where Well, good morning everyone and welcome to the city council. Uh, good morning El Paso. Good morning, city council members. And happy birthday, Representative Canales. It's his birthday. All right, Mr. Prime. We are ready to go to work. Yes, sir. Good morning. This is a meeting meeting of the El Paso City Council for Tuesday, April 15th, 2025. Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in council chambers along with mayor prom chavez, representative aso, representative maldonado rocha, representative, representative nino, alternate mayor promped, representative lemon, and representative canales. It is 9:05 a.m. Will everyone please silence your electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by Rabbi Levi Greenberg. Good morning, Rabbi. Almighty God, sovereign of the universe. Today, the Jewish world is in the middle of celebrating the holiday of Passover. Let us invoke the ancient lessons of Passover. We pray that we always ensure that the meaning of this holiday becomes visible in our daily lives. The biblical narrative of the Exodus is the story of the Israelites being redeemed from Egypt. The biblical Hebrew name for Egypt is mitzim, which means limitations and boundaries. Today, we are all enslaved to personal limitations. And we pray to be delivered from those obstacles that limit our potential to create a better future for ourselves, our families, our city, and the entire world. We pray to be grateful for what we have and rejoice in what we can become. Let us pass over our personal shortcomings and let us rise from despair to freedom. Let us be inspired by the shining example of the Reb Rabi Manakim Mendelnes who taught that every individual and in fact every individual action has an impact on the entire universe. The Reba emphasized the importance of education and good character and instilled a hope for a brighter future into the lives of countless people across the globe. The Reb taught that education in general should not be limited to the acquisition of knowledge and the preparation for a career. Rather, the educational system must pay more attention indeed the main attention to the building of character with emphasis on moral and ethical values. Almighty God, bless the mayor and all the members of the city council and everyone gathered here today. Give this distinguished council guidance so that they will always be conscious of your presence and will strive to enact laws with honesty and integrity in in accordance with your will. May our city serve as a beacon of light for people of all faiths and walks of life. May El Paso help achieve the goal so powerfully stated in our pledge of allegiance so that America is truly one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And let us say, amen. Amen. Thank you, Rabbi, for stepping in at the last minute. for to lead us in the pledge of allegiance this morning. We have community youth advocate David Serrano at the invitation of city representative Diana Maldonado Rocha. Yeah. And then he'll go over there with you. Do I stand for a moment of silence? Do I stand for a moment of silence? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God and one and indivisible. Keep going. [Applause] All right. They're talking about the conference. So, I gave David my very first mayor's coin and it's uh on there it talks about being a member of team excellence. So, he got the very very first one in the city of El Paso. So, congratulations, David, [Applause] Miss Bryant. That brings us to the mayor's proclamations. The first proclamation this morning is sexual assault awareness month. Miss Roacha. Thank you, mayor, and thank you, Miss Prine. If I could have everybody that's here for the uh for the proclamation on sexual assault awareness month, please come up to the podium. I'll read the proclamation and then I'll give you all a few minutes to to speak. Nice to see you all again. Good to see you. Whereas sexual violence affects individuals of all genders, ages, races, and backgrounds, leaving lasting physical, emotional, and psychological effects on survivors, their families, and communities. And whereas sexual assault is a pervasive issue that not only impacts individuals but also affects workplaces, schools, health care systems, and the broader social fabric, making prevention and response a communitywide responsibility. And whereas the center against sexual and family violence, also known as CASVY, did I said that right? Yes. remains dedicated to providing compassionate support, advocacy, and resources for survivors, ensuring they have access to safe spaces, counseling, legal assistance, and empowerment programs to help them heal and rebuild their lives. And whereas April is nationally recognized as sexual assault awareness month, a time for individuals, organizations, and communities to come together to raise awareness, promote education on consent and healthy relationships and challenge the cultural and systemic factors that contribute to sexual violence. And whereas CASBY's theme this year, you are strong, honors the resilience, courage, and determination of survivors while reinforcing the message that healing is possible. Support is available and no one is alone in their journey. And whereas preventing sexual violence requires a comprehensive approach that includes education, early intervention, bystander awareness, and the promotion of policies that support survivors and hold perpetrators accountable. And whereas communities play a critical role in creating a culture of respect and consent by actively supporting survivors, believing their experiences, and engaging in conversations that challenge harmful norms and behaviors. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that the month of April shall be known as sexual assault awareness month. Signed by the honorable mayor, Renard Johnson. [Applause] Good morning. Good morning. Thank you so very much, Mayor and City Council, for allowing us to be here with you this morning. My name is Sandra Narees Gracie. I'm the executive director for the center against sexual and family violence and as um it was already pointed out in terms of sexual assault is not something that's rare to our community. Unfortunately um one in three women and one in six men will experience some sort of sexual violence within their lifetime. And the main thing is that those individuals feel that they go unheard for a couple of different reasons. They feel fear, um, embarrassment, shame, guilt associated with their victimization that they had no responsibility for. And so ensuring that we can be that voice for those individuals and share with them in their walk as they go through the process of receiving sexual assault services in our community are extremely important. This past year in our very own community, um, our center was able to help 951 survivors that came through a door and another 284 individuals that we personally accompanied through hospital accompanyment. And so that's just a small fraction of the individuals that were able to seek services for themsel and felt that they had the ability to go and make that outcry for themselves. Unfortunately, there's so many others that don't feel the ability to come forward um and are afraid to come forward for various reasons and we completely understand that. Through education, outreach and community engagement, we are working to prevent sexual and violence before it happens and providing awareness um and making community partners to be able to spread the word as much as possible throughout our community. Our theme this year as you mentioned is we are strong and the message is for the survivor to remind them that the strength is not in not measured by their silence but in their survival. And so we want to make sure that individuals know that across the board we all have a responsibility and anil availability to impact the work that we do as a center. And so you all have platforms, you all um leaders in your own community and have conversations um with different individuals and can also be those what I call receptacles out in the community to make sure to share the information, make sure the individuals know that if they were assaulted when they were as a child a few months ago or a few years ago, the center is here to be able to provide support and that they're not alone. Um, the main thing that I always tell individuals as I leave them is the biggest and the most impact that you can make is letting someone know that you believe them. Because at the moment that a child or an adult is sharing with you some sort of victimization, it took a tremendous amount of courage to try to come forward with that information. And rather than asking details because I know we're all human and that's the first thing we want to do is just to provide them support and let them know that there's resources out there in our community to support them. Um, thank you again for your time this morning. And I do have some individuals that came with me from the center um to support. So we do have our community relations who never comes up. It's Mr. Luis Sales um that's over there in the side. We also have Miss Paula Fernandez and Miss um Jana Sprout. So there are they're the ones that make um the world go around in terms of development and grant writing. So again, thank you very much for your time and and it's always a pleasure to come see you. [Applause] Congratulations. and uh and thank you for all the great work that you guys are doing at the center and and we are stronger uh and especially working together. So, it's kind of odd the communications guy doesn't want to come up here in front of but and communicate. Yeah. So, but thank you guys and congratulations. No, thank you. Yes ma'am. Good. How are you? Glad to see you again. Glad to say hi. [Applause] I did. Yeah. Can I show off my shirt at the beginning? Thank you. Miss Bryan. Yes, sir. As we continue with the proclamations, I want to remind the group that for those of you receiving a proclamation, you will have up to six minutes collectively to speak at the podium while you receive your proclamation. The next proclamation is nños lios. represent Nino. Thank you, Mayor. We could have the honores come up to the front. What's this? I know. I'm very excited to read this proclamation. The NOS is is a big celebration that the city of El Paso does and it also fits my last name, Nino. proclamation for the city of El Paso, Texas. Whereas the nunos lios emphasizes the importance of celebrating the rich diversity of cultures and languages in our community, promoting multicultural literature literature and encouraging children to embrace their own cultural heritage while also fostering an appreciation for cultures of others. And whereas this day serves as a reminder of critical role that literacy plays in children's lives by providing access to books and educational resources. them to succeed academically and beyond. And whereas diia nos lios encourages a lifelong love for reading and learning by proving fun and educational programming and activities sparking curiosity, creativity, and empathy. And whereas the celebration of the adelos nños, the adelos lios in El Paso has been held since 1997 and has donated hundreds and thousands of books to children of El Paso and the surrounding communities. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that Saturday, April 26, 2025 shall be known as deos nños librard Johnson. Good morning. Good morning, mayor. Good morning, council. Happy birthday, Representative Canales. We are excited to be here this morning accepting this proclamation. Uh the event is such a wonderful event. We have done it for 29 years and we couldn't do it without our partners from parks and wreck. Uh we have a great number of people that are involved in doing this and we would want to invite you all to start your day on the 26th with a parade that we're having at 9:00 a.m. We'll walk down with the kids and start the celebration. I it's incredible um everything that goes to take place u for the deos nños and the efforts and everything that the people behind me do. And we also want to thank this year our major sponsor the children's hospital which without their support and without the other supporters we wouldn't be able to host an event of this nature. So thank you so much for your support. Thank you for allowing us to be there and thank you for, you know, helping us celebrate the children of El Paso and the surrounding communities. I would like our staff to come and introduce themselves. They they do so much and and we never give them enough recognition. So this morning, I would like you to meet them and thank them from the bottom of my heart for the work that they do. Thank you. Absolutely. Hello, my name is Erica Fibella and I'm the production marketing coordinator for the libraries and also coordinate the others. Good morning, mayor and council. Jack Alindo with public libraries uh marketing customer relations coordinator. Hello, city council. Daniel Mascoro, library services supervisor. Good morning. My name is Anelica. I'm a library information services specialist. Good morning. I'm Lisa Martinez. I'm the youth services coordinator for El Paso Public Library. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Luc Pinos and I'm a business financial manager. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Christina Science. I'm a library customer service specialist. Good morning. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Diana Sepeda, parks and recreation and special events. Good morning. Good morning. Figiralva, parks and recreation special events. Good morning. Good morning, Mayor Council. Ra Diaz, media specialist with park parks and recreation. Good morning. Good morning, Mayor and Council. My name is Carlos Rodriguez, recreation programs manager. Good morning. Good morning, Linda Hammonds with Parks and Recreation, recreation and sports coordinator. Good morning. Morning, Mayor Council. Vic Courts, recreation and sports coordinator. Good morning. Dasos Ricard, City of El Paso. I see Richard. Morning, Mayor. Uh, Oscar Franco Morales, a marketing coordinator with El Paso Hospital. Good morning. Is there some other ones hiding in the back? Pablo and Richard. Good morning. Uh, Jas Corona. I'm a REC specialist. Good morning. I think I'm the last one. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Happy birthday, Representative Canales. Uh, Pablo Cayero, parks and recreation director. Good morning. Happy birthday. Uh, Richard Bristo from the city manager's office. Good morning, represent Lemon. Thank you. Um, Norma, did you say 29 years ago or it's 29 years in progress? It's 29 years this year. Yes. An El Paso woman was the one that um designated or started this project 29 years ago. our very own Pat Mora, author, a woman of El Paso, who now lives in in New Mexico. But still, it's important to recognize that she was a lady that really got this project going and it continues every year. It's fabulous. Thank you very much for all the work that you all do. Appreciate it. Yes, ma'am. Congratulations. And remind us what's going to happen on the 26th, the parade. Where is it at? Starting with the parade at 9:00 a.m. And then after that, we kick it off and there's plenty of vendors, over 50 vendors that we have that will bring a craft or something to do with the children. And then there's going to be jumping balloons and food and crafts, you know, books. We'll be giving away over a hundred 100 10,000 books. And it's just a fun field day for all the children that are there. It's really exciting to see them participate and get involved. Fantastic. Fant and congratulations to each and every one of you. And we're still celebrating opening the main library. So this is a perfect timing. So congratulations. Thank you. [Applause] So Yeah. Hold on. Let me arrange folks. Absolutely. Pablo, could I ask you about that? I'm so sorry. Getting those steps. There we go. That's looking good. Mr. Bristol, can I get you to just kind of come in a little bit and then turn towards me a little bit? Oh, there we go. Well, now you're blocked fully. There we go. That's good. Okay, we have one hidden face right here. You see me? I know you see me. Don't sh Don't be shy. Come a little bit this way for me. Little bit more. Little bit more. Remember right here in the front. Can get you take a little step forward for me and then a little step this way for me. There we go. That looks good. All right. Everyone can see me. Trying to hide. She was, but I caught her. All right. Big smile. Ready? One, two, three. Couple more with 47 phones. Just hold that pose. Keep smiling. else. Thank you so much. [Applause] You don't belong to the library. And the next proclamation is we hike hiking safety week. Representative Tjo. Thank you, mayor. Good morning. Good morning. Whereas Wehike is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the transformative power of outdoor exercise, education, and enriching lives through hiking, culture, health, and wellness into a shared outdoor experience. And where whereas connecting with nature offers significant physical, mental health benefits. And whereas we hike is committed to promoting safety, well-being, education, and safe hiking practices, and ensuring outdoor enthusiasts have the resources needed to explore responsibly. And whereas we hike uh whereas we celebrate the milestones achievement of we hike in securing the first ever recognized wehike hiking safety week in March making the groundbreaking step in hiking safety advocacy in El Paso, Texas. Now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and city council of the city of El Paso promoting a safe and res responsible hiking experience for all residents. The week of April 15, 2025 shall be known as we hike hiking safety week signed by the honorable mayor Renard Johnson. Good morning. Good morning uh Mayor Johnson, Representative Tjo, esteemed members of city council and community partners and fellow El Pasians. I am Lisa Enrique, the president and founder of Wehike. Today I stand before you with immense gratitude that we received this proclamation declaring April 15th as we hike Safety Week. The honor does reflect our city's commitment to health and wellness, the safety of our community members as they explore the great outdoors. At WeHike, we believe that hiking is just more than a pastime. It's a pathway to physical health, mental well-being, and a deeper connection with our environment. However, enjoying these benefits requires knowledge and preparedness. That's why I'm proud to announce the roll out of our new safety class, a program designed to inform, equip, and empower our community, regardless of age or experience level, with the essential skills and information needed for a safe and enjoyable adventure. This initiative does align with our mission and makes hiking to make hiking accessible, educational, and safe for everyone in our community. We are deeply appreciative of our representative Cynthia Tjo from District 4. Thank you. Thank you for your unwavering support and the collaboration in our efforts. Your dedication and the well-being to our community is instrumental in bringing this initiative to fruition. We also want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Mayor Johnson for the proclamation which not only recognizes our work but underscores the importance of our outdoor safety in El Paso. To our WiiH board, the members are community partners standing here with us today. Your support amplifies our impact and exemplifies the spirit of unity that makes El Paso strong. Together, we're fostering a c a culture where health and wellness and safety are paramount. As we embark on this journey, we invite all El Pasoans to join us and our partners here today. Let's take the pledge to make our city not only a safe place to live, but also a destination where hiking is both fun and secure. With WeHike leading the way, we can showcase El Paso as a city that values and promotes safe outdoor activities for all. At this time, I'd like to invite our board to introduce themselves, the ones who are here, and then we'll hear from several of our esteemed partners who continue to champion the cause of community health and safety across El Paso. Thank you and happy booking. John Enriquez, uh, secretary. Good morning. Good morning. I'm Danielle Diaenza, treasurer. Good morning Danielle. Jose, youth outreach director. Good morning. Hello. Good morning. I'm Carl Woodmer, uh, hiking guide. Good morning. Hi, good morning everyone. I am part of the traffic safety um, text I'm sorry. Good morning everyone. My name is Stephanie Cara Latilano. I am the traffic safety specialist with Texot. Um here in the El Paso district, WeHike has been a proud member of the text traffic safety coalition since the spring of 2024. Um one of their key focuses is on pedestrian safety, a growing concern here in El Paso. through their urban hiking programs. We hike helps amplify our message by providing invaluable safety tips for valuable vulnerable road users such as where to safely cross the road, what to wear when hiking and walking, and what is important to always um be focused around your surroundings. Thanks to the partnership between Textat and Wehike, we can relay these essential hiking tips directly to the very individuals who utilize them. Together, we are ensuring that everyone who enjoys the beauty of the outdoors is also saying staying safe on our roads. Thank you to WeHike for their dedication to community safety and for their ongoing efforts to make our roads safer for all users. Their work is a reminder that through collaboration, we can create a safer, safer, more connected community. Good morning. My name is Veronica Gastro, director of tourism for Visit El Paso. We are very excited to be able to join efforts with this organization to be able to not only showcase the beauty of our mountains, our trails to people from out of town, but also to our community. Remember, we are first our own tourist. So, it's um it's very um I'm pleased to be here and to invite everybody from El Paso to take advantage of the mountains and the hikes that we have. uh don't let people from out of town come and tell us how beautiful they are, but you tell everybody how beautiful they are and for them to come back to El Paso. Thank you. Thank you, Veronica. Good morning. Um my name is Ranger Lydia. I am the interpretive park ranger at Franklin Mountain State Park. Um and if I had more time, I would say a lot more stuff, but I won't. Um, I will keep it very short and brief today, just saying we encourage everyone to come out and enjoy the state parks um, here in El Paso and in other parts of Texas. Um, but we also want people to do it safely. We do our best to provide a safe environment, but we need everyone's help to to make hiking safe and we encourage you to come talk to your friendly park rangers, ask them what you need to prepare for a hike um, if it's your first time and come join us and have a great time. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Good morning. Samson Rivera, El Paso Fire Department, along with Lieutenant Ro Marquez and FST Enrique Huy. Uh the El Paso Fire Department Special Operation Division is honored to stand in support of the city's proclamation recognizing we hike week. We remain committed to supporting public safety initiatives through our coms unit, which plays a vital role in promoting preparedness and safety across our region's verse terrain. We commend the city of El Paso for highlighting the importance of responsible outdoor activity and community well-being. Thank you. Good to see you, Samson. Wonderful. Congratulations. Yep. Congratulations everyone and thank you guys for all that you're doing and and and promoting hiking and and and using our outdoor spaces for enjoyment. I think it's important that we get out in this community. We have the best weather and we have the best hiking trails in the in the country. So, we need to do more of that and we need to to brag about a little more. So, thank you guys for bringing awareness to this. Thank you. Congratulations. [Applause] But just catch me if I lean backwards. Okay. All right. Can I get you gentlemen to kind of come in? Can I get you ladies to scoot in this way? All right. And actually, ma'am, in the blue dress, can I get you to come forward to the front for me, please? There we go. That looks good. And then everybody squeeze in. Okay. Uh sir, on the end, can I get you to come over to this for me unless you guys want to all be together. Okay, you're good with being separated. All right. All right. Actually, you as well, Sarah, if you could come. I'm so sorry. Can I get you to come right in front? Uh, one more. There we go. That looks great. That looks good. Oh, perfect. All right. Big smile represent a little bit in for me. Perfect. All right, big smiles. Ready? One, two, three. Keep holding those poses. Ready? One two three. One, two, three. And last one. One, two, three. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks so much for getting me a new one. Really? Yeah. I'm going to be dazzling. Okay. I'm excited. Okay. Miss Prank, the next proclamation is riot 10 week. And the proclamation reads, "Whereas Christopher Wilson, professionally known as Riot 10, was born on October 27th, 1992 in El Paso, Texas, and has risen to international acclaim as a DJ and record producer, bringing pride and recognition to his hometown. And whereas Rya 10 has achieved significant success in the music industry, best known for his groundbreaking dubstep and heart trap production and has earned a place among the top artists in his genre. And whereas Christopher Wilson is signed by to prominent labels such as Steveoki's DMAC records, excisions rotten recordings, never say die records, discipline records, and firepower records with additional works released on Atlantic Records, Innercope records, and RCA records. And whereas Riot 10 has collaborated and toured with globally renowned artists such as Yellow Claw, Adventure Club, Steveoki, Queso, Pegboard Nerds, and Excision, captivating audiences worldwide with his electrifying performances. And whereas his 2016 release of the debut hippie hyperdie headbangers on dad six firepower records featuring the breakout single like Kanye and his iconic dubstep anthem Railbreaker under dim records have cemented his place as a trailblazer in the electronic music industry. And whereas Christopher Wilson's work has not only showcased his exceptional talent, but also brought international attention to the vibrant music and cultural scene of El Paso, Texas. And whereas Riot 10's contributions to the music industry and his representation of El Paso on the global stage exemplify the creative spirit and dedication that inspire our community. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of city of El Paso, recognizing Christopher Wilson, also known as Riot 10, for his extraordinary achievements in the music industry and his invaluable contributions to the cultural fabric of El Paso. The week of April 14th, 2025 shall be known as Riot 10 week, signed by our honorable mayor, Renard Johnson. [Applause] Good morning. Good morning. How um how are you guys doing today? Good, good. Welcome. Appreciate you guys. Um first off, I'd like to thank God for putting me in this position and for all the um all the everything that I have accomplished. Um I'd like to thank my partner, Alexis, for staying by my side um through it all and pushing me when I needed the most. Uh I'd like to thank my like to thank my manager and my um my agent for all of their hard work and believing me since the beginning. Um, I'd also like to thank anyone and everyone who has ever supported me in the slightest. And last but not least, I'd like to thank Mayor Johnson and the U and council for this incredible honor. Um, El Paso isn't just where I was born, it's where I still live. Um, El Paso is my home. Uh, I hope I can be living proof that you don't need to be from a big city like LA or New York to to make your dreams come true. Um, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing because Al Paso has shaved me figuratively and physically. Um, I would say food isn't really low calorie, but it's really good, you know, so I'll take it. Um, and yeah, El Paso will always be home and, um, I will always represent. So, thank you guys so much again. Congratulations. Chris Christopher, where'd you go to high school? Uh, yes. Ya. Okay. Yeah. Um, we weren't great at football, but uh I think baseball was pretty good and a little bit of soccer. Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, congratulations and thank you for all that you're doing to, uh, keep El Paso on the on the the national stage and and we're a little disappointed you didn't bring your turntables today and and show us what you got. Um, I'm going to I'm having a show here though in in Ju uh June. So, if you guys want to come and you know Well, where's it going to be at? Tell us tell us about it. It's at LowBrow. It's June uh June 7th. It's it's like um it's kind of like a unique stage. So like the DJ booth is in the middle of like the crowd basically. So the crowd surrounds the whole DJ booth. So it's energy is kind of crazy. But yeah, so it'll be a big show. So if you guys want to come check it out, I mean you guys are absolutely welcome. All right. Congratulations and keep up the great work. Thank you [Applause] again. Awesome. All right. Ready? One, two, three. [Applause] And the final proclamation this morning is education and sharing day. Good morning, Rabbi. And the proclamation reads, "Whereas the basis for the continuity of any society is education, and in El Paso, the education of our youth is a priority. And whereas a global spiritual leader and leading advocate for the advancement of education, the Lubeter Reb, Rabbi Manakam M. Schneersen stressed that a moral and education, moral and ethical education is crucial to forming and strengthening the good character of our youth. It also nurtures the unity of diverse peoples through encouraging increased acts of go goodness and kindness imbued with the awareness that even a single positive act of an individual can make a major impact in this world and usher in an era of global peace. And whereas education and sharing day is observe observed each year on the rep's birthday in recognition of his outstanding and lasting contributions toward the improvement of education morality and acts of charity around the world. And whereas April 9th, 2025 will mark 123 years since the Reb's birth. And this year marks the 75th anniversary of his leadership of the Shabbat Lubovich movement. Shabbat is an acronym of three Hebrew words for wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. The name Lubovich comes from the city which served as the movement's headquarters for over a century and means city of love. Of all the ethical values which inform our civilization, none is more important than love. love of wisdom, love of our fellow men, and love of our creator. These values are the essence of education at its best, and we should be certain to pass on this precious heritage to our youth. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of city of El Paso that April 9th, 2025 shall be known as Education and Sharing Day, signed by our honorable mayor, Bernard Johnson. Good morning and congratulations. Thank you, Mayor Johnson. Thank you, everyone in the city council for signing this proclamation. It's already a tradition here in El Paso. Um, talking about traditions, usually when I do an invocation, I start off with doing an act of charity, but today I wasn't with all of my gear, but I see that you have charity boxes. So with your permission at one point I'll be putting some charity in the charity boxes. I don't want to break the tradition of starting off a prayer uh with charity. Thank you so much for this proclamation. Uh this is joining this is a a tradition in America for close to 50 years. It started in 1978 and it pays tribute to the work and the teachings of the Reb Raber who taught that education is about teaching children how to develop proper character with morals and ethics and the fact that the city is able to participate in this uh in fact it's a global tradition that's happening in many countries around the world. The fact that the the city continues to participate in this is evidence of our focus on education and on proper education. And may God help us to know in the in the proclamation it mentions that it's the 123rd birthday. Uh there's a tradition in Judaism, the book of Psalms that was written by King David has 150 chapters. And the tradition is that whatever year you're up to, so let's say you're 20 years old, you recite chapter 21. So chapter 124 in Psalms ends off with a line. Our help is from God, the creator of heaven and earth. And when we teach our children to realize that there's an eye that sees and an ear that hears and they're accountable for their actions and that we have a responsibility to society um that really uh that educates a generation of children that are going to be proper members of society and bring us to the next level. And thank you so much for participating by having these uh charity boxes and I'm sure the mayor is going to talk more about it in a moment. Good morning. Good morning. Morning. I see over here every moment is counted. Now we have another three minutes and 47 seconds. But that tells us that in in education every minute is counted. Our sages tell us and Moses built a tabernacle in the desert and everything was ready to go but one thing was missing and the thing was missing was the blessing of God special education as much as we try and we put our efforts but we still needed we say a blessing from God that our efforts should be fruitful I'd like to share with you the blessing the priestly blessing that you find recorded in the book of numbers and this is a blessing for every one of us. May God bless you and guard you. May God shine his countenance upon you and be gracious to you. May God turn his countenance towards you and grant you peace. Let us all say amen. Amen. Sorry for not introducing ourselves. My name is Rabbi Ley Greenberg. This is my father, Rabbi Greenberg. my mother, Mrs. Kana Greenberg, they moved here to El Paso close to 40 years ago to start a permanent Kabad presence. And this is my son, Benim. Uh he's here to join us today at city council. Usually, I'm alone, but today I'm together with others. Thank you. Yes. [Applause] Well, congratulations and and we are very happy to be a part of this. And I think it just it's a lot easier just to explain what the what the ark is. It's the giving box is an arc. Uh it's an acts of routine kindness. Uh compassion and kindness are strengthened by consistency. Giving small amounts of charity every day causes one to become a giver. Having a dedicated giving box to place money every day provides a visual reminder of the importance of giving. So this arc, which I have one on my desk upstairs, um is something that we can always pay forward. So it it continues to give over and over and over so it doesn't stop. So that's the symbolism of the ark and and I thank you guys for for bringing this to our awareness and and all that you're doing and all the giveness and the acts of kindness and and you know the wisdom, the understanding and the knowledge. And I think that's very important and thank you guys so much and congratulations [Applause] There we go. All right. Okay, Miss Bryant. Yes, Mayor. That brings us to the consent agenda. Council, per the rules of order, no use of p personal cellular devices nor personal communication should take place on the deas 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 item. Please speak into the microphone and refrain from side conversations at the day while the meeting is in session. All matters listed under the consent agenda will be considered by city council to be routine and will be enacted by one motion unless separate discussion is requested by council members. Prior to the vote, members of the audience may ask questions regarding items on the consent agenda. When the vote has been taken, if an item has not been called out for separate discussion, the item has been approved. Council may however reconsider any item at any time during the meeting. Mayor Poten. Thank you, Miss Prine. I make a motion to approve the consent agenda with the following revisions. Page four, item 8, move to the regular agenda per city manager. Page seven, item 18, move to the forefront of the regular agenda per city manager. Page seven, item 19, move to the forefront of the regular agenda per city manager. Page 15, item 37, move to the forefront of the regular agenda per representative Lemon. Okay, we have a motion. Is there a second? Second. There's a motion to second. Representative Lemon. Yes. Yes, Mayor. Um, we have moved item 14 to the regular to the forefront. Is that correct? I'd like to move u let me make a mo motion. Move item 14 and 37 to the forefront as well. Representative Lemon, you want item 14 moved to the forefront? Yes, sir. And 37. We have 37. We'll move 14 as well. Okay. Thank you. So, we have a motion in a second. Is there any more discussion on the consent agenda? Hearing none, Miss Prime, would you call for the vote? Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Pim Chavez, seconded by Representative Nino to approve the consent agenda as revised. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Mayor, would you like to take item eight that was moved to the regular first? Yes, please. Thank you, sir. Item number eight is a resolution that the city council hereby requires that all budget transfers requiring council approval that are over $1.5 million and all contracts, bids, requests for proposals, or requests for publicifications, awards that are over 1.5 million be placed on the regular agenda of the city council meeting agenda. Good morning. Good morning. Cla Garcia with purchasing and strategic sourcing department. Bonnie Cordova, uh, director, interimm director, OMG. Good morning. So, we have a presentation. I think can you please bring up the presentation? Okay. So, this is for item uh eight uh consent agenda items. Uh the what we are requesting it is to approve the resolution for budget transfer and purchasing items over 1.5 million to be placed on regular agenda for the city council meeting. And we're going to give you just a little bit of a background. Back in 2001, city council approved a similar item um making uh the threshold for consent agenda items of $500,000. And this included budget transfer, contract items, bids, request for proposals, and request for qualifications. So this is the the threshold that we currently have under uh consent and regular agenda items. Anything uh less than 500,000 gets placed in consent and anything over gets placed in uh regular agenda items. Uh so I'm just going to give you some uh statistics about purchasing items to to city council for the past year. We presented to city council a total of 131 items. Consent items were 64. That's about uh 48 uh% of our items. Regular items were 67. about 51% of those items uh for that last year items between 500,000 and 1.5 million uh were 23 that represents 27% of our excuse me 17% of our uh items and as far as the CIP budget transfers that we brought for uh council approval um approximately 20 that we brought in the last year all 20 of them were under the 1.5 million. So as you could see uh some number of items would be placed under consent if this resolution is approved just to increase on efficiencies and how the meetings are flowing for those uh standard items. All right. Do we have a motion on this item? Motion approved. And is there a second? Second. All right, we have some discussion. Representative Basto. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, appreciate the presentation. I am not supportive of this at all. I think that right now when we have items that are under 500,000, I think that is sufficient for that to be on consent agenda, but moving that up to 1.5 million, I I feel that it lessens the guard rails on a lot of these items. So I I feel that we need to keep it in place as is right now and anything over um 500,000 should be on the regular agenda for consideration. It is really large amounts of of money that I don't feel comfortable just having everything under 1.5 million on consent where we always have the option to pull. I understand that. But at the same time, what I have seen is a lot of really um vital contracts that are over $500,000 on the regular agenda and and I feel like those those merit the the discussion that they can have on the regular agenda already without having to have them pulled from consent. So I'm not supporting this today. Thank you, Representative Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Um yeah, just to ask for total clarity, uh items would still be posted on the agenda. They would still be discussed during our Monday meetings and there would still be the potential to move any item from the consent agenda to the regular agenda if any member of council wanted to have further discussion during the Tuesday meeting. Is that all correct? Okay. So this is essentially an opportunity to uh move through some um more basic procurement simple items uh more quickly on a Tuesday meeting but it does not remove the opportunity to discuss those if even one member of council wants to have the discussion during the regular city council meeting. Yes, that is correct. Okay. Um, I I do think that we need to look at potentially a way to um make this adjustment happen a little bit more organically into the future. Miss Mack, I don't know if that means pegging this to a percentage of our all funds budget. I know that can become a little more complicated, but you know, if you calculate that once a year at the beginning of the year, you know, maybe 1/ one,000th of our all funds budget, um, anything greater than that would would need to be placed on the regular agenda and anything less than that could um could could go on the consent agenda. That would leave you about where this item does today. I I think I'm I'm happy to pass this as it is today, but I do think that we should look at a future change to peg this to our always um included in the future in a budget resolution which would give us an opportunity as a body every year to look at all of those resolutions in totality that are related to these type of items. So that give us a review period too. Again, I just don't want another 20 plus year period where we don't make an adjustment like this and then um you know we we have to make a a big jump all at once. Uh, I I don't think that this is that large of a change, but it it it does uh cause some consternation from the public when they see a change from a $500,000 threshold to a $ 1.5 million threshold. Um, if we can work that in, so it happens automatically. Around the inflation was pretty close. Yeah. Well, yes, I know inflation has definitely hit us over the last 20 plus years. Uh, thank you, Representative Chavez. Thank you, Mayor. Of those 23 items that you mentioned, which was equivalent to 17%, do you know if all of those passed by city council? Yes. All of them were awarded. All of them were approved and probably most of them unanimously or I would need to go back to every single one of them, but they are all uh were approved. So there were none from those 23 items that were controversial in any way that were questioned that I remember from my list. Uh, no. But I would need to look into more detail. Part of what I wanted to tie this to is that we're now doing our read ahead memos. And so if you're receiving that and there's an item that you feel warrants more conversation, we're we can change where that lands on the agenda. My thought also was that if it warrants having a full presentation beyond the memo, then we would also put that on the regular agenda. So we still have the ability to put items on a regular agenda and doesn't mean that just because it's at amount that you know it would land there. The thought was the regular agenda really would be items that warrant a further discussion from council or that we've received questions that we want to make sure we clarify for in the public. What would be an example of something that would warrant more discussion from I think it would be anything brand new. I think most of the things that we see within these um um uh frames are things that are really routine that we've done for multiple years. They're really uh routine type of um projects, but we may have, you know, ability to bring forth a consultant contract that may fall within that. I'm thinking of our um parks master plan, you know, is coming forward is below that range. But you als ob obviously want to see a full presentation, understand the full um ramifications of what we're trying to get done over a year. We want to have a full presentation for that. So when that item comes, we will be on the regular and since the agenda's, you know, given to us about a week before, then that would give you enough time correct to do that presentation. I can make the presentations will be done um if we receive any questions for you. We make changes up until Wednesday at 400 pm before the posting. So we can always move items if we need to um based on any feedback that we receive from council. Yeah. Just being mindful of staff's time. Just making sure that it's going to be ample time for for all of you. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Represent Fier. Thank you, Mayor, Miss Mack. At any point, any member can ask for a presentation of an item from from Miss Cody and her team. Right. Correct. And we will ensure that we've been working to make sure particularly as we've transitioned council that we are um more detailed in our backup. You know, making sure that even for our um consent items that we're giving you the history of those items in that backup even if we're not doing a presentation. So, I'm encouraging staff to put more detail in the backup to be available for the public as well as they're looking at those items. And again, we still would have, you know, public comment on these items the same way we do now. council members can still, you know, have comment on any of those items. So, it doesn't take away any of your authority to ask those questions and have staff address those questions to your satisfaction. And thank you, Miss Mack. And I was just going to bring that point up is that at any time a member of the audience can um ask questions in regards to even a consent agenda item like Miss um Osman pulled uh as requested to speak on this item today. Also, thank you for the transparency, Miss B. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mayor. Yep. repres. Thank you, Mayor. I I also feel that um I'm not really buying the inflation argument. I I still think a million and a half dollars is is a ton of money. I understand inflation has happened quite a bit in the last few years, but a million half dollars is is a large sum of money that I feel that we are taking off uh checks and balances on this. I think this is really bad governance. I am all for efficiencies when we can do it, but I don't think that this is something that we should consider. At the same time, I I understand that there's probably some categories that are pretty pretty routine that I like if we wanted to buy a million dollars in office supplies. I I feel that everybody needs to get office supplies to an extent and maybe we could that's just an example that I thought of but more categories that are going to make sure that the city is is running efficiently I I could kind of see that in terms of governance working in a better way and from what I recall um it's not always unanimous that these are are passing sometimes it's a lone vote sometimes it's two votes that are against it and then I also think about what happened with um the the purchasing aspect of the trash collection that we've seen three times, I believe, at this time. So, I I think obviously I I heard Miss Max say if there's some controversial item or something that requires a lot more information, we're going to be able to um just place it on the regular agenda either way. But I I feel that there's a better way of doing this. And I I I'm all for good governance and I don't think this is it. So, appreciate it. So, a couple quick questions. When was the last time that we made this adjustment, Miss Mack? In 2001 before we had a city manager form. Okay. And and just to be clear that any item that's on consent agenda can be moved out of the consent for discussion. Correct. Okay. And our budget's about 1.3 billion 1.4. We're somewhere in that range. Yes. Yeah. Somewhere. So, um, and this will allow for some efficiencies and and and and moving things a little quicker. So, uh, just wanted to make sure that we were we're clear about what we could do here. So, is there any more discussion on this item? Thank you, Mayor. Hearing none, Miss Prime. Mayor, we do have two members of the public that signed up to speak. We have Miss Patricia Osman, followed by Miss Turner. Okay. Good morning, Miss Osman. You have three minutes. Good morning. Happy birthday, Mr. Canales. Nice to see that both of us understand the importance of civic duty. I was here on my birthday yesterday. So I will say that most of some of you, three of you in those adjacent to the dis understand that the reason I started speaking here is because I discovered blatant ethics violations in corruption within the documents in contracts in certain departments in the city. That is proven fact. I've got the documents and those were even shown to Veronica Escovar because those federal funds flow in from her. But this shouldn't be raised up. In fact, quite frankly, it should be lower for the mere fact that because of the documents and I don't know if I've emailed it to every all the city council prior had a lot of those documents and were part of that email chain. I don't know if I've done that again with you all, but I will do that so that you all understand what you are dealing with in the history of what has happened because allowing the back of the house to run rapid with our tax dollars is insane. Cuz quite frankly, most taxpayers should know. Anybody who's done any accounting understands you can steal a million dollars without anybody batting an eye a dollar at a time. You do it a million once. Yeah. Citizens are going to raise raise an bat an eye about it, right? For example, anybody could pull up lawsuit documents. City of El Paso had a lawsuit. Highidge Construction because the back of the house was handing contracts that didn't get approval through city council and then somebody lo and behold figured it out and didn't want to pay. So that all went through but that's because the back of the house is doing things and not bringing it forth. But you want to go ahead and raise this amount so that the manipulation of tax dollars is even higher and that's what's happening and it doesn't matter about inflation and yes there have been a lot of high issue contracts in controversial contracts that have come through. I have spoken just in the last two years about several of these. Quite frankly, anything 10,000 and above should be on ion wave and it's not. You all have little private list in certain departments where it's hidden from the public. This this is Thank you, ma'am. You've reached the three minutes. The next speaker is Miss Lisa Turner. Good morning, Miss Turner. Good morning, Miss Turner. Good morning, Mayor Council. Uh, I'm sorry. I'm suspicious. What can I say? Uh, if inflation is the only reason you're doing this, then you would have raised it to 750,000 and not left it at 500. Uh, here's the thing. I've seen a lot of 380 agreements go through under this amount that would be on the consent agenda, which should not be. They should be discussed by you. Oh, I've seen it 30 years, but trust me, I've seen a couple. Uh, one of the things we want is as a member of the public is for you all to ask questions. If it's a million and a half, it's something you can put on and slide through because a lot of times people don't look at the consent agenda. They just imagine it's just minute stuff not important to be for you all to talk about. And everything you do is important that you talk about. But again, I'm my nature is suspicious. When you want to do something like that, first thing I ask is what are we trying to hide? I may be wrong. More than likely, I am wrong. But I can't help my my nature. I'm suspicious. It keeps me out of trouble. So, I'm asking you to keep yourselves out of trouble. Don't change it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Turner. Representative Canelis. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, Mr. Turner. It's not a bad thing to be suspicious. Uh it's a good thing to ask questions. There are a couple things I want to point out. You mentioned chapter 380 agreements and economic development agreements. that wouldn't apply here. This is only for procurement. Uh it's only purchasing items. And then I I want to point out to everybody that this item was posted on the consent agenda. Uh Representative Asaveto and I wanted to discuss it further. We simply moved it to the regular agenda and here we are today having the conversation in front of everybody. Members of the public had the opportunity to sign up to speak. They would have had the same opportunity had it been on the consent agenda. Um th this this does not in any way erode the council's ability to ask questions, the public's ability to speak and ask questions. Um it's a simple change of when this gets voted on during the council meeting and and how this how the the uh vote happens procedurally, but no difference in terms of what's posted, what information is available to the public, what the public's allowed to comment on, what the council's allowed to comment on. So it's a it's a rather simple change. Again, I know the the change in amount sounds scary because it's a large a large change in amount. Um, but that's simply due to the fact that it has not been changed in 24 years, right, Miss Mac? 24 years. Um, and as I said before, I think it warrants uh maybe smaller adjustments on a shorter time scale that we can work on uh for a future change. Thanks, mayor. Thank you. Any further discussion on this item hearing? None. Miss Prime. Yes, sir. The motion was made by alternate mayor promped, seconded by Representative Lemon to approve item eight. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And the motion passes 6 to2. Representatives and Batcoin. The remainder of council voting I. The motion does pass. Mayor, would you like to go to item 14? That's the next item that was moved to the forefront of the agenda. Sure. Thank you, sir. This is discussion and action to support House Bill number 4591 related to contributions to and benefits under certain fire and police pension funds as filed by Texas State Representative Mary Gonzalez. This item was placed on the agenda by Representative Ymore. Okay. Do we have a motion on this one? And then we'll do discussion. I'd like to make a motion that we Okay. Sorry. Like to make a motion that we approve item number 14 on the agenda. Is there a second? I'd like to have a discussion on it. Uh We have a motion and we have to take that second. Perfect. So, we have a motion and a second and we have discussion. Okay. Representative um Roachcha. Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate it. Um thank you everyone for joining today and and I'm I'm looking directly at at my counterparts over here on the pension fund side. And I know we had a discussion, but I wrote a few words down and I promised you that I would explain um a little bit more about what what we what I shared earlier. Um but for for people here um I I don't want this to misunderstand that I do not support the firefighter and the police associations at all. This is completely separate for me. Um because I do value the essential work that you all do for public safety day in and day out. What I do uh believe in also is also a strong fiscal responsibility that um that I feel is necessary. The the one thing that I can say is that we have to create a strong and sustainable pension fund that honors that hard work that the firefighters and the police um unformed officers do every day. Now, however, um I cannot support this and and um here's here's the reasons why I I need to make sure that there is some flexibility that's tied into this with the fis fiscal responsibility that we have. Uh we spoke briefly where there is still um some obligations to uh the 2007 I believe and correct me Miss uh Miss Mack or Miss Neman if I'm incorrect on that. I believe the date's correct on the CO bonds. And I also um know that there is uh close to and I uh about $und00 million worth of net deferred loss that has or deferred loss that has been built in. While I know that the pension funds are operating at a very favorable rate and I think they're ranked number 18 if I'm not mistaken um within the the the nation. Is that correct? I don't know if I see Paul or Tyler. Sorry about that. But I know that it's a strong fund. Um my goal is to make sure that we have long-term city health when it comes to that. Now, I do remain fully committed on negotiating in good faith a pension fund going forward. Now, should this pass at the House and the state level, what I would be really interested in is to create a framework that's similar to what we have with the collective bargaining agreement. And I believe that that we all need to come to the table. It's been a long and arduous process from what I understand. And that's that's on both sides. I would like to to be that person that we can come to the table, have those negotiations, move forward, and do what's best for both the pension, the the people that are receiving the pension and the city of El Paso's budget. So, there's two pieces to that. Um, again, I mentioned the fiscal responsibility and the second is um is just being able to have that negotiation available to all of us. So, um, I know that my door is always open to to anyone that's willing to discuss the pension fund. I'm a believer of of the process. I just think that we need a framework that's associated with that and we all need to um start a fresh page and be able to come to the table and start those negotiations in a healthy and and um in a healthy way for all of us to accomplish what what's best. So, thank you. Thank you, Representative Fier. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Representative Maldonado, for your honest um opinion and and thoughtful thoughts. You know, Mayor, um I have um always supported law enforcement. I believe that they are underpaid. They should get paid more. I believe that they should receive the best benefits that we can afford as a council and that taxpayers can afford as citizens of El Paso. You know, most of the men, the not most, all these men and women sacrifice for us day in and day out. In fact, they've made us one of the safest cities in the city, in the country. Um, I also have a personal reason for for wanting um these law enforcement members to get paid and have the best benefits around. My son is a fireman and I I think he works hard and deserves the best that he can possibly um get from his community. my personal concerns with HB4591, even if it passes out out of the House and Senate. You know, we're doing a disservice or I'm doing a disservice to the citizens and the voters of El Paso by supporting this if I were to support it because I'm giving a false hope that when this bill, if this bill were to come to us, that I would support it. And there's no way I'd even consider supporting this bill if we don't know where we are in the budget. You know, we're coming into some really difficult times when we look at our budget overall, and I don't know where we're going to start cutting. Are we going to cut parks? Are we going to cut streets? If we cut the biggest um item that's out there, that would be police and fires budget. And there's no one on this dice that's going to even make that recommendation or have that thought. You know, we're sitting in a time when um we have tariffs and they're on again, off again, on again. And what's that doing to our community? the feds are cutting our our grants and and I don't know how Miss Mack is going to be able to and her team are going to be able to juggle that and still offer the services to our community. So again, Mr. Mayor, I I can't support this item right now because I will not um lie to these members and say that I'll support it if it were to come to us until I know exactly where the budget is. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Representative Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Um yeah, I want to begin by I think acknowledging the the good intentions behind uh HP 4591. the the goal of giving pension boards more flexibility to adjust their their contribution rates and uh offer cost of living adjustments is is definitely understandable, especially in a time like now when we're facing huge inflation, massive economic uh uncertainty, huge market shifts, uh growing retirement costs. So, I I I deeply respect the the service of our public safety personnel and retirees uh who rely on this fund, and I know that we all want a pension system that's fair and sustainable. Uh late last year, I I helped the the fund to reach a resolution on approving a COLA for the the tier 2 members supported by member contributions. And and I voted in favor of that after the city received a letter from the funds actuary stating the the opinion that the cola could be supported by the fund's current funding status without an additional city contribution. Um, I I care really greatly and deeply about the the health of the city's pension funds, uh, and and taking care of our retirees and and their beneficiaries. I take an active role by serving myself on the on the board of trustees, uh, and the investment committee of the other fund, the city of El Paso Employers Retirement Trust, uh, the the pension fund for our non-uniform employees. So ultimately though, it's it's the city council, not the pension fund board, not the funds actuary, not the membership, uh that's responsible for maintaining the the city's pension liabilities and and managing those liabilities carefully. We're we're the ones who have a fiduciary responsibility to safeguard the financial health of uh the city as a whole. when decisions are made that affect the the fund, they inevitably uh impact the city's budget and and in turn our ability to serve the the broader public. So, I I do have serious concerns about this bill, how it restructures some of the existing processes and about the long-term implications for what it might mean for the city's financial health should decisions uh be made in the future. the the bill shifts the authority for the initiation of of a cost of living adjustment NOLA uh partially away from the city council and toward a structure where a super majority of the pension fund board and a majority of the contributors can put a cola in motion can start that process so long as it meets actuarial thresholds and yes that's a guardrail but uh what may appear actuarily sound uh within the the narrower context of the funds 's uh health and funding status doesn't always reflect the the broader reality of the city's budget. Uh a cola that looks sustainable on paper to the pension fund could still have ripple effects that force the city to make cuts elsewhere or pass on costs to to taxpayers. And that's a scary proposition to me. Um, that's why in my view, if we're talking about changing benefits and the process for changing benefits, especially something as lasting as a as a COLA that goes beyond just a one-time uh financial impact, the the process, I think, has to begin with the city council. Uh, we're the ones accountable to the entire community. uh not just one employee group, albeit in this case a really uh important and and influential uh employee group. So since the city has to carry the long-term financial risk, I I think the city council as the elected body accountable to the people needs to retain that that sole authority to initiate these kinds of changes only when uh as representative Fiero said, we know that they're fully supportable within the city's budget. Uh Mr. GMONE, Mr. Shelton, your entire team, and the leadership of the fund. I hope you'll see you back there somewhere. There you are. I hope you'll take this as a compliment. You all are like a freight train of advocacy. Um to to be totally honest, I'm concerned about what happens when that freight train gets up a full head of steam and takes a run at a cola with a with a future city council who will undoubtedly feel the immense pressure to get out of your way, whether that's to the benefit of the taxpayer or not. Um I I spoke with Representative Gonzalez and and we discussed her her thought that this is simply another tool that the city council would have into the future. uh but but pressures like the pressure that you all are able to wield so successfully I think can turn a tool into a a weakness that can lead to irresponsible decision-m um and that to me is another scary proposition. So ultimately I don't think I'm going to be able to support this change to today to our position that's already on the record as part of our our state legislative agenda. Um, I I want to assure everybody I I don't think that this is about denying our our first responders what they've earned. I don't think a single one of us up here. I can't speak for everybody, but I don't think any of us takes even an ounce of pleasure and not being able to offer uh a cost of living adjustment to our retirees. uh this this is about making sure that we manage the the obligations that we're responsible for in a way that keeps our our entire city on solid financial footing into the future. Um as written, I just don't think that HB4591 strikes that that balance. So I hope that we can continue to work with the funds leadership to make changes that are mutually agreeable. Um and I and I think there are some things that we agree on here uh in order to provide the maximum support possible to the funds members and and their beneficiaries. Um I I just don't think that this is necessarily the right path forward. Thank you repres represent Chavez. Thank you mayor. And um I also want to echo the sentiment of some of my colleagues here. I also have a great amount of respect for all of our first responders, police and fire. They are, you know, a safeguard in our community and they um like Representative Fiero mentioned, you know, have kept us as one of the safest cities in the countries and we are grateful for that and we are blessed for for their presence and their service to our community. I have been in contact with my constituents and many of them have raised concern regarding H uh House Bill 4591 because essentially um it it takes the right away from the voters to ultimately make this decision and and and I don't want to be the vote that uh enables that. I I do believe that when we're talking about something of this magnitude, I I do think the voters should have a say in the process and they should be a part of this. And I do know that it is a point of contention between our first responders and us. And I wish it weren't so because we are indebted to them and and they've earned it. So, I do think that we need to continue the conversation and hopefully, you know, in the near future find a more approachable and a more sensible solution to this that I think is much needed. I just don't think that this bill specifically is that answer. Thank you. Thank you, Represent Representative Trey. Thank you, mayor. So I you know I second this because I was this is a really really difficult decision. I I've been very torn with this as well and as you all hear it from each of the city council members that are speaking because we support our first responders and firefighters and and law enforcement uh because we care. And so with, you know, with everything that I that I'm hearing and I wanted to hear my my uh fellow council uh members thoughts so that I could get a better understanding of where the best decision is. And so as I as I'm listening to this is we we have to consider our community as a whole. And with that, I also believe that we need to leave it in the hands of the voters and we'll also uh vote against this. Thank you. Thank you, Representative um Lim. Thank you, Mayor. So, now that we've heard all the doom and gloom associated with House Bill 4591 and possibly even some different interpretations. I'm not sure that it I'm not sure that it talked about increases. I'm not sure that it talked about some of the things that were referenced here today. I had an opportunity to meet with Tyler Gman and I had an opportunity to meet with Ian both in my office at the same time because I was getting one story from one side and I was getting a different story from the other side. And the only way to resolve some issues is actually to bring everybody into a room and that's what I was able to do. Thank you, Representative Tjo, for sitting in on our meeting and thank you for the second. It's only by providing a second rather than letting an item die on the vine that we have open communication and I appreciate what you did today. I really do. As I read through 4591, this is what stuck in my mind right now as it stands. the pension board or our our associations can ask for let's say a pay increase and it goes directly they can go directly to the voters. What this does it now puts city council in the playing field. Now they can come to the council or they can go directly to the voters. And I'm going to tell you something. At the recent Academy Awards, the very first people that were recognized were the first responders in the Altadena and Pasadena fires in Los Angeles. They were the first ones. No producers, no actors, no actresses. It was the first responders. And what I wanted to do was give us the opportunity that when you have good communication, good working relationships that you can sit at a table and we can say you want an increase, let us show, let us show you our budget. We don't have the money for an increase at this time. Let's be reasonable about it. Let's talk about it. You want 3%. Well, maybe this is not the year to do 3%. Can we talk about this next year at 1%. And I think that as one of my professors said, laws were written to be interpreted by logical people. And I believe that we can all be logical in all of these issues. I guarantee you that if they decide police or fire that they're going to go out to the voters, to the constituents that it'll pass. No doubt I'm in my own. firefighters won that referendum several years ago and all I was trying to do is bring this forth and say let's give city council an opportunity to talk with pension boards talk with associations and let's as responsible logical thinking adults that we can go forth but thank you very much for the opportunity for the second and for the discussion today mayor thank you very repres. Thank you, mayor. And, you know, I echo a lot of what my colleagues are saying and, you know, public safety is absolutely important in district 2 and just the city of El Paso in general. It's a really, really important thing that my constituents always have top of mind and I love working with all of you guys, you know, association, pension, it's it's always a really good conversation every single time we talk. And so, um, I want to bring give the chance for staff to come up and answer some some questions on this because I have been incredibly frustrated by how this has played out in the past few months and, you know, I I wanted to just kind of get you to give us an understanding of why the city is opposed to something like this. Absolutely. Ian Vuluie, strategic and legislative affairs. I think the easiest thing for me to do would be to uh go through a presentation we put together that covers the issues we have. Mr. Prime, if you could Oh, thank you. Okay. So, uh staff had the opportunity to work uh on a presentation that goes through uh what this bill does so that you could uh make a decision based on the facts. Uh so pensions are governed by something called the article 6243b of uh Texas civil statutes. Uh so statute governs how this pension fund runs. Um and then another thing that I want you to understand going into this presentation is what we're talking about when we say unfunded debt. So unfunded debt means money that the pension fund does not have to cover promises made to pensioners. And that's tracked through a number uh that corresponds with years left in the amortization period. Uh so and then the last thing I want you to know going into this is that 30-year number. The the moment that a fund hits that 30-year number, it triggers another state law and the need to start to look at putting together a funding soundness restoration plan. So have those in mind as we go through these this presentation. Um we've we've had lots of conversations over the years with the police and fire pension fund regarding uh funding. Under that statute, the expectation is that a pension fund will be self- sustainable. In other words, there shouldn't be a need to come back to the taxpayer frequently to cover the cost of benefits. The pension fund is meant to be self- sustaining. Um in 2007, it was not. it was severely underfunded. Uh, and there are articles online that you can find that give you some of that history, but it was underfunded and the city was asked to step in to help. And so to cover uh some of the numbers that that uh Representative Rocha brought up, it was a $210 million bailout that the taxpayer was asked to contribute to get the fund out of uh out of trouble uh as part of that agreement. So, there was an agreement for that 210 million. There was a negotiation and as part of that negotiation, uh, tier 2 was created. Um, that 210 million we're still paying today. There's $157 million left to pay on that pension obligation. Uh, to put that into context, you you'll hear a lot that, you know, we contribute 18% and the uh, members of the pension fund also contribute 18%. If you were to add what we pay on an annual basis, about 16 million uh on that remaining pension obligation, it would push us up to about 28% contributions from the city. So, we're still paying for that bailout. One of the things that was also negotiated in that agreement was this requirement that an actuarial look and ensure that if you're going to add benefits in the future that the fund be able to afford those future benefit increases. So, what does the law do? Why why is the city opposed to or why do staff recommend that we not make these changes? Uh, fundamentally, we're recommending that this not this change not uh be approved because we don't need it to negotiate with the pension fund. We could negotiate uh an increase in contribution with the pension fund today. Uh the only thing that the law truly does or the bill truly does is it changes the mechanism by which these increases can be approved. It circumvents the taxpayer that creates a second option. So we're going to look at increasing contributions. How does it work? Under the current law, only the taxpayer can increase contributions to the pension fund. Has to go to a vote. except in one case. We c I've been calling this the break glass provision. In the event that we're getting close to that 30-year mark or 40 years is in the current statute, but there's a superseding law that would set it at 30 that triggers the pension uh sound uh restoration plan. Um if that's triggered, then city council can vote to increase the contribution. And actually, we've looked at making that change in the in the current statute. We that was part of the negotiation we had earlier this year. What the proposed bill does is it would as I mentioned it would allow uh the pension fund to ask council directly to make that change. Council could approve that increase in contribution and it would never go to the taxpayer. The second change that uh that occurs under the bill is how benefits are modified. So a cost of living adjustment for example. Uh currently under the statute if the pension fund wants to add a cost of living adjustment then it has to be uh approved by council to make the change under the circumstance that the pension fund can afford it. If it requires an increase uh in contributions from the taxpayer, they cannot make that change. Once again, this would allow this bill change would allow the pension fund to go straight to council and circumvent the taxpayer. To put that in perspective, just want to make sure this is absolutely clear. The funding status no longer matters because you have got the backs stop of the taxpayer. The pension fund does not need to be self- sustaining in order to add new benefits. Now, we came to this in part because of the actual actuarial letter we received uh from the pension fund in October. Uh it laid out that there's still uh $476 million worth of unfunded debt uh that the pension fund still needs to to pay off. And and again, they've done a terrific job of reducing that amortization period. Uh they're they're making great progress, but the the cost of living adjustment that was approved uh last year put the trend in the opposite direction. We're looking at adding four to six more years of unfunded debt. And these are pensioners and we don't have the money today to cover all of their pension. So, the city's position has always been, let's avoid trigger that triggering that 30-year uh that 30-year founding res uh funding restoration plan, and let's absolutely reduce the likelihood that the taxpayer will have to step in to to bail out once again. And those those protections are currently in place in the statute. I want to make this absolutely clear. We we want to work with our partners at the pension fund. Our our best way to do that is to come up with a joint funding policy. Let's both agree on how to get to zero zero years fully funded pension. Uh we can do that without making any changes to the statute. We may in the course of negotiating that funding policy decide that we have to go back and make a change to the statute, but we can do it together in agreement. It doesn't have to be a one-sided proposal. There's always in the background the fact that, you know, we're capped in the amount that we can increase taxes every year. And so when we have decisions like these that bypass the taxpayer, they can have broad implications. Uh we are again very committed to our police and fire integral part of the city. More than half of the budget goes to to fund those services. If if we can't afford the increase, then the potential exists just like Rep. Fiero mentioned that we would have to cut services. So our recommendation, staff recommendation is we've had conversations with the pension fund. They're not looking to ask for contribution increases until 2027. That gives us ample time to work together on a funding policy to put together a plan to make uh any recommended changes so that Representative Gonzalez has the best possible bill to file, one that we can all support. So we we recommend that uh you don't support this bill today and we can come back to you in two years in the next legislative session with a much better much stronger bill. Uh in the meantime, we really need to get a grasp on on what the impact of this cost of living adjustment is going to be. So our recommendation is to hire an independent actuary so that we can assess what the impact is going to be and what is it going to take for us to get back down to zero and happy to take any extra questions. So Ian, can you kind of explain why we cuz I I was very supportive of what we did in at the end of last year for the COLA. And when I voted for that, I I talked to the pension fund and kind of said, you know what, I'm I'm all for this, but I want to make sure that there's going to be good fiscal responsibility of the pension fund at at the same time. And that comes with leadership, right? And taking care of it and monitoring it. got that guarantee and I said, "Okay, that's that's fine." But what broke down in conversations between now and today in terms of agreeing on what we were going to pursue together as a legislative agenda for the state. Uh I I wouldn't even say that conversations broke down. Uh we had different starting points. I would say uh our goal from the beginning was to get to zero. um their goal was to find a mechanism to make it easier for the city to contribute. Again, nothing wrong with that. Um but we weren't comfortable with this language as presented because to us, this wasn't the pathway. This was certainly not the path of least resistance. So, in the last conversation that I had with the pension fund, we agreed not to pursue legislation at this time and to regroup in the summer and talk through what are the kinds of changes that we can make so that we're on the same page going into the next session. We also talked about, you know, what are different paths we can take to make uh benefits increases without having to go to the statute. Um, unfortunately, we weren't aware that this was going to be filed until right before the filing deadline, which made it very difficult for us to to add input. And in terms of a process moving forward, because I I think one of the concerns that I've also kind of heard from staff in the past few weeks has been this this could be used as leverage every single time that we have a city council election and really bring that into the fold for um our our council people that are running for office, right? When we have council elections every two years. So, how can we mitigate that through policy at the local level to work on making sure we're looking at this as policy and as a fiscally responsible thing? Let me answer that two ways. One is um I can I'll speak personally here. I I don't want to be in this position. This is not this is certainly not uh a good way to do a negotiation. And we absolutely, and I said it to Mr. Grossman uh back in January, and and I'll say it right now, we're we're always open to negotiate on how to do a better process. Uh I never turned down a phone call. Um the the best way to avoid this happening is to not remove the financial the safeguards that are currently in the bill. I mean, I think they're almost two separate issues. Um, we if if council supports this bill change, then staff will support it at uh through the legislative process. That certainly takes us out of the conversation. Uh, we just want to make sure that that council is fully aware of what the impact would be. And I I think overall um that that is where I'm also kind of wondering like what what is the impact, right? we we throw out $6 million and it's going to grow from there, but when when is this 6 million going to start? And I've kind of heard um 2027, 2030. Where where are you getting these numbers? Cuz I feel like that that's something that we also haven't been afforded. And and I I kind of want to have that. Absolutely. Let me ch let me chime in, Ian. I think that's one of the reasons why we're talking about a very open discussion in terms of how we plan for the next couple of years. You know, if we have an actuer on board, I think uh representative Roachcha really talked about what is that open process. When we talk about our CBA um discussions, those are open meetings. They have hosted. It's very clear that those conversations are happening. Maybe you would choose to have those during work sessions, you know, in a way that we're having those conversations. I think the questions that we have would give us the opportunity to have that and I think it needs to be an open and I do think that we need to make sure that we have a plan of action in terms of what those milestones look like to get to the dates and the and the results that we would like for the next session. So I guess what you're kind of saying steps looking forward would be let's look at doing a joint work session with council the pension fund and putting out all these numbers to kind of understand where we go from here and come up with the plan. I think the next step would be a work plan with a timeline so it's very clear about what those milestones look like. everybody's on the same page about what the city will be working on, what the pension fund will be working on, and then have a deadline for what we would like to do in terms of producing a final product. And how long would you need for a work session like that to come together? Mayor, I'm not sure. I'm keeping time. Representative has had the floor over. Yeah. So, Representative, we have others that want to want to speak, but if you have a few more few more items, I'm good to anything else for Okay. Uh, Representative uh, Nino. Thanks. Thank you, Mayor. And I want to start by thanking our first responders for keeping our community safe. I know a priority of mine and of this council is also public safety. Um, and as members of city council, we have the fidiciary responsibility to act in the best interest of all Pas. And that includes ensuring the long-term sustainability for our city and the financial security of our first responders. Our police officers and firefighters put their lives on the line every day, keeping us safe. But we must approach decisions that impact them and our entire city and our workforce with diligence that they deserve. Now, I want to mention that this is the first time that this council is public publicly discussing this item and we have yet given any direction to our city manager for data, financial analysis, negotiation efforts. And I thank you, Miss Mike, and and Ian for putting this presentation together because I know there's been a lot of back and forth without us actually giving you direction of what that, you know, that analysis is, right? And um without these facts, we're being asked to make a decision that could significantly impact our city's financial commitments without understanding it at all. Um, and I'm trying, you know, it's it's been I've been trying to really analyze it all and and I feel as though this council again hasn't been given that ability to really go into the the negotiation joint efforts and that can mean many things for future governing bodies especially um these matters that carry such significant fiscal and operational implications. Um I want to ensure that you know this decision is rooted in all the facts and I know that we're in a time crunch right because the legislative session is coming to an end. Um I'm just trying to really you know echo on what uh Reposave was saying in regards of what this bill is actually going to mean. Um I know that also I had heard that the original draft language has changed from what originally was originally proposed. Um I'm just trying to understand if there's even a possibility of us negotiating anything now, you know, because the bill has been filed. Um so I I I was just trying to, you know, I'm hearing my colleagues here and when it comes to the input of this council, I feel that this council has been has not been given that opportunity to really give their their input in the negotiation efforts for this bill. Thank you, Representative Fier. Thank you, mayor. Uh Ian, that was a fascinating point you brought up about an independent actuary. In fact, this question is for Miss Mack. Miss Mack, I sit along with Representative Canales on the um city pension board and that board we just got uh audit from FOAC. Um has it has um does police and fire not had been reviewed by FOAC or audited by FOAC? And do we have the second question is do we have an outside auditor that Oh, here comes Mr. Cortinez. It's being audited now. It was for Mrs. Mack, please. And the second question is um do we not have an outside audit review of both pension funds every so often? Represent F. So what we did is actually council approved several months ago. We were required by the state to do an audit every five years on not only the civilian but our police and fire pension as well. they've completed that work. We actually got briefed um a couple of days ago. That item will be coming to council at the next meeting uh to provide the results. But basically all they're doing is they're looking at ensuring that all the numbers that are being compiled in those actual real reports are accurate. So it's uh past looking not forward looking. And so what Miss Mack is referencing is as we're looking to potential adjustments on whether increases in contributions to fund current net liability or to look at modifications related to a cola, we would like to have an independent actual that can help provide some context as to what that future impact may look like. Well, I think Mr. That that's a excellent idea that Ian brought well that the team brought up because there was questions in October when we talked about this item in regards to what Zakur's letter was gray and there was conversations between both sides on on what the letter actually said and meant and I think they had to be sent back once. So I I I think it's important that we follow these steps. Thank you Mr. Cortinez. Thank you Ian. Thank you mayor. Yeah. Thank you. I want to remind council members that, you know, we have up to two times to speak each for 10 minutes and uh because we have a lot of members of the public that still want to address us on this item. But Ian, thank you so much. All right, represent Lim. Thank you, Mayor. And in my mind, I can only think why didn't this happen before? We now have a plan that you just discussed, Miss Mack, that we're going to go through a work session and we're going to do all of this process. Why didn't it happen before? Because in my mind, it seems like it was a very closed that there really was no conversation here. There was one meeting. Um I know that Ian, you and I spoke several times, but I think that perhaps the pension board and our management did not have more of an opportunity to have communication. So, I'm glad to hear that and I'm hoping that we will be able to to have better communication. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Lemon. Uh, Miss Prime, we have members of the public. Yes, sir. We have five members of the public that signed up to speak on the item. The first person is Tyler Gman, followed by Paul Thompson, Sean Shelton, Wesley Lawrence, and Lisa Turner. Good morning, Mr. Gman. You have three minutes. Thank you, ma'am. Uh, honorable mayor, city council, city staff, thank you for My name is Tyler Gman. I'm the executive director and chief investment officer of the El Paso fire and police uh pension fund. And uh thank you for for uh allowing me to speak. And thank you, Representative Leone, for putting this item on the agenda. And thank you, Representative Trel, for second it so that uh we could hear your concerns. Um um obviously I I feel this is going to fail. So I just wanted to make sure that we uh that I addressed some of the concerns that you all have. El Paso Fire and Police of all pension funds that are billion dollars plus in the uh state of Texas were ranked number two to your point um as far as the healthiest fund uh funds in the state of Texas. uh that uh to include Dallas, Austin, all their funds, Houston, all their funds, but one um San Antonio, you anyone you want to name, uh we're better than them, and we've always been better than them. Uh as you said, reference uh Representative Fier, we did go through that that audit. Um it's you you'll see nothing on that report that is out of whack. uh the cola was approved last year is now part of the fund. It's part of the tier 2 uh benefits. uh the fund from that moment the fund is a holistic entity and so therefore there is no separating you know of the different uh benefits that are within it's just the health of the fund that matters and us being the the 15 years amorization with we could sustain that uh benefit and we will we're not asking the the voters for contributions we don't need contributions we're not asking for another benefit we don't need any more benefits uh this is taken to has been taken to a different level as far as ritual that I had not seen before on a permissive bill. Uh but it is what it is. Um and so we'll move on like we said we would. Uh it's not uh it's not important. I mean I I think the biggest thing for us is you know when it comes to voters, why on earth would we ever take it out of the voters's hands? as Representative Le Moan pointed out, we will win when it comes to the voters because that is their number one priority. Uh fire and the police, they're first responders. So, there is no inkling that we would ever agree to anything that would allow uh uh this to be taken out of their hands. We just wanted it to be a smoother transition to the voters as opposed to the city holding the the keys to that vote and only the city could allow a vote unless we went and got signatures in order to put us on the ballot. So those are the two options right now. Uh I think the second thing before my time ran out is this wouldn't cost you a dime. We we don't need money. There is no ask in 27. Um, if anything, if there was a dire deed, some of you or or maybe all of you would even be in office by the time that happened. Thank you, Mr. Gman. And so, thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Paul Thompson, followed by Sean Shelton, Wesley Lawrence, and Lisa Turner. Good morning, Paul. Thompson. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Um, I I I stand here before you not as as uh a member of the El Paso Fire and Policemen's Pension Board, which I I did serve on for 12 years from 2013 to 2025. I stand here before you as a retiree, as a retired firefighter of 27 years with with the El Paso Fire Department. Um, I think we all know uh what's going to happen today, but I do stand here and ask you to support item 37. Um, I I thank staff for coming up here and providing a history lesson. Um, I'm I'm a fan of history and and just so you all are clear, the reason why the city had to put in the funds in in 2007, back in 1996, the pension fund came to the city council and told them there was a unfunded liability of 30 million. They did nothing. Kicked the can down the road. That grew to almost $400 million in 10 years. And so it was a negotiated agreement. It it it required us to create a second tier, which means firefighters that I was serving on the fire truck with had a different retirement benefit than I did, which was not right. Part of that wrong was writed in the fall when um the council approved a 1 and a.5% COLA. They now have a COLA. Um, part of that history was in 1998 when I joined the department, we were contributing 11%. We went to 13%. 15%. And now we're at 18% like the city which has been at 18% since 1967. One of, if not the lowest in the state of Texas. And so, um, I stand here as a retiree. This is a permissive bill. It requires no mandate on the city to raise contributions. Um, some of you I've spoken to and some of you have said it should be up to the voters. Two years ago, we had Proposition I, which the voters approved by 70% almost to remove the city's cap in the charter, which would allow them to put more in the pension fund. So, I think we know what what the city taxpayers would do if we went back to them. Like I said, this is a permissive bill. Um, and I hope uh I'm not speaking for the fund, but I hope those talks and negotiations will continue. And thank you. Appreciate you all. Thank you. Good to see you all. Good to see you. Thank you. Next speaker is Sean Shelton. He's waving. No. Okay. Wesley Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence, star six, please, to unmute your telephone. Wesley Lawrence, star six. Good morning. You have three minutes. Can you hear me? Yes, sir. Hi. Good morning, council and Mayor Johnson. I stand here today to ask you to support item number 14. As a pride union member and a supporter of public safety, uh it's common sense that we allow our first responders to have a living wage uh pass their time on the service. Uh it's really important to add um that our firefighters and police that I've talked to, a lot of them are scared for retirement. You know, right now we have a record um inflation throughout the country. Our city's property values continue to rise, thus raising property tax rates, and we need to do more uh to in order to ensure that our retirees, whether they're police or fire, are able to live an equitable lifestyle. Um that they've earned. You know, they've gone into burning buildings, they've been shot at by by uh by violent individuals. They deserve to be safe and they deserve to live a long and happy life. Um, today's presentation, I think, was very anti-UN and very anti- uh, police and fire. And I hope that going forward that these discussions are very informative, not only to the members of the pension fund, um, but to current, um, serving officers and firefighters who have valid questions and valid concerns, uh, about how they're going to survive postretirement with everything continuing to go up. Uh, so I will ask council to do their due diligence and support this item. Uh, like many have said before, it is very it's a permissive item. Um, so if they don't want to raise the pension fund, uh, y'all don't have to. Uh, but one of the last things I will add, um, is that there is still time for amendments on this bill, um, over there in Austin, uh, I would imagine if you reached out to Representative Mary Gonzalez or any of Representatives here throughout the county of El Paso, um, any of them would be happy to add additional amendments to this bill in order to make sure that it's it's equitable, not only for the city, but for our retirees as well. Uh so I just want to make sure that you know that that is an option. Uh so thank you all for the work that you're doing and I would ask that you follow the will of the voters and continue to strongly support uh our public safety individuals. Thank you. Thank you Wesley. The final speaker is Miss Lisa Turner and council. I'll remind you to please refrain from side conversations while the meeting is in session. Again good morning mayor and counselor. Good morning Mr. I've been hearing some double speak about the voters. This bill actually removes the voters the voters from being able to vote. So to say, "Oh, well, they'll vote for us. We need to understand that." Well, then why do you want this provision in the bill in the first place? Now, when I look at any kind of decision that's being made, I look past the first order effect. I look down the line. I may look 20 steps down the line. And this is what I'm looking at, especially with a pension. A bad pension can cause you to have to declare bankruptcy. At best, it could cause you to have to cut back on parks, streets wages operations. That's not good. And if there is one thing, if you wanted to divide the supporters of police and fire and our first responders, then this is what you would introduce. This is what you would introduce because it's going to create a divide because when I look at it, I see police and fire and says, "Well, you as a voter, we don't care what you have to say. That's why we want you written out." And that's not right. I have to look when I look at something, I have to look at everything that's going to happen. And and I hate to say it, I had I'm I'm agreeing with the representative from District 6. This is my first time. Okay? This is my first time I've ever agreed with him. So mark your day, April 15th, tax day. Whatever. But my concern is this. the health of the city. I I've talked with Mr. Cartinez time and again. What is it when they talk about well we need to lower our taxes and you know I've always said tell me what you want to cut to get any kind of sniff tax re cut. You have to cut police and fire. And who wants to cut police and fire? You don't want to cut there. You don't want to lose that ISO1 certification that a fire department has and then see your fire insurance rates double at a minimum. You don't want to do that. You don't want to do that. This is wrong. Y'all need to sit down, have a long talk with each other. Uh have don't think of pulling the voters's okay out. It's disrespectful. It tells me that you don't care. It tells me that you all are more important than anybody else that serves the city. Thank you, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Turners. Represent. Thank you, mayor. So, um, I appreciate all the the discourse that has happened over the last few minutes. I I think ultimately where I'm seeing this is there's a lot of heartburn about taking away the vote from the public and and I understand what what happens with this bill. The council has the authority if this bill goes through to just vote it through without going to the voters. And I feel that this council that's here today would likely say, "Well, let's just send it over to the voters, right?" But down the road, we don't know what's going to happen with future councils. And so I I really understand that part of of that where we're making a decision today and in 5 10 years we're no longer going to be here, right? And we might have a new city manager, new city attorney, a lot of leadership changes in maybe the the pension fund. And I this is where you're bringing up a lot of historical stuff from 2007 2011 and we weren't here, right? But now we're kind of dealing with the issue at hand. And so we don't know what future councils are going to do or act on on something that might be a permanent change. And it it does um also give me um a little bit more pause just because I feel that we have not had that full conversation with the pension fund as a council and I and I feel that one one of the things that is coming out that for me today is that we really need to sit down as a council over several work sessions come up with the process and and I think that um I'm fully committed to doing that and putting that on the agenda uh a future agenda. I was asking Miss Mack um how how many days you would need for us to direct you and Miss Neman about would it be 120 days 60 days I would recommend as a body that perhaps the FOA becomes our work group and we invite the pension team and we can do a smaller work session just to understand what the moving parts are and then that would help us to inform what we bring back to council. I think we have to be all in the same room having a conversation about what we want to have a public conversation about and what we think those next steps might be. So coming up with a scope of what we would be doing through the FOA. Okay. Yeah. And so I'm I'm fully committed to doing that through the the FOC as the chair of the FOC. I think that's a great place to start. You know, this this is a policy decision. It's also a budgetary decision and as we have seen we have a large portion of our budget go to our police and fire and that's a great thing. We have collective bargaining which is I I wish we could have collective bargaining across the entire city. That is a really fundamental right of being in union membership and I know that there's also state laws that preempt how we do collective bargaining. And then we're also going to have about 90 new police officers in our community in May. And so I feel like there's a lot of progress that we're making on different fronts. And I I believe that now what we need to do is take this to the FOAC and start the conversation there and develop this a little bit more with everybody on board. And I I I don't want to be caught in the in the middle. And I feel like as a council member, I've been caught in the middle with with staff saying one thing, the pension fund saying another thing, and it it's just been really messy to be honest. And I don't want to be in that position. And I think when we have honest conversations and we're all in the room, we have a full understanding of what what what we do next. And so, um, I'll I'll leave it at that. And this is the the start of conversations and we'll we'll work on putting this on a FOC agenda. The good thing about the FOC this year is that we are meeting on a monthly basis. So you don't have to wait every quarter as it used to meet and we could really start getting through all these details at a at a future BOAC meeting FOAC meeting. I'm sorry. Thank you, Representative Rocha. Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate it. And I I just want to be clear that the House bill doesn't take away completely the the the voter. It's the council is added as a layer in it and then if it's denied by council then it would go to an election. So I just want to make sure because I I want to make sure that there's no misinformation out there if you haven't had an opportunity to read the bill as it's written. And so I just want to make sure that that's out there. that the intention was never to take away the vote from the taxpayer. It was just to add that layer of sa that sa that additional safeguard. So I just wanted to clarify that. Thank you. Is there any more discussion on this item? Hearing none, Miss Prime, please call for the vote. Yes, sir. And the motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Oyard Trejo to approve item number 14 as stated on the agenda. On that motion, call for the vote. And the voting session and the motion fails 7 to1 with Representative Lemon voting I. the remainder of council voting nay. So, the motion fails. Yep. I I I just want to say a few words here. I want to thank uh Representative Lemon for putting this on the agenda and I want to thank Representative uh Tjo for second it because what we witnessed today is is this is what makes a community healthier. You know, we had uh a community with open dialogue. we were respectful to one another and and we we talked about an issue and and we ultimately uh made a decision. I can tell you that everyone sitting up here, all of your council representatives, our hearts our hearts are torn because this weighs on us. This is not an easy decision uh uh to make and um we have the the deepest respect for our firefighters and our and our police officers. uh they are the ones that keep El Paso safe and and make they make this a really great place for for all of us to live. I will commit that I will do everything in my power to to meet our obligations to obligations to them uh while ensuring the long-term financial health of the city. And we've heard this over and over. What we need to do is we need to bring all the stakeholders together, both firemen and the and the police pension fund together, the city leadership and and the voters and the t tax people need to be a part of this process. So I will commit that we will continue this conversation. We will ultimately come out for what's best for the city. We are faced with a number of budget cuts here uh at the city of El Paso. You have declining revenue and your expenses are going up. So, uh, we we we've got to figure out other ways of getting uh uh to the solution. But again, this was not an easy decision. We we I can tell you a lot of us uh go home and we think about this and we will continue to think about this. But we want to say thank you to our police and fire and and we would not be one of the safest cities in the nation if it wasn't for you. And I will commit to working with the stakeholders to come up with the solution to this. But we want to thank you. Thank you, Miss Brian. The next item. Yes, sir. The next two items are related. They were also moved to the forefront. Would you like me to read them into the record together? Please. Okay. Item 18 is discussion and action that the city manager be authorized to execute a first amendment of the chapter 380 economic development program agreement dated July 2nd, 2024 between the city of El Paso, Texas, a home municipality, and notes life, Inc. and its subsidiaries, affiliates, a Colorado corporation, incorporating a local preference for project related hiring and procurement, updating project related timeliness, increasing the minimum investment to $100,000, $100 million, and increasing the real property acreage associated with a proposed development located at the northeast corner of Cohen Avenue and Gateway Boulevard North in El Paso, Texas 79924. Item 19 is a public hearing of an ordinance approving an amendment to the contract of sale between the city of El Paso and venue DBA NLE Inc. a Colorado corporation amending the acreage of the property located at the northeast corner of Cohen Avenue and US Highway 54 in El Paso, Texas 79924 and clarifying provisions pertaining to the parking agreement title and closing. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Frank. Good morning, Mayor Council. Karina Brazgala, director for economic and international development. And if you'll give me pull this up, but uh I know many of you are new. We've taken the opportunity to brief you and talk about this deal, but this was passed last year. We're here with a couple of amendments to really clarify some obligations, uh give us the ability and give the company the ability to move this forward. And so I'll walk through the history on this, uh give a little bit of additional background, restate some of the items from last year, and then talk about the amendments on the table today. I don't know if the slides are up. It is working on bringing those up. Yeah, there's some 18, right? Mhm. No, you're both in there. Yeah. I was like, I didn't want to click because then Okay, give me a second. Okay, I can do it all from memory, but I think the visuals help. Sir, we're going to need to recess for a few seconds to reset the computer at the podium. Okay. Can I have a motion for a recess? There's a motion in a second. All those in favor for five minutes. Okay. And the the city council meeting is in recess at 11:24 a.m. for five minutes to correct some technical difficulties. Something happened. No, I saw that it's completely frozen. Yeah. No, it's not. You don't have to restart. Darn. [Music] Council. If you'll return to the deis, we're ready to go. All right, Miss Brian, I'm ready to reconvene the meeting. Is there a motion? Second. So moved. There's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? The meeting is back in session at 11:31 a.m. and we're on items 18 and 19. Uh Karina Brascala again for the record. And so we are back. Um so you'll see the original agreements are under Notes Live Inc. Uh since these were signed, the company has become a publicly traded IPO. They are going by Venue, Venu. I will be using I may use the names interchangeably. I'll try to stick with Venue. Um I know that can be confusing because we're also talking about a concert venue with an E at the end. But so previous action uh these items are back for amendments because in 2024 council approved a term sheet and then approved a chapter 380 agreement and contract of sale on July 2nd of last year for these items. And so those are the two the agreement and the contract of sale are what we are looking to amend today. Then I'll go through these kind of step by step. So a little bit of background and history we'll talk about really first the reimagine Cohen effort. And so while the project is in front of you because of approvals in 2024, this project starts in 2017 and even a little bit further back than that. Um when Cohen Stadium uh when the Diablo's moved out of that site and Cohen Stadium was looking to be demolished, city council had the forethought to really engage in truly nearly a year of public engagement, looking at a master plan for the site and then really importantly applying those development and financing tools to make sure that that master plan was feasible and could be brought to fruition in the future. And so when we're talking about the reimagine Cohen plan and the Cohen entertainment district that is out of the community's vision for this site. So this is the site we're talking about. It's 50 acres. You can see that the water park is there. Um it's completely city-owned and we have tax increment reinvestment zone number 11. That's one of those financial tools we put in place. And it's been completely vacant uh since the de demolition of Cohen Stadium in 2019, you know, with the exception of that water park build. And so you can see just from that very first public meeting um one of those uh design cheretses. So you bring everybody in, you talk about what the vision is for the place, you do some sketches on the site. Right at the beginning there's this idea that because it was a stadium in the past that there should be really looking at still some kind of central event space, an anchor tenant. Um focusing on day-to-day activity, something that has family entertainment options. Uh master planned commercial development. So with the these kinds of uses uh retail and hotel supporting and then those master plan and design standards are adopted in 2018. All of this is still on the Coen EP website and you can see the history of the site, access the public meetings, the master plan and the design standards. And the goals of this master plan were to revitalize the site, provide a catalyst for development in northeast El Paso and the bigger region, and then really create a regional project that's a destination for tourism uh for spending both locally uh regionally and nationally and internationally because of our presence on the border. And then what we saw in October 2023, the city was uh asked to apply to a request for proposal from a company um that turned out to be venue and we pitched Cohen Stadium. The site came in, they said, "We are a company looking to we, you know, we're rapidly growing hospitality and tourism. Uh we're looking to grow into the El Paso market. We know that there's a market here. We're ready to go." Um and I think they said this when they were here last year, we were on their radar far before they were ever on ours. And so what happened in October is we responded as uh economic development department often does. We provided some information and we pitched Cohen. We said this absolutely lines up with the vision that we've had for this site. Um we'd like to work on it. And then uh it we entered into negotiations briefing city council throughout in July that was adopted. And so this was the pitch. Um looking at us as a target market for expansion looking to construct a 12,500 seat luxury hospitality venue. uh minimum 100 million investment that is up. It was 80 million last year. They've increased that $20 million. And that they then contract with an operator. So that's some kind of national touring agency for a minimum of 40 shows per year. Um anticipating an opening in 2026 when we're looking at that. And I'll let the company speak to the timelines um and what that's still looking like today. And then shared use parking facilities uh with management exclusivity. This is very standard for the industry. It's also something we already have in place uh with other management or operator contracts like those with Mountain Star Sports Group or uh with a SMG Global on the convention center facilities. This is their model. So they are in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma City. Those are both in Oklahoma, Colorado Springs, which is their first uh signature venue. McKini, they've also got uh different models uh and entertainment in Georgia um kind of across the south and southeast. and all of those are millions of dollars in investment. Um they do this fire pit suite investment model to help minimize debt and help make up the financing tools. They are a publicly traded company. All of their financial reports are available. They are on their website. Um they file with the SEC. And so when they came into this market, I know there's been some questions about the financing. This is just one component of it. They were fully able to build this. They have financial capacity to build that. that is a minimum requirement for any 380 agreement or negotiation that we're entering into. Um the other venues that they have range from 8,000 to 20,000 seats, the largest being in McKini and they target premier national touring acts and concerts. And so if we're looking at post approval, um there's been some questions about, you know, what we've done so far. So one, in December, uh city council approved the revisions to the sound ordinance. So we needed that in place. And really, I can go into details and I think uh city attorney's office can answer this as well. There is a concern about the title exceptions and I'll let the company speak to why that risk is a concern. But because this is in the northeast, um I think everybody, you know, if you're local, you know the history of the site. Um there was explosives testing uh primarily at Castner Range, but there are, you know, notices just saying that this happened in the past. uh we have this on there and because we're looking at something that's going to have a lot of folks in and out of it because we're looking to build um this is just really something that you want to be very very secure about. So both ourselves, the company, everyone we've talked to, um, city staff and the company worked very, very closely on this over the following months. And so they have continued to push forward on design, on insurance, on doing everything they could possibly do within the constraints of, you know, agreements approved, but not having ownership of the property and really worked with us to come up with a solution on that that we feel is in the city's favor. And so they were able to finalize that design and that is why you see the modified acreage request on the agenda today. And so this is what the modified incentive looks like because the acreage is going up three acres. We've increased the value of the land. Again, the land is being transferred um it's being conveyed at no cost, but that does have a value to the company. And so we make sure that we account for that and that that is recoverable uh in the event that something happens going forward. And so the estimated incentive value is just a little bit higher than when this was brought forward last year. Looking at $31.5 million. Very important to note that not a single dollar of this is out of the general fund. So the development note is funded out of the Texas economic development fund. Our waiverss and rebates um all of those rebates are out of tax increment reinvestment zone number 11. And again that was placed in 2018 with the intent of being used for something exactly like this. We set up those financial tools in advance to be able to let development happen and really incentivize it moving forward for something that was the vision and for the good of the community. And so you'll see those there. Like I said, no general fund. And then for the infrastructure and parking, and we'll touch on those a little later, there is still funding available in the Cohen site readiness fund. So we did actually set aside funding to help with the planning, the design, and the layout of this site. And so we have that available to us as well on the city side. The land conveyance is authorized under chapter 253 of the Texas Local Government Code. This was amended during the pre the last legislative session. And this is something that was on the city's legislative agenda for many many years. Um we have a wealth of city-owned property both in our own inventory and managed by El Paso Water. And we know that it is one of our biggest economic development assets. the ability to use that land as an incentive to attract companies in to attract development is absolutely vital. And so we looked at an amendment that would allow us to convey and transfer land as part of an economic development agreement. The land transfer is tied to that performance. So if at any point the incentive is not if they're not performing to the incentive requirements, the land comes back as well. So there is not a situation where we have something halfbuilt out there. um it needs to be returned to us in the same or better condition. And then we have full clawback default provisions. Um we are very careful in drafting this deal, not because we don't think they're going to be successful. I have no doubt that they will be, but just acknowledging that this is a a new tool in our toolbox and making sure that we are very careful with those uh public assets. A little bit about the impact of this kind of upfront. Um so an estimated $5.4 4 billion impact across the life of the event, but $2 billion in the first 10 years. And the city recovers that incentives value. So that 31 uh million within 17 years of this venue being operated. Um over the life of the incentive agreement, it's a 28.8% return on investment for the city. So think about ourselves as investors in this project. If we are putting in a value of $30 million, $31 million, um we are getting really an incredible return on investment for ourselves and for our community and that's direct benefit, right? Indirectly really looking at what this does to drive capital investment, generation of tourist revenue um and really drive impacts in the entire Northeast. That is where most of our city on uh land lies. And so looking at the way that this will impact development on one the remaining 30 acres of Cohen, but also uh other key sites like Metro 31, even things downtown because we are anticipating this to be really uh venues first international and they're very excited to be in the international market. And so if you're thinking about people crossing those bridges coming in, we would expect to see tax revenue through, you know, our hotel occupancy tax, sales tax, people coming in and spending, if any of you go to concerts, you know, in Albuquerque, in Phoenix, Tucson, in Dallas, and Houston, you're going, you're spending money, you're eating at restaurants, you're getting drinks, you're staying at hotels. Those are exactly the kinds of things that now come into our community. Um, I will also point out that because we are the incentivizing entity here and it is not a publiclyowned uh amphitheater that this generates direct tax revenue to all other taxing entities. And so that means that while the city is uh, you know, collecting through TUR 11 and rebating that back, re reimbursing the company, the county, El Paso Community College, EPISD especially are collecting tax revenue on the real per property. Um, and then sales tax for both the county and Sun Metro. And that has a real impact to their budgets and their ability to kind of have an overall uh, you know, more revenue for them means potentially less of a tax burden across you know, your full tax bill. There's also been a lot of questions on the non-compete clause and so I have the full text in the backup but really this is something that drove out of the fact that when we were negotiating this in 2024 early 2024 um the MPC the downtown arena project was still a bond project that the city was obligated to build. And so we disclosed that to the company. We said there is a voter-approved bond project and that has now been revoked. But again, take me back to February of last year. Um, still on the docket and we said we want to make sure you are the private sector. You're able to move very quickly. We're also investing in this project. We want both of them to be successful. We see no reason to undercut ourselves on a public project, but we also don't want to, you know, help you with this one and be an investor in this and be a partner at Cohen and cause negative effects there. And so really that whole section was negotiated with the idea that we need to protect the city's current and future interests in other projects and make sure that Cohen is also competitive and successful. Um the language we very rarely reinvent the wheel here and so similar language uh exists in our contracts with ASM Global and Mountain Star Sports Group. A little bit different. So talking about purpose-built developments um substantial you know not meant to substantially impact those operations. Very very clear about this. This is a clause that binds the city. It does not restrict any private industry investment. It does not restrict the private sector from doing whatever they would like to do at any level. Um and the city and it also does not restrict the voters. So if there is ever a voter approved project that supersedes everything anyway. But we would still be able to construct voterapproved projects. Um, other entities could still develop their ones. So, I know there's been discussion about, you know, maybe UT's going to renovate the Don Haskins or the Sunbull, the County Coliseum. This is not something that restricts those partners, nor does it restrict our ability to participate in those kinds of regional projects. Um, and then we can look at other entertainment sectors. And so, it has to be directly competitive. So, it needs to be in the exact same range, targeting the exact same kind of audience and market. Um, and so that still gives us quite a lot of leeway in other uh sectors and in other scale projects. Um, and those would be need to be negotiated, but I think there's been a a look at this as though somehow this is the only thing we'll be able to do ever. And that's just really not the case. We wrote this to have um really ensure that Cohen is successful but make sure that the city has the ability and the clar clarity that we need to be able to go after other kinds of projects in the future because we knew what was on the docket but we also knew that there are other things that we can anticipate looking 10 20 years in the future. Parking and infrastructure. So this is one of the changes. Um we have asked for the ability to move this to after the closing. So close on the property, convey it to venue, um and then ren design concurrent on the parking. And so we do require 3,600 spaces for use on event days. Um exclusive use on event days, but events happen, you know, even 40 events a year. Um happen at specific set times. And so during the rest of the time, that's available for use uh for other uses. and really looking at our ability to enter into shared use or partnership agreements um with some of the other entities that exist in this area. And so we wanted the flexibility to design and accommodate parking um along with the buildout of the amphitheater, but then also give us the ability over time to be flexible because the vision of this was a mixeduse space, not one anchor tenant with a sea of parking. And so the ability to work with master developers or other interested entities to convert this over time to expand to adjust it you know within parameters that make sense for the company and still allow them to operate this successfully. Um was really really important to us. And so these are the specific amendments. Um I will note on the contract of sale we have had previous administrative extensions. All of those were just extending the timeline as we got new information on those title concerns. Um the company again will speak a little bit more to why that was such a big deal for us and why we needed to be there. I will say again that the amendments on those the clarifications uh really do allow the city to you know otherwise we might be responsible for that kind of liability. So increasing the acreage from 17 to 20 I think this was an addition of about 15 feet on one of the edges but it adds up. Um, and that was because while we were working through the title concerns, the company did not stop. They continued to look at design, uh, modifying design to meet our new sound ordinance. Um, and they had kind of in the middle of that delay, uh, adopted a new program programming moving forward for year round. So, radiant heating, cooling gel to be able to really extend to a 12-month venue where you can have events, you know, in the winter, but also in the uh, the high point of the summer. And so the benefit of this is that because that was a design they were adopting across their, you know, their all of their programming, um, they were able to incorporate that in two hours. And then clarifying these provisions and so the inspection period expiring pretty immediately. Um, and then they are hoping to close by the end of the month. Uh, we have a little bit longer contractually, but that's the targeted closing date. And then excluding uh, title objections related to munitions and also antiquity. So any archaeological again that is in our favor because those no longer are title exceptions that the city is required to reply to and settle and then the parking agreement. So allowing that parking provision to be done after closing to better coordinate with design and our development needs for the rest of the site. On the 380 agreement, um they've added an increased consideration. So minimum investment is up $20 million. So this is a hund00 million project. Um, we have also added the hire El Paso first clause. So, local preference in hiring and procurement as they move through construction. And then just coordinating that new site area, making sure the exhibits and the land description match. And then these two, which I think are extremely fair, um, and are things that we see in other agreements, uh, we would consider them force measure events. We have no issue with clarifying those. So, if there is something discovered on the site, um, explosives or an archaeological, we would stop the development clock and we would not count this against the performance deadlines. This is something that is out of anybody's control. So, if you need to call in Department of Defense, you need to clear the site, you need to um, double check it. We want everyone to be safe out here. And again, the risk is extremely low, but we have no issue saying that that is out of your control. we would be comfortable stopping the development clock and picking it back up once the event, you know, whatever it is, is resolved and then providing for no fault termination. So, the city already has clauses uh standard in all of our contracts that, you know, if there's some kind of judicial decree or if state law changes and we're not allowed to do 380s anymore, we're out. We owe nothing to uh any company that we do with business with. If we're, you know, if somebody comes and says you're no longer allowed to do this, we would be out. um we are comfortable with saying the same thing to the company in this case but only related to ammunitions and antiquities. So if there is something that says you cannot have any kind of development on this site or you cannot have this kind of development on the site only in cases where that is related to the munitions that exp unexloded ordinance or antiquities archaeological discovery. Um so anything else we would still follow the uh default withdrawal provisions um but we'll allow out of the agreement. This does not touch recapture, right? But I think it's fair to say that if this development was not allowed to go forward due to some sort of munitions issue um or antiquities um again because this was the core vision for the Cohen master plan. Uh if this is no longer a potential development that can happen there, the city would really have to reook at those master plan principles, the way we're approaching development. And so we don't see any reason to fault the company for that. And I really cannot emphasize this enough. it is an extremely unlikely scenario. Um, and so we're fine protecting both sides on that one, but just making sure we're clear what will and won't happen. And so the requested action today is we do recommend approval of these amendments uh in support of the development, allowing us to move this forward. Um, everybody has been very patient and I know there's been a lot of questions. They are still eager, they're more than eager to get going. Um, and we are ready to move as quickly as we can. And I'll just say on a personal note, as somebody who grew up here, who went to Diablo's games, who remembers the demolition of CO Stadium, um, and as somebody who's visited their other site in Colorado Springs and really seen what the transformative effect has been in other communities, um, this is a really wonderful thing for the Northeast, for El Paso at large, and we're very excited to have this opportunity, um, and work with them. And then just some next steps here. So, targeted closing, looking at this. I'm still anticipating hopefully construction starting in the fall. Um, and then they would like to be open for 2026, but I won't make any promises on their behalf. Uh, and then I'll ask uh Bob Mud will come up and say a few words on behalf of Venue just to kind of talk to you all about what they've been doing in the meantime. Mayor Johnson. Good morning, Council. Thank you for the opportunity. Um, Bob Mud and I'm the senior vice president of expansion. You brought your own reverb. I don't know how I did that. Um, okay, there we go. Um, and, uh, thank you for the opportunity to address you today. uh since our time where we did uh codify the initial agreement. Uh there's obviously a lot of due diligence that goes into considering uh a development like this and in the process of looking at the land which we are exceptionally excited about not just the market of El Paso and the partnership that's been established but this particular location being located at the overpass uh where it is in an entertainment district is very favorable to our overall our overall plans. Uh in doing so, the title exceptions did uh extend to us some concerning elements. When you see things like unexloded munitions and the potential for archaeological challenges and antiquities, those are things that we take very seriously. Uh we're a company that went public on the New York Stock Exchange uh right around Thanksgiving. And in our assessment of the land, um we had to take a step back and understand a number of things. uh it might have appeared because of the time frame uh that there was not a lot of work going on but I will tell you that is uh not the case and as a matter of fact um doing the soils testing doing the historical assessment uh getting both environmental and legal counsel in the state of Texas working through the antiquities division of the state u of Texas and understanding both what the risks are and what the resolutions are led us to a point where we sat down with the city about potential paths forward and ultimately uh resulted in um having done this testing coming to the conclusion that it is a very very low risk and at the same time assembling an insurance framework uh that allows us to proceed and protect the interests long term um led us to the point of sitting down and considering uh the changes that are set before you today. So, we've been working very diligently um in terms of the changes uh that that that have been uh requested here. Uh some are affiliated with uh the expansion of the 20 acres, but I also want to make clear why the 20 acres matters. Um in addition to getting the ingress and egress right given where we believe the site will sit, u the expansion to um a full season and it'll give you some picture of this. All of the economic benefits that are calculated that have been represented here today is based on a season that runs from April to October. Uh this facility has been substantially modified in a way that will allow us to operate 12 months out of the year using a combination of wind walls and radiant heating. We anticipate the economic impact to be 30% greater than what we have here because we will be able to fully operate between the November time frame uh through March. And so the increase of the $und00 million is to accommodate our ability to expand uh that operating time frame. Um the second piece is um the inclusion of the El Paso first. Uh we are just simply partners. We want to partner with cities. Um there have been a number of cities that we have spoken to that would have been fantastic markets, but ultimately they didn't have that in their long-term vision. And so in any form or fashion that we can link arms with the city, um we're going to do that. And so our uh objective in in making these changes is to establish an operating platform that can get us uh comfortable with the risks that come with these title exceptions. Um it gives us I think a very reasonable framework that if a government agency were to come in and halt our progress because there was some assessment um uh related to those exceptions that would have impacted us that we needed uh the ability to to to pause and not be penalized for that pause. Um and in line with what I had shared earlier that we have not stopped. Um we are anticipating uh success here today and uh we have our design team's already actively designing this facility. Um but beyond that as I was sharing with the team uh your airwaves will be full of launch commercials by the end of this week um as we proceed forward with um uh our development, our promotion and ultimately the groundbreaking and and and completion of the facility. So, we appreciate the consideration and I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have. Thank you. Thank you for your time. So, Miss Brian, just to catch me up, we had a motion. Second. We don't have a motion. Yes. Discussion. You have a motion. Yes. Move to approve. Second. Thank you. No, I I would like to uh So, we motion second. Now, we'll have some discussion. Represent Tjo. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation, Karina. Uh, I want to, you know, acknowledge and thank you for your hard work. I know you've you've done a lot and you've been very dedicated to this to this project. I also want to thank the venue leadership for coming out today for your commitment to this project and to our community. Uh, I support this vision and I would like uh I would really love for the community for for venue and the city to come to this mutual agreement. Um, so while while I was block walking during the campaign and even now as a representative, I've had uh many conversations with residents up to developers and there's been some some concerns and I really want to bring some clarification by asking some questions to bring uh this this clarification to our community and and you've already answered quite a bit of them uh Karina in your presentation. But I'm still going to ask the questions just for the for the clarification. Uh the delay the delay in in in this project was because of the land. Correct. Correct. So it has to do with those title exceptions and so really as you heard from Bob just a second ago, the company's done everything they can. We have not conveyed the property to them. So we've not been able to close on that transaction and that is a hold up because of the title. And so they're allowed to do certain things while they're under contract with us, but they could not have been out there doing actual, you know, dirt work, actually building something um without, you know, a final contract of sale without closing, without the deed to the property. Okay. Thank you. Uh and then so the the issue was the munitions and that was addressed and how was that addressed? So I was like unless you want to take a stab at it. So it's both munitions and archaeology. Um, and so the company has at their own expense um, taking out additional insurance coverages and I was like that's the top line of it. There's I'm sure a lot of very fancy documents and I think you've lost your mind signing things but um, that's essentially what it is. So they will be taking out additional insurance and then we are clarifying um, some of those asurances that I talked about with regards to timelines and uh, mutual termination on our side to make sure that we're clear. Okay. Thank you. uh regarding the the turfs, you've mentioned that other tax and entities are going to benefit as well from this. So, can you elaborate a little bit more on that? Certainly. So, the city's incentives are being paid out of tax increment zone uh tax increment reinvestment zone number 11. Other taxing entities can participate in the TURS. They do not to date. So, the city participates at 100% of our own property tax and sales tax. Um and so while we will be uh reimbursing in accordance with the you know incentive schedule here um every other taxing entity is still collecting the full benefit of whatever they are assessing on this site and that is from day one. Um and so you know there are no incentives with other entities. Um and so like I said the county uh El Paso Community College um El Paso Independent School District and I believe University Medical Center all assess taxes on the site. they will collect that because this is no longer publicly held land. Um it's been off the tax roles for decades and so at this point it becomes private land. Um and they will pay that. So it's revenue for them. Right. Wonderful. Thank you. Excuse me. The the So I have do I do have a question for uh Bob. The the investments. So the the question here is do you need the investments or the purchase of the fire pits in order for construction to get started on this project? It certainly plays a role in it. Um and I think history is the greatest predictor of the future and we've got multiple accesses at the capital um including our own equity um and in addition to that the sale east lease back of the facility itself. Um you will see from our financials that uh we carry very little to no debt. One of the very unique attributes that is going to benefit us together in the long term by taking risk off the table is we are not going to likely have a substantial debt burden on this at all because our financing mechanisms if you look at whether it's Colorado Springs, Georgia and what we're doing in McKenna, Texas and uh Broken Arrow uh has been able to be done through equity and we anticipate continuing that. What that does alongside um um the the the the public private partnership that has been established is takes risk off the table because you will find very few private facilities around the country that did not does not have a significant debt burden and that is our approach. Uh it is a very sustainable model and it will I believe uh take risk off the table for our partnership for many decades to come. Okay. If you encounter difficulty selling those suites, how will this affect the project? uh we have other alternatives and access to capital. We were certainly well healed enough to to overcome any of those as we have demonstrated in our other projects. Okay. Thank you. And then I do have a a question for Carla. If you can explain uh the non-compete clause and how it serves to protect the city if you could give an example. So, um, M. Braxalia already went through the presentation and and explained the non-compete clause is protects this this investment from the city not incentivizing something that would compete, right, in terms of what they're doing. It doesn't prohibit the city from going out and voting through the public to uh issue bonds to build a facility. Um certainly I don't know that the count the council would be willing to put a facility exactly the same type next to it because then they would both fail. But it does allow the city to continue moving forward in um building other facilities through voter approved bonds. That's not prohibited. And the other important thing to remember is that um the non-compete clause in this agreement is very similar to the non-compete clause that we have with our vendor that runs all of our um entertainment facilities, the plaza, etc. the convention center as well as the the ballpark. So it's it's not anything out of the ordinary or something that the city doesn't routinely do. Okay. Thank you. So, I'd like to uh make a motion to approve uh items to approve items 18, the 380 agreement, and 19 um on the contract of the sale with the following revision to the 380 agreement to strike the first writer refusal and that's on section 4 I3. Correct. So, that's a motion second. Thank you. So, we're going to have amendment, I believe, to the original motion. And Miss Prime, can you read that back for us, please? So, the motion was made by Representative Tjo, seconded by Representative Asdo to amend item 18 on the on the 380 economic development program agreement to strike section I3. Is that correct? Section 4 i3. 4 i3. Mhm. The first right of refusal. First right of refusal. I can pull that up on the screen so everybody can see which section we're talking about. Miss Pine, it was a motion to approve 18 and 19 that revision. She she would there was already a motion on the floor to approve those items. Representative Thjo would like to amend item 18, the 380 agreement listed under item 18 to strike 4 I3, which references the first right of refusal. That's correct. While we're waiting for that to come up, represent Seto. Thank you, Mayor. So appreciate the presentation. Karina, can you tell me a little bit more about what the similar language is in the ASM global and Mountain Star sports group um compared to this language on the non-compete? Um sure, let me pull it up. I will also say I mean this the with Mountain Star in particular, right? This was a topic of uh discussion as we were looking at the MPC project. The discussion about whether that non-compete restricted us or not. This is great. We've had such a delay. Um I'll do it off of memory, but the language is in there. So, it's the same thing. It's the the city not agrees not to develop um anything with the intent of competing with the development. Um in this case, we put applicant operator contract. Thank you very much. Um and it had for the purpose-built development for you know and then for downtown it was with competing sports events. Um with ASM Global it's that we will not enter into competing management contracts for the operation of uh similar venues. So a little bit of a tweak on each of these specific to what the contracts and agreements cover. Um but very very similar in that we're only restricting the city. um we don't limit our pursuit of voter approved projects, judicial decree, and then really the key language that you'll see repeated in those is diminishing the intent and operation of the purpose-built development. So, it need to be something that is explicitly designed to compete with this. And again, with the city as a partner in the amphitheater at Cohen, we would not want to undercut our own investment and participation anyway. And so just really making sure that we're reaffirming that we will do what we need to do to fulfill the will of the voters and we may pursue projects that are non-competitive. Um and I don't mean non-competitive to mean unsuccessful but just that we feel that this fills a gap in our market and so that's the one we're going with. and then other things that may support that or maybe in an alternate like I said um entertainment space or maybe much larger much smaller things like the Ara Chavez the plaza um convention center those are not restricted in this case okay but from what you said with ASM that kind of makes sense they're they're running the plaza the Abraham Chavez and then from what I understood what you said about Mountain Star is that it's anything limited to downtown correct Correct. So, it's downtown and it's limited to sports um events. Okay. And so, as you know, last year when we were looking at this, this this was the deal breaker for me, the the non-compete. And I understand that the city was the initiator on adding this clause to the contract. And it was because we had the MPC um project at that point. It was moving forward. The MPC is dead. Correct. And I don't see the need for this class to continue to be here. The whole reasoning behind it was the MPC. And when I read this, it is a very restricted area of 60 mi. That's the entire city. Could go to Hudsmith County, go probably Pasadonana County at that point. And and that's where I have a lot of heartburn with this. And it says anything over 4,000 people, right? So, if we have a venue that is going to be indoors and it's going to be 10,000 people, that's going to count at that point, right? If it's a public private partnership, what we intended that facility to be used for. So, example, the renovation of the Don Haskins would not trigger this. I mean, I don't know that UT would need our help in participating that, but if it came up, that would be completely fine the way that we've written this. I'll say this is two separate things. The first right of refusal had to do with the MPC because that was conceivably a directly competitive venue and so we wanted to make sure we had the ability to do booking that didn't go around any purchasing law. Um and that is the section that Representative Treyo has asked to strike. The non-compete is something that is in other ones and so 60 miles is really the capture area for our market. Um we think that's reasonable based on the size of this venue. And I I don't say this to um to be mean about it and we do have a large population. We definitely do have an untapped market. But at this point, I think the idea that we could support, you know, like three of these venues that we could support something that's 20,000 seats and and and um that's probably not in line with what we're looking in terms of market. And so we've written this so that we can still do regional projects if things change in the next 5 years, which we, you know, we would love to have more competition and more market uh capture. We can still do that. We can still look at a larger regional project. We could still look at participating with other taxing entities. Um but really this fills the gap that's there right now. And so we want this one to be successful. And so we have no concerns with the non-compete agreement as written. Okay. I I I still have the concerns with it. And and I think um that that's still really standing out to me cuz it's such a big area. And the other thing I wanted to ask you was the 20-year incentive that is being proposed. Is this normal? What does this look like in terms of other deals that we've done? Sure. Um so this was discussed last year when we brought this forward. So both the amount of participation and the length of the agreement are very much in line with what we've done for other priority projects. And so you'll see sometimes it's lower um right sometimes it's a 10-year grieving or five or 15 um something like meta which was 37 years. Um so in light of the fact that this is a top priority for uh the Cohen entertainment district is right at the top on my you know goal one uh economic development on the city strategic plan. Cohen is listed as one of the redevelopment sites. Um and acknowledging both the amount of investment that the company is putting in the fact that this is written as a partnership agreement. um we feel that this level of participation and the way that this is structured in the length of time is very much in line with comparable agreements that the city has done. So the participation in West Star Tower and some of those downtown hotel projects which were you know feeding into that convention center plan um what we've looked at on you know some of our larger uh I mean meta is a good example but even some of our larger uh advanced manufacturing deals when things are top priority we do expect to participate a little bit more highly and I would just again emphasize that it's still performance-based so these are our caps these are the absolute maximum but they do need to spend the money they need to you know, actually collect that in order to get anything reimbured. And two, that this does not touch the general fund at all. And so this is revenue that we are not collecting today on this site. Um, and so even partial, you know, even 10 years of 100% rebates, one, as we've pointed out, has benefits for our other taxing entities and then benefits the taxpayers as a whole, but two, does collect revenue for us, um, and does have a return to the city, and that is always something we look at with our agreements. Okay. Thank you so much. Um, the the last thing I wanted to say is just overall I I I can't get over the heartburn of the non-compete. Again, the precedent that we're setting as the first community that I know of in all the different venues that you've done across the country, I don't feel comfortable with that and and I I don't like it. So, I also want to offer an amendment. I I'd like to move to strike 4 I2 from the chapter 380 economic development program agreement that we're discussing. Second and this is the non-compete point of water. I I I think that's not an amendment that's currently in order. You can amend the amendment that's on the floor. The other amendment would have to come after vote on the one that's currently on the floor. Sure. I mean, I I'll make it when when after we vote on the other amendment, but from my understanding, I thought this was a ladder. And so, you take one amendment, then another amendment. Miss Bryan, you want to fix this, clean this one up? Yes. And so, there's two amendments currently on the floor. So, you would have to work your way back down the ladder as we heard yesterday. We would have to take representative's amendment first and then representative and the motion's at the bottom of the letter or the floor and then the main motion is always last. Okay. You want to read back your your motion? Yeah. So I it's an amendment. Um I move to strike 4 I2 which is the non-compete clause in this um chapter 380 economic development program agreement that we're discussing on this venue. And then I'm just going to note um just for as you all are considering this um so striking that that is not something we've previously discussed with the company. So we can take that motion if it was approved but that would need to be something that they would also need to agree to. Um I will let Bob talk to what that means, but we'd essentially be asking to renegotiate. I'd say we have council author uh you know council direction to strike this um from our agreement and so we would need to go back and look at that. Um it's unlikely then that this deal gets signed today and can move forward. We need to make sure that the company's comfortable with that. There could be additional concessions that we'd come forward in the future. talk a little bit about the delay but then also what the non-compete is and I'll let them present the and and I had brought up this issue and so this is the how I was told to do it to make a motion at the at the meeting. So I I really wanted to get it done before but I I understand that this is how I had to do no and I need Yeah. and we do need, you know, majority of council to direct us to do that. But I would I do think it's important for you all to hear the company's perspective on this um to make sure that you have that information and understand what this would look like going forward. Yeah. Um thank you for the opportunity to to share the company's perspective. Uh there are a few elements of this that I want to make sure that uh we've got our our mind around. One is we have a an existing economic development agreement. It has the expectation of uh completing a facility within 36 months of entitlement and um we expect to do that much faster than that. But that gives us a reasonable time frame to work through whatever obstacles might happen. In the case of these amendments, it seems reasonable to me to strike the first. Um there's no longer a an active program downtown. Um the uniqueness of of this market and the size of this market, um given the economic incentives that came with it, the second would not be an acceptable change to us. We've had pretty uh uh deep conversations about this. It would not be one that we would be interested in proceeding with um if that were to come um as a product of the of the council discussion today. I'm happy to answer any questions. You've got about a million person market here. We are bringing in an asset that is um substantially above what you're going to see anywhere else in the United States. We're excited about doing that. We anticipate doing it with little to no debt, which sets us up for a long-term success. Um we are making substantial additional investment um 25% plus that does not include the insurance costs that we have taken on as a function of the risk that we are taking with the land that is being uh conveyed as a part of this. And so um we are deeply committed to this market but we need to do it in a manner that we know our partner uh is going to travel alongside us as well. And so it's very carefully crafted to make sure it's directly competing. So I think other assets that you might consider in the future would have a broad brush of opportunity. But as it relates to this amendment, how it's constructed, I would uh request and and and expect that we would need that to to remain in. Okay. You got So, at this time, let's uh Miss Prime, let's hear the public comment and then we'll take the amendment. Amendment, then the actual Yes, Mayor. We have three members of the public that signed up to speak. The first person is Richard Amstad, followed by Patricia Osman and Lisa Turner. Richard Mitter. He will be followed by Patricia Osman and Lisa Turner. Good afternoon, sir. You have three minutes. Thank you. I know some of you. My name is Rick Amsteader and I appreciate the opportunity of making a few comments uh to the mayor and city council. I was going to talk about uh numerous concerns but after listening to the presentation only want to ask a few questions. First of all, how do you do a clawback after you deed the property to venue to protect the public assets? Um I'm I'm assuming venue is going to pledge the the property for a construction loan and if so uh city would lose their first uh lean rights and venue had mentioned earlier that they planned a sale lease back and if they do a sale lease back then again how's the city protected um on the and that they they donate to uh uh the amphitheater. Based on my calculations, which were the staff figures, the city is coming up with onethird of the total project cost and all of the equity based on today's lending standards. And so this is not really a public private partnership because at the end the city owns none of the property, none of the facility. It's all venue. And as far as the uh unexloded uh shells, we uh RJL Real Estate did the uh Sam's Club in uh in Casner Range and they had the same problem. we would uh Sam's is a public company. Therefore, they had to protect their their investors and they spent half a million dollars making sure that there was no unexloded uh ordinance under the property. And the same thing with the Walmart Super Center. All that land out there was Casner's range. The army would not indemnify anybody. And therefore it's up to the the buyers of the property to take full liability. And the and the problem you also also the problem I have with this deal is that it feels like the staff is pressing a little hard to try to get this deal approved. And uh it's taken one year and so far nothing's happened. If you remember, the original 380 agreement was approved about a year ago. Uh this time they were supposed to start in August and uh open in fall. You've reached the three minute limit and nothing's happened. That's another red flag. Thank you. Thank you, Rick. The next speaker is Patricia Osman, followed by Lisa Turner. Thankfully, Mr. Ames took a couple of my my points away from me. But since uh Karina went ahead and mentioned history, I'm going to go ahead and mention a little history. Some of y'all might know this because I came up here and spoke during the MPC. And so that that previous campaigning why we are at an amphitheater now is because Garina had brought forth trying to use NPC money and try to get over a hundred million released for the Union Depot amphitheater which I had to do public records get the plat map and so forth and realized that the plan that she had put forth to city council didn't account for not having all the right away on the plan that she had put forth. I ended up giving that to city council with all of that information and suddenly it was pulled off the agenda supposedly sent to back to the city architect and never to be spoken of again and then suddenly the Sunset Amphitheater showed up. Now, yes, it it appears as though I you know what I apologize for our conversation yesterday and typically we agree more and this is in one case because the non-compete that protects the company the right of refusal that protects that that protects the company. I mean the the non-compete would it it's half and half because the seating on that non-compete that has lessened since it initially was brought forth and thrown out to the public. All right, they have dropped that dramatically. That's a huge issue. Now, yes, is the city probably pushing for that? Well, heck, there's a few issues on this agenda that that people and the citizens should see as a red flag. One, there there are two properties on the agenda that are going to be purchased by the CI civic center. So, I'm wondering what what plans economic development has for that and how that's going to affect what is going on with this amphitheater. But it's it's going to be really nice for Paul Foster and his rent to only rent rent rent only home development that he is doing with land that he traded with the city from the west side to the northeast and this would would help him. Yes. And it seems the city tends to do projects that do help fostering the laa quite a bit. There's another another thing on the agenda that we'll touch with that the added property the value there is so much on here that that needs to right of refusal that shouldn't be taken off as far as the 4,000 and non-compete. That's a huge issue. You reach the three minutes. Final speaker is Miss Lisa Turner. Okay. Good morning, Mayor Council. I have problems with the non-compete simply because you have no jurisdiction in Horizon. You have no jurisdiction in New Mexico. Uh your only jurisdiction is within the city limits and a limited amount in ET ETJ. That's to get started with. Uh I'm I gotta question research because when you say we only have a market of 1 million people, Wararez, Los Cruus, El Paso alone, we're talking close to 3 million. We draw all the way from Chihuahua, Mexico to Alamagortal and not much to our east because there's not much there. But yeah, our market's bigger than 1 million. So I take exception to that. The other thing is I don't agree with selling city property. The airport model is the best. You lease it out. You that way you don't ever lose an asset because it's valuable. But when with the non-compete, I have a question. As it is, this is 12,500 seat. It can only take in so much. Can only bring in c acts of a certain size. But if you want to bring an act in like manath, you would need 30 or 40,000 seats venue. So does the non-compete prevent you from creating such a venue in the city? Because they're serving they can't serve that market. They can't serve the big act market. They can only serve the little bit. We can't bring Andrew Bell Bachelli in here because he's going to draw more than 12,500. So problem is tell me does this limit us on what we can do for the future? This is the question I have. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Turner. Representative Canelis. Um Mayor, I'd like to comment on the main motion when that comes back on that. Okay. Representative Chavis. Thank you, Mayor. Uh Karina, for the non-compete, so 4 I two and three for each of those. Are they for the term of the contract? It is for the term of the agreement. So that is 20 years. Of course, if there is I mean one, if there's a default, then I go into the recapture and all those kinds of things. But if there's a withdrawal just for and it happens sometimes they're no longer interested in incentives. There's a number of reasons that something might fall off. Um it would terminate at that point. So it could be sooner but 20 years would be what we'd expect. Okay. Thank you. And for the third item for for I3 the first right of refusal that doesn't have a limit on the number of persons, right? It would be for any size venue. It is for any voter approved project that was approved prior to the effective date of this agreement. And so as it stands right now, that is July 2nd, 2024. Um, with the bond revocation of the MPC last November, there is not a project existing that this still applies to, but there potentially could be one in the future. No, it is only retroactive. It is not a forward-looking. Okay. I don't see the word prior there, but I don't know if it's not needed. It says as of the effective date of this agreement. Okay. Thank you, Karina. Of course. Um but Bob just mentioned that he wouldn't agree with that take be taken out. So if it's no longer section two, so the removal of the entirety of section 4 I um is not something that they can agree to. So that first clause uh the removal of the first right of refusal as we all agree that there is no longer any applicability, we are comfortable striking that. So the motion I understood the opposite. Yeah. So you are sorry Bob I understood the opposite. So just to be clear you said you were comfortable with striking what? What again? Miss Brown, can we get it to bring that section back up so we can all see it? Yes, it there we go. 4 I3 I am comfortable with. Okay. 4 I2 I am not. Okay. And can you give us a brief explanation maybe why please? in in the context of a public private partnership um to within the first 20 years be competing against an asset that would be similar to this that would also be supported by the city would compromise the viability of our partnership going forward. So we are uh desirous of as a result of both of our um significant investments here of well over hund00 million on our part um um desiring to keep that clause in place. The reality of it happening from a competitive standpoint is very very low. As Karina has mentioned, the you know some of the larger promoters and amphitheater owners have not established an asset here yet in the past. The fact that we would be here with an asset and likely with one of the largest promoters would even make that a substantially higher barrier. But at the end of the day, our desire is to have an investment of this size and a partnership of this nature protected by a clause that was negotiated in our initial agreement. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Okay. Represent Nino. Thank you, mayor. Um, Karina and city attorney and city manager. My understanding is that we're currently being asked to do an amendment, right? So, we currently already have a 3D agreement with the organization. Correct. So I'm trying to understand and make a decision in regards of if this is not moved forward essentially we're still in an agreement and that agreement is still in place. So it could essentially continue to move forward with the previous agreement. If this amendment is not passed today, if it's passed as amended, I don't know Kylie that's a question for you. They would have to sign on to it, right? Okay. So the way that the agreements have been drafted, the 380 amendment and the contract of sale are tied as as as Mr. Pra explained earlier, the title commitments. If there's the unexloded ordinance or anything of the sort that comes up, the project is still told. So we that that time period doesn't run against them. That's part of the 380 agreement. So they were brought forward together so that they would be joined in terms of protecting the entity in the event that that happens and still be subject to receiving a 380 agreement in the future. So these two agreements are tied together at this point. Okay, no further questions. I was just trying to get clarification of that. Overall, I'm trying to see the big picture, right? Where this is a $100 million investment fully funded by private capital, not taxpayer dollars from the general fund. Um, and you know, this is in I know in conversations with Ghana and city management, it's a $5.4 billion economic impact for the city of El Paso. And you know, this private partnership does even accelerate the timeline of a development rather than us going through the whole process of bidding it and and and running into those situations, creating yearround job creations, new tax revenue streams. Um, I just wanted to get clarification of that of what that meant and I'm thankful that you all have also included the El Paso hire first clause which is extremely important for me in ensuring that taxpayer funding does get invested within the community of El Paso. So, thank you again Benny for being here. Thank you. Yeah, and I would be remiss as Miss Mc reminds me that also means we are not on the hook for any maintenance and operations that is also entirely covered by the private company. All right. So, we're going to take uh is there any more discussion on the amendment to strike uh 4 I2? Just a point of order again, mayor. This is a secondary amendment to the amendment. Correct. Yeah. So, there's an amendment. There's Mh Representative Tolo's amendment. Then there's the original, right? But you're not allowed to have two amendments to the main motion on the same. Let me ask Miss Prime. Miss Prime. I think what Representative Canales is say is saying that the only amendment that Repto could make is an amendment to Repjo's amendment. That's what that's what he's saying that the two amendments are are not related. Okay. So that's what Representative Gales is saying that Representative Aso would have had to make an amendment to Repjo's amendment. Okay. So his amendment is done. No. What he's saying is he can only make an amendment to Repjo's amendment. So it's that's why Rep. Can panales is saying Rep. ADO's amendment is not in order at this time. But after we take a vote on Rep Tos, I can make a motion. Yes. Okay. Okay. It's fine. Would you read us Representative Tjo's amendment? Yes. Representative Strejo's amendment is to strike out under section 4 I3 which reads it's the first right of refusal and it reads as allowable by law the city shall provide a applicant with a first right of refusal to develop and/or operate any voter approved project as of the effective date of this agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the applicant shall have the right to pursue and enter into bookings and exclusive booking agreements for any live entertainment venue within the restricted area. Okay, that's what we're voting on. Any further discussion? And I understand the company was okay with this one. Okay. All right, Miss Bryan, call for the vote. Yes, sir. That amendment was made by Representative Tjo, seconded by Representative Ato. On that amendment, call for the vote in the voting session. And that amendment passes 7 to1. Representative Canales voting A. The remainder of council voting I. It's a point of order. I could make my motion my an amendment to the main motion now, right? Yes, sir. Okay. So, um I move to strike 4 I 2 from this chapter 380 economic development program agreement. Second. Okay. So, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on this amendment to the original motion? Now, it's my understanding, Bob, that if we strike this, this is a deal breakaker. Okay. Just wanted to be clear. I would like to understand that if we're only striking section two, you're keeping one, three, and four. I guess it would all be done, right? So, it would because you're asking just to strike section two. So, would you like sections two and three or the entire entire We already struck three, right? Oh, okay. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah, we already struck three. I know. I'm sorry. Yep. Okay. So, this is for 4 I2. Is that correct, Miss P? Correct. The motion. Just read read it one more time so we'll be clear. The motion was made by representative Asabo, seconded by Mayor Prom Chavez. And this is to strike out under section 4 I2, which is a non-compete clause that reads, "The city agrees to not develop a new live entertainment venue within 60 miles the restricted area of the development having a capacity of more than 4,000 persons, a competing venue, and with the intent of competing with a development, including applicants, operator, contracts associated with this development. This shall not be construed to limit the city's pursuit of voter approved projects, projects affirmed by judicial decree or participation in regional projects which will not diminish the intent and operation of the purpose bill development as defined above. Okay. This amendment is to strike out that section and again notes as saying if we do this it's a deal breaker. So Miss Prime hearing no further discussion please call for this vote. Yes sir. Voting session is open. Council in the voting session and that motion fails. 62 to2 repres representatives Chavez ODA voting I representatives George Nino Fiero Lemon Canales voting N that motion fails. Okay, now we're back on the original motion since we've had motions upon motions upon amendments upon amendments. Yeah. So, can you please get us back on track? Yes, sir. And so, the final motion now is was made by Representative Canal, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to approve item 18 as revised and approve item 19 as posted. So, we have a motion second. We have some discussion on this. And remember if you if you've already talked twice I'm going to limit that but represent. Thank you mayor. So um just really wanted to to state that I I still think this is not the the best deal for El Paso. And I take these things really personally cuz I've been here my entire life and it's it's a really big deal to do something like this. And when you have somebody from the outside come in and come up with this agreement um with the city leading the charge on putting this in here and as we saw we we weren't able to strike down the the non-compete and that's been the biggest sticking factor factor for me. This is why I voted against it last year. I really see this as as something that other cities that you negotiated with that was not a deal breaker. But you just said that it is a deal breaker. We moved in this direction. And I look at Broken Arrow 119,000 people. Murphy'sboro 165,000 people. McKini 213,000 people. Population. El Paso's either three or five times more than those cities, but they didn't have to have a non-compete in their agreement. I think I understand why we put this in because of the NPC. MPC is dead. It's over. So, this should also be over just like the other contracts did not have it in their agreements. But, we're being treated different. And I don't appreciate that. So that's why I'm not going to support this today because I think this could have been easily resolved. The way this was set up, it was a very different time um last year and voters decided to end the MPC and we're still having this conversation. And so um I I really want our our community to be respected and I feel like this contract is not respected. So I'm going to vote against it. Thank you. Representative Chavez. Thank you, Mayor. And I just want to make a brief statement as well. I just think that there are clauses and incentives in this agreement that are not in the best interest of the community. So, I will not be supporting it as well. And thank you Represental. Thank you, Mayor. Um, first of all, I I want to thank Venue Notes Live, uh, Bob, uh, the entire team because you've shown, I think, exceptional dedication to making this work in the face of quite a lot of hardship at that site. Um, you know, it's not everywhere in the country that you have to deal with uh, an unexloded ordinance map. And I know that's a unique it's it's something we've seen before in El Paso, but it's uh unique to someone who's working with us uh for the first time. So, I I appreciate the perseverance to make uh the the effort that you have to work through the title issues at the site um and and the commitment that you've shown to following through on the investment that you uh promised and now expanding the investment that you initially promised. Um I I take a little bit of issue hearing from the public comment that nothing has happened. Um Bob, is it safe to say you've committed some pretty significant resources to design during the time that uh the title issues have been worked through? significant issues to design or significant commitment to design, to legal costs, to antiquities engagement, uh to land and soil testing on site, uh to redesign of the site, all predicated on the fact that we had new information that became available to us after we did the title search that required for us to make changes and to pivot so that we could make this project viable going forward. the the fact that we're being uh asked to consider a small acreage expansion here, I think shows that you've been working on the site and uh contemplating the design, working through those issues and you saw that opportunity for a slight change in your footprint. Is that safe to say? It is. You know, if you look at the um the from the essence of what we needed in this amendment, there were really two things. One was to expand the site by the 17 to 20 acres. The implications of that were some related to the to the ground issues, but really related to the fact that we are going to put up wind walls. We're going to heat the facility, which is going to take the number of shows up about 30 to 40% increasing the economic impact substantially reducing the noise that was even projected in our last uh study that we did because we'll have walls along the side. Um, all of that uh required us to expand the site. The second piece that we needed is if a governing entity were to come in and pause our development as a result of those two, we wanted to be uh relieved of the time frames that we had committed to because it became outside of our control. The other elements of this, the increased spend, the ad of El Paso first. Um, one other significant thing that we really wrestled with, it doesn't seem like a lot is the parking. Um it was our intention to come into the closing with the parking very specifically defined and I will tell you the reason that we are comfortable not doing that is uh the staff has done a fantastic job of articulating how it is in the best interest of the city to structure this parking with a degree of flexibility over time so that it serves the city well long term. So we said okay and we are not going into a closing really even understanding where the committed parking from the city is going to sit but in a partnership of agreement saying we're going to work with you to make this best for us and best for you. So if you look at the the the changes that are being made versus where we started and had the original discussions on this agreement, we feel really good about the the ground that we're moving moving towards. Thank you. No, thank you. Um, and then Karina, I think this is maybe a question for you. Uh, there were some questions about the the the property and the city's uh sale of property. Correct. That property currently, how how much is that contributing annually to the tax roles? Z because it's municipally owned. Correct. Correct. Uh do we have an estimate of what we anticipate the generation over the over the course of the uh agreement will be? Um I believe in real property we're looking at just under 20 million. Um and that's post rebates. So over the 20-year life of the agreement, right, we start collecting a little bit in year 11. Uh we would collect directly $20 million in real property tax revenue. That's just the city portion. That's just the city portion. What's the uh the total benefits? All the taxing entities. Oh, I don't know that I have those off the top of my head. I actually think Sorry, I know your system's down, so I'm asking you questions without you being able to look. That's okay. I probably have it in Oh, it's on Yeah, it's on the impact slide. So it's uh 7.3 million annually across all their taxing entities. 7.3 annually across all the taxing entities over the life of the uh correct the agreement. Do you um Oh yeah, thank it. pulled it up now. And then um without this investment, this continues to remain municipally owned. Correct. Uh there's no plan B for sale of this land at this point or plan B for any other development of this land at this point. So we're looking at a true comparison $0 versus this impact. And we've gotten significant interest since the signing of this deal um since the term sheet in last April and July. But a lot of that was um predicated on the idea that there would be this kind of anchor entertainment venue in there. And so you know the city would continue with the strategy we had before. We do market this out pretty aggressively. we work with our other partners um potentially looking at something like an RFP or an RFQ for the site to respect that master plan vision. Um but really this would be kind of the central turning point to make Cohen viable um and develop it and like we said just drive a lot in the area. Um so and what is the uh what's the current estimated value of the of the 20 acres? Uh the 20 acres at $5.4 million. So the uh the recovery will take place in less than a year in terms of the the revenue that's generated directly to the city in in tax revenue. Correct. We're saying 17 years because there's those years where we don't collect, but in terms of benefit to the community at large, right? Those Sorry. I mean over the not in a year, over the course of the uh over the course of the year. Yeah. We're estimating and and like Bob has said several times. And that's just us. We're expecting a 30% increase. These are very conservative projections as we always do. Um, so just the city we recover before the agreement ends. Not to mention the impact to the school district, the county, and everybody else who's uh using tax dollars to benefit the public. Absolutely. Okay. I think uh it absolutely sells itself in terms of the benefit that we stand to uh to realize from this type of agreement. Not to mention on top of the revenue uh we'll we'll have a high quality top class facility for people to enjoy. We'll have you know 40 plus but 50 plus 60 plus shows per year that people from El Paso can enjoy uh bringing in bigger acts than we're able to attract at the moment. I think it's it's a it's a win-win uh for us and so I'm I'm happy to support this going forward. Thank you. Thank you represent Canalis. Represent Rocha. We're going to go to you first. Thank you, Mayor, and and thank you all for for the well thought out. I know we you briefed me on it, Karina, earlier or late last week. Uh there's a couple of of uh points that I want to make similar to what uh Rep. Canales made. And so, you know, we have to understand that. Well, for me, I I'll explain it from from my point of view. My point of view is we have a venue that is not collecting any type of property tax right now. It's not impacting any sort of economic development at all in this area. And to go from from zero to a potential of 5.4 billion, that's based on the 40 acts that were promised that are in the agreement. Now, the build out to me it sounds very conservative. Rough math, an additional $1.6 billion is is what it totals out to, right? So, so when you look at it, we're looking at something that could potentially impact $7 billion of economy within this. The reason that I bring this up is because, and I have to say this a lot, we are capped at a property tax portion. The second biggest revenue generator within the city is sales tax. And if you if if we are going to be gaining both on the property tax and the sales tax, for me, that's a win-win. And very similar to how leasing agreements work. When you have leasing companies and those that are that are out there that are leasing companies, you have very particular requirements that do not allow you to have competitive companies within the same location. It's for a reason. And so I understand um I I I understand where Rep Repo and and Mayor Prom Chavez sit with the non-compete. Um, from a business standpoint, I'm very familiar with that. You don't it, Granted, there may be something in the future that we can work on. Right now, this is not going to cost the city additional money. Correct. Correct. Okay. So, I just want to be sure that that that we start to to line up those benefits that go toward it and and I I will support um the venue. So, thank you. Thank you, Representative Roto. Representative Fo, I mean, it's been a long day here. It's been a long day. Sorry. You're up. And then you I don't mind talking. You sure? Yes. You want to go now or you want to go later? After the vote. Okay. Treyjo. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Karina, thank you again. Thank you again for your commitment and Bob for your tenacity in in seeing this through and your commitment to this project. Um, if this passes, I I really look forward to welcoming you to the Northeast. Uh, the venue will bring breath and life into Cohen, and it's time to reimagine what the Northeast can be. There will be opportunities for tourism, recreation, uh, hotels, retail, and so, uh, I look forward to welcoming you to our community, to welcoming your team, your higher El Paso team, and also, uh, the you will see the community of Northeast, which is a very welcoming and loving community, and we we look forward to seeing you there. Thank you, Representative Tel. Is there any more discussion on this item? All right. Hearing none and seeing none, Miss Prime, please call for the vote. Yes, sir. So, the motion was made by Representative Canal, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to approve item 18 as revised and approve item 19 as is. On that motion, call for the vote. Mhm. The voting session and that motion passes 6 to2. Representatives Chavez and Asa voting nay. Representatives Trejo Lemon Canales voting I. The motion does carry. Representative Vieier. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, I make a motion that we recess um to sign the contract and do all those festivities with second. Thank you. For how long? Okay, we have a motion in a second to recess for 15 minutes. How many? 15. We we're going to do this 15 minutes and we're going to come back. Okay. So, there's a motion and a second to recess a city council meeting for 15 minutes. All in favor? Anyone opposed? And the meeting is in recess at 12:52 p.m. and we'll reconvene in 15 minutes. [Music] Check. Check. One, two. Check. Check. Sorry. Oh yeah. Thank you We'll talk more. Everybody good? Okay. If I could get the council members and folks to come on over behind here. Congratulations. Okay, you guys Ready? Ready. Here we go. Well, good afternoon everyone and thank you all for being here. Uh, today marks a major milestone for the city of El Paso and especially for our northeast side of town. The Sunset Amphitheater Project is a step forward, bringing new life, jobs, opportunities to a part of the city that has long asked for meaningful investment. I am proud of the work that's gone into this partnership and I want to recognize the leadership of District 4, Representative Cynthia Ber Tjo, who has been a strong a very strong advocate for the Northeast and a driving force behind this project. Please join me in welcoming Representative Tjo. [Applause] Good morning everyone. For years, the Northeast residents have asked for something more at Coinsight. Something that reflects pride, energy, and the potential for this community. Today, we take a big step towards making that vision real. The Sunset Amphi Ampi uh Sunset Amphitheater will not only create a state-of-the-art venue, it is breathtaking new life into Cohen and finally turning into it turning it into a one-of-a-kind that we've that we can um that we've all imagined. It was a space that sat idle for too long and now being transformed into a vibrant year-round destination that brings people together for music, culture and celebration. This is about creating a new heartbeat for the Northeast, one that draws visitors, support local businesses, and gives families something to be excited about in their own backyard. The updated agreement makes sure that Northeast residents are part of the transformation, whether through job opportunities, small business involvement, or simply having a place that reflects the energy on this side of town. I'm proud to present a community that never stopped believing in what is possible in Northeast, and it's time to reimagine what Northeast can be. I want to thank everyone, especially our city staff, who worked tirelessly to bring this vision to reality. This is just the beginning, a new Coen that is on the way that will bring the Northeast and elevate it. Thank you. [Applause] Karina Brazal with economic and international development. I'd like to uh introduce uh we've got Ryan who's the team who worked on this and then Bob Mwith venue if they'd like to say anything. Good afternoon and and thank you El Paso. Uh we are just so excited uh to be joining your community. I will tell you that uh as we began to expand into the amphitheater market a number of years ago, El Paso became a centerpoint of our expansion strategy over time and great partnerships are forged uh where there is opportunity and sometimes when there's challenges and I just can't tell you enough about uh the excellence of the team that you have representing uh the city of El Paso. Um many of you may be familiar with outdoor amphitheaters or you may have attended some in other markets. Um, that is not what El Paso is getting here. The Sunset at El Paso is going to be a world-class luxury amphitheater with a venue that allows for all price points to be met. Whether you're wanting to sit in in a seat or you're wanting to sit in one of our lux fire pit suites or join us in our uh Aman's owners club, all of those venues are going to provide for a world-class experience. and we will be uh bringing artists um that are the folks that you listen to on your radios both today and in the years gone by. And so we appreciate the opportunity to join alongside you. One of the questions was how fast are you moving? We will tell you that we have been moving fast. Um but there will be no question by the end of next week uh how quickly we're moving. Uh we are moving very quickly and we are excited to get a shovel in the dirt uh to get this thing open. Uh the last thing that I'll say is I'll uh I'll quote our our founder and CEO JW Roth and that is that we're excited to see you at the show. So, thank you all very much. Well, let me let me add to to Bob. First, I want to thank the uh mayor and the council. These things don't happen without the long-term commitment of previous councils and current council. For example, owning the land. Cities own land, not just to own it, but to control it for those unique uses that come up that provide value and quality of life to the residents. And it takes long-term planning, long-term investment and commitment. So, first and foremost, the city of El Paso has done that. We're here because of that, mayor, because of you all's vision and your forward thinking. Uh, the other part that really, this was kind of a business discussion and council today. The reality is this is a public private partnership that wants to bring value to El Paso. Uh education for example, both uh K through 12 and higher ed hospitality programs. This opens the door to build jobs and education to further the community. And you heard about how other uh entities are looking to be next to this amphitheater because of their reputation. So I think for moving forward, I always say this, the best is yet to come. There's going to be a lot of work, a lot of partnerships. The corporations now have a place to take their clients when they come internationally, nationally. And Bob mentioned JW, JW Roth, the founder, is passionate about being international, passionate about this is the gateway to international exposure of music. So, El Paso is in prime area to do that. We expect to see a lot of cooperation on both sides of the border. So, there's a lot of unique things coming and it's going to be exciting for the community. Uh, so we're looking forward to that. [Applause] I'll go ahead and open it up for questions if anybody I'm sure you all have some with these changes that were made what others have questions. Sure. Um, so the company can speak to it a little bit more, but really this is the last uh decision. You heard from them today that they've been working diligently on design. So we'll move into closing up on the property and then that allows us to go full boore into construction. Um, there's still, you know, your standard permitting, pre-development work that needs to happen. I think they need to uh do a contractor agreement, but we're ready to move. This is kind of the last step in making sure that we've got all of those um kind of unfortunate delays wrapped up and we're ready to keep this moving. Under what circumstances would you see this deal? So that is a no fault on the company side only in the event that there is some sort of government uh entity or you know judiciary ruling that says that the development cannot proceed in cases where there is an archaeological impact or something to do with the munitions that unexloded ordinance. Um we believe the risk is very near to zero. Um but we are comfortable you know something above and beyond and outside of everybody's control happens and saying it was nobody's fault and we can get out of that. Yes. No, please. Okay. So, as far as the investment model, you guys are larger. That's a great question. And I would uh being a public company, I would point you to our website. We do a fairly good job of releasing our expansion efforts and particularly how the sweet sales and the the club sales um have progressed and it's been an amazing uh growth for us over the past number of years. And so I would point you to that information, be very specific there. Um to expand on that a bit, it plays a portion in our overall capitalization strategy for building these. One of the exciting things as we discussed at the dis today is uh we're not a company that relies on a substantial amount of debt. We have very little debt as a company. Our objective is uh to reduce risk um by having equity investment in our projects and we are excellent at that. So we would anticipate having success. Uh we don't just look at this as an El Paso location. It's a it's a regional asset. Uh we believe there's a lot of opportunity south of the border. Uh the purchasers are folks who have an interest in live music and want to make a commitment and there are some who do it as a function of the return that comes with it. Some are corporate buyers that use it as an enhancement of their engagement with their customers and their clients. Uh so it's a broad base of people that have interest. But uh I know that if you go to our website uh which is up today for the El Paso project uh you can start to see the very specific information related to some of those investment opportunities. You mentioned that El Paso will have access to these amenities. How much would the average El Paso need to pay to sit in electric? U that is going to be a market based price and it varies significantly based on who the artist is. Uh there is a a robust market for those seats. If you go today to the Colorado Springs location, there are Facebook pages where those uh those uh fire pit suites seats are are brokered and they have a very broad range of cost just depending on the show. So, I I wouldn't speculate, but it would be an opportunity. Plus, there is with this 12,500 person seat facility, we have a combination of fixed seating in the lower bowl, fixed seating in the midb, the Aman's owners club at the center, but we also have the bench seating uh in the rear bowl. And so there are multiple price points and our expectation is if there's an artist you want to see that everybody in El Paso would have the opportunity to take that uh that entertainment uh uh uh experience in. Can you speak to the ultimate timeline? Yeah, we're going to really get after it. Our objective is to be late 2026. Um we've got a lot of design already in in in in progress here. Uh we anticipate closing somewhere around the end of April. Um and so you're going to expect to see us moving very quickly here. Uh not to say it was a smaller facility is a different situation, but um we put the Colorado Springs from the moment of breaking dirt uh to to putting on our first show with One Republic August 6th of last year in 14 months. Speaking of the forecast, you know, the primary purpose of the wind walls was to expand the season where a typically an amphitheater routing season is going to take you from April to October. The wind walls accompanied with other heating elements that we bring into the to into the inside of the amphitheater allow us to work 12 months a year. Uh it's going to increase the economic impact. It's going to provide a great deal of flexibility for use of the facility. It's going to allow us, this facility is segmented such that we have multiple different capacities that we can operate at. That'll give us a great deal of flexibility in terms of the talent we bring in as well. Last question. Where else have you broken ground on uh just within the last uh very short bit in McKenna, Texas? We are well underway in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. and we are operating with a full schedule in Colorado Springs. Our indoor facilities are that are operating today are in Colorado Springs and we also have um a full uh indoor operating music venue in Gainesville, Georgia, just northeast of Atlanta. Okay. Thank you all very much. I appreciate it. Thank you. to see you. Uh 37 was the next one moved to the forefront, but I don't see Rep Lemon here. And then and then we're gonna And then Yes. Then we can go back and pick up the post office item. And then there's two more items before the grocery one. Okay. All right. 16. Got it. Okay, Miss Prime, we're going to call this meeting back to order. Yes, sir. Is there a motion to reconvene? Yes. So, move. Motion by Representative uh Chavez, seconded by Nino. There's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting. All in favor? Anyone opposed? The meeting is back in session at 1:13 p.m. Mayor, item 37 was moved to the forefront by Representative Lemon. I don't see her in chambers yet. Okay, we'll give her Would you like to go to item another item in the meantime? Sure. Let's Here she is. Yes. Let's take item 37. Yes, sir. Item 37 is discussion and action on a resolution adopting the 2024 prevailing wage rates for each craft or classification of worker and building construction trades and heavy and highway construction trades and authorizing the city engineer when necessary to clarify the definitions of work performed by each craft or type of worker. The effective date for said wage rates to be April 15, 2025. Thank you. Good afternoon. Am I on? Yes. Okay. Good afternoon. I'm Michael Daniels with Capital Improvement Department and I am here today to present the adoption of the 2024 building and heavy highway prevailing wage rates. And this request aligns with the strategic goal number six subsection 6.6 to set the standard for sound governance and fiscal management and ensure continued financial stability and accountability through sound financial management, budgeting and reporting. A little background on this request. So, prior to tw 2012, the county and city were separately conducting their prevailing wage surveys. And in 2012, the county proposed collaborating with the city in efforts to move forward with conducting their surveys together in a joint effort. And on May 8th of 2012, the city authorized what we call an interlocal agreement with the county to participate in surveying for all of the per um prevailing weight per wages and where we are today. So currently the city we are using the 2020 building prevailing wage rates and the 2016 heavy highway prevailing wage rates. However, under the Texas Government Code 2258, we are required every four years to reassess prevailing wage rates within our geographic limits. As it pertains to the survey, the county did lead all of the aspects um following the survey. So this means um managing the monthly meetings that consisted of the city of El Paso, the local unions and contractors and the associated general contractors of America. They oversaw all of the expenses associated with the surveying, provided the database for support and handle all of the communications. There were two distinct surveys created. one that focused on building trades and another that focused on heavy highway. They conducted this survey for over two years starting January of 2022 through December 31st of 2023. During these two years, they asked for all of the contractors to submit their peak payrolls covering their various traits and classifications. This data was then analyzed by a hire consultant by the name of Bob Longmire. They validated the data for accuracy and then they calculated it um to reach the average paid rates by classification. And it's important to note here that the county has approved and implemented the 2024 building and heavy highway prevailing wage rates as of December 9th of 2024. Here we have a visual of the 2020 building rates, which is what we're currently utilizing. And then we have the 2024 rates. And then in the tan column, we have one of three things showing an increase, a decrease, or it's showing that the wages stayed the same. Also noted on this slide are the number of classifications. So in 2020, there were 40 and in 2024 we increased by two. So we're at currently at 42 classifications as it relates to building per classifications. Excuse me. Here we have a very similar slide um but it pertains to heavy highway. We have the 2016 which is what the city's currently utilizing. Next to it we have the 2024 and then the same information showing in the tan column an increase a decrease or that the wages stayed the same. I will note that across all classifications, both heavy highway and building, there were only two decreases and they're shown here on this slide and I'll talk a little bit more about that on the next slide. So here we have the criteria that was utilized by the consultant in the county. The two classifications on the previous slide that showed a decrease followed these criteria. So if you look under heavy highway, the first bullet point, it reads to use Davis bacon rates unless three or more responses were received. So those two classifications that displayed those decreases were due to over those two years that we collected data and they were analyzed and averaged out. There were only two for one of those classifications and then zero for the other. So in that case they defaulted to the Davis bacon rates which is in the result leading to the decrease for those two. Here we have as mentioned earlier um for the building classifications it did increase by two and those two were the forklift and manlift and welder. However for heavy highway it increased by 14. They started with 26 classifications in 2016 and in 2024 we're currently at 40. And this is due to aligning the classifications with text dot. So they removed the 2016 utility operators grades one and two and replaced them with more specific operator classifications and align them with more updated rates. And here we have the job growth over the last 13 years. So we're totaling at 53,154 jobs. And um one com important component to contribute to this continued job growth are the livable wages that we're presenting here today. So, it leads us to the recommended action for the city council to approve the 2024 building and heavy highway prevailing wage rates to be implemented in all of our future construction contracts. All right. Thank you for the presentations. We have some question. Represent Nino. Thank you, mayor. Thank you so much for this presentation and the background and the briefings that you provided for us. And like repon said yesterday, welcome to the city of El Paso. Um, you know, as responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, it's simply not enough to just award contracts. We must also ensure that the workforce built behind these projects are treated fairly with fairness and respect. And by adopting this 2024 prevailing wages, we're standing up for the hardworking men and women in construction trades who build and maintain our city. This resolution guarantees fair compensation for skilled labor, helps protect our local standards, and ensures that our public dollars are public dollars are reinvested correctly right here in El Paso. Uh supporting families, grow, our local growing economy, and valuing the people who make our cities stronger by taking and by taking care of our workforce um is how we build a more sustainable future for everyone. And I would like to make a motion to approve this item. Second. We already had a motion in a second, didn't we, Miss Prime? No. Okay. There's a motion to second. Representative Asavo. Thank you, Mayor. This is a really big deal and I appreciate that you hit the ground running as you're one of our newer city employees and really uh explained it really well when we were were talking about this in my office last week. Uh it it has been a long time coming if um I remember correctly. We were talking about one of them not being changed since 2016. That's correct. Yes. And it's been 9 years, right? And so now this is going to even the playing field with both categories and get us on par on where we need to be. I was also really um I I really enjoyed hearing how the city has accountability in place. That's kind of how I see it with making sure that we are paying workers a fair wage based on what they are right. a laborer is going to get paid a labor electrician will get paid electrician um wages and and that's a big deal and we're we're we have mechanisms in place to make sure that a laborer is not doing electrician work right and we stay within those categories and I I learned so much about this because of Leticia Markham I saw her in the audience earlier I don't know if she's still here but and I know she's um signed up to speak on this but I I think when her and I were working on that when I was at EPISD it really opened up a lot of knowledge that I had no idea existed, right? And so being able to support this today, I'm I'm I'm thrilled and I hope that we get back on track and we're doing it every 5 years and we're doing both at the same time and we're not leaving one behind. So thank you so much for all your work on this. Of course. You're welcome. Thank you. Represent Fiero. Thank you, Mayor. um questioned and I when I met had the opportunity of meeting with the CLU and and they had lots of members here this morning that wanted to speak and u on on behalf of this and we were briefed by them. They did a wonderful job and many of them we all know personally but I have a question. When we were looking at these rates, at any time were the stakeholders from the construction um fields was their input taken into account on this? Yes. Okay. Um so the data that was analyzed and collected during those two years that is from construction um construction firms um the stakeholders and the local. Yes. Okay. Yes. Completely local. Um, so yes is the answer. Okay. They were involved, their voices were heard because I know someone that I spoke to also said that they even pay more than what you're recommending for certain certain fields. And that is the case for Okay. And I wanted to make sure that they had been included. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Any further discussion? I know, Miss Prime, we have public comment. That's correct, mayor. We do have four members of the public that signed up to speak. First person is Paul Thompson, followed by Patricia Osman, Leticia Markham, Andre McCarthy. Good afternoon, Mr. Thompson. You have three minutes. Thank you. Good afternoon, council again. We went from morning to afternoon. Yes, we did. Uh, I had to remind myself this morning when I was getting ready that I represent labor and so I did not put on a tie. [Laughter] Um, so my name is Paul Thompson. I'm the president of the El Paso Central Labor Union, which is a group of 16 unions in El Paso in West Texas and includes city workers. The county commissioners court approved the new prevailing wages this past December, and approving these rates will set a new keyword minimum standard. Um as as was already said uh alluded to some uh um contractors and companies they pay above this but this sets a minimum bar for building construction trades and heavy and highway construction workers. Currently um the city is using 2021 rates for building projects and 2017 rates for highway and heavy projects. These rates are updated every three years with input from stakeholders including labor employees and contractors. Um, so I just want to say on your previous item, which uh had much discussion, I was very proud to see on part of uh one of the bullet points that uh it states we'll use local first. So that really means a lot to us. Um and and um uh we understand that there's times, you know, based on the size of the the the project and all that that obviously there's a need to go outside of El Paso, but we have a lot of talented workers here, a talented labor force, and we just always ask that the city will keep in mind to always include that in your contracts that they will go local first. So, thank you for that. And uh obviously, I'm hoping you will you will vote for this item. Thank you. The next speaker is Patricia Osman and I apologize. Leticia Markham wanted to apologize. She moved her flights around. She's going to a labor conference in the capital and she's going to be lobbying at the capital this week and she had moved her flights and so she had to leave here to catch a flight. So, she will not be speaking. Thank you. Thank you, Paul. Next speaker is Patricia Osman, followed by Andre McCarthy. I'm not trying to upset the guys behind me, but uh look, I worked industrial maintenance for minimum of three years before I decided to get into legal field. But I I just have a few questions. Hey, we we should always support our blue collar guys. Um but I can Is this just city contracts, city employees? Is it both? And two, how how will that affect how expensive are or have the calculations been done for how expensive any contracts moving forward will be for the city and taxpayers accounting for these? Although if it's bare minimum, I apologize to the gentleman behind me that they've been having to suffer with bare minimum here locally. But uh being on the border, I do understand why um because unfortunately there's a lot of subcontractors that do bring in guys that are from across the way. Okay. Everybody needs a job. I understand, but our our local people need need it far more just because the taxes that the tax burden we have here is pretty high. So I do appreciate that there is going to be an increase. Um but I also is it something that the state cannot pull back on you know as it is he the state isn't giving them a water break. So I that's those are the kinds of things like are there any provisions to guarantee that you know Abbott and our GOP legislature here in Texas aren't going to force El Paso to do something else. So I'm just wondering if there's there's something you could put in to guarantee that. But anyway, thank you gentlemen. Thank you. The next speaker is Andre McCarthy. Good afternoon. You have three minutes. Good afternoon, mayor. Good afternoon, city council members. My name is Andre McCarthy. I'm a representative of UA Local 412, plumbers, pipe fitters, HVAC, and welders. Um, I'm here today to say a couple things about the importance of having adopting prevailing wages. Prevailing wages provide several benefits to individuals, families, and employers. Here are some key advantages. Fair compensation. Prevailing wage laws ensure that workers receive pay that reflect the local market rate for their skills and job types. This system helps protect workers from underpayment and ensures they are compensated fairly for their labor. Job security. When workers are paid fairly, it often leads to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates. This can result in more stable employment relationships, benefiting both employees and employers. Skilled development and job training for apprentices. Labor projects that adhere to prevailing wage standards often invest in workforce training and development. This helps workers acquire new skills, making them more competitive in the job market. Access to benefits. Workers earning prevailing wages are more likely to receive additional benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid leave. Commun community development. With more individuals earning a living wage, communities can thrive. Higher wages can lead to better funded public services such as education and infrastructure, ultimately benefiting everyone in the community. Overall, prevailing wages benefit individuals by promoting fairness, economic stability, and improved quality of life, helping to create a healthier and more equitable society. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes public comment on this item, sir. Okay. Represent Canelis. Thank you, Mayor. Um, yeah, thank you all for being here today. Uh, I think it's a no-brainer to support fair wages for all of the laborers who are working on the many projects that uh that we're putting out every year. Uh, I'm I'm an elected uh rep for my unit and uh the PSA, Professional Soccer Referees Association. Uh, and so I I really value the work, not just that you're doing on these projects, but the work that you're doing on behalf of all your members who you're here representing today. Uh, it's a lot of extra work. It's work you're not always compensated for. Uh, and and it takes a lot of guts to be the ones out advocating for the things that benefit everybody who you work with. So, thank you all for being here today. Thank you guys. So, any further discussion on this item? All right, Miss Bryan, we have a motion and a second. Seeing no further discussion, please call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Nino, seconded by Representative Lemon to approve the resolution on item 37. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. All right, Miss Brian. I know we're going to try to get through four additional items and I know we have a lot of members of the the public here and they took the time to come here so we'll kind of make sure that we get through this and then we'll do call of the public after we do these agenda items but let's take item number 16. Yes, mayor. Item 16, we do have six members that have been here since this morning. Yes. So item 16 is discussion and action to direct the city manager and city attorney to draft and present a city ordinance within 120 days that would require retail grocery stores to offer fair access to discounting pricing to all c consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology. The ordinance would further require any grocery store that sells goods in the city of El Paso and offers digital coupons and/or discounts via the internet, text message or mobile smartphone application to make traditional physical coupons with identical pricing available to consumers. And this item was submitted by representative Ato. Okay. Do we have a motion on this one? I have a presentation first. Okay, that's it. Miss Prank, can you have it? Yes, it will. Will you please bring the the presentation for? Thank you. And I could just say next slide. Next slide. Yeah, sorry. Um, thank you. So, I wanted to give you a background on this um this proposal today. This happened last week in my office. Miss Turner came to me and said this this is an issue in our community and communities across the country. So, we got to work on this and we did um some of this research, talked to the city manager, talked to the city attorney about this. So, this is how we landed here. So, just um some background, some statistics here in El Paso, 33% of households have less than $40,000 reported in income. The regions are are broken up with um lower valley 55.7%, Central, my area, 54.6%, East Side 33.9%. And we could go to the next slide. Um, so food costs, we have all seen that this has been happening for a while now. We have um a really rough economy right now and people are hurting. Grocery store prices have really increased a lot um over the past months. And so we see this um with 6.9% from March of last year to this year and then a 3% increase from March 24 to this year as well. Next slide please. internet access. So only one in four households in El Paso County um or three in four have internet access, one in four do not. And you see this chart where it's broken down by um area with central being the the largest part of this, which is the area that I represent. And um really it's at 30.9%. So you it's it's a stark difference right there with the ones that have with internet and those that have without. Uh next slide please. Digital literacy. This is where um this comes into play. Um there are head of households who are not proficient with Microsoft Office and just basic internet browsing. You see the break breakdown right there by area of town. And then the non-proficiency in online communication platforms. The highest is in the lower valley at 25.9% followed by central with 22.1%. And so these these numbers are are really high and it it really adds to um the issue that we're seeing here at hand. Next slide please. And then our senior citizens are are the ones that are most um affected by this. Right. The this is on a national scale. The Pew Research Center shows that 39% of people over 65 do not own a smartphone, 55% do not use social media, and 66% do not own a tablet. Next slide, please. So, it brings up the issue at hand, the digital coupons. We um have been seeing some of these at some retail stores here in El Paso um where they are offering digital coupons, but it leaves out a lot of community members, right? And for one, I'm I'm one that loves to use a digital coupon and loves to use all the apps, but this isn't about me, right? This is about the people that I am serving, the people that we are serving here on council where um we are are tasked with finding solutions. And I feel like this is a good solution where some of the major stores in El Paso that we have are Albertson's, Whole Foods, Vista, Food King, Sprouts, and the ones in orange from the research that we have done um are the ones that are offering the digital coupons. Like for example, um I'll I'll show you after this presentation what what an example looks like. But as you could see right here on screen, you see that mangoes are 25 cents each. Um and it's a digital offer. And if you don't have that digital offer, then you cannot access that that pricing, right? And sometimes it's because you don't know how to access it. And that that presents a big case um especially for our seniors and those that do not have internet access. The next slide, please. And so here's some of the other stuff that we've seen. Um ARP has really um been talking about this for a bit now. um millions of older shoppers shut out of digital coupons and we see some more of these offers where we went to these stores and kind of took pictures of what um these digital offers are doing and showing them to you. So I I think they're all really coming from a good place, but it's just not tackling that that place where it's leaving others out. Next slide, please. So 38% of American consumers buy more when they intend than they intended when they have a coupon, right? So as we have more people that may be using these coupons, they're showing up to a grocery store and they're saying, "Ah, you know what? I'm going to get the the mangoes, but now that I'm here, I'm going to get all these other things that don't require coupons." So, I think it becomes a win-win for grocery stores at that point where they're going to have more shoppers coming in. Yes. Accessing the the coupons, but at the same time buying other stuff that they see on the rack. And I do this all the time where I'm like, "Oh, I just came in for one thing and then I'm leaving with 15 things." And it's I'm like I'm just really bad with that. And um also 67% will make an unplanned purchase because of a coupon, right? So, it works on the other side. If somebody came in with thoughts of going down their grocery list and then they see a coupon, they're likely going to buy that and they didn't plan on doing it, but it was a good sale, so they they went for it. Next slide, please. So, some alternatives that exist currently, we we seen um across the country, we have big grocery retailers that are already participating in this and um they're doing it on their own. So, for example, HB, which we all really want in El Paso, and if they're hearing this, please come to El Paso. We would really appreciate it. They have already done it on their own where they're offering these physical coupons. Um, other ones is Giant, Vans. Others that offer digital um coupon kiosks in stores are Shopright and Food Lion. And then um the other stores that are are looking at um offering online deals in in lane printers when you're checking out are Kroger and Stop and Shop to um have those kiosks. So it's becoming something that grocery stores across the country are already working on um by doing some of these kiosks. Here are some examples on on the slide as you can see. Please next slide please. Um so the policy request is if a digital coupon for purchase of good goods or packaged food is offered to consumers paper physical coupons in the identical value shall also be made available to consumers. Digital coupons may also be shown as clearly readable price where the goods are goods or packaged food is displayed or on each individual item for sale. Um next slide please. So to summarize I think this this is something that we're looking at from an economy perspective. El Pasoans, our children, our seniors, they're disproportionately being affected. This is an unintended consequence of offering the dig digital coupons. It's part of the digital divide that I I definitely think that we need to tackle the digital divide in many different ways, right? But um at at the very least, this can really help um tackling that for the people that lack internet access or digital literacy. And there are also popular forms of discounts that are offered by retailers um that I don't think that this is the intent of doing it that grocery stores are not doing this on purpose, but it just becomes that unintended consequence, right? And so um we requested that the city manager and the city attorney draft and present the grocery price fairness ordinance. Um if we can go to the next slide. And so in talking to the city manager, she um asked, originally we had asked for 60 days, but she said, you know, I I need a little bit more time. At least 120 days will will help me um go out into the community, um do some some research, um develop this and do community outreach, right? And that community outreach is all inclusive of the community, grocery stores. Um and so that's why we put this at 120 days. So, with that said, um I do make a motion to direct the city manager and city attorney to draft and present the grocery price fairness ordinance within 120 days that will require retail grocery stores to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology. Second. All right, there's a motion and a second. We have some discussion. Uh represent Fier. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, I had not seen this presentation. Um, and I'd like to ask the author, did your data that you you quote up there, did you get it from the the Grocery Association or or did you So, the sources are listed on on the last slide. I'm sorry I didn't I didn't show you but um there's the Hunt Institute Hunt Institute Food and Agricultural Organizations the United Nations the US Bureau of Labor Statistics the Pew Research Center and Capital One Shopping Research again I had not seen this or so we posted this last night. I also what is your definition of a grocery store? Does that include Target, Walmart, 7-Eleven? I I think right now what for the purposes of this it's really down to anybody that offers full grocery stores, right? And and we did look at Target. We did look at Walmart. Walmart does not offer the digital coupons and Target offers different tiers of um paying to be part of the Circle Club. And the same thing happens with Whole Foods, right? If you pay an annual or a monthly subscription to Amazon Prime, then um you are paying for those services. So, you get those discounts. That's what we're leaving out. This is fullblown what um a digital offer looks like. Like for example, here is this Albertson's um weekly thing that comes in the mail to all of us. And right here, they have a digital coupon and it looks like a coupon. You could even cut it out like a coupon, but if you were to present this at Albertson's, they would not accept this. because it's digital only. But then when you open this here, you have paper coupons that are just the traditional coupons, right? And so those are able to be accepted. And so it leaves things out. So for example, this week you could get 197 pound of chicken breast if you have a digital coupon or That's good. Thank you. I can read them myself. Um I'm I'm just wondering where did you include in your data or your your research or in this agenda item talking to any of the local grocerers? So that's part of it with the action today. It doesn't become an ordinance overnight, right? And so part of moving this forward. It increases the capacity to go out to the grocery stores and talk to them about this and get their feedback. I just think it would have been fair for us to if I had seen this, I would have called as many grocery stores as I could have to come and had their their opinion heard. Um, and it wasn't it wasn't to exclude them. So, I was wondering, this sounds to me like an unfunded, you know, unfunded mandate. And is the city going to pay for the coupons that these grocery stores, small, medium grocerers have to print and hire somebody to to come in and be a a graphic designer, send it to the printer, bring him back, and then change it weekly or monthly, whatever the I I think, for example, if you look at this coupon, right, it's already printed on here. And so, but I'm talking about the the local grocery stores who don't have it. Um, are we from what we know, the only people that have it right now are Food King and Albertsons, and we went around to all the grocery stores. I think there's other ones that have it and who would even be opposed to it had we included them in this conversation? Well, and I think it goes in your in your um presentation, was there also the opportunity for us or or the mandate for the city to pay for these coupons? There isn't. But I I think part of what it is is when we, for example, any other item, we direct the city manager to do this, right? And if the city manager is not going to do any work till she has that direction from us and so she has that direction, then the community outreach starts after we put this in place. You mayor, I think this is just a bad precedent. Um I I'm I'm not even sure if legal if this is legal. I mean, I would ask Miss um um Miss Neman to do some research prior to even asking that's part of it as well, but Miss Neman's not going to do the research without direction. I'm sorry. Go ahead. You only want a time. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As per the rules of order, the council member should not be debating. Yeah. So, I I would I would like to ask Miss Steman to do some research to see if this is even legal for us to mandate something like this on on a vendor, on a on a consumer, on a business owner. uh before we move over with directing Miss um Mack or your team to do any research. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Representative Roachcha. Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate it. And and I I spoke with Representative Ato, so he's very well aware of what I'm about to share, but um the the grocery business is very near and dear to my heart. I I actually grew up um doing retail calling on retail stores with my dad. And so I called on all the food cities and well, you know, the ones that don't exist anymore. But um the impact is greater to the local independent grocerers than it is to the big box grocerers. And we need definition of grocerers. First of all, um my brother and I would often tag along to build displays, hand out coupons because we my father worked for Carnation at the time and um we would unload products to the stores. Now, I consider myself a novice when it comes to the complexity of the grocery business because there are so many facets that go into it. And I think that there's a misconception that the grosser owns all the coupons and that's not the case. And this is why I had I had expressed to to uh reposetto I I really wish you would have would have reached out to the grocerers so that we can understand the process first kind of preliminary outline for it. Um because there are many stakeholders when it comes to the grocery business. You you have the grosser who's at the end of the line but at the very beginning of the line you have the manufacturer and those digital coupons are not provided by the grocery store. they are provided by the manufacturer and so there's the manufacturer now then you have the um the distributor and then you have the point of sale so these are all systems that need to go into place as well as the legal review as well as all there's a there's a whole other bunch of stakeholders I know that that I'm minimizing it right now so I apologize for that but the other thing that we need to do is we need to address and I understand that we to address the vulnerable populations and and really the root cause of the digital divide. While I believe that this um could potentially in the future have some type of merit, I do believe that it's absolutely critical for all of us to be able to have those conversations with the people and the the businesses that it directly affects. we're talking about the the end result and who's going to um to benefit from that which you know is those vulnerable populations which I definitely understand but access to discounts is a step to the digital divide. It is not the answer. Now one of the things that that we have is it does not define the grocerers as Rep. Rep. uh Fiero was was talking about it needs clarification. We cannot single out these small grocerers such as Albertson's and Food King. We cannot single them out. That would be discrimination on the grosser. So if it's going to be implemented to one, it it's implemented to all. There are online there are also online coupons that Walmart offers that Sam's offers that we also have um with uh with the other big box stores as as uh Costco. So it should include everybody if it's going to impact anyone. And the other thing that I have to say about this is that operations differ from local independent grocerers, the smaller stores. What's mentioned there is Whole Foods. That's considered a bigger a bigger entity. the locally area, the locallyowned stores such as Vista or even such as as Food City and Food King. These are the ones that are going to to bear the brunt of this type of ordinance. And in the end, what ends up happening is we have additional costs that essentially, as we know, costs upfront get shifted and they shift eventually to the consumer. I don't want that to happen. But what I do believe is that we need to understand that the digital coupon the digital coupons excuse me come for the majority of them from the national manufacturer. We used to go and have to negotiate those coupons with the grosser. It's not something that the grosser automatically implements. And so it's something that that is negotiated. This could potentially hurt those relationships that the grocerers have with their manufacturers. If it's made more difficult within this the city of El Paso to do business, I don't know what those repercussions are when it comes to products of product availability when we're talking about equity. So the third piece is that there's there's no while I understand that this ordinance is or this initiation of the ordinance is to establish some type of discussion I feel like that should have happened first in my in my opinion um because then we could have come up possibly with some practical answers. It's going to impact all stakeholders that are within that grocery um family from manufacturers down to the employees down to the to you know what they can afford to do and I believe that there's a ripple effect with all of that potential cost on various factors we have having to print the coupon so that's materials distribution logistics because coupons and the manufacturer level level are done every week. So they are not done where you have one coupon and it's good for for you know a month. That's 52 weeks out of the year that you're going to have to address for for that additional requirement. The admin costs. So you have to track and verify that there are discounts and they're appropriate discounts across all platforms. Coupon fraud is one of the reasons why a lot of manufacturers went to digital coupons in the first place. That's an 11 million impact when it comes to the fraud that that consumers or thieves, however you want to to describe it, um apply to these smaller businesses. And then compliance costs resources are needed for legal reviews. for example, they're going to have to implement if if it's all implemented correctly, fraud detection. And so when you look at the overall impact of of what all of this I I don't have a dollar amount, but these are the necessary conversations to be able to say, do we is it worth it to go down this route or can we find alternative ways to come to an agreement to make it easier for the vulnerable population to shop these digital coupons. The other thing that that um you know that that it does open up the grocerers well the city of El Paso for is lawsuits. And so I cannot in good faith put my myself or my support behind this for those reasons. And so I just want to um it it could be the retailers, it could be the manufacturers, it could be anybody that is preventing from doing business with any business within the city of El Paso. So those are the implications in my opinion for for this type of of ordinance. Thank you, [Music] Representative Canales. There we go. Thank you, mayor. Um, I'll start off by saying I want to thank Repa for bringing this topic forward. I think it's a really valuable conversation to have. Um, and thank you to Miss Turner, who I understand had the conversation with him. Um, I I'll start by saying that I I broadly support the goals of this proposal, making sure that everybody, regardless of age or income or digital access, has has uh access to benefit from the same discounts that they uh might find at at a grocery store. I think that's a a matter of basic fairness for people. Um, and of course, as we saw in the presentation, we all know there is a real digital divide that's larger in El Paso than it is in a lot of other places. Uh, and and many seniors, low-income families, uh, digitally disconnected people are being left behind by the the increasing shift toward online only uh, and or app only pricing. So, these are all things that I think we need to look at into the future. At the same time, I I do have some concerns about the process. To my knowledge and and based on what's indicated in the community and stakeholder outreach section of the of the summary form in the backup, there hasn't been any formal outreach to grocery stores. Uh neither the the large chains or the local independent uh grocerers who would be subject to this ordinance uh when if should it eventually be passed. And and while I understand the urgency behind addressing this issue, I I think any regulation that directly impacts an industry like this should involve the stakeholders who will have to implement it from early on in the conversation. Um that's not necessarily to defer to them, but to make sure that what uh we craft as a policy is is practical and enforceable and doesn't create too many unintended consequences for them. So my my hope if this direction is passed today is that as the city manager and and city attorney begin the process of researching and drafting uh that we include a really meaningful process for stakeholder engagement that includes the realtor the the retailers uh but but also consumers uh advocates for seniors people who have uh accessibility concerns uh due to disability and and digital equity. equity groups. Uh the the policy intent here is really sound, but I think the implementation is important and we we want to make sure that we get something like this right. So I I have two small tangents. Um one is that uh when I saw this on the agenda and started reading more, uh I found that essentially only one city in the United States currently has this on the books and that is San Diego who passed it last month on March 24th. Um, so not even a full month ago, coincidentally, that that was brought forward by council members Sean Eloa and Marne von Wilpert, who I met through something totally unrelated to the city council, but she was doing uh the ceremonial coin toss at a soccer game in San Diego that I was officiating. Um, so we we connected after that, and this is totally by coincidence, but she sent me a nice pin with the city seal of of San Diego on it that just happened to be here. I forgot my pin this morning. I asked my staff to bring me some down for my desk and here it is from San Diego sent by Marne von Wilpert. So I I intend to connect with uh with council member von Wilpert in San Diego to understand what process they went through the the outreach that they've done with uh the the grocerers in San Diego uh what legal hurdles they might have faced. Um, and if it's valuable, if if this passes today, uh, maybe connect uh, their their city manager and city attorney with ours to make sure that, uh, these things are discussed. We're not starting from scratch. Um, small note on San Diego, I think it's worthwhile to note that AP came out in very strong support of their ordinance um, before it was passed. And then I I said two tangents. The other tangent is I I think I wouldn't exist without coupons. Um my mother uh first came here because she was sent to audit the coupon clearing in Huades. Uh Neielen used to do all of the clearing of of digital I mean of physical coupons. So basically, if you sent if you spent a coupon or used a coupon anywhere in the United States, uh those were all mailed here to El Paso and then crossed to Huadis in big bags and counted uh and build to the the manufacturers uh from El Paso Huades. And uh yeah, my my mother ended up here, met my father here who was working in the same company and that's why I'm here today. So I have a little bit of background with coupons. I know that the uh the the industry has changed quite a bit in terms of how digital coupons have have affected coupon clearing and reconciliation and billing of the manufacturers. Uh it's not a straightforward process where you use a coupon at the store as as representative Roachcha said and and you know they apply the discount and the store you know takes the hit of a dollar or $2 or whatever you saved. um it there's a very complex process by which coupons are are cleared and so are reconciled. So we we need to understand how this is impacted by a change that we make. Um all of that to say I I do plan to support this item today because of what it is. It's just direction. Uh I I think we need to give the direction to our staff to start the process of all of this work that needs to be done to understand the lay of the land in this issue. Um they can't do any work to prepare any of that without our direction. Um but I I'll I'll support it with the expectation that we commit to a really robust outreach process. I wish that had started before something was ever on the agenda. um that they conduct robust legal research to make sure we don't get ourselves into hot water and that throughout the process uh we we craft a policy that accomplishes the the goals that we talk about today but has a very fair and implementable process for anybody who will impact anybody who it will impact. Um, Miss Mack, is the 120day and Miss Neman as well, is the 120day timeline provided enough for all of that work to happen if we give you that direction today? I think that initially the legal work to decide whether or not this is legal in Texas will be a little faster. Um, but I don't know about the outreach and then the education effort in terms of everything that you just stated. We'd probably need I'll defer to Miss Mack in terms of how much time we would need to dedicate to that. Once we have that determination, if it is not in our favor, we'll bring it back to council for information and then we move from there. In terms of the outreach, my understanding is that we're talking about a very small market. I think as we define some of these definitions, we'll learn more about who those audiences need to be in terms of engagement um within a community, but I believe we can have something for consideration within that time frame. Okay. Um yeah, I think that that makes a lot of sense. Again, we are very much on the front edge of this. San Diego has approved this and we would really be the the only other city, but it doesn't mean that no one else is looking at this. there are cities across the country that have started to look at this kind of uh ordinance. So, uh for my part, I'm I'm happy to try to connect with some folks in these other cities and get information as to what uh what their implementation strategies might look like. I don't know where these other cities are in the process. I know there are cities across many other states that that are looking at this. So, um it might be worthwhile to look at what others are doing and not have to reinvent the wheel. I I know it's difficult when we're on the cutting edge of a of a policy change like this. So, um that's that's my commitment and I think for that reason I'll support this today. I just again urge caution to all of my colleagues that we these things need to be well researched. I I've done it I've made the mistake before too of putting something on the agenda very quickly before uh understanding all of the circumstances and uh it it can cause some discord among the community especially when it's looking at one specific industry. So uh happy to support today and hopefully we can move this forward in a way that's fair. Thank you mayor. All right. Thank you represent Lemon. Thank you mayor. When I first saw this, the very first thought that came into my mind was to have been able to have asked someone like Joe Silva senior, what would you do in a case like this u a major grocery store in El Seo bario and what would the how would he feel about something like this? As I looked at page seven that had the digital coupons and talked about the major grocery stores in El Paso, I can assure you that only two of those exist. Actually, only one exist in the Mission Valley area. That would be Food King. Albertson's is not south of I 10. Whole Foods, Vista, and Sprouts. None of those um major grocery stores are located in the Mission Valley area. I can address food king and I will tell you that to me it seems like there's a lot of people that do have cell phones more than maybe we estimate. I personally have seen um staff help people at Food King with their phone and shows them how to get the app and how to use it. I have seen that because I've been, you know, there when I've seen staff do it. I think that's good. If I go to Albert says, I need help as well because I'm not someone that does this. Fortunately, Joe is a grocery shopper in our family and I'm very happy with that. Um, so my concern is that the stakeholders were not involved even in the preliminary process. Um, Representative Maldonado Rocha, you may call yourself a novice, but you hit all the major points coming from a family that has worked in that business for many, many years in distributor. Um, yours was perfect. Nothing else that I can add to it. Thank you very much, represent Rocha. Thank you, mayor, and thank you, Rep. Lemon. I appreciate it. I just have a couple of other points when we're talking about the digital divide. Um, that that's really what's at stake here, right? And and part of what was in the the backup was saying that that it is a fundamental right to have access to food. It's not just food. There are so many other things that we need access to. And I I would I would initially probably recommend and and I know this from from my time in in corporate world that the telecommunications companies do a lot of work when it comes to trying to to narrow that digital divide gap. And I personally know that because we've been talking about some initiatives that will be happening within my district down in the valley where where Repleon is is referring a little further west, but there's a lot of um inequity down there. And yes, it's provided at a subsidy. It's required to do that. And so there are inroads that are being made. I believe that those stakeholders also need to be invited into it into that into that conversation because there's also a lot of digital literacy that happens as a result from the telecommunications companies. They have gone to several home locations within the city. One in Northeast over there off of Diana uh across from the Sam's Club that we built a digital literacy room. Senator Cesar Blanco has a very robust program that offers um laptops, offers cell phones, offers digital literacy to people that feel that they're inadequate with technology or a novice to it. I know I have an 82year-old father that refuses to even get an email address, so I have to be that person, but he gets help as he as he kind of navigates his way through the stores. Um I I just I just caution I I do believe that there is an absolute necessity for the equity piece of it. However, you know, we need to it's not just the grocerers. What's defined as a groceryer? There's groceries at at the Dollar Trees, at the Dollar Generals. There's there's groceries everywhere. And and so I think that that it is very important and I'll state this um once again just to make sure that we we know that we have those resources that are already available that are already working within the community to narrow that digital divide. And those are the resources that I feel we need to reach out to to try to find a solution for for the inequity and and care for those vulnerable um that vulnerable population. So, thank you, Mayor. Representative Tjo. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Representative Josh, this is I think, you know, it's a it's a what you're bringing up is is a good point. It's a good starting point. Uh, Representative Cannal said that, uh, San Diego's already doing it. And so, my thought is, you know, what is how does San Diego compare in market with the with what you've shared with your statistics here? Also, I would like to see Northeast in there. I didn't see Northeast in your statistics. Uh that's all we Okay. Uh because you know we do have a we do have a food king and an Albertson's there. I I I saw those two as uh the ones that are not participating. And so uh and and you know basically it's what you're hearing from everybody else here. It's it's just not the seniors. It's those that don't have access to internet and and smartphones. Uh and with what uh what Representative Rocha said, you know, we do have the libraries that are able to offer that those classes with uh with internet. Um I can't read my writing here. I took some notes and I can't read my writing, but I support it. I support it. I think it's a good start. I think we need to take a look at what San Diego is doing and see what we can do. Uh maybe there might be some opportunities there for some uh partnerships with nonprofits. uh and uh so we can get this going to uh be supportive of our grocery stores and as well as our community. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Chavez. Thank you, Mayor. And I know there's been a lot of discussion and a lot of really good points already made and it's been a long day, but uh thank you for allowing me to to make my personal comments. So I think it's a it's a great initiative on behalf of Representative Asseo to try to narrow that gap of of what we've been talking about the digital divide. But I do have you know a few questions or concerns regarding this. Um the the first I guess would be one thing is you know directing the city manager and the city attorney to kind of look into this further. But the agenda item states that the ordinance would further require any grocery stores that sell goods in the city of El Paso and offer digital coupons. So I I think by by by voting in favor of this, we're already also voting in favor of the requirement for these stores. And that's the the part of it that I don't feel comfortable with at this time. It's not that I don't feel comfortable exploring how to narrow that gap on the digital divide. I just feel uncomfortable already requiring these stores to have print coupons when we haven't brought them into the conversation. I want to know what the implications would be to them in terms of cost. um you know and especially the smaller ones and and I I frequently visit a smaller grocery store um in my neighborhood, you know, where you can buy like tortillas and salsa and a few fresh produce items. And to those stores, I think it would the cost might be even more expensive. And you know, having been a small business owner for over 20 years here in El Paso, I always think of of the impact to them, especially financially. Um, I also know people that work in grocery stores and they frequently tell me about coupon fraud and I know Representative Rocha brought it up and that's something that that concerns me. You know, definitely it's something to consider. it wouldn't be our responsibility to help companies mitigate that fraud because that wouldn't be ultimately our decision to make. But it's just something to keep in the back of our minds. And so I I I also think that you know you know we've been elected to represent everybody and definitely the populations that that doesn't have access to internet or doesn't have a smartphone or for whatever reason can't get a digital coupon shouldn't be left out. I agree with that. I just I just don't feel comfortable requiring grocery stores to do print ads at this time without bringing them into the discussion first. Thank you. Thank you. Represent Pierro. Yes. Last comment, mayor. Um San Diego has not uh made theirs into statute into law and ordinance. Today's a second reading, so they haven't decided yet. I did pass. It was first reading. They just updated the story today, but I'll show it to Okay, thank you, mayor. Thank you, Representative Tjo. Okay, so I do agree with Representative Chavez. I think is there is there a way to make an amendment where it's not an ordinance, but actually to see if this is something that's viable and how we can uh if it's if it's something that would be something that we could support is I I would ask Canales if maybe I can get some help with the verbiage on that. You're very good at that. So my thought is, you know, instead of Yes. What's that? Okay. So that that would be I guess it's a motion, right? It's a motion for amendment uh instead of an ordinance, but to see if this is something that could be that is viable uh sustainable, something that can be done. Uh maybe I can get some help with Canales on what how to ver how to how to put that into verbiage. Thank you. I I think it represent Trey Hope just articulating the best. It's your motion how how you want it cuz if not it will become his. It's to see if this is remove the ordinance but to see if this is something that can be done. It's something that's viable and sustainable within our community. You want the research base to come back? Yes. You have that miss prank? No sir. I'm not clear on what the amendment would be that the the amendment right. The amendment would be to remove remove the city ordinance portion of this uh of this uh item. What words are you striking out? Or it says here uh discussion and action to direct the city manager and city attorney to draft and present within 30 days within 120 days. Uh what do you want that replace? to remove the city ordinance to draft to draft uh a presentation to see uh information and presentation to see if uh this is viable for our community and invite all stakeholders and involve all stakeholders. Yes, correct. So, you're wanting to strike out the words draft and present a city ordinance and replace with presentation. a presentation within 120 days. A presentation and to include stakeholders that would require retail grocery stores to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology and include stakeholders. No, it wouldn't require them to do this. We're basically looking into seeing what you know if this is something that would be viable for the community. I just need help here because you're wanting to strike out where it says to draft and present a city ordinance and replace with to draft a presentation within 120 days. Correct. And to include stakeholders. Okay. Uh to offer fair access and then the rest of it I guess it would be fine. So to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their of their access just continue there after that. So it's not an ordinance but it's more of a presentation to see if this is something that would be viable sustainable for our community. Okay. And then are you are you also striking out that the ordinance would further require any grocery stores the next paragraph? Yes. Uhuh. And you would strike out the next paragraph, right? In its entirety. Okay. Okay. Miss Frank, can you read back that motion? Okay. So, Representative Tjo, it hasn't been seconded. I do. Oh, thank you. Make the mo motion to amend the agenda item to strike out the words a city ordinance and strike out that would require retail grocery stores. And it would instead read to direct the city manager and city ordinance to draft and present a presentation within 120 days to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology. And then it would strike out the next paragraph after that. Yes. Thank you. Okay. Is there discussion on the amendment? We have public comment too, right, Miss Pri? Yes, mayor. We do. There are seven members of the public, okay, that signed up to speak. Okay, then we'll take the amendment then the original one. Okay. Yes, sir. The first speaker is Melissa Santos, followed by Patricia Osman, Jose Reyes, Matt Corbin, Lisa Turner, Marisa Nunes Amanda Palasio Melissa Santos. Good afternoon. You have three minutes. Good afternoon. And then I just have some notes for everyone. If I could just I can Good afternoon. My name is Melissa Santos and I'm the director of finance and marketing for Food City Supermarkets. Food City was started in 1972 by my grandfather and we currently have two locations south of I 10. As a third generation business that has served El Paso for many decades, we have seen the grocery industry evolve dramatically and have worked to evolve with the changes in technology. This agenda item comes at an interesting time for us. We are actually preparing to launch our first digital app next week that will offer digital coupons. Our wholesaler, Affiliated Foods, works with various manufacturers like Proctor and Gamble to distribute digital coupons for various products they offer. The only way this group of digital coupons can be distributed is through an app the retailer has to set up. Each manufacturer coupon that is offered in our app or any app has a limit from the manufacturer as to how many times that coupon can be clipped and redeemed. It is impossible and illegal to make copies of a digital coupon just like you cannot make copies of a printed coupon. This proposal is trying to legislate the distribution and access of digital coupons by targeting grocery retailers. The fact is that the grocery retailer has the least control of coupon distribution. Coupons are controlled by manufacturers not retailers. When we look at the US population, 94% have access to the internet. 98% of Americans own a cell phone and 91% of Americans own a smartphone. The background on this item from Mr. federal states economically disadvantaged elderly and other El Paso residents lack access to the internet and smart smartphone devices. I'm sure you're familiar with the Lifeline program. The Lifeline program is a government funded program that gives free smartphones to those who qualify. If your income is at 135% of the poverty level or below, you get a free smartphone. In fact, we have a third-party company that comes into our stores five times a week that gives away free smartphones with internet access to those who qualify. I would suggest, Representative Asavetto, your next item agenda item should be that the city council agenda be printed and mailed each week to every single constituent in the city of El Paso to make sure every single person is aware of any upcoming agenda item that may affect them. Not everyone may have internet access to view the agenda online or transportation to come to city hall each week for a printed copy of the agenda. I have internet. I have a car. My family owns a grocery store. I read the news regularly. And I had no idea until 24 hours before this meeting that this agenda item was on the table. Did you reach out to any retailer about this beforehand? This agenda item specifically targets grocery stores. However, where do you draw the line? Walmart, Target, who offers digital coupons? Family Dollar? All of these retailers offer groceries. Or is it about food in general? What about every single restaurant? Thank you, Representative. Mr. Mayor, I have a question for Miss Santos, please. Two questions. Yes. Um, that's it, Mayor. Okay. How many coupons does your store offer for? How many coupons are are accessible at your store? So, in our digital app that's launching next week, we have about 900 in the system. That doesn't mean we have products for all of those coupons available. Um, but there's 900 from the manufacturers directly to our app. So, you'd have to print 900 coupons. We would have to print more than 900 because we'd have to print multiple copies of each one. Um, but we can't. When you look into the portal, there's a max number of times that coupon can be redeemed and once it hits that limit from the manufacturer, that coupon cuts off. So, if you were to print a limitless amount of coupons, that's illegal. Last question, Mr. Mayor. Um, and how often do these do these coupons change? Um, they I see new ones on a daily basis. So, you would need to hire a new person to regularly monitor, print, cut, distribute. Um, it's in fact, we would completely delete the app that I've worked a year on um that's launching next week. I would completely delete that app because we could not print all of these coupons. It is impossible. So many people would lose out on the potential savings that would happen from this app because of this ridiculous proposal to print. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Represent Limon. Melissa. Sorry, Melissa. Thank you very much for being here. I could almost hear your grandfather speaking to me with a passion that you brought. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you, Melissa. Thank you. The next speaker is Patricia Osman, followed by Jose Reyes, Matt Corbin, Lisa Turner, Marisa Nunes, Amanda Palasio. Great sentiment. I'm sitting there thinking that I I've got a lot of those apps on my phone. Um, and yeah, there there is an issue, right? Even even if it is in print, people will miss out because if there if if you forgot your flyer at home, but you're at the store, you missed out. If the store ran out of coupons, you missed out. Um I mean I don't she would have to better uh answer the question. Would there be a way where yes if you are printing an ad and like that one says digital available here or digitally. So, if you didn't have that, then hey, you would still have that coupon here, but then they would, as she stated, would have to limit how many they even print or how many are digitally or then double the amount would have to be limited. You're either limiting the print or you're limiting how how many you print because half of that might be done on digital. You know, you're you're not going to do both either. I mean, it's great sentiment. Um, what does bother me that you do, you know, I do have, look, I have Amazon Prime. One of my perks is I do pay for that because unfortunately I don't I can't always get out and I can it's cheaper to pay for Prime than it is for the shipping be quite frank. And yeah, so I have used the digital coupon at Whole Foods. Um I've used the one for Food King. Uh honestly, go to Food City, Rancheland, great sandwiches, tortas, please. But the thing is is that I've got these apps. My neighbor is in his 70s. He's got a better smartphone than I do. And he thought that when he received an Amber Alert, the state was accusing him of kidnapping these people and we've got those citizens. And I understand yes the digital divide maybe in more senior centers but even him he's in his 70s and I try to get him to go with me to the seniors in Memorial Park and he's like no esposito and I'm like we're like let's go and you so there's people that you're never going to get them to do the digital but even if you forgot the paper coupon you would still lose out. I mean, it's a great sentiment, but either way, I mean, we we can't like we can't kill the little guy like Visas by me. I love the food city. I hate the fact that Thank you, Miss Husman. The other one died. The next speaker, thank you, Miss Hosman. Jose Reyes. Jose Reyes, star six. Good afternoon. You three. Yes, sir. We can hear you. You have three minutes. Okay. All right. So, uh I uh work at a food king. Um uh let me start off first by saying uh nobody I've never witnessed anybody miss out on the deal because usually our our uh employees will help them get the app. Some of the c some of the uh employees will even give them their uh the coupon through their phone or the manager will approve the sale of the uh sale price through just overriding it. So I mean that's they've never had that problem where someone just completely loses out on the thing. We're there to help them as much as possible get the deal and not lose out on sale. the the thing that uh it concerns me about is if we start printing out all these coupons, what's going to stop someone from getting more than one coupon? Because through the app, you only get one coupon and it's good for two items, one item, whatever. So now, most of the things that are on uh on the coupon, we sell at cost or at a loss. So then like how much are we going to end up losing because someone's taking so many coupons and just taking stuff because I've seen people go when we have good sales, they have a restaurant and they'll take a lot of stuff where we're like losing money. So then it becomes like well like you know and that that's going to cost us maybe after we start losing so much that we start uh cutting hours and stuff like that because like in my department and I work in the me department our hours are based on our sales and everything and our uh generation of the money food store and everything. So that just raises the concern for me of like how much loss is acceptable. Uh that's pretty much uh the only things I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Matt Corbin. Mr. Corbin, star six, please to unmute your telephone. Good afternoon. You have three minutes. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Okay. Thank you. My name is Matt Corbin. I'm the director of marketing for Pay and Save Incorporated. We uh own 14 uh Food Kings there in El Paso. Uh we're an independent operator. We're familyowned. Uh so we're not associated with Kroger's, Albertsons, or any large uh grocery store chain. Um you know, I thank you very much. Uh I' I've listened uh throughout this and I'm impressed with everybody's uh deep knowledge of this coupon world. Um if I may just uh add a little bit of history here was in uh 2020 when printed coupons fell out of favor in because of germs, the fear of germs. Um there was also high prices associated with u printing coupons. Uh we ourselves at Food King uh we started a digital coupon program in 2022 um and um it's gone very well and we've been able to save the high cost of printing and the manual labor of of the the paper coupon and uh we've passed those savings on to to the customers. So that's been a giant benefit and it has increased. I'll just throw some numbers at you. Uh, prior to the digital coupon program in the city of El Paso, paper coupons for us, depending on the week and what kind of offers were there, we would somehow collect somewhere between 200 and 500 uh, paper coupons. Today, uh, this just last week, we collected over 11,000. So the popularity of digital coupons uh has jumped uh enormously. Um and the redemption is very very strong. Um I think that is in part due to the cost of groceries and people are all trying to save but there's been this uh mention of a digital divide. Uh there is probably a small small number of people who uh cannot um you know find their way to the digital coupon but in the case of our company uh we help them every step of the way. Uh but there is a large number of people many many more people are taking advantage of the digital coupon uh age if you will. Um, I just want to also say, uh, you know, for us at Food King stores, we help shoppers who do not own a smartphone. Um, we can take care, we can take their 10digit hardline number or their cell number that they might have, even if they don't have a smartphone, and we can input that system. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Corbin. The next speaker is Lisa Turner, followed by Marisa Nunes and Amanda Palasio. Good afternoon, Mayor Council. Good afternoon. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew chap 25:35. Now we're talking digital divide. Y'all are old enough to remember when there were signs that said no Mexicans colored only. This is the equivalent. Now you don't have one of these. When you go to food king and I we just heard from food king they do make efforts but if you go into Albertson and you don't have this you don't get it. You don't get that price. 35% of the families in this city suffer food insecurity. Basically, one out of three children in this city don't know if they're going to have a meal tonight. All nine of you know you're going to have a meal tonight. These children don't know. There's cuts to the food banks, meals on wheels, you know, free lunches, help for the elderly. It's all being cut. We have to do something. This is one way. It is not really that difficult. You can put a one sheet of paper and it can be scanned the individual ad. It's not that difficult. Quit making it difficult. Do you know how much food insecurity cost us every year? The study that UTB did in 2023 told us that food insecurity cost us $745 million a year over that. Now, I want you to think about that. People are going hungry right now. We talk about our future and our children. Well, if a child is hungry at school, they don't learn. If they're one of your workers, they can't work productively. They will get sick. They will be absent. We are too busy worrying about a few pennies on a coupon. We're worried about so many things, but we don't care about people not being able to eat. That's what this whole thing is about. So when somebody who's on a low income can come in and get healthy food and what was the price on the uh mangoes there, Josh? I think they were like $1.25. They were for 25 healthy food. Without it, it's going to cost you a 125. This is what this is about. This is where we need to go. Thank you. Your food banks have cut distribution. The next speaker is Marisa Nunes, followed by Amanda Palasio. Good afternoon. You have three minutes. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mayor Johnson and council members. My name is Marissa Nunes and I am here in my personal capacity as a former District 8 resident. Hi, Repales. We still need crosswalks on Stanton. Um, and I am newly returned resident to district 7. It's nice to meet you, Representative Lemon. I have some things to talk to you about. Um, I am here to encourage you all to support item 16, whether it's for the first motion that was presented or the second one introduced by uh, Representative Royal Trejo. In a time of deep economic uncertainty, especially when we know that the federal and state budgets for food access programs are being slashed, our local leaders and policy makers have a moral imperative to explore all options to ensure that our neighbors, regardless of their age, income, or digital literacy, can afford to put food on the table. Today, your vote merely makes it possible to investigate those options. And I really believe in the importance of optimism when we sit down at the table with all of our stakeholders and say this is what we're thinking. How can we make it better? That's what your vote does today. And so I encourage you to support this item. Thank you all for your time. Thank you. And the final speaker is Amanda Palasios. Miss Palasio, star six, please to unmute your telephone. Good afternoon. You have three minutes. Good afternoon, Mayor Johnson and council members. My name is Amanda Palasio. I am a resident of District 1. I am a PhD sociology student at UT and I have a background in uh in food in food anthropology, more specifically traditional borderland foods. And here I am talking to you guys to urge you all in improving item 16. Um I want to emphasize something that has been echoed uh by others and that is that not having physical coupons can exasperate food insecurity for uh certain income certain bracket incomes and for certain uh populations. Um this has the potential to make uh to exacerbate exacerbate food insecurity especially for seniors as mentioned. I think it is important that we ensure that people throughout El Paso have the right to access to healthy food and especially foods that are culturally appropriate and ensuring that they have the right to determine that. Uh as mentioned before, while people may own or have access to smartphones, that does not mean that they know how to navigate apps which would help them access uh those uh digital coupons. And so this is what I want to emphasize is that that we are not exasperating these inse insecurities uh these potential food insecurities for vulner vulnerable population. Thank you. Thank you mayor. That concludes public comment on this item. Represent Canalis. I'm happy to let Repos go first if you'd like. I think he was maybe looking at language. I don't know. Maybe not. Well, it's your decision, man. You're up. You're You're up. Go ahead. Okay, that's fine. Um I I think uh Well, let's start here. Miss Pry, can you please read the amendment that's currently on the table? Yes, sir. So, the amendment is to revise the language so that it reads to direct the city manager and city attorney to draft and present a presentation within 120 days to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology. That's what I have. Okay. Um there's been a lot of consternation about what is a grocery store, what is the definition of a grocery store, who might this apply to. Um, I'd like to offer then a secondary amendment amending the f the primary amendment um to add uh another sentence. Uh, and Miss Pran, I'll send that sentence to you in a moment, but it reads, uh, for the purposes of this item, a grocery store means a business, market, supermarket, or warehouse club engaged primarily in the retail sale of food and beverage merchandise goods rather than food prepared solely for consumption on the premises from fixed point of sale locations to the general public for personal or household consumption. I think that's a perfectly good working definition to work from and hopefully we can eliminate the confusion about who this might apply to again. Uh and where do you want that that portion added? Append it to the end. And yeah, thank you. And I'll send that to you short. He's amending her amendment, but we have to we have to this is a secondary amendment. So it's an amendment to her amendment. Yeah. To add the additional language stakeholders. Okay. I don't Is there a second to I don't hear a second to representative's amendment. I'll second it. Uh, Miss Pine, going back to uh mine. It should say in their stakeholder right after. Let me see. To include stakeholders. Where do you want that edit? Can you can you please read it cuz my I don't have the I have to direct the city manager and city attorney to draft and present a presentation within 120 days to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology and to include stakeholders and to include stakeholders. Yes. Thank you represent. Thank you mayor. So appreciate all the discourse on this. I've been taking a lot of notes on this. So, um, first off, I I think what I said at the start, and maybe that was missed, I I wanted to outline that a little bit more. This is just offering different options, right? We're we're hearing 900 coupons a day or a week and stuff like that. And it's not about printing all of them. They could be printed, that's fine. But there are other things like the kiosks that were in my presentation where you are putting a kiosk in your store and at that point you're selecting all the digital coupons that you want and then you just get a QR code and you use that at the register and you participate in all the digital coupons. So that's where I was saying that there were a lot of different options. There was not just this one on oneizefits-all. It was just really making the intent is for it to be open to people um like the businesses that they could put them in the aisles, they could put them at the cash register. I'm really glad to hear that Food King helps people that that's a really really big deal because a lot of what we were seeing in the research, the stores were not really doing any of that, right? They were not helping people access the digital um coupon. So, really appreciate Food King for that. Um the the reason that you know I I do a lot of community outreach. It's it's it's a little absurd sometimes how much community outreach we we do in my office. I mean we have at least three community meetings per month. Sometimes we go out and do a very focused community meeting that is just in an area that encompasses four blocks and we have it on the street and we talk to the community to find solutions. And I think what um what makes it difficult on how the city works is that if I ask the city attorney to do all this research, she's not going to do it because she doesn't have council direction. I can't single-handedly say, "Hey, Miss Neman, go do all this research for us like without direction." So, I did a little bit of I'm not a lawyer. I'm first person to say I'm not a lawyer, but I did a little bit of research and it looks like Texas doesn't have it. But with this direction, um the original direction, it's it has direction for the city manager and the city attorney to look at the legal ways and also have the community outreach because that that is really important and I and I really appreciate what Representative Canales said about really making sure that we have community outreach. That is going to that's going to be a very essential part. I completely agree with that and and I understand that when you bring in a proposal like this, it change on a on a on a big level is is scary for people. But when you start looking through this, it it is really just saying, okay, go out and see what we can do to do an ordinance on this city manager, city attorney within 120 days. And that ordinance could could require retail grocery stores to offer fair access to discount pricing, right? Like it says, this isn't saying that if this passes today, it immediately triggers people having to do instore coupons, printing them out because we don't have that research, right? We don't have that yet um done by the city of El Paso. So in the next 120 days, that's where all of that would happen. and the research, the legal research, the ability to convene all the different stakeholders like my colleague said earlier. That's when all of that happens. Then they bring it back to council. There is a first reading. I assume there would be a presentation and then we take the action to move the first reading forward and then after that there's a second reading and that's when it becomes finalized with the date that says after this date this is when it takes effect. It's not an overnight thing. this is really kicking off this process. So, I really wanted to clarify that. And then in terms of what San Diego, San Diego is the the first city to do it in the country. Uh I believe the first reading was done in February and then in March that's when they did the second reading and it became an ordinance. There are four other states that we know of that are doing this. New Jersey Washington Illinois and Massachusetts. And in terms of San Diego and the comparison with our community, uh obviously San Diego is is a large population um almost double of El Paso, but it's also on the border. It is a bational community. So there are a lot of similarities that they have to El Paso. And so, um, I I think the the kiosk thing, I just really want to hammer that in a little bit more where you don't have to print the hundreds of coupons. You you're just providing a kiosk and at that point maybe, you know, like Food King is already helping people on smartphones or trying to access their digital um coupons, they would instead help them use the kiosk. You don't have to use a smartphone. You don't need a computer. You don't need a tablet. you just look at the at the kiosk, you do some selections, and then out of that comes out a QR code, and then you're ready to just use that at the register. So, that is one example. There are different ways of of really bridging this gap, the the digital literacy gap that we have here in El Paso and across the country. So, I I just really wanted to correct the record and make it very crystal clear that that's where it was coming from. This was not to exclude the the grocery stores at all. Obviously, that is a big part of this. It's the major part of it. So, this kicks off the process. It does. I I I know you're you're you're disagreeing, but it does. Um because this kicks off the process of how we engage in a formality where we bring in the city manager and her staff and the city attorney and her staff to really do this undertaking because there is actual council direction directing them rather than making them do a bunch of work because a council person asked them to do the work and then it comes to council and council doesn't want that direction. So that was the intent behind it. It was not an intentional thing to leave anybody out prior to this. It was to bring the the force of the city behind us and resources to conduct this community outreach. So, um I appreciate what the the amendments are, but um I I still like the original motion, but I will also, you know, respect what the council wants to do in terms of this. I just wanted to really clarify that this is not an overnight thing and it'sund it's kicking off the process of 120 days and then having them come back to us the city attorney and city manager with something to present. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So, we've got the original motion, an amendment, then an amendment to the motion. And before we take the votes on on the amendments, you know, for me, just listening to to to everyone, you know, I'm going to lean on the experts, the people that are that are in the industry doing this. And Representative Roachcha, you did a phenomenal job uh of articulating and, you know, and I want to just, you know, repeat some of the words that I heard. You know, I heard words like discriminatory against small business, you know, Target, the Walmarts and others are excluded. You know, I heard words like fraud, unjust, a burden. And one of the words that's missing from today's discussion that is alarming to me is the environment. You know, no one has come up and said, you know, how many more trees are going to be impacted? What's the environmental impact of printing coupons going to do on the environment? So, I think this is overreaching by government. And as a small business owner, it, you know, it it it it it pains me to know that, you know, they're showing up saying this is the first they heard of it and the impact that it would have on their businesses. So, I mean, if I was a voting member, I would be voting against this because these are the small businesses in El Paso. We heard from uh Matt Corbin. We've heard from Melissa Santos saying this is this would hurt their businesses and they're the experts. they're they're doing this on a daily basis. So, and and Representative Roach, I want to thank you for really walking this down uh and and explaining this to to the what the impact could be on something of this magnitude. So, I I would urge council to consider the experts and and and the word's not testimony, but you know, I heard Representative Fiero also say, is is this even legal? But to me, it appears we're going backwards. you're going from digital to wanting more trees cut down. It just doesn't it doesn't work for me. So, with that said, Miss Prime, can you read the amendment to the amendment so we can start there? Yes, sir. So, the secondary amendment was made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Oyer Trejo, and it's to add to the end of the primary amendment the following. For the purposes of this item, grocery store means a business market, supermarket, or warehouse club engaged primarily in the retail sale of food and beverage merchandise goods rather than food prepared solely for the consumption on the premises from fixed point of sale locations to the general public for personal or household consumption. What can we previous one because now we got a little bit long. The primary amendment is to direct the city manager and city attorney to draft and present a presentation within 120 days to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology and to include stakeholders. Is that correct? That's correct. So that was your Okay. So let's I know it it seems daunting, but let's read the amendment to the amendment one more time so we're clear and they can vote on that. The secondary amendment is to add to the end of the primary amendment the following. For the purposes of this item, grocery store means a business, market, supermarket, or warehouse club engaged primarily in the retail sale of food and beverage merchandise goods rather than food prepared solely for consumption on the premises from fixed point of sale locations to the general public for personal or household consumption. Okay. And there was a motion and a second on that one. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Canal, seconded by Representative Boyerjo. This is on the secondary amendment. Okay, Miss Bryant, call for that vote. On that motion, call for the vote. Mayor, there is a tie in the voting session and the motion fails with representatives Chaviso Tjo Canales voting I representatives Rocha Nino Fiero Lemon voting nay and the mayor breaking the tie by voting nay. The motion does fail. Do we need to take the next amendment? Yes. Okay. The ne the primary amendment was made by representative thjo, seconded by representative Lemon. And this is to amend the the primary motion. So that it reads to direct the city manager and city attorney to draft and present a presentation within 120 days to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology and to include stakeholders. Now this doesn't say the word grocery in in at all as I'm reading it. I'm not sure. Can you read it one more time, please? I have to direct the city manager and city attorney to draft and present a presentation within 120 days to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology and to include stakeholders. Okay. Call for the vote. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. On that motion closer, call for the vote. Let's see what happens. Mayor, we have a tie in the voting session. And that motion fails. Representatives ADO Tjo Lemon Canales voting I. Representatives Chavez Madon Rocha Nino Fiero voting nay. and the mayor breaking the tie by voting nay and the motion fails. Okay, let's take the main the main one now. Okay, the main motion is was made by Representative Aso, seconded by Representative Nino, and this is to direct the city manager and city attorney to draft and present a city ordinance within 120 days that would require retail grocery stores to offer fair access to discount pricing to all consumers regardless of their access to or familiarity with digital technology. The ordinance would further require any grocery store that sells goods in the city of El Paso and offers digital coupons and/or discounts via the internet, text message, or a mobile smartphone application to make traditional physical coupons with identical pricing available to consumers. Okay. Call for the vote on that motion. Call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion fails. Three to five. Representatives ADO Nino Canales voting I. Representatives Chavez Rocha Tjo Fiero Lemon voting. The motion fails. Okay. Mayor, what item would you like to go? Miss Prime, we've had a lot of members here that are called to the public. I think we owe it to our constituents to to go to that next. Yes, sir. So, that brings us to call to the public. The El Paso City Council is 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 of 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 afternoon, we have seven members of the public that signed up to speak. The first person is Claudia Contreas. Miss Contra's topic is animal cruelty against cats. She will be followed by Ronald Ko. Claudia, our apologizes for running late. It's okay. Thank you. I want to thank you, Mayor Johnson, the city council, and everyone who takes care of the city, local and federal levels, the police department, border patrol, border star, first responders, military, animal services, who takes care of the animals and they are loaded with work. Uh, April is animal cruelty awareness month. And the second week of April is to recognize and celebrate the important role of 911 dispatchers. And I want to play you a 911 call. I I cut the the information, but this is public records. It took me about more than two weeks to get it. And this is an animal cruelty call and family violence being attacked or possibly uh just right now I heard uh like the sounds of a of a cat being uh being attacked uh or possibly hurt by the owner. Um it was it was like frantically screaming and all I can think is that the owner possibly did something to the cat. Um, this is actually the second time I've also called uh 911 to go check on that apartment because last night uh the male that's in that apartment uh seemed to have attacked a female that was in the apartment. Okay, this call is 4 minutes and I was going to play uh for 240 seconds, but I don't have enough time. So the police department, the animal cruelty unit, they need our support. This is going on and this is going on a lot. There is no organization that is taking care of the cats. I have a bachelor's degree in organizational and corporate communication. I've been feeding them for eight years. I've been doing the trap near a return. I've seen a lot of animal cruelty. I was going to bring pictures, but uh you know like I don't want to cause a bad impression. And I want to ask until when are you guys going to take a seat and talk to the animal cruelty sergeant, the investigators, and the police chief? Um, we all know that they're short staffed, but this call um was 4 minutes and then this same person called again at 11:00 and nothing happened. Also, I think the apartment complex needs to needs to be uh held accountable. I told them this person needs to be evicted. They were stumping a cat to death and also the the night prior he was beating up a lady. So there's a lot of things that need to be, you know, about animal cruelty and El Paso should be one n uh it should be under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all including the cats even though it gets ignored. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Ron Kovville. He will be followed by Luis Carlos Rodriguez. Mr. Ko's topic is exercising his constitutional rights to the rescue 1983 animal services. Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, ma'am. Good afternoon, Rod. Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. Hey, I'd like to start out by making a comment like I kind of been doing. Um, up until 2020, El Paso Animal Services intake every stray, city, county, Tigua, and Fort Bliss. in 2020 changed. Now let's read the changes. Use the disruption to this is I'm sorry this is a email from Austin Pets Live to Paula Powell which we got through Freedoms of Information Act. Use the disruption of shelter systems brought on by CO 19 as an opportunity to envision the the the new way of shelter operations. HOS limited intake prevent the old model from being able to reinstate after CO 19 pandemic is over intake of healthy strays and owner surreners as it existed in February does doesn't exist anymore the shelter transition is a case of management approach proving services and support to owners finders community and members who they basically put everything on create only purpose employed kennel case to address needs as hospitalization boarding rehabilitation, behavior, legal holds, and quarantine. No kennel space for rehoming stray hold or intake. This is what your shelter has been doing since 2020. This is what's caused the animal crisis in El Paso. If you guys would like a copy of this, I probably already sent it to you, but I'd be happy to send it to you again. I don't know if you actually read the things I send, but it would be a good idea to see what the community is saying. The other thing I'd like to bring up is policies and procedures. We're always being told about policies and procedures. Again, I think I said this last meeting. This is the HOS uh the ASAC manual. This says that they follow Robert's rules. Well, in a meeting in Oscar's office, I was told, "Well, kind of. We follow the ones we want." That's the same person that tells us that we're not following policy and procedures here. So, I have one thing to say. If El Paso is going to put rules and regulations, policies and procedures on us, then it's time that we enforce policies and procedures on animal services. Rules and regulations, state laws and city laws need to be abided by by animal services. It doesn't work one way. It works both ways. We need the original nokill plan put back in place because it was never officially installed by anyone into the city of El Paso. So, I'd like to know when we're going to put our original plan back in place and follow policy and procedures seeing how they're so important. Thank you. The next speaker is Luis Carlos Rodriguez. Luis Carlos Rodriguez. He left. Okay. Thank you. Next speaker is Uvo Garcia. Mr. Garcia's topic is need more police presence and improvement of homeless facilities in the McGuffin neighborhood to improve situation for residents, transients, and police alike. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Uh my name is Sugu Garcia. I apologize in advance uh for my uh English is not my first uh language but I try my best. Uh so uh me and some friends start a a small project. Uh we start to buying some houses all houses in downtown to uh rebuild them and uh try to make some profit like uh have tenants and stuff like that. But uh unfortunately uh we are losing a lot of uh tenants in the last weeks for the the problem that that we have on Merrt Street. Uh it's not about the homeless people. Uh it's more about the dragging and uh uh it's getting really bad u out of control. Uh there's a corner in front of our property where the homeless people and and the drug the the drug dealers stays. Uh they start fires. They harassed our tenants. So just in the last week I lost two tenants and I'm about to lost another one because uh when they get drugged they um they start to uh damaging properties. I they damaged my my front gate last week. They damaged a card from my tenants uh like 3 days ago. They start a fire just yesterday. The fire department has to arrive. So um I I was wondering what's going on with the property that is empty in right in the corner. Um a lot of addicts and homeless people are there and police goes every week. Uh they clear the area. I know they are doing the job but uh after 30 minutes everything is is bad again. So I don't think uh sending police is the answer. I think uh maybe uh we should uh do something with the property that is abandoned there and it creates uh the environment for for like I said it's not about the homeless people. I feel bad for them. The the real problem is with the with the drug with the drugs. Uh and I don't know that's that's everything I would like to to say. Thank you very much for your time. Hugo, did you say this was off of Myrtle Street? Yes, sir. Okay, Mayor, I know we don't typically respond. Can I say something very quickly? Yeah, we there's there's a lot of complications with that property. It's a vacant property. Uh the property owner uh has been contacted and they have no interest in trespassing people off of their property. Um and so it's it's been quite a headache. Uh trust I I'll give you my card that I represent that district and I'm happy to speak with you. Uh, but trust that it's something we've been working on to try to find a solution for it. If I have your your your permit, I I can fence it myself. Uh, you know, again, unfortunately, it's someone else's private property, but I I understand. We'll we'll we'll connect now. Uh, and and I'm happy to speak with you about it. Okay, Hugo. Thank you. Thank you very much. The next speaker is Frank Ldios and he's also speaking on the need for more police presence and improvement of homeless facilities in the McGuffin neighborhood to improve situation for residents, transients and police alike. And it will need the Elmo for his presentation. First of all, good afternoon. I always wonder what you guys do all day now. I know. We've got nothing but respect for you all and I don't think you guys get pay enough to reset my clock. Please say that in the microphone please. just showing a bunch. Okay. I'm u I'm also I'm one of the owners of some of the pro of a property there about a block away from the uh from the um opportunity center. This is only six blocks away from here. What you see in the background is my building. It's an apartment building. I have 10 residents. Half of the residents I know what you're looking at, sir. Uh it is it is what you think it is. I have 10 uh residents there. Half of the tenants are I'm sorry. Half of the half of the tenants are are ladies, older ladies. They're uh home care providers for other people in the neighborhood. And you can see the gate to go into the building up on the left top corner and and they have to walk through situations like this to get into their their their apartment. What you see there, this is this happened uh Thursday of last week between 1 and two. They were doing drugs, they were drinking and obviously they're showing no respect for for anybody, no law enforce this is what they do. Um and obviously um one of the sources of the issue is what you mentioned Mr. Mr. Uh, canal is the uh the property the property next door. I know the owners there in San Antonio. I know a little bit of the history and uh I've been trying to offer my help and I will offer my help to you. You tell me when to when can I report and I'm there to help you. I'm here to start the process and help you guys with this baking lot is right next to to my property. Uh two months ago, someone got killed. What these guys do, they do drugs, they drink, um, and then they fight with each other, they argue with each other, and they after they do their their their drugs, they go out and this this is when this is uh when the police was there when the person got got killed. Yeah. Um, and I I have the dates for that. There's obviously police report for that. Uh, of course when this is some of the results I have. This is one of my windows. I have three broken windows right now. That happened on a Sunday. I was there within an hour and I was able to replace it. That lady wasn't worried about groceries grocery prices that day. She was worrying about where she was going to sleep that night because the rack big rock right went through Thank you so much. right through through the uh through that window. Uh, and that's right next to the to the to the lot. Uh, this is also as a result. What you see here is a bullet that went right through through one of my uh citizens uh bill uh vehicle. The bullet is still there inside the the cluster on on the vehicle. And this this is the this is the vehicle. Thank you, Mr. You also want to Thank you, sir. You've reached the 3m minute limit. Thank you. Thank you for for bringing that to our attention. Mayor and uh representative Yeah. Repres to ask him to to complete his statement. Sure. I I'll extend the time. I'll extend the time please. 20 more minutes maybe. Yeah. 30 seconds. Okay. But there's most of my residents that have vehicles, only five residents have vehicles. Four out of five have their windshields broken, windows broken, or they just go out with a baseball bat and they get this is a random situation. There's nothing personal against any of them. Yeah. And uh this is what we have to go through. There is a police report for that. I don't have police report for my broken windows because the police after we called 911, they never they never got there. I'm sorry. I'm I'm away from here. Yeah. You also see on the on the on the picture that there's a new mailbox. Why do we have a new mailbox? Because back during Christmas, they also uh the the homeless, they just opened it up. They wanted to get some of the mail. A lot of people send cash obviously to their friends and family. So, we we we spent about six weeks without a mailbox because of that. This is just uh yesterday uh this weekend. They just they wanted to burn the u the uh That's my my trash. Yeah. Yep. And there's there's so much. Thank you. And thank you for bringing this to our attention. I saw represent Canales reach for some cards, so I'm sure he's going to be in touch, but thank you so much. Thank you. The next speaker is Elizabeth Crawford. Miss Crawford's topic is paid in full redemption. She's here. Good afternoon, Miss Crawford. You have three minutes. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you. Um, I've been in New Jersey quite a while and it's been a blessing to be back in El Paso. Um, I use the bus system and can I tell you I really like the transit system here, the Sun Metro. It's a million times better than the New York City, New Jersey system. Starting with the timeliness and the extreme politeness of the the bus drivers. I was on a newer um bus the other day and swiped my weekly pass and the words came up fair satisfied. The price for my trip was paid in full. The eyes of many in El Paso and around the world this week are on an event that occurred 2,000 years ago where an infinitely greater price was satisfied, paid in full. And speaking of the Jewish sacrificial system in the Bible, the book of Hebrews, God's words makes this awesome statement. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of hepher sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. In the pro-life movement, there are people from all different religious beliefs, backgrounds ethnicities life experiences. You've probably seen groups these past weeks standing outside the Planned Parenthood on Chelsea near Trobridge, the 40 Days for Life. Um, there are many types of people involved in 40 Days for Life. There are some who personally have had abortions. There are some who view penance as part of the solution to past abortions or other sin. I fall in neither category. I've never had an abortion. Nor do I view penance as a solution to any sins I have ever committed or ever will commit against our holy God. Why? Because of that declaration paid in full. It is finished. Jesus spoke it on the cross. The payment for sin is complete for all who by faith will turn from our own pathetic attempts at self-righteousness and trust in the finished work of the risen Christ alone. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. That is the only acceptable sacrifice. The penalty for all who would believe, is indeed paid in full. I hope each one of you has a very special Holy Week and a very special Pascala. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Osman. Thank you. The final speaker is Patricia Osman. Miss Osman's topic is sexual assault and sexual exploitation in our communities, including al LGBTQIA, El Paso Pitt, not investigating citizens need to report to non-local law enforcement. So anyway, y'all did a proclamation for sexual awareness. So, I figured I take this opportunity seeing that um some of you may have heard this before uh that remain from last council. Some of you are going to hear this, but um in our community, we have a huge issue with sexual assault, domestic violence, as you heard in that call. Um, and the sad thing is is our law enforcement locally doesn't do a whole lot about it. Truthfully, it doesn't. And I can speak from experience because a few years back um because I reported um a BDSM prostitute that I had learned about because there was a BDSM group here in El Paso. And you know what? Some of their members are on escort sites still working out of El Paso. Uh, one of them was uh in tandem quite frankly un y'all have given proclamations to the Rainbow Center and one of those prostitutes who is also still doing sex work online um associated with the Rainbow Center. And it's upsetting because the homosexual community across the world, not just El Paso, it's one of the most vulnerable communities. And yet you had a you have a predator like that who would post her beatings of her, not only person she was with, but clients online. But that prostitute I reported to EPD, that report exists. Nothing happened. In fact, a detective, kind of put it off. It fi It finally went to the DA's office. And I come to find out that one detective that I was going to file a report on, ended up with uh internal affairs. And then I was convinced by internal affairs that I couldn't really make that report because uh time had expired. Even though that case was still at DA, PD doesn't do anything. You know what? Yeah, I agree. Fire department. Yes, PD, but we don't need to put more money into them. But sexual awareness, you know what? Unfortunately, the Rainbow Center needs help with their therapy because people are complaining about it. somebody's doing their therapy by phone and that's a community that really does get assaulted. This city really needs to consider that fine. The animals are one indication, but man, we we've got a huge issue and if it's awareness, be aware that our PD isn't doing anything about it. Thank you, Miss Osman. Thank you, Miss Oman. Mayor, that concludes call to the public. We have life and life. What number? Okay, we're going to take number item number 15 right now. Item 15. Yes, sir. And this is discussion and action that the city council declares that the expenditure of discretionary funds from city council district 4 in an amount not to exceed $350 to be used towards funding the registration cost to the Jacksonville neighborhoods USA 50th anniversary conference for presidents or designates of the North Hills Neighborhood Pride Association. A recognized neighborhood association in district 4. Serves a municipal municipal purpose of cultivating an environment conducive to strong economic development. Promoting the visual image of El Paso, enhancing El Paso's quality of life and nurturing and promoting a healthy sustainable community. This is Representative Boyjo's item. Represent Tjo. Thank you, mayor. My name is Vanessa Bet. Sorry, Mr. President. The you don't have the floor yet. Represent Tr. Okay. Uh thank you all for being patient and and waiting uh this day. This is uh this is item was brought up uh because of um so every year the neighborhood association USA host a competition inviting neighborhood associations from across the country and internationally to showcase their efforts in community engagement. And this year the Northeast Neighborhood Pride Association who is uh Miss Betts and and Mr. Mr. Betts were finalists that were uh included in their incredible work last year. They held a national good neighbor day and it was on Saturday September the 28th. It was at Sandstone Ranch Park. Uh it was a celebration rooted in the uh intent from Jimmy Carter who instituted the day as a way to encourage neighbors and to connect a builder and build stronger communities. So I attended this event and it was a blast. uh we two-stepped we uh met with our neighbors and it was a great opportunity to meet our everyone that was that was invited. In addition to the celebration, the association partnered with a local food bank uh pantry called You Eat, I eat, and the community was invited to bring in non-p perishable items. So, congratulations. This is a a motion to approve this line item for a registration cost to the Jacksonville Neighborhoods USA 50th anniversary conference where our neighborhoods here, our neighbors here will be recognized. Second, thank you. Go ahead, Miss Betts. Thank you. Thank you. Um I'm honored to be here and um they say you don't get a second chance to make a first impression, so I hope I do this right. Feliz Complanos. All right. Did I say that right? He's not even looking my way. And I I worked on that. Uh I'm honored to be here and even more so to u be selected to go down to Jacksonville, uh Florida. When we first started this project, it was out of it was during the time we were coming out of the COVID situation and people were still kind of reluctant going back to churches, schools organizations associations and they were coming back kind of slowly. And when we finally started getting people in, we realized we needed to kind of revamp because people had kind of become stagnated and had lost their interest. And rather than just having meetings, we thought about let's get out among the people. So we um we thought of having something at the park and uh the idea was to get children out. I said, I don't want to babysit everybody's kids. If it's going to be something, let's involve the neighborhood so you can come with your kids. And after doing some exploring, we realized the date that was established was a date that was already there uh by Jimmy Carter. good neighbor day. And if you remember coming up, you remember what it was like having neighbors. Uh we were talking about the other day, uh even if your parents weren't around, your neighbors saw you and they would make sure that your parents knew what you were doing or what you shouldn't be doing or whatever. But there was that camaraderie. And so I wanted to I envisioned seeing that. And uh as things pro progressed, we were able to bring out everyone. We had senior citizens doing patriotic lion dancing. We had small children doing rock paint uh painting rocks. And we had the police department, the fire department, the army national guard. And it was really, really, really a good time. We decided to send that in to the national to let them know what we had done. And to our surprise, they recognized what we had done. And I was happy because they were here about 3 years ago and they were amazed by what El Paso was all about and how friendly we were to them when they came. So for them to offer me to come there uh as a finalist, I was really honored and so um I'm thankful for the opportunity to go and I hope that um I bring back something that would represents uh El Paso. If not, I'll bring back some memories, okay? And I'll share that. But um thank you very much. My husband, who has been my right arm, left arm, my backbone, everything when I thought I couldn't do it, has been very helpful and I appreciate that as well. Congratulations. [Applause] So, we have a motion and a second. Yes, Mayor. The motion was made by Representative Borjo and it was seconded by multiple members. I'll take Mayor Prom Chavez's second. Okay. On that motion, call for the vote. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Representative is not present. Congratulations, you guys. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Have fun. Okay, Miss Bryan, I know we're jumping all over the place here, but there's I'm trying to get as many folks out as we can. We're going to go to items number 29 through 32, and we're going to take those together. Yes, sir. And I'll read them into the record, please. Items 29 to 32. Item 29 is an ordinance granting Dominion Ambulance LLC a franchise extension and amending ordinance 019489 to modify its franchise freight and to operate a non-emergency ambulance transfer service. Item 30 is an ordinance granting elite medical air transport LLC DBA emergent air a franchise extension and amending ordinance with 019518 to modify its franchise rate and to operate a non-emergency ambulance transfer service. Item 31 is an ordinance granting Elite Medical Transport of Texas LLC, a franchise extension and amending ordinance 019488 to modify its franchise rate and to operate a non-emergency ambulance transfer service. And item 32 is an ordinance granting Life Ambulance Service, Inc. a franchise extension and amending ordinance 019491 to modify its franchise rate and to operate a non-emergency ambulance transfer service. Motion approved. Second. There's a motion and a second. Chief, do you really want to say anything? Okay, there's a motion. Any discussion on this item? Miss Bryan, please call for the vote. We do have public comments. We have Lisa Turner. I don't see her. Tony Bair. Good afternoon. Hello. Good afternoon, Mayor. Good afternoon. Um, if the chief has nothing to discuss, we have nothing discussed as well. Thank you. Thank you. We have Yoseph Al Harvey Harby. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Um, this is my first time speaking at the city council. Thank you for having me. Um, good day, mayor and council members. My name is Yseph Alh Harvey. I'm here on behalf of Elite Medical Transport. I want to begin by expressing our sincere gratitude to the city of El Paso and the El Paso Fire Department for more than 26 years of strong collaborative partnership. El Paso is our home. It is both a privilege and a responsibility that we take seriously to provide compassionate, highquality medical care to our community, residents and visitors. As a company deeply rooted in the city, we are proud to employ over 140 El Pasoans, all dedicated to serve our neighbors with professionalism and heart. I also want to take a moment to recognize the El Paso Fire Department for their outstanding leadership and EMS coordination. Their commitment to excellence ensures that emergency medical services in our city meet the highest standards. The franchise system currently in place here in El Paso is a strong model for public safety. It effectively balances oversight with operational flexibility, monitoring performance, integrating additional resources when needed, and supporting quality providers in continuing to innovate and grow. It's a system that works, and it works because of the vision and support of this council. On behalf of everyone at Elite Medical Transport, thank you for your continued partnership and for the trust you have in us to serve our great community. Yeah. Thank you and welcome. Thank you. The final speaker is Rachel Herexy. Oh, thank you, Sheillette. Okay, that concludes public comment on these items, mayor. Okay. Is there any further discussion on this item? Thank you, mayor. Thank you so much. All right, Miss Prime, would you please call for the vote? Yes, sir. The motion was made by alternate mayor pompier, seconded by representative Maldonado Rocha. And this is to approve items 29,30, 31, and 32. On that motion, call for the vote. In the voting session and that motion passes unanimously, representative not present. Okay, Mr. Prime, we're going to take item number 13 and 17. Okay, that we're going to return to page number five of the agenda with item number 13. And this is discussion and action to authorize the city manager to submit a letter to the Texas District 3 manager of the United States Post Postal Service in support of building additional facilities in Far East El Paso to support the amount of population increase in District 5. This is Representative Nino's item. Represent Nino. Thank you, Mayor. I'm here today to ask for this council support on this item which seeks authorization for the city manager to submit a letter to the Texas District 3 manager of the United States Postal Office advocating for the establishments of additional post office facilities in Far Paso to support the population increase in district 5. Many constituents and this conversation background has been going on for a few years. Um, in my previous capacity, now in my current capacity, many constituents have contract contacted my office of ongoing challenges with postal services in district 5. Currently, all the residents in district 5 are assigned to the Sandy Creek post office on George Theater. Um, and our region has rapidly grown. This facility has become increasingly overwhelmed. Um, you know, in my district, we have the majority of cluster boxes. And one thing that we discovered is that many uh communities including Horizon and Sakoro are also assigned to the same post office, the Sandy Creek post office. So my district is having to travel about 15 to 20 minutes from district 5 to the George location and then being stuck in those long hours uh in line for about an hour, an hour and a half has been an ongoing issue. I did recently um meet with Representative uh Congresswoman Escobat's office to you know have this conversation and she also addressed some of the concerns that she's having and since August 2024 2024 her office has received approximately about 120 USPS related casework inquiries from far east El Paso residents highlighting their seriousness of this problem. Um I want to re reiterate that there we're not asking for funding. We're just it's just a formal request to the USPS district 3 manager uh you know urging them to take action and investment in new postal facility to better serve our community and the communities that also are within um you know the county jurisdiction. It's part of a larger collaborative effort. You know we will continue working with congressional partners, community leaders to push for this uh you know postal infrastructure that our residents uh deserve. And I know that I have uh you know I've talked to the city attorney and the city manager that you know residents are constantly contacting my office of this important request. Um so I make a motion to approve this item and hopefully I could have your support. I not stood that Mr. Bryan. I'll let you sort out the second. I heard Representative Dao among others all of us on that motion. Call for the vote. Thank you sir. On that motion to approve item number 13, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. All right, Miss Prank, can we take item number 17? Yes, sir. Item number 17 is an update on the February 3rd, 2025 city council motion directing the city manager to conduct an analysis of local, state, and federal funding sources that could help fund the design and construction of the deck plaza and to request a formally adopted position statement from the tax increment reinvestment zone number five board about potential boundary expansion in the use of tiers number five funds for deck plaza design and/or construction activities and to include said position statements from the tiers number five in any work product or recommendation resulting from this item and this item was placed on the agenda by economic and international development by me. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Karina Brazala with economic and international development. Um I will be going through the slides providing kind of a highle summary talking about the funding strategy and the analysis that we've conducted. But this was a team effort and so I think there will be uh a lot of questions um and a lot of discussion on this and so we'll be bringing other staff up here as we kind of get into different items. So first this is a follow-up from the February 3rd council motion. So this was what the action was. So directing the city manager to conduct an analysis of various funding sources that could help fund both design and construction of the duck plaza project. And then uh as Miss Prime read out, look at the position statement from the TUR 5 board. Um they took that action uh last week on April 9th and then include that position statement. And so we'll go through those when we were approaching the analysis. Here is the action plan and this is also what was presented to you all in February. So make sure that we are identifying funding for design in the short term. Um coming back with those allocations in the future, but make sure that we're focusing on design because that is the shortest timeline. collaborate with regional partners on funding strategies and supporting grant writing other funding. Uh and then explore formal partnerships and look for commitments from you know these entities but not limited to. And so a lot of what we did was having various meetings with different uh interested partner entities and trying to really nail down what the commitments are, what our options are across a number of these avenues. So here's just a brief overview. I mean, there are probably dozens of more meetings in these, but some key ones that we're calling out. So, uh, we talked about it a little bit earlier in today's meeting. Uh, meetings with elected officials and various state agencies during El Paso days in Austin. A similar situation in the on the federal side. Um, tax increment reinvestment zone number five. The board both held a special meeting to discuss this and then uh actually formally took action at their April 9th meeting. We've discussed this with the county, the North American Development Bank, CRMA. Um and then multiple meetings with um the Deck Plaza Foundation, the Pasad North Community Foundation and Texot. And there was an article out and you'll see it later in these slides, but the Deck Plaza Foundation has announced a funding commitment of $25 million. And so that is philanthropy funding that they are uh planning to chip in. And then text uh absolutely critical to this conversation. So reading the TUR 5 action in its entirety to take care of those two uh last parts of that motion from February. So the adopted position statement and that was approved uh on a 4-3 vote. So, the board recognizes the importance of the downtown deck plaza project and its future positive impact uh to the tourists 5 area and to the uptown downtown community and the board would consider the expansion of the zone and funding allocations for the project in the future as long as there's no negative impact on the zone or other priorities. Omar Martinez has done an excellent job talking to you all over the past couple months about the change in the federal funding landscape and what that looks like as we've adopted both our state and federal agendas, international policy agenda which you all did yesterday. Um and I think primarily the DAC Plaza we have gone after reconnecting communities pilot or RCP twice. Last time we applied it was highly recommended. So six out of six evaluation criteria essentially a perfect application. um what this comes down to and then there's some numbers here about the process. Um you're looking at projects that are recommended things that are elevated by the staff within the Federal Highway Administration. And then 87 out of 106 were selected for funding. We were not included in that despite making it kind of far up the rankings. And what that comes down to frankly is the lobbying and the politics. It's very different now. You need to have champions. You need to have connections. And so having that federal policy agenda adopted, having uh soon you all will see uh we're going to release a um an RFP for federal lobbyist contract. And those things are so critical with what we're looking at in terms of funding, making sure that we're able to really represent our priorities and essentially play the game that everyone else is playing. And so we could go after RCP. It was highly ranked, but as of now, uh we did not get that award. And then a full design approach. So, as we're talking through these next slides, I think it's very important that the city consider this a single project. So, there's different um numbers floating around about what it looks like with and without amenities and what it looks like for the construction. We are considering this project on the whole. Um for the economic impact that this could have, it does not happen without the amenitization. especially when you're looking at it from the city perspective. It while it would be nice to have that connectivity, um a flat deck structure without all of those uh activity centers on top is just not going to have the same impact. And it's also going to be the most challenging to fund on its own. Um so it needs to be something that's considered from the beginning going after full design, going after full construction, and when we're considering those costs, making sure that at all times both of those are paired together. Um, and then of course as you're planning the amenities, the layout of buildings, it's important to have that design in place because when you're looking at the actual structural impacts, making sure that you know where drainage, uh, your electrical and other utilities and your structural are located, the last thing we'd want to do is build this and then have to come back and, you know, make adjustments because it's not where we thought or that we were planning on a building or some type of amenity and then we weren't able to put it there because of what the structural looked like. And so there's going to be some uh assumptions in that, but we would want to avoid any redesigns uh any reworking of that infrastructure. So really limiting your overall cost by including it as early on as possible. And then possible funding scenarios. So framing this as we are really looking at the Clyde Warren Park model. And I know there's a lot of discussion about inflation numbers and this was done so long ago and the federal side looks very different now and so we would absolutely go after state and federal opportunities that are available but really looking at as we've discussed many times publicly a 50% public 50% private funding structure. Um and so just a reminder that the anticipated project cost for our deck plaza would be uh 28 million. So just about double and that is the structural cost for the structure and amenities that does not include any of the public private partnership buildings. And so you can see the breakdown here but about 49% from philanthropy in the Dallas model. And then we'll be touching this on each phase. And so design is sort of the most time constrained at this point because we would need to have designed funding committed uh going into text dot selection of alternatives and starting that work. Construction would need to have funds uh available and unencumbered and dedicated to the project by 2027 when the project's estimated to go to let and then facility de uh development can happen kind of throughout both the construction phase and going into the future. Right? we have a lot of opportunities to add on those buildings, do those partnerships as we move through this. And then again, can never forget maintenance and operations. Um 5 million a year forever. Uh and then it would escalate over time. I will note that in this construction estimate, um we have we are still waiting on confirmation from text in writing that they will cover the full cost of support elements for the construction of the cap. Um and so that could be an additional 32 million in cost. I think as of today they've indicated that that is included in their plans, but we do not have that in writing. And so that is uh you know pending their final design and scope could uh increase but we will go with these estimates for the purposes of this presentation. So phase one, the design is an estimated $20 million. Uh the city council and commissioner's court previously partnered for the that reconnecting communities grant application. We are assuming that the participation would be similar for this. Um so there is a $10 million state writer in uh sponsored by Senator Blanco uh pending that approval in the final budget. So that could be the full amount, it could be a partial amount. We'd look to take what we can there. We are um looking at the city and then assuming the county will match us with about a million dollars each just like we did when we talked about reconnecting communities. City staff would recommend TUR 5 as the most uh appropriate funding source for that $1 million in this bucket. And then uh 5 to 8 million from private philanthropy and then I've got tacked on on the end there. Um there is a federal grant through build that may be available. And so if we could get federal grant funding that could come in and supplement um any one of these parcels. So we are going after that there. And build is due in fall of this year. And so we would want to have this uh we'd want to have one alternative ready when the text uh design decision comes in, but the possibility of either swapping out or supplementing with federal funds if that was awarded. Phase two. So talking about construction, I think this is the big number. Um we don't want to talk about while it's very valuable to have design and we talk about this a lot with our capital projects, right? There's a value in having a design even if it sits on the shelf. It helps you understand what you're going to need to construct, what your final estimates are. So again, this is 188 million um based on the deck plaza feasibility study. Um costs only go up. We acknowledge that. We acknowledge that building material costs could go up and this could be different. really the full amount will be determined after design but we are using again this estimate um it's pretty safe and so looking at the 50/50 public private option and so the first one which is the state it's the transportation and alternative set aside allocation we were given invitation to apply um we would go after the maximum amount you can request which is $25 million so if awarded that's a potential as I said the deck plaza foundation has committed $25 million of funra raising. Um and then just for visualization, we've put the county at at similar, but county commissioner's court um has not taken action on uh funding analysis and other things. So that is still uh pending from them, but the city is comfortable with a and this would be proportionate to your final costs, but a commitment of $35 million. And that is what we think is reasonable within the structures but also reasonable in terms of not having a huge impact on our funding capacity on cutting services as we've been talking about a lot lately about really impacting our uh bond capacity or our debt service. And so again, Robert Cortinez can answer detailed questions as can the rest of us, but $35 million of the 108 million 88 million is we think proportionate, fair, but also feasible. And so these are the proposed funding sources. There are a number of other potential funding sources. These are kind of the top recommended. So proceeds from the sale of capital assets. Um so that is our uh capital assets fund. We would look at that. Um there is a little bit of uh still a pending question on how much we would have available uh the FOAC, the financial oversight advisory committee just reviewed an item related to state infrastructure bill loans, the SB loans. Um and so those are typically that payment is also backed by the capital assets fund that should be coming forward to council in the coming weeks. And so depending on what our you know obligations are approved uh in the coming meetings that would affect the fund available fund balance there. And then we would propose the Texas economic development fund um primarily focusing on the amenities component again because it's less competitive for things like state and federal funding, but also because this is a fund that's meant to fund uh you know tourism is one of the allowable uses. And so really looking at what part of this uh has the biggest impact in terms of economic development, it would be those amenities um in that sort of portion. And so we've got a combination there. And then because it's come up, we do have to put on your radar. uh largely projects like this are funded by general obligation bonds. So they are voter approved debt um at a scale you know just the scale of the project the way this gets financed in other communities is a geo and then phase three facility development. So the 208 is for the construction the 204 is for the uh public private devel uh partnerships. So that gets you to that 412 number that's been tossed around. Um this is again you don't have to have this ready in 2030. there's a lot of opportunity to have private partnerships outside of kind of the philanthropy investment that we might expect in the construction and design sections. And these are really things that um can also be done, you know, in combination in partnership with other entities, things like the school district or EPCC uh that might um have ability to participate. And so there's a lot more options here and it doesn't have to happen in 2030. there's time to uh craft these agreements and deliver the facilities. And then general operations and programming um looking at over time projected out at $7 million a year. And so the feasibility study and staff would concur with this does recommend funding the uh operations and maintenance via a new tax increment reinvestment zone. This could also be done as an expansion of the current TUR 5 or a subd district within TERS 5 to really make sure we're capturing the revenue from the properties that would receive the greatest benefit from the deck plaza. Um or the option to add a public improvement district which would assess additional fees uh within a capture area and multiple taxing entities can participate in a tax increment reinvestment zone. So there would be the potential for the county to join that zone or sub zone um and collect that way. But either way, they and this is the commitment um that we've had. So $750,000 from each of your local entities and then $5.5 million from the private sector. Um and that would also be expected because as those facilities and amenities come on, those have the ability to be monetized. They are typically run by a foundation and then the revenue generated helps pay back for that operations. Some forthcoming timelines on this. So the the writer for the design commitment that $10 million we spoke about um state budget expected to be finalized in May and so if we have an update on whether that's included in the state budget how much um we would come back with that update and then reconnecting communities application coming back in summer 2025 and then like I said uh the alternative set aside or tossa program notice to apply but we would expect a final uh decision in the summer. So, a lot of summers in here. So, June, July, August. Um and then from the text perspective, the I10 widening project environmental impact study returns also in the summer. And that is the last item needed for Tex to make a record of decision, which is the selection of the design alternative. Um, this would be we'd recommend having design money in place earlier, but this would be kind of the last point at which you could incorporate uh design funding to make sure that it aligns with that tech stock project and that we have those processes running together. And then from there, it's about a 10-month design process. Um, just so everybody's aware for the text portion, but then we would be incorporating the deck plaza into that as well. Build comes out in fall of this year. And then the estimated construction letting date is spring 2027. Um that is when the construction funds would be due and I know it's a portion up front and later but again those funds need to be available unencumbered and dedicated to the project. So the most critical deadline is really that design funding allocation. Um but we want to talk about it as part of the bigger construction project because we want this to be su successful all the way through. And so here's the staff requested action. Um, I'm going to take the bottom bullet first because I'd recommend doing this regardless of what discussion we have around commitments or funding allocations. Um, but making sure that we have direction for the city manager to pursue all state and federal funding opportunities that could support construction amenity costs. And so this allows us to apply for grants, support other grants, but also go after other things like writers, um, community project funding. I'm sure Omar can go into detail about the options that are there, but just really holistically make sure that we are able to support our partners, but also go after non-local sources of funding ourselves. And then we will return uh with commitments to cover the cost of design for both the full construction and amenities and with information on potential project sponsorship. um sponsoring the deck plaza project will likely be tied to some sort of application in the future, but we'd like to bring forward information on what the city's role could be, what that would look like, what kind of commitments come along with that, and have that discussion as well. I don't have a timeline on this because frankly, we'll come back when we have something to report. We'd anticipate that to be pretty reg on a pretty regular cadence. Um but some of this is waiting for Tasa to come in, waiting for some of these um decisions to come in, if we get written commitment from text. So, at any point that there's kind of a milestone, we do that. Um, but some of it's just depending on when we hear back on some of these items to be able to return. And that's and then just a reminder what we're all talking about. Mayor and council, we did just post this for update although we had those action items to bring back for you. We'll do that in the future. So, it's just the update. It's just got it. Okay. Representative Canelis. Thank you, Mayor. Um yeah, first of all, thank you for uh taking the question to the TUR 5 board. Um that I had a hang up last time uh we we discussed the potential design and the design funding when it was a match for the the unfortunately unsuccessful reconnecting communities application the first time around. um because we didn't have a position statement from the TUR 5 board saying that they would be okay with our use of the funds for that purpose. So, I'm glad they have now weighed in um and and said that they think that's an acceptable use of the funds. Um it makes me feel a lot better about potentially using that for a future $1 million commitment to uh to design from the city. I think uh that that opens that up now for me as a as a funding source that we can use a lot more confidently um now that the the the board has weighed in. Um again, these aren't posted for action, so we're not giving you any direction today. Um I appreciate seeing this kind of breakdown. Um have you gotten any other indication from the county about their potential uh funding interest? They're listed as TBD. I know they don't they don't uh count towards the 188 million that you have right there currently folded into that 100 mill $103 million funding gap. I did have a conversation with Miss Keller and she indicated that this was a topic that was discussed in their most recent strategic planning sessions and they would uh would very much like the opportunity to meet with council and have a joint discussion about our support for the project. Um, but they absolutely felt that it would be they would be comfortable with me saying that they would participate in some way moving forward. And Miss Mack, for the record, Miss Keller is so Betsy. Yeah, Betsy Keller is the county administrator. Perfect. Thank you, Miss Mac. Um, and then, uh, I think it's just important to correct the record because I heard some folks saying that I'm somehow vehemently opposed to this project. Uh, I wrote an op-ed this week. If you haven't read it, go check it out in El Paso Matters. Uh, but it it uh outlines what I think is a valid concern about uh this capital stack that will be needed, the amount of money that will be needed uh to ultimately fund design and construction and then the additional amenities. Uh it's quite a lot of money. That doesn't mean that this is impossible. I think this would be a great amenity if we can uh make it happen. if we can make it work in a way that doesn't burden the taxpayers uh overly. But I of course uh a lot of things have to happen. There's a lot of moving pieces. Uh I think uh if you're an interested member of the public, you may think that this is moving slowly or you don't quite see the movement that's happening, but uh this is being considered at the state. There's a $10 million writer at the state as as uh Karina presented. uh things like that, they take time. Uh and and of course, a lot of this we're in uh wait and see mode on. So, we'll we'll have to see how these things shake out. And and as Karina just presented to us, there are a lot of summer deadlines for things. So, in the next few months, we'll learn a lot more about uh where the puzzle pieces fall uh in terms of what funding might come through and what might not uh and where we might be able to seek out state and federal funding that can help close some of the gap that we see on this project. So, thanks for the really detailed presentation uh and again, we'll have to see where things land. Thanks. Thank you, Mayor Represent Lemon. Thank you, Mayor Dion. I remember hearing the the county judge state that the county was would be willing to become the owners of the deck park. Is that still a possibility or is it just a partnership? So, I think that's why we have one of the items listed as we've been begun having the discussions about the money flowing in from the state. You know, you have to have a fiscal agent for those near typically the city or the county. And so we really need to understand as we're coming into seeing those dollars flow in who's going to take that role. And so that's something that we have listed in terms of ensuring that we're bringing that back in a formal way to understand what our role might be there because the schedule we just received from text dot regarding the next steps is referring to you know the deck plaza sponsor and they have certain roles and responsibility in terms of reviewing documents and other roles and so we want to make sure that we formally have a way of recognizing that role when we come back to you ma'am. Okay. If if if I were to ask this question, what is the total cost, projected cost, everything for this deck park? What is the amount? Would you say an estimate? I won't hold you to it. Too tight. I would be very comfortable with saying that we would have an estimate once we finish design. I really feel that in order for us to have this conversation and understand those numbers concretely, my team is advising that we would have a better sense of what the concrete numbers are when we are finished 30% of design. And so I think we're being very careful about these are the best estimates. We we hired the right folks to look at it. Um but this 207 is still a placeholder until those numbers are completed. And that was one of the reasons why I had the formulas in here in terms of percentages because if it goes up, you know, you do understand that we have an added responsibility, but if we're more successful at the federal and state level, then it also can reduce, you know, in some of those areas. By the same token, so design is just the pre-planning phase or is that actually determining what will be in the deck part? It's it's the actual design, ma'am. We the actual design. Yes, ma'am. Okay. So, I heard several different um uh amounts and I heard 5 to8 million coming in in philanthropy money. Do we have a list of that? So I'll clarify that. So that is just when we're talking about public versus private. So it's just private. Philanthropy could be one of the sources of private. Again, the only commitment we have is $25 million from the Duck Plaza Foundation. And so we're just keeping that balance of public and private or just funding gap um of that 5 to8 million on there. So, as Miss Mack just mentioned, if we had additional state or federal funds or the county increased their contribution, that would all go towards uh adjusting those numbers. And a foundation would would offer $25 million without knowing the full price of a project. Ye Yes, ma'am. They're here and can certainly speak to their commitments. And they made a public commitment to fund raise $25 million that I believe to raise 25 million. It's not that they have the 25 million to offer offered to raise 25 million. Would that be locally or nationally statewide? Ask them to Yeah. So, so, so can we give Do we want them to come up? Yes. I prefer to put a date out there that I think is important. Oh, it's tracing. The schedules that we've received are showing that we really need to have funding agreements and really understanding these sources of income by October of 2026. And so we do have time to make sure that we have all these things in writing and we continue to have those conversations with folks who are participating. Miss Yellen, maybe you can introduce yourself for the record and then answer that one question for us. Sure. Um, good afternoon mayor and council. Tracy Yellen, CEO of the Pasadori Community Foundation. Um, so yes, it's our commitment to work with local and uh out of town uh donors to raise the and contribute the $25 million to the project and then also to support the ongoing operation and maintenance um at at the levels that Karina was describing. And and Tracy, how long would it take you to raise that $25 million if you were to start now? I mean just yeah I I mean I think so the target is really with the with text dots uh letting of the project in 2027 I think we have um time to be able to raise money um and get the commitments um perhaps by that start date. Um and then what we envision is that the construction of the amenities on top of the deck actually don't start until you complete construction of the deck structure. So if you were to take that $27 million estimate, half of it is for the deck structure, the other half is for the amenities on top. And so you need the money for the deck structure certainly by the the 27 deadline. And that's, you know, from multiple sources. And then for everything above that, you know, if the if the deck structure is completed by 2030 or 2031, you'd then begin construction of all those amenities, the amphitheater, the fieldhouse, the light uh retail in that 6 and a half acres on the deck park itself. And you just indicated $27 million. What does that mean? What what is that for? So that's the estimate that was provided by Stantech um during the phasability study. That's 30% design uh of both the deck structure and the amenities on top on the 6 and 1/2 acres of the deck park which is over I 10. And I'm happy if we pull up the the image we can in just a minute where that is that'll be fine in just a minute. So I'm I'm I'm trying to now grasp. So you're saying $27 million is a projected cost in 2027. In 2027. So, and and that would No, go ahead. And if the if the Paso de Norte were to bring in then 25 million, that leaves us with how much difference? So, if we show this slide again. So, again, that $27 million is what we're going off of with the feasibility study. As Miss Mack indicated, that could look different once we're through design. So, that is including the design and construction. The construction portion of that is 188 million. So 207 minus 20. Um, and this is what that looks like. So it still leaves us with approximately $103 million gap. $103 million. Yes. Left. Yes. Who's going to pay for that? We would pursue. I mean, one, there's always the hope that fundraising goes better than expected, right? This is a minimum commitment. It could always go higher. Um, the state program has multiple you can reapply for it. There's also a number of state and federal sources we would go after that would kind of buy that down, so to speak. And let's suppose none of those come through. Then who pays for it? It's like I don't then the project doesn't move forward. Ma'am, I mean, we have specific timelines in terms of aligning to the construction. We know when these commitments need to be in place. Um, we are working hard to make sure that we understand what those funding sources are. We would absolutely move into um having a discussion regarding construction with those agreements in writing from various entities to understand when those dollars would flow. That is still our goal to ensure that we can do that. And final comment mayor. And so Tracy, I I wish you great great success in in being able to raise that money. And if if um if there is a way that the project can continue without putting it on the back of the taxpayers, because that's exactly what I'm hearing here, the possibility that we wouldn't have enough funding, then at that point, I would fully support it. But as long as it's lopsided and the citizens of this community are going to be the ones that will pay for this project, I would have to not support. But I wish you the very best of luck. I certainly would encourage it. Um we can find that much money in a short period of time that would be speak both well of our community. Um, but thank you, Miss Mack, for saying that if we don't have the money, we simply don't proceed with the project. Thank you very much, Representative Fiero. Thank you, Mayor. Well, thank you for this great presentation and and for a path on how this project can be funded. I mean, this is truly a gamecher for our community. It's a bridge um for north and south bridge. It's a It's an economic development opportunity for us. I I am disappointed though in the fact that you only challenged Senator uh Blanco with bringing $10 million from Austin. He has very broad shoulders. I mean, surely his wheelbarrow can bring 20. Um but but this is really gives us an opportunity for for us to see that u it's really an opportunity that can happen and that would really make a difference. Thank you, mayor. Thank you all. Representative Roachcha. Thank you, mayor. I appreciate it. Uh, so just a couple of questions. Karina, thank you for the presentation and thank you for for your staff for bringing it together. Um, you know, I know that there's definitely some some challenges, but I am optimistic because I am very excited about it. Um, but like Miss Miss Leone has or Rep Leone has mentioned, you know, I have a lot of concerns that it's on the backs of taxpayers and that would be um that would be impossible for us to um possibly move past, but I have a couple of questions for you. Um, the federal lobbyist contract that you mentioned that we're going to have to get. Hello, Omar. Thank you. Hello. Thank you. on the federal lobbyist. Um, is there a projection as to what that would cost? Because I'm assuming that's not included in any of of these costs, right? So, the possible contracting of a federal lobbyist is still something that city is considering. We have met with different prospects in DC. They all have varying prices and they have packages. It really depends on our needs. With council approving the federal legislative agenda on March 3rd, we now have a sense of what the kind of services that we need. Yeah. And so where the cost differentiator might differentiator might be is in the types of projects that we want to push forward. So if we want to push heavy on infrastructure or for bliss related projects, we need a certain kind of lobbyist and their price point is different. If we want to instead push some others um then we would have to just pick the right uh lobby lobbying firm for us. But at the end of the day, uh, the city will issue out a request for proposals and we'll bring this to council for your your consideration. So, one more question on that. I just want to add to that. We had looked early on looking at this potential project and it was coming in at about $200,000 for some of our original scoping. And so, one of the things that we started looking at closely was, as Omar said, who would benefit? And so we would do a cost share across airport, bridges, all the entities that um have a bucket of funds to actually be able to support this. So it wouldn't all be coming directly out of the general fund, but it would be tied to the projects and the desired outcomes that we had. So it really would be even across several departments. Thank you for the clarification, m Miss Mack. I appreciate it. So then just a secondary follow-up question, Omar. Um because the federal agenda's been approved, you go out, you get yourself a lobbyist. Will that lobbyist be able to make impact on this deck park? The immediate answer is is probably yes. Yes. Okay. And if you recall the slide that was presented on reconnecting communities. Yes, I do vaguely remember that. So if we're able to pull it up, I can I will be glad to elaborate. Oh, on this one. Yes. I thought you better. Well, actually, this situation has happened to the city of El Paso on multiple grants where staff writes a very effective technical document, but at the end of the day, it is not selected by the Federal Highway Administration. These are generally appointed officials, in this case, the Biden administration. There's always more funding requests than there are funding available. In reconnecting communities, what happened is again we scored six out of six. 403 applications were submitted in total requesting more than $3 billion. Out of those 403, 67 was were selected on a technical level by federal highway administration staff. So these are the highly recommended. It's a it's a pool of 67 from that, not including the highly recommended, 19 of those were pulled up, okay, by federal highway administration. Um they're they're essentially their appointed leadership. Okay, these are applications that were not always the most competitive. Maybe they they didn't score favorably, but that were such a priority for the Biden administration that they decided to pull them up. Out of those, the total combined pool of applications that made it to the final round was 106. Okay. And at the end of the day, based on the number of funding that was provided that was available, the Federal Highway Administration leadership selected 87 out of those 106, not including the deck park. The differentiator is that sometimes when you have a strong advocacy uh capacity, uh a strong lobbying effort, you're able to either get your applications pulled up even if they weren't technically scored as high as possible or they make it to the finish line. This I brought this up in in multiple of our applications before where I provide a timeline, right? And I describe that here's the application and then there's this advocacy period that I mentioned multiple times. That is essentially this function where we work with our members of Congress, our US senators to give those applications a competitive edge. Okay. One of the reasons we were so successful last year is because we started implementing this. Right. Thank you so much for the explanation. I appreciate it. Thank you, Karina. Representative Chavez. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Karina, for the presentation. I want to speak a little bit about the deck park just because, you know, um I've been, you know, reading about it, learning about it for months now, and it was um a topic that we spoke a lot about on the campaign trail. And and I understand that a lot of people are worried about the tax implications, especially for taxpayers. And and the way I've I've I've talked about it in in community meetings and in many other places recently is you know this is a once in a generation opportunity and you know it takes a big vision to lay something like this out and we are asking people to engage in that vision right I think we've been very thoughtful honestly and again I want to just reiterate that we've been talking about this for months and months now But we we've been very thoughtful at doing it at a very steady pace, step by step, without overreaching and without um jumping to assumptions. And what I would like to tell the public today is is to continue engaging in this vision to give us a chance to give Omar a chance to see what he can accomplish. He seems to be very motivated to me and and I and I trust that we can find the funding. We have to we have to believe it and you know maybe I'm being extremely optimistic and I think that's a good thing and I'm not trying to to say that um that we we shouldn't consider definitely you know other other factors in this. we should um and I want to thank uh Tracy and and others at the foundation for for helping us also in this step-by-step process and and for working with the city, you know, to get to where we are today. And of course, Dion for for your hard work and of course Karina for all of this. So again, it's a big vision. It's a once in a generation opportunity. Let's see if we can get there. And also lastly, I would like to say that in comparison, you know, the Clyde Park in Dallas is a number one tourist attraction for them. So, I think it would be just a great opportunity for our city if we could get there. Um, we've we've uh regularly mentioned about the size of El Paso, but all of the surrounding areas that could also benefit from this from this park is very important to mention. and and I I would hope that many people would come to this tourist attraction in our city. Thank you. Thank you. And I will tell you guys that I am more optimistic today than I was 6 months ago. And it is incredible to I'm looking at slide 11 where it shows the possible funding scenarios and certainly don't disagree with Representative Lemon and Representative Chavez and everyone here on the dis that we cannot put this on the back 100% of the taxpayers. But when you look at what we're trying to accomplish here by bridging communities and and getting rid of a trench that runs through the middle of our city and bringing Sigun no uh to uptown or Midtown, I think that's an incredible once in a generational opportunity as Representative Chavez mentioned. But looking at the numbers, you know, I I heard a few things come out that that I think is worth remissioning. uh the city's portion of 35 million without cutting services and no impact on our bond uh uh rating is is is significant. What this chart is not showing you is there's a TBD for the county. We truly don't know what that number is. And I will also tell you that, you know, knowing the the Paso Don Nordi Foundation, uh I you know, this I'm going to use a golf term. You know, I think Tracy sandbagging. I think she's going to overperform on what she's what she's going to raise and and and I have full confidence in her doing that. So, when you add a a a dollar amount in the TBD, it changes the number because it's currently sitting at 85 million if if I got my math right. So, whatever number you plug in there helps us move closer and detracts from the the the the delta that this is a work in progress. This is something that we asked our city manager to do and Dion, thank you and your staff for bringing something back that is more, you know, we we can kind of see a direction in where we're going and and kind of formulate what the costs are, but I think the missing funding gap is, you know, we talked about the federal sector. We have no idea what the federal sector is going to do, but there's significant opportunity here for for our community and for our region. And we we've got to continue the discussion. We've got to continue the work in progress to see what we can do cuz why not El Paso? Why not us? We we deserve this and more. And again, we've all said it that we don't want this to fall on the backs of the taxpayers. So, I applaud you guys. continue to uh to to go out and and achieve and and you know uh Representative Fedto says that our our state delegation can deliver a wheelbarrow of money. I would love to love to see that that happen, Senator Blanco, but I I I think the pieces are are falling in and I you know uh Miss Mack, I I I look forward to the conversation that you will continue to have with the county. We don't know what that that number that they will plug in would look like, but you know, we want to be transparent. We want to make sure that if we say it's a certain number, that it is that number. Uh, but time is of the essence, but thank you guys for the great work. This was one of the best breakdown scenarios that I've seen since since I we've been here on council. But, uh, I do feel more optimistic today than than I have in a long time. But, thank you, Karina, and thank everyone for the update. All right, Miss Bryan, can you get us back on order? Mayor, we do have public comment on this item. Let's do it. We have Bruno Vasquez, followed by Patricia Osman, Lisa Turner, Matthew Guzman. Okay. Good afternoon, Mr. Vasquez. You have three minutes. Good afternoon, uh, Mayor, City Council, and fellow El Paso. My name is Bruno Vasquez and I am a local architect speaking today on behalf of the El Paso chapter of the American Institute of Architects. We are the professionals shaping the built environment by transforming bold ideas into parks, schools, and buildings that serve people every day. Today, I'm joined by my colleagues uh to speak in support of advancing the downtown deck plaza project as the necessary next step in planning for a better future for our beloved city. This proposal isn't about one neighborhood. It's about benefiting every El Pasoan. It's about giving ourselves the kind of infrastructure that supports economic development and makes our city a more vibrant place to live for everyone. We know progress is difficult, expensive, and timeconsuming. It always has been. But public and private investment in transformative civic space isn't a vanity project. It is a foundation. If we invest in the quality of our built environment, we don't just improve how our city looks. We grow our revenue. We attract new residents, and we support the kinds of businesses and industries that drive long-term prosperity. A project like the Deck Plaza can position El Paso to compete for jobs in the sectors we want to grow, healthcare, aerospace, tech, and not just downtown, but citywide. We've seen the transformative power of design at work. The Deck Plaza in Dallas succeeded due to civic engagement, private investment, and the patience to do it right. Text will make I 10 wider. There's no doubt about it. And time is running out. So, let's not confuse caution with inaction. I want to leave everybody with a challenge to the private sector. If you believe in the future of this city as I do as a professional, a resident, and a taxpayer, then now is the time to help transform it. Let's step up to the challenge. And to you, city uh leaders, advancing this effort today does not break ground, but it does break the idea that nothing happens in El Paso. Continue to rebuild public trust. We've all seen what happens when progress is hijacked by outrage and halftruths. Let's not see the same detractors derail v and distort vision once again. And to the public, let's be let's get behind this project wholeheartedly. Strong civic support provides the certainty and momentum developers need to invest. That's how bold ideas become real places. AIA El Paso stands ready to assist. Local architects know how to plan responsibly, build efficiently, and serve the public good. We offer not just our endorsement but our technical resources to help guide this process thoughtfully, transparently and align with the best interest of our city. Thank you. The next speaker is Patricia Osman, followed by Lisa Turner. I believe she left and Matthew Guzman. So that endorsement is because they have something to profit from it. I'm going to try to get through my bullet points as quick as possible because um Karina always comes in here with some beautiful talking points of pedilical theater powerpoints, but they're always missing details. Okay? And in this case, what is being created isn't just this beautiful deck plaza. It's creating a traffic tunnel. And yet there is no study in any of the documentation ever presented about what is going to happen. How many El Pasoans are going to die in a fiery car crash in a tunnel and how our first responders aren't going to be able to get to them. You know, it's it's not hyperbole because when Elon Musk decided to put out on a tweet, "Hey, my auto driving works. try it out. Somebody did in San Francisco and that was what between a 9 and 13 car pileup where many died in a fiery tunnel tomb. But anyway, and as far as the funding, our city council, not you guys completely, decided to uh pull away, the zoological society from the zoo and hand it over to El Paso del Norte. And I think I just recently heard that our zoo lost accreditation. So that's good going there. Some people to trust. Now the thing is economic development full design approach. Nobody's considering the people that are going to die in that tunnel are they? How about full designed approach? Y'all just handed over a non-compete clause for 4,000. But Miss Del Norte just talked about an amphitheater. So we know it can't be more than 4,000 occupied in this amphitheater. But who's it going to benefit? Well, let's see. The Hunts, the Fosters, the Francises, everybody who's going to get a little piece of that pie. But who's going to get double charged? Let's see. The citizens of El Paso on the county and the city level. No, we are not Dallas. We don't have Dallas. Why not El Paso? Because we are not Dallas. We don't have Dallas oil money. We might have one Elon Musk wannabe billionaire in Paul Foster, but thanks for shutting that off. But this is the thing. We are not that Fiero is over there talking about, oh, we don't have the money and about the pensions, but yet let's throw out because that's what this is leading to. We didn't want the MPC, but oh, pretty soon we're gonna We are the most over bonded city in the state of Texas. Well over Dallas. Thank you, Miss Osman. Thank you. The next speaker is Matthew Guzman. Matthew Guzman, star six, please to unmute your telephone. Good afternoon. You have three minutes. Uh, this one's been a marathon, so I'll be brief. Um, I just want to share uh a personal anecdote for you all to consider as you guys weigh decisions and cast your votes on the Deck Park project going forward. Uh, and give you some insight as to why myself and others are so passionate about this project. My wife and I moved from Chicago to El Paso in 2015. And when we did so, we had a two-year plan to get out of debt and then get out of dodge. And the plan was always to return to Chicago where our family and support systems are. But eight years later in uh 2023, we decided El Paso is home. We bought our forever house. Uh we put down our roots and decided to raise our children here. And over the years, we welcomed many visitors to the city. And back in 2017, uh we had some cousins, a young couple in their late 20s come and visit us. And back in 2017, it didn't take long to exhaust our list of things to do around town. So we took them hiking in the Franklins out to WCO Tanks, Old Messia, basically all around but not really in El Paso. And I think they left that visit with a very hoham opinion of where we've decided to live. Uh but fast forward to this year and that same couple came back to visit us. Uh and this time with a three-year-old and one-year-old daughter. Uh we spent two days just exploring downtown. We took him to the free restaurants, uh, I'm sorry, the free museums in the art district, to Lanube. We rode the trolley, ate at all the restaurants. Um, this time we never even left the city of El Paso. And at a certain point in the visit, our cousin's husband turned to me and said, "Matt, I got to tell you, I I haven't taken a single step in this city that I haven't enjoyed. I totally get why you guys live here." And that was a very validating moment for my wife and I and I hope it is for you as well because the investments we've been making in our city are working. That change in sentiment uh that I witnessed came at a very measurable cost. We've invested millions, hundreds of millions in our city and have made it a more inviting place for young people and families. And the Deck Park can and should be a continuation of that effort. It's imperative that we stop losing our young people and young families to other cities. They are the future in every sense of the word and they'll either be a future of our city or someone else's. We've done so much to improve the quality of life in El Paso and I think if we take our foot off the gas now, it's going to end up being another halfbaked effort that we've seen time and time again where things are almost done. They're almost full. They're almost perfect. Let's change that narrative and do what it takes to finish the job. Let's be bold with our investments because that's what it takes to compete in this state and not just the state, but in this world. So, I urge you to look at these projects like the deck park as investments in our future and not just an expense line item. Thanks for your time. Thank you, mayor. That concludes public comment on this item. Okay. Let's move to the first readings number 20. Yes, sir. The first reading of ordinances are items 20 to 25. Okay. Mayor, I make a motion to approve the introduction of first reading ordinances agenda. We have a motion and a second. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Leon, seconded by alternate mayor BM Pierro to approve the first reading of ordinances items 20 to 25. On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representative Chavez not present. We now move to item number 26. And item 26 is discussion action on the request that the director of purchasing and strategic sourcing be authorized to issue purchase orders to increase contract 2020-487R Financial and Planning Services to Garver LLC and Reondo and Associates, Inc. The change order will increase reference contracts by 625,000 and will increase the capacity of the contract to cover services through its expiration on September 16th 2025. All right, we have a motion in the second. Uh, represent Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Just briefly, um, the existing contracts expire on September 16th. Uh, are we already engaged in procurement for the replacements? Good afternoon. uh department we are in the process already. Wonderful. Thank you. That's all. Mayor represent. Um thank you mayor. I just wanted to ask about this change order. Is this the second one that was found at the airport or is this another change order? It's another change order. Okay. No, this is going to be the first change area for this contract. Okay. And the work hasn't started on it. It's for planning services. But I I understand that, but still like has maybe they already had stuff done in the last few months. This is brand new. You haven't started any work. Okay. Thank you. All right. We have a motion in a second. Any further discussion on this item? Miss Bryant. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by alternate mayor pro Tim to approve item 26. On that motion, call for the vote. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Proim Chavez not present. Take 27. Item 27 is discussion and action on the award of solicitation 2025-0183. The deesta trail Improvements to LDCM Solutions LLC for an estimated amount of $893,623. The project is for construction of a new trail that will connect existing trails at Rainbow Vista Park and Holly Springs Linear Park. Motion to approve. Second. We have a motion from Represent Nino, a second by Represent Lemon. Any any discussion on this item? All right, Miss Bryant. Call for the vote. Yes, sir. There's a motion in a second. Call for the vote. I alternate mayor prom. I thank you. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Mayor Pro Tim Chavez not present. Can we take 28? Yes sir. Item number 28 is discussion and action that the director of purchasing and strategic sourcing be authorized to issue purchase orders for solicitation 2025-0276 autocar proprietary parts and service to teal paso LLC DBA jeans mega store the sold and authorized distributor the contract will allow the purchase of auto car proprietary parts and service this is an sold and authorized distributor they are required to provide of updated soul source letter an affidavit every year local move to approve second okay we have a motion and a second is there any discussion on this item hearing none miss prime yes sir the motion was made by representative Lemon seconded by alternate mayor prompo to approve item number 28 on that motion sorry about That on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. I believe that takes us to item 33. Miss Prime. Yes, sir. Mayor Pro Tim not present. Item number 33 is a public hearing of an ordinance granting the zoning from R3 residential to C1C commercial conditions and imposing conditions at 523 Giles Road. Move to approve. Second. We have a but I don't think there's a Okay, we have a motion and a second. You want to give your second up? Yeah, please. Thank you. Yes. Okay. We have a motion from Representative Lewon to second it by representative Brocha. Representative one clarification. Okay. Represent Brocha. Thank you. I know we've talked a lot about this. I'm finally so happy to see this. I met with the owner of the property. It's going to be something that I think the neighborhood is going to um appreciate and not only them but also the neighbors that are surrounding. I just want to confirm that it does have that 51% piece on the contract or that will follow the the property going forward. That is correct. Plan inspection. Yes, ma'am. As in all cases, those conditions do run with the land. Yeah. Just wanted to confirm it on the record. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. All right. So, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion on this item? Representative Canales. Just the quickest question, mostly out of curiosity. It indicates an indoor sports facility. Do we have a deeper understanding of what kind of sports facility that'll be for the applicant? Volleyball. Indoor volleyball. Wonderful. Well, can and can I can I speak again about that? Yeah, please. So, when I met with the owner, he does have it's four courts. It will be indoor basketball, be able to convert to indoor volleyball and pickle ball as well. So, all indoor in that in that facility. Yeah, there's huge demand for that kind of facility. So, excellent news. Congratulations. Thank you. All right. So, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion hearing? None. Seeing none, Miss Prime. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representative Maldonado Rocha to approve or adopt the ordinance on item 33. There's no public comment on that motion. Call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Mayor Prom Chavez not present. Can we take 34? Yes, sir. Item 34 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning from RF Ranch and Farm to R5 residential and imposing a condition. This is north of Stan Roberts Senior Avenue, east of US 54 Patriot Freeway. Second, there's a motion and a second. Okay. Thank you, Mayor Represent Tr. We do have the the builder here and I just want to recognize him. They're here. He's been here all day. Oh, but I I did want to say thank you. Uh you know, I'm looking forward to the development that's going to happen there in Northeast and what you have planned there with our dog parks and also a race garden. So, thank you and thank you for your patience and staying here with us all day. Thank you so much. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion on this item? Hearing none. Seeing none, Miss Bryan. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Borardjo, seconded by Representative Lemon to adopt the ordinance in item 34. There's no public comment. Call for the vote. and the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Mayor Prom Chavez not present. Can we take 35? Yes, sir. Item 35 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the city manager or designate to affectuate the purchase and closing of real property commonly known as 320 West San Antonio and a portion of Old Sonora Street now closed for the purchase price of $2,450,000. Move to approve. Second. We have a motion in a second. And I know we have public comment on this one. Miss Bryant. Yes, sir. We do have Miss Osmond and Miss Turner has left. So, Miss Osmond, I want to give her an extra 15 seconds. I want to see about the San Jose Sharks. You know, I wore the jersey because I knew I'd be in the Shark Tank today. I I saw the agenda. So, uh, the next two they're, you know, these two are about purchasing properties right next to the civic center, which gives me a red flag because it tells me, uh, y'all are still having plans to do everything at the civic center. Chances are, I don't know, you know, that's going to build into the other because it doesn't really say why you're buying these properties, but somebody who was dealing with the whole MPC thing and realized y'all are in the process of trying to sell the other properties right adjacent. Um, makes me wonder why you're buying these two, although they're right next to the civic center and all I can think of as a citizen and taxpayer. Um, is we're going to be hit up for a bond, another bond besides this, you know, the one for the deck park. um because it seems as though that's going to be some sort of why would the city be buying property right next to a civic center if there's not some sort of plans to expand onto those properties with a civic center because I know everybody has been talking for a very long time about improvement there. So, I I would hope that somebody can explain why the city needs to buy these properties as versus just kind of leaving it like a crypted out there on uh the agenda and just have everybody speculate that it's because we're going to end up being hit with a bond. Although, I guess it's going to have to be a a much larger indoor arena. seen how again non-compete clause for 4,000 seats passed earlier which leaves only an indoor facility that the city can build. And we all know that who already has the baseball contract has been wanting improvements and expansion because apparently they were promised by the city with all of that that they would get it. So, please explain to the citizens why you're buying those two properties right next to the civic center. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I'm looking up the backup that's posted online. The title of the presentation says property purchase for cons convention center expansion. So, it's listed right in the backup. Uh, it shows the map of the convention center campus and the two adjacent properties. It's fairly transparent uh what what these properties are being uh being purchased for and and uh the um let me find this. Well regardless yeah the the entirety of the uh department head summary form with the with the summary of the purpose for these is posted along with the backup online and I invite anyone from the public to see it. I think it is showing it on the screens right now. Thank Thank you. Represent canales. We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion on this item? Miss Bryan, call for the vote. Yes, sir. There was a motion made by Representative Canal, seconded by Representative Lemon, and this is to approve item 35. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Mayor Prom Chavez not present. Can we take 36? Yes, sir. Item 36 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the city manager or designate to effectuate the p purchase and closing of real property commonly known as 301 West Overland for the purchase price of $2,340,000. Move to approve. Second. We have a motion and a second. I believe we have this public comment on this one. We have Miss Osmond that's saying okay. Thank you for that clarification. I just wanted to make sure the rest of the city and citizens understood because we should all understand that what this is leading to is a bond that's going to be placed on the taxpayers. Again, we didn't want the MPC. We killed that bond. As Mr. Fiero said, you know what? Our city is struggling. we can't necessarily afford in our budgets. And we're under the Trump administration, which means a lot of our grants are being cut. Our city holds hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds over every other city in Texas. We are one of the poorest cities in Texas. Yet, we have one of the highest debts, if not the highest, in the entire state. We don't have tax. We don't have Texas oil money here. We don't have siminal gas companies flooding money into here. 33% of our population has poor wages according to the coupon presentation we saw. But you all keep wanting to do business as usual because all of these contracts are going to flood our tax dollars to a very few. Your time up on council and on that day it's very limited. Your impact as representatives very limited in regards to your relevance. But the negative impact that your votes leave on this community and those that will be long here long after all of us are dead. It's decades. You vote our grandchildren's dead in. And yes, this civic center improvement. I'm smelling indoor venue because again, we've got a non-compete clause for $4,000 4,000 seats that was signed away earlier and voted in by this council. So I just want all the citizens to understand because not everybody not everybody pays attention to the numbers and can follow the bouncing ball on the agendas. Typically somebody's got to come up here and talk and god I hate the fact that sometimes it's me. Here I am. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Yes sir. The motion was made by representative Canales, seconded by alternate mayor bro Tempro to approve item 36. All right, represent Canales. Thank you, mayor. Yeah, just to clarify one more time, we're talking about two properties totaling less than 36,000 square feet. It's about half of a city block. Not even not nearly large enough for any kind of performance venue. So, that's not what the plan is here. This is not some attempt to sneak the NPC back or anything like that. Um, I mean, if anything, recall that I'm I'm the one who put forward the motion to uh place the the the dissolution of that project on the agenda. Don't understand why one would think that this was us trying to sneak anything by them. It's again plain to see in the presentation that I invite anyone to look at. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. Motion second. Any further discussion on this item hearing? None. Seeing none, Miss Bryan. Is there a call for the vote in the voting session? And that motion passes unanimously. Proteim Chavez not present. Can we take 38? Yes, sir. The final item is number 38 and this is discussion and action at the city of El Paso city council authorizes the submission of an application to the US Department of Defense compatible use and installation resilience grant program requesting funds in an amount of $360,000 from the grant program with a $50,000 match required from the city for a total of $410,000 for the Fort Bliss Shield Study Project. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there a presentation? Yes, ma'am. There is. You want You want to see the presentation? I don't. You want to give us a quick a quick quick summary if you guys don't mind. Okay. And introduce yourself for the record. Yeah. Paul Albbright. I'm the chief military officer for the city. Omar stormed me into the bus here quickly, but that's fine. I'm used to it. Um, so, uh, this is a, uh, this is a grant that we're going to, uh, to to, uh, ask for through the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation. This is a Department of Defense grant. Um, and that was created several several years ago to address economic adjustment uh, considerations throughout Brack, which is base realignment and closure. So, um, they have multiple programs worth billions of dollars available to assist communities outside of the wire of military installations. So, we are a defense community and we qualify for a lot of these grants. El Paso Water has been very successful uh just receiving $12.7 million for a for a uh a water project that they're doing through one of their programs. They've also received $2 million in the last two years for resilience review. Uh so so what we want to do is we are looking at doing a uh a land use survey which is right outside of Fort Bliss over by the airport and that land what we're talking about is putting in a lot of additional infrastructure. Naturally the department of defense is interested in what we put out there. So they are proposing and and giving us a forum that we can submit a grant to where they will do the engineering studies for us um with us being a very limited cost. and I'll let Omar talk about those specific numbers. So, briefly, the grant application request is $360,000. That's some that's the federal part and the city's portion is $50,000 from the impact fund. Okay. Representative U Trey. Thank you, Mayor. The land use survey infrastructure, is that for the uh tech, what is it, the uh DPS and headquarters? Uh no ma'am if it would just put the presentation there's a certain slide a map it's outside it's it's more than that it encompasses the entire area of the airport that's half where you see the pink and then the right side is land not owned by the city of El Paso some of it is owned privately some of it El Paso water holds some of it holds by the state and some of that land is currently um owned by the department of defense and we've heard that it might be declared surplus. So it could be that's a request that public comments. Okay, we have Miss Osman. Thank you for bringing up the DPS. You know what the reason I have a problem with this is because one well he mentioned Brack. Brack was one of the worst things to happen to El Paso. Um, in that presentation it shows everything with Iron Shield and how, you know, military defense and so forth. We used to be Fort Bliss used to be about 13th on the list of city El Paso of cities that were going to be bombed, you know, when the when the buttons started pushing. Uh, that was before Brack. I'm sure we're higher on the list. and you know iron shield probably going to push us up to about five. Um, but what gets me is that at some point we need to stop working with Fort Bliss, at least during the Trump administration, unless y'all are afraid of the fact that he's going to deport you as citizens, too. And y'all don't support Fort Bliss, maybe you get deported. And and I say that because yes on Fort Bliss is where the the planes are shipping out of and I haven't heard any one of you all I'm not I'm not sure statements but a comment that fact that you all are going to sponsor this. You can't say by us supporting for bliss that some of us are going to be deported. That that's unfair. But it's it's an unappropriate comment that you're making. The Trump administration has already put out there. I know but you can't say that some of us are going to be deported. Did the president already say that he is willing to deport us? You need to stick to the agenda in this item, please. So any support of Fort Bliss is detriment to our city. Okay? And I say this because in the 1930s, trains deporting people went to Fort Bliss to El Paso. 1930s, that was the Mexican repatriation. were si people who were citizens born here, born were shipped out of the country. 1930s during operation same thing. Planes to Fort Bliss and we have it again. I think at some point our our city council needs to take a stand especially in our current administration and put a pause on Fort Bliss as versus just rubber stamping things that are going on because Everything that's happening at Fort Bliss adversely affects every citizen in this city. And some of y'all look at me like, "Oh, look at that old white lady." But I'm not. See, my grandfather Garcia, his ancestor was Alonso Garcia, who brought the natives here in the 1600s. Miss Osman, you're going. So, y'all got to stand up. And Miss H. point. So, I take extreme $50,000 extreme offense to some of your language. Derogatory words that you're using should not be used in council chamber. You use a word that is derogatory. I'm I'm just letting you know. I can see why the former mayor kicked you out. I can see why. But look, you don't use words like that in our community. We all know which word you use. But we have a motion and a second. The motion was made by alternate. Is there any more discussion? No. All right. Call for the vote. Motion. Call for the vote. Ma'am, you're interrupting our meeting. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Bryan. Call for the vote. Yes, sir. Voting session is open. Council, can I do a vocal, Representative Nino? Hi. Thank you. And the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representatives Chavez and Canales not present. Move to adjourn. Second. All those in favor? I Thank you, staff. Thank you, El Paso. It was a long day, but thank everyone for hanging in. Yes, sir. And the meeting for Tuesday, April 15, 2025 is adjourned at 4:54 p.m. Thank you council.