El Paso City Council candidates take their message to voters in District 2 forum

With Election Day in the El Paso City Council District 2 race a little over a week away, the recently formed Central Neighborhood Association hosted a forum to give voters one last opportunity to hear from the candidates.

Four candidates have entered the race to replace current District 2 city Rep. Alexsandra Annello, who is leaving her seat on City Council to run for the Texas House District 77 seat being vacated by longtime state Rep. Lina Ortega.

A couple dozen residents gathered at Memorial Park Senior Center Nov. 28 to hear from the candidates — lawyer and activist Veronica Carbajal, El Paso Independent School District trustee Josh Acevedo, longtime City Hall staffer Judy Gutierrez and mediator Ben Mendoza — who sat behind a makeshift podium and took turns answering questions just below a Bingo board.

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In an earlier forum on Nov. 18 hosted by Amanecer People's Project, formerly Sunrise El Paso, two candidates showed up, Carbajal and Acevedo, while all four were in attendance for a Nov. 14 forum hosted by the El Paso Chamber.

As the forum kicked off, Central Neighborhood Association President Victor Barrajas welcomed those in attendance. They talked about District 2, El Paso's "abandoned district," and the need for a city representative who will fight to provide Central El Paso with the opportunities now being stockpiled in other parts of the city.

"We want to have the things the East Side has, the West Side has," Barrajas said. "We want to be given a voice."

"At the end of the day, the candidates, whoever's going to be representing us, they represent us," he added. "And that's something we've always got to remember."

Getting to know the candidates

The night kicked off with each candidate introducing themselves to those gathered at the senior center, but while most of the candidates ran down their bona fides and experience, Carbajal lashed out at City Hall, comparing it to an amusement park where some citizens can afford a "fast pass."

"We all love fast pass," she said, "how do I avoid the line? That's fine at Disneyland, it's not fine at City Hall."

Mendoza, on the other hand, took a shot at Annello, who he asserted is abandoning the people of District 2 to seek higher office.

"This is a special election," Mendoza said. "The way I see it is, it's super special, because one of us four here is going to fill an unexpired term of a person who's more ambitious than her commitment to her office."

Acevedo, meanwhile, talked about his school board experience and the importance of taking part in selecting the next city manager.

Gutierrez focused on her 24 years of experience working in City Hall managing city representatives' offices, which she said gives her a "unique perspective" and an "advantage" in the race.

What are the candidates' priorities?

Among a list of questions Neighborhood Association members had drafted, candidates were first asked to name their biggest priorities for District 2 and the city.

For Gutierrez, there was only one priority: three years ago, she recalled, three children were killed in a traffic crash at the intersection of Titanic Avenue and Howard Street, and, to date, nothing has been done to slow traffic in the area, which continues to see collisions.

While vying for the District 2 seat against Annello, Gutierrez visited the crash scene, met with families, and advocated for a four-way stop in the area.

Annello took up the same pledge, and now three years later, Gutierrez said, the people of that neighborhood "didn't get a damn thing."

Though more numerous than Gutierrez's, Acevedo's priorities were likewise focused on District 2.

He called for broad work on District 2 streets and parks, including reopening the pool at Grandview Park and addressing irrigation and lighting issues at Memorial Park.

"There's a lot of issues happening in District 2," Acevedo said, adding later, "We need to get to the basics."

Carbajal, by contrast, focused on significant issues like campaign finance reform, an issue she and her political action committee, Justicia Fronteriza, have successfully pushed to the forefront of City Council discussions in recent months.

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"Getting that passed, in the books, is a priority," she said.

Additionally, she called for pushing back against the planned I-10 expansion through El Paso, expanding public transportation in the city and tackling air quality issues and property taxes. She said problems could be addressed if the city did "not subsidize the richest El Pasoans."

For Mendoza, property taxes were the number one priority.

"Taxes are of grave concern," he said. "That's why we have a lot of people, especially in our district ... a lot of vacant homes and that has given light to vagrancy."

Mendoza again called for establishing a citizen police commission to vet recruits and discussed the need to pave the numerous alleyways throughout District 2.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso City Council District 2 candidates talk priorities in forum