Meet the candidates in 2022 runoff election: El Paso City Council, District 8
The El Paso Times sent questionnaires to the candidates in contested races in the Nov. 8 Texas midterm election. The following are answers to questionnaires submitted by Bettina Olivares and Chris Canales, candidates for District 8 City Council representative, who are competing in a runoff election Dec. 17. Early voting starts Nov. 30.
Bettina Olivares: background information
Please describe your personal and professional background.
I am a proud Latina and El Paso devotee. I was raised in South Central El Paso by loving parents. I attended Jefferson High School and have a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
I have dedicated my career to public service, and for the past 8 years I have staffed Texas elected officials at the federal, state and now city level.
How do you earn a living? Do you plan to continue if elected?
I have worked for the City of El Paso for almost 4 years as the Chief of Staff for City Representative Cassandra Hernandez. I am proud to work for the City and believe in the work we are collectively doing. If elected, I would fully dedicate myself to represent District 8 and El Paso.
Please describe your education. Where did you get your high school diploma? What higher education degrees and certificates have you earned and from where?
I graduated from Jefferson High School “La Jeff”. I then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where I graduated with a Bachelors in Liberal Arts with a major in Government.
What experiences in leadership do you have that qualify you for this position?
In my years in government, I have always had some sort of supervisory role. At both the federal and state level, I trained and oversaw interns and fellows gaining experience in government and in the workforce. I also observed and learned from the leadership styles of the tenured elected officials I staffed. Now at the City, I have been a Chief of Staff for District 3 and at one point oversaw two council offices simultaneously. These leadership roles have not only taught me how to give confident instruction and make hard decisions, it has also taught me that you are as only good as your team. Listening to others and taking stock of my own skills and how I can do better has led me to become a stronger leader. I have become more intuitive to changing situations and composed when facing difficult issues.
Have you ever been arrested or charged with a crime? Have you ever had a civil judgment against you? Have you ever been in arrears on local, state or federal taxes? If so, please provide an explanation.
No.
If elected, would you have any potential conflicts of interest that you are aware of that would impair your ability to serve? Please explain what they are and how you would avoid the conflict.
No.
Issue related questions
Why are you running for this office?
So much of what we do in our daily lives is guided by the policies and actions set by government and leaders. Since I was teen, I wanted to make a difference in people's lives and truly better communities, especially the underrepresented neighborhoods, since I grew up in one. Public service was the path for me. I am running to make good policy, to serve my community (my beloved hometown) and to be an advocate for El Paso, with all its charm and potential to be a leading city.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I am ready to go. Having more years of government experience than any other candidate in the District 8 race, I understand the different levels of government and the intricacies of how policy directly impacts residents and the growth of the City. I am open to working with all groups and stakeholders and will keep an open communication line. I have followed the City budget process and understand how our budget and taxes are the basis for the distribution of services the City provides. I understand how economic development is key to enhancing our quality of life and to diversifying our tax base. This is especially important for District 8 which houses downtown and business clusters throughout the district. I will not shy away from opportunities to bring in new business and development and keep local business thriving. It is my comprehensive and enthusiasm for public policy and servancy that makes me the best candidate.
What are your top three priorities?
STREETS
Our city streets are in the state they are in because their maintenance has not been adequately funded for decades. I will prioritize funding for street resurfacing and traffic safety, now and for the future. El Paso is a transportation hub, we need improved and maintained streets that can withstand traffic and most importantly be safe for drivers, cyclists, buses, and pedestrians alike.
SPURRING ECONOMIC GROWTH
I believe that El Paso has all the potential to be a leading city for business, large and small. Being business friendly and a facilitator of resources so businesses can thrive is key. El Paso will become the hot spot for visitors and tourism when we have quality hotels, hospitality, restaurants and service shops.
CITY SERVICES & JOBS
Everyday residents tell me how important City services are and how we need to get City services back to pre-pandemic levels. We need to fill job vacancies so we can have enough drivers so our buses and streetcar are running on time, maintenance workers to fill potholes and upkeep medians, a full Animal Services staff to ensure animals are getting humane care, and ensuring we have adequate staff to run our parks, recreation/senior centers.
Property taxes continue to be a challenge for Texans. How would you address this issue?
The pandemic, increased supply-chain demand, volatile housing market, global crises, all have contributed to the skyrocketing property appraisals and huge tax spikes. I truly believe the key to lessening the burden on homeowners is to diversify our tax base, this is part of my platform. I will support City efforts to attract new businesses, entertainment venues, and create an environment that supports businesses to be successful. This creates a city that will have new taxing sources ‒ commercial property, hotel revenue, and sales, revenues that fill our general fund so we aren’t increasing taxes, which disproportionately affect homeowners. We need to stay focused, and continue to improve our inner City and downtown so we can truly turn the tides on taxes.
Immigration is a federal issue, but migrant influxes pose challenges for the city locally. What is your vision for the city’s role in meeting immigration challenges?
It is a challenge that has been impacting the city since 2018. The City and Office of Emergency Management have made great efforts to stabilize the situation that continues to fall on the hands of local entities. Because it is an issue that crosses levels of government, it is especially important that we are in tune and in constant communication with governmental, nonprofit and religious organizations. I want to ensure we are getting the aid from our federal and state agencies and most importantly, that we are being reimbursed for all our expenses. It is also imperative that we do not separate ourselves from the circumstance that these people are having to go through. Compassion should be at the foundation of how we deal with this situation. Thankfully one of El Paso's biggest attributes is our kindness.
What’s the most important issue facing El Paso?
Lack of voter and resident engagement with their government and community. The City is made up of some of the most welcoming, hard working, good-hearted people. However, there is a disconnect between the community and its leaders. It’s so crucial for residents to know what is going on, to attend meetings, and stay abreast of the issues. Being active and aware is how we hold our leaders accountable and it is how we elect people into office who are representative of the electorate and our needs. But it does not solely fall on residents, it is a two way street. The onus is on leaders to gain the trust of the people they represent, they need to be accessible, present and transparent. One of my top priorities is to build back relationships with the district and its constituents.
What’s the next big thing El Paso should do in the city?
I would love to see a transformation in the walkability of the city and our public transportation. Attractions like the Playa Drain Trail, street cars, and brio have been great kick starters to this but we have lots to go to encourage people, myself included, to walk more and use public transit. Complete sidewalks, tree shade, bus shelters, traffic safety can all contribute to this goal. I am also keenly interested in how creating walkable/cyclable safe streets can reduce our environmental impact and reliance on personal vehicles.
Do you support the current strong city manager structure? Why? If not, what would work better?
I support the council-manager structure, which is well suited for city governance. We have an election system where almost anyone can run for office, no matter their experience, merits or training. The council-form of government seeks to place an experienced and knowledgeable executive to run administration, goals and budget. But more important than the city manager role, is the role of council. A group of electees representing different areas of the city, have the final authority and vote on what policies go forward. It is a collaborative effort that requires organization and balance of roles.
What does transparent government mean to you? Will you be personally accessible to answer questions while in office?
Transparency is made up of two aspects: truth and communication. When this is lacking in government, you lose the trust of the community. A City representative needs to be there for the people they serve. I will strive for myself and my office to be as responsive as possible to my constituency. I will also commit to attend community meetings, host meetings, put out a newsletter and share information on social media. These are all ways I will communicate what actions are taking place at the city, policy I have voted on, and provide resources on City services. I will be present in the community, so residents are able to easily communicate with me and hold me accountable.
If the Multipurpose Performing Arts and Entertainment Center came before City Council for a vote in 2023, would you support continuing this project? Why, or why not?
Yes, I would support continuing the project as this proposition was a voter approved initiative that should be sought through and promisingly, the center could be the spark to ignite our downtown development and in creating more revenues for the City. El Paso deserves a lively downtown and a better quality of life. Downtowns are the heart of every city and when downtowns thrive, it is indicative of a vibrant and prosperous City. Before any vote is made, I would ensure we have as much resident input as possible. I am appreciative of the current efforts the City is putting forth through community meetings and surveys. I believe the success of the center is dependent on the City and residents working together to create a project that so many will come to enjoy.
Chris Canales: background information
Please describe your personal and professional background.
I grew up on the Westside, attending Kohlberg Elementary School, Hornedo Middle School, and Franklin High School. My father is an immigrant from Mexico who owns a local small business, and my mother works in public education. My parents met while both working in Ciudad Juárez, and they decided to stay and make their lives here in the Borderland, eventually settling in El Paso.
As a college student, I worked at the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation in the Natural Resources Group, where I completely revamped and digitized their processes for collecting data in the field. You may still see me sporting their vibrantly colored baseball caps, which are my old favorites. I truly love parks! I also worked as a reporter and eventually anchor for a live news show on the network run by my university.
While in New York, I also served as a Fellow with a coalition of nonprofits affiliated with Democrats for Education Reform, where I advocated for better public education and supported the campaigns of progressive lawmakers such as Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn/Queens and Congressman Adriano Espaillat of Harlem/Inwood/The Bronx. Public education is close to my heart. I then landed a job in my field at a "green sector" consultancy based in NYC focusing on sustainability, renewable energy, green products and services, and environmental conservation, with a particular focus on reducing waste. This is work I believe in deeply, it’s vital to all of our futures, and it’s an area where El Paso has the potential to become a national or even global leader.
While I loved my time in New York, I always had a nagging feeling that I wanted to return to El Paso. I had promised then-Councilman Beto O’Rourke (a fellow Columbia alum) that I would come back one day to make a difference in my hometown and give back to the community that raised me, and when the opportunity presented itself I decided to honor that promise and move (along with Nora, my then-girlfriend and now-wife) back to the Sun City to work in local government as the senior staffer in the District 8 office.
In my spare time, I am passionate about several local and national causes. I’m a graduate of Leadership El Paso Class 41. I’m a founding member of Conscious Barrio, an organization that seeks to align the work of the various non-profits, neighborhood associations, community schools, and other changemakers in the Segundo Barrio and surrounding South Side neighborhoods to encourage families to stay and help them to thrive. I also love to support the nonprofit youth soccer organization Segundo Barrio Futbol Club, who remove barriers to entry for South Side kids.
I am the Co-Chair of the Community Council for the local Vitalant blood bank, helping to ensure that El Paso’s hospitals have a locally available supply of lifesaving blood for use in cases of trauma, treatment of serious illness, etc. You can become a donor today and start saving the lives of El Pasoans who need your help!
I also have a "side gig" that began as a hobby on the youth soccer fields of New York City but has now become rather serious and important to me ‒ I moonlight as a referee of professional soccer, something that has been incredibly personally rewarding and has taken me to cities all across the country. I am involved in the referees’ union PSRA and was elected to the committee that is now bargaining our new contract. I’m proudly pro-labor and pro-worker.
How do you earn a living? Do you plan to continue if elected?
I am currently the Chief of Staff in the District 8 office. My contract ends when Rep. Lizarraga leaves office, so I cannot and will not continue if elected. I also moonlight as a referee of professional soccer. I do plan to continue to do that if elected.
Please describe your education. Where did you get your high school diploma? What higher education degrees and certificates have you earned and from where?
I grew up on the Westside, attending Kohlberg Elementary School, Hornedo Middle School, and Franklin High School. At Franklin, I was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, captain of the soccer team, competed in Quiz Bowl (and twice earned a place in the National Championships), and served as a student representative on the EPISD Superintendent’s Advisory Council. I was named All-Franklin Boy and was a National Hispanic Scholar, an AP Scholar with Honors, and a National Merit Finalist. I then attended Columbia University in New York City on full need-based scholarship. My studies in Columbia College and at the Earth Institute (now part of the Columbia Climate School) focused on sustainable infrastructure and planning, responding to climate change, futurism & forecasting, and development economics, and I graduated with a degree in Sustainable Development.
What experiences in leadership do you have that qualify you for this position?
Through five incredibly rewarding years in my current job working for District 8, I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge about how our City government operates, how to effectively get things done within the local bureaucracy, and how to best help constituents who need to navigate the complicated and intertwined system of government entities, agencies, offices, and processes. I know our City’s strengths and its weaknesses, and I want to keep the strengths going while addressing the weaknesses.
Have you ever been arrested or charged with a crime? Have you ever had a civil judgment against you? Have you ever been in arrears on local, state or federal taxes? If so, please provide an explanation.
No to all questions.
If elected, would you have any potential conflicts of interest that you are aware of that would impair your ability to serve? Please explain what they are and how you would avoid the conflict.
I’m not aware of any conflicts of interest that would impair my ability to serve. My wife Nora works in community engagement and events at the El Paso Museum of History, but no real conflict arises from that (she is not involved with their financial decision making). My mother currently serves on the City’s Committee on Border Relations, but she is not eligible to be reappointed for another term, so no conflict would arise there either.
Issue related questions
Why are you running for this office?
I moved back to El Paso because I wanted to make a difference in my hometown and give back to the community that raised me, and I see this as the best way to do that. Having worked within the City government for the last five years, I have seen a fair amount of positive change compared to when I was growing up in El Paso but also a lot of room for improvement.
I want to build an El Paso that works for everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, regardless of if someone is a homeowner or a renter, regardless of disability or health situation, regardless of what part of town you live in or what you do for a living or who your family is. Achieving this will be my most important objective for El Paso and the guiding principle for all of my decision-making on the City Council.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I am a native El Pasoan, a public servant, and a local homeowner and property taxpayer. I’m a pragmatist, a realist, an optimist, and a futurist. I’m a consensus builder, a progressive, an advocate for those who need a hand, a proponent of science, and a believer in the fundamental good of people. I believe that effective public policy has the power to transform lives, and I want to ensure that we build an El Paso that works for all El Pasoans. Favorable outcomes come from hard work, and I am ready to work hard towards a better future for our vibrant Sun City.
After these years of living and working within District 8, I have learned how to be effective within the complex bureaucracy of local government and built the important relationships with City employees and management, neighborhood leaders, government agencies, and other elected officials that empower a City Representative to be effective from their first day. I plan to hit the ground running with the quick introduction of policy changes in support of my key platform priorities.
What are your top three priorities?
1) Street Conditions and Resurfacing
Most of our streets were built without storm drainage, so they are designed to channel water from the mountain into canals and arroyos. This means that they take a beating when it rains. Time and time again, City Councils of the past deferred repairs and needed maintenance in favor of lowering the tax rate. The effect on our streets is evident today.
Recent evaluations of our street conditions have revealed that we need $40 million every year to bring all of our streets up to a good condition. In order to meet this goal in the longer term, we will need to find a funding source for street resurfacing that lasts into the future. This is a big priority of mine.
2) Beautiful and Functional Parks
If you read my bio, you’ll know that I spent time at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Simply put ‒ I love parks! A big factor for me in choosing where to live is the quality of nearby parks. El Paso has many beautiful parks, but there is room for improvement. I have been working with the non-profit organization Moms On Board (also known as MOB Families for El Paso) to propose increased funding for parks in general and also changes that make it easier to deploy those funds to parks that are most in need of some TLC. We’ve had a lot of success getting these changes approved by the City Council.
Our parks need features that enable everyone to use the main amenities. They need more shade and working water fountains to help people combat the hot sun. They need adequate seating for those who want to keep an eye on their children or simply enjoy the surroundings. They need accessible playground equipment so that everyone is able to play.
We also need more dog parks. They don’t have to all be large dog parks like the one at the Westside Community Park. I think there is a place for neighborhood-scale dog runs.
3) Smart City Planning
We need a greater focus on bringing back the vitality of El Paso’s core. EPISD is closing schools because people are moving out of the City’s original core neighborhoods, and we need to reverse that trend through smart city planning policy.
We don’t need so much expansion at the edges of the city at the expense of support for our historic core. Taxpayers and utility ratepayers pay the cost of this expansion out into the desert because it is expensive to extend all of our infrastructure out further and further.
Instead, we can focus on incentivizing people to fill empty lots with new homes, rehabilitate older homes and buildings in the core, and even renovate historic buildings that have great cultural value. This supports our schools, supports the existing local businesses in the core of the city, and helps keep all of our utility costs lower.
Property taxes continue to be a challenge for Texans. How would you address this issue?
I think that most of the City's spending over the last decade has been warranted because it has addressed key needs of our population, but I also think that capital expenditures that the City has made during that time with Council-approved certificates of obligation (COs) should instead have gone to the voters for approval as general obligation bonds (GOs). The majority of El Pasoans seem to support the CO-funded projects for streets, parks, etc. that the City Council has approved in recent years, so I think it makes sense to let the voters choose whether or not to approve these projects directly at the ballot box moving forward so that they have a more direct say in what their own property tax bills will look like. That way, there is also no ambiguity about which projects have community support. Bond issues that go before the voters should be smaller and be written in as plain language as possible, as opposed to large packages of proposed projects that must be voted on as all or nothing bundles.
Immigration is a federal issue, but migrant influxes pose challenges for the city locally. What is your vision for the city’s role in meeting immigration challenges?
Immigration has been a big challenge locally for the last several years. That challenge has really come to a head in recent months, as large numbers of mostly Venezuelan asylum seekers have arrived in El Paso while in transit to final destinations across the United States, where they may have a sponsor waiting for them or an employment opportunity. These asylum seekers typically stay in El Paso for less than one day after they are released by Customs, so the main objective for the City of El Paso has been 1) to make sure that they have short-term shelter so that they are not left on the streets after release, as that is not good for them or for downtown businesses and residents, and 2) to connect them with transportation to their final destination, be that by charter bus, commercial bus line, or commercial flight. The City has been doing a good job treating these migrants with dignity and assisting them with getting where they need to go. The big concern has now become the payment of reimbursements by the Federal government to cover the costs that the City has had to incur. There have been full assurances that every dollar spent will be reimbursed. With that important backing, the City has a moral obligation to continue to address the huge humanitarian crisis that decades of poor immigration policy at the Federal level has left border cities like ours to deal with.
What’s the most important issue facing El Paso?
The most important issue facing El Paso is that we are behind other cities in developing our workforce, creating jobs that pay wages on which El Pasoans can live comfortably, and balancing the funding for the many needs of our population with the tax burden on residents. We need to focus on attracting new businesses to El Paso that pay living wages while also retaining our homegrown local businesses and helping them to grow. This will provide opportunity to young El Pasoans who finish their education and want to stay here, people who may have had to leave in the past to find good employment options. It will also shift some of the burden from residential taxpayers to commercial property owners, providing property tax relief to the average El Pasoan.
What’s the next big thing El Paso should do in the city?
My degree is in Sustainable Development from the Earth Institute (now known as the Columbia Climate School) at Columbia University, and I worked in that field during the first half of my career. Needless to say, immediate action to address the current climate crisis is very important to me and is the next big thing that El Paso needs to tackle.
Addressing climate change is not just a priority for the district or for the city but for the whole world. El Paso can be a leader on clean energy. We are the Sun City for a reason. El Paso has so much available sunlight, and we need to put it to work for us. We have a huge opportunity to deploy solar panels at City facilities, with new yearly goals for continued expansion of our generation capacity. The City is starting this now with a project at the airport, but we need to kick it into overdrive.
We can also make a positive impact by mandating sustainable construction practices for the City’s hired contractors and their subcontractors. It’s the unfortunate reality in this day and age that construction as an industry puts a huge strain on the environment and on our climate situation. Everything we can do to counteract this negative effect moves us in the right direction on long-term sustainability. El Paso should also continue taking steps to electrify the City’s fleet of vehicles, make HVAC systems more efficient, and reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions as well as other forms of environmental degradation from transportation, sanitation, utility provision, and other sectors that the City is engaged in both directly and indirectly.
Do you support the current strong city manager structure? Why? If not, what would work better?
Regardless of who currently occupies the office of Mayor and the position of City Manager, the City Manager form of government is the sensible, modern way to run a city government. It is the nature of elected office that anyone can be elected regardless of their qualifications, and placing a Strong Mayor directly in charge of the management of all City departments puts at risk the continuity of long term planning, leads to more frequent turnover and replacement of personnel with political appointments, and does not provide the public with adequate safeguards that promises made by departments will be kept into the future. The Council-Manager form of government professionalizes the management of the City and its departments. The Council can hire an experienced and qualified manager with specialized education and training in management, budgeting, operations, etc. The City Manager is able to operate outside of political whims to carry out the policy directions determined by vote of the entire City Council.
What does transparent government mean to you? Will you be personally accessible to answer questions while in office?
Transparent government means being available for constituents at every turn. It means hosting regular community meetings both in person and with options for people who may not be able to easily leave their homes. It means holding a variety of different types of engagement events where I can speak with the people I represent and listen to their concerns – I envision a Cafe con Chris, a Tamales with Canales, a mobile town hall style meeting on the Brio bus. It means responding quickly and honestly to all emails, phone calls, and letters. It means publicly explaining my votes and decisions and the rationale behind them. It means speaking with journalists whose job it is to bring El Pasoans the news – they are the watchdogs of democracy. I plan to do all of these things and more.
If the Multipurpose Performing Arts and Entertainment Center came before City Council for a vote in 2023, would you support continuing this project? Why, or why not?
There is clearly a lot of nuance and complexity when it comes to this project, which is evident given that it has been tied up in litigation for half a decade. Voters approved the construction of a multipurpose performing arts and entertainment facility in the 2012 election, and data still shows that there would be high demand for a medium-sized arena/concert performance type facility in the vicinity of downtown El Paso. I generally support building a multipurpose facility in the downtown area. The big question now, as it has been for some time, is the exact scale and precise location of the project. While the City has already acquired properties within a planned footprint for this project, I would theoretically be open to a change of location should the City be able to identify a new location and there be a way to ensure that the taxpayers are made whole through the sale of those properties to someone with a plan to sensibly and sensitively restore or redevelop them.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Meet El Paso City Council District 8 runoff election candidates
