Election Day: What to know about El Paso City Council runoff election
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The 14-day early voting period ended earlier this week with low turnout — less than 4% of eligible El Paso voters cast ballots.
But voters still have one more opportunity to cast ballots in the City Council runoff election. Election Day is Saturday, Dec. 17. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voters in three competitive City Council districts still have to elect their representatives.
None of the candidates in Districts 1, 6 and 8 received more than 50% of the votes cast in their races in the Nov. 8 general election, so those who finished first and second in the districts on Election Day advanced to a runoff election.
Only voters who live in those districts are allowed to vote in the runoff, even if they did not cast a ballot in the general election. There are 160,624 registered voters in Districts 1, 6 and 8.
The El Paso County Elections Department reported that 6,337 voters cast their ballots early. Early voting ended Tuesday, Dec. 13.
City representatives serve a four-year term and receive a salary of $51,600 to set public policy, city tax rates and City Hall’s annual budgets. They also have a direct relationship with the city manager, conducting performance reviews and setting the term and salary of the chief administrative position.
No other El Paso-specific items are on the ballot.
El Paso City Council District 1
The race features candidates Brian Kennedy (41%, or 8,760 votes) and Analisa Cordova Silverstein (25%, or 5,389 votes).
The open representative seat drew seven candidates and 21,227 votes.
Kennedy is a lawyer and international consultant. He spent much of his career as the CEO of the El Paso Sports Commission and the El Paso County Coliseum. Silverstein works at Hello Amigo as a project manager.
Top three priorities (from candidate questionnaires):
Brian Kennedy
Property taxes. Debt. Rebalancing the scope and responsibilities of the city manager position.
(Read more at elpasotimes.com)
Analisa Cordova Silverstein
Taxes ‒ I want to make sure we are operating with responsibility and transparency when it comes to our taxes. Safe Neighborhoods ‒ I want to make sure we are properly funding our fire department and police stations to ensure our neighborhoods are safe. Parks, Trails, and Open Space ‒ With the pandemic we saw just how important the outdoors are for not only physical but also mental health.
(Read more at elpasotimes.com)
Top donors:
Kennedy: Thomas Georges, $3,000; Scott Schwartz, $2,500; and Douglas Schwartz, $2,500.
Silverstein: Woody Hunt, $8,500 (one donation of $5,000, another for $3,500); Edward Escudero, $2,500; and Stanley Jobe, $2,500.
El Paso City Council District 6
Two veteran El Paso candidates advanced to the runoff election. Incumbent East Valley city Rep. Claudia Lizette Rodriguez (43%, or 7,194 votes) is facing challenger former Texas state Rep. Art Fierro (30%, or 5,096 votes).
Four candidates competed in this race and the contest drew 16,784 votes.
Rodriguez manages a small fleet of tractor-trailers as part of a family business. Fierro, a longtime state representative from El Paso, was defeated in the 2022 primary election. His term in District 79 ends at the end of the year. He says he is a government relations representative for Life Ambulance Inc. but does not plan to continue with this work if elected.
Top three priorities (from candidate questionnaires):
Claudia Lizette Rodriguez
Taxes. Streets. Public Safety.
(Read more at elpasotimes.com)
Art Fierro
Work to freeze taxes for seniors and individuals with disabilities, two groups that live on a fixed income and need to rely on affordable budgeting; Have the departments function in a more streamlined manner to serve the citizens of El Paso (for example, Animal Services currently do not return calls to address strays thereby compromising public health and safety. The Sun Metro / Lift is unreliable and fails to meet the needs of community members in need of its services, causing missed doctors appointments and left stranded at home without transportation.); and holding our City Council-City Manager form of government publicly accountable, demanding truthful and transparent information to the people we serve.
(Read more at elpasotimes.com)
Top donors:
Rodriguez: El Paso Association of Contractors, $5,000; Woody and Gale Hunt, $5,000 (two donations of $2,500); and $2,500 each from Stanley Jobe, Paul Foster, Rick Francis, Ted Houghton, JP Bryan, Steve Ortega and David Cordero.
Fierro: JP Bryan, $6,000; Art Fierro, $4,000 (two donations of $2,000); and the Texas Realtors PAC, $2,000.
El Paso City Council District 8
District 8 is another open representative seat on the City Council. District 8 is the battle of the chiefs of staff.
Bettina Olivares (39% or 5,707 votes) is facing Chris Canales (34% of 4,947 votes) in the runoff race.
Four candidates, including a write-in candidates, competed in this race. It drew 14,501 votes.
Olivares is the chief of staff in the District 3 office. Canales is the chief of staff in the District 8 office. His contract expires at the end of the year.
Top three priorities (from candidate questionnaires):
Bettina Olivares
Streets ‒ Our city streets are in the state they are in because their maintenance has not been adequately funded for decades. Spurring economic growth ‒ I believe that El Paso has all the potential to be a leading city for business, large and small. City services and jobs ‒ Everyday residents tell me how important City services are and how we need to get City services back to pre-pandemic levels.
(Read more at elpasotimes.com)
Chris Canales
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. 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. Smart city planning ‒ We need a greater focus on bringing back the vitality of El Paso’s core.
(Read more at elpasotimes.com)
Top donors:
Olivares: Stanley Jobe, $2,500; Woody Hunt, $2,500; and Miguel Fernandez, $2,000.
Canales: William Mooney, $1,000; Woody and Gale Hunt, $1,000; and $500 each from Paul and Suzanne Dipp, Nicholas Zebrowski and William Skov.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso runoffs 2022: See council candidates, Election Day is Dec. 17
