principles that I learned from him. Um again, Mr. Castro is uh most deserving of this award or this recognition. Uh it is like Mr. Oliva said uh pretty surprising that the city we have not named anything after him because of all the contributions. So again really take it uh great consideration in being able to name uh this uh sports complex in his honor. Uh there would be no more deserving person that reflects the true values of our city and our youth. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Leas, is Mr. Omar here as well? >> I don't think so. >> No. Okay. Well, council, Dr. Richard A. Gastro is lasting legacy. From a volunteer coach to a national scholarship leader, Dr. Gastro's contributions have shaped youth sports education and community development for generations to come. So, council a motion to approve. >> Second. >> Okay. Represent represent Lemon. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Richard. Come on up, please. Don't sit back there, Richard. Um, so I've had the great honor of um seeing um your son and my daughter grow up together from that elementary school. And I'll share the story. My daughter would come home and say, "This little kid, mom, he's got McDonald's socks. He's got a McDonald's backpack. He has all this McDonald's stuff. can you get me some? I'm like, oh gee, how do I do that? But it was Richard's son, and it was Vince, who's a wonderful, wonderful young man. Richard, I know that there's a building in your university now that's been named after you. Um, and then now there's going to be a a park. But you carry some of the biggest title already, and that's of being a dad, of having granddaughters, of being a family man from the valley with with such deep roots. You have the honor of calling your aita, your first teacher. Um, and you bring forth to this community so much love. I still remember that first McDonald's that opened up on Hawkins and the joy to see Alicia Chakon serving the first hamburgers that came out from the line. Um, you have been an incredible person, your family. Um, it's been a joy and congratulations there. You carry the best in your heart, Richard. >> Thank you, >> represent Chavez. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh Dr. Castro Felicides, congratulations. I think this is welld deserved and um more than that, it's earned because of your contributions to our community. Um I know that I went to your uh event earlier last year in May, uh your scholarship award event. So many people have benefited from your generosity. Um and I know that education is so important to you. Education is so vital to our community because when we invest in our youth, we invest in our future. And thanks to you, to your generosity, the future of El Paso is looking bright. And also thanks to your generosity and your investment in youth sports, we are creating a healthy community. And by doing that, um, as the person that spoke earlier said, we're challenging our youth to become the best version of themselves. So, thank you. I I agree with Mr. Olivas that your legacy will live on um forever and and we appreciate it and I thank you. >> Thank you. >> And my friend, before we call this vote and give you an opportunity to say some things, I just want to congratulate you as well. >> Thank You have been a mentor to so many of us in this community and you have done so much and you've been doing it for a long time and we cannot thank you enough for all of the youth that you've mentored. Uh all of the you know to include myself being on boards with you whether it is at the Hispanic Chamber or whether it was on one of the hospital boards that we served on. You have been a mentor to me to me as well and I cannot thank you enough my friend and this is welld deserved and we are so proud of you as a community and we are so lucky to have you here because there's not many Richard Castros in in many communities but we're lucky and blessed here in El Paso to have you and I wanted to say thank you. >> So let me call the vote and then we'll give you a few minutes to to talk. >> Mayor, we also have public comment from Mr. Thornton. Yeah, we'll bring him. Okay. >> Good morning, coach. >> Gentlemen, thank you very much. And by the way, esteemed uh Davis earlier, uh she cut my hair while I was in college over 200 times. She slapped me on the head, too. So, I still remember it. So, but this gentleman behind me, Richard A. Castro, ladies and gentlemen, I spent 43 years with the city of El Paso Parks Parks and Recreation. I tell you what, he contributed to our department in so many ways. Lincoln Center, I spent 28 years there. And in those 28 years, three things were born out of Lincoln Center. The greatest events ever for parks and recreation. One, Gus and Goalie, learn to swim. Two, Midnight Basketball, the Junior League of El Paso, and Julie Common. Three was the McDonald's basketball league for kids. All three of those events this gentleman contributed to. I walked up to him like another person said, "Mr. Kashu, can you help us with this? Can you help us?" No problem. Anybody walking the earth in El Paso, Texas? Nobody Nobody can compare to this gentleman with education, scholarships, and our youth than Richard A. Castro. Congratulations, my friend. >> Wow. All right, council. We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion on this particular item? Hearing none, Miss Bryan? >> Mayor, if Mr. Catra is going to speak, it it will happen before the vote. >> Okay. Okay. Yeah, we're going to let you speak now. Thank you. Wow. It What can you say? It's This is obviously so emotional. It so proud. not just for myself but obviously for my family. Uh what is happening today is going to live for generations to come way after I've said goodbye. So, it'll be an opportunity for my family, my friends to speak to that event, to speak to the park. When they think of me, when they speak of me, that will be part of the legacy, that will be part of my being. So, I completely and truly appreciate all the efforts that came from such good friends because they came to me and they talked to me about the desire to have something in my name and that something that they suggested was a park. So, I truly want to thank Wayne Thornon, Joe Rodriguez, my good friend Dana Leas, Joe Rosales, the other two young men that were part of my life and my teams, Omaro Choa, who's now uh officer in the uh with was the border patrol. He went on to get his his he's from the Santoario. I would pick him up every day, take him to practice, then take him back home. Got to know that that's an interesting story. Uh, so many memories. So many memories. What a wonderful life. But I was coaching Joe and the rest of the kids on my team and well, I had a bunch of really good players. So, we were up and up for the championship game and we played the Buoie Bears. Uh, I was so impressed with two of the kids on the on the Buoie Bears team that I recruited them to be on our team and and they went on one of them wanted to play with me for the rest of his school career and made all the trips that we made with us. I when I went to his house to to recruit him, uh his his older brother came up and was very defensive. I mean, who is this guy and why is he asking for my 11-year-old brother and and and so he left and then his mom came up and she questioned me what my my intents were and what I was doing. But she did ask me to come in and I very simply told her I saw him out play. I mean I was very impressed with him. I want him to play with us. And she told me we have very limited resources. So the last thing to worry about. What I want is for him to be on our team and to experience the the things that we're going to be experiencing which is the a lot of the out of town trips. He went on to be a big-time football player at Buouie. Uh even though he was a great basketball player for us. Went on and got his degree at UTP. Became a border patrol member. Got his black degree belt in in martial arts. Became an instructor with a border patrol in in self-defense. And I'm not sure what what rank he is today, but somewhere around the captain level, perhaps even higher. A great success story. Joe, I remember we were at practice and we were practice at at one of the at at Eastwood Heights Elementary and we're warming up and I turn and I see this young guy coming with our point guard. Our point guard was, you know, regular point guard. And Joe was like 11 or 12 years old, but he was like 510. So somewhere around that that height at that time. I looked at him. I turned to my my the individual was helping me coach and I tell him, "We just won the championship." And and and as I found out, Joe had never played before, but he learned very quickly. And we won the championship. So many so so many uh uh uh memories. You know, we talked Dan and and Wayne talked about my contributions and I am so glad that I had the passion and still have the passion for youth programs. I know the value of education. So that's why I I'm a strong advocate of education. But during that course of years that that I have participated first as as given on my time and in every way that I could to include coaching and then later uh not only coaching but providing resources and the the wonderful experiences that all those kids provided to me you you can't put a dollar amount on them. They were so so valuable. Then I carry them with me. I can talk about a number of experiences with with with some of these uh guys. Obviously, we don't have the time, but uh uh I will tell you that that it's been very rewarding. What what initiated the passion for education was my abolita. lived across the driveway from each other and she started aqu neighborhood squealita in the front of her house which she had built with the intent of having that classroom and her vision was to provide an education to all the kids in the vario to include me. She she started that that Squalita many decades before I came around, but I had the opportunity toward the toward the toward the end of her uh career to to attend her school and be part of that. And and she lit the fire for the understanding of the importance of education. Uh I worked my way through college working two jobs. So, I know the value and what it takes for a lot of our kids to go through um a university or a college and get that education. So, when I had the opportunity to start scholarship programs and I have a several of them, I didn't hesitate at all and I intend to continue with all those efforts as long as I am able to. Again, I want to thank all those individuals that make this possible. Special thanks to Councilman Ivan Nino uh for your support. You know, the park is in his district. And I also want to give my sincere appreciation to the entire council and and to you, mayor, for uh making it happen and for your vote uh this morning. You know, when I first walk in to the council chamber, it immediately takes me back to my city manager days >> being in in in in this environment. And I've got to um recognize you all and thank you for your services because being part of the uh city administration for a number of years, I know all the issues that uh you all >> encounter and that you all go through and I want to compliment you on your professionalism. uh some of the comments and issues that came up today used to come up when I was a city administrator and probably come up in most communities and you know the way you handled them was uh impressive. Um, I know you have other items on the agenda. You need to move on, but for this kind of events obviously don't happen very often for me as an individual. It may not happen again. So, I I um appreciate the time and appreciate the action and uh thank you. I want to also recognize before I go my son DJ which is here. I want to recognize my other sons that weren't able to be here but are here in spirit as well as as uh my wife and my younger son that are home but are watching on TV. >> Fantastic. Fantastic. >> Once again, thank you so much and look forward to many years of enjoying the Richard Acast Castro Park. >> Again, Richard, thank you. Richard, again, thank you so much for everything that you've done for our community. I know we've also had a lot of great conversations. He he's also served in even the PSB board. He was a chairman of the PSB board for many years and also worked on a lot of key projects for El Paso Water Utilities. Um, but again, uh, looking forward to the public ceremony, uh, dedication ceremony that we'll organize and thank you again for all your work, Richard. >> Thank you for those comments. One final comment in reference to the public service board and I really enjoyed my service there. I was longest serving chairman of the public service board and the desation plant was my initiative. >> Wow. >> I I I brought that up before the board and I pushed for it. Uh even though there was at least one people that didn't see the value of it at that time, eventually everybody came around and the rest we all are familiar with. Thank you. Thank you. >> All right, my friend. The most important part of this agenda item, Miss Prime. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Nino, seconded by Representative Lemon to approve the resolution to rename the East Side Sports Complex to Richard A. Castro East Side Sports Complex. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representative Aso NZ. >> Congratulations again, my friend. >> Thank you. >> All right, Miss Prime. Item number 26, please. >> Yes, sir. Item number 26 is on page 11 and it is a presentation and discussion on the El Paso computes program led by the University of Texas at El Paso College of Education in partnership with the city of El Paso Department of Information Technology and funded through an American Rescue Plan Act ARPA grant allocation. >> Good morning, Mayor and Council. >> Good morning, >> Carolyn Patrick with the IT department. This item is a presentation on the El Paso computes initiative in co collaboration with and led by the University of Texas at El Paso College of Education. This program is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act ARPA grant allocation. This briefing will highlight the progress and impact of the initiative focusing on building computational competencies among teachers and students in the El Paso's K through2 public schools. I would like to invite Dr. Clifton Tonab, Dean of the College of Education at UTIP to share his presentation on the program's objectives, milestones, and future plans. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, mayor, city council. First, let me say uh how what an honor it is to uh make this presentation on the same day that the Richard A. Castro East Side Sports Complex gets named talk about somebody who's been a mentor in my life as well. I only can confirm and second everything that's been said uh today about him and uh so honored to to be able to do that uh on on this day. Uh this is going to be a uh briefing an update of a project called El Paso Computes. This is a partnership and collaborative effort and initiative with the city of El Paso and the work that we've been able to do with your amazing city team has been eye opening and I'm excited to share a bit about what we're doing. I have a couple of other team members here here. I'll just introduce briefly. One is Dr. Erica Mean over there with her hand raised. She is an associate dean in the college of education and the architect of this work and uh Elizabeth Flores who is the college's administrative officer. She crosses the tees and dots the eyes with the city team. So very important uh person to have as part of this team. Uh the scope of this work if uh go to slide two is broad. It's really about building uh and increasing computational competencies, computing competencies for El Paso students across the city. It is about capacity building. is about creating uh content uh delivery for teachers and students and teacher educators so that our students in K12 settings get exposed to, understand, and can use computational thinking and artificial intelligence early so that when they enter into the higher education next step or into the workforce, they're they're exposed early on into the tools into to to that world. And I'll talk a bit about how we're doing that through a scaled, integrated, and scaffolded approach. Next slide. There's one big crazy goal as part of El Paso Computes, and that is to impact 20,000 underserved K12 students in El Paso throughout the project. Uh we're doing this through a series of workshops that I explained, but but if you're going to partner with with the city of El Paso, you better go big. And so that's what we've that's what we've done with this project. and and and you'll see how how we're how how we're making that happen uh throughout this presentation. Next slide. What we're doing is not building the wheel. We are leveraging what we already have established and and a partnership structure that's already been built out through the UTEP College of Education and with school districts in our region. This is a shared governance model where faculty and leadership from the college of education at UTP meet quarterly with district leaders and educators to talk about our residency models to talk about the engagement work that we're doing with the school districts. We can't train teachers if we're not partnered up with schools. So that's what we're doing. And we use this model and leverage which is with partner districts throughout our region to build out other initiatives such as El Paso Computes. Next slide. This is the uh uh education college of ed team that is working on this project. Erica's in the audience. You see Elizabeth. Some of you may know the work of Dr. Salama Salama and Anne Gates. They are they've been doing uh uh computing and computational computing education in in in the region for years and years. Chris Apadaka is a project coordinator who helps us to keep it all going. Next slide. There's a key operating value uh that that anchors this this initiative. It's hands-on training delivered by experts. You really can't you really can't teach or get folks up to speed on tools that are artificial intelligence tools or computational thinking content without delivering that that that content with a hands-on approach. And all these workshops you'll see uh do exactly that. The initial workshop that we deliver is called computational thinking and AI for K12 educators. It is um it was a a launch early on our first workshop in March. When we announced it and and it's teachers are are are busy and so getting them to come to a workshop is not the easiest thing to do. Uh when we announced this workshop, we we thought we had a good idea. We thought our partnership structure would work to get people involved. Two hours in, we filled 80 slots and there were people knocking on the door. So, the demand for this information was obvious. Uh, so and why is that? Well, we have teachers who are in schools right now working with students who know more about AI and and chat GPT than they do. And they're they realize that they need to get up to speed. So, this opportunity was uh was a was a great opportunity for them to to build some of that, get some of that reskilling and upskilling uh work done. Uh next slide. Got to make sure that I show you the evidence just so you don't think I'm I'm talking about it. Here's the receipts, real pictures of the workshop. Next slide. Uh this is a scaffolded approach uh scaled. So, uh this is a next level or an advanced level of uh a delivery workshop that we a content workshop that we provide. This is for secondary computer science educators in the field right now. So these are folks who are in schools. They're delivering uh uh computer science education content. Uh and we provide an opportunity for them to come back, get some upskilling, get the the latest and the greatest and and we deliver that through uh uh experts who are who are moving in the fast-paced world of artificial intelligence and and computer science education. Uh, next slide is more evidence. That man standing there is Dr. Salama Salama. Some of you may know him. He is now the associate vice president for scientific computing and artificial intelligence at the University of Texas El Paso. So, a good expert for us to to partner up with. Next slide. Uh, this is a um so we are a college of education. We train teachers and the approach that we're taking is integrated and scaffolded. We understand that delivering workshops directly to educators is a important part of the work we're doing, but we got to get future educators, folks who are coming into the field uh uh knowledge in this area early on. And so uh this these are for these are for teachers who teach future teachers. So these are faculty members at the El Paso Community College and at UTEP who are uh teacher trainers. They are invited to this workshop. It's also a good example of how with the leadership of the city of El Paso, we've been able to partner with other organizations doing this kind of work in our region. And in this case, we partner with the Border Plex Alliance and their B National Tech Council uh to to deliver uh this work. Next slide. Pictures. I was told I got to get pictures into this to the slide. So, I'm pictures for you. Uh this is a big deal and and those of you who are familiar with higher education uh you know uh it can move slowly at times. I admit that uh AI artificial intelligence uh computational content is moving at light speed and so we had to do the same in order to deliver on this. This is an effort that we did to redesign our core curriculum for teacher for for aspiring teachers. So in our preparation program, we redesigned the curriculum so that this course was designed and put into the pathway. Every single teacher regardless of discipline will be exposed to computational thinking for education uh in in in our program. And and why that's such a big deal as as I think you know uh the college of education at UTEP is responsible for 70 plus of the entire teacher workforce right now here in El Paso in our region. and if we don't participate in this in this approach, uh we're going to be we're not going to be doing what we should be doing. So, this was I'm super proud of our team and the faculty who who did this work because this is this is pretty difficult. We got it up uh we got up right away and and it's it's a fantastic course. I have a video just so you don't hear me go on and on. We created a video for you just to see what see what the workshop experience looks like. Can you play that? El Paso Computes is a partnership initiative at UT between the College of Education, the Department of Computer Science, and in partnership with school districts across the region. We know that computational thinking is something that can be applied across uh language and literacy, math and science. And so they'll be able to take this and apply it right away in their classrooms and tie it to the contents they teach. Even though I teach elementary music, I was able to find a way that I can incorporate that into music education because there is a section on that for where we can compose music, we can do different tones, we can do different musical notes. AI is an incredibly important part of the future of education. Everything from more personalized tutoring engagements to allowing teachers and educators to make more efficient their lesson planning work and their administrative work. We want educators to be able to teach with AI so that they're deploying that tool in a way that accelerates their students learning and builds a capacity in our region for graduates who have a knowledge and a talent around computer science that they can take out to the work world or to their university training. I really think that it's a great practice to teach students computer science, coding languages, but really at the heart we're trying to teach them how to think. We're trying to teach them how to solve problems. >> I think UT is doing a great service by UT providing a training like this with very good hands-on um training with facilitators teaching us all the new TIESS. we can turn around and go back and teach our students and prepare them for technology that's not even invented yet. >> This is really our inaugural effort at offering El Paso Computes workshops to teachers in our community. We're grateful for the partnership um with the the city but also with El Paso ISD to get out this first effort and and recruit teachers. We've seen um great response from schools in EPIC from the district and that's why we've had such great participation from teachers and it's just the first step. >> I can't I think emphasize enough uh how unique and magical really a partnership like this uh in that involves the city. Now, education work is often done across multiple different agencies in in state settings, but to have the city of El Paso partner with us in driving these outcomes for the future of our region for students who are right now in K12 settings so that they get some of this information delivered by teachers who've been trained in this area and that they can take that uh throughout their careers is is so powerful and it's been super exciting for us. And so, I just wanna I want to thank you, mayor. I want to thank uh your your amazing team, city council. I want I want you to know how how incredible the El Paso city team has been to work with. Um we want to make sure that we understand that what we are doing is actually having the outcomes we hope for. So as you can imagine, we have an evaluation team uh looking and tracking those results. They did what is called a retrospective pre-post evaluation design. It's basically just a survey post survey at the end of each experience uh to give us a sense of these four things. Uh is there been a difference in the participants knowledge with computer science and artificial intelligence? Do we do we see that there's been some some development in computational thinking knowledge and skills? But these are the two important ones as well. Have have these teachers have their attitudes adjusted in using and teaching with computer science and artificial intelligence? and is their willingness to use that content and to use those tools uh changing and and improving. Next slide. Here are some of the just a summary of the results. I think you have as an attachment uh uh one of the reports or report that's uh uh available for you. This this we we're showing some significant uh increases in computer science, AI content knowledge and computational thinking through both of the workshop strands. But I draw your attention to that last bullet point. Uh the results indicate that there were increases in teachers perceived confidence of computer science and artificial intelligence knowledge as well as increased attitudes and willingness to use and teach computer science and and artificial intelligence. That's a powerful outcome for us. It's something that we're really uh uh trying to figure out how to how to do throughout this entire project. Next slide. Again, uh this is a scaled effort. So, it's it's an approach to try to get to many many students. And the way that we're doing that is through this scaffolded uh uh multi-pronged um um competence competency and and and and an overarching building effort here. And one of the things I didn't talk about but is included in this work is a uh experience for secondary students. These are high school students, almost 200 students who've gone through cyber security camps. These are boot camps uh um offered through this project. We have 105. That number is going to grow already this coming spring semester of schools impacted. Nearly 300 teachers have been trained through El Paso computes. Uh this last kind of uh uh dashboard indicator 10 plus teachers certified in computer science doesn't sound that big. Trust me, we have now been asked to talk about this work in other places in the state. And when we go and talk about having produced 10 computer science certified educators through this program, people are blown away. They're like, "How was that possible?" And the reason why that's so surprising is if you're trained in computer science and you go to industry, you're going to make a lot more as somebody who's in industry. You're not going to say, "Hey, why don't I go be a teacher?" So, it's a strategic approach where we identify these folks early on. We work on what they love to do, which is teaching and build their capacity till they become fully certified as teachers. And the and the double whammy here is they're in schools right now with other folks who've gone through the workshops that we provided and they're sharing knowledge. They're leaders in these schools changing culture around computer science education and artificial intelligence. So that's that's the whole kind of game here. And the whole goal is to try to build that culture, create an atmosphere in K12 schools where where the where the outcomes for our students in our region in this area that we know is so important for our for our future workforce are met. Thank you so much. There's websites and things that you can uh you can look up and and reach out to me anytime. >> Excellent update. Uh Representative, >> thank you, Mayor. This is really awesome and I really appreciate you and your leadership. I've just seen the college grow since you've been at the head of it. So, um I just wanted to start off there. One question that I have is my my assumption here is that this will be housed in the teacher education department. >> It's in the college of education. Yeah. Run through the college of education. >> So, will it touch all the departments? Then >> it does. I mean teachers, faculty from across the college are taking these faculty-driven workshops. We also have El Paso Community College faculty. Okay. In those teacher training workshops. So yeah, we're trying to get that pipeline of teacher trainers involved. >> I I have a little bias towards the educational um leadership and foundations department. So I just want to know how that how it's going to touch it >> has some of his faculty in these workshops as well. >> Okay, good. >> Yeah. >> All right. Well, thank you so much. >> Yes, sir. Thank you, Representative Chavez. >> Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for the presentation. I had an opportunity to meet with Dr. uh Salama last year. Oh, yeah. >> Um at UTEP. We had a great conversation regarding AI. um I had more questions regarding AI in terms of government and how to handle all of that. So I think AI is an important conversation to have in every space no matter what you're doing. But I do appreciate the fact that we are investing in AI in teachers because you're right. I mean I have three kids. they're they're using AI and and sometimes um it's important for teachers to know how to uh handle this tool, especially when it comes to education and its future. >> Well, such a good point. Part of those workshops includes not just what what you can do with it hands-on, but some of some of the risks, you know, what are some of the concerns that you need to know about in order to to teach with AI effectively. So, thank you. >> And how to teach children not to lose their voice um >> creativity >> because of using AI, right? to still find their their own thought process as they're going through through work. So, thank you so much. I appreciate it. I can't wait to see what comes of it. Thank you so much. >> We appreciate the update and continued success. This is exciting. >> Thank you so much. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thanks y'all. >> Mr. Brian, let's take item number 19. >> Yes, sir. Item number 19 is on page number nine and this is a public hearing of an ordinance granting a special permit to allow for infill development with reduction to the site street setback and a 60% parking reduction at 600 South Stanton Street. >> Good morning. >> Is there a motion? >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> All right. You want to go through the presentation? >> Sure. Good morning, mayor and council. >> Uh Luis Amora with planning and inspections. Item 19, it's a special permit request for property located at 600 South Stanton. Uh so the special permit is for infield uh development uh as well as to request a reduction to the size street setback and parking. So here we have an aerial. It's obviously located on Stanton Sadd Pyano uh corner of Fort and Stanton. It's an existing building uh that's being repurposed. Uh current zoning is C4 commercial. Uh again this is a special permit not a reszoning. So zoning stays the the same. Uh future land use map designation for this area is G2 traditional neighborhood. This kind of uh calls for a a mix of uses uh together in the area. So this is obviously uh goes along with that. So here we have a detail site plan as part of the special permit. A detail site plan is it's required and binding. So it's subject to your approval as well. Uh so in in uh magenta align in magenta is existing building and then we have parking on the back of of that property. Um current requirements is 35 parking spaces. They can only accommodate 14. Uh so they obviously are requesting 60% parking reduction. uh they submitted a parking uh study demonstrating um that there were uh at least 28 parking spaces available on the street within 300 ft of the subject property which is enough to kind of compensate for the missing parking. Uh so that's part of the the the review. So the proposed uses for this building this property is a ballroom. Uh so here we have the elevations again this is existing maximum height is 17 ft. Uh this is a site plan superimpose on aerial imagery. Uh access to the property to the parking is through fourth. Uh there are doors to the building on Stanton. Here you have pictures of the subject property that is currently existing and then just property surrounding uh this is typically commercial commercial retail spaces. Uh we did uh the applicant did notify the neighborhood associations in the area before submitting their request. Uh we did notify property owners within 300 ft uh for the CPC before CPC for the public hearing and obviously get not get gets notified before council. Uh we did not receive any communication support or position to the request. Uh we have the here the notice map. So we notify we sent 34 notices in total 55 properties got notified of this request. And then with this staff and the zip plan commission recommend approval of the special permit as well as the detailed side development plan. This concludes my presentation. >> Thank you very much. Any questions on this? >> All right, Miss Prime. We had a motion in a second. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Ganales, seconded by Representative Lemon to adopt the ordinance on item 19. On that motion, call for the vote. Representative Aso >> I >> thank you >> representative Federo. Thank you. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Mr. Brian, I know we have a few minutes before the mass transit meeting, and I know I'm jumping around, but let's take item number 22. >> Yes, sir. Item number 22 is on page number 10, and this is discussion and action to authorize the expenditure of district 4 discretionary funds and an amount not to exceed $2,000 for initial costs related to the new adopt a street program, which serves a municipal purpose of improving the visual impression of the community and promoting community interest in the beautifification of the city of El Paso. This is representative boy's item. >> Represent trail. >> Motion to approve. >> There's a motion to second. Any discussion? All right, Miss Prime. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Bryjo. Seconded by Representative Chavez to approve item 22. On that motion, call for the vote. Representative >> I >> thank you. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay, Miss Brian, let's take item number 23 please. >> Yes, sir. Item 23 on the same page is discussion and action on a resolution to authorize the expenditure of District 4 discretionary funds in an amount not to exceed $5,000 to support current and future programming for youth, seniors, families, athletic activities, community engagement efforts, community meetings, and other district events, including signature events in District 4. serves a municipal purpose of fostering a positive community atmosphere, promoting cultural enrichment, supporting local initiatives, and enhancing the overall quality of life for El Paso residents. This is also Representative Boy Tjo's item. >> Representative Tjo. >> Motion to approve. Second. >> There's a motion in a second. Any discussion on this particular item. >> All right, Miss Bry. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Boyjo, seconded by Mayor Prom Chavez, and this is to approve item 23. On that motion, call for the vote. >> Voting session is open. >> Thank you. And the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Okay. Miss Brian, is there a way we can hold one minute then convene the Sunday? Yes, sir. Okay. >> You if council wants to go ahead and recess and then they'll they'll convene at 11:30. >> What's that? >> 25. >> Let's squeeze 25 in. Okay. >> Okay. >> Item 25 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the expenditure of district 8 discretionary funds in an amount not to exceed $5,000 to support current and future programming for youth, seniors, and athletic activities, initiatives, events, community meetings, and other events in District 8. serves a municipal purpose of providing recreational and cultural activities to the residents of and visitors to the city of El Paso, which benefits the community and instills community pride, promotes cultural enrichment, supports local initiatives, and enhances overall quality of life for El Paso residents. Discretionary funds will be used for the purpose of rel p purchase of related items included but not limit limited to water refreshments snacks prizes and recognition or award items for events taking place at various community locations including but not limited to district 8 parks libraries and city facilities. This is representative Canales's item. >> Okay. Represent canales. Move to approve. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on this particular item, Miss Bryan? Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Ganales, seconded by Representative Lemon to approve item 25. On that motion, call for the vote. >> Voting session is open. in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Is there a motion to recess? >> Move to recess. >> There's a motion in a second to recess a regular city council meeting in order to conduct the Mass Transit Department board meeting. All in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? And the regular city council meeting is in recess at 11:30 a.m. >> We'll do that one. >> As soon as we do this, we'll do that. >> Okay. >> Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso City, no of the Mass Transit Department board meeting for January 6, 2026. It is 11:31 a.m. Present in presiding is chair Johnson and also present in council chambers are board members Chavez Acido Tjo Nino Lemon and Canales. Mayor, we do have a member of the public signed up to speak. >> Okay. >> And that's Mr. Diego Graales. would you be so kind to come up to the podium? His topic is mismanagement of Sun Metro. >> Good morning. >> Give me one second cuz it's Look, it's frozen. >> There you go. Okay. >> You two minutes to address council, sir. Good morning, council. My name is Diego Ghales and I live at 1700 Haworth Street, El Paso. I'm a retired project manager for 30 years and I've been riding the Sun Metro bus line for the past three years. From the experiences I have witnessed, Sun Metro is broken. Sun Metro is failing the citizens of El Paso County. The supervisor of operations, Robert Dominguez, should be replaced with somebody who follows policy and procedures that look out for the citizens that pay to use Sun Metro. Sun Metro drivers have a federal CDL license and violate federal law by using their cell phones behind the wheel. And some of the Sun Metro drivers do not speak English, which also violates federal law. I have spoken to several senior drivers and rookie drivers and the senior drivers do whatever they want and disregard policies and procedures. I have had conversations with rookie drivers and they tell me that in training there are policies and procedures set in place. But when they are out of training and they speak to senior drivers, these policies and procedures are now disregarded. On top of that, the bus supervisors who are former drivers turned a blind eye to drivers incompetence. I have met with customer service manager at Sun Metro headquarters, Cecilia, for a half hour in November, and she told me that she would call me to give me a ticket number about my complaint. She never called. This tells me that the customer service supervisor, David Garcia, should also be replaced. His leadership is non-existent. Please stop the ad campaign that Sun Metro has all over town that Sun Metro welcomes bicycles on the bus. This is not true. Bike racks are always broken and I have told many drivers and supervisors of these problems and no one is fixing the problem. Sun Metro would rather have a bike fly off the bike rack and hit a citizen then fix the problem. I've seen it happen. El Paso transit when the bus driver El Paso transit authority when the bus driver is seated and the driver pulls away from the bay the driver could care less what happens on the bus. I have witnessed people drinking beer, smoking, playing loud music and the bus driver could care less. El Paso Transit Authority Sun Metro lets dogs on the bus with no leash. Sunmetra also allows push carts on the push carts that block the aisles where customers have to jump over the cart to sit down. Also, electric scooters have the ability to >> Thank you, Mr. Gales. Your three minutes are up. >> Thank you. All matters listed under the consent agenda will be considered by Mass Transit Department board to be routine and will be enacted by one motion unless separate discussion is requested by board members prior to the vote. Members of the audience may ask questions regarding items on the consent agenda. When the vote has been taken, if an item has been called out for separate discussion has not been called out for separate discussion, the item has been approved. The Mass Transit Department board may however reconsider any item at any time during the meeting. >> Okay. Is there a motion to approve the consent? >> Move to approve the consent agenda. >> Is there any discussion on any of the items in the consent? >> All right, Miss Nunes. >> And that would be item one is the December 2nd minutes. Item three is the Sun Metro Agency safety plan. And item four is just for notation, the Sun Metro's title six program update. And we do have a motion made by board member Canales, seconded by board member Lemon. And this is to approve the consent agenda. Voting session is open. Voting session is open. Thank you. And voting session is closing and the item has been approved. The consent agenda has been approved unanimously. >> Okay, let's take regular agenda item number five. >> Item number five is operational update on the mass transit department, Sun Metro. >> Is there a motion to approve this one? It's only a presentation. >> Mr. Anthony, >> happy new year. >> Happy new year, mayor, mayor, city council. Thank you for having me today. Thank you for letting me give this this uh presentation. So this is our mission statement and what we strive for and we understand that the reason Sun Metro exists is to assure our public a pleasant experience which I think we do and I'm going to talk about that in these slides and what we do to make sure that happens. The agendas that we'll cover are some of the major functions of Sun Metro and what we are doing and how we're doing it. As you know, the city is growing and Sun Metro is preparing to make required adjustments to ensure public transportation is accessible to all parts of the city. Our long-term financial strategic plan has been in has to be in synchronization to support this. We worked hard this year to be responsible. This year the fund balance will increase $11 million and next year is projected to increase another eight over the next three years. Examples of oversight and financial management are internal contract reviews where we saved in cost avoidance $1.8 8 million by going through our contracts on a regular basis and make sure the right amount of money is allocated to each contract to make sure we're doing the right thing. The bus purchase plan, 80% of our buses were grant funded, meaning the one half penny sales tax from the the local taxpayers did not have to be used. Discretionary grants, we got $2.4 million this year after our $32 million um last year. And one of these grants also, we just got another grant which uh for $750,000 for a study to um go out to the beast to take um um Sun Metro transportation out to the beast. Then we also looked at our Sun Metro revenue generating programs, right? And I'll just give you one example. We have parking garages, but within our parking garages, we manage those internally with our with our own um with our own employees. The parking garages made Sun Metro $1 million last year. And now for the next year, 2026, the budget decreased the a budget decrease of $5.8 million for 2026. All of this with no fair increases and absorbing salary increases. So, I just want to make a note. The average employee at Sun Metro increased $325. $325 per hour. This is times 650 employees, but you can do the math. It's somewhere around $4 million. But we're able to do these things because of the other initiatives that we take to make sure we have enough revenue to pay for what Sun Metro Services do. As you know, just with the the half penny sales tax and the the fair box and the and the the reoccurring grants, that is not enough to run Sun Metro. We must do other endeavors like this to make things successful. So we stay focused on overtime also above the managers having to report their divisions overtime and why they have overtime on a regular basis. We focus on specific areas to make a difference um reducing overtime by one about $1 million in 2025 and it's projected to to go down another half million dollars in the next year. So some of the things that we look at two procedures that you can see on the screen we optimize extra board drivers meaning we don't have to call anybody in on overtime and we increase the number of FTEEs that that are filled. So, and and I'll talk about that in a little bit, but this is the first time in about five years that the rate has increased for hiring drivers over the attrition rate. And so now we're in a good place with the amount of drivers that we have and the amount of routes that we have and we're postured and set and ready to go for Sun Metro Rising. That'll happen in June. Our opt continues to stay in that Sun Metro band of excellence while ridership has stayed above the transit industry. 73% for them, 71 73% for us, 71% for the industry. This includes the reduction of ridership since the 11 February incident where ridership had dropped about 40,000 a month. So, we worked hard on the advertisement with our outreach team, letting everybody know that Sun Metro is back and we're up and running. As you can see in the chart, November 24th to November 25, we have made a full recovery and we're about to keep going and increasing our ridership with uh for Sun Metro. I would just like to make a shout out for this fixed route operation. Robert Dominguez and his team do an excellent job in making sure that the buses are there on time, giving safe transportation. That's a 100 buses within 10-minute window at eight terminals, 2349 stops, covering 258 square miles every day, 365 days a year. So, I want to send a shout out to Mr. Robert Dominguez. The sun oh and price slides behind that. The sun metro goal for the OTP at the lift is also 90%. Remember the industry is 80%. You can see we continue to meet the standard annually but in the two months of July and August we implemented a new software. So we expected for the OTP to dip a little bit during that software because we had to synchronize operations and and the software. Um we expected that to happen. We expected the drop to happen but we still beat the industry standard by 5% during those months. But if you could see into the future now now we're fully recovered and we're back at 90 to 92%. Once you get it below 90 or 92% it causes a lot of problems. The industry gives you that that buffer. Actually they give you 20% but Sunmetro's buffer is 10%. Um they give you that buffer because there's accidents construction whatever happens on the road that you need that buffer zone for um to make it that on that on-time performance. So I'm really proud of what Mr. Dominguez and his team has done with that. The increase in ridership at Sun Metro Retro um street car is simply amazing. It's outpacing the industry by a margin of more than 85%. In FY24, a lot of people thought ridership had peaked, but it did not. With the 168% increase, it looked difficult to continue to make that margin grow wider, but we did. We did by 48.5%. After increasing it 168%. So, I'm really proud of that. In addition, we spent $520,000 less than projected as we focused on contracts, personnel requirements, and managing the number of street cars that needed to be on the road. Safety is an important factor focus as we strive to provide safe and dependable transportation. However, with a 100 buses driving over 4.5 million miles a year, there are going to be some accidents. There are going to be some accidents, but we keep those accidents low by the safety team, which I want to give a shout out to Steve Pere, the head of of my safety, um, for helping us with this. But now pre preventable accidents has decreased by 17% this year. Total overall accidents have decreased by 13%. Even with the decrease, we spent over 2,26 226,000 repairing buses. Repairing buses. So that's not the greatest story, but we're going to keep working on safety so that that number continues to go down. Safety will be continue to be a part of the priority for the safety of passengers and to avoid escalating cost and repairs. Sun Metro has done a great job ensuring fleet replacement and financial responsibilities being maximized. By the end of 2027, for the first time, all of our vehicles will be in the 14-year life cycle that is required by FTA. In fact, our average vehicle will be 3.6 years. That's 8.2 years under what it started when this leadership team took over. The importance to that is that gives us buffer room to see Sun Metro get established, make sure we have the right vehicles on the right routes, right? And then determine which vehicles we're going to buy in the future to make sure it fits what Sun Metro is doing. So over the last three years, we ordered a total of 72 buses. 72 buses and they cost about a million dollars each. 64 lift vehicles which cost about a quarter million dollars each. Um altogether costing about $120 million. 80% of that was purchased using grant funding. Again, saving the half penny sales tax that the local taxpayers pay so we can purchase these buses. Our human resources are Sun Metro's precious um and expensive resources. HR managing HR at division level and director level with the leader of with the lead of the HR manager um Jonathan Ruda. Um we have accomplished a lot. In fact, we've decreased vacancies by 3.6% in 2025. So now the vacancy rate is 16.7. This is an enduring effort we have made improvements on annually. If you look at 2023, we were at 22.5. 2024 20.3 2025 16.7. So you can see we're working hard to make sure that we clean this up and have the right amount of FTEES for the right amount of uh for the the task that are that are Sunmetro task. We al also focus on retention because if you just focus on recruiting, you're going to have another problem. So, we also focus on retention. Overall, Sun Metro's turnover rate is is 26% lower than the industry average. 26% lower than the industry average. For drivers is at 13.5% lower than the industry average. Now, for maintenance, maintenance suffered this year, uh, especially with the February 11th incident, um, which complaints correlate with with OTP and and other things at Sun Metro, but we're still 3% above the industry for for retention with the mechanics. And we're we're working hard to fix that and bring bring their numbers back up. Customer service. That's another KPI we track to ensure safe and dependable service. Customers that call into Sun Metro do it for two reasons. Two, they have questions about routes or they have a complaint. And so I stand here today and I encourage anybody who has a complaint to bring it to Sun Metro. Just like we address any issue that's brought up here, we'll bring up we if the issue is brought up to Sun Metro, we will look into it and we will make sure that it's fixed. You have my word on that. That was it will be from now until the time end. You may not like the answer of what fixed is, but you will get what is legal, moral, and ethical. That's what's going to happen to make Sun Metro continue to to move forward. These calls are important to sure ensure that Sun Metro is making decisions accordingly and end reoccurring issues. That's the focus of of of the customer service line. When customers call, we record that. Then we send it to the division. They have to answer that. That comes back to the director. The director looks at each and every one of those responses every week or every other week depending on what what department you are to and I personally make sure that each complaint is is handled and addressed. Again, everybody may not like the answer but it is handled and and addressed. Most of the time it was confusion about how Symmetra works or or or how the system works. So monthly valid operational complaints decreased by 7.1 in 2025. The top concerns were scheduled adherence and route disruptions. Monthly customer service average calls increased by 15.27% in 2025. The top inquiries were route schedules and route adjustments. So the two mirror whether you call to complain or whether you're calling for information. The good news is that more people are calling. more people are getting the information and more people are getting to the destiny that they want to get to. So lift customer service is important as well. Um all complaints are addressed in 48 hours just like just like the fix route. The result of reaching out to the customer and actions took to remedy the problem is briefed to me bi-weekly. The point is to eliminate systemic or reoccurring problems. So monthly valid operational complaints decreased by 60.41% in 2024. So it's hard to beat that. So we went ahead and did it and we decreased it another 15.8%. And I project in the future that it will it'll go down again as we continue to communicate with the community about the changes in the operations of Sun Metro. The spike in complaints in August and September correlate with the um implementation of the new software. As you can see on the screen, this was expected as we synchronize software with with operations. Like I said, it was also expected to stay above the industry standard of 80%. Which we did by 3 to 6% in in those in those two months. Now the software is imple implemented and we are standing in that Sun Metro band of excellence of 90% on time performance. So as we look into the future, there are several initiatives that Sun Metro is undertaking. Sun Metro Rising, as I briefed last month, to optimize all fixed routes. The implementation date is in June. And our pair transit is getting a whole makeover with EV charging stations, 25 that will be complete this month and 45 EV vehicles that are on station to in to add to the complement of the new vehicles at the lift. These additional endeavors encompass partnering with the local community, which I know is important to all of you. So, Sun Metro is working with Fort Bliss to provide transportation for Fort Bliss soldiers and their family on Fort Bliss. Not just on Fort Bliss, but it will be bring them to connection points where they can connect to the rest of the network. Finally, the Greyhound station that we're working with Greyhound to put them in the UTTP UPT will facilitate transit in and out of the city. All these endeavors is to make public transportation better. It is the job of this management team to make sure we are good stewards of the money that we are provided and turn that into the best transit service >> in in the states. And so that's what we strive for for every day. So that concludes my brief. I'm open to questions. >> Representative Chavez. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, Anthony, for your presentation. I know that uh you worked uh hard on it, and I know that you have been working hard on on everything that you're doing at Sun Metro. You and the team that's behind you and everyone else um at your department. I just want to congratulate you on your efficiencies, decreasing your overtime, I think, is is outstanding. Uh the grant that you received to uh increase capacity and and get to other areas of our city. um and no increase in fairs. I think all of those are are positives and uh you need to be congratulated for that. Um I also just wanted to point out that last night at our community meeting there was a constituent of mine that came up to me um and he was very grateful for the lift service and he was um instrumental in in that occurring years ago when he became wheelchair bound. So, I just wanted to make sure that you know that the community is grateful to the service that you and your drivers and everyone else that you provide. And it's it's so important that we know um not only the data because, you know, the numbers never lie and they're important to make sure that we focus on them um but also the impact that you're making to daily lives to get people to work, to school, and to anywhere else that they need to go to doctor's appointments and whatnot. So, we appreciate you. Thank you. >> Thank you. I would just like to say my team does the work and makes all this happen. And so the ones that Jerry Demoros, my deputy, Claudia Garcia is my assistant director. I have my grants people here also. And then Dwayne Arnold is is not here, my assistant director of operations. So there's a lot that happens in the synchronization and coordination coordination to make this work and the team is the one that makes all these great things come to happen. But thank you for that. >> Represent Roachcha. Thank you sir for coming and for your team for being here today and the the great presentation. I think I've heard it um said that you lead firm but fair and I believe that that is a true depiction of what takes place within Sun Metro. You're exactly right. There's a lot of situations and I know that that you all have come out and helped me with several constituent issues that have come up in regards to the the lift service in regards just to regular service in in general. One thing for sure is that you are timely and you do provide that information to um to the constituent and you circle back with us as well. So, you've been a really great partner and that's Jerry and Claudia and all your teams included as well. I really appreciate everything that you all do. I know that this gentleman had uh some questions today right away. I saw Claudia get up and I know that you will address them more than anything. And you're exactly right. It's not always a popular answer that you give, but you do give uh some type of answer in in regards to trying to to close that response. So, thank you again for everything that you do and and this is just a little bit of what takes in to really work on the machine that is Sun Metro and just everything that you do to provide connectivity to the citizens of the city of El Paso. So, appreciate it, sir. >> Thank you for that. >> Thank you. >> And Anthony, I just have a couple comments. Uh, I went through your safety plan and there was two pages that really stood out to me was the federal funding that you get on page 25 in the amount of 97 million I believe. >> Yes, sir. >> And then your safety performance measures on page 40. I think anyone that wants to just get a quick summary of how well you guys are doing, if they look at page 25 and page 40, they'll they'll be able to see the some of the results. So, well done. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. And I would just like to say um based on your last comment, you know, given the feedback to to the council um that is a program that the city manager set up and then we had classes and we all learned how to to do that. So that is a city program that we're involved in and um I think it's making a big difference. So that that's >> Yeah. >> All right. Any further questions for Anthony? Okay, Miss Nunes. >> There's no action on that item. Is there a motion to adjurnn the meeting? >> So move. >> Second. >> We have a motion made by board member Lemon, seconded by board member Canales to adjourn the meeting at 11:58 a.m. And this is for January 6, 2026. Thank you. >> Okay. Move to reconvene the city council meeting. Okay. >> There's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting. All in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? And the regular meeting is back in session at 11:59 a.m. >> All right, Miss Prime, we're going to take item number 27. >> Yes, sir. Item 27 is on page 11. And item 27 is discussion and action on the award of solicitation 2025-0545 East Side Regional Park phase 2 rebid to Grayson Engineering and Construction, Inc. for a total estimated amount of mill 11,77,67. The project will consist of adding approximately 650,000 square feet of area to the existing East Side Regional Park to include softball fields, pickle ball courts, handball courts, sand volleyball courts, basketball courts, and various site amenities. >> Motion to approve. Mayor second. >> There's a motion and a second. Good morning, you guys. Can we see this presentation, please? >> Good morning, Mary. >> Good morning, Guerrero Capital Improvements. Uh this presentation is for the Isa Regional Park phase 2 project uh lo location. It's at uh 13501 Jason Crandle Drive, District 5, right next to the beast, the second phase of it. Uh the total construction budget for this project is 11,77,607. and we have u six uh funding sources that we're going to be utilizing to uh construct this project. This is the location of the project. As you can see on the lower part of the uh photo is the beast. We have the water park, the parking lot. Right next to that is where this second phase will be constructed. Currently conditions it's just desert but a little bit over a year. is going to take quite a quite a change and very very nice project. Uh this is a rendering of the project. You see the parking lot. You see the four uh soft softball fields, uh pickle ball courts, uh basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, and the handball courts of course with with your restrooms and some canopies. And of course, I just mentioned the >> Do you mind going back to that previous slide? >> They wanted to take some pictures back here. We can provide the rendering if they want which I think we already have to represent as you can forward. >> All right. >> Thanks Gilbert. >> So the approximately 650,000 square feet of area that we're going to be improving um including the the parking lot uh food parking uh of food truck parking walks landscape irrigation. Um this is the the um scope of work with the four football fields, dugouts, shelters, pickle ball courts, bleachers, bike racks is a full amenities, the full park. And in addition to that, the park's grants did allow us to go ahead and add additional pickle ball courts. So we can have a total of 10 pickle ball courts. Um the mentioned the handball courts, sand volleyball courts, and and um and basketball. Uh this was a competitive seal proposal solicitation. We advertised on July 1st, 2025. Five firms submitted bids all five local vendors and we are recommending to award construction to Grayson Engineering Construction Inc. in the amount 11,776607. Um construction will start this spring. Typically after once it's approved takes about maybe four weeks or so to get the contract ready then we'll start uh construction right after that. >> Okay. Representative Nino. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um Gilbert, we're here. >> Yes, sir. We are. >> You know, um this item is very personal to me. We've been in so many different conversations. I know I've been briefed by Miss M, by Gilbert. They've addressed a lot of my questions from warranties to ensuring that there's a space between the pickle ball courts that people could, you know, serve to having windcreen. So, thank you for really, um, you know, over the years having conversations with me. Um, you know, today marks a meaningful and long overdue moment for District 5 and for the far east side of El Paso and for all of El Paso. Uh, District 5 families have been asking for places where our families, our kids could play, our teams can compete, and our neighbors can gather. Phase two of the Beast Survan Park delivers that. It's an investment in our youth, our health, and everyday moments that bring community together. For nearly two decades, the bees urban park has existed as a shared vision passed from one generation to the next, written into plans, and promised to families who choose to plan roots in the district 5 community. Residents bought homes, raised families, and invested in the sites, believing that this park one day will be fully realized. This item represents another important step towards that promise. Phase 2 is not the finish line, but this marks a major milestone in a multi-phase effort to fully deliver a 92 acre park that will one day stand as a largest urban park in the city of El Paso. With this phase, we're continuing to build toward the long that long-term vision, adding meaningful amenities and setting the foundation for future phases still to come. I want to begin by thanking everyone who's helped us come to this moment. Thank you to our city manager, Miss Mack, Evette, Gilbert, Allan, Thomas, Sasho, Mr. Cortinez, Mr. Cabayto, along with the team uh at Institute Architects for your leadership, your patience, and your commitment to getting this right. Thank you as well to the members of our community, previous council administrations, and to this council for continuing to carry this vision forward. Over the last year and years before, I've spent countless hours working closely with staff, having thoughtful, honest conversations about the design, the scope, and delivery. Not just how to build something, but how to deliver it well and in a way that truly serves all of our community. A clear example of that is pickle ball. The original proposal included four pickleball courts, but to you know when we when I met with the pickle ball association, in order for you to host tournaments, you need eight pickle ball courts or more. And to position this park and El Paso as a regional destination, again, you need eight pickle ball courts or more. And staff didn't just listen to ideas from my office. They welcomed input from our community and together found a better solution. Because of that collaboration, this phase now will include 10 pickleball courts along with many other amenities, creating new opportunities for recreation, tournaments, and economic activity for the city of El Paso. That spirit of openness, partnership, and problem solving has defined phase 2 from the start to the finish. We also knew that advancing a vision to a reality nearly two decades into the making required us being creative and being fiscally responsible. Without asking the taxpayers for new dollars, this council secured state grant funding in 2025, leverage project savings, and strategically used investment interest to fully fund phase 2. That approach reflects our shared commitment to being strong stewards of public dollars while still continuing to deliver real results. At its core, this project reflects one of our city's most cons consistent priorities, quality of life. It speaks to the importance of green space, trees, access to parks, which is something that a lot of our community has been asking for in places where families can gather. It supports our health, our and wellness, active living, and community connection, especially in one of the fastest growing areas in the city. In just one year since taking office, we completed the design, refined the scope, secured the additional funding, and we're set to advance one of the largest projects in District 5 from concept to construction readiness. And that doesn't happen without our teamwork. It doesn't happen without our dedicated staff. And it doesn't happen without a council willing to follow through. And today, we're just not just approving a project. We're honoring a long-standing promise. We're advancing multiple phase vision that has been decades in the making. And we're delivering a park that reflects the voices, the needs, and hopes of our community. And to the residents of District 5, my neighbors, and to all of El Paso, we thank you for your patience, your advocacy, and your belief. This project belongs to you. Thank you, council. >> Fantastic. Any further discussions? Are you going to let us come play pickle ball out there? >> Hey, we could have a match between all the districts. >> Yeah, we might have to do that. >> Okay, Miss Brian, >> the motion was made by Representative Nino, seconded by Representative Canales to award the solicitation on item 27. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Okay, Miss Bryant, can we take item number 20? >> Yes, sir. Item 20 on page nine is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 18, building and construction outdoor lighting code, other exemptions, city-owned facilities to add an exemption related to the Sun City Lights program associated projects. Move >> to approve. >> There's a motion to approve. Is there a second? All right, you want let's see the presentation. >> This is a mustsee. >> Good morning, mayor and council. Happy new year. Hakein Rodriguez with the capital improvement department. That is not the correct presentation. >> This is for item 20. it is also posted online if if you want to grab it from there. Well, Kane, is there anything you want to tell us about the project? >> So, this is a pretty straightforward ordinance amendment. Um, nothing new. This similar ordinance amendments were passed uh previously for the Cincinnati Entertainment District Sun City Lights Project and the Baso de Las Sun City Lights project. Essentially, what it allows is for our design teams to have the flexibility they need to execute the the projects as they've been presented and coordinated with the public. Um, we didn't do specific public outreach on this ordinance amendment, but um, our team and the urban design team over the past couple years have done extensive public engagement for the Sun City Lights projects that are um that are being accounted for with this ordinance amendment. Um, it allows us to not have to worry about things like color temperature of lighting, total output of lighting, and shielding of lighting. Um, which are restrictions that are within our building code, but really intended towards uh commercial facilities, parking lots, sidewalks, lighting of that nature. So, this exempts the Sun City Lights projects from uh that part of the ordinance in its entirety and allows us to move forward uh with construction on those projects. There are some really great renderings in the presentation if it ever comes to light. Um if not, it is uh in the backup as well. >> Okay. >> I can just draw the projects on the Elmo if we need to. >> It's on the It's on the podium. >> It t I have it on the podium computer. If you can please share it. Thank you. Is that good? Um, >> so I've pretty much gone through all the slides. If you wanted to go to the pretty pictures, >> the ones at the park. Yeah, there we go. >> So, here's the project at the uh Washington Park. This is in the medical center of the Americas area. These are the Albri. Um, so these projects will be um we'll have glow-in-the-dark sidewalks uh colorful lighting accenting these figures. And these figures are huge lifesize alriets. Go ahead. There's a better picture of what you'll see. U again true to scale with the lifelike children riding them um and the lighting ball. So under the current lighting ordinance, we wouldn't be able to do um this type of lighting within these areas. So this allows us to move forward with that. Uh Marty Robbins Park again uh shade act light accented shade structures. Go ahead. Go ahead. And similar u lighted structures at PBLO Park. Um the intent of the Sun City Lights program is really to create um what we've deemed in the past as Instagrammable spaces. So really placemaking, creating interesting places where people can go um and enjoy our public spaces. There you go. Keep going. Okay. >> All right. Thank you. Any uh represent Lemon, what are the aliases made out of? Is it are they cast? >> Um, correct me if I'm wrong. I believe they're cast concrete. >> Wow. >> Yeah. So, they are durable structures >> and painted >> and painted and is that correct? >> They're fiberglass. >> Good afternoon. Napoleon Rodan, urban design manager with C. So the Albrias are glass fiber reinforcement concrete, so they're very durable and they hold the thermal so the kids don't get burned. >> They sound really It sounds really beautiful. Um on the PBLO veh will the will there be a signage? I know like for example Cincinnati, it does say Cincinnati based loes. Is there an signage that goes along with these? Yes, there will be. It's not here in the renderings, but Oh, right here, actually. You can see on the bottom um left, there'll be a rock wall with the PBLO VJO Park sign, and we'll also put a little plate that says the Sun City Lights and then a logo of the parks department. >> Okay. I thought the Sun City Lights project was supposed to be something that encompasses or went across um street areas to designate it. So city lights started um as really public improvements. Cincinnati and Pel de Lasus were the first that focused on street elements. >> Um as you know the Sun City Lights initiative has been about 10 years in the making. The type of improvements that we originally did with Sun City Light with Cincinnati and Pelas Luces are really prohibitively expensive at this point. um the decorative gateways, the archways, entryways cost over a million dollars now, which would wipe out the budget for these. So, our approach was to focus the budget on the placemaking elements that people are actually able to interact with that are going to draw people in. Um so, a little bit less of the monumental style aesthetics and really focusing on the placemaking elements. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Representative Fier. >> Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank you both. This program, this project has grown since we've been in office and we're just so excited to see it come to fruition at Martin Marty Robbins Park and you can wait for these other ones to go up. Thank you. >> See, can I tell you this was a hit so we had to see this presentation. It's very very good. Miss Bryan, there was a motion in a second. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Boyjo to adopt the ordinance on item 20. On that motion, call for the vote. and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> All right, Miss Brian, let's take item number 21. >> Item 21 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning of a portion from A2SCP apartment special contract special permit to C1 SCSP commercial special contract special permit at 1 1991 S. Kleinfeld >> approve the second. >> All right. >> You want to see the presentation? >> Afternoon already. Right. >> Yeah. Can we see >> some water planning inspection? Sorry, I don't have nice pictures for you. >> Uh so this is a resoning request for property at 1991 South Planefield. Uh here we have the aerial imagery. It's an existing uh facility, living existing facility. Uh the proposal is to add a commercial daycare to it. Uh so they need they are requesting the reszoning to allow the use the proposed use. So the property is currently zoned as A2 which is an apartment district. Uh existing facility is allowed in that zoning. Again the proposal is to add a commercial one daycare center which require will need the reszoning. Uh they are adjacent to single family homes to the to the west. Um and then another kind of living facility at the south. The future land use map designation for this area is G4 uh suburban walkable. Uh kind of the the suburban nature, right? We have homes and uh shopping centers that that style. So it is obviously in compliance with the designation. So here we have the detail site plan. I'd like to point out this is not something that will be binding. Uh right here it's kind of hard to see. It's on the on their right. There's kind of an addition that they're proposing. Uh again, this is not binding. This is kind of conceptual at this point. Just demonstrating what's there. And again, the buildings existing and mostly everything is already there as it is. So here have images of the subject property. Uh you can see with the existing building which is proposed at least uh up to now to remain as it is. And then the surrounding development. There's a ponding site to the north. again their single family homes to the west and more commercial to the south and across south planefield to the east. Uh the applicant did notify the property neighborhood associations uh before the application uh at this time for public notices uh we sent to all property owners 300 ft before public hearings. Uh the plan division has not received any communication and support or opposition to this request. Uh so with this staff and the city plan commission recommend approval with some conditions for the resing request. Uh given that we're going to a higher zoning district and uh that will allow more uses uh we can uh look into some conditions to protect the residential neighborhood that's there. So one of the conditions is requiring a detail development plan uh approve review and approval uh before any certificates of occupancy. So that way we can check what's uh being developed. Uh a 10 foot landscape buffer um uh adjacent to any residential districts uh just to leave a little more space a buffer to the residential. Number three is that no outdoor amplified sound be permitted within the property again to protect those homes. And four is that a minimum 500 foot distance be required between establishments driving 51% or more of the income from coal beverages just to avoid that um having a lot of uh you know this type of businesses surrounding the neighborhood. And with this that concludes my presentation. >> All right. Any questions on this particular item? >> Represent Canelis. >> Just one quick question actually a procedural question. The motion on the floor is that to approve with the conditions. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Any further questions? All right. Miss Pry. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made by alternate Mayor Pro, seconded by Representative Lemon to adopt the ordinance on item 21. On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. >> All right, Miss Pine, I don't believe I have any more agenda items. >> No, sir. That's everything that was posted in open session. >> Okay. >> There's some items for executive session, >> right? >> Does council want to retire into executive session? >> Move to retire into executive session on items X1, EX2, and EX3. Second. >> There's a motion and a second to return to executive session. All in favor? >> I >> I. >> Anyone opposed? And the city council of city of El Paso may return to executive session pursuant to section 3.5A of the El Paso City Charter in the Texas Government Code Chapter 551 subchapter D to discuss any of the following. Executive session item one, statement of intent of Texas Gas Service Company, a division of One Gas, Inc. to increase rates within the company's incorporated areas of central Gulf West North and Rio Grand Valley service areas. OS-25-000028202 HQ number utility-67 under 551.071 Executive session item two application of El Paso Electric Company to change rates PUC number 57568 HQ number utility-60 under 551.071 071 and executive session item three, application of El Paso Electric Company to amend its certificate of convenience and necessities necessity CCN for a 365MW natural gas generating facility PUC number 57501 HQ number utility- 74 under 551.071. These matter matters are taken into executive session under 551.071 consultation with attorney. It is 12:22 p.m. Okay, Miss Prime. >> Is there a motion to come out of executive session? >> So moved. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second to come out of executive session. All in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? The meeting is back in session at 12:55 p.m. We're on EX1. Mayor Potim. No action. >> Thank you. EX2. >> Motion to delete EX2. >> Second. >> Okay. >> There's a motion by Mayor Prom Chavez, seconded by Representative Lemon to delete EX2 as it was not discussed today. >> Okay. Call for the vote. Miss Bry. >> On that motion, call for the vote. Representative Boyjo. >> Thank you. And the voting session and the motion passes unanimously to delete ex3. Motion made, seconded and carried that the city attorney in consultation with the city manager be authorized to hire and retain outside counsel and any other necessary consultants and to file an intervention in the El Paso Electric Company's application to amend its certificate of convenience and necessity for a 366 megawatt natural gas generation facility under the Texas Public Utility Commission docket number 59076 in matter number Qutility-74 and to take all steps necessary neessary including the execution of any required documents in order to effectuate this authority. >> Okay, >> Mr. Brian, there's a motion in a second. >> Yes, sir. The motion was made and read into the record by Mayor Prom Chavez, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to hire and retain outside counsel. >> Okay, represent my 1750 donation from El Paso Electric Employee Pack. Okay. >> All right, Miss Brian, there's a motion and a second. >> Yes, sir. On that motion, call for the vote. and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Is there a motion to adjurnn? There's a motion and a second to adjurnn the regular city council meeting. All in favor? Anyone opposed? And the regular city council meeting for Tuesday, January 6, 2026 is adjourned at 12:57 p.m. Thank you, council.