El Paso City Council votes to reject groups' propositions to reform local elections
After an hourslong executive session, the El Paso City Council on Tuesday voted 4-2 to reject three election propositions put forth by Justicia Fronteriza and El Pasoans for Fair Elections.
The groups had gathered over 14,000 signatures in support of the petition.
In the end, El Paso city Reps. Cassandra Hernandez, Cissy Lizarraga, Joe Molinar and Claudia Rodriguez voted for a motion to deny the three ordinance proposals, which would have capped individual campaign contributions, provided public funding for community candidates and introduced ranked-choice voting in local elections.
City Reps. Alexsandra Annello and Isabel Salcido voted against the denial motion. City Reps. Peter Svarzbein and Henry Rivera, as well as El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser, were not present for the vote.
Ifapproved by the council, the propositions would have become local ordinances. The groups now have the option of collecting a second round of signatures to have the three propositions appear before voters in May.
"We are disappointed that despite our best efforts, (four) council members denied the petition based on what we believe to be a misinterpretation of the law," Justicia Fronteriza said in a statement issued after the vote. "Similar propositions have been adopted by Austin either without incident or having survived legal challenges."
Justicia Fronteriza is a Texas-based, progressive political action committee headed by former mayoral candidate Veronica Carbajal and "dedicated to bringing fairness, equity and justice" to the border region, according to its website. El Pasoans for Fair Elections, an offshoot of Justicia Fronteriza, is a super PAC established for the purpose of advancing the three propositions.
At question were three propositions, which the two organizations were able to bring before the council for consideration after collecting signatures amounting to 5% of the voters who cast ballots in the 2020 general election.
The proposed ordinances read in part as follows:
Proposition A: The city of El Paso shall limit contributions to political campaigns for mayor and City Council to $1,000.00 per individual donor per election, require campaign donors to disclose their place of employment, and adopt enforcement provisions.
Proposition B: The city of El Paso shall establish a program of public financing for candidates for mayor and City Council who voluntarily agree to limit their campaign contributions and expenditures and demonstrate community support for their candidacy.
Proposition C: The city of El Paso shall use ranked choice voting for the election of mayor and City Council where voters rank candidates (up to five) in order of preference, and if no candidate receives a majority, candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated and the votes they received are transferred to voter’s second choice, and so on until there is a majority vote for one candidate, so long as permitted by state law.
When the propositions were introduced for discussion, the council immediately moved to enter executive session – a move Annello opposed. Council members discussed the three items for about two hours in private.
Cost for runoff elections called wasteful
Scores of people turned out to speak, chimed in online or submitted statements to their representatives in support of the three propositions, saying they would create fairer and more inclusive elections in El Paso and that ranked-choice voting would eliminate the need for expensive runoffs.
During her comments, Raquel Rojo, treasurer for Justicia Fronteriza, stated that the 2020 runoff cost the city around $700,000 and only garnered a 13% voter turnout rate.
"This seems like an unneeded waste," Rojo said.
For Aby Perea and many others, the biggest concern was the impact a handful of "big-money donors" are having on elections, even on candidates outside of their districts.
"Saying yes to these things would definitely not be standing in the way of democracy," said Perea, an activist with both Justicia Fronteriza and Sunrise El Paso. "You would be helping promote it ... listen to us more."
Andrew Segura, an organizer with Sunrise El Paso, said elections are being bought by "oligarchs" all over the country and "El Paso is no different."
"This city is being exploited to help a select few," Segura said. "We're just asking you to do the jobs you were elected to do and represent the people. This should be the top priority of the council."
Janet Flores, who could not be in attendance, submitted a statement to be read by Molinar, her city representative. In it, she asserted that council members are regularly acting on behalf of wealthy donors, even those who live outside of their districts, and asserted that a cap on campaign contributions would limit the power donors have over elected officials.
"Officials must prioritize the needs of the community they were elected to serve," Flores said in the statement, "not the needs of those who put the most money in their pockets."
Miguel Escoto, a resident of District 1, said the three propositions would create "more fair and free elections" and represent a "people's mandate" to the council.
"They're a no-brainer," Escoto said. "This was one of the easiest things to have people sign onto.
"It is rare for, in your position, to have so many of your constituents speak up for a policy proposal," he continued. "This is something you should appreciate and defend."
Language in propositions raised legal concerns
After public comments had ceased, Hernandez sought to assure the public that the council is committed to upholding democracy, but said that the council – after consulting with legal counsel – had concerns that the language in the propositions may open the city up to legal challenges.
But Justicia Fronteriza contested that notion.
"We did our due diligence and vetted the legality of each of our propositions prior to collecting signatures," the group said in the statement. "We did so because we did not want to waste our limited resources or volunteers’ time on measures that could then be obstructed with litigation. Our proposition language also allowed the city to 'sever' any portion of the ordinances that is held unlawful by a court of law, while allowing the rest of the ordinance to continue in force."
Hernandez made a motion to direct the city manager and city attorney's offices to create a cross-functional team to establish a version of the ordinances that are within legal parameters and directed by the city's strategic plan to be presented to the council at the first meeting in December.
The motion was approved, with only Salcido voting against it, but then there was confusion over whether or not the council still had to vote on the three propositions.
El Paso City Attorney Karla Nieman confirmed that they did and Hernandez moved to deny all three propositions.
"To be clear, the ballot initiative process is a last resort for voters who do not feel represented," the Justicia Fronteriza statement said. "Collecting signatures is an arduous task and it should not be a requisite for being heard. To our point, how many times have the largest campaign donors in El Paso had to collect signatures to get access to contracts, projects, incentives, etc.? How many times have they been made to wait for hours of executive session on items that benefit them prior to public comment?
"We will not succumb to such tactics," the statement continued. "We will continue to fight for fair elections because we know that it is the pathway for a local government that works for the people."
Final Proposed Ordinance Language March 2022 by El Paso Times on Scribd
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso City Council reject propositions to reform local elections