Will Josh Acevedo be able to improve District 2, city as new El Paso City Council member?

A wide grin stretched across Josh Acevedo's face as he listened to Judge Josh Herrera deliver the oath of office this week, officially making Acevedo the newest member of the El Paso City Council.

Acevedo, the former El Paso Independent School District trustee who recently won the District 2 runoff election, was sworn into office Tuesday, Jan. 30, before the start of his first City Council meeting.

A new face on the City Council, it's currently unclear what influence Acevedo will have on a City Council seemingly focused on curbing City Hall spending and curtailing the influence of big business.

His first vote on the City Council found him at odds with the majority of his new colleagues, who voted 6-2 to reject a call from city Rep. Chris Canales to have the city send a letter to the General Services Administration supporting the removal of commercial-truck traffic from the Bridge of the Americas as part of an upcoming modernization project.

The City Council was rocked last January with the election of city Reps. Brian Kennedy, Art Fierro and Canales, who quickly made their agendas known — in short order, the three new council members moved on two contentious City Hall issues.

The trio led the charge to cancel plans for an arena in Duranguito and, without the support of Canales, terminate former City Manager Tommy Gonzalez's contract.

The new council members were supported in both instances by former city Rep. Alexsandra Annello, whose seat Acevedo is now filling, and city Rep. Joe Molinar, a voice on City Council who consistently backs a fiscally- and socially-conservative approach to city government.

City Reps. Cassandra Hernandez, Henry Rivera and Isabel Salcido, a bloc that seems more focused on a pro-business agenda — all three voted against ending Gonzalez's contract and abandoning plans for an arena in the historic Duranguito neighborhood.

One thing is clear: Acevedo's election shows District 2 voters rejecting the hardline stance of his special election opponent, Veronica Carbajal, on campaign finance reform and progressivism.

Acevedo could represent a swing vote on the council. He received campaign support from the El Paso Electric Company Employee PAC, the Texas Association of Realtors PAC and the El Paso Association of Contractors. Acevedo enters his council term to tackle bread-and-butter issues important to the residents of District 2.

"If you see my work at EPISD, a lot of our decisions have been unanimous," he said a day before being sworn in, "so I see myself as a relationship builder and I'm willing to work with everyone."

"I want the city to become community-oriented in everything they're doing," Acevedo continued. "I have a long list of constituent concerns ... and I want to begin getting people a timeline, an answer, on how we can fix the most important things (for them)."

'Staying engaged in all politics'

His election to the City Council represents Acevedo's third electoral success, but it's only the latest in a long history of political involvement dating back to his days at El Paso High School.

Acevedo said he was 16 years old in 2005 when he first started taking an interest in local politics, particularly the back-and-forth seen on the City Council.

"I really started to understand city government and couldn't wait to cast my vote," he recalled. "Local government is the body of government that really affects people on a daily basis."

Acevedo was a member of several student organizations at El Paso High, including student council, where he served as the representative for the freshman and sophomore classes. That role gave him his first taste of campaigning as he and other student council members canvassed for a state representative.

"That was my first experience knocking on doors," he remembered.

In college, Acevedo began working on a project called Turbo Vote, an effort to register new voters as soon as they turned 18.

"That was really important to me," he said. "And really staying engaged in all politics at that level."

Getting to work

Winning the election was just the first step for Acevedo. Now, he has to learn the ropes of City Council, take committee posts and staff his office, all while notching away at the long list of concerns District 2 voters have saddled him with.

Though he's yet to be tapped for committee appointments, Acevedo has a few in mind where his experience on EPISD might be helpful, specifically the powerful Financial Oversight and Audit Committee.

For Acevedo, that committee is reminiscent of his time serving on the EPISD Audit Committee.

"I have a lot of expertise around audits," he said, "and I think that expertise could be used."

He's also eying the Metropolitan Planning organization, which he called "a pretty powerful committee with different entities at the table," and a possible future move by the City Council to "reimagine" the Downtown Planning District board to include councilmembers.

Where staffing is concerned, Acevedo plans to retain longtime District 2 legislative aid Matthew Ibarra, who he said is well known in the district after leading Annello's office for years.

Additionally, he can hire two part-time staffers or one full-time staffer — Acevedo said he is leaning toward the latter, though he doesn't yet have a candidate in mind.

While taking part in the city manager search has long been a focus of Acevedo's campaign, now that he is on the City Council, he wants to focus on tackling District 2 issues that continue to irk voters, such as closed pools and parks, unpaved streets, stray animals and other city services.

"A lot of the constituent concerns have been around the services the city provides," he said. "So, really making sure Modesto Park is going to be made whole, making sure Memorial Park will be preserved ... and Grandview pool will be reopened."

"Then, in the northeast, there's a big need for lights around Hondo Pass," he added. "Those are the real concerns. I think it really sums up the need to make sure city services are functioning for people in El Paso."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Josh Acevedo joins El Paso City Council with 'long list' of concerns