This meeting of the El Paso City Council, held on December 16, 2025, began with a series of ceremonial proclamations recognizing local organizations and individuals for their contributions to the community, followed by public comment sessions addressing utility rates, procurement contracts, and homelessness. The council proceeded to discuss and vote on various regular agenda items, including street resurfacing contracts, zoning changes, economic development incentives, and community funding allocations, facing significant scrutiny and debate regarding contractor performance and the allocation of taxpayer funds.
Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to City Council Chambers. We are glad to have you here today. Good morning, City Council. Good morning, Miss Prime. We're ready to go. Yes, sir. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of the mayor's proclamations. We begin this morning with a pledge of allegiance led by Imperial Border Squad Desert Infernal Squad at the invitation of City Representative Diana Maldonado Rocha. We have Greg Trujillo and Jaime Villalba. Right there. All right. Ready? That brings us to the proclamations, and the first proclamation is Sun Bowl Association annual Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl Football Game. All right. Proclamation for the City of El Paso, Texas. Whereas the Sumball Association has served as guide to enhancing the lives of the citizens of El Paso for ninety-two years. And the Tony the Tiger Sombal is known throughout the country as one of hospitality, professionalism, fun, and excitement. And whereas the annual Tony the Tiger Sanball has grown to be the largest single sporting event in the city, as well as one of the topped entertainment values while showcasing the city on CBS on a national television audience for 57 years. Continues to showcase the city of El Paso on a national stage with outstanding football teams, their fans, families, and supporters right here in the Sun City. And whereas the Tony the Tiger Sumball, sponsored by Calog's, Sombal Executive Director Bernie Oliv, the Sombol President Tamara Gladguski, and Board of Directors, and the Sombal Queen and Court work to make this a football game that is embraced by the citizens of El Paso as their own and reserves as a great backdrop to the city. The people and the culture of El Paso, Texas. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and the council of the city of El Paso, Texas, that the week of December twenty-eighth shall be known as Tony the Tiger Samball Week. Congratulations signed by the mayor, Renard Johnson. Good morning. Good morning, Bernie. Good morning. Three main reasons that the Sunbowl exists. Number one is to give the citizens of El Paso a quality event. If anybody's ever gone to the Sun Bowl, I think it's a pretty neat event for the city. Number two, to give El Paso some positive national attention. And for 57 consecutive years, CBS does not for four hours, does nothing but sing the praises of our city nationwide. And third of all, most importantly, is the economic impact that the Sombol brings to the city of El Paso and surrounding area. Up to 25 million dollars in one week that are that our visitors that follow their teams, they come in, they stay in our hotels, they eat at our restaurants, they shop at our stores. And those are the three main reasons that the Sumble exists for 92 years. So we're extremely happy again to put this uh put this on. Uh behind me, it brought some very important people associated with the Sumbow. Our President Tamara Glakowski, our Queen, Caroline Mann, and our lady in waiting, Janais Milan. And I'd like for our president to maybe say a couple of words about the matchup that we have and how great a game it's going to be. Absolutely. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you, Bernie. We are so excited. We are going to have a tremendous, tremendous game. As you all know, we have the Arizona State Sun Devils facing off against the Duke Blue Devils. Both teams have eight wins. Arizona State was in the playoffs last year, and Duke pulled up an upset uh win over Virginia to get the ACC championship. So it's going to be an amazing matchup. We appreciate City Council's support of this event. It's huge.