Well, good morning, everyone.

We are ready to get started.

Ms.

Prime.

Good morning, Mayor, and good morning, everyone.

This is a work session of the El Paso City Council for Monday, February 2nd, 2026.

It is 9 05 a.m.

Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in Council Chambers along with Mayor Potem Chavez.

Representative Acevedo.

Representative Madonado Rocha.

Representative Nino.

Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Piero.

Representative Limon.

Representative Canales.

And Representative Boyatrejo has requested to be excused from today's meeting.

Mayor, we have a quorum.

Okay.

Representative Limon, would you lead us in the Representative LeMont?

Would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

Thank you.

Okay, Ms.

Fry.

That brings us to item number one, and this is a presentation and update by Project Arriva on the organization's FY2024-2025 annual report, including a status update on activities during FY2024-2025.

Use of grant funds and progress toward performance measures identified by the Chapter 380 agreement executed on August 29, 2023 between the City of El Paso and Project Arriba.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor and Councilman.

I'm Andrea Solis, the analyst for economic and international development.

Project Arriba's program focuses on creating a permanent and sustainable source of local health care professionals, teachers, and other demand careers to address the severe need in the El Paso, Texas region.

I would now like to introduce Mr.

Roman Ortiz, CEO for Project Arriba, who will be delivering the annual report.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning, Roman.

Hello, good morning, Mayor and uh City Council, City Manager.

Um my ears are stuffed up.

I don't know if anybody else has been experiencing weather issues with uh sickness and things, but if you hear me yelling, it's because my ears are stuffy.

No worries.

But thank you very much for having me this morning.

It's always an honor and a pleasure to present to you the great partnership that we have with the City of El Paso and Project Arriba.

Um I'll get started here very quickly.

As as uh they mentioned, um, this is our second year of our five-year agreement with the city.

We're doing fantastic ahead of schedule from what we thought we would be doing.

Um I will be presenting over the course of September 2023 to August of 2024.

We're currently in year three right now.

Uh you'll see some of the pictures from our fundraiser that we had last year.

We celebrated our 25th anniversary, so we're very happy about that.

Uh for years one and two, we have served 500 individuals.

This is ahead of schedule of where we wanted to be.

We're at 88 uh percent persistence rate.

Persistence means the amount of people that stay in school and or graduate from college.

We have 168 job placements with average wages of 29 an hour.

So it's just amazing.

Uh that means that they're averaging over $60,000 a year.

They came into our program making about 7,500 and are graduating uh with about with jobs at 60,000, and that is in about 2.5 years.

That means that right now where we stand, if you were to say just a uh behind the envelope return on investment, about $8.2 million has already been added into El Paso's payroll based on this partnership that we have with Project Arriba.

Uh quickly on financials, uh this is the year two of the grant.

$350,000 was invested by the City of El Paso.

We matched those funds with $1.3 million from state, federal, and private investments.

Um expended all of the amount that was invested by the city of $350,000.

185,000 were direct participant expenses to include tuition, books, materials, child care, and then $164,000 in indirect participant costs.

Uh quick high level review of performance measures of where we're at.

If you're ever wanting to say, well, this is what Project Arriba is doing right now.

Right now, they have a 94% uh academic retention rate.

They serve about 62% of the population are below poverty.

Uh they've case managed 500 individuals, have graduated 256, and have job placed 168 so far in our contract.

We have submitted our monthly reports to your great economic development team who's made that process very simple.

Uh we presented before you on February 24th of last year, and this is our second uh year presentation.

Uh with regard to our fundraising activities, just to let you know, we were in in the year two we were able to fundraise uh $171,000 in state and federal grants and $348,000 in private investments.

We thank you so much again for your great partnership and support.

Um without the City of El Paso support, we would not be able to get these state and private grants.

Uh just to give you a quick numbers.

We the Hunt Institute for Economic Uh the Hunt Institute looked at an impact report for Project Arriba now in its 25th year, and what they have now found is that we have returned 1.17 billion dollars in economic revenue to the city of El Paso uh based off these 25 year history, and that that is a 28 to 1 return on investment.

Again, could not be possible without you all as our partners.

Thank you.

Ramon, I think we're gonna have some questions for you.

That is fantastic.

What was that number again?

1.1 billion?

It's uh then the new number is now 1.17 billion.

Wow, congratulations, that's awesome.

Thank you for the representative Limon.

Thank you, Mayor.

So in the beginning, Project Arriba would come on a yearly basis and request for the funding.

I was on council when we changed to a five-year program, and I am I will continue to always say this is the best economic development program in the city of El Paso.

No doubt about it.

And when you look at this number, 1.17 billion dollars in economic revenue.

It it's astonishing.

We need like 10 more Project Arribas in the City of El Paso.

Roman, congratulations, you continue to do such a fantastic job in leading this great program.

Um I've had the opportunity to speak at one of the graduations.

I know many recipients of this program, and we continue to refer young people to this program because it's it's astonishing.

Muchísimas gracias y felicidades so much.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for that great presentation.

Could you speak a little bit more about um the jobs that you're you're providing for the community at $29 an hour?

What industries those are in and what that looks like for the individuals that are taking these positions?

Absolutely.

Uh primarily is in the health care industry to include bachelor's degree nurses, uh, associate degreed nurses.

We have LVNs, which are the licensed vocational nurses.

Uh we have about 12 different ancillary health care degrees to include respiratory health, to include uh sonography, physical therapy assistant, um, a whole slew of other um ancillary health care.

We also uh now sponsor individuals in teaching.

So we look at the STEM uh teaching requirements uh for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.

Uh and we have just started last year really looking into the diesel mechanic, the welders, and we've now started to graduate some of those first classes and getting them into really great jobs.

Congratulations on all of that.

I think there continues to be a big need of health care professionals in our community, so I can only imagine how much this impacts our local economy and opportunities for for all of our youth.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

I appreciate the presentation today and continue the great work you're doing.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Ramon, again, thank you for the presentation and congratulations on 25 years.

Thank you, sir.

We need another 25.

Yes, sir.

All right.

God bless you all.

Yeah, congratulations.

Yes, Brian.

That brings us to item number two, and this is a presentation and discussion by Medical Center of the Americas, MCA annual report on the status of activities during the fiscal year, use of grant funds and progress in the performance measures required under the Chapter 380 Economic Development Program Grant Agreement executed on February 7, 2012, and subsequently amended.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Delayed Cortes with economic and international development.

The MCA is an academic health science centers that supports the expansion of healthcare industry through research and innovation and is a proud partner of City of El Paso.

I would now like to introduce Mr.

Carlos Ortega, President and Chief Executive Officer for the MCA, who will be delivering their annual report.

Good morning.

Good morning, Carlos.

City Council members, city manager, and city staff.

Thank you for allowing us to report on MCA's 2025 performance today.

My name is Carlos Ortega, and I'm accompanied by MCA's senior staff, Nancy Lowry, Michaela Johnson, Javier Gardenas, Monica Pena, and also Nauma Podaka and Mary Ann Mijades.

We want to thank you for uh also meeting with us individually to present in detail our 2025 performance.

And so today, rather than revisiting uh that information, uh, and in the interest of time and respectful of your time, we have certain participants coming that will talk to you about their experience with the MCA.

Participant from MCA's Innovation Center and the Accelerator Program, a participant from MCA's clinical trials program, and a participant from MCA's STEM program.

So I'm going to turn it over to Nancy Lowry to introduce our first participant, and I hope you you enjoy that, and I hope our meetings with you uh individually were informative and helpful.

Uh and so I think you will enjoy now hearing from the people themselves and their experiences with the MCA.

Thank you, Carlos.

Good morning.

Good morning, Nancy.

Mayor, City Council, staff, city manager.

Um my name is Nancy Lowry, Senior Director of Innovation at the MCA.

It's my great pleasure to present our first speaker, Dr.

David Sistola.

Dr.

Sistola received his MD PhD from Boston University School of Medicine.

I met Dr.

Sistola about four years ago when he was still a professor and physician with a specialty specialty in diabetes and metabolism at the Paul Foster School of Medicine.

He retired from that position in September 2024.

Since that time, he has been working full-time on his company, and we have been very proud to support him as he builds TTER Health.

It's now my pleasure to turn it over to Dr.

Sistola.

Good morning, Doctor.

Good morning, Mayor, Council members, city manager, and staff.

And happy ground groundhogs day.

So uh my name is Dr.

David Sostola.

I'm a medical doctor and a research scientist.

I'm the founder and chief scientific officer of a startup company based right here in El Paso called T2 Your Health.

The letter T, the number two, your health.

Uh at TTR Health, our mission is to improve health, longevity, and the prevention of chronic disease.

Um we do this in three ways.

The first way is that we operate a CLIA certified clinical reference laboratory.

This is a laboratory specializing in metabolic health and diabetes prevention.

Secondly, we conduct clinical research and clinical trials to bring new diagnostic tests to market.

These, and specifically for us, these technologies were licensed from Texas Tech, where I previously served in the medical school as a professor and research scientist.

The third element is that we built a digital health platform that grants people in El Paso and beyond remote access to metabolic testing, education, and health coaching.

This extends our impact nationally and internationally.

So the Medical Center of the Americas, which I'll call MCA, has been essential to our ability to exist and grow for three reasons.

Reason number one is laboratory space.

We cannot operate without uh modern, well-equipped laboratory space, and the Cardwell Collaborative and the Innovation Center is just that for us in El Paso.

Without this space, we simply could not operate.

The second is business development support.

So through the MCA's Elevate program, we learned how to turn promising scientific discoveries into a viable company.

I've spent my career in medicine and technology development, but not in starting businesses.

So the Elevate program was our boot camp.

The ongoing mentoring from Nancy Lowry and her team continues to guide our growth.

It's been absolutely pivotal for us.

The third area is clinical trial leadership.

So as we move into clinical research and clinical trials beyond what I did in the university, now what we're doing in the company.

The support and coordination provided by Michaela Johnson and her team at the MCA has been invaluable.

As a CLIA lab, we can offer clinical trial sites around El Paso, our laboratory services.

For clinical trial sites, it's hard to uh connect with large companies like Quest and Lab Corp to carry out uh laboratory testing.

So we provide local services to make that happen.

The MCA helps us connect with those clinical trial sites and expand this growing ecosystem.

So when we are when we launched this company, we were advised to locate in a biotech hub like Houston, San Diego, Boston, uh, et cetera.

And candidly, our company, T2 Your Health would not be in El Paso today if it weren't for the Medical Center of the Americas.

Uh we love El Peso.

We wanted to stay here, but we just would not have had the infrastructure we needed to begin and operate without the MCA.

So for early stage med tech companies, biotech companies like ours, the MCA isn't just helpful, it's a lifeline.

It's staff facilities and leadership are exactly why innovative healthcare companies can start, stay, and grow right here in El Paso.

Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you so much.

Good morning.

Good morning, everyone.

Um my name is Michaela Johnson.

I'm the senior director of clinical trials and business development with the Medical Center of the Americas Foundation.

I've been with the MCA for over 10 years, and I can uh say I've witnessed we've witnessed tremendous growth in the clinical trials industry that now represents 196 high-wage high school jobs.

The industry now brings in uh a total or an estimated uh uh 131 million dollars of revenue annually.

And this um today I have the pleasure to introduce to you uh just uh one program, one way we have of growing the industry is through our job um placement program.

It's our clinical research job placement program, which offers both skills-based training and it offers uh through a partnership with Workforce Solutions Borderplex the chance for um some of our students to get paid sixteen dollars an hour for an apprenticeship.

And with that, I'd like to introduce to you uh one of our key um participants in our program this this fall, Callie Martinez, who holds a master's degree in biology and was formerly the research and lab manager at Bureau College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Callie.

Thank you, Michaela.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Callie Martinez.

Um I'd like to briefly tell you um about how I ended up in clinical research.

I worked in research for over 20 years, and a few years ago, a mentor of mine um suggested to me that I began exploring um opportunities as a clinical research coordinator in clinical research.

Um I found that many of the skills that I had would already transfer over into this um field, but I would also need some new specialized knowledge.

And so, how was I gonna get this training?

Right.

Um, a colleague told me about the Medical Centers of America's clinical research coordinator training program.

Um I found that the course format was highly accessible, and the courses is taught by local experts.

Um I completed the MCA's CRC Core Competency Foundations training course in the fall of 2024, which helped help to clarify my pathways available to me in clinic clinical research, and I also gained the foundational knowledge needed to begin applying for CRC positions.

As I began looking for uh positions as a clinical research coordinator, I found that it would greatly increase my uh chances of success in getting a job if I also had some hands-on training.

Okay.

So, luckily for me, the MCA had just launched a new skills-based course with an internship program attached to it.

So I applied immediately, and the MCA placed me in an apprenticeship at the El Paso iSurgeons facility.

I had the opportunity to apply course concepts directly while achieving while receiving on-the-job training.

I completed this program in the fall of 2025.

I have now secured a full-time position with Al Paso iSurgeons where I contribute daily to advancing glaucoma treatment and expanding access to innovative therapies.

The MCA programs provide essential foundational training and knowledge required for success in clinical research roles.

Clinical trials can only happen when there are qualified clinical research coordinators to run them.

These programs expand the pool of well-prepared CRC applicants, helping sites meet workforce demands.

They contribute to building a globally competitive clinical research hub in our region.

By strengthening the workforce, MCA programs help bring new treatment options to the community that would often be unavailable without these local research sites and advance regional health equal equity.

In closing, I'm grateful for the opportunity and training that the MCA has provided to me.

These programs change careers, strengthen our our healthcare ecosystem, and expand access to innovative treatments.

I hope that you guys continue to support many more current and future CRCs.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kelly.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Members of City Council, City Manager, and staff.

I'm Mary Ann Mijadez, and I am the STEM coordinator at the MCA STEM Innovation Lab.

With me today is Edward Dunn, who has been part of our MCA STEM camps for the past four years.

During that time, he's grown not only as a student but also as a leader in his enthusiasm for STEM.

His passion for learning has inspired his younger siblings to join our camps.

Most recently, Edward has begun helping us helping support our program by working with younger campers.

Today he'd like to share his experience and what these camps have meant to him.

Good morning, Edward.

Good morning, Air and members of the city council.

Every time I attend MCA's STEM innovation lab, I learn new things that aren't taught in school.

Three of my siblings join me where we make elephant toothpaste, strawberry DNA, and chlorophyll from trees.

Aside from providing education in new fun ways, we have the opportunity to help in the lab with younger kids and a teaching experience I wouldn't get if it weren't for the MCA.

School is important and gives us structure, guidance, and the foundation we need.

But a lot of meaningful learning happens outside in the classroom.

Learning often starts with curiosity.

When I want to understand something, I look for experiences which I can get from the valuable NCA labs.

I'm grateful to live in a city that supports youthful exposure to STEM by supporting the MCA STEM camps.

Learning at the MCA STEM lab also teaches responsibility.

There's no grid pushing you forward.

You learn because you want to, because it matters to you.

That process builds independence, critical thinking, and confidence.

It teaches you to solve real world problems instead of just preparing for tests.

That the MCA STEM lab allows that kind of diverse out of the box thinking to happen, which you wouldn't normally be exposed to in a classroom.

When students are given the space and encouragement to explore their interests, they become more engaged and motivated.

They start seeing learning as something they control, not something that just happens to them.

The mindset is powerful and it prepares young people for college, careers, and life beyond school.

I'm grateful to live in the city that values education and opportunity, supporting spaces, programs, and initiatives that encourage learning beyond the classroom, help students grow into innovative, curious, and capable individuals.

These are the kind of people that strengthen community in the long run and will be the leaders of tomorrow.

MCA LAM is the best STEM program in El Paso and it is proving the youth of our city and thus the future of El Paso.

Wow.

Edward, which school do you go to again?

I'm a homeschool.

Okay.

So I got a question for you.

You said that you made elephant toothpaste.

Yes.

Is that toothpaste something humans can use too or just animals?

No, sir.

It's um chemical reaction that expands.

We usually do it in a flask to and it expands flowing out of the tube.

Wow.

That's pretty interesting.

It's not toothpaste.

It's not toothpaste.

Oh, not actual toothpaste.

That is very, very good.

Thank you.

Thank you for your presentation.

It was great.

That was great.

Thank you, in closing, uh I hope you enjoyed listening and hearing directly from the people that participate in our programs.

I think that that's a good way to get some insight into uh into these programs to hear directly from them.

Uh and uh just want to thank you for the opportunity today to bring our participants to you.

Thank you for your time and hearing our detailed presentations to you.

And we thank you very much for your continued support, partnership, and leadership with this very important economic development endeavor uh with the MCA.

Okay, Carlos, uh quick question for you.

Yes, sir.

In addition to the T2 trials that are going on, how many other clinical trials are going on at the MCA?

Well, at the MCA, they they are really part of the incubator accelerator program, and so they're they're uh you know just getting started on that.

Michaela can talk to you a little bit more about the clinical trials that are actually going on here in the city uh because we don't really conduct the trials.

We facilitate and bring infrastructure to conduct these trials.

So Michaela, I don't know if you want to say just a few words about the clinical trial activity that's going on.

Uh yeah, so the growth over the last 10 years has been close to 548%, and we now have about 438 trials running annually with 77 sites.

That means we started out 10 years of a 10 years ago with 18 sites.

Uh more and more oncology trials are coming online, and I expect that to really um ramp up with the launch of the new comprehensive cancer center uh coming coming up with Texas Tech.

I hope I answered your question.

No, that was perfect.

That was perfect.

Thank you.

We may have a few more questions.

Uh Representative Rocha.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Carlos.

Thank you and team for for coming today.

Uh my brother actually went through the inaugural clinical research coordinator trial.

I guess it was a couple of years ago, right, Kelly?

And so he also has his his uh his oh sorry, I said my brother, didn't I?

It was my son that went through that.

My gosh, how did I confuse them to?

I was like, my brother didn't get a degree in biology.

My brother, my son did.

So he went through that just a couple of years ago.

I think one of the things that um that is lost is that that particular coordinator training is free.

And so um that is something that's so important because back in that time it was very difficult to find those clinical research trials going on within the city, and we're so specialized here and and different from the rest of the country that I think it's so important.

But what a wonderful opportunity to be able to provide that service to so many.

And now the additional trials that are running concurrently annually throughout the year, that just brings so much more opportunity through that.

Um I I've shared with with you all before, Nancy Carlos, how much I support the MCA and everything that's out there.

I've been on a couple of tours now.

Uh it's fascinating to go out there in addition to what's going on in the VA, which is also on the property, and just the state-of-the-art um updates and and methods that they're using there that is helping our community.

Thank you for doing so much for our community.

Thank you for being such great partners with the city of El Paso.

I just really appreciate and I really look forward to to seeing much more success.

Thank you.

Thank you, Representative.

That uh initial program, uh, not only because of the grant from the city of El Paso, but at that time, we had also gotten some grant money from Bristol Myers Squibb, one of the big pharmaceutical companies, which helped us kind of kick this thing off.

So thank you for your comments.

Carlos, thank you and the team for the wonderful presentation and uh thank you for all that you don't at the MCA.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

You got it.

Thank you, guys.

Ms.

Bryan.

Yes, Council.

That brings us to the executive session items.

And we do have a request to delete EX6 prior to going into executive session.

Okay.

Ms.

Friend, we have a motion and a second.

Yes, sir.

There's a motion made by Representative Maldonado Rocha, seconded by Representative Limon, and this is to delete EX6.

Number seven on that motion.

Call for the vote.

And the voting session?

And that motion passes unanimously.

Representative Acevedo not present.

Okay.

Is there a motion to retire into executive session?

Okay.

There's a motion and second, Ms.

Bryant.

There's a motion and a second to retire into executive session.

All in favor?

Anyone opposed?

And the city council of the city of El Paso, my retirement to executive session, pursuing to section 3.5A of the El Paso City Charter and the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, Subchapter D, to discuss any of the following.

Executive session item one, Timothy Palmer versus City of El Paso at all.

322-CV-232 under 551.071.

Executive session item two, application of El Paso Electric Company to Macho Springs reassignment.

PUC number 57760, HQ number utility-63 under 551.071.

Executive session item three, discussion on purchase exchange lease or value of real property in Al Paso.

HQ 25-2558 under 551.072.

Executive session item two application of El Paso Electric Company to Macho Springs reassignment PUC number 57760 HQ number utility dash sixty three under 551.071 executive session item three discussion on purchase exchange lease or value of real property in Al Paso HQ 25-2558 under 551.072 executive session item four real estate division update HQ 25-5035 under 551.072 executive session item five discussion on purchase exchange lease or value of city owned properties in El Paso HQ 26-6530 under 551.072 and executive session item seven discussion on memorandum of understanding for interstate highway 10 deck plaza coordination between the city of El Paso, the County of Al Paso and the Downtown Deck Plaza Foundation, HQ 25-4962 under 551.071 and 551.072.

These matters are taken into executive session under 551.071 consultation with attorney and 551.072 deliberation regarding real property.

It is 936 a.m.

Yes, Mayor, is there a motion to come out of executive session?

There's a motion and a second to come out of executive session.

All in favor anyone opposed and the meeting is back in session at 1107 a.m.

Mayor Pro Tem EX1.

Thank you, Ms.

Prime.

Motion may second it and carry that the city attorney's office in consultation with the city manager be authorized to deny plaintiff settlement demand in Timothy Palmer versus City of El Paso and others.

Case number three two two C V00232 dash DCG to retain outside counsel in the matter and to take all steps necessary including the execution of any required documents in order to effectuate this authority.

Miss Prime we have a motion and a second yes the motion was made and rendered to the record by mayor pro tem chavez seconded by representative limon and this is to deny the settlement demand on EX1 on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and that motion passes unanimously ex two no action thank you ex three no action thank you ex four no action thank you ex five no action thank you and EX7 no action thank you okay second there's a motion and a second miss yes there's a motion and a second to adjourn the work session all in favor anyone opposed and the work session for Monday February 2nd 2026 is adjourned at 1108 a.m.

Thank you council