Crowded field of City Council candidates means big choices for El Paso voters
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect two new candidates in District 1. The deadline to file as a candidate was Aug. 22.
Eighteen candidates are officially vying for four seats on the El Paso City Council, giving voters a wealth of choice when it comes to representation in Districts 1, 5, 6 and 8.
Monday was the filing deadline for the November election. Filing deadline day closed with one surprise when former state Rep. Joe Pickett announced he had decided at the last minute against running for City Council in District 5.
The fall election features two races with incumbents ‒ District 5 Rep. Isabel Salcido and District 6 Rep. Claudia Rodriguez ‒ seeking reelection and two races in open districts, where the incumbents are not seeking reelection or were not eligible to seek reelection because of term limits.
The candidates are seeking four-year-terms in the Nov. 8 election.
Here is a breakdown of the candidates by districts:
District 1
Seven candidates are up for consideration, including Freddy Khlayel Avalos, Deliris Montanez Berrios, Lauren Ferris, Dave Jones, Brian Kennedy, Analisa Cordova Silverstein and Erin Tague.
Candidate Deliris Montanez Berrios, who was defeated by U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, in a 2022 primary election bid to represent El Paso in Congress, has ambitious goals for District 1, including improving city infrastructure, bolstering law enforcement, introducing better-paying jobs, mental health and wellness initiatives.
"I decided to become vulnerable to personal and professional attacks and run for the City Council Rep. D-1 seat because our district needs the most educated, experienced and hearted public servant to assist our elected mayor to strive and make the Sun City shine like never before in the Lone Star State," Berrios said in a text message. "Our children, teachers and first responders need the best support when needed, not just during business hours."
She is a former Border Patrol agent.
Candidate Dave Jones, a retired Army major, said the biggest reason for getting into this year's race is to improve upon the failings of outgoing District 1 Rep. Peter Svarzbein, who has served two terms and cannot run for reelection.
"He only catered to a certain clique on the West Side," Jones said of Svarzbein. "If you had a business, he listened to you. If you weren't a business owner, if you were just an average resident, you didn't have a voice. I want to listen to the people who have gone unheard for the last eight years."
Road work is a big priority for Jones, who said Shuster Avenue and a number of streets across the West Side have gone "unattended" for years. He plans to use his experience in the Army to tackle priorities important to residents.
"What I learned in the Army, you start from the top and you just start getting things done," Jones said.
Brian Kennedy, who launched his campaign website earlier this month, enters the race with a focus on lowering taxes and increasing the council's oversight role as it relates to the city manager.
"To me, taxes are real simple," Kennedy said, noting the city's recent heralding of a tax rate decrease that amounts to an increased tax bill. "You look at what you spent last year and what you're spending this year - if it went up, they raised my taxes."
Kennedy also contends that the City Council has forgotten the city manager works for them and has neglected its responsibility to oversee the office.
"The city manager can move a million dollars from one project to another without asking anyone," Kennedy said. "I just think there needs to be more oversight. I don't think the City Council is doing their job for oversight."
He is a former director and CEO of the El Paso Coliseum and the El Paso Sports Commission, according to his website.
Silverstein is a fourth generation El Pasoan and former staffer for Texas Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso.
"I'm very community centered," Silverstein said, noting her work in student government while studying at the University of Texas El Paso and her involvement with area non-profit organizations. "I love this community and that's what made me want to run."
Silverstein said the council needs "experienced people" able to unite the community and, if elected, she plans to turn her focus toward tax relief for El Paso families, saying she would focus on keeping up the "momentum of economic development," which recruits big businesses to the area and offsets the tax burden to citizens.
Additionally, she said there needs to be broader investment in public safety and a concerted effort to keep libraries, museums, parks and senior centers open to the public.
"I think that we need to work harder to make sure the city facilities are available to the people who need them the most," Silverstein said.
She is an account executive for Hello Amigo, a website design and advertising agency.
Rounding out the five-candidate race is Erin Tague, who made El Paso home after meeting her husband while serving on Fort Bliss in 2009. Tague said the City Council needs "patriots in office versus politicians."
Among her top priorities is improving flood control measures along Doniphan Drive, which she said will only see further growth if proposed funding for the port of entry construction is ever realized.
Additionally, Tague, a software project manager, wants to tackle city spending and taxes, as well as increase "transparency in education."
"Parents need to know that they should have more control over their children's education," Tague said. "We just need to improve that. Get parents more engaged and make sure that schools are teaching appropriate content."
Tague said efforts should be made to ensure "inappropriate books" are not making their way into school libraries and that schools are not teaching students about sexuality or critical race theory (CRT), subjects she contends should be "within the control of the parents."
"A lot of schools are going into those subjects and they really shouldn't be," Tague said.
The City Council does not set policy for local school districts.
Avalos, whose filing documents list him as an entrepreneur, and Ferris, whose filing documents list her as an attorney, joined the race just before the filing deadline Monday. Neither has responded to a request for comment.
District 5
Two candidates are vying to replace incumbent Salcido in November: Richard Genera and Felix Munoz.
For Richard Genera, whose filing documents list his occupation as teller, the decision to enter the race came after helping a friend with a 2020 campaign and then launching a city government watchdog podcast the following year.
Genera said he has been disappointed with Salcido's inactivity "at the dais or in the community" and he wants to be a city representative engaged with his constituents.
"I want to rebuild their trust in local government," Genera said.
Genera said his first task if elected would be to analyze years of budgets, with an eye toward finding waste, and then report back to his constituents to find support for cuts.
"There's no way we're going to get our property taxes under control without making sacrifices," Genera said. "Unfortunately, that's where we are."
Genera also voiced expressed frustration with the city's animal services department, which he said is facing overfilled and understaffed shelters and imposing "cruel and inhumane" conditions on animals.
Candidate Felix Munoz, a retired federal law enforcement officer, hopes to distinguish himself by turning his focus towards realistic agenda items - while other candidates are talking about infrastructure, roads and parks, Munoz said he is focused on public safety and education.
"It's always the same thing," Munoz said. "For me, I think my agenda is that we need more police officers, we need police officers in our schools and, especially in our district we need more schools."
Salcido did not respond to a request for comment.
District 6
Incumbent Rodriguez is being challenged by three opponents, including Cristian Botello, Art Fierro and Benjamin Leyva.
Of the four candidates in the race, only former state Rep. Art Fierro, who lost his reelection bid earlier this year to Texas Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez, responded to requests for comment on the upcoming race.
Botello lists his occupation as a marketing coordination and Leyva lists his occupation as a doctor, according to filing documents.
Like many candidates, Fierro is most concerned with rising property taxes.
"We're living in a time where inflation is going through the roof ‒ food, gas ‒ and then you look at our seniors living on very fixed incomes," Fierro said. "How can you budget when you don't know what your property tax bill is going to be?"
With the city taking in 30 percent of every tax dollar, Fierro said he wondered if El Pasoans are getting what they pay for as roads continue to be riddled with potholes and public transit remains spotty.
"People's lives are being affected," Fierro said. "We have issues with our streets, we have issues with our walking paths, our bike paths. We talk about improving our community to keep our children here, but we're not moving forward with it."
Fierro also said he wants to focus on transparency within the council and the city manager's office, while also taking a stance on issues not necessarily within the council's purview, such as gun control and women's reproductive rights. Fierro noted that when the council discussed its legislative priorities for the upcoming session, Rodriguez voted against measures aimed at gun safety and women's reproductive rights.
"We have to take up issues like women's reproductive health," said Fierro, a marketing and public relations consultant. "As a community, we have got to step up and fight for women's reproductive health. If we don't do it, who else is going to do it?"
District 8
Four candidates are running to replace city Rep. Cissy Lizarraga, who is not seeking reelection. Among them are Chris Canales, Cruz Morales, Bettina Olivares and Rich Wright.
El Barrio Sports Club Director Cruz Morales, who has grown weary of nothing getting done in his community, said he wants to "shed light on what is needed in (District 8) neighborhoods."
"We've been asking District 8 for help, but we don't get much help," Morales said. "The city of El Paso does not help us with basic amenities."
First on Morales' agenda is taking on rising taxes.
"No more taxes at all for our people," Morales said. "Our people here are not well off."
Morales also wants to see more programs to assist residents struggling financially, as well as seniors and young people, with a keen eye toward addressing the scourge of fentanyl on the community.
"Sometimes we need people to get out into our neighborhoods and hit the ground running," Morales said.
Like Morales, Wright, whose filing documents list his occupation as blogger, has his eyes on taxes.
"Taxes represent a drain on the economy, which retards our economic development," said Wright, who launched the local political blog El Chuqueno a decade ago to keep tabs on city government.
Wright said he is "focused on the needs of the average El Pasoan," rather than attracting "people from out of town," which he said has been the council's priority for the last decade.
The two other candidates, Chris Canales and Bettina Olivares, did not respond to requests for comment. They have both worked as City Council staff aides.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Crowded field of council candidates means big choices for El Paso voters
