Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to City Council Chambers.

Miss Brian, I believe we're ready to get started.

Yes, sir.

Good morning, and welcome to the presentation of the mayor's proclamations.

We begin with a pledge of allegiance, and this morning to lead us in the pledge, our students from Loreto Elementary School, at the invitation of City Representative Lili Limon, we have Camila Lopez and Paris Linda.

How many years have you been serving?

That's why we need term limits.

Fantastic.

Okay, Miss Bryan.

Yes, sir.

That brings us to the mayor's proclamations.

For those of you receiving a proclamation, once I announce your proclamation, I invite you to come up to the podium.

Once the proclamation is read, you will have up to four minutes collectively to speak at the podium.

The first proclamation is Ami Stad 50th anniversary.

Thank you, Mayor.

Come on up, come on up.

Proclamation, City of El Paso, Texas.

Whereas in 1976, Miss Lucy G.

Acosta, a devoted community advocate and leader of Lulac District 4, co-founded LULAC Project Amistad, alongside Alfred Hawkes and Raquel M.

Perez, formerly incorporated under Texas law on May 13th, 1985, with a mission rooted in the belief that every member of our community deserves access to dignified, compassionate, and effective social services.

And whereas Amistad has faithfully served El Paso for 50 consecutive years, growing from a single transportation program into an institution offering 30 programs addressing health care access, housing stability, financial management, disability services, veterans assistance, and homelessness, serving over 50,000 individuals and operating as the only state-designated aging, disability, and transportation resource center in West Texas.

And whereas Amistad's transportation program has grown to a fleet of more than 42 vehicles, performing over 18,000 trips and one million miles annually, while also serving as court-appointed legal guardian for over 450 vulnerable individuals across El Paso County and six other West Texas counties.

And whereas Amistad operates the only 24-7 outreach street outreach program for persons experiencing homelessness in El Paso through its El Camino a Casa initiative, reducing police response times from 18 hours to 20 to 30 minutes, and its money management program in operation since 1982 has achieved a 99% client eviction and utility disconnection prevention rate.

And whereas Amistad has been recognized by the Texas legislature, the Office of the Governor, the Adult Protective Services Silver Star Board as a champion for vulnerable adults, and has been voted among El Paso's top nonprofits by El Paso Inc.

in 2020, 2023, and 2024 to 2025.

And whereas, under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Andrea Ramirez, Amistad maintains over $5 million in operating and investment accounts, 193 days of cash on hand, and a culture of fiscal accountability that reflects the organization's core values of respect, honesty, integrity, service, and excellence.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and city council of the city of El Paso that May 30th, 2026 shall be known as Amistad's 50th Anniversary Celebration Day, signed by our Honorable Mayor Bernard Johnson.

Welcome and congratulations.

Good morning.

Good morning, sir.

Good morning, Mayor and our City Council members.

My name is Andrea Amidas.

I am the Chief Executive Officer of Amistad.

I have been with Amistad 16 years, serving as the chief executive officer for six.

Um, our founder, Lucy G.

Acosta, of course, 50 years ago, so beautiful, so brave, so fierce, so loving, known as Mama Bear.

Um, and so today, our team here, we have our board members, we have our corporate management team, program managers and supervisors, we stand in front of you just to tell you thank you.

Thank you for trusting us in loving your constituents in taking care of them, in making sure that we advocate, connect, and deliver exceptional social services, making sure that we improve and provide that dignity to their life.

And so I just want to thank you all for everything.

Thank you for trusting us, thank you for believing in us, and thank you for being really our champions.

Thank you.

Does anyone have anything we'd like to say?

So a lot of you know Miss Ketha Fiero, but she was a great friend of our founder, Lucy Acosta, and she is our president emeritus.

Good morning.

Thank you, good morning, Mr.

Mayor, and City Council members, for your support all the time.

And I thank you for always being there for us.

What would we do without Amistad?

Can you think?

Can you put yourself in that position that you're homeless, you have nowhere to live, you have nowhere to go.

Where would you go?

But we have Amistad.

And we've had it for 50 years, thank God.

Thank Lucy and all of its supporters and everybody in El Paso who supports Amistad.

Who gives, who donates to Amistad, so that hundreds of people in Al Paso wouldn't that be homeless?

They have a home to go to.

They have somebody to look after them.

They have somebody to guide their lives.

And they have not anything like that worrying.

Anybody that is under the the wing of Amistad.

And I put myself there and I said, what would I do?

Where would I go?

Would I eat?

I love to eat.

But anyway, gracias.

And I thank God that we have Amistad in our community.

Not every community has Amistad.

And we need to work on that.

Because there's a lot of people that are homeless everywhere throughout the world, throughout the country.

And we need we have a big job.

And we have a great leader here in El Paso.

We've had three great leaders in El Paso that have worked at Amistad and have kept it up.

And we'll continue to do that with God's help.

And your help and our community's help.

Gracias.

Adios.

Thank you for everything.

Thank you very much.

We also just want to let you all know that on May 30th at 6 30 at the Starlight Event Center on this Saturday.

We will be having our Lucy Giacosta Humanitarian Awards.

And so I have sent out an invite uh to the city council.

So hopefully we will see you there.

And thank you again for your support.

Very good.

Andre, you've got a big group with you.

Do you mind letting them introduce themselves?

Absolutely, sir.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor Council.

My name is Christina Peña.

I'm the Chief Communications Officer for Amistad.

Morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Dahlia de los Santos, and I'm the chief people officer at Amistad.

Thank you for having us here this morning.

Good morning, my name is Celia Garcia.

I'm the Chief Operating Officer at Amistad, and thank you for having us here this morning.

Good morning, Zadia Chagoyan, program manager at Amistad.

Good morning, Denisa Polaca.

I'm the supervisor for the aging disability transportation resource center.

Good morning, I'm Claudia Taylor.

I'm the supervisor for Gaminocas Initiative.

Good morning, Claudia Tarango, one of the guardship program managers.

Good morning.

Good morning, Council.

My name is Elizabeth Andrade, and I'm a guardianship supervisor.

Good morning.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Michelle Moss, and I'm a program manager on Amistad.

Thank you.

Hello, good morning.

My name is Saldo Montes.

I'm supervisor of transportation.

Good morning.

Good morning to you all.

Uh Bernardo Estrada, uh field supervisor of the Transportation Department.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor.

Good morning.

My name is Javier Banyales.

I'm the treasurer on the board of directors.

Thank you very much.

Good morning, Javier.

My wingman.

Good morning, Tony Benitez, board member.

Good morning, Tony.

Did we get everybody?

Yes, Mayor.

Okay.

Represent Canales.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just very quickly.

Uh I just wanted to say.

As I read in the proclamation, you offer such a range of services, but you've I mean Stat has been a particularly wonderful partner of the city's on our the transportation program.

Um and I really value that that partnership and also uh more recently and very significantly on the street outreach uh program.

And I I don't have the numbers in front of me.

I can pretty confidently say anecdotally, you are my office's number one referral uh for for people who call in looking for resources of all different kinds.

I think we send more people to you than to anywhere else.

And so I I really appreciate what you offer to our community.

And you know, Ms.

Fierro asks what would we do without Amistad, and I'm really glad I'm very glad that we don't have to answer that question ever, and we have you as a resource here, so thank you very much.

All of you.

So we provide an array of transportation support.

Um any amazing social worker will tell you the first thing you want to ask someone is do you have accessible and safe transportation?

So what we do is we make sure we work with some, we have mobility managers, we make sure that you have that accessibility.

It could be riding a bike, it could be walking to your um closest bus stop, it could be using your own vehicle.

It's it could be, you know, uh finding a neighbor or a friend to be able to provide you that transport.

But we want to make sure that you do have accessible and safe transportation.

Um that's how we exist.

That's how we um we're able to live a quality life.

And so Omni Sad goes over one million miles a year.

We spend over one million dollars in insurance costs, over four hundred thousand dollars in maintenance, about four hundred thousand dollars in fuel.

And we do that in partnership with the city of El Paso.

We work very closely with Mr.

Anthony Kaiser and his team.

They do an excellent job, but we provide community transportation within the um communities of El Paso, and it is a fixed route.

Right now, we have 10 routes with the city.

Uh we also have partnerships with the VA, um, Ready One Industries, etc.

And so we really do want to be a resource for the community to provide reliable and safe transportation that's safe and that's gonna get you there on time.

Fantastic.

And um uh Representative Canalis touched on your street outreach program, which is incredible.

Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

Yes, sir.

Yep.

Um and also congratulations on being uh voted uh one of El Paso's best nonprofits uh for twenty twenty, twenty twenty three, twenty-four, and twenty-five.

Congratulations to you guys and uh for a job very, very well done.

And like you said, we don't want to think uh of an El Paso without you guys.

So congratulations.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Um, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

And the next proclamation is 2026 Top Cops Award to Officers Mark Betis and Amarani Hine.

Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I'd be remiss if if I wouldn't introduce uh Senator Cesar Blanco, who's here also, who will be reading the resolution that the state has provided right after I read the resolution for the city.

So officers, I'll just uh I'll defer to you, Senator Blanco, as soon as I'm done here.

Okay.

Whereas Officer Mark Berez of the El Paso Police Department has been nominated for a 2026 top cops award by the National Association of Police Organizations in recognition of his courageous response to an active shooter incident on June 1st, 2025.

And whereas Officer Amairani Hinez of the El Paso Police Department has also been nominated for a 2026 Top Cops Award by the National Association of Police Organizations in recognition in recognition of her courageous response to the same incident.

And whereas on June 1st, 2025, officers Mark Bettis and Amarani Hinez responded to a report of a domestic assault in progress.

Although they parked their patrol vehicle at a distance from the residence to ensure a safer approach, they came under immediate gunfire as they neared the location, prompting them to take cover.

Whereas during the ensuing gunfight, Officer Amaran Amarani Hiner sustained a bullet wound to her right leg.

Despite her injury, she continued to exchange fire alongside Officer Pettis.

Officer Perez continued assisting his wounded partner as they worked together to neutralize the threat and prevent further harm to responding officers and bystanders.

After securing the scene, Officer Hinead promptly began self-aid by applying a tourniquet to her leg.

And whereas in an exceptionally dangerous situation, officers Mark Betes and Amarani Hiner acted with considerable skill, courage, and bravery to protect the safety of the public and their actions on that day merit the highest praise and admiration.

Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that May 26, 2026 shall be known as 2026 Top Cops Award, Officer Mark Betes and Officer Amarani Jiner Day, signed by the Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson.

Senator Blanco, please.

Good morning, Senator.

Good morning, Mayor and Council.

Thank you for the opportunity for me to speak today to recognize uh this bravery of these individuals.

Um and to speak today.

When we're taking the time to recognize individuals, not only for their achievement, but for their character.

In public service, you know, we we often w use the word courage.

Um but moments like this experiences like those that they experienced, I think, remind us what courage actually looks like.

Um, courage is is is choosing responsibility over comfort or their own safety.

It's stepping in the line of danger, um, even when the instinct that you have tells you to step away.

Uh, it's making that split second decision when they're out there.

Um, not for recognition, not for popularity, but because someone else's safety or life matters more than their own.

Um that kind of selflessness, you can't teach that.

You can go to the academy, but you can't teach that in the academy.

And it reflects discipline, it reflects integrity, and it reflects a deep commitment to others, and the strength of the community, I think, is not measured only by its infrastructure or by the budgets or the policies that we do at the state or at the city, but by whether or not people are willing what they're willing to do for each other, right?

What they're willing to do to look out for one another, what they're willing to do to protect one another, and what they're willing to do to serve something that's greater than themselves.

So, Officer Kiner and Officer Betis, I want to thank you all for reminding all of us as a community, um, what commitment looks like, what it looks like in practice every single day.

I want to thank you for your professionalism.

I want to thank you for your sacrifice.

I want to thank you for willing to answer the call to duty that most people would never be able to fully understand.

Your actions on those days, on that day, are not only made our community safer, but in reality it it strengthens the trust, it strengthens the pride that our community has for those who wear the badge.

So, on behalf of the state of Texas, it's my honor to present these resolutions, recognizing the bravery and congratulating you on your nominations for the 2025 Top Cops Award.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you, Senator.

Good morning, Chief.

Good morning, Mayor, Council.

Just want to say a few words about Officer Bettis and Officer Henned.

Like every officer knows the officer doesn't pick the call, the call picks them.

And on that uh June 1st day, uh, they responded to this call.

What the proclamation, the reports say, and everything else do not give the cold hard reality of what these two officers did.

They saved lives that day.

They fought through an ambush, they had no cover to get to, they fought uh uh to protect the victims inside the house and the victim that was outside of the house.

These are the epitome of the El Paso police officer.

They are the example of what every officer does every single day.

They go out there and answer that call for service.

We are very proud of what the Officer Hind and Officer Pettis did here.

Officer Bettis's father uh serves the city as a firefighter.

Officer Hinet is an officer in the U.S.

Army.

Uh out there continues to serve uh the country also.

So these two incredible individuals set the example of what every El Paso police officer does out there every single day.

The example that they have set will be graduating officers on June 5th, one year and four days after their incident uh occurred out there.

We hope uh the public can come out and celebrate with us the graduation of some new officers coming on the street, because they're gonna have fine officers to train them out there, just like every other police officer.

Cannot say enough, and I'd like to give some time to the president of the association to say some words.

Good morning.

Good morning, sir.

What makes this award even more meaningful is that it reflects not only individual heroism, but professionalism and character of the El Paso Police Department and the city of El Paso itself.

These officers stood on the national stage representing our community, our department, and every officer who puts on the badge with the understanding that service often comes before themselves.

And this profession where criticism is often loud and sacrifice is all is all is always quiet.

Moments like this matter.

They remind us that behind every badge is a human being willing to run towards danger while others run away.

They remind us that excellence and policing still exist, and the courage, compassion, and discipline are still alive in this profession.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Don't be bashful guys coming up.

Good morning.

Morning, Mayor.

And I usually want to talk.

Morning, City Council.

We're thankful that you took the time to give us this recognition.

I always say this.

I mean, I never expected anything from this.

If anything, I'm more thankful to the people that supported me after the fact, because that was a whole other process that I didn't realize it's going to be hard.

So I'm just grateful and appreciative that I'm even here.

Very good.

Officer Pettis.

I'm very grateful to go home at the end of that day.

Um very, very appreciative of the accommodations we got after the fact, like my partner said.

Um, at the end of the day we go home.

Uh like my my chief and my association president said we're humans at the end of the day, too.

Um, just like you can't stress it enough.

We're just very grateful to be here.

You know, still alive, breathing, wonderful support system, both family side and our department.

Um, there's that term legacy uh family where officers have come from a line of other officers in their family.

I think that's just our whole department.

Um we come from a good place, especially.

I love the West Side where I work.

We never have a satellite TV where we have uh set partners all the time.

We're always rotating, so um I said before it's it's we couldn't have done this alone.

I mean, we learned from everybody and they learned from somebody.

So we are who we are because of everyone else.

So I I don't think uh it belongs to all of us.

That's just our life.

Very good.

Thank you.

Uh represent Fierro.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, Officer Pittis.

Uh I encourage you to try the East Side.

Great place.

Senator Blanco could not have put more accurate words to how he described the proclamate the resolution.

Um, what you all have done, you you're an example of why we live in the one of the safest cities in the country.

It's officers like yourselves who who go to work every day, put their lives on the line so that we can live free and just go about our days.

So, from the bottom of my heart and from the east side, I want to thank both of you very much for everything you've done and being such great examples of our community.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Congratulations to the both of you.

I know uh we met at the quarter award ceremony back in May at the West Side Regional Command Center.

I want to first thank Chief Basillas for his leadership for the entire department.

And of course, Commander Lopez from the West Side Regional Command Center and all of the team that works out of that command center.

Um, that is the command center where I did my ride-along.

That is the command center where I have all of my community meetings, and that is a command center that week after week since I took office, shows the lowest crime rate in all of the city of El Paso.

So the team is exceptional there, and you are among the bravest from our department from the police department.

I congratulate you.

When most people would run away from it, you for keeping us safe and for running into it.

So we appreciate your efforts.

Yeah, very well.

And me and the chief, you know, the very first thing is, is the officer okay?

And you go through a number of emotions as a city leader when you hear that.

This wasn't my first call.

And when I got that call, the very first thing I asked a chief was, can I give Officer Hiner a call?

And he said, absolutely.

I'll never forget I called her on a Sunday.

She was probably hours after being shot.

Uh and we talked.

And her calmness that she displayed that morning or that afternoon was something that will sit with me for the rest of my life.

Because it showed me how dedicated you are as an officer, and how lucky we are to have both of you and all the men and women in uniform that protect this community every day.

And you told me how you put the tourniquet on your own leg and still re you know, were able to make sure that your partner was safe.

So with that, I just want to simply say thank you to both of you, and we are so glad that you are here receiving this proclamation.

We are so glad that you were on the national stage in Washington, DC, representing El Paso.

So congratulations, and we are blessed to have the men and women in uniform protecting this community.

And on behalf of the city of El Paso, congratulations.

Okay, there we go.

We got photos of all of them.

Okay.

Okay, sorry.

The next proclamation is NIBA Small Business Impact.

Good morning.

Good morning.

So we're having this proclamation.

And whereas the Northeast Business Alliance, a five oh one C six nonprofit business organization, governed by a seven-member board of directors, has remained committed to the growth, success, and advancement of Northeast El Paso businesses and the community they serve.

Whereas the mission of the Northeast Business Alliance is to elevate Northeast El Paso businesses by providing networking education and community-focused events that create a viable and thriving business climate for its members and the Northeast business community.

And whereas NEBA's guiding principles reflect its commitment to leading with a mission-driven purpose, serving a collective good, protecting the organization's long-term sustainability, encouraging respectful collaboration, exercising sound judgment, and leaving the organization stronger for future generations.

And whereas in 1999, community leaders, businesses, and civic organizations organize the importance of encouraging residents to shop in their own backyard, leading to the formation of the Northeast Business Alliance as a networking and business support organization dedicated to strengthening Northeast El Paso.

And whereas NEBA developed strategies and events that brought businesses and residents together through networking opportunities, educational presentations, vendor showcases, mixers, business fairs, and candidate forums, charitable initiatives, and monthly meetings featuring guest speakers and community engagement.

Whereas after receiving its commitment and organizational vision in 2007, NEBA continued expanding its support for local businesses through business education, promotional opportunities, social media training, job fairs, grant opening support, and initiatives to foster economic growth and community collaboration throughout Northeast El Paso.

And whereas NEBA continues to embody the spirit of community-driven solutions by bringing together business owners, entrepreneurs, and community leaders dedicated to strengthening the Northeast and creating opportunities for local small businesses to prosper.

And I'll therefore be a proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that May 26, 2026 shall be known as NEBA Small Business Impact Day.

Good morning.

Good morning, sir.

Mr.

Mayor, City Council.

Thank you very much for this honor.

Before I get started, I want to introduce some of the board members here today.

And then we also have some founding members here.

And we're going to ask Dr.

Tushner to say a few words as well.

Sure.

Can you please introduce yourself?

Good morning.

Hi, my name is Rachel Minhadis.

I'm the director of marketing.

Good morning, Council.

My name is Alejandra Pachan, and I'm one of their newest members.

Good morning.

Tony Benitez, founding board member and past president.

Good morning, Tony.

As well and told.

I'm Beth Newman.

I've been a member for NEBA since it started.

And this was back in 1990, I believe it was.

It's been so long ago, I don't remember.

But I've been there, and we've done lots of stuff for Northeast.

Thank you so much.

Good morning, Beth.

Hi, my name is Richard Keshner, and I have only been a member of NUBA for the last seven years.

But one thing I've learned about NIBA is never underestimate.

Good morning.

Okay, well, good morning again.

And on behalf of board directors, members, supporters, and partners of Northeast Business Alliance, thank you.

Thank you, El Paso City Council for this incredible honor proclamation.

Today's not just the recognition of the organization, it's a recognition of the community and many individuals who have dedicated themselves to the growth and success of the Northeast and NEBA.

For more than 26 years, NEBA has proudly served our business community with a mission centered on collaboration, economic growth, community development, and opportunity.

Throughout those years.

We have worked to support local businesses, straight strengthen relationships, and create networking opportunities to advocate for continued growth in the Northeast.

But our mission extends beyond the business.

We also believe deeply in investing in the future of our community through education.

Through our scholarship program, NIBA has had the privilege of supporting students and teachers who are making a difference in our schools and shaping the next generation of leaders.

Education remains one of the most important investments that we can make in the future of the Northeast and future of our leaders.

We stand here today because of those who came before us, the founders, past board members, volunteers, business leaders, community advocates, and who believed who believed in the potential of the Northeast and NEBA and work tirelessly to move that vision forward.

Their dedication created the foundation we continue to build upon today.

I want to also recognize our current board members for their leadership and commitment as well, as well as our members, supporters, and especially our sponsors.

Your partnership and investment allowed organizations like NEBA to continue serving the community and creating opportunities for growth and connection.

I would also like to uh recognize Representative Cynthia Trejo for her commitment in reimagining Northeast.

That's a big applause.

Her support both for the residents and business community in Northeast is really incredible to see and to witness.

Her leadership or vision for this community are truly appreciated.

And we are excited to continue supporting uh efforts that helped strengthen and about uh elevate the Northeast.

Uh Northeast El Paso NEBA is filled with hardworking families, entrepreneurs, educators, military pride, and community uh spirit.

While we celebrate this proclamation today, we also recognize that there's still much more to accomplish.

There are more opportunities to create more businesses to support, and more students to inspire, and more partnerships to build.

This recognition reminds us that when the community comes together with purpose and vision, meaningful progress is possible.

On behalf of Northeast Business Alliance, the board of directors, thank you again, City Council, for the tremendous honor and for recognizing the importance of future of the Northeast.

We are grateful, we are honored, and we look forward to continuing the mission for many more years to come.

Thank you.

Well, congratulations, and as already mentioned, uh small businesses are the backbone of the economy.

And I know in El Paso there's about 75 to 80,000 small businesses with about 6,000 to 10,000 right there in the Northeast side of town.

And everything that you do as a Northeast Business Alliance to help those through mentoring, uh, everything that you know you've already done, the scholarship to have been mentioned.

We can't thank you for all the great work that you do for the Northeast Small Businesses and all that you do for our community.

So, congratulations on today's proclamation, and we're very proud to be honoring NEPA today.

Thank you.

Congratulations, guys.

Thank you.

And the next proclamation is interpreter appreciation date.

Thank you, Mayor.

Whereas May 6 anybody with a group would like to come up to the post.

Oh, there they come.

Thank you.

Let me start, Mayor.

Whereas May 6th, 2026 is recognized as National Interpreter Appreciation Day, a day to honor, celebrate the vital role interpreters play in ensuring equitable communication, access for deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

And whereas El Paso Sign Language Interpreters is a woman-owned business rooted in the deaf community, founded by children, child of deaf adults with a lifelong connection to language access, communication equity, and is dedicated to providing professional high-quality interpreting services that promote inclusion, accessibility, and equal opportunity throughout the El Paso community.

Whereas El Paso Sign Language Interpreters has provided interpreting services throughout the city of El Paso for over a decade, supporting government entities, education institutions, healthcare providers, and community organizations.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Tamara Marquez.

I'm the founder and CEO of El Paso SLI.

We're a sign language interpreting agency local women-owned and minority owned.

And I just want to thank you, Mayor and City Council, for this proclamation today.

We have built an amazing partnership with the city and the county and local businesses.

El Paso's been serving El Paso SLI has been serving El Paso community for over 17 years now.

This hits home for me because both of my parents are deaf.

And I know it just accessibility has always really touched my heart, and I've seen the struggle firsthand.

The ultimate goal has always been to bring a greater access, inclusion, communication, and accessibility to the city of El Paso for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

This recognization means so much because it just shows that the city is continuing to progress and make making a better city and making it more inclusive for everyone.

I want to recognize today and every day the jobs that the interpreters, advocate organizations, and community members who continue to work with El Paso SLI in making this possible.

And I just want to say that I'm very honored, and today we have a couple members from the agency with us.

And I would like to invite you all.

We're having an annual picnic on June the 6th at Album Park from 1 to 5.

We invite the whole deaf community, and we give out free pizza and t shirts to celebrate the deaf community.

So if you know of anybody or if you'd like to come, everybody's welcome.

Very good.

You want to introduce some of your team?

Yes.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Alicia Marquez.

I am the client relations and operations manager for El Paso SLI.

I've been with them since about 2019, just maintaining relationships throughout the city, Fort Bliss, New Mexico, just maintaining relationships with everyone.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Hi, good morning.

My name's Melody Marquez.

I just wanted to say a few words, not only as proud to be here as uh Tamara's daughter, but also a new member of El Paso SLI.

Um, even though I just started interpreting recently until um about this year, I just want to say that um watching the women-owned business grow my whole life has really been an inspiration for me as far as motivation.

Um I'm currently a UTEP uh student at the College of Science, so it's a little bit of a different branch, but it still falls under how proactive she is in the community and um everything she's doing to include everybody.

Um as a native speaker connected to the deaf community.

I do speak fluent ASL as well.

Um I think it's really special to see the inclusion and the diversity with professionalism and connection in the community that she's bringing in El Paso just because it's a smaller city when you think about it.

Um I do think being a part of the agency that values such ethic community and growth is what inspires me to improve as well, just because even though I have just started, I do think it inspires me to follow in the best way that I can.

So I just want to say thank you for having us here.

It means a lot.

Thank you.

Very good.

Good morning.

Good morning, council.

Good morning, Mayor.

My name is Sofia Diaz.

I am a marketing and communications intern through WSB for El Paso SLI.

I am a recent UTEG, I graduated in December, and I'm just really excited to keep partnering with the community and for more people to have access to our resources and to get to know the deaf community.

Good morning.

Good morning, mayor and everybody here in City Council.

Thank you for being here.

My name is Jasmine Montañez, and I am honored to work here at this agency with Tamara Marquez.

Thank you for everyone here for being here today.

Thank you.

We also brought some goodies, they're um little glasses, and it's our logo.

It says, I love you.

So I brought a few.

Um, so you guys can fight over them.

And um, if you would like more, I'll definitely bring some more for you all.

Well, Tamara, thank you guys so much for what you do, and um, as Representative Piero said, ensuring equitable communication access for our deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

I do want to give a very special thank you, though, to our ASL interpreters here at the city, both Martha and Eddie.

For everything that they do for us here at the city of El Paso, and congratulations on National Interpreter Appreciation Day.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Okay, right.

And the final proclamation is National Apprenticeship Week.

Representative Nino.

Thank you, Mayor.

The honor is can make their way up to the podium.

So proclamation for the city of El Paso, Texas, whereas National Apprenticeship Week recognizes the value of registers registered apprenticeship programs and the essential role they play in preparing skilled workers for meaningful careers.

And whereas registered apprenticeship programs threaten local economies by combining paid on the job training, related crassroom instruction, mentorship, and nationally recognized credentials.

And whereas the independent electrical contractors, El Paso Chapter Inc., established in nineteen sixty-eight has served the El Paso region by training the next generation of electricians through a four-year U.S.

Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship Program.

And whereas E IEC El Paso apprentices work full-time with electrical contractors while attending class one night per week, gaining the skills, the discipline, and the experience needed to support commercial, industrial infrastructure, health care, military, and community projects across the borderland.

And whereas the electrical trade provides local residents with a pathway to stable employment, career advancement, licensure, and long-term opportunity while helping meet the growing demand for a highly trained skilled workforce.

And whereas IEC, Paso, and its contractor members, instructors, apprentices, and community partners contribute to workforce development, public safety, economic growth, and the future of the city of El Paso.

And now they're be proclaimed by the mayor and the council of the city of El Paso that at April 27 through May 1st, 2026 shall be known as National Apprenticeship Week, signed by the Honorable Mayor Bernard Johnson.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Sarah Navarro, and I am honored to speak on behalf of the Independent Electrical Contractors El Paso chapter.

Thank you for recognizing National Apprenticeship Week here in the City of El Paso.

This recognition is personal for me.

IEC El Paso was established in 1968, and my grandfather was one of the founding members of this chapter.

So when I speak about apprenticeship, I am not only speaking as the executive director, I am speaking as someone whose family history is connected to this work and whose community has been shaped by it for nearly six decades.

For almost 60 years, IEC El Paso has trained electricians and supported the Merit Shop electrical contractors for this region.

Our apprentices are not just sitting in the classroom hoping for a career someday.

They are already working.

They work full-time with electrical contractors during the day, and they go to class one night a week.

They earn while they learn.

That matters in a city like El Paso, because apprenticeship gives people a real path, a path for the high school graduate who knows college may not be the right fit, a path for the parent trying to provide more for their family, a path for the veteran starting a new chapter, a path for the worker who wants more than just a job, and that path is not a backup plan.

The electrical trade is a skilled profession.

It requires safety, math, problem solving, discipline, leadership, and pride in your work.

According to the U.S.

Department of Labor Statistics, employment for electricians is projected to grow 9% from 2024 to 2034, with about 81,000 uh openings projected each year.

That tells us something very important: that the future is not just digital, the future is electrical.

Hospitals, schools, military facilities, small businesses, homes, infrastructures, and industry all depend on skilled electrical workers.

And every time El Paso grows, electricians are part of that growth.

Behind many of those electricians are apprentices learning how to do the work safely, correctly, and professionally.

That is why registered apprenticeship matters.

It connects training to real employment, it connects employers to local talent, it connects classroom instruction to the job site, it connects hard work to a nationally recognized credential, and most importantly, it connects people to a future they can build with their own hands.

We are grateful for our contractor members who hire, sponsor, mentor, and invest in apprentices.

We are grateful for our instructors, many of whom work in the field during the day and teach at night.

We are grateful for the families who support apprentices through long days, evenings, evening classes, early mornings, and sacrifices that come with building a career.

And most of all, we are proud of our apprentices.

They show up, they work, they study, they learn from their mistakes, and they grow year after year.

And by the time they complete our four-year program, they are not just better workers, they are stronger providers, more confident people, and part of a skilled workforce that keeps this our city moving.

National Apprenticeship Week reminds us that opportunity does not have to look one way.

Success does not have to follow one route.

So today, on behalf of IEC Al Paso, our board, our contractor members, our instructors, our apprentices, and their families.

We thank you for this recognition.

We are proud to train electricians in El Paso.

We are proud to help local people build meaningful careers, and we are proud to be part of the work that powers this city, not just today, but for generations to come.

Thank you.

Sarah, do you want to introduce the folks with you?

Good morning.

My name is Ray Gampa.

I've been working with the IEC for the past seven years.

I'm a third year instructor.

He's also a city employee.

He's a city electrical inspector.

Victor Ramirez.

Very good.

Representative Fierro.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

And thank you to the IEC.

I mean, what an opportunity to come out and to join the workforce with these professional skills, an opportunity to retool to go back into the workforce or to change careers.

So I just want to thank you for all the work that you do in helping train all the people who are coming through the program.

And I'm imagining how many people in the cohort.

Right now, we have 110 apprentices currently.

And I'm sure they're coming out at minimum wage.

No.

Can you start?

We always tell them they start between twelve to sixteen dollars an hour.

So it depends on the company that they have.

What a great opportunity.

Thank you, Mayor.

And Sarah, uh remind me how old the IEC is.

Almost 60 years old.

Yeah, 50, it's 58.

Wow, congratulations on that.

And I know the National Apprentice Week is fairly new.

Maybe 11 years, 12 years old.

Yes.

But uh you've you have served over two million people and participating over 10,000 events, celebrating apprentice apprenticeship programs across the country.

So I love what you said earlier.

You earn while you learn.

I think that's incredible.

Uh, but thank you guys for what you do for El Paso and for the region, um, and working with our workforce and keeping El Paso moving forward.

Thank you guys and congratulations.

Miss Prime?

Yes, sir.

Good morning.

This is a meeting of the El Paso City Council for Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in Council Chambers along with Mayor Potem Chavez, Representative Acevedo, Representative Malonado Rocha, Representative Boyatrejo, Representative Nino, Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Fierro, Representative Limon, and Representative Canales.

It is 10 18 a.m.

Will everyone please silence your electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by Pastor Bobby Garcia from Grace Christian Church.

Morning, Mayor, and uh City Council, Representative, how are you this morning?

Uh just uh two very quick things.

Uh thank you so much for uh the proclamation uh on your behalf and the city council and uh representative Limon and uh State Commissioner Olguin.

They did a fantastic job.

One read it in Spanish, one in English, and they did a great job, and we want to thank you so much for that.

And then also uh this is my daughter Sarah, and uh uh I don't know if you're aware of this, but for the past 30-35 years, through here passes a group of of veterans who ride motorcycles.

They start off in uh Cucamonga, California, and they go all the way to the wall in Washington for Memorial Day weekend.

But anyway, they pass through here.

There's four different routes throughout the United States, and uh we uh uh a group of us go to Van Horn and we host them there, and uh and you know, so we can feed them and they can keep on going.

But anyway, we we have some some pins really quick if we're allowed to approach, and uh we'd just like to let y'all have one really fast.

And uh I know it's not part of the fine.

Thank you so much.

That little card mayor tells you more or less what run for the wall is.

That is nice.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Father, in Jesus' name, we come before your presence, Father God.

We come here today, Father God, with gratitude for the opportunity to gather, sir, Lord God, and service to this community.

Your word reminds us, Lord God, and uh Micah 6 8 to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.

We ask these principles, guide every heart and every decision made in this meeting.

Lord God, grant wisdom to our mayor, council members, uh, city staff, first responders, and all who serve the city, give them clarity in moments of difficulty, unity and times of disagreement, and compassion for the people they represent.

We pray uh for the families, businesses, schools, and neighborhoods of our community.

May this city be marked by peace, integrity, opportunity, and care for one another.

Help us to work together for the good of all people, seeking not only progress but also justice and understanding.

Protect those who serve and those who are vulnerable, let wisdom prevail over division and service over self-interest.

Lord God, may everything be done here today, bring benefit to this community and honor the responsibility and trusted to our leaders.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you, Pastor, for coming in on such a short notice.

That brings us to public comment on agenda items for those that signed up to speak at 10.

We have quite a few uh members of the audience that signed up to speak on item 22, and item 22 is uh an item related to the data centers.

We have the first person is Jonathan Zion.

And Ms.

Prime, before before we begin today's discussion, I I want to thank everyone that uh who came out today to to speak on this issue.

Uh I want you to know that this is important because we all live here and we all care about this community, we all want best for El Paso.

And I want you to know this is not a new conversation for the city council.

Back in February, uh we directed the city manager to begin developing a comprehensive data center policy framework because we heard the community's concerns loud and clear.

I want you to also know that every member of the city council shares uh the same responsibility and goal of protecting our water, protecting our natural resources and our infrastructure, and protecting the long-term future of the community that we all call home.

So uh again, I just want everyone to know that uh and I want to be clear that I do not want no more data centers in the city of El Paso, and I will continue emphasizing that position as we move forward.

But with that said, we'll take public comment.

Thank you, Mayor.

Jonathan Zion will be followed by Courtney Barrassa, James Barrassa, Juan Gomez, and Montoya.

Good morning, sir.

You'll have three minutes.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor, City Council.

Uh I am a registered voter of District 6, and I am in favor of Agenda 22.

I want to thank you, Chris, for bringing this forward.

And with this, it's a good opportunity to stop incentivizing future data centers.

And this seems like a common sense agenda.

I have a strong feeling it's gonna pass today.

But the reason I'm here is because I hope we're gonna learn from our mistakes, and I hope we're gonna use the existing terrible incentives that are part of the 380 meta agreement as our foundation of what not to do moving forward.

So I just wanted to highlight some of those really bad incentives, just so we're all on the same page.

80% tax abatements in exchange for 50 undefined jobs.

That 80% taxes, we could have used that to create way more than 50 jobs or even created grants for our aspiring entrepreneurs within our community.

Speaking of grants, we are currently giving Meta 7.5 million dollars for infrastructure as a grant.

That can go up 20% to 9 million, that's according to the 380 agreement.

In addition to that, if there's a water emergency, we cannot isolate the data center to say, hey, even though you're using 2.5 million gallons of water a day, hey, can you calm it down?

We're not allowed to say that, but what we can do is blanket it and say, hey, everyone, including the data center.

Can you not water on Mondays?

These are really good incentives for them.

It's terrible for our city.

One other uh incentive that's really terrible, lack of oversight.

For example, we're only allowed one inspection per year.

That inspection has to be done 30 days uh advanced notice, and meta can control what the inspector can see.

The inspector has to sign an MDA, and on top of that, any notes the inspector takes can be essentially confiscated by Meta.

This is all according to the 380 agreement.

So I'm hoping this will be the minimum of what we will not provide anyone moving forward.

Furthermore, I hope that this is a good opportunity to get Mayor, as you said that you are against future data centers.

That's cool.

One good step forward, but the damage is essentially done.

I still believe there's time to cancel that 380 agreement.

Uh, this we have not yet.

We have not yet been given any proof of the claim of one billion dollars to cancel it.

So, as far as I'm concerned, that's either a guesstimate or a deterrent to get us to stop talking about it.

So I hope that one of the city council members is brave enough to bring canceling the 380 agreement to the next city council meeting.

And I I further want to say, by doing so, not only would you represent us, but you would stand with us as we fight against this damage and this immense damage to our city.

My name's Jonathan Zayan, and thank you for your time.

The next speaker is Courtney Barraza.

Courtney Barrasa.

Courtney Barrasa or James Barraza.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I wrote it down because I'm not good with public speaking.

Thanks for time.

On Thursday, May 21st, El Paso Water CEO John Value said it would be of concern to us if there were 10 data centers that came in, because that would represent at a meta-scale water usage.

That would be 20 million gallons a day to the county commissioner court per new news article from KTSM.

I ask that you vote yes to item 22 and not let any more data centers into our community.

We're told to conserve our water every summer and set our thermostats to 78 degrees per El Paso Electric advertising.

Why?

Because we're a desert city.

If we as consumers are told to conserve what we already have due to our power grid and water concerns, how are we supposed to sustain a data center that uses our resources 24-7 without a break and without conserving energy?

El Paso is one of the most polluted cities.

Adding more pollution will lower our quality of life more, cause cancer, shorten all of our lifespans.

We deserve clean air and clean water.

What about the water that will actually make it back into our drinking water?

Everyone suffering chronic illnesses like myself will suffer more.

All of our city council was voted in because we trust you to care about El Paso and the people that live here.

No one wants this.

Then why is it happening?

We should care about our children's and grandchildren's future.

The future of the city is at stake.

What will we do if we let these data centers come in and we have no more water?

Residents in Lake Tahoe have been told to find new energy provider next year.

Why?

Because the data center comes first.

We cannot let that become our reality here.

We live just a couple of miles from the data center being built.

If the studies are accurate, it will raise our temperatures 15 to 30 degrees.

I don't know if you guys know that.

It gets over 100 already in our city.

That will cause consumers to use their air even more and to use more energy.

The closer you are, the hotter it is.

Let's be proud of the world we leave our grandkids and say we won quality air and water.

Please vote IS yes on 22.

Please, we know there's a way to end that tax and that meta data center.

There has to be.

Thank you, Courtney.

The next speaker is James Barraza.

He will be followed by Juan Gomez and Montoya.

Cynthia Lozano, Serenity de la Torre.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Morning.

My name is James Barassa.

We live uh two miles away from the new meta data center being built.

Uh wrote this also.

So data centers are being more and more prevalent throughout the United States, with Texas being the second to Virginia in the total amount of centers.

This raises concerns given the drastic ecological differences between the two large producers in El Paso.

We have can have been conditioned to understand the importance of water and conservation in this finite resource.

This is becoming more important given the environmental drought we are seeing year over year.

Data centers are massive consumers of water and energy with local impacts being seen throughout the United States.

From the World Resource Institute, a large data center can consume as much energy as a hundred thousand homes, consume five million gallons of water a day and contribute to local air pollution in a significant way.

They later lowered their commitment to just four years, even though uh ratepayers will be paying back the cost of these investments for over 30 years.

And Louisiana Metal also requested 5.6 million gallons of water a day compared to the initial two that they requested.

Many facilities rely on gas fire generators for routine operation alongside diesel generators for energy backup.

Uh both uh come with climate and health risks.

Some data centers house gas power on-site day-to-day operations, creating continuous air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the most visible examples is unfolding in Memphis, Tennessee, where more than 30 natural gas turbines intended for daily use are being installed.

El Paso Electric has applied for regulatory approval to build a new 473 million natural seventy-three million dollar natural gas power plant, specifically to support Meta's Northeast El Paso data center.

Diesel fuel backup generators also release harmful air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, which are linked to respiratory disease, heart disease, asthma, and other serious health risks.

What does this mean for El Paso?

As we are already affected by pollution in our neighboring country.

Data centers promise local economic benefit and job generation, but from the Harvard Gazette, it often requires 20 to 50 people to run.

And then also in between May 2024 and March 2025, due to organization organized opposition.

Most contracts were canceled due to opposition, so it's not too late for us.

In this moment, we have a chance to prevent the damage before it is done, as we have seen in other communities.

Please vote yes on agenda item 22 to not allow more data centers in El Plazo.

Please end the 380 contract.

Thank you, Mr.

Contract.

Thank you.

Thank you, James.

The next speaker is Juan Gomez.

Juan Gomez followed by Anne Montoya.

Christina Pacias.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, members of the council.

My name is Juan Gomez, and I'm here today to ask you a straightforward question.

What is the community getting in return for what we're giving away?

The city has already welcomed the hyperscale data center, and with this decision comes a burden that we will carry for decades.

Let's talk about water.

This facility received a permit for 2.5 million gallons a day.

To put that in human terms, that is the same daily water demand as 10,870 households.

Roughly 8% of the city's commercial water demand.

In a region where water scarcity is not a future threat, but a present reality.

Now let's talk about power.

The 366 megawatt facility to power the center in phase one will be putting out the equivalent emissions, then adding 353,000 cars to our roads.

The commercial sector of our county, which employs around 403,000 people, consumes on average 1,150 megawatts.

The power required for phase one of the meta of the meta data center is 32% of the commercial demand.

This represents about 288 million dollars a year in energy costs that this community will have to subsidize to a multi-billion dollar company after the breach period expires.

And what do we receive in exchange for all of this?

50 guaranteed permanent jobs.

50.

The city will subsidize staggering consumption of three of our scarcest resources: water, energy, and air quality, to generate a negligible employment footprint.

This is not economic development.

This is public subsidy for private infrastructure at the community's expense.

This item is one of the many actions that can be taken to stop hyperscale data centers, even though it's a shame it came in too late.

I urge the city council to vote yes to adopt this item as formal policy.

And critically, this policy must must hold so future pressure from developers or lobbyists cannot erode what you established today.

Both yes or community is watching.

Thank you.

Thank you, Juan.

The next speaker is Anne Montoya.

Anne Montoya.

I don't see her coming forward.

Christina Pacias.

Christian Pacias, if you're in the queue, star six to unmute your telephone.

Christina Basillas.

I don't see her phone number in the queue.

Cynthia Lozano, star six, please to unmute your telephone.

Cynthia Lozano.

I see your phone number in the queue.

Star six, please to unmute your telephone.

Good morning.

You have three minutes.

Okay.

Thank you.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Cynthia Lostano.

And I am a concern of Casa resident in favor of agenda item number 22 to not actively recur or incentivize future hyperscale data center development.

These data centers are in misalignment with the city's long-term sustainability and infrastructure resilience goals.

I am a civil engineer with a focus on construction engineering management.

My obligation as an engineer is to uphold the highest ethical standards, protect public welfare, and maintain the dignity of the profession.

And almost the same exact way, the city council has this obligation to the residents of the city of El Paso.

I have worked on multiple construction projects, and the same goes for each one.

The second the project wraps up, the crew are looking for their next job.

Meta will not provide jobs for all of the individuals involved during construction.

In fact, they're only providing a minimum of 50 jobs.

Let me pause and put this into perspective.

A single fast food restaurant provides about the same amount of positions and perhaps even more.

We're putting the city on the same path as Morgan Sony, Georgia, where Meta is also building a data center.

Both families are seeing their water pressure decrease and a significant decimation of the water quality, making it undrinkable.

I'm not sure how many of you have seen the law act.

It might sound silly, and it's a children's movie, but there is a significant lesson that's there that I don't think enough adults making major decisions have learned.

Going back to my mention of Georgia, those folks are already relying on bottled water to drink and prepare their meals.

Does that sound familiar?

We are on our way to becoming needable.

Another point Al Pasas, Rio Grande, and Weber Bolson Aquifer are already strained.

The city should not look authorities that threatening social piece from generations protesting.

Any data center should also use reclaimed water for cooling, not our drinking water.

That should be a non-negotiable and adopted environment.

I want to raise my future family in the beautiful city that I grew up in, not in one where there's a lack of water security, skyrocketing electric bills, and polluted air.

She will be followed by Gisele Pregoso and Fred.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Hello, I'm Serenity de la Torre, and I am a youth development specialist in San Elisario.

Thank you today for hearing us out.

I'm sure it's redundant to hear all of our conversations and arguments, but I'm sure this shows to you how much our community really stands in the agreement of item 22.

Currently there are about 400, there are currently 446 data centers in Texas alone.

That costs about 9,567 megawatts in electricity and about 25 billion gallons of water.

And that's already a lot.

And if you guys continue this, the projected growth, it is going to increase tenfold within a five-span year, leading to about 161 billion gallons of water and about 78,000 uh megawatts in electricity.

And where we are currently with droughts, currently in Texas, there is about an 80% drought in our entire state, and within that 17% is an exceptional drought.

Which, obviously, if you know what exceptional means, it is very, very bad.

Especially it currently within our own power system and our water plan.

The Texas Water Plan updates every five years using previous data.

And with the growth going exponentially fast with the way these data centers are coming, we can even plan with the amount of water we are using because we do not have the data.

We will not be seeing data to help us create our next water plan until the next five years.

Twenty twenty seven's water plan does not include any of these statistics, let alone the fact that because we are so unsure of how much we are using, you're not able to see the projections for later years.

And at that rate, even now, we are not having enough electricity to sustain the current data centers we have.

So why on earth would you guys plan to create more, especially here?

Especially when we are already having rolling blackouts.

In my school district alone, we are last week alone, our schools did not have water to the point where our elementary schools had to hang out at the middle schools.

I know this because I work at Garcia Enriquez Middle School and our elementary school Alarcon did have to spend the day with us.

And we do not have enough resources even alone at our schools to accommodate all the children because why are we displacing order?

I'm not saying just in regards of I'm so sorry for blanking.

I just find I'm very passionate about this.

Please break your agreement with Meta.

Please vote yes for item 22.

Not just if you guys care for the community, if you guys care for the future, if you guys care for how much our if you guys care for your community and our history just as much as your people do, you would vote yes.

No last thing, Fred.

Okay, we'll move on to Andrew Grigne.

Mr.

Green, yes, star six, please to unmute your telephone.

Star six, please.

Oh, hello.

You have three minutes.

Good morning, everyone.

Good morning, members of the city council.

My name is Andrew Grenier.

I'm a born and raised resident of El Pato.

I'm proud of one just with Coronado High School.

I am currently currently attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, as a pre-law student.

I am taking time between classes and exams this morning to work my support for it in 22 and to break the 3D economic development program agreement with me with Meta.

Although I love the city for college, I make a point to return home every summer.

And I want to return home.

However, last October, when I first heard about the Ukraine of Meta to build the data center in the city, I was incredibly disheartened.

I along with my peers from El Paso were concerned about the environmental infrastructural and economic impact of data centers, which are increasingly possible for the lives we hope to have in the future.

Most of these benefits will be lost after construction.

And only a few positions will remain for infrastructure maintenance.

After letters similar project in El Paso would utilize clean or sparkled water access in Georgia near a newly constructed data center.

However, I must ask how they intend to achieve this goal in a community where water access is already at a premium.

Alpha's increasingly drying climate already relies heavily on large amounts of local water desalination infrastructure, which struggles to provide enough water to all those in the borderland.

I find it difficult to understand how our community can afford the economic and environmental burden posed by the absorbing utilities mirrors required by medical data centers.

I realize we better not be left behind in a rapidly changing economic landscape.

I realize the appeal of an opportunity such as this to put our caso on the map for investment from tech company.

Most of all, I realize the desire to show the rest of the country the capability of our community, and this is precisely why the prospect of having a data center in Alpaco is so concerning to me.

I selfishly want my home to stand as an example of the pressures of large tech companies encroaching on the lives of everyday people.

I want El Paso to be an example of a city which cares about the current and future livelihoods of its residents.

I would hate to see more of my peers leave El Paso with no intention of returning to the borderline.

My generation of our pastor's host in June for our futures are thwarted by an Al Paso, which welcomes data centers at our expense.

Thank you for your time this morning.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Claudia Contreras, followed by Mary Woodruff, Christo Martinez, Claire Wells.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Hello, good morning.

I think the community already spoke.

We're losing a lot of time under the National Defense Act.

It's against the law for data centers to use China components.

At this time, we need to find all the legal ways to stop them.

Other than the drunk drivers, this is the most important thing in our city.

And the city voted for you to represent us for you all.

This city consists of brave people, just like Jonathan said right now.

And we want to stop the data centers to be in our community.

We don't want their 50 jobs.

None of us want their 50 jobs.

The news already spoke.

Fit FAM already spoke about it.

We're getting education all over, and we need you guys to be brave and to break the contract already.

Right now, a lot of people are afraid.

And most of the people that are here, it's because they can come here, but there's a lot of people that that are scared to be in a mic.

So please break the data the data center agreement.

Find the legal ways to sue them.

We don't care if it takes a hundred lawsuits, stop them.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Mary Woodward, followed by Christo Martinez, Claire Wells.

Ariana Iker.

Good morning, Mary.

Good morning.

Um Mayor and Council.

My name is Mary Woodrow, and I'm speaking for Los Access Laboy and Friends.

I am asking for three things.

First, that you vote yes on item 22.

Second, that you terminate the 380 agreement.

And third, that there be no further tax abatements or incentives granted to corporations like data centers seeking to invest here.

Now I want to explain why it's personal to me.

My mother became a widow at a very young age and left to raise three children on her own.

She worked two and three jobs sometimes just to survive.

She fought for years to keep a roof over our heads.

Many times she almost lost her home.

But through sacrifice and determination, she finally paid it off.

Long after I had graduated high school.

Yet at a at 80 years old, after a long uh lifetime of hard work and paying taxes.

She fell behind on her property taxes.

She was $10,000 delinquent.

And this city was prepared to foreclose on her home.

Think about that.

A working class widow who contributed her entire lifetime and was at risk at losing everything for 10,000, while at the same time, the city is willing to hand out millions in tax abatements and incentives to meta centers.

During COVID, during COVID, small business owners lost their livelihood.

In our community, many did not survive.

They closed permanently, they still had to pay taxes.

Ordinary residents did not receive special deals, exceptions, or forgiveness.

So why are wealthy data centers being treated with more compassion and flexibility than the very people who built this community?

This is not economic fairness.

It is a system that is increasingly rewarding the wealthy while placing the burden on working families, seniors, and taxpayers.

I urge you to end 380 agreement and stop using taxpayer dollars to subsidize corporations like data while everyday residents struggle simply to remain in their homes.

And yes, you can the 380 agreement can be fought.

And my mom taught me to fight because God did not create a spirit of fear and cowardness.

Thank you, Ms.

Thank you.

Star 6, please to unmute your telephone.

Yes.

You're on mute, ma'am.

Star 6, please.

Please, go ahead, ma'am.

Your microphone is ready.

Yes, ma'am.

So thank you, ma'am.

I appreciate it.

You know, so I'm here to speak in favor of uh the measure 22.

Um, and I think it's just to reiterate what all of our citizens here in El Paso.

Um, we are we have legit concerns.

Um, we as has already been said at the national level, we see data centers are coming up, and because of the wealth and the drive, the the they have the economic wealth to basically push and set aside the wishes of the community residents.

One data center is gonna have severe impact on our region.

It's not gonna affect one person, it's not even just gonna affect those people in the northeast, okay?

This is gonna affect our region.

So we're not talking about you know, a little business.

This is not the same as a regular business that sets up shop and we're providing water services, you know, for utility, you know, for flushing of the toilet.

No, this is uh, you know, this is a direct uh threat to our very scarce resources.

As everybody has already been said uh said, uh, we have been raised to really care for our water.

Our air quality is very poor.

I am a nurse.

We see patients with COPD, we have veterans, uh, lots of asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia.

You guys, you have the power to stop this, and this is not just unique to El Paso, but we need to be the ones to stand up and say no.

And I also have to say, in the existing uh 380 agreement, there is under 14.9 a moratorium or interim control for control ordinances, and it says if it is a public health safety issue, you know, we have the right to stop, okay?

And it's sure we can say a moratorium for whatever long of existence, but the reality is they should have done uh, again, this is so big, the impact is so big, guys.

Like we should be checking the water quality before and after.

You see Georgia.

They're having uh water contamination.

Uh, they have evidence of this, guys.

So we need to be watching what's happening at the national level and see that as data so that this gives us reasons to stop and say, hey, we are already water deprived, our air quality is already poor, we need to act on the safety on the behalf of our public safety and environmental, you know, for our region, guys.

And I'm gonna say this I'm a nurse, I have two girls and my husband.

Guys, we invest as a resident, I'm watching to see what our town does to decide do I stay or do I need to leave to somewhere that they're going to respect and care for our environment.

So I'm I'm saying as a for economic company, young people are gonna leave El Paso if we do not act.

If you guys want this to be an active board decision and that which is dry things, you know, thank you, Martin.

Okay, so thank you, ma'am.

Thank you, ma'am.

The next speaker is Claire Wells.

Claire Wells star six, please to unmute your telephone.

Hello?

Go ahead, ma'am.

You have three minutes.

Hi.

Good morning, Mr.

Mayor and City Council members.

I'm speaking in support of agenda item 22.

I'm a resident of Northeast El Paso.

I've lived in town for two decades, and my family is from here, and I have been planning to buy a house here.

The recent advent of construction of hyperscale data centers in and around El Paso is forcing me to reconsider that because I don't know how much of a future there can be here with the unprecedented resource consumption these developments will impose.

Whether the data center is in the Northeast in Fort Bliss or just across the river in New Mexico, they're all going to pull water from the same Queen of Matthew Bolson officer system, the same aquifers that every resident of El Paso, Juadas, and surrounding areas rely on for water and that are already being slowly drained faster than they can replenish.

Hyperscale data centers bring few jobs and rapaciously consume our water.

They are unlike any other form of development and the extreme imbalance between the paltry benefits they can offer the places that host them and the massive cost they impose on locals.

For how many years can the water underneath this desert support both its people and the new data centers?

If I buy a home here, will the water last as long as my mortgage?

Will it last the rest of my life?

When I see young people at my work, should I wonder what will happen to them if they decide to stay here?

Is this still a viable place to raise children?

Without water, this city does not have a future.

I urge city council to adopt this policy that the city will not approve any future hyperscale data center projects and will not offer tax breaks or any other form of special enticement to such projects.

I further urge you to cancel the 380 agreement with Meta.

Any resulting financial penalties are something that can be litigated and that we can handle as a community.

Money comes and goes in the desert, water is the only absolute.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Ariana Eicher.

Ariana Iker, followed by Philip Sullivan, Marco Sanchez, Wesley Lawrence, Veronica Carvajal.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Ariana Eicher, and while preparing for my statement today, I did some research and I want to share some quotes with you all today to reflect on as it pertains to the issue of data centers invading our community.

My one, my experience is giving me the skills to listen and adapt and take action, which is exactly what our city needs in a leader.

I believe in transparency, accountability, and putting the needs of the community first.

Ms.

Chavez.

Two, when I see a problem, there's always a solution and we figure it out together.

Dr.

Acevedo.

Three, transparent government to me means that citizens have access to the decision-making process on policies, and it also means that as part of that government, I am held accountable, have clear communication and work ethically, Ms.

Rocha.

Four, I can either sit back and complain about what El Paso lacks, or I can step forward to help make a difference.

I'm stepping forward to represent our community and fight for the issues, interests, and values that matter most, Ms.

Trejo.

Five, I'm committed to making our community even better.

I will continue to be a public servant who truly understands and care about our community.

I am that person, Mr.

Ninho.

Six, I commit to define my role by adhering to our purpose to establish long and short-term priorities and objectives, review and approve the budget and tax rate.

Establish policies loyal to the city's financial and functional limits and mandates, and to represent the interests of the people who elected me, Mr.

Fierro.

Seven, I pledge to use my vast experience to advocate for residents and make sure city services are allocated to our neighborhoods.

In short, I will cut through red tape and make this a stronger, healthier community.

Eight, the city should get voter approval for all capital projects to give people a more direct say in what their bills look like.

My degree is in sustainable development, and I also worked in that field earlier in my career.

Action to address climate change is very important to be, Mr.

Canales.

And finally, I'm not a politician, I'm a local business owner who knows we can do better with the right leadership.

We can unify local, state, and county leaders to ensure the best future for El Paso.

I'm running because I want to give back to the community that has given me so much.

I will use my experience and love for El Paso to help our city thrive.

Mayor Johnson.

These words come directly from each of your campaigns for a city and city council, and you made it.

There's never been a more important time to honor your word than now.

You may have forgotten about those words which you used to get elected, but your voters have not.

Words have immense power to move people and change lives, but they can also be used to manipulate or even fall empty.

So you still have time to do the right thing.

Void the existing 380 agreement with Meta.

Direct the PSB to void their contract with Meta, and obviously vote yes on item number 22.

All this is the very least you can do, and the only acceptable outcome.

Don't tell us it can't be done.

We understand it'll be hard, but based on your words, you're the most qualified.

Thank you, ma'am.

The next speaker is.

Our next speaker is Philip Sullivan, followed by Marco Sanchez, Wesley Lawrence, Veronica Caramaja.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Philip Sullivan.

I've been here before to talk about this.

Thank you, City Council and Mayor.

Um, so obviously, you guys are realizing this is not what needs to happen.

Uh it's happening all over the country, and they're uh these corporations are trying to push this through as quick as possible.

Um, you guys are realizing that you jumped into this a little quick.

This is a problem.

Uh, I want to bring up the Stratus project that's in Utah by Kevin O'Leary, he's a Canadian.

He's trying to bring a project to uh Utah that's 63 miles by 63 miles.

Um, the distance from the edge of El Paso to Las Cruces is 32 miles.

Uh, the distance from this building to White Sands is 56 miles.

So I want to understand what exactly is this.

It doesn't make sense on a scale.

We already have AI running on everyone's phones.

It's already going, everything's fine.

What could possibly be in a facility that's 63 miles by 63 miles?

Is this a military installation?

What could there's no way that a building can be built that's that big or even an energy center?

I don't care what it is.

That makes absolutely zero sense on a scaling situation.

Currently, there's 3,000 of these projects being pushed across the United States.

A year or two ago, this wasn't even a question.

What is happening is is a really a very important question to be asked right now.

What is this really?

The data center doesn't make sense at all.

Okay, so uh I think there is a way out of this 380 deal with Meta.

Uh I think her name is Claudia brought it up.

It's the uh national defense uh authorization act.

It says that no parts in these data centers can be from China whatsoever.

So if that's the case, an inspection needs to be done because that means that this contract was written in a fraudulent situation.

It means that Meta knows.

Meta knows that all these break the contract.

It has to happen.

It has to.

Other contracts across the country have been broken under the NDAA Act.

It's very important.

It says that no minerals, no components, services, any of that.

No parts can be from China.

Uh, you guys need to do an inspection.

It did Meta start this with parts all from China.

I know that the United States is not supplying that many chips, minerals, resources, it's not happening.

They're trying to lock El Paso in for several reasons.

They want our resources underground.

They want that water, they want our sun, and they want our cheap labor.

They're trying to lock us in hard.

And with these aquifers, you guys see this Project Jupiter.

They're tapping in in Dona County.

They're going to tap into the Messi Aquifer.

Wat is has no, no defense.

They have no protection against any of this.

They didn't get asked anything.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Speaker is Marco Sanchez.

Marco Sanchez.

Followed by Wesley Lawrence, Veronica Carvajal, Chris Guevara, Matthews Rodriguez.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor Johnson and Council.

My name is Marco Sanchez.

I'm a high school student from El Paso.

And I wanted to speak to you guys about item number 22.

Hyper skilled data centers may look like economic development, but across the country, we have so many examples.

In fact, of everybody here has mentioned so many examples that my sheet of paper here is useless.

These data centers are destroying this nation.

They're polluting, they're consuming our resources, they're crippling energy infrastructure.

Let alone this January, believe it was January 11th.

El Paso had a water main fail that affected over 100,000 El Pasoans and myself personally.

I had our school closed down for two days because we had no running water.

And the incident lasted so much longer than that.

Not to mention how our uh rates went up in order to subsidize the repairs.

Our city is not built for this infrastructure that these meta data centers want.

No city is built for this.

And we cannot allow these big massive corporations to push our city around with infinite amounts of money.

So we need to pass Article 22 to make sure that this cannot happen.

And like everybody else has mentioned, this is only going to prevent future damage from being done.

But if this 380 proposition continues, then our fate is already sealed.

This one metadata center as it stands will damage our city severely.

As myself, as a member of Gen Z, this is my city.

This is my city's future.

I want to grow old here.

I don't want to be forced to move out because the city turned bad.

So please reevaluate the 3080 agreement.

Cancel it as soon as possible.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Marco.

The next speaker is Wesley Lawrence.

Wesley Lawrence Star 6, please, to unmute your telephone.

Mr.

Lawrence Star Six.

Yes, go ahead.

You have three minutes.

Thank you.

Good morning, Mayor and Council.

My name is Wesley Lawrence.

I know many of you there today.

I'm the founder of the Northeast Hope Coalition, a nonpartisan organization focused on strengthening members of Northeast El Paso.

And I'm here to support item number 22.

But I do have an ask.

Number one, I'm tired of a lot of things, but mainly the gas fighting being done by the mayor and every member of council when it comes to data centers.

I've talked to thousands of members of our community who are very clear when they say that.

We want no data centers.

I think the framework was a step in the right direction.

But now it's become a gas biting technique used by this chamber to silence the voices of those of us who oppose data centers.

I would challenge representative to come to the Northeast, go to more community meetings and to talk to members of the public and actually engage with them.

It's one thing to come to a meeting and that they're silently, and it's another to actually have meaningful conversations with these people that live in our community.

Because you will find that there is not one member of our community that can articulate why they support a data center.

They all understand it's going to pollute our area.

It's going to cause thousands of dollars in property damage for people who live in Rio Bravo, the people that live in Futureland.

It's gonna cause light pollution, it's gonna cause air pollution, and it's gonna pick up our most our city's most precious resource water.

Something that if we continue to abuse, we will not get back.

Um we can flood northeast El Paso due to a lack of actual maintenance of our infrastructure until the cows come home, but that water still is not going to go into our aquifer.

So we're still not replenishing the water that we continue to lose on a daily basis by these companies that continue to gouge our resources.

Uh I would ask that, you know, instead of these 380 agreements that we really start making these humanistic approaches.

But I would ask that you cancel it.

Because again, you would find that if you ask a majority of the members of Northeast El Paso, we are ready to end this 380 agreement, regardless of what it costs.

I know the mayor brings up billions of dollars to do this.

Great.

Let's do it.

I understand it's gonna raise taxes, but I think people are more willing to raise taxes than they are to not have drinking water than they are to not have safe air to breathe, and that they are not to be able to survive in northeast El Paso because we are not gonna have an inhabitable city if we continue to build these data centers.

Uh, but I would also ask that the council have a moral fortitude to act and call for a data center um um moratorium.

That is what we need.

We do not need a data center.

We don't need a framework.

The answer is simple: no more data centers.

First off, period.

You can do that.

They just put it in the RGV, they were the first part of Texas to call for these things.

Um, I don't know why El Paso continues to be the last.

We can be brave, we can be strong, and we can be a city that really fights for working class families.

Unfortunately, a majority of council just refuses to do that.

Uh so again, I would ask that you next council meeting call for moratorium on data centers.

And that's enough.

The next speaker is Eronita Carvajal.

She will be followed by Chris Guevara.

Good morning, Branca.

Good morning, Mayor and Council.

Veronica Carvajal, organizer with Sembrando Esperanza.

Um please vote yes on item 22.

We understand that this is not just a city issue, it's a county issue, it's a Fort Bliss issue, it's uh Southern New Mexico and a Juarez issue.

We ask that you continue to work to keep all of our AI data centers out of our shared desert.

As you know, Sembrando Esperanza works with the people most directly impacted by polluters and issues.

We are very proud to be supporting the work of the Vista Norte neighborhood residents.

Their president, Cynthia Acosta Krauss is here, and we encourage all residents near the Meta data center to continue organizing.

They and the people of Chaparral are the people most impacted by the decisions related to Meta.

They already live with the light pollution during construction, and as reported by Telemundo Chaparral, already felt the impact of water pressure.

Unless you find the courage to stop Meta, they will live with the noise, the heat, the potential flooding, the air pollution from the McLeod generators, as well as a data center, more water pressure issues, and unknown health effects.

This on top of what the rest of us will face, including water shortages, more expensive water, and more expensive electricity, and even more polluted air.

This item, however, does not go far enough.

The city and the PSB or the public service board run by that runs our water company, own dozens of acres next to Meta.

I hope that you've all been out there.

And it's very close to the El Paso Electric Newman plant.

The public service board owns a lot of land in the county.

The city sold the land to Meta.

That was a choice.

It was not a mandate.

Please do not allow any more data centers to operate on city or public service board land, whether by sale or by lease.

In addition to this, the city used 12.5 million dollars from the El Paso Electric franchise agreement to build the road for Meta on San Roberts.

For the franchise agreement, that money was meant to support economic development.

Please let that sink in.

As you all know by now, Meta endangers our economic development rather than support it.

Further, El Paso Electric will profit from Meta's electric consumption.

EPE does not care if it leaves us without a drop of water.

It is currently the number one non-residential user of water in El Paso and consumed five billion more gallons in 2025 than 2024.

And that's even before Meta begins to operate.

Please cancel the 380 agreement.

We need the city, the county, and the El Paso water attorneys to do their job and get us out of all of the agreements because Meta lied.

They're using up to 1.5 million gallons of water every day once they operate.

They're going to drive up El Paso Electric's usage of water because Meta refuses to use renewables for 1,000 megawatts.

And they're not going to pay billions of dollars to import water from Dell City.

We have not made 35 years worth of sacrifices to make a bunch of billionaire tech bros even richer.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Chris Guevara.

And the issue I have is the health concerns.

I'm someone that has asthma, and there are many other people that have health concerns here in El Paso.

The meta AI data centers will contaminate the air and have a negative impact on our water supply, which will lead to respiratory problems.

The discussion and action to adopt as a general policy direction of the city of El Paso, that future development of hyper scale data centers should not be actively recruited, pursued or by due to misalignment with the city's long-term sustainability and infrastructure with the goals.

And that the policy direction effectuated by this action will remain effect until and unless reversed by the city council.

Further directing the city manager to continue the ongoing process for the development of a future focused data center policy framework for consideration by the city council.

So now have this thought.

So what do you think is going to happen when it's all gone?

That is what I have to say.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Matthew Rodriguez.

Matthew Rodriguez, if you're in the queue, star six, please to unmute your telephone.

Matthew Rodriguez, star six.

I don't see his phone number in the queue.

Or no, I don't see his phone number in the queue.

We'll move on to Juan Ortiz.

Juan Ortiz, followed by Karen Lozano, Pedro Fernandez, Minerva Torres Shelton, Rosemary Sandoval.

Juan Ortiz.

Karen Lozano.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, Major and good morning, members of the council.

Thank you for letting us.

Well, of course, have given this place for us to speak.

My name is Karen Lozano.

I'm from Ciudad Juarez and from El Paso.

And just learning about El Paso.

I started living here in 2022.

And ever since I learned about El Paso, I've learned about the great projects that the city has pushed on the people.

I want to remind you guys that there's still people mad about the.

And I want to remind you that there's still thousands of people at Las Colonias that are still lacking running water.

And it took the city to respond to the last colonias about 30 years.

And now for these mega projects, these hyperscale data center, it's taking less than that.

Um, of course, that lets you think into where is the government of the city laying or lying for?

Um I'm in favor of item 282, and I urge the city to end the 3800 agreement, and I urge the public service board to end the any contracts with the data center with Meta, and I urge the electrical electric company to not go with the MacLeod project.

How are we letting fuel power gas generated in our city?

How are we letting these hyperscale data centers taking our water taking into our land when our resources are finite?

Um that's it.

Thank you, Karen.

Pedro Fernandez will be followed by Minerva Torres Shelton, Rosemary Sandoval, Jay Mania, Saul Gonzalez, David Espino, Celina Galicia.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mayor Johnson, City Council.

Thank you for your time today.

My name is Pedro Fernandez, como encantante, and I am a resident of District 6.

I'm here today to speak in favor of this agenda item number 22.

I'm aware that much of what I'll say today may be redundant due to the heightened interest in this subject across our community and this agenda item.

However, like most of us speaking here today, I believe this is to be an opportunity for our community to amplify its voice on this issue.

I wanted to be present and stand along with my fellow past ones in support of item 22 and ending the 380 agreement.

With what we have learned about data centers and their long-term effects, I don't believe it to be prudent for the council or any other governing authority in El Paso to consider as this item mentions recruiting, pursuing, or incentivizing more AI companies to construct data centers in El Paso.

As has been said, the depletion of our natural resources would only cause further strain on El Paso and its citizens, calling any bright outlook for our city into question.

Thank you, Pedro.

The next speaker is Minerva Torres Shelton, followed by Rosemary Sandoval.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Minerva Torres Shelton, and I am here today as a member of this community.

Mayor, City Council.

Over the last few months, the citizens of El Paso have spoken loud and clear.

County commissioner court led by the county judge Samaniego negotiated tax incentives to move this agenda forward without regard for the people they were elected to represent.

And let us remember this.

Again, my name is Minerva Torres Shelton.

Thank you for this opportunity and I yield my time.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Rosemary Sandoval.

Rosemary Sandoval will be followed by Jay Mania, Saul Gonzalez, David Espino.

Good morning to all of you.

Good morning.

I want to thank you for allowing us to speak, and much of what has been said I will omit.

But upon reviewing the current policy to be voted on, specific to future data centers.

Um seeking voter approval.

As I refer to sentences five and six, on the proposal, it states this action remain in effect until and unless reversed by city council.

I propose that you add instead to the end of this sentence only upon voter approval of a ballot measure amending the reversal of the current policy.

You have nothing in there as far as our opinion.

So I'm asking that you consider that.

I realize that you're gonna take the vote today, but I really think you need to consider our opinions also, and that would be by putting it to a vote.

The citizens of El Paso were not given a choice.

There was no public input on the current current Northeast construction for a future metadata center.

And that is the elephant in the room.

That was former Consul Oscar Leaser, former council members to include you, Mr.

Canales.

I don't know if you were signed a non-disclosure.

I have no idea, but we weren't given the opportunity to speak on our behalf as to how we felt about even bringing a data center.

And now here we are.

So I realized, Mayor Johnson, the difficulty and how diff, you know what you've been put under.

You didn't ask for this.

It was given to you.

And now the people of El Paso are saying you're gonna have to fight for us.

So I realize that we're asking a lot, but we don't want the data center.

I looked because I said, Well, I'm gonna move, but I looked throughout the United States because of our current president, they are going like leaps and bounds.

I looked at San Antonio.

I think those people are asleep.

They're gonna build so many data centers at San Antonio.

They're not gonna have water.

So I'm I'm asking you.

Secondly, I ask that you amend the current zoning code in reference to data centers by stating the following.

The city zoning code is hereby amended to classify hyperscale data centers as a prohibited use in all zoning districts.

We need to look at every way possible to prevent a data center.

Thirdly, if you are opposed to data centers, then it is a reminder when you're on your phone or your computer, what pops up immediately?

AI.

Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you.

Okay, do not do not go and click on AI.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rosario.

Jay Manya.

Followed by Saul Gonzalez.

Good morning.

My name is Jay Menion.

I'm a community organizer with the Monaco People's Project.

I'm a father and I'm a concerned opasum here to speak in support of agenda item 22.

Over the last six months, I've talked to thousands of people at the doors on the phone at our town hall and at info meetings all around the city.

Without a doubt, this is the most unpopular issue I have ever seen across age, gender, political ideology.

It's clear that people do not want these data centers in El Paso.

Now today is a good first step in taking action to protect El Paso.

It's a direct result of the pushback and organizing happening all around town.

This policy should be unanimously approved, but our work isn't finished yet.

This does nothing to address Meta.

It's massive water consumption or its gas plant that will pollute more than anything we have ever seen in this region.

Like many people have said it to you all already.

We will not take any more of your excuses.

We need you to continue to fight for us.

Our demand, our demand still stands.

Listen to the people that put you into a position of power, the people that elected you to speak for them and break the deal with Meta.

The next speaker is Saul Gonzalez.

Saul Gonzalez will be followed by David Espino, Serena Galicia.

Good morning, Saul.

Hi, good morning here and um members of uh council.

My name is Saul Gonzalez.

I'm an organizer with Sembrando Esperanza and also a resident of district three.

Uh for months.

Our coalition has been organizing around the Meta Data Center and now the proposed Ford Place Data Center.

We have been working directly with our members of Sembrando Esperanza, community members and those more impacted in the Northeast with residents of Vista del Sol and each in Montana Vista.

And the communities, those are the communities that will be more affected by these data centers.

When it comes to the data centers, you all have so much power.

The city can direct staff to work with El Paso Water, the PSB, and the county to explore every possible option regarding these agreements.

Communities across the country are challenging projects like this because they understand what is at stake.

El Paso should not act powerless when the health, affordability, and the future of our people are on the line.

META keeps demanding more and more, and at what point we will put a stop to them.

I have heard concerns from some of you about the reputation of the city if agreements are challenged or canceled like the 380 agreement with the 380 agreement with Meta.

But your first responsibility is not your the reputation with corporations, it's your responsibility to the people you were elected to represent.

Across the city, the community has spoken clearly and consistently.

People do not want data centers in our desert.

That is why I strongly support item 22, and I'm asking all of you to vote yes on this item.

While a small group of people want El Paso to become the capital of AI, the reality is that our community will carry the cost of higher utility bills, more pollution, noise impacts, stricter water conservation plans, and many many other concerns.

I hope you all join the community by voting yes on item 22 and not to a group of people that refer to us as a virus.

We have attended many of your community meetings, listening sessions, and community events, and the message has been the same.

The people are asking you to protect our community before protecting corporate interests.

Noro META, Noro Fort Bliss data centers, cancel the 380 agreement, direct El Paso Water to void their contract with Meta.

We are Sembrando Esperanza for those watching at home and in the audience.

And I'm asking you all to vote uh yes on item 22.

Thank you for your thank you.

The next speaker is David Espino.

David Espino followed by Serina Galicia.

Good morning, mayor.

Um I did not have a speech prepared today or a written statement, but I'm here because uh I'm in I'm in favor of uh item agenda item 22.

I'm asking all of you to please vote yes on this.

This is a good step forward in which we are protecting part of what bad things come from data centers in the future, and we really appreciate that these steps.

However, we really need to take a look at the current problem, the current data center is not, it's going to destroy this region.

I want you guys to look at the children of this city.

They need water, they need to be outside, they need fresh air, they need to be able to stay healthy with.

With the problems that come from this data center, we're facing not only water shortages, we're facing pollution, we're facing a region that's going to dry up even further than it is now.

We've been in droughts, we've been through, we've been able to adapt to the desert.

But this is not something that belongs in the desert.

We need the water for the people, not for not for AI, not for a company that's just coming here and establishing a contract or negotiated a contract that we just don't, we're not taking our people in consideration.

Sorry.

And outside of the problems with the environment, what data is this being what data is being collected on these massive places?

They're going all over the country.

What data?

So maybe we can start connecting the dots about what's happening around the country.

And we need to start connecting the dots about what's happening in the country.

We have across the city as well, and you guys know that I'm here to speak about flock in the in the past.

And that's data and that's surveillance infrastructure.

Those are the eyes of the machine.

We're now gonna feed and create a brain locally that is going to process all of our data, our surveillance data, looking at every move that we do.

I want you guys to consider that, and I really appreciate that.

Item 22 is being moved forward.

It seems like everybody's in favor.

However, we still demand that the 380 agreement is ended.

So with that, thank you guys.

The next speaker is Celina Galicia.

And I asked the public, please maintain the quorum so that everybody has a chance to speak.

They get three minutes.

Good morning.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Selena Galicia, I'm from Juarez from this region.

And I feel like we shouldn't even be um have this conversation, you know.

Um, as all my compañeros already stated, um, this is danger to our community.

We're in danger.

So I feel like this is just um to benefit a few people.

And I want to add that even like this region will be affected, and we're not thinking even about uh our sister CD Ciudad Parez, right?

They don't even know about this.

So um this morning I saw uh video of you, Major.

Thank you so much for your kind words uh saying that we don't want any additional data centers.

Um I just want to say that we don't want any.

So please, please, please, please help us break the agreement with Meta.

This is your land, this is our land, so please defend it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Clali Delgado.

Good morning.

Good morning, I'm Citlali Delgado.

Um, I want to say for you all to vote yes to item 22.

AI is modern colonialism.

The same way the Europeans got on their ships, went to Africa, displaced it and enslaved its people, and extracted the land's resources, all for the generation of profit.

It is all to happen again.

Except this time it won't be just indigenous peoples, black people or people of color.

The capitalistic business model of artificial intelligence is to enslave every person, every color, gender, religion, and ethnicity, an entity who is in the working class.

If you are not a billionaire, you are involved in the danger zone.

This would be uh on a couple of levels.

Uh, within the last 20 years, uh, we have been involved with the internet, whether to be entertained, book doctors' appointments, play games, um, and for the most part, to do work.

AI is an entity that is abusive.

We were trained to be dependent on the internet the last 20 years, and now the tech bros want to replace our humanity for revenue.

They will do this by continuously buying our desert lands and buying out its people and extract our water for green pieces of cotton we call money.

And that might stop as well since we're in the digital age.

Um, I love the Chihuahua Desert truly.

I went to an MSU, sorry for you all UTEP people.

Um, and I again gained an intense love for uh community and land that is not only 45 minutes away just for me to learn that new Mexicans are fighting the same thing.

Um we also must protect our sister city Juarez.

Well, and the world, actually.

This is happening all over the place.

Like, I don't know, it's kind of funny.

As a 2000s kid, um, I grew up watching movies and animated movies and uh watching wally, actually.

And for this to be a real thing, you know, we are gonna look like the people on the floating couches, um, you know, drinking bad things, and um just dependent on this future that is very toxic.

And so I grew up on narratives that were combating world domination, and it's real, it's a real thing.

Um, that is what has that is what is happening.

It's not about left or right, it's about the top versus bottom.

Um, so this city is my future as a young person, say no to the data centers.

We need water, we don't need AI.

Cancel the 380 agreement.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The speaker is Adrian Montreuil.

He will be followed by Miguel Escoto, Nadia Antoine, and Corinthian Sanchez.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Uh, my name's Adrian.

Uh I'm a uh ICU nurse.

I've been a nurse uh 16 years.

I worked uh ICU during the pandemic.

Might have taken some care of some of your family members, some of the city counselor council family members.

So health is a big thing for me.

Um I think it's very apparent.

The people have spoken, you guys are city representatives.

We don't want this.

Um part of being uh in nursing is just realizing how much hospital administrators, it's all numbers, it's not people, it's numbers, and I'm sure it applies to city council and administrators at your level as well.

All you care about is quarterly numbers, quarterly numbers.

You gotta think about the big picture.

You all probably have children, you're gonna have grandchildren.

This is their future.

And we we've spoken at end, we're we're tired of not being represented when it comes to something as important as our future.

The amount of cooling, who thinks to make a daddy uh data center in a desert when it is when we already are so so uh water dependent, the the the tri-city Juarez El Paso en las cruces, and let's not rule out that the big reason that my friend David spoke out about data centers.

It's not about funny cat videos dancing around, it's about surveillance, it's about flocks.

And you'd all be naive to think that it's not about that.

We were just talking about the sheer size of data centers around the country.

What for?

For funny AI videos?

I think not.

We're not that naive.

Lastly, the amount of the subsidies, the the um for one job in an AI center, we're paying millions.

Is that really worth it?

And I believe here locally we're talking about 50 jobs that are gonna be created from that long term.

Is that really worth it?

Oh, right.

And lastly, before my time is up, uh going back to flock and security, Benjamin Franklin's warning that those who trade essential liberty for temporary safety usually end up with neither.

And we started city council meeting right here with a prayer.

Ask yourselves this.

Would Jesus approve a data center?

Thank you.

The next speaker is Miguel Escoto, Mr.

Escoto Star 6, please to unmute your telephone.

Miguel Escoto, go ahead, sir.

Your microphone is ready.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes, sir.

Uh hello, city council.

My name is Miguel Escopto.

I'm a voter in District 2.

I like Wrong El Pasoan, and I have worked as a community organizer for nearly seven years in this region.

And I'm speaking in favor of item 22.

Um, with the group Oil Field Witness, I have studied oil and gas infrastructure using an alcohol gas imaging camera.

And I want to remind us that there are already three existing gas plants in El Paso that poison our lungs.

Montana Vista in the Far East.

And Newman in the Northeast.

The meta data center would require the McLeod gas plant only a few miles from the already existing Newman gas plant in the Northeast.

And I want to highlight the story of Ida Garcia.

She lives near the Newman gas plant in the Northeast.

I met her in 2021 when the El Paso Electric Company proposed to expand the Newman gas plant near her home.

She was concerned about her health.

The gas plant impacted her.

Like it impacts many El Pasuans every day.

She was forced to abandon her backyard garden because she was scared of how the gas plant's pollution would sweep into her fruits and vegetables.

Ida developed a respiratory disease, lumps in her lungs.

Her doctor asked, are you exposed to any environmental pollution?

Ida tells me that this question stung.

She knew exactly what caused the lumps in her lung.

The gas plants.

So Ida organized.

She opposed the Newman gas plant expansion.

And her campaign won a legal agreement from El Paso Electric to never expand the Newman gas plant again.

Now the Metadata Center would require the McLeod gas plant, only a few miles from the Newman gas plant in Northeast.

Item 22 is a good step forward, but it is incomplete.

Your job as city councillors is not finished.

The most important takeaway you should take from the public is that we are not satisfied until you address Meta directly.

What are you going to do for Ida Garcia and thousands of other El Pasuans poisoned by your pollution?

What are you going to do about Meta?

Thank you.

The next speaker is Nadia Antowa.

Nadia Antowan, Star 6, please to unmute your telephone.

Go ahead, ma'am.

Your microphone is ready.

Good morning, Mayor and City Council.

I'm in support of agenda.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hello?

Okay, great.

Um, I'm in support of agenda item 22.

If that includes voting changes, please do so.

I would appreciate it if we can stop data centers from entering our city.

I understand there are many cities around us and have no control of what what they may do, but we can't throw our hands up and contribute to a potential problem that will endanger our lives and our coding future.

Mr.

Mayor, I attended one of your meetings, uh, your meetings that was supposed to be to get feedback from citizens, and it was clear to me that you didn't hear what all the citizens have told you at that at that city council meeting prior to those meetings.

And that's why today's item is not a guaranteed tax.

People spoke at that meeting for three hours, and you still didn't hear what we said.

We don't want data centers.

We don't want it.

There is no certain size that will allow uh that we will allow, and there's no certain area that we will accept.

We don't care for it.

And it is not something our community is willing to compromise on.

We understand we are foregoing tax dollars for the sake of our house, but so be it.

If you can reverse course on the meta center and the 380 agreement, I urge you to do to turn every stone to do it.

Let El Paso go down in the history books as a city of fighters who fought the AI giants and overturned our AI agreement, bring us good businesses.

It's time to stop wasting our citizens' time with having to fight our city's council for every common sense vote.

We are speaking loud and clear.

We don't want any data centers.

You need to open your ears and close your wallets and understand what we are saying.

Should just go away, and I cannot have to fight the hunt and foster mafia every time there is an item that benefits the all too wealthy in El Paso and beyond.

Represent your citizens and follow our instructions.

No one is going to talk about the misappportunities of the data centers when we look back at the time.

What will be said is that people spoke and the representatives listened.

Make us proud and vote with your people, ban future data centers, and fight against Meta now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Corinthians Sanchez.

Corinthians Sanchez, star six, please.

Go ahead.

Your microphone is ready.

Yes, we can hear you.

Thank you.

Good morning, Mayor, City Council members.

My name is Christie Sanchez.

I'm a resident of District 5.

You know, I live here.

My family lives here.

And the decision that you guys make today over item number 22 is very important to our future of our water, our kids, and our infrastructure.

I do support it, but I must be honest with this council and the mayor.

In my opinion, the language still leaves too much room for comfort.

As written, this policy leaves the door wide open.

It primarily addresses hyperscale facilities, but doesn't address any smaller data center that could be allowed to my understanding.

Additionally, a hyperscale facility still can come in without incentive and set up shop on their own on their own dime.

Another concern is that any future city council could reverse this agenda item entirely with a simple majority vote.

Well, I do believe this is a step forward, and I want to thank Representative Canales for bringing this forward.

It raises concern that this doesn't go far enough to protect El Paso in the long term.

The best thing to do is for the mayor and the city council is to honestly break the deal with Meta.

Full stop.

We are already now.

We are already a city where residents have to designated watering days.

We are watching reservoirs drops across the American Southwest.

We are seeing drought mass expand year after year, and we are sitting in the middle of a desert.

Yet we are wordplaying about what to do with data centers when the answer is clear is to ban them completely.

And there's an opportunity here to make a strong um to make a strong decision.

A complete man on the data centers, and this in the area that the city council and the mayor govern and control.

This is a larger conversation that's happening, happening nationally about water resources and public infrastructure.

You all have had community meetings, you have heard the concerns, and many of El Pasoans have been firmly against these data centers, and you have heard clearly from each and every one of your constituents.

Most of us do not want data centers here.

And I'm willing to bet it's over 90%.

At the end of the day, the responsibility falls on you.

You are the ones that we elected to protect our resources and to make difficult decisions.

Other communities across the country have paused projects, they've passed bans or even voted out representatives who have not gone far enough to address these issues.

Something has to be done, and it has to be definitive.

You know, contract lawyers always say that words matter when it comes to the paperwork.

So the policy needs to address a complete ban, and something that doesn't allow city council members in the future to overturn something so easily.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Christian Carvenas.

Christian Carmenas, if you're in the queue.

Star six.

The phone number in the queue.

Uh Javier Miranda.

He will be followed by Michael Ramirez and Juan Ortiz.

Good morning.

Good morning, council.

Uh, excuse me, city council and mayor.

Um, I don't want to be redundant either.

But uh the folks that brought us Meta are the very folks that fund some of your campaigns.

I know that uh you, Mr.

Johnson, uh, are also a member, an active member of the Border Flex Alliance.

The very folks that uh that came and I or I believe you also serve on the uh public service board that has the final approval on some of these uh operations, and uh well I understand that these campaign donors are quite influential.

Uh but as you can see, I'm as a lifelong community educator.

I am so thrilled by the fact that there are so many young folks, family uh members here with them that are opposing this directly.

And Mr.

Acevedo and Miss Limon, you probably agree that uh the educational Mr.

I'm over here.

Oh I would think that you'd agree with with me that the presentations that these folks have given are very educational.

As a member of um the Citizens Academy hosted by El Paso Water, I've learned a lot uh from the resources uh that were um presented by the uh Citizens Water Academy, and we understand that the aquifers are being depleted.

We understand that the aquifers are also uh being divided uh with fracking and uh interests as uh my friend Bill Addington over here can also attest.

And uh Sembrando Esperanza and Amaneced People's Projects have uh demonstrated uh have revealed all these uh facts to you folks, and I understand you folks have policy folks that uh give you all sorts of uh advice, but I would also ask that the uh the city attorney over here also revisit uh some of the uh the things that have been brought up.

Uh some of the concerns that have been brought up about the the Chinese connections and the products uh and also the fraudulent uh way in which we entered into these uh agreements.

I I appreciate Mr.

Canales with the 22 uh item.

Uh, but as I echo what other folks say, please please don't uh stop here.

We need to join uh the growing masses of folks in opposition to these.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Michael Ramidez.

Good morning.

Good morning, council, mayor.

My name is Michael Ramirez.

I'm a resident of District 4.

I've spent the last four months advocating against these data centers and have assisted collecting signatures for petitions under Sembrando Esperanza.

I've spent countless hours of my own time after work still taking care of my kids and making time to get to everyone and anyone who feels as if they're not being heard.

I've spent time recently out in Chaparral getting to know some of the local folks, and there is indeed growing concerns.

And I have testimony and eyewitness that they have seen these construction workers taking water from their county, their community, to work on this project.

When residents have a glow that shines through their windows all night, waking up to low water pressure and being told they cannot do anything about it because it's not on their land, but it's right across the street from their residential neighborhood.

There is an injustice.

For months we have asked you and the PSB to cancel the 380 agreements with Meta.

We are told that if we do so, we will be sued for going against the agreement.

I have said before and I will say it again.

Where is the accountability?

The city council and the PSB members appointed by city council made those decisions.

You're willing to allow the citizens to subsidize these hyperskilled facilities at the cost of our resources.

If we are going to pay financially, regardless, I say let them sue the city because the way I see it, you are all willing to let your constituents pay the price and suffer rather than admit the city's government made a grave mistake.

When I say transparency, I am not just referring to on to answering honestly when asked a question.

Transparency also means full disclosure.

When something important is taking place, tell us.

Do not wait for the whistle to be blown and be upset when we, the public, decide to hold you accountable.

Do you see how those two go hand in hand?

You agreed to be the eye of public scrutiny the day you decided to run for office.

I am aware not all of you were on city council at the time deals were made, but that excuse does not sit right with me, nor should it be accepted by anybody.

To me, that sounds like pointing fingers, the whole it wasn't it wasn't me game.

Let me be clear when I say that is unacceptable.

As public servants whose combined salaries exceed that of hundreds of thousands of dollars paid by our tax money, we do not pay to say it wasn't me.

We paid to find solutions to give us proper representation, neither of which have been delivered.

Three years.

Three years you have had to educate yourselves on the topic.

Three years you had to tell people about this project before they broke ground.

But you weren't going to do that because you knew eventually the backlash it was going to face.

You all knew and have done nothing to actively stop it.

I have a feeling that you will all vote unanimously unanimously today in favor of item 22 on the agenda, because any vote otherwise would face extreme backlash, considering the public has become very much aware of what's at stake.

So before I step off today, I ask that you enact on your authority as the elected leaders of this city to create moratoriums for all current and future data centers and to end the 380 agreements with Meta.

Thank you for your time.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Hello, Council members.

Uh my name is Juan Ortiz from District 2, and I'm here in support of item number 22.

And wanted to support, want to support the decision not to pursue data centers and stop cooperation with any ongoing uh plans for data center projects in El Paso, and wherever it is, the city council can exert influence on the greater region because we don't want these um we don't want these projects just to move to the peripheries of the city, and as was mentioned before, we all tap into the same water resources.

And that's one of the things that I really wanted to come that's very specific to talk about.

Uh I've come to speak to City Council recently to speak against the construction of um the proposed massive immigration detention centers in our community, and I have come, I've been vocal against the construction of a border wall at Mount Cristo Rey.

But I have come to talk to you today in my capacity as a member of local uh group called La Cruz Rosa, which provides humanitarian aid in the surrounding deserts of El Paso and Southern New Mexico.

Our group uh sees the convergence of these uh existential issues in the in the most directly impacted sectors of our community happening to the most vulnerable in our community in the most dramatic of ways.

We see firsthand the results of deadly deterrence policy converge with uh explosive expansions of data centers and their infrastructure in the deserts of Santa Teresa, extend extending all the way east to Columbus, New Mexico.

In a press release we will be releasing to the public soon.

We outline how these large expanse of solar panel fields and now data centers, all surround surrounded by electrified fencing, uh coupled with the construction and expansion of the border wall in our area has essentially created a secondary wall of electrified fencing, creating a deadly creating a deadly maze migrants must navigate to reach uh to reach to uh city limits.

To reach more populated areas, all in an area with deadly uh record amounts of deaths in recent years.

In essence, this data center and those accompanying infrastructure projects and others like it on the border will contribute to migrant deaths.

Already during the first phase of construction of Project uh Jupiter, three of our water barrel stations have already been destroyed.

We had situated those water stations there because we had been told by local search and rescue teams that those areas were areas with the highest concentrations of migrant deaths.

In an area where many of the deaths are due to dehydration, Project Jupiter is set to use up to one million uh gallons of water per day, as according to Santa uh Santa Fe, New Mexican.

As noted by others here today, many of uh those other proposed projects in the El Paso area will have similar impacts on our environment and our city's sustainability.

We think that it is wrong.

We think that this is wrong, and we demand that our precious water resources be used in the service of life, sir, and not death.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I called everyone that signed up to speak at 10 o'clock on item 22.

There are other speakers that signed up to speak at the time the item will be heard.

Okay.

So we'll move on to call to the public at this time, and this is for topics not on the agenda.

Okay, let's do it.

The El Paso City Council is local government body charge 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.

Nor may any member of the public use this form 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 morning we have eight members of the public that signed the signed up for call to the public.

The first person is Elizabeth Crawford.

Ms.

Crawford's topic is a veteran battlefield trauma and abortion.

Ms.

Crawford, star six, please to unmute your telephone.

Go ahead, ma'am.

Your microphone is ready.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Thank you so much.

Um, as we have this month honored memorial day and God's mercies on our nation, I'd like to share uh a veteran story.

Um, I just want to start Psalm 107.

The psalmist will give thanks to the Lord for his good, for his loving kindness is everlasting.

His mercy endures forever.

Uh, my senior year of high school, my church called a new youth pastor to serve.

This man was different from any of our other youth leaders.

He had been on the wild side growing up and was drafted for Vietnam soon after getting married.

He described to us his time in Vietnam and how one day looking out at the battlefield and seeing the face of a dead Vietnamese soldier who went into despair and concluded there is no God.

Came back after Vietnam and atheists without mercy.

He said that over time God worked in his heart, and by God's grace, his testimony, that God saved him.

That story of his life always stuck in my mind as a kid.

It was the first time I got an interaction with a Vietnam veteran directly and hear his story.

I felt sad for him for the stars he had from the battles.

Being a witness to violence and death is imprinted on a person's memory for life.

We as a nation for years have been mercifully spared of warfare on our soil, and yet in nearly every major city in our nation for decades, there has been a near silent war going on, a war against the unborn.

The war is near silent because the supposed enemy is the baby, the voiceless unborn child who has the audacity to exist.

As we know, there are very few, if any, wars in the history of the world where one nation is 100% at fault, and the other is 100% free of wrongdoing, even against the Negraso nation.

Very few, if any wars where every action taken, even by a nation defending itself is a hundred percent justified.

Very few, if any wars fit into such a category.

But there is a war around the world, and in huge proportion in the United States and in the backyard of El Paso in New Mexico, where there is a party completely free of guilt in its interaction with the aggressor.

That war is abortion, and the innocent party is comprised of the millions of unborn children, children in the womb created in the image of God.

The psalmist wrote in Psalm 95, O come let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God, and we are the people of his pastor and the seat of his hands this month, as we have honored Memorial Day.

We ask God not for what we deserve as a nation because we deserve judgment, but we ask God for his mercy upon our nation.

Thank you so much.

Hope you have a good day.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is John Guian.

Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Guillen signed up to speak about the El Paso Scavenger Hunt contest.

He will be followed by Marcy Chavez, Claudia Contreras Siller.

Good morning, John.

Good morning, Mayor.

Good morning, City Council.

What a passionate morning.

That's why El Paso is beautiful.

We have beautiful people.

Um I'm here to bring light to the EP Hunt 2026, Scavenger Hunt.

It was a month-long scavenger hunt with over 100 tasks and quests that range from the city of El Paso and its surrounding areas from the museums in Sanelli to the peacon canopies in Mesilla to the murals in Segundovario to the edge of Texas and much more.

Over we uh our team, Team Rad, which stands for real and down, um, we have uh accumulated over 900 points and did over 72 quests.

Uh we are proud and honored to say that we are this year's uh 2026 EP Hunt Champions.

Uh now that we are champions, we can no longer uh play the game, but we are ambassadors to the game, and uh we are here to bring light to uh for the city to come and maybe shed light to the non-pro nonprofit organization that uh that organized this competition.

Uh I'd like to introduce my teammate.

Good morning, my name is Aideon Teveros, and I stand on behalf like our other members, Abby Ontiveros and Elsa Ortega.

We also have other members, uh Christina Espino and Dominique Enriquez.

Um, I also go by Johnny Retro, but uh we are proud and we are excited to say that we are champions, and uh what a morning, and we're happy to be here.

Thank you so much.

Congratulations.

The next speaker is Marcy Chavez.

Ms.

Chavez signed up to speak regarding misspending of funding.

She will be followed by Claudia Contreras Siller.

Good afternoon.

Well, like always, God bless every one of you.

I want to start off.

I was first of all, I was gonna so I was supposed to have spoken in the uh databases also, but for some reason my name was not mentioned, so I'm just gonna make it.

We have you we have you on the list for item 22 as well at the time the item it will be heard, so right now it's just for your topic on the spending of funding.

Okay, so I'm gonna go through it.

Well, if you think that inflation was an accident, you're already behind.

Governments did not lose control, they created chaos to gain more control.

Inflation is the easiest tax to hide.

You pay more, they blame economy, they profit quietly, but inflation was just step one, they do the damage to us and then they use us as base for their advantage.

Now, I'm going to cover a little bit here.

If we um we will lose a lot of dollars, tax dollars, and into the community with the water, the energy and the mispending of the land.

We do a lot of misspending and uh what do you call it uh parks, recreation stadiums, downtown events, and when we're here starving and in need.

Everything is going up.

And before I continue, I wanted to mention something really quick that is important.

Just as you demand respect from us, we demand respect from you, and for those that have been standing up and leaving, you know, the premises, you should be sitting there preparing to hear the community of El Paso, Texas, not go for your own personal needs and take advantage of it.

So, who are you really representing?

The people or the one that picked your title, and as for careers, you say you offer um a lot of uh careers.

Well, you target young younger generations to prepare them to comply to your future demands.

Why?

Because greed is stamped in your foreheads.

We are not ignorant, so do not underestimate our intelligence, and let this be in record.

For we, the community will each well, we the community will take we'll make you accountable for taking the demand for not taking making actions and the demand of the community needs.

And how how more clear can that be?

I suggest that you read over and over the declaration of independence and what it stands for.

This is the public, and you are supposed to comply to the public.

You're supposed to represent the public, not your public needs or your own needs.

Sorry.

In the Bible, a representative is appointed as a person as not as a prophet, priest, apostle acting as God's behalf or mediator.

The concept focused on individuals representing the interests of another for in conventional religious or political roles, and Joshua acting as supreme representatives for humanity before God.

Fitted to represent exhibiting.

Thank you, Miss Chavez.

You've reached the time.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Claudia Contreras Siller, followed by Bruno Vasquez, and Rico Velazquez.

Miss Contreras Siller's topic is clause against cruelty.

Good afternoon.

Hello.

Good afternoon.

So I'm here and I chose the theme clause against cruelty because that's the theme animal services was using for April, and it's to defend cats against cruelty.

And I want to hold my Bible high, like I did the first time I was here to defend our animals against animal cruelty a year and a half ago.

And I want to mention that Concordia Cemetery is a place where sacrifices are taking place.

I want to ask for an open investigation by the El Paso Police Department and also the FBI, since animal cruelty escalates to human sacrificing, also.

Um I report animal cruelty all the time, owner negligence, and I've been receiving threats, people are taking pictures of my house, sending them to me at night.

So that's harassment, right?

And what do I do when I feel threatened?

I call the police department, and that's why I love them so much, and I will always back them up 100%.

I want to request an investigation on the Concordia Cemetery and also Album Park.

I'm sure the police officers know what I'm talking about.

Also, I want to request for a proclamation for the animal services, animal protection officers, police department, fire department, water department, El Paso Electric, the News Feed Fund, and all the volunteers that have contributed to save animals in our streets from death and distress.

Also, it takes a teamwork for us to save an animal, and also I want to hold the judges accountable for them to do their job.

Our final and most high judge is Jesus Christ, and these judges need to do their job.

It's not fair for our officers to be in the hot weather, in the cold weather, and for them to be exposing themselves with dangerous people, and for the judges to throw down the case, and that's pretty much it.

What I want to say about cats also, please also back up our cat feeders, trap neuter return program, educate the city.

Thank you, FIRFAM for posting pro-cat stories.

Also, I want to talk about the pigeon trappers.

These businesses need to be held accountable.

The wildlife second chance rescue was here asking for an ordinance to have these businesses accountable.

How come the other businesses are held accountable?

They have to pay taxes, and not the ones that are trapping and killing our pigeons.

It's not fair.

They're shooting them, they're using them for hunting dogs, and I want to request an ordinance to be to keep the pigeon trappers accountable.

You know, when I say this in Spanish.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Bruno Vasquez.

Mr.

Vasquez's topic is El Dorado High School Architecture Program participating in a national competition.

Good afternoon, Bruno.

Good morning, uh Mayor, City Council, and fellow El Pasoans.

My name is Bruno Vasquez, and I'm speaking today as a member of the public public awareness committee of the American Institute of Architects.

Every year, the Texas Society of Architects runs a student design challenge, and this is a statewide architecture competition for middle and high school students that introduces them to architecture as a tool for problem solving and community impact.

This year, students were asked to explore how design can foster environmental, social, and cultural growth through adaptive reuse and renovation of an existing space.

The good news.

And very importantly, there is a special prize called the People's Choice Award.

And the public can vote on any project online.

So I am here to humbly request your participation and vote for El Dorado Kidos to help us spread the work and also encourage your constituents to vote as well.

Voting is open now at AIA.org.

And the winning entries receive a $1,000 prize.

And of course, bragging rights that this kids can bring to college in their future careers.

So please help out.

This is another great opportunity for our city, our city's design community to shine.

The quality of a city's built environment has a direct impact on its economic uh development and the quality of life that it offers to its people.

So I want to thank everybody for their time and attention.

Bruno, thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Rico Velazquez.

He will be followed by Fred Evans.

And both gentlemen will speak regarding the Piedra Street Closure.

Good afternoon, Rico.

Good morning, good afternoon.

And you guys have been going through it today.

Sheesh.

My name is Rico Valez.

I'm the owner of Durry's Court Public Social Apostle.

I represent the businesses that can't be here today, but we will definitely be there at your meeting on Thursday.

In regards to the proposed PJ Street Closure, the businesses in this district are not opposed to progress, infrastructure improvements, or public safety projects.

We oppose is being expected to absorb the financial destruction caused by long-term street closures.

The responsibility of a city representative is not simply to approve projects and repeat department talking points.

Your responsibility is represent the residents, taxpayers, property owners, and businesses directly impacted by these decisions.

Right now, we believe this process has been deceptive from the beginning.

First, this was presented as a city lights project.

Then the purpose changed.

Then business was told El Paso Water will simply take advantage of streets already being dug up by the city.

Later we're told EP water requires major separate upgrades altogether, potentially turning this into two separate long-term projects with well over a year of disruption.

Meanwhile, we are expected to accept changing timelines, just the shifting explanations and uncertainty surrounding our survival.

At one meeting with business owners, Representative Acevedo referenced flooding that affected his grandparents' homes years ago as part of the reasoning behind this project.

No one is dismissing the importance of flood, flood mitigation, or infrastructure improvements, but personal experience are not a substitute for transparency, economic impact studies, or responsible planning.

This sounds like a project, a passion project at our expense.

The city spends thousands on consultants, analysts, and redevelopment studies, yet somehow never seem to willing to never seem willing to fully analyze the damage these long-term closures create for the businesses that helped build these districts in the first place.

What businesses are asking for is simple.

Stop minimizing the impact.

Stop treating legitimate concerns like opposition.

Stop acting as though this decision has already been made, regardless of community input, and stop expecting small businesses to quietly absorb the consequences.

If this project truly must move forward, there needs to be a real parking and access plan, not just talk and pictures and pie in the sky.

A funded marketing campaign can informing the public where the businesses will remain open and where to actually park.

Financial assistance for impact in businesses, because that will happen.

We've seen it on Zaragoza, we've seen it on Airway, we've seen it on Cincinnati Street.

Clear accountability for timelines and delays and honest communication with the community.

What businesses will not longer do what businesses will not do any longer is sit back quietly while this is while decisions threatening our survival, a push forward without meaningful collaboration.

We are stakeholders in this district, we are taxpayers, we are employers, and we are part of this community.

We helped build this area organically with our own hard-earned dollars long before it became politically beneficial to invest in central.

I will continue speaking publicly, organizing collectively, working with the media, and considering all available legal options, all available and leak, all available legal options, including injunctive relief if necessary, until businesses are treated like partners in this process instead of being made to feed collateral standards.

Thank you, Rico.

He will be followed by Patricia Osman and Renee Pierre.

Good afternoon, Fred.

I'm Fred Evans, Five Points Development Association, Mayor Johnson, members of City Council.

As we celebrate the birth of our federal representative democracy 250 years ago, I stand before you to mourn the death of representative democracy in the five points area, the city of El Paso, Texas.

The city's forcing a bottlenecking project that will create congestion, confusion, and unsafe merging, and will close Piedra Street completely for 10 months to do it.

Five points, Manhattan Heights, the East Side Central Coalition all oppose this project because it threatens access to their neighborhoods and the threatens the very survival of small businesses.

The complete horror story is very long, but here's an impression thus far.

The city, particularly capital improvements, is not your friend.

Beware if they come bearing gifts.

They'll not ask you if you want them, they'll not allow you to participate in their design, but we'll force them on you, making clear that they know better than you what's best for you and your neighborhood.

Very briefly, here's why we feel the way we do.

District 2 representative, when told by businesses of the threat to their survival, replied, you made it through COVID.

I think you can make it through this.

And I hear you, but I still think it's a good idea, and we're going to go ahead with it.

Told by a business owner that her business was less than a year old, district two representative replied, businesses five years ago are not here today, and businesses today won't be here five years from now.

She felt disrespected.

District 2 representative announced he would specifically exclude the president of the city recognized neighborhood association from meeting because he always wanted to talk about opposition and road diets.

The president received an appropriate invitation two days before the meeting.

The director of grant-funded programs, when asked for an economic study supporting the plan cited Cincinnati Street, which five points business owners roared in derision as many of them had lost business there and moved to five points.

When asked for a copy of a state statute, he was citing as justification, replied, you replied you can file an open record request.

When it was suggested it might be helpful for the five points business owners and perhaps an expert of their own to meet with the traffic engineer to look for a better solution, he spoke he said no registered engineer in Texas can overrule the city traffic engineer.

When reminded that no one said overrule, he repeated himself.

When asked if any of the any of the people that are directly affected had a chance to speak to the contract designers of the project, his response was no, it doesn't work that way.

They work for us, not for you.

The city, like the Predatory leopard, apparently doesn't change its spots.

It did the same things in Memorial Park and Crowbridge Street and Durangito.

Five points is up against the wall.

What do we ask?

What is left to us?

Protracted legal action, such as in the duraguito, direction action in the streets.

We don't think any of those things are appropriate.

But what's left, submission?

We don't think that's acceptable either.

So sadly, I conclude that representative democracy is dead in five points in El Paso, Texas.

We've apparently entered the People's Republic of El Paso where politics and power, philosophy, and process overrule the desires of its citizens.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Patricia Osmond.

Miss Osman's topic is transparency, First Amendment civil rights of citizens.

Miss Osman Star 6, please to unmute your telephone.

Go ahead, ma'am.

Your microphone is ready.

So let me remind you of a Bible quote.

We all like a pretend for religion within the dial.

Is your fair camera to pass be the eye of the meeting?

So you're a rich man to enter the kingdom of class.

Let me remind you.

Are you harmed the least of us?

You will pay at the end.

With all the religion, that gets tossed around.

Maybe like some of the politicians who are afraid of ritual person.

This community has a lot of little head up.

Even some streetless confetti.

You need to do a little mojo, a little cursing.

So it to all the people that are harming the greater community or the few.

As we were made in Fed.

You do not you do not.

Respect is owned.

It is no given freedom.

People in this community handed their trust to you, and you all have broken it.

I thought I saw the worst of a mayor.

The Larry Francis signed off a contract to his own company.

Oh when Dean Margo getting there in the diet that property value should jack up so the city can get more taxes.

Or then Oscar Lisa, who also sat on the board, signed off on all of this mess, hiding it from the public.

I thought that was bad.

But it gets worse now.

And I think the people in this community, that two point twelve per uh, two point one two percent who voted, need to get out and vote, or actually resend you all out of office.

You'll need to be recalled.

Go vote, people.

Thank you, Ms.

Osman.

You reach the three limit, three-minute limit.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Renee Fierro.

Mr.

Fierrel's topic is Deck Plaza Project.

Good afternoon.

Uh good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Um, so I had signed up to speak on the agenda item, uh, but also on the deck park.

Um, as far as the deck park.

Uh I spoke about a month ago on that.

The mayor unfortunately was not here when you did the vote on the memorandum of understanding with the county, and I was obviously opposed to that.

Um, but public opposition is strong, like it is with the data center, and um I feel like your political at least careers will hinge on these decisions, and you can give your campaign donors what they want, and lose your political careers as we see people like DMARGO or one time uh or one-term mayors, because they tried to push up push through unpopular agendas, and when the voters had a second chance, they removed them from office.

And don't think the same fate doesn't await you if you continue with unpopular policies, the deck park being one of them.

People just don't want it, they know there are better uses for those funds.

What better way to use those funds than to pay to cancel the agreement with Meta Data Center that we're told is exorbitant funds, but so would the cost of the deck park be?

And so that money could be used for other things that would benefit everyone that people actually want to be done.

So what I encourage city council to do because I only have three minutes to speak, and I can't speak on other items, is to be more open-minded and to try to approach some of these things from outside of the box.

How would someone from another city that wanted to move here feel about these projects?

Would they agree with them?

Would this encourage them to move?

Or would it be something that they say would they look at it and they say, Well, these are not good decisions, and I don't want to invest in a community where bad decisions are being made, or look at yourself from the perspective of someone that doesn't have the power and feels powerless, but still wants and hopes that you do the right thing and make the changes that benefit all of us, not just some of us.

Because after all, as you saw, we're the many.

Nobody came in up here to speak in favor of the data center because they don't have anybody that lives in this community.

Similarly, with the people that want the deck part, yeah.

Sure, they own the businesses downside downtown, and they stand to benefit from any investments that are made downtown, but it doesn't really benefit the rest of us.

There's no real residual effect.

If the buildings downtown increase in value, they still have cut tax rates, and those those taxes get reinvested right into downtown, they're not shared with the rest of the city.

A lot of people aren't even aware of facts like that.

And a lot of these a lot of this stuff, people don't have time to research and find out the nuances.

We're depending on the city council to do the honorable and the right thing.

But there's a history, unfortunately.

Thank you, sir.

And that's why there's so much so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council that concludes call to the public.

Okay.

And for the rules of order, no use of personal cellular devices, no personal communication should take place on the days when 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 debatable motion.

Please speak into the microphone and refrain from side conversations when the meeting is in session.

For those of you joining virtually, please make sure your microphones are muted to reduce any background noise.

Okay, Ms.

Brian, believe that brings us to the consent agenda.

Yes, sir.

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.

Thank you, Miss Prime.

I make a motion to approve the consent agenda with the following revisions.

Page nine, item 25, revise per purchasing and strategic sourcing.

And that revision is to the name listed under task four to correct the name Elyia with Edilia.

Page 14 item 31.

Move to the forefront per capital improvement department.

Page 14.

Item 32.

Revise per city attorney's office.

And that revision is to strike out 212,046 and replace with 212,045 and 65 cents.

There's a motion and a second, Ms.

Bryan.

Yes, the motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded by alternate Mayor Pro Tem Federo, and this is to approve the consent agenda as revised on that motion.

Call for the vote.

Thank you, Representative Rota, in the voting session.

And that motion passes unanimously.

Mayor, I forgot we did have public comment on item nine.

Okay.

Is there a motion to reconsider?

So move.

There's a motion and a second to reconsider the consent agenda.

All in favor?

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

The motion passes.

All right.

Let's take public comment on that item, Ms.

Fry.

Item number nine.

We have Ms.

Patricia Osman at signed up to speak.

And that item is a notation of PCAR transactions from March 21st, 2026 to April 20th, 2026.

Go ahead, Ms.

Osman.

Aside from again.

You do fund to uh hand out treats to the public and at various events, kind of captured votes there.

Although by the voting count, I don't know how much that really works, but a senior center it definitely does because that's where they're voting.

I'm just curious.

There are very high, let's see.

1,600.

Almost $1,700 amount on here.

Into uh Galveston, Texas.

We've got another $3,900.

I understand.

Any of those DLE credits.

I had to do that on my own dime at one point.

And if you don't know what's the only that's completely legal education.

But we've got $605 for Miss Mack to have gone to Orlando, Florida.

And I'm kind of curious.

I know that was a uh I don't know.

What are we called?

Yeah, Miss Mike.

And get it right.

I see an A conference in Orlando, costing taxpayers six hundred and five dollars.

So she could network with other mayors, and we learn how to keep the public silent.

I'm curious whether she's also gonna go to Long Beach, California, in October for another ICMA event.

Fifteen hundred dollars.

So it's a wonder why the city employees remain silent and kind of do a lot of the back of the house work.

The public doesn't know because we're the benefits that they receive on a tax paradigm.

And then everybody in the gallery wonders why they're not listening to, because the taxpayers were actually funding a lot of the study.

And if they paid attention to the P course, we really would see it.

I do.

And it's really sad every time we look at it.

The not exactly getting reported is often the one to give, which also leads me to wonder why is that?

Can we?

Isn't that something you are you're going to not pass it through?

Thank you, Ms.

Osman.

You've reached the time limit.

Thank you, ma'am.

Okay, Ms.

Fryan.

Do we have any other public comment on any consent agenda?

Okay.

Mayor Totemra uh Chavez, will you make the motion again?

Yes.

I make a motion to approve the consent agenda.

Second.

All right, representative.

Lima.

No?

Okay.

Ms.

Miss Fryn, we have a motion and a second.

Yes, and this also includes the revisions that were previously written to item 25 and move item 31 to the forefront and revise item 32.

On that motion, call for the vote.

In the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously.

Okay.

Representative Limon.

Mayor, I make a motion to recess for one hour.

Okay.

There's a motion to recess for one hour.

Is there a second?

There's a motion and a second, Miss Prime.

There's a motion and a second to recess a council meeting for one hour.

All in favor?

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

Comment on this motion.

Okay.

Representative uh Canales.

Uh I believe there was one item where staff had requested to move it to the forefront.

It was just a single item on the regular agenda, and I imagine that was in order to allow staff to return to their duties.

They're here in the chambers.

Uh council.

Could we consider hearing that one item to allow staff to return to their duties?

It's up to the council.

Uh we're happy to recess after that.

That's a motion or second.

Is that a motion?

Um, there's another motion already on the floor.

So do we have to do a real company vote to see?

Let me let me take a roll call on the recess.

Mayor Pro Tem Chavez.

Aye.

Acevedo?

Aye.

Maldonado Rocha?

Nino?

Pierre?

Aye.

Limon?

Aye.

Canale.

No.

And the motion passes.

Okay.

So the council meeting is in recess at 12 34 p.m.

and we'll reconvene in one hour.

Yes, sir.

Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second.

There's a motion and a second to reconvene the city council meeting.

All in favor?

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

The meeting is back in session at 1 34 p.m.

And Miss Prime, I believe that blings brings us to the first reading of ordinance.

That's correct, Mayor.

These are items 13 to 15 on starting on page five.

Mayor make a motion to move on the first reading of the ordinances.

Okay, there's a motion in a second.

Ms.

Fry.

Yes, the motion was made by May Representative Limon, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, and this is to approve the first reading of ordinances, items 13 to 15 on that motion, call for the vote.

Ooh.

I'm not logged in.

Representative Limon?

Aye.

Thank you.

And the voting session.

And that motion passes unanimously.

Representatives for Trejo Niño Piero Canales, not present.

Okay, Miss Prime, let's take the regular agenda public hearing second reading of the ordinance.

Yes, this is item number 16.

This is a public hearing of an ordinance amending El Paso City Code Title IX, Health and Safety, Chapter 9.52, fire prevention code to include local amendments to the 2021 International Fire Code.

All right, can we take 16 and 17 together?

If you would like sir, item 17 is also a public hearing of an ordinance amending El Paso City Code Title 18, Building and Construction, Chapter 18.02, Building and Construction Administrative Codes to add provisions for third-party fire plan review and inspection services.

Okay, and I believe we have a short presentation.

Okay.

Mayor make a motion to approve both items.

Okay, great.

Is there a motion and there's a second?

Okay.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

My name is uh Vanilla Chavita.

Good afternoon.

Members of council and mayor.

My name is Anil Chavita.

Is that better?

Is the microphone off?

IT.

The microphone appears to be off.

Testing.

There you go.

All right.

I'll start again.

Good afternoon, uh council members and mayor.

My name is Zanil Chavida, and I'm with Planning and Inspections.

I am here to present items 16 and 17, which address the proposed updates to our third party service provider uh ordinance.

Our primary objective is uh is uh twofold.

First is to maintain the health and safety of our community while providing uh options to improve uh local customer service, and and uh these amendments will align Alpassos local codes with the Texas House Bill 14 by expand and by expanding our current program to include fire plan reviews and inspections.

We give qualified third party entities the capacity to handle these uh specialized tasks to ensure quality and safety, every registration request will be strictly vetted by the fire department and the building code official.

Uh third party services uh provider program was initiated in 2005 and it uh transitioned to include commercial work in 2014 and then moved on to a licensing program in 2016.

So for over 21 years, third party providers have helped uh safely assist development in our community.

We currently have uh two third-party companies that provide these services.

To integrate uh fire plan review and inspections into the system, we are amending two sections of our local codes.

First, chapter 1802 of the building code will be updated to our to add fire plan review and inspections.

Second, chapter 9.52 of the Health and Safety Code will create a local amendment to the 2021 International Fire Code explicitly authorizing these providers to conduct fire plan review and inspections.

The proposed amendments directly reflect the intent of Texas House Bill 14, which aims to reduce development delays across the state.

By adopting these measures locally, the city of El Paso increases its service capacity, establishes uh standardized certification uh requirements, and implements a strict audit system to preserve our plan review and inspection standards.

So, what we are proposing is an expansion to a successful third party uh program that has been in place since 2005.

The program supports development, expands service delivery, and maintains the standards uh expected for fire safety and inspections.

Uh this concludes my presentation, and and thank you if you have any questions.

Representative.

Thank you, Mayor.

This sounds like a great plan.

I'm supportive of it of it.

I just had questions around how long do you think this helps reduce wait time for the inspection to clear?

We're not gonna know that yet until we reserve uh the data, but uh with this option, we do expect uh more developers and contractors and business owners to use third party services for plan review and and uh inspections, but we're not gonna know the results till we see it in action.

Okay, and is there a plan on notifying developers or just notifying anybody that might need this inspection that there's changes and it's hopefully gonna be a little faster?

Anything like that?

Uh-huh.

We have spoken to the developers group about it.

We've spoken to the third-party uh companies about it, and uh hopefully here in the near future we'll go ahead and and uh provide more information on our website.

Okay, and would this affect anything with um buildings like first, for example, in downtown that are likely out of code?

Can we use this as a tool to inspect those buildings?

We we can use it, but we're not gonna we're not gonna be able to implement it unless they're doing construction.

But it will be applicable to any development throughout the city limits.

So the okay, so unless they're gonna make modifications or or anything like that, then that's the only way that this would affect those not buildings that are already there that we kind of already know are in bad condition, and we could use that to maybe spur more development there.

We can't use this for that.

Correct.

Yeah, for this service only, we're not able to go in there without a building permit being being uh uh acquired.

Okay.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, any further questions on item 16 or 17?

All right.

Ms.

Bryan?

Yes, sir.

There's a motion made by Representative Limon, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez to adopt the ordinances on items 16 and 17.

There is no public comment on that motion.

Call for the vote.

Representative.

Hi, thank you.

In the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously.

Okay, the sick item number 18, please.

Thank you.

Not yet.

Item 18.

Yes, sir.

Is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning at 7912 North Loop Drive from R3 residential to SD special development, imposing a condition and approving a detailed site development plan.

And there is a lady that has requested to speak during the public hearing.

All right.

There's a motion in the second.

Okay.

Can we see the presentation?

Yes.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

Item 18 is a resuming request for the property at 7912 Nordloop.

Here we have the aerial imagery of the subject property.

It is located on Nordloop and West of Yabro.

It is obviously currently developed.

So the applicant is requesting to restone this property from R3 to SD special development, as well as approval of a detail side development plan for proposed use of restaurant.

And obviously they plan to use the existing building.

So obviously in character with the area, especially fronting a main road.

Again, the main building is still gonna be there.

It's proposed to be rehabilitated from a single family home to a restaurant use.

Uh of the subject property.

Again, still there.

And then surrounding uh development around it, we have to the north uh a shopping center zone C1 and C4.

Uh to the east, we have uh single family homes and apartments, so on R3 and AO.

To the south, we have to the south and west, actually, we have single family homes on R3.

Uh the applicant did notify Corridor 20 Civic Association, uh, Mission Valley Civic Association and then Rosedale Farms Neighborhood Association.

So this proposed rezoning.

Uh notices were sent back in January 16 for the first public hearing with the C Plan Commission.

Uh at this time we have received a petition with 12 signatures in support, as well as a petition with 21 signatures in opposition, as well as one email uh to this request.

Uh let me know that we did have the president of the Roseville Farms New Association at the City Plan Commission who spoke in favor of this item at that time.

Here we have the notice map for the subject property.

So we did notify uh 31 uh property owners and within 300 feet of the property.

Uh so stop recommendation and city Plan Commission recommendation is of approval with conditions.

Uh the first condition would be that we cannot ask him for a landscape buffer along uh Nordloop and Duran Road.

This will be to kind of safeguard the residential aspect of the area, uh especially when fronting uh again a big road, uh Norloop.

Uh, second condition will be to restrict the uses of automotive service stations, more vehicle repair minor, commercial fuel station, and convenience store with gas pumps again to safeguard the residential aspect.

And the third one is uh no outdoor amplified sound shall be permitted on this property.

And with that, that concludes my presentation.

Okay, Ms.

Brian, let's take public comment on this item.

Yes, sir.

Joanna Casillas.

Good afternoon.

You have three minutes.

Good afternoon, Joanne.

Good afternoon.

My name is Janica.

I am the owner of 1779 twelve lot B.

I'm right next to that lot.

I have lived there for 20 plus years in that area.

Um I can tell you right now it's a safety issue.

The inf the structure of it does can accommodate um having uh people going into the restaurant.

There's no actual parking.

There's only like if anything, four spots, and that would have to be for the employees.

The rest of the parking would have to be out in the streets, which it is a residential area.

Now across the street, there is a commercial um shopping center where there's already restaurants, and also down one block down, there's an uh street lights.

So right there, I'm like, there's already a lot of traffic.

There is children that live in that area.

My nephew, the people that in front uh live in front of that property have children.

There's a bus stop for school for high school and middle school.

So this is to me uh what's it called?

Um it's not safety issue.

Um for a restaurant as it is.

When I was gonna buy that rental, um, that property when it went into sale.

But my the realtor told me no, and also because um they had already tried to make it from residential to commercial, and they were denied.

So now for them to come back over here and ask for it to become uh commercial, that's not right.

So I would say please look into it more because it has been denied before for to for it to become uh commercial.

Okay, um, and that's basically it.

I live in that area, I'm literally the owner right next door.

That's gonna actually gonna affect my property.

My my uh what's it called?

The value is gonna go down because there's no parking.

Anyone who goes, if it becomes a restaurant, everybody's gonna have to go into that restaurant.

Uh I did talk to uh a veteran, safety uh fire safety officer who's a veteran now, looked into the area.

We have a fire department two blocks down.

To get in there is gonna be really really hard.

And again, one block down, there's a light.

There's a uh there's lights right there.

So it does have traffic around four.

Um again, I'm opposing to this.

Please think about it.

You guys will live there, I do.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Representative Lyman.

What can you tell us about?

What can you tell us about previous requests for change in zoning?

Um, so staff is not aware of any.

Um, we're not aware of any like rezoning happening before.

Uh so it's possible maybe the previous owners were trying to do it without permits, or they try to get permits and they were obviously not issued because uh the current zoning is residential, uh, but we're not really aware of anything happening happening before.

Mayor, I did not um receive any communication from the neighbors or from anyone other than the presentation that we have.

I'd like to postpone for two weeks, please.

Okay.

There's a motion to postpone, and there's a second.

Any discussion?

Hearing Nancy and Ms.

Prime, call for the vote.

Yes, sir.

The motion was made by Representative Limon, seconded by Mayor Pro Tim Chavez, and this is to postpone the ordinance on item 18 for two weeks on that motion.

Call for the vote.

Voting session is open.

And the voting session.

And that motion passes unanimously.

Okay.

Let's take item number 19, please.

Yes, sir.

Item number 19 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning from R4 residential to A2 apartment north of Edgar Park Avenue and west of Gateway South Boulevard.

Okay.

Is there a motion to approve this item?

Move to approve.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Presentation.

Yes.

For the record, Luisa Mata with planning inspections.

Item 19 is a rezoning request for property located on Gateway South, close to a drop park.

Here we have their aerial imagery for this subject property.

It is currently vacant along Gateway South.

Existing zoning is R4s, residential.

And as you can see on this image, everything around it is single-family homes zone the same, R4.

So obviously, across the US 54, we have a commercial property and apartments.

So the request is obviously to resonate from R 4 to A2 apartments for a proposed multifamily development.

Future land use map for this area G3 post-war, which also calls for uh adding missing civic and commercial uses as well as uh adding and supplementing supplementing the limited housing stock in the area.

Uh here's the conceptual plan.

Uh, this is what the applicant submitted.

Is not binding, uh is not necessarily doesn't mean this is what's gonna be built, um, but more or less gives us give us an idea of what the proposal is.

So the proposal was to kind of develop uh five uh units in this area, and then all the limit access is through gateway south.

So we have an image of the subject property uh along gateway south.

Again, it is vacant.

Uh, and then surrounding the this property again, as I mentioned.

Uh, everything is on R4, northwest, south.

Uh, we have single-family homes uh to the east, obviously about uh US 54 and across US 54 there's apartments and commercial uh businesses.

Uh the applicant did notify Sunrise Neighborhood Association of this request.

Uh when they submitted the application, we had sent notices to property owners with 300 feet.

Uh at this time we have only received one phone call in opposition to this request.

Uh here we have the notice map.

So we did notify uh 43 property owners uh of this uh rezoning request.

And with this, staff and city plan commission uh recommendation is of approval of the rezoning request.

Okay.

Any discussion on item this item?

All right, hearing Nancy and then Ms.

Prime, call for the vote.

Yes, the motion was made by Representative Acevedo, seconded by alternate mayor pro tempero, and this is to adopt the ordinance on item 19.

There's no public comment on that motion.

Call for the vote.

And the voting session.

And that motion passes unanimously.

All right, thank you.

All right.

Ms.

Prime, let's take item number 31, please.

Yes, Mayor.

This is on page number 14.

Item 31 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application to the United States Department of Transportation requesting funding through the safe streets and roads for all grant program and an amount not to exceed 10 million seventy thousand dollars for the safe routes to transit and post-crash care initiative, including a 20% match from the City of El Paso with such 20% match to be paid from the city's general fund vision zero annual funding allocation.

Okay, is there approved there's a motion?

Is there a second?

Second, all right.

Good afternoon.

Hi, good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

Uh, this is Anna Mesa Zend from the City of El Paso Capital Improvement Department, the grant funded division.

I'm gonna be giving a brief presentation on this proposed application for the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant.

If you can go to the first slide, please.

Oh, next slide, please.

This application was put in together with collaboration with the fire department.

So zooming out, the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant is a United States Department of Transportation federal funding project call specifically to support Vision Zero initiatives or initiatives to end roadway fatalities in the United States.

Um the City of El Paso adopted a say a vision zero action plan in 2023.

It is actually a requirement for city local governments to have an action plan related to ending roadway fatalities to be eligible for this grant program.

When we became eligible in 2023, we submitted an application and we were awarded 10 million dollars to do network-wide safety improvements on our high injury corridors.

If we go to the next slide, please.

So a little bit more about that safe systems approach and what makes us eligible for this program funding.

When we adopted that Vision Zero Action Plan, we met all of the criteria that makes us eligible for this funding source, but we also laid out really, really specific action items that we would accomplish to end roadway fatalities.

And this application does accomplish one of those action items in the short-term strategies, which is to improve access to transit by identifying high priority transit centers using crash data and implement quick build and long-term safety installations at those areas to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

If we go to the next slide, please.

So what we are proposing for this 2026 application is two main elements.

That first element is safety improvements to crossings, visibility, speed management around these high risk transit centers that staff has identified.

The second element of that is a post-crash care program, which will equip frontline EMS responders to do whole blood transfusions at the point of injury, so at crash sites.

This will allow them to treat hemorrhage shock, which is one of the leading causes of preventable roadway deaths and fatalities in the city.

It also addresses a really critical gap in that safe safe system approach, which is post-crash care.

If we go to the next slide, please.

So the safety improvements that you can expect around these transit centers will largely be consistent with federal priorities, but things that will improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians, specifically lining upgrades, lighting upgrades, excuse me, signal upgrades, signage upgrades, traffic calming, speed reduction, things to improve visibility and access.

If we go to the next slide, please.

So these are the proposed facilities that we are proposing, selected based off of crash data, cycling and pedestrian demand, and geographic distribution.

The cost amounts allocated to each funding station vary between 2.1 million and 1.2 million.

If we could go to the next slide, please.

The cost breakdown is 10 million dollars with a 2 million dollar local match.

Majority of those funds would go to construction for those safety improvements with $670,000 allocated to the whole blood program implementation.

Next slide, please.

So we're expecting in the beginning of 2026 and into early 2027 to begin the planning for the post-crash care program as well as the design for the safety improvements for the transit centers.

You can expect that the rollout for the post-crash care system would happen in early 2027, and that construction for the safety improvements would begin around 2028, late 2028.

An important part of this initiative as well as this grant program is project evaluation.

So we've um excuse me, we've included in our timeline as well as our grant application, ample time to evaluate both programs, safety improvements, and the whole blood post-crash care project to make sure that they are working effectively and meeting the desired outcomes.

If we go to the next slide, please.

So the request in action for this specific grant is to approve a resolution that authorizes the city staff to apply for this grant with a 20% match of that 10 million dollars coming from the general fund Vision Zero allocation.

And that concludes the presentation.

I'm happy to answer any questions.

Very good.

Thank you.

Representative Canales.

Thank you, Mayor.

I understand there's some time pressure, so we'll I'll go quickly.

Um I can see the two primary EMS stations labeled on the map in the purple dots on slide six.

Can you detail a little bit more?

Like I know where the transit centers are for the other portion, but where those two deployment points are.

Yeah, so my understanding is that these two locations where they will be keeping the primary blood is mostly for storage purposes, but that all frontline EMS responders would be equipped to carry it on them.

Strategically, those storage units are placed, I think, kind of centrally located to the high injury network, with the understanding that they would be able to reach any crash site within the city, I believe, within a 16-minute radius.

Within a 16-minute time frame, excuse me.

Are they centered at are they uh fire stations or is this uh other medical facilities?

I'll defer to the fire chief who is with us.

Good afternoon, chief.

Good afternoon, Mayor Council.

Uh Gustavo Cavalry, Chief of the Fire Department.

So the locations of those whole blood programs uh it's actually uh stated in our supervisor locations.

So those two stations have uh house our supervisors, right?

They're deployable to pretty much all the city.

So they're the ones that are gonna be a big part of uh being able to get that blood within uh within quick response to be able to uh supply that blood.

Okay, and can I ask if and I know it's very early where it's just applying for the grant.

Do we have an identified source of the whole blood?

Identified course, yes.

Yes, so we when we ran the data as to who would benefit from this, you know, program.

Um we I annually we're looking at about 46 um cases where they can actually uh benefit from it.

So we start there as we go in and implement this program, then we can see the more value to it right now.

We're focusing on on trauma, but there's more use to it.

There's also uh hemorrhaging of uh medical uh incidents as well.

So we incorporate those as well as we move forward, you know, into the with the program.

Yeah, I guess I meant to ask like where where will we source the blood from?

Is it local local blood bank?

So next next meeting, you actually yes, I you actually uh be we will be bringing forward the an agreement with Vikalent, okay, right?

And they'll be the uh blood suppliers.

Wonderful.

Before I was uh in elected office, I was the chair of the community board at Vitalent.

I love the work that they do.

I wish that I could still uh commit to them to do that work now.

So uh I was hoping that was the answer you would give.

I think they provide excellent service and uh we'll be happy to deploy some of their blood into the community.

Thanks, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh thank you, Anna, for the presentation.

So when I got briefed, um I asked on slide three where it says 48% of all killed or seriously injured crashes are within 250 feet of a transit stop.

What is comprised of the other 52 percent?

So that is a metric that is coming directly from our vision zero action plan.

It's not per se saying that um you know 60 or whatever the remaining percent can be attributed to something specifically, rather that a total of the KSI crashes are happening at 48% near those transit facility locations.

So there isn't a um statistic in the Vision Zero action bill that necessarily counters that statistic that makes up for a whole percentage, but we do have data or statistics on um you know specific conditions that might contribute to KSI.

For example, I think like dark lighting conditions, 70% of our fatal pedestrian crashes happen in dark lighting conditions, so none of them sort of um make up for a whole hundred percent, rather it shows a breakout of what percent can be attributed to that area.

Okay, but there's probably other injuries that are occurring within your HIN that are a per a certain percentage, but we don't have that data right now.

Uh if you could ask for a specific metric, I could I could look into that, but not not specifically not other breakdowns for the KSI breakdown.

Okay.

Um so this grant opportunity I think opened up in March, late March.

Was any input from council um asked before uh deciding to go for transit centers specifically?

I'd like to defer to my director Joaquin if that's okay on the question.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Juan King.

Good afternoon, Mary Council Joaquin Rodriguez grant funded program director.

Um so we don't typically come to city council for ideas for the grants.

This grant program specifically is targeted towards communities who are implementing their vision zero action plans.

As Anna mentioned, our vision zero action plan specifically states the need for uh transit improvement or improvements surrounding transit facilities and protecting transit users.

Um council has given that input in the past, by adopting the Vision Zero Action Plan and by adopting a complete streets policy, which both direct us as staff to prioritize vulnerable users in our transportation system and subsequent improvements.

So no council input was taken prior to deciding to do transit centers specifically?

That council input again is derived from council's adoption of prior planning documents.

Okay.

Well, when prior documents were um approved by council, I wasn't on council, so that's why I'm asking.

Why can't because I wasn't a part of those conversations back then?

Um the U.S.

Department of Transportation advocates for redundancy.

Um how is redundancy taken into consideration by going uh for transit centers here in this grant?

I'm not sure I understand the question.

Okay, so um the 2026 SS4A um uh NOFO is part of the Vision Zero plan, right?

The grant that you're submitting for is part of the vision zero plan?

No, the the funding opportunity requires communities to have an adopted vision zero or safety action plan to qualify for applying for the grant.

Okay, and I know the U.S.

Department of Transportation highly advocates for redundancy.

So, like if you're doing safe routes to school, for example, or bike lanes or whatever, they they promote redundancy.

Is this grant going uh specifically in that direction?

I think there's a lot of different ways you can look at the term redundancy if we're thinking about it in terms of our transportation network.

There's redundancy and safety for vulnerable users if you're looking at a bike lane, right?

We have striping that indicates to drivers that that is a bike lane.

We can install delineators that indicates to drivers that that is a bike lane.

We can do educational programs to indicate to cyclists how to use bike lanes and vice versa for drivers.

Those things would constitute redundancy.

If anything, these physical infrastructure improvements surrounding our trans transportation facilities would also be supportive of redundancy.

The network that we have in place now is adequate, but we can make improvements to make it better and safer for uh pedestrians and cyclists and other vulnerable users.

I would say that that constitutes redundancy.

So the transit centers is part of the redundancy?

I you would you would really have to define redundancy a little more specifically for me to give you a more specific answer.

Okay, let me ask another question.

How do uh the high impact networks that you've identified in District One specifically benefit from this grant?

If there are transit users in District One either using transit directly in the district or walking or cycling to the transit facility in district one, they would benefit from this grant.

But there is no transit center in district one.

The West Side Transit Transfer Center is right on the border of District 1 and District 8.

But not in District 1.

Correct.

So again, how does high impact networks uh how does District 1 high impact networks HINs benefit from this?

So HIN stands for high injury network.

Yes.

That's the network of roadways in our community where the most our highest concentration of severe injuries and fatal crashes are occurring.

This project does not specifically look at the high injury network since it's focused on transit.

Most of those transit facilities do lie within the higher energy network or in close proximity to it, but specifically we're looking at access to and from transit centers with this grant.

So if there are transit users within your district, whether they're using transit within district one or perhaps driving somewhere and using transit coming downtown and using transit, all of those folks would benefit from this grant.

I think when we're talking about fatalities and serious injuries within our community, the Federal Highway Administration has established a rating scale where they assign a monetary value to these fatal injuries and severe crashes, and that rating scale essentially assigns an economic impact to the community of certain types of crashes.

So any fatality or serious injury that we can avoid on our roadways is in essence a economic benefit to our community as a whole.

And and I appreciate the work that you and your department desk walking.

Unfortunately, this grant does not uh is not district one is not included in this grant at all.

There's there's nothing on your slide here that includes district one, and I don't see where the direct benefits gonna be to district one.

I know that the post-crash care program potentially could, but even Fire Station 31 is about 20 minutes if I map it out on Google Maps from the most northern part of District One.

Um it's it's a big distance away.

So there is there's nothing in this grant that would benefit directly my constituents.

So my understanding is the average response time for the rescue operations captains from those two fire stations to any point in the city would be I think 11 and a half minutes, with some response times being as much as 16 minutes.

And I understand, but it's still a distance, a good distance away.

Um and I just wanted to read some statistics here.

According to uh recent newspapers, the city of Al Paso, you know, the population is actually declining, but since the 2020 census, district one specifically has grown.

So while the city is uh population is declining, district one's constituency has grown by about seven point two percent according to a recent census.

District one is growing, um, and unfortunately, you know, I don't have a transit center, you are correct, but by specifically targeting transit centers through this grant, district one has been completely eliminated from this grant, and there's two million dollars that it's being asked from council approval through our general fund.

Um, and I just don't see how my constituency is really gonna benefit.

Of course, if they do use the transit center, which I'm assuming some do.

I'm I'm not saying no one does from district one, some do, but uh there's gonna be little to no benefit to district one through this grant.

Um, and there was no um council opinion asked prior to deciding to uh target transit centers for our application process for this application process.

Is that correct as I've mentioned before, council's opinion and input to us is through the planning process in Vision Zero Complete Streets, number of other planning documents.

So we may have to just agree to disagree on on that.

Yes, and and because of that, I mean I am asked to vote in favor of this, and it's difficult for me to vote in favor of something that has little to no benefit to my constituents, especially when there's a two million dollar match from the general fund from the city.

But again, I I like uh I thank you for the work that you've done.

And and I know that you in general have the best interest of our community at heart, and just this specifically today, I will not be able to support, but I I appreciate the work that you do, and Anna, thank you for the presentation, and thank you, Chief.

Also, thank you.

Representative Acevedo.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, so it looks like a good plan in general.

This is targeting transit centers, right?

And is there something else that you've pursued that is targeting just bus stops in general with Sun Metro rising coming in?

My constituents are being really affected by one of the routes, and a lot of them have mobility issues, and the routes to the new stops are kind of an impediment to them.

So, trying to understand if there's other money that's also available in this same fashion to make it more accessible, safer, etc.

So it's not something that we've targeted specifically.

I know that um Jerry and Anthony and their team at Sun Metro have invested significantly in uh looking at sidewalk gaps and accessibility issues on the way to the new stops or on the routes that folks will be uh walking to the stops that are uh you know being retained as part of the Summeter Rising.

I can't speak specifically to the amount of funding that they've invested so far, but I know that there is an effort to ensure that there are safe and accessible routes to those those newly laid out stops as part of Sun Metro Rising.

Okay.

I I appreciate that.

I just had a heartbreaking meeting a few weeks ago, and it's specifically in South Central, Route 65 is replacing 24, and there's people that use it two to four times a day, they have a stop that is being removed from in front of where they live in in housing by home, and people were in walkers, cold weather, hot weather, all of that was brought up, and they've come to public comments.

So I think I'll add just as a general comment.

This grant is not replacing the other work that the city is doing in terms of uh, you know, transportation safety and and accessibility.

We still have the accessibility on demand program, which includes funding for sidewalk gaps.

Um, we still have the vision zero quick build project uh program that can address some of these other safety concerns throughout the community.

This is just one grant program.

Um you may recall in the past we have dedicated funding to safe routes to school, we've dedicated funding to safe routes to parks, safe routes to transit was sort of the next logical step in that safe routes portfolio.

And and that makes sense.

I guess I'll I'll get with you offline just to kind of tell you about the issues that are are being presented here with that specific change and how it's affecting a large portion of South Central Paso.

And I guess one of the other questions that I had was that I see that the Five Points Transit Center is would be getting 1.8 million dollars, and the five points transit centers on the district eight side of Piedras Street, right?

So um it's not necessarily my district, but it's right adjacent to it.

So I'm just wondering is that 1.8 million dollars gonna close streets around um the transit center when you're doing any of the work?

Close streets?

Close street closure.

You're gonna do striping, is it minimal?

It's not really something we we would know at this point.

The grant request includes funding for design of these projects.

So we would have uh a consultant come in and really examine the uh pedestrian and cycle network around those transit facilities and try to come up with a package of improvements that is you know appropriate and site and context specific for that transit center as far as you know future planned closures as we do with all of our projects.

We try to mitigate the impact on the community whenever we have a street or roadway closure.

Okay, I appreciate it.

Thank you.

All right, any more discussion on item 31?

All right, hearing then seeing that Ms.

Prime, please call for the vote on 31.

Yes, sir.

The motion was made by alternate mayo pro tempiero seconded by representative canales, and this is to approve the resolution on item 31.

On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session, and that motion passes seven to one.

Representative Chavez voting nay, the remainder of council voting.

I the motion carries.

Okay, let's take item number 20, please.

Yes, sir.

We now return to page number eight to item number twenty, and this is discussion and action on a resolution to reappoint to the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, Monica Al Perez to position one, and Christopher Linder to position five.

All right, there's a motion and second.

Any discussion?

Ms.

Bryan.

The motion was made by alternate mayor pro tempiero, seconded by representative Limon, and this is to approve the resolution on item 20 on that motion call for the vote.

And the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously.

Okay, let's take item 21, please.

Yes, sir.

Item 21 is discussion in action on a resolution to authorize the expenditure of District 7 discretionary funds and an amount not to exceed $845 for hygiene stations and an obstacle course for the 2026 Ralph T.

Clout Bel Air Neighborhood Association Community Cookout at Ralph T.

Clout Park, and this item was submitted by Representative Limo.

Representative approved second.

There's a motion and second.

Any discussion?

Okay, Ms.

Prime.

The motion was made by Representative Limon, seconded by alternate mayor pro tempero, and this is to approve the resolution on item 21 on that motion call for the vote.

Voting session is open.

In the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously.

Okay, the stake item number 22, please.

Item 22 is discussion in action to adopt a as a general policy direction of the city of Al Paso that future development of hyperscale data centers should not be actively recruited, pursued or incentivized due to their misalignment with a city's long-term sustainability and infrastructure resilience goals that hyperscale data centers shall not be considered for tax abatements, rebates, permit be waivers, public financing assistance, economic development grants or similar economic development tools, and that the policy directions effectuated by this action remain in effect until and unless reversed by the city council.

Further directing the city manager to continue the ongoing process for the development of a future focused data center policy framework for consideration by the city council.

This item was submitted by Representative Carnales.

Okay, Representative Canalis.

Move to approve.

Sir, second.

Alright, Ms.

Park, we're gonna take uh members of the public comment first.

Yes, sir.

Since they've been here all day.

Yes, we have uh Marcy Chavez, Marcy Chavez.

I don't see her, uh Alexandra Echaugayen.

I don't see her in the queue.

Jackie Aguirre.

Jackie Aguirre.

I don't see her coming forward.

Joaquin Madrid.

Joaquin Madrid.

Um cook.

I don't see the phone number in the queue.

Anthony Rodriguez.

I don't see the phone number in the queue.

Joshua Jures.

I don't see that phone number in the queue either.

Uh Priscilla Savala.

No, hello.

I'm sorry, sir.

Your name?

Joshua Drews.

Okay, go ahead, sir.

You have three minutes.

Thank you so much.

Mayor Johnson and City Council members.

My name is Joshua Drew.

I'm a resident of East El Paso, and I'm speaking on item 22.

I, along with many Alpassans that you heard earlier, and the thousands who are not present, all agree that we don't want the data centers here in our city and county.

Our elected officials on the state and federal level are not going to put forward a comprehensive people first policy framework over the data centers.

So we must act locally in order to protect our resources for the future generations.

And I think honestly, today's item vote on uh vote on item 22 is going to be a very easy yes in support of creating a policy around this.