El Paso City Council and Youth Advisory Board Strategic Planning Session - March 17, 2026
El Paso City Council and Youth Advisory Board Strategic Planning Session - March 17, 2026
This special joint meeting of the El Paso City Council and the Youth Advisory Board was convened to develop a two-year strategic plan. The session featured presentations from Workforce Solutions, community and youth perspectives, internal department overviews, and a financial outlook. No formal votes were taken, but the discussion set the stage for strategy development on the following day.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kathleen Stout (Co-founder, Community First Coalition) urged the council to prioritize affordable housing citywide, citing examples from Austin and San Antonio and emphasizing the need for local funding tools.
- Roberto Franco (former Phoenix economic development director) described successful use of New Market Tax Credits and affordable housing projects in Las Cruces, offering to share similar models with El Paso.
- Carmen Rodriguez requested that affordable housing be included as a specific strategy across all districts, noting that only three districts currently identified it and that up to 30% of residents lack adequate housing.
Discussion Items
- Mayor Johnson's Opening Remarks: He set the tone with the theme "Greetings from El Paso," sharing a personal story about a resident named Maria who may have to leave due to affordability. He stressed fiscal responsibility, community pride, and the need to work together.
- City Manager Mack: Outlined the planning process, noting district-level engagement, resident surveys, and performance-based budgeting. He emphasized aligning the plan with what residents value: safety, neighborhood character, and reliable government.
- Layla Melendez (Workforce Solutions CEO): Presented extensive data on the local workforce: 405,000 employed, 17,000 seeking work, 86% with high school diploma, and 11,000 "opportunity youth" (16-24 not in school or work). She argued for shifting from a "low-wage town" to a "living wage town," highlighted the need for childcare as infrastructure, and urged strategic incentives tied to living wages, education, and transportation. She called for aligning school districts and using the city's influence to retain talent.
- Council Member Postcards (Personal Reflections): Each council member shared why they chose to serve and what they want for El Paso. Common themes: investment in youth, safe streets, economic opportunity, and preserving community character. Mayor Pro Tem Chavez emphasized the UNICEF Child Friendly City designation; others highlighted infrastructure, affordable housing, and regional collaboration.
- Youth Advisory Board Presentations: Members Aliana Acuna, Leon Lerma, Madison Miller, and others presented findings from their January meeting. They identified three priority areas: public safety (DUI, drug use, feeling unsafe on buses), economic development (brain drain, desire for high-paying jobs), and city social engagement (need for more events, a central platform, and cross-school activities). They also presented a crosswalk between the city's proposed pillars and UNICEF's Child Friendly City priorities, with safe living environments emerging as a top concern.
- Internal Department Perspectives:
- Nicole Cody (Economic Mobility): Focused on workforce pathways, small business support, and housing strategy implementation.
- Chief Mario Diagostino (Public Safety): Emphasized prevention, improved response times, Vision Zero, and programs like mobile integrated health units.
- Yvette Hernandez (Infrastructure): Highlighted street maintenance, safe routes to parks, and leveraging grants like RAISE for comprehensive mobility planning.
- Richard Bristol (Quality of Life): Discussed parks, recreation, cultural programming, and making services easier to access.
- Araceli Geraus (Good Governance): Stressed clear communication, data-driven decisions, performance-based budgeting, and enterprise risk management.
- Robert Cortinas (Finance): Presented budget realities: revenue limitations, rising labor costs, long-term liabilities, and the need for bold action. He noted the city's minimum wage is $15.75/hour (double the state minimum) and that economic development funding expires in 2036. He called for strategic decisions on street infrastructure, public safety compensation, and cost recovery for quality-of-life services.
Key Outcomes
- The meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m. with a plan to reconvene the next day for strategy development.
- No formal votes or resolutions were adopted; the session was preparatory.
- The following five proposed pillars were reaffirmed for detailed discussion: Economic Mobility, Public Safety, Infrastructure, Quality of Life, and Good Governance.
- The Youth Advisory Board will continue to be integrated into the planning process, with their priorities (public safety, economic development, social engagement) acknowledged.
- Public speakers' call for affordable housing as a citywide priority was noted and will be considered during subsequent strategy sessions.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. If you all take your seats, please we can get go ahead and get started. This is a special meeting of the El Paso City Council for Monday, February 23rd, 2026. Mayor Johnson is present and presiding along with Mayor Potem Chavez, Representative Acevedo, Representative Boyatrejo, Representative Nino, Representative Pierro, Representative Flimon, and Representative Canales. It is 110 p.m. This is also a meeting of the Youth Advisory Board. Present we have board members Madison Miller, Ariana Jaime, David Dorsey, Aliana Acuna, Leon Lerma, Rebecca Olguin, and Madison Serva. Item one on the agenda is presentation and discussion on an update to the strategic plan, including but not limited to the proposed pillars, goals, objectives, and core strategies toward a two-year action plan. All right, everyone, welcome, welcome to the 2026 strategic planning session. One question, thank you, thank you. One question, are we ready for it? Yes, ready to jump in. And so I have the honor of welcoming up Mayor Johnson to kick things off for us. Well, good afternoon, everyone. It's good to see everybody. And I hope everyone had a good weekend. I'm gonna make sure I don't knock anything off here. Okay. Alright, so it's great to be with everyone uh this afternoon, and as many of you know that yesterday was the El Paso Marathon, and some of you might have ran the 5K, the half marathon, or even the full 26 miles. Although I didn't run yesterday's race, what I didn't know, and no one told me, that my first year in office would feel like I was running a marathon, but completely uphill in high heel shoes. It's one of my little dad jokes there, and getting my kids with it. So as we kick off the 2026 strategic planning session for the city of El Paso, and I can't believe just over a year ago, I stood before this great community for the first time as mayor, with an incredible deep sense of gratitude, and an even deeper sense of responsibility. Over the past year, I have often asked what made us choose public service, and why this city means so much to us. Most of us did not end up working for the city of El Paso by accident. Somewhere along the way, something pulled you here. A family member, a teacher, a neighbor or a friend, are just simply a love for the place we all call home and a belief that El Paso deserves our best. Like many of our city council members, when we were campaigning, we spent months listening at doorstops, doorsteps in neighborhoods, at small businesses, and in community meetings, and we heard from partners. We heard from parents, seniors, small business owners, and young people trying to decide if they can build their future here. All the conversations were meaningful, but one has stayed with me. I met a woman named Maria who lived in District One. She told me that she absolutely loved El Paso. But she was worried that she might have to leave because she couldn't no longer afford to live here. She said she might have to move to New Mexico. Not because she wanted to, but because she had to. And we also have to be honest. There's a lot of misinformation out there about El Paso. People who have never been here think they know our story. We know better. We know El Paso is defined by its people, its neighborhoods, and its sense of community. That means we have to own our story and tell it with pride. Not just from City Hall, but across our whole community. El Paso is special. We are unique even among border cities. This is a city with a story worth telling. And how we show up for the people who trust us. This year's theme, greetings from El Paso says a lot. It's a message to the world and a reminder to ourselves of who we are and what we stand for. We are not going to fix everything at once. But we can choose to move in the right direction. We can choose to be thoughtful.
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