El Paso City Council Work Session – June 23, 2025

The El Paso City Council held a work session on Monday, June 23, 2025, convening at 9:06 a.m. and adjourning at 3:55 p.m. The meeting featured two major presentations: an update on the Humanitarian Engagement Action Response Team (HART) and a preliminary report on the City's Internal Audit current state, maturity, and needs assessment conducted by Weaver & Tidwell, LLP. Council also entered executive session to discuss six matters, returning with actions on two items. Mayor Renard U. Johnson presided, with eight council members present (Representative Limon participated virtually).

Public Comments & Testimony

• Ms. Turner (public speaker) praised the HART team's work, calling it "seriously impressive" and commended the collaborative approach. She also expressed concerns regarding the internal audit assessment, noting that the auditor (Mr. Calderon) had been denied resources under previous city management and questioned the use of a maturity model from an organization with audit issues. She affirmed her trust in the current internal audit team.

Discussion Item: Humanitarian Engagement Action Response Team (HART) Update

• Presenters: Commander Steve Lopez (EPPD), Denice Sepulveda (City Manager's Office), Lieutenant Milner, Officer Machoto, non-profit partners (John Martin – Opportunity Center for the Homeless, Kristen Mitchell – VA, Nicole Rodriguez – Community Human Development).
• Program evolution: Launched November 2024, moving from police enforcement to a multi-agency, service-first model. A pilot program on the Westside (Westside Regional Command) started January 2025.
• Key statistics:
  • Response time reduced from 18+ hours to 20 minutes via El Paso Helps 24/7 coordination.
  • Westside pilot housed 60 individuals (as of May); bi-weekly meetings now result in 7–20 individuals housed or placed.
  • Opportunity Center for the Homeless served 5,094 unique individuals in 2024, a 300% increase from 2019 (1,499 individuals).
  • The Opportunity Center is adding 165 beds, including 64 permanent beds.
  • Medical intervention: Opportunity Center had 600 medical calls last year, 250 transported to UMC, average cost $7,000 per ER visit, leading to potential $1.7 million cost avoidance through mobile integrated health (MIH) triage.
• Citywide expansion: Plans to extend the pilot to one additional command center (Northeast or Central) within the next month, and eventually citywide.
• Upcoming event: A three-day citywide outreach for unhoused veterans, July 29–31, 2025, using regional commands as staging areas, with volunteer training the week of July 23.
• 311 app enhancement: New encampment resource button launched May 13; a second caveat to route individual assistance requests to El Paso Helps is being developed.
• Council reactions: Representatives expressed strong support, with several pledging to volunteer. Representatives Chavez and Acevedo highlighted constituent concerns and the need for citywide scaling. Representative Canales called the effort "bigger and better than I imagined." Representative Limon reported that her office had previously flagged the lack of an encampment category on 311 and commended the progress.
• No formal action was taken on this item.

Discussion Item: Internal Audit Current State, Maturity, and Needs Assessment

• Presenters: Brandon Tanous (Partner) and Holly Hart (Senior Manager) of Weaver & Tidwell, LLP.
• Scope: Assessed the city's internal audit function (not just department) against a capability maturity model (5 levels: Initial, Repeatable, Defined, Managed, Optimizing). Evaluated 55 criteria using IIA Global Audit Standards, GAO Yellow Book, and COSO.
• Current maturity level: Level 2 – Repeatable (requirements-driven, foundational practices in place). Short-term goal: reach Level 3 – Defined within 3–6 months for low-hanging fruit (e.g., charter updates, performance evaluations); longer-term (up to 2 years) to reach Level 4 – Managed (performance-driven, enterprise-wide standardization).
• Six core themes for improvement:
  1. Stakeholder engagement, communication, and collaboration
  2. Strategic alignment of audit outcomes with city goals
  3. Performance measurement and accountability
  4. Transparency of procedures (especially hotline)
  5. Technology and resource enablement (move from paper-based to digital)
  6. Strengthening public trust and visibility
• Hotline practices: Internal audit manages the hotline; current procedures lack defined anti-retaliation controls, independent review, and clear escalation criteria. The Chief Auditor (Mr. Calderon) is the sole decision-maker for triage.
• Internal audit charter: Foundational elements present; needs formal annual review and greater clarity on collaboration with city attorney, HR, and management.
• Council reactions: Representative Acevedo noted the report is fair and highlighted the need to start with charter and low-hanging fruit. Representative Chavez asked about timely feedback vs. feedback, and maturity improvements. Representative Rocha confirmed timelines (3–6 months short-term, 2 years long-term) and asked about significant risks – presenters noted the need for continuous risk assessment. Representative Limon called it an "eye-opener."
• No formal action was taken; the final report is expected in July 2025.

Executive Session

• Council retired to executive session at an estimated 11:20 a.m. (after the public portion) and returned at 3:52 p.m.
• Items discussed (per agenda): EX1 – Claim of Khlayel Fareed; EX2 – El Paso Electric AMS deployment plan; EX3 – El Paso Electric rate change; EX4 – West El Paso economic development; EX5 – East El Paso economic development; EX6 – City manager, attorney, and internal auditor evaluation.

Key Outcomes

• EX1 (Claim denial): Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded by Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Fierro, to deny the claim of Khlayel Fareed and authorize the city attorney to take necessary steps. Passed unanimously (Representative Limon not voting).
• EX2 (El Paso Electric intervention): Motion to authorize the city attorney to retain outside counsel and file intervention in PUC Docket No. 58209. Passed unanimously; Representatives Acevedo, Fierro, and Niño disclosed campaign contributions from El Paso Electric's PAC; Representative Limon abstained.
• EX3, EX4, EX5, EX6: No action taken.
• Adjournment: Motion to adjourn passed at 3:55 p.m.