2026-10-12 - City Council Work Session

00:01:15.7] Where's our trash can? Over here.

00:01:39.7] Test, test. Five, four, three, two, one. Test, test.

00:01:43.7] Five, four, three, two, one.

00:04:42.1] Good morning, Ms. Prime.

00:04:44.6] I think we're ready to start the meeting for today.

00:04:48.0] Good morning.

00:04:49.9] This is a work session of the El Paso City Council for Monday, October 12th,

00:04:53.3] 2026. It is 9:01 AM. Mayor

00:04:57.4] Pro Tem Chavez is present and presiding, along with

00:05:01.4] Representative Boya Trejo, Representative Nino, Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Fierro,

00:05:05.9] Representative Limon. Representative Rocha will be joining the meeting

00:05:10.7] a few minutes later.

00:05:13.7] And

00:05:15.3] Representative Acevedo, I don't see him online yet, but he will

00:05:19.3] be joining virtually.

00:05:21.3] Mayor Pro Tem, we have a quorum.

00:05:23.5] Thank you, Ms. Prime.

00:05:25.0] Representative Fierro, can you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance?

00:05:27.4] Thank you, Mayor.

00:05:34.4] Of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it

00:05:38.5] stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with

00:05:42.3] liberty and justice for all.

00:05:49.2] That brings us to item number one on the agenda, and this is discussion and action

00:05:53.0] on a resolution of the City Council of the City of El Paso, Texas, adopting the

00:05:56.9] El Paso Museum of Arts Frontera Forward Bridging Art and Community at

00:06:00.8] the Border Strategic Plan for FY 2027 through FY

00:06:04.8] 2031, providing for implementation and periodic adjustments

00:06:09.1] and providing an effective date. And Representative Acevedo has joined the

00:06:13.0] meeting at 9:02 virtually Good morning, Ben.

00:06:16.6] Good morning. And

00:06:18.5] Mayor Pro Tem, actually items one and two are related, so

00:06:22.7] we probably can take them together.

00:06:24.7] Okay. Item two is discussion and action on a resolution of the city council

00:06:28.9] of the City of El Paso, Texas, approving the collections care and management policy

00:06:32.7] for the City of El Paso Museum collections, providing for purpose and authority,

00:06:36.6] and providing for an effective date of October 12th, 2026.

00:06:42.1] Good morning, and for the record, Ben Fife, managing director.

00:06:46.0] We are very pleased today to be bringing you two items related to

00:06:50.0] our current process towards reaccreditation of the El Paso

00:06:53.9] Museum of Art. The El Paso Museum of Art has been accredited since the

00:06:57.5] 1970s.

00:06:59.5] And as we begin this process and as we briefed you, interestingly

00:07:03.3] enough,

00:07:04.5] one council member asked the question last week, "Do you think we're going to get

00:07:08.5] it this time?" And I said, "Absolutely." We're in a

00:07:12.4] really auspicious place. This process takes

00:07:16.2] place every 10 years. And if you'll allow me, I'd like to give you

00:07:20.1] a couple of facts about where we are since the last time

00:07:24.1] we underwent this process, accolades that let you know,

00:07:28.1] the quality of the work that is happening at the museum, and why we feel we are in

00:07:32.1] very good shape for this process. So first of all, in

00:07:36.3] 2018, the El Paso Museum of Art was awarded the National

00:07:40.3] Medal for Museums. That is a federal award that is traditionally

00:07:44.1] given out at the White House. We also

00:07:47.1] renegotiated and codified what had been a very

00:07:50.8] loose gentleman's agreement of over 25 years

00:07:54.7] with the El Paso Museum of Art Foundation into a

00:07:59.3] formalized council-approved agreement

00:08:03.3] that focuses on clarifying roles, funding

00:08:06.4] expectations, et cetera, to ensure more seamless coordination,

00:08:10.5] stronger governance, and planning.

00:08:13.3] We've completed over $4.25 million

00:08:17.0] in improvements to the facility. Many of those dollars went

00:08:20.8] to infrastructure that is critical to the care of the

00:08:24.6] overall collection, and we want to acknowledge the

00:08:28.3] work of the Capital Improvements Department, as well as

00:08:32.2] Streets and Maintenance, in helping us to accomplish that.

00:08:35.8] Our collection in the last 10 years has grown by almost 10%,

00:08:39.7] with over 634 new works added, and

00:08:43.8] all but 47 of those have actually been donated,

00:08:47.8] showing how staff has carefully cultivated relationships with

00:08:51.7] donors and art collectors. That represents an approximate value

00:08:55.7] of

00:08:56.9] about $2 million worth of work entering the collection, and that

00:09:00.9] does not include the $6 million

00:09:03.9] donation of Star Ceiling.

00:09:06.6] We conserved four old masters at NYU's prestigious

00:09:10.1] conservation lab for free, and that process not

00:09:13.9] only stabilized very fragile works from the Italian Renaissance to

00:09:17.9] ensure that generations of El Pasoans will be able to enjoy them for years to

00:09:21.7] come, it also yielded new insights.

00:09:24.7] So for example,

00:09:26.5] the NYU conservation lab, while doing work, was able to

00:09:30.3] determine that one of our paintings, which originally was part of an

00:09:33.7] altarpiece in

00:09:36.3] Italy in the 1500s, actually has a companion piece

00:09:40.2] from that same altar at the Yale Art Gallery right now.

00:09:44.9] We secured 53 grants over that time, allowing us to

00:09:48.9] amplify our programming without impacting El Paso

00:09:52.1] taxpayers. In the last two years alone, we have

00:09:56.0] held 236 programs for youth and families.

00:10:00.4] We've forged stronger community partnerships with ISDs,

00:10:04.7] UTEP, EPCC, and other partnering organizations.

00:10:08.6] We've established long-term funding relationship with national funders like the

00:10:12.5] Mellon Foundation, Art Bridges America, which is actually the

00:10:16.0] foundation of Alice Walton, the Walmart heir, and the Thoma Foundation.

00:10:20.9] We've undertaken significant work to actually increase accessibility for

00:10:24.8] our programs and our facility at the Museum of Art, particularly for

00:10:28.8] families that have members with developmental or sensory

00:10:32.8] issues. This includes everything from low sensory rooms to

00:10:37.0] low sensory hours at our programs, and even

00:10:40.5] ceramic potting wheels that are designed to be used by wheelchair users.

00:10:45.3] The United States Postal Service debuted the first ever Día de Muertos

00:10:49.0] stamp in the United States at the El Paso Museum of Art in

00:10:52.4] recognition of the quality of the Día de Muertos program

00:10:56.3] that initiated first from the Museum of Art and now is department-wide.

00:11:01.7] The 2024 Border Biennial was featured on the front page of the New York

00:11:05.5] Times Museum section for the last iteration.

00:11:09.5] And lastly, this last fiscal year saw a

00:11:13.0] 26% increase in attendance over the previous year.

00:11:17.0] And I should mention during that year that we increased attendance, we were closed

00:11:20.3] for five months because of infrastructure improvements.

00:11:24.9] All of that happened during a very turbulent period,

00:11:29.1] with the pandemic shutdowns, furloughs.

00:11:33.0] So I just want to acknowledge the hard work of staff, and

00:11:36.6] acknowledge and thank the continued support of the council,

00:11:40.8] and also city leadership like the city manager.

00:11:43.7] With that, I will turn this over to Eddie Hayes, our director of the Museum of

00:11:47.5] Art. I'm going to mention this is his first time presenting at the council, so

00:11:51.3] please be gentle.

00:11:55.8] Thank you, sir.

00:11:57.2] For the record, Edward Hayes, Jr., director of the El Paso Museum of Art, the very

00:12:00.4] proud director of EPMA. I'd like to add, in addition to what's been

00:12:04.3] described here, is that

00:12:06.2] we have been nominated, we have been recognized as the top five

00:12:10.6] museum in the state by editors at Glass Tire

00:12:14.0] just this summer, and we are nestled within the top four

00:12:18.3] downtown arts district in the nation.

00:12:20.7] And that's from a national poll held by USA Today.

00:12:24.0] So, really grateful to have this opportunity to present to you today

00:12:28.0] a five-year plan for the museum, our Frontera Forward strategic

00:12:32.0] plan.

00:12:34.3] And actually, IT, if you can bring up the presentation for item one.

00:12:37.7] I believe this is item two.

00:12:48.4] Thank you very much. So, we're looking at a plan that will cover

00:12:51.9] FY 2027 through FY 2031.

00:12:57.7] It's titled Frontera Forward, after a recent initiative of the museum where we're

00:13:01.4] doubling down on community,

00:13:03.7] using art to better understand our community, our region.

00:13:08.0] This

00:13:09.3] strategic plan is a core document that we need to have ready for

00:13:12.7] reaccreditation in 2027.

00:13:15.3] Again, this will cover the next five years.

00:13:20.6] And this plan also is in alignment with the City of El Paso strategic plan,

00:13:25.6] delivering on quality of life and good governance.

00:13:31.0] The process included listening to staff, the EPMA Foundation,

00:13:35.3] inviting artists, community partners, inviting our caterers, our DJ to

00:13:39.3] come and

00:13:40.8] connect with us. We

00:13:42.7] gathered such incredible feedback, over 225 feedback points

00:13:46.7] overall, that help us arrive at some desired outcomes.

00:13:50.2] And this was thanks to

00:13:52.6] a consultant firm here, Resilient Heritage, who worked with our

00:13:56.4] two

00:13:57.4] city strategic planners from the city strategy office

00:14:01.5] to be able to arrive at our desired outcome.

00:14:04.8] So it was a partnership here with city staff

00:14:09.1] and with a consultant and the museum team.

00:14:15.2] Okay, so there are four goals, and here's the first one.

00:14:17.9] We are looking to become an institution that embodies El Paso, and what does that

00:14:21.8] mean? I hear around town, "Let's be El Paso first." And so this

00:14:25.5] touches that point directly. In creating a place that reflects the

00:14:29.4] beauty and shared love for our city, establishing the museum as a cultural

00:14:33.3] hub of the region,

00:14:35.2] promoting the museum as an anchor of the downtown arts district,

00:14:39.1] and in doing so, aligning our

00:14:41.5] operational hours, promotional activities with other organizations on the block,

00:14:45.2] other businesses

00:14:46.8] in the downtown arts district as well.

00:14:50.5] We're also looking to expand frontiers through art. What does this mean?

00:14:54.0] We're looking to expand the sight lines of the museum, become a regional

00:14:57.9] art museum leader in the Southwest, not just in the region, but more broadly in the

00:15:01.5] Southwest United States. So folks looking to Phoenix for great art,

00:15:05.4] looking to Denver, making sure we're also looking at El Paso as a key

00:15:09.2] leader in the region. We're looking to offer a balanced exhibitions program that we

00:15:13.5] currently have, making sure we continue that going forward, showing our local

00:15:17.1] talent, our emerging artists, as well as well-established and incredible

00:15:21.1] traveling exhibitions. We just hosted Frida Kahlo: Sus Fotos, an

00:15:24.9] exhibition that drew over 30,000 visitors in just three and a half months.

00:15:29.2] We saw that over 30% of those visits were from outside of the region.

00:15:34.5] We're looking to also preserve our cultural heritage, making sure that with the

00:15:37.8] works of art in our collection, which total over 7,000

00:15:42.7] and span from the 13th century to the present, making sure that we are preserving

00:15:46.3] not just El Paso's local cultural heritage, but also world

00:15:50.1] heritage too.

00:15:54.5] We want to make sure that the museum is a destination for all to enjoy, providing a

00:15:58.5] visitor-first experience, really centering our activity, our focus on that

00:16:02.3] visitor, to make sure they come back, make sure they enjoy, make sure they feel

00:16:05.8] welcome. We are already a free museum, so more people need to know about

00:16:09.6] that. And there's always ways for us to improve, and we have

00:16:13.6] a plan to execute that. We want to make sure we embolden

00:16:17.5] fundraising capacity so that we are not just coming to the table at City Hall here

00:16:21.6] for city support.

00:16:23.9] As Ben mentioned, we've received some transformative grants over the past few

00:16:27.1] years, and we look to continue doing that to make sure that we provide

00:16:31.4] awesome traveling exhibitions. We're able to acquire some amazing art, and we're

00:16:35.2] making sure that that visitor experience is very rich, and especially

00:16:39.0] with our art school. So we're making investments, and we plan to make over the next

00:16:42.6] five years, key investments in the art school,

00:16:45.7] to enhance arts education. We're already serving 500 kids

00:16:49.7] and adults over

00:16:51.7] three classrooms, so we're looking to transform that, making sure we

00:16:55.6] serve more individuals, especially as we see a need for arts education in

00:16:59.6] the public schools.

00:17:02.8] And we want to do this together. So juntos adelante.

00:17:05.9] Vamos juntos. We're walking together. We're going to do this.

00:17:08.8] We're going to achieve this strategic plan with community, making sure that we

00:17:12.8] inspire citywide participation.

00:17:14.9] During that closure we had for our HVAC renovation,

00:17:18.1] our team was incredible. They organized over 40 programs across the city,

00:17:22.3] making sure that we got the museum out to different parts of town,

00:17:26.4] and we will continue doing that, and we've learned a lot from that experience, and

00:17:29.5] that is baked into this plan here.

00:17:32.9] We also want to make sure that we invest in the staff that we have.

00:17:35.3] We're not looking to expand the staff.

00:17:36.7] We're looking to develop them, making sure that we get them out to big conferences.

00:17:40.9] We've got a team going out in May to the American Alliance of Museums conference,

00:17:44.5] which is, by the way, the accrediting body that will be looking at our 2027

00:17:48.6] application for reaccreditation.

00:17:50.6] That, by the way,

00:17:52.2] if approved, is good for the next 10 years.

00:17:55.9] And we're looking to also cultivate art collectors.

00:17:57.9] There's a major opportunity in El Paso right now.

00:17:59.7] I've met some awesome individuals who love El Paso artists, who

00:18:03.6] are also collecting nationally.

00:18:08.6] I see an opportunity for us to cultivate that group, making sure that we share

00:18:12.0] knowledge about caring for art with individuals who want to grow their

00:18:15.5] collections. That will have an incredible return in the

00:18:19.4] future, as it has in other cities with collectors who are donating

00:18:23.3] works of art back to that museum that introduced them

00:18:27.2] to this amazing activity, which is not just collecting art, but also

00:18:30.7] developing and helping inspire artists' careers.

00:18:35.9] So that is the

00:18:37.7] last goal here of the strategic plan.

00:18:42.1] Thank you, Edgar. Thank you so much for the presentation. Thank you, Ben.

00:18:45.8] We do have a few questions. Representative Limón.

00:18:51.9] Good morning. Thank you. Thank you, Eddie. It wasn't so bad after all, huh?

00:18:56.5] I know we met last week, and you were quite nervous about this.

00:19:00.2] I really want to thank you for all the work that you're doing.

00:19:03.4] I especially like all the work that's been done around the museum.

00:19:07.7] I think it's coming to a point where it's all going to be finished up, and that is

00:19:11.5] such an attractive area because the museum really goes

00:19:15.2] out into the open space. It isn't just locked into that

00:19:19.2] building. And so thank you for the presentation. Really appreciate it.

00:19:23.0] Thank you for your comments.

00:19:23.3] You're doing a good job, Eddie.

00:19:24.7] I appreciate it.

00:19:27.4] Representative Nino.

00:19:28.8] Thank you, Eddie and Ben, for the great presentation as well.

00:19:32.3] I know that during my briefing, I asked in regards of how many Far East or District

00:19:36.0] 5 residents visit the museum, and I'm grateful for the data that you all

00:19:39.7] provided. Would you be able to share a little bit more about the 30% of visitors

00:19:43.4] that came outside of El Paso, where they came to visit from?

00:19:47.1] That's a great question. We saw zip codes coming from all over Mexico.

00:19:51.8] We saw visits outside of the state, multiple states.

00:19:56.5] We know there were international travelers, especially as we had the opening of

00:20:01.5] BTS, a huge BTS concert.

00:20:04.3] And so what we're seeing is visitation at the museum that

00:20:08.3] is

00:20:09.8] related to all the other exciting things happening in the downtown area, folks

00:20:13.6] coming to see concerts, folks coming to

00:20:16.9] the festivals. We haven't seen yet with our new zip code

00:20:20.7] capturing system, we have a QR code at the front entrance, and we're asking

00:20:23.9] visitors to scan,

00:20:25.8] and let us know how many folks are in their party, what zip code they're coming

00:20:28.8] from. We just started collecting this data in February-

00:20:33.3] Okay

00:20:33.4] ... with the opening of Frida Kahlo.

00:20:34.9] So, we will see what this data looks like throughout festival season, and I'm

00:20:38.6] really excited to see those numbers and share those with you once

00:20:42.9] we see a full breakdown of what that looks like.

00:20:45.2] No, that's good. Even whenever there's, like you mentioned, BTS concert, right?

00:20:48.3] If there's any future concerts that come into the region, just to get that data

00:20:51.8] will be good, so that we could highlight our investments more when it comes to the

00:20:55.5] museums and the art support. But thank you for the great presentation.

00:20:59.4] Thank you.

00:20:59.9] Thank you, sir. We will capture that, absolutely.

00:21:01.2] Thank you.

00:21:03.0] Representative Canales.

00:21:06.7] Thank you.

00:21:07.9] Yeah, good job, Eddie. Thanks. It seems like it was a really robust public

00:21:11.7] process that went into this as well, so I appreciate seeing that.

00:21:16.0] I think our strategic planning should always be driven by community input.

00:21:19.8] And I

00:21:20.9] think that's especially the case for something like

00:21:23.7] a museum where

00:21:26.6] it really is the people's museum, and the arts community in El

00:21:30.4] Paso is so invested in the success of

00:21:32.9] the Museum of Art. And so,

00:21:35.5] kudos to you all for going through the process in that way.

00:21:38.3] I think it makes a lot of sense.

00:21:42.2] I do have just a technical question, which is that this was posted as a

00:21:47.3] support for a resolution. There's not a resolution in the backup, and I

00:21:51.3] understand you need a resolution as part of your

00:21:55.2] accreditation process.

00:21:58.3] Is

00:22:00.2] the expectation that the council approves a resolution?

00:22:03.9] There should be a

00:22:04.2] resolution.

00:22:08.2] It's in the backup.

00:22:08.2] Is there? Let me see.

00:22:11.4] We're checking on that sir.

00:22:12.2] Oh, there is. I apologize. I didn't scroll far enough.

00:22:16.7] God.

00:22:19.6] Okay.

00:22:19.7] Keeping you honest, Ben.

00:22:21.5] It might be another 10 years from now, Chris.

00:22:25.4] Mayor Pro Tem, I understand. I don't think there's been a motion yet.

00:22:29.8] No.

00:22:30.2] Move to approve the resolution.

00:22:32.2] Second.

00:22:33.8] Second.

00:22:36.2] And that's all. Thank you.

00:22:38.7] Sorry for the scare.

00:22:42.5] All right. And if IT-

00:22:43.2] Rep-

00:22:43.3] ... can bring up... Oh.

00:22:45.8] Representative Trejo.

00:22:46.8] Sorry.

00:22:47.9] Thank you.

00:22:48.7] Thank you.

00:22:50.8] Thank you for the presentation, Eddie. Good job.

00:22:52.8] Thank you very much.

00:22:53.2] A couple of questions. On page seven of the

00:22:56.9] PowerPoint,

00:22:58.7] and you mention here expand art school to enhance arts education.

00:23:02.1] What are some of those

00:23:04.1] things that will be taking place for that?

00:23:06.6] Well, I'm happy to share that we are already expanding

00:23:09.5] the number of classes we're going to offer.

00:23:11.9] We have a larger number of teaching artists this year.

00:23:16.1] So in the short term, we're going to see more

00:23:19.6] classes, making sure we take advantage of all the different breaks that students in

00:23:23.3] El Paso have, all the intersessions, the fall breaks.

00:23:26.7] So we're already working to expand on that front.

00:23:30.0] We're also looking at

00:23:32.8] working with the El Paso Museum of Art Foundation to raise funds for

00:23:36.8] some transformations to the classrooms themselves,

00:23:41.4] to be able to

00:23:43.1] have a larger ceramic studio, which is one of our most popular offerings

00:23:47.4] at the museum. There's a waiting list every time.

00:23:50.5] These classes are fully booked. Sometimes we don't even post the classes online

00:23:53.6] because they fill up before we can even share that they're even open.

00:23:57.8] So, we're looking to raise funds for

00:24:01.1] changing the format of some of those classrooms.

00:24:04.1] And then, of course, we have everything in place, all the mechanisms to be able to

00:24:07.8] continue securing more teaching artists, which are essential to run the program.

00:24:12.4] And also, we're allocating additional security as

00:24:16.2] well to be able to provide classes at different hours.

00:24:19.4] We're seeing requests for more after-hours

00:24:22.6] offerings. At the moment, all of our offerings are in the daytime.

00:24:26.5] So we

00:24:28.0] are phasing this activity to make sure that we can provide an immediate need

00:24:32.7] to the excitement for art school. But we're also looking at a longer-term

00:24:36.5] plan, working with the foundation to secure some

00:24:39.4] significant funds for some physical, I don't want to say

00:24:43.2] capital, but for some physical transformations in that space.

00:24:46.4] And we're working with our

00:24:48.0] city offices, of course, at Capital Improvement.

00:24:50.7] Our city architect as well is aware of what we're looking to do there.

00:24:54.5] as we plan this out.

00:24:55.9] Very good. As far as the fundraising capacity, what does that

00:24:59.8] look like as far as strengthening that?

00:25:02.5] Well, I'll share right now that there's a $500,000 naming opportunity for the art

00:25:06.0] school. So that is available right now, and at the

00:25:09.7] moment, we have El Paso Giving Day happening right now.

00:25:12.6] So if you're tuning in, please go support the El Paso Museum of Art.

00:25:16.1] You can give towards arts education there, and we're building out a

00:25:19.7] formal

00:25:21.6] development plan for that art school

00:25:25.4] development project. It is significant.

00:25:30.9] I don't want to list any specific numbers because we do not have them yet, but it

00:25:34.3] could be

00:25:36.7] over one or two million dollars of a transformation there at the art school.

00:25:40.7] Yeah.

00:25:41.6] If I may, ma'am.

00:25:43.3] So that actual fundraising capacity as well, one thing I will say is that the

00:25:46.6] consultant who helped with the strategic plan is also doing

00:25:50.4] a fundraising strategy plan for our art

00:25:54.4] museum foundation to be able to help them understand how they can

00:25:58.0] better work with our local funders and how

00:26:01.9] they can be a little more streamlined in their processes.

00:26:05.4] So that's something we're looking at as well.

00:26:07.9] I think we're also thinking about the fact that the last couple of years we've had,

00:26:11.8] as I mentioned, a couple of national funders that have come to the

00:26:15.6] table and are actually repeating their giving

00:26:19.5] over and over again. We feel that that's a really great sign, and we want to be

00:26:23.2] able to also look at other funders that we might not have tapped into

00:26:27.1] nationally as we think about the fact that El Paso has a very shallow

00:26:30.8] philanthropic pool.

00:26:32.8] We don't want to just keep going to the same people here over and over again.

00:26:36.2] We also want to bring new money into the community.

00:26:38.8] That's great. And thank you for bringing those additional programs that include

00:26:42.6] sensory. That's very important to everyone.

00:26:46.0] Thank you again for the presentation.

00:26:49.2] Thank you for your questions.

00:26:51.7] Thank you, Eddie, once again. I know that Ben mentioned Italian Renaissance, and

00:26:55.5] you mentioned Frida Kahlo, but I did want to give you the opportunity to

00:26:59.5] talk about other artists that also have had exhibits there,

00:27:03.1] including one that I had the privilege of attending back in May, Minds of All

00:27:06.4] Kinds. Could you talk a little bit about how you bring local artists

00:27:10.1] also into the museum?

00:27:11.7] Yes. Thank you so much for participating and for seeing the work.

00:27:14.3] I appreciate that.

00:27:16.1] Yes, we have an opportunity to show the work of

00:27:20.0] our local artists, of local community organizations.

00:27:25.8] There's an opportunity, even though we have the next three years planned out for

00:27:29.3] the museum in terms of our exhibitions, we have opportunities to

00:27:33.1] carve out moments where we

00:27:35.8] have our artist incubator program.

00:27:37.3] Artists from that city-funded program have an exhibition in our Museum

00:27:41.1] Connect Lab. We currently have the work of Blast.

00:27:43.7] He's an incredible street artist, and you have to see his paintings at the museum.

00:27:46.7] They're on view right now through January.

00:27:48.9] We have mural opportunities. We had a beautiful mural by

00:27:52.7] Mariana Olague on view with us, one of the first Frontera Ford mural

00:27:56.4] commissions, where she painted memories of her Segundo Barrio neighborhood growing

00:28:00.3] up.

00:28:01.5] We had representations of the Ruben Salazar apartments there in this beautiful

00:28:04.5] mural. We now have another lobby installation by Julia Barelo.

00:28:07.8] She's an artist based in Las Cruces.

00:28:11.4] Again, another region that we cover, that we consider home here.

00:28:15.2] And

00:28:18.0] the team does an incredible job of integrating artists into our workshops.

00:28:22.9] We have professional artists. We have Kristen Apodaca, who

00:28:26.8] created a mural for Chalk the Block last year.

00:28:29.0] You can see that mural on the side of the building that faces La Nube.

00:28:32.6] And in fact,

00:28:33.8] the best view of that mural is from La Nube.

00:28:35.6] So go to La Nube and look across the street and see that incredible painting.

00:28:39.7] So it's through mural commissions, through small exhibitions, also larger group

00:28:43.6] shows, and larger investments in our artists that we're able to celebrate our

00:28:47.4] local talent. So please, thank you so much for noticing that, and we

00:28:51.4] really need everyone's support to come out, see their shows,

00:28:55.5] to support them, "para apoyarlos," making sure that they continue to thrive in

00:28:59.7] our very rich cultural region, which is going through an

00:29:03.4] incredible renaissance right now in downtown El Paso.

00:29:06.8] Thank you. I completely agree.

00:29:09.6] I don't think we have any other questions.

00:29:12.5] We have a motion and a second, Ms. Praim?

00:29:14.5] Yes. This is for item number one, correct?

00:29:18.7] Okay. The motion was made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative

00:29:22.4] Boya-Trejo, and this is to approve the resolution on item one.

00:29:26.3] On that motion, call for the vote.

00:29:31.1] Representative Acevedo?

00:29:33.5] Aye.

00:29:34.0] Thank you. End the voting session.

00:29:36.9] And that motion passes unanimously.

00:29:39.4] And for the record, Representatives Canales and Rocha joined the meeting at

00:29:43.2] 9:06 and 9:07 respectively, and Mayor Johnson requested to be

00:29:47.0] excused from today's meeting.

00:29:50.7] All right. If IT can bring up the presentation for item two, please.

00:29:58.1] Thank you. And this presentation is a little more technical, so please bear with

00:30:00.8] me. We are presenting here adjustments, updates to the

00:30:04.4] collections care and management policy,

00:30:07.0] another key document, core document that needs to be filed with the

00:30:10.3] American Alliance of Museums, the accrediting

00:30:13.8] body of this museum. By the way, the other core

00:30:17.8] documents are the strategic plan that, thank you, was just approved, and prior to

00:30:21.6] that, the code of ethics, which council approved as well in the summer.

00:30:26.6] This collections care and management policy is critical.

00:30:30.6] This aligns all of our internal work here with

00:30:34.7] the accrediting body's recommendations.

00:30:37.1] The last policy came before city council in 2017 and was

00:30:40.6] approved. So these updates here reflect changes to

00:30:45.1] larger museum policy across the world, in addition to

00:30:49.2] creating some mechanisms in place here that align our practices

00:30:52.7] with our city purchasing requirements.

00:30:55.6] So I'll go through those here.

00:30:58.2] The first is

00:31:01.0] on the financial side, making sure that any purchase over $3,500

00:31:05.0] is approved by our deputy city manager for quality of life or a similar

00:31:09.1] office

00:31:10.4] overseeing MCAD.

00:31:12.3] Second here is that

00:31:15.3] any acquisition is

00:31:17.9] vetted by the Museums and Cultural Affairs Advisory Board, our

00:31:22.0] MCAAB board.

00:31:23.8] And thirdly here, that any purchases over $50,000 come to city

00:31:27.5] council. So come before your eyes before we make

00:31:31.1] that final purchase there.

00:31:34.3] And these are items that just were not articulated in the prior plan and the prior

00:31:37.4] policy.

00:31:41.4] We have updated language here to our scope of collections.

00:31:44.0] As I mentioned, we have over 7,000 works from the 13th century to the present.

00:31:49.0] We cover so much of the world here, at least in this hemisphere,

00:31:52.9] Latin America,

00:31:54.7] art from Mexico.

00:31:57.4] What's key here is our retablo collection.

00:31:59.8] We have the second largest collection of retablos in the nation,

00:32:03.8] and that's something we're going to celebrate, and we're adding here to this

00:32:06.4] language.

00:32:07.9] Retablos, these are devotional paintings from northern Mexico.

00:32:12.2] They're found in the home, and we have an incredible collection of them, as

00:32:16.2] well as our ex votos

00:32:18.3] as well. So, we have early West Texas art, contemporary art, works

00:32:22.3] on paper. Again, this language is adjusted, modified to

00:32:26.1] help better characterize the collection as it stands today,

00:32:30.1] since 2016.

00:32:33.6] Okay. This is much more technical here.

00:32:36.0] We have updates to the policy that acknowledge public laws

00:32:40.0] governing art,

00:32:42.1] including the Native American Graves Protection and Holocaust Appropriated

00:32:46.3] Art Recovery Act.

00:32:48.3] This here, as you see, there's one adjustment to public law number

00:32:52.6] 119-82 made in 2026. That's fairly

00:32:56.1] recent. And so the previous policy did

00:33:00.0] not, of course, include that update there.

00:33:03.6] We're making sure that any art that is donated, that is purchased by

00:33:07.6] the museum,

00:33:08.9] is coming in clean, and that we're not acquiring works that are fake, that

00:33:13.0] are inauthentic. The works have to be authentic, free of any liens or

00:33:16.5] encumbrances.

00:33:18.3] They need to be exported legally from their country of origin, and they need to be

00:33:21.3] imported

00:33:23.3] into the United States legally as well.

00:33:26.9] And so we seek this provenance documentation, these

00:33:30.8] receipts, essentially, for works of art, before we consider

00:33:34.5] making these acquisitions.

00:33:38.0] Okay. There's also an update here to our outgoing loan

00:33:41.9] authority here. This allows our managing director of quality of life to

00:33:46.6] sign off on loans that are made. We need three months in

00:33:50.2] advance, so we're making sure that time is articulated, so that we have an

00:33:54.1] opportunity to check the object, make sure it's safe to travel, safe to leave

00:33:58.0] the museum.

00:34:00.1] Again, so this is an update to the loan request

00:34:03.5] authority.

00:34:08.1] Okay. And this is what I'm most excited about.

00:34:11.4] This is a new form here that's going to allow us to borrow more freely in

00:34:15.2] between the collections that the

00:34:18.4] city already has. We borrow every now and then from the El Paso Museum of History.

00:34:22.9] We'll be able to borrow more fluidly from the El Paso Museum of

00:34:26.3] History and Archaeology, and maybe even the MAC.

00:34:29.6] They have incredible art in their lobbies now, and this new form allows us.

00:34:33.6] It's an interdepartmental loan form.

00:34:36.2] And as it was described to me by our managing director,

00:34:40.0] he would often sign the loan request

00:34:44.0] and sign off as the receiving body as well,

00:34:47.7] so both the borrower

00:34:50.5] and

00:34:52.6] the lender. And so that's a very circular

00:34:56.2] motion right there. This interdepartmental loan form really cleans

00:35:00.1] that up and allows us to borrow more fluidly.

00:35:02.2] Our museums take fantastic care of our collections.

00:35:05.1] I trust what's going to archaeology, what's going to history, will be cared for in

00:35:09.2] a professional manner.

00:35:14.0] And thank you. That is all for the collections care updates.

00:35:19.6] Thank you. Representative Canales.

00:35:24.8] Thank you.

00:35:26.9] Good job again, Eddie. I move to approve. Thank you.

00:35:29.1] Second.

00:35:32.4] We have a motion and a second. I don't think we have any other discussion,

00:35:36.5] but I do want to thank you both for the presentation and for the wonderful work

00:35:39.7] you're doing in promoting the arts in our city.

00:35:43.7] Ms. Prime? Yes, the motion was made by Representative Canales, seconded by

00:35:47.2] Representative Limón, and this is to approve the resolution on item two.

00:35:50.9] On that motion, call for the vote.

00:35:56.9] Representative Acevedo?

00:35:59.4] Aye.

00:36:00.2] Thank you. End the voting session.

00:36:02.6] And that motion passes unanimously.

00:36:04.9] Thank you.

00:36:05.5] Good job.

00:36:06.3] Thank you all for your support. Thank you.

00:36:08.2] That brings us to item number three, and this is presentation, discussion, and

00:36:11.3] action on the American Rescue Plan Act, ARPA, Coronavirus State and

00:36:15.2] Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.

00:36:24.5] Good morning.

00:36:25.7] Good morning.

00:36:26.4] Welcome.

00:36:27.9] Thank you.

00:36:31.2] Good morning.

00:36:33.6] I'm Elder Ruiz Hefner with the Office of the Comptroller Grants Administration

00:36:37.5] Division.

00:36:39.5] This presentation will have two parts.

00:36:42.9] Sasha Andonoski, the director of

00:36:46.5] the Office of Management and Budget, will continue the second part.

00:36:56.1] So I want to start off by letting you know there is no council

00:36:59.6] action that we are requesting at this time.

00:37:03.2] Today, we are providing a summary update of the ARPA

00:37:06.8] Coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds.

00:37:10.8] We will be discussing the monitoring of the remaining balances,

00:37:15.3] provide a brief summary of funds and projects, the completion

00:37:19.1] of eligible spending, and next steps.

00:37:25.0] As you may recall, the city received a little more than

00:37:28.5] $154 million

00:37:30.9] from the ARPA CSLFRFs to support the

00:37:34.4] continuation of the pandemic response, continue assisting

00:37:38.4] families, continue the essential public services,

00:37:43.0] and invest that promote long-term growth in our

00:37:46.8] community.

00:37:48.8] The one-time federal funding came with some restrictions, as they all do.

00:37:53.4] One of them being that the funds must be spent on or before December

00:37:57.4] 31st of 2026.

00:38:03.1] As part of our final spending year, we have been monitoring the

00:38:06.8] balance, reviewing eligibility of expenditures,

00:38:10.6] and preparing for the final federal closeout of this grant.

00:38:17.8] The CFO, OTC, and OMB hold weekly spending

00:38:21.7] update meetings to review balances, project

00:38:25.0] completion, and expected invoicing and payments.

00:38:28.9] We follow up with the departments on any delays with vendors,

00:38:32.8] contractors,

00:38:35.1] partners, and sub-recipients. We ensure that leadership

00:38:39.0] is aware of any potential issues that may come up.

00:38:44.8] As part of the grant requirements, we have quarterly project and

00:38:48.2] expenditure reports, an annual recovery plan report,

00:38:52.8] and the final closeout report.

00:38:55.3] And these reports are visible there at the

00:38:59.0] link.

00:39:02.1] And with that, I'll turn it over to Sasha to continue.

00:39:10.9] Good morning, Mayor and Council. Sasha Donoski, Office of Management and Budget.

00:39:15.1] So as Elda mentioned, we received

00:39:17.2] $153.4 million.

00:39:21.0] So we

00:39:22.4] allocated this huge money in three big main buckets.

00:39:26.4] So first bucket or 74% was allocated

00:39:30.2] to public health and safety, which is

00:39:32.7] $114 million.

00:39:36.1] Then we allocated 17% to community response and recovery,

00:39:39.9] $26.4 million, and then 9% or $14 million

00:39:43.8] to economic response and recovery.

00:39:49.8] So as a percentage, so we allocated total

00:39:53.8] of 49 projects across all the departments.

00:39:57.2] Up to date,

00:39:58.6] 46 of the projects were almost 100%

00:40:02.9] or almost

00:40:04.3] fully expended. We still have three projects or

00:40:08.3] less than 90% that will need to be expended in the

00:40:12.1] next couple of months.

00:40:17.9] In terms of the percentage from the total amount, as you can see,

00:40:21.5] $99.4 million or

00:40:24.1] $153.4 million has been already

00:40:27.5] expended,

00:40:29.2] which means that in little bit over five years, we expended

00:40:33.3] 99.4% of the whole amount of the money.

00:40:36.7] As you know,

00:40:38.1] we focused on just putting out one-time

00:40:42.2] projects. So we didn't focus on the projects that

00:40:46.3] will be recurring and will

00:40:49.1] have continued obligations for the city.

00:40:52.0] So

00:40:52.3] $909,000 or

00:40:56.5] 0.6%,

00:40:58.8] at this point, we are projecting to be unspent, but we have a good plan for

00:41:02.6] that.

00:41:04.9] So as we go by the main bucket, from $114 million,

00:41:09.4] as you can see from that public health and safety, only

00:41:12.7] 0.1% we are projecting to be

00:41:16.2] unspent

00:41:17.7] or

00:41:18.5] $173,000.

00:41:25.1] From the community response and recovery,

00:41:29.1] we already expend whole amount.

00:41:34.0] And from economic response and recovery from $14 million,

00:41:37.5] we are projecting 5% not to be spent at

00:41:41.3] this point.

00:41:45.3] So for the next steps, so during this month,

00:41:49.2] we are going to continue

00:41:53.1] monitoring the balances, and then we are going to see the

00:41:58.6] payment schedules that are upcoming, and then we will come in front

00:42:02.6] of you with additional recommendations.

00:42:05.8] In November, we are planning to have another presentation.

00:42:09.7] We are targeting November 9th for the next presentation

00:42:13.7] where we will come with a recommendation how to spend

00:42:17.7] that $909,000.

00:42:20.5] Hopefully, it will be less than $909,000 at that point.

00:42:24.6] In December, we will

00:42:26.7] complete all eligible work and payments, and we will confirm

00:42:30.4] any amounts that we will require return.

00:42:33.4] As I mentioned, we are not going to return any amounts.

00:42:36.9] And then

00:42:38.6] finally, we will reconcile the next fiscal year from January to

00:42:42.3] April. We are going to reconcile all the final reports, and then we

00:42:46.4] will submit the closeout report to the federal government.

00:42:52.6] So as a recommendation, when we come back on November 9th,

00:42:57.3] we are couple of

00:42:59.9] pressing

00:43:01.9] needs.

00:43:03.1] One of the needs is

00:43:05.1] routers or Accredo points for, and tough books for the fire departments.

00:43:09.6] These are routers that connect

00:43:12.9] ... internet connection that give internet connection to the fire

00:43:16.7] department fleet.

00:43:18.9] As of this point, 50% of these fleet routers are at the end

00:43:22.8] of its useful life. So we are

00:43:26.6] going to create room in the general

00:43:30.3] fund

00:43:31.6] by

00:43:32.7] increasing our eligible expenditures for the ARPA fund.

00:43:37.6] And with that,

00:43:40.5] we are open to any questions that you guys have.

00:43:43.4] Thank you, Sasha, for the presentation. We do have some questions.

00:43:46.1] Representative Trejo.

00:43:49.2] Thank you.

00:43:51.5] Thank you, Sasha. On

00:43:54.5] slide eight, you mentioned there's three projects left.

00:43:57.3] What are those three projects?

00:44:03.7] So these three projects are, as I mentioned, it will be

00:44:07.7] on slide 10.

00:44:09.4] So we have some leftover from body-worn cameras.

00:44:14.9] We already paid the invoice to the vendor,

00:44:18.8] and so we have a payroll that is coming out

00:44:22.7] from that project. We are estimating around the

00:44:26.6] middle of November to cut off the payroll, and then we are estimating that we will

00:44:30.3] have some savings there, $140,000.

00:44:33.8] What's the project?

00:44:35.7] So the project is the

00:44:38.4] actual body-worn camera. So the actual-

00:44:40.8] The camera

00:44:41.1] ... payment for that. Yes.

00:44:42.1] Okay.

00:44:42.3] But we have some payroll that is coming also from that

00:44:46.2] allocation.

00:44:47.2] So then-

00:44:47.4] Representative Trejo, you might recall that we moved the whole body-worn camera

00:44:50.7] program, along with the staffing, over to general fund.

00:44:53.8] And so this is the remainder of the last couple of charges that would go to

00:44:58.2] this grant, and the rest of it would be ongoing within a general fund for

00:45:02.0] next year moving forward.

00:45:03.5] So you have the worn camera, but what are the three projects?

00:45:06.4] They're all three projects for the worn camera?

00:45:08.5] So there's actually-

00:45:10.7] One of the projects is that body-worn cameras

00:45:13.2] ... body-worn cameras, a public health program, and I think the third one is the

00:45:17.2] economic development program.

00:45:20.1] Yes. So that's the-

00:45:20.9] And there's two programs within that economic development program.

00:45:23.8] One is the BOSS and the other was-

00:45:28.6] The access to capital for small businesses

00:45:30.5] ... the access to capital for small businesses.

00:45:30.9] Yes.

00:45:32.1] And so for the BOSS funding, we were able to utilize another

00:45:36.4] series of funding to be able to get that done.

00:45:38.7] And for the BOSS funding, I believe we're utilizing

00:45:42.5] another source of funding. Did we already bring that to council?

00:45:46.2] Airport.

00:45:46.7] Airport. It's coming.

00:45:50.1] Okay.

00:45:54.8] And you're coming back on the 9th with the recommendations?

00:45:58.0] Yes. We don't want to come with recommendations right now because we want

00:46:03.3] to monitor the program and see where we

00:46:07.0] stand

00:46:08.3] around the end of October. And

00:46:11.3] at that point, we are going to come in front of you with recommendation.

00:46:15.4] Okay. All right. Thank you.

00:46:18.8] Representative Limón.

00:46:21.2] Thank you. Sasha, were any buildings purchased with any

00:46:25.2] of this money?

00:46:28.2] Yes.

00:46:29.4] How many?

00:46:31.0] Do you have that information?

00:46:32.2] I don't have that information.

00:46:35.8] I guess my question is how many, and are they being

00:46:39.5] used, and for what? And then what happens after the funding is gone,

00:46:43.6] then the maintenance and

00:46:46.0] operation that will come under general fund?

00:46:49.5] So all the buildings that we purchased with ARPA money are already paid

00:46:53.3] off.

00:46:55.1] And all the recurring maintenance is already in the budget.

00:47:00.0] If we have recurring maintenance for these buildings, yes, it is included

00:47:03.9] in the budget.

00:47:04.8] Okay. And my question is how many, and what are they being used

00:47:08.6] for?

00:47:10.0] Maybe Robert

00:47:11.6] or Elda.

00:47:13.2] So it is for the health department.

00:47:14.6] This was for the MCA clinic and the relocation of

00:47:18.6] the health department itself.

00:47:21.2] So the other ones were CARES, ma'am.

00:47:23.2] So you might recall we did, I believe it was three or four, I'm guessing.

00:47:26.4] I think it was four.

00:47:28.3] That was with the CARES funding. Some of those are still being used for clinics,

00:47:32.0] but they all are within our city inventory.

00:47:35.6] One actually is going to be the new home for the BOSS.

00:47:39.3] We also had the location across the street that I think was used for

00:47:43.0] epidemiology for a bit. We have several departments who are

00:47:46.9] utilizing that space, and I think the other two clinics are still clinics.

00:47:50.5] Mm-hmm.

00:47:50.8] And then the second round of money was the health department

00:47:54.2] relocation, and then a new clinic that we have.

00:47:56.6] Very good.

00:47:56.9] And the Moorhead building that was purchased with those funds.

00:48:00.4] Okay.

00:48:00.7] The school.

00:48:01.6] The Moorhead building,

00:48:03.7] was the Moorhead building originally...

00:48:07.8] It was expected to be for the animal services, half, and the other was

00:48:11.7] for

00:48:12.9] migrant. Is that correct, or am I-

00:48:15.3] So

00:48:16.9] it's for emergency services. I don't know that I have-

00:48:19.2] Emergency services.

00:48:19.6] Oh, okay.

00:48:20.7] Emergency services.

00:48:21.7] Chief Killings will come. Yep.

00:48:31.3] Good morning. Chief Killings, El Paso Fire Department.

00:48:33.4] So the Moorhead building,

00:48:35.3] portion of that building is under the control of animal services.

00:48:38.6] The other portion is under the Office of Emergency Management for backup

00:48:43.1] for the EOC and also for migrant

00:48:46.1] sheltering or any other sheltering in coordination with the Red Cross.

00:48:50.9] Okay.

00:48:52.3] Were there any

00:48:56.4] thoughts of expanding the animal service use to the entire

00:49:00.4] building, or is it limited for any particular

00:49:04.1] reason?

00:49:05.9] So the conversation that we originally had regarding animal services

00:49:09.7] was we,

00:49:11.8] get the year, the CO, we issued a CO in

00:49:15.3] 2018, '19. We were having a conversation about some expansions

00:49:19.2] of animal services. Initially, that was supposed to be at the initial site.

00:49:23.7] We took those additional dollars, added a few dollars to that to be able to get the

00:49:27.4] portion that they have.

00:49:29.5] All the dollars that were allocated to be able to do that work were utilized for

00:49:33.4] that project, and I believe there was also a couple of vehicles

00:49:37.9] that we purchased also with those dollars.

00:49:40.5] And so if council

00:49:42.4] wanted to do anything different, we would need to do the design and

00:49:46.1] actually go through some funding process for that.

00:49:48.8] Those were primarily through COs, and so I think as we're talking about

00:49:52.8] a larger bond, there would be opportunities for expansion.

00:49:56.6] What would be important to note, though, is with all of these,

00:50:00.2] it requires a lot more people. When we opened Morehead, that was around $4 million

00:50:04.5] more just for the people we have. And if we're talking about adding

00:50:08.7] surgical suites and all those things, we need to be very mindful of the O&M costs

00:50:12.7] that are going to be associated with those moving forward.

00:50:15.7] And I guess I'm just concerned

00:50:19.2] how we have two sites.

00:50:21.9] What would it look like to combine animal services into

00:50:26.0] one facility, one building? I know I took a

00:50:29.5] tour of animal services, and they're kind of

00:50:33.3] limited in some areas. And then we've got the other site

00:50:37.6] in District VII that is

00:50:40.4] really not

00:50:42.1] being used a lot, and that used to be a public facility for the

00:50:45.5] community that was turned into an animal services place again.

00:50:50.0] So I'm just wondering, at some point in time, Dion, maybe

00:50:53.9] talking or looking at the possibility of putting everything

00:50:57.8] into that one building that has the ability.

00:51:02.6] If we're looking at migrant services or emergency services,

00:51:06.9] perhaps that could be done in District VII.

00:51:09.8] I'd just be open to a possible conversation on that at a

00:51:13.6] later date.

00:51:16.0] I think we'll have an opportunity to talk about the overall strategy regarding

00:51:19.6] animal services. I think we also are looking at the county bring on their

00:51:23.4] facility in the next couple of years, and so I think that that will also shift

00:51:27.7] some of what we utilize. I do know from staff's perspective,

00:51:31.6] allowing for us to have multiple facilities that people can get

00:51:35.6] to on different sides of town have been very advantageous to us.

00:51:39.3] And so I do think it's worthwhile for council to sort of understand what those

00:51:42.4] costs and expenses are. I have seen some very beautiful,

00:51:46.4] very expensive facilities in other cities, and I think we would just have to

00:51:50.4] figure out whether that is the highest priority and best use of funds for the

00:51:53.7] department at this time.

00:51:55.1] Okay. Thank you.

00:51:58.1] Representative Nino.

00:52:00.2] Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

00:52:03.3] Super quick question.

00:52:07.0] In regards to the $909,000 that are still available that are unspent,

00:52:11.8] if you can help me understand, slide number 14, it says, "Available ARPA funds will

00:52:15.7] reimburse eligible expenses paid out of the general fund, creating capacity to

00:52:19.3] fund," and it has a list of,

00:52:21.4] I believe, projects. Are those the recommendations, essentially, of the

00:52:25.3] $909,000? Is that what I'm understanding?

00:52:27.9] Yes.

00:52:28.1] Yes.

00:52:28.7] Okay.

00:52:29.2] During the budget process, you might recall that we talked about, and we want to

00:52:32.9] verify the number, but it's a $1.6 million need that

00:52:36.8] Fire brought forth during the budget process for this critical piece of

00:52:40.4] equipment, and we couldn't put it in the budget at all.

00:52:43.4] And so we're looking at, even if it's not enough money,

00:52:47.1] to set that aside. So it definitely would help us during the next budget process to

00:52:51.2] be able to pay for that asset. From our perspective, as you know,

00:52:55.1] that we've been talking about

00:52:57.2] needing to find other sources of revenue for much of our pay

00:53:01.2] goal for next year, and so this is one of the things that I think should be a

00:53:04.8] cash

00:53:07.3] purchase, and then we would come back for others.

00:53:10.2] And so we have to obligate the funds as we're closing out this grant,

00:53:14.2] and so the action would be, one, to allow you all to have a discussion about

00:53:17.9] whether you think this is the highest and best use.

00:53:20.2] We wanted to give you a few weeks to be able to do that, but we want to come back

00:53:23.1] on the 9th, so as the team is starting to close out the grant, everything is in its

00:53:27.1] proper category. So there is allowance within the

00:53:31.0] grant documents to allow for us to be able to utilize the funds in this way.

00:53:35.4] We didn't charge any indirect or any of our administrative costs to it, so we would

00:53:39.3] want to use those dollars to be able to offset some of our taxes or

00:53:43.2] potential debt for the upcoming fiscal year.

00:53:45.6] Thank you for that clarification.

00:53:47.2] So we have approximately $909,000.

00:53:50.5] The replacement of the fleets and the rotters,

00:53:52.9] tough books for fire department. What was the total cost to replace that?

00:53:55.8] You had mentioned, is it one-

00:53:56.9] It was 1.6, but it also has a contract that's existing, so it was

00:54:01.0] one of the things that we looked at.

00:54:02.2] We didn't want to bring you an item that had another cost and expense

00:54:06.1] that was associated with it. And so we're going to see where those other

00:54:09.9] dollars sort of land with the spending and the drawdown, and I'm hoping that it's a

00:54:13.8] little bit higher and we can get closer to the actual cost.

00:54:17.0] But it would be really great to be able to get that really critical

00:54:21.2] resource for the fire department, because we have a lot of things that are already

00:54:24.2] coming up that we're going to have in next year's budget.

00:54:26.4] Ms. Mack, and can you repeat one more time in regards of the benefit of this,

00:54:29.8] because it mentions leveraging grant funding reduces the general

00:54:33.2] fund or debt burden.

00:54:35.4] Correct.

00:54:35.5] So instead of spending $1.6 million

00:54:39.0] in regards to the general fund or debt burden, we're essentially trying to allocate

00:54:42.3] some of this funding to help some of that burden from the taxpayers leveraging this

00:54:46.1] grant.

00:54:46.6] Correct. And so it'd mean that this is a one-time capital purchase, and

00:54:50.5] we already have the ongoing maintenance contract.

00:54:54.6] And so this would mean that this would be at least $990,000

00:54:58.7] that we would not need to add to debt service next

00:55:02.5] year or to add to our general fund for next year.

00:55:05.8] And some of these things we just can't keep kicking the can on.

00:55:08.4] We've got to figure out some solutions for them.

00:55:10.5] Perfect. I have no further questions. Thank you, Sasha and Ms. Mack.

00:55:15.2] Thank you, Sasha and the team. I have one question. Ms.

00:55:18.6] Mack, on slide 12, or maybe Sasha could answer this.

00:55:21.9] I know we've given some business grants and we've done some support for other local

00:55:25.6] businesses. Is there any data that shows what that support

00:55:29.5] has translated into either businesses that have employed

00:55:33.1] people, sales revenue, tax revenue, anything that they've generated in our

00:55:36.9] community?

00:55:39.9] We're happy to bring that presentation back when-- and those of us who were able

00:55:43.9] to go to the BOSS Gala, was just so proud of the businesses

00:55:47.8] and the community and

00:55:51.0] all the partners who have come to help us to be able to do that work.

00:55:53.5] So I think it will be a nice recap, and maybe we can bring it for the 9th along

00:55:57.1] with the presentation, if that's okay with you.

00:55:59.1] I think that would be very beneficial so that our community can see what investment

00:56:03.0] really looks like and translates into benefit for

00:56:06.9] everyone. Thank you, Ms. Mack.

00:56:09.2] Okay.

00:56:09.3] Thank you, Sasha. I don't believe we have any action on this item, so we don't need

00:56:12.5] a motion. Is that correct?

00:56:13.8] Yes.

00:56:14.2] Thank you so much. Thank you both.

00:56:16.7] That brings us to item four, and this is discussion regarding the presentation of

00:56:20.2] the 2026 Animal Shelter Advisory Committee, ASAC,

00:56:24.6] annual report to City Council.

00:56:37.0] Welcome, Representative Canales.

00:56:39.5] Thank you. So strange every year to present from this side.

00:56:46.4] All right.

00:56:49.3] Good morning. I'm here to deliver this presentation not

00:56:53.2] as the representative for District 8, but as the chair of the city's Animal Shelter

00:56:57.2] Advisory Committee,

00:56:58.9] and we wanted to

00:57:01.0] make sure that we present to the council our annual report,

00:57:05.1] along with six recommendations

00:57:08.5] that the committee wanted to make to the city council.

00:57:12.8] I'll start with a little bit of background about the committee.

00:57:17.4] It consists of 13 members,

00:57:21.4] one member appointed by each of the districts and by the mayor's

00:57:25.4] office, making nine, and then four specialized

00:57:28.8] positions

00:57:30.4] appointed by the mayor's office. And those four positions are one

00:57:34.0] licensed veterinarian,

00:57:36.4] one person whose daily duties include the operation

00:57:40.4] of an animal shelter,

00:57:42.6] one person who is a representative of an animal welfare organization, and

00:57:46.5] then one

00:57:48.0] city or county official.

00:57:51.0] That one is me.

00:57:55.3] Also, before we start presenting the report, wanted to acknowledge the work

00:57:59.3] of the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee's ad hoc

00:58:03.2] subcommittee for the development of the annual report,

00:58:07.2] and that consisted of myself, Tess Passero, who is the vice

00:58:11.1] chair, and also the Animal Welfare

00:58:14.8] Organization representative,

00:58:18.3] Megan Sesker. Also appointed by the mayor as the

00:58:23.2] shelter operator

00:58:25.1] position,

00:58:26.4] Sylvia Serna, the District 2 appointee, and Mary Barduch, the District

00:58:30.7] 7 appointee. So thank you to the committee who put in the work to

00:58:35.5] prepare the annual report and to

00:58:38.9] really go back through the minutes of the meetings and the videos of the meetings

00:58:42.9] to make sure that everything that the ASAC discussed was captured and that

00:58:46.5] informed the recommendations.

00:58:50.5] So we'll go very briefly and we'll take a look at the

00:58:54.4] ASAC's strategic plan. The ASAC has adopted its own

00:58:58.3] strategic plan with a mission to advise,

00:59:02.4] support, and advocate for the well-being of animals in the El Paso community

00:59:07.1] and a vision to be the leader in animal welfare.

00:59:14.4] Looking at our committee by the numbers, we held 11 meetings

00:59:18.4] across fiscal year 2026,

00:59:21.5] considered a total of 50 agenda items.

00:59:24.8] We had three of the seats turn over, so we welcomed three new members

00:59:28.6] during the fiscal year,

00:59:32.2] and we had a total ASAC meeting duration of 18 hours

00:59:36.1] and 28 minutes.

00:59:38.2] That's a lot of time for volunteers to dedicate to the committee service, so

00:59:42.2] thank you to everybody

00:59:43.8] for all that investment of time.

00:59:47.2] And of course, that time is multiplied by the 13 members who serve.

00:59:51.1] I apologize that the text is quite small here, but

00:59:55.8] we

00:59:57.4] went through quite a transition from

01:00:00.0] many years of meeting virtually as the Animal Shelter Advisory

01:00:03.9] Committee to

01:00:05.6] a first year, and it actually transitioned mid-year, but a first year of

01:00:09.6] meeting in person.

01:00:12.1] And so you see a slight decrease in the attendance rate from last

01:00:16.1] year, which was in the 90s, but still a very strong,

01:00:20.4] nearly 85% attendance rate from the committee.

01:00:24.0] They've been incredibly dedicated.

01:00:31.1] And what was discussed? So there were

01:00:35.0] many topics that the ASAC discussed over the term of the

01:00:39.8] report,

01:00:41.2] but there were five things that the subcommittee that prepared the report

01:00:45.4] identified as kind of the topics that

01:00:48.7] spanned multiple meetings or pervaded multiple

01:00:52.0] conversations.

01:00:54.0] Spay and neuter access and funding was the

01:00:58.2] number one most discussed issue, and the council saw that

01:01:02.1] in the form of a recommendation

01:01:04.9] in last year's annual report, and then also a separate recommendation

01:01:09.6] during the consideration of the budget for the city

01:01:12.6] just a few months ago.

01:01:15.1] But the committee

01:01:16.5] repeatedly discussed ways to expand access for the

01:01:20.3] public to spay and neuter services, including the

01:01:24.8] community spay-a-thons that the department already holds and

01:01:29.0] other potential ways to increase the services that

01:01:33.0] are available to the public.

01:01:35.6] We discussed at length animal ordinances and legal and

01:01:39.6] regulatory issues.

01:01:41.9] We spent time across multiple meetings talking about potential

01:01:45.8] amendments to Title 7.

01:01:48.1] The committee did take a position

01:01:51.1] during the

01:01:52.4] year to recommend to the council the adoption of

01:01:56.4] some amendments to Title 7 that were ultimately adopted, the

01:02:00.8] vicious dog and dangerous dog ordinances.

01:02:04.7] And so the committee was pleased that the council

01:02:08.8] listened to their recommendation.

01:02:13.0] The committee discussed animal services operations and

01:02:17.5] performance and shelter conditions very frequently.

01:02:22.0] At every meeting, the committee receives the director's report

01:02:25.8] from El Paso Animal Services. The committee's purview actually is

01:02:29.5] larger than just El Paso Animal Services.

01:02:32.2] It actually encompasses the entirety of El Paso

01:02:36.1] County and all of the

01:02:38.8] shelters and animal welfare operations at those shelters across the entirety of the

01:02:42.8] county. But we do hear every month from El Paso Animal Services,

01:02:47.1] and the operations of that shelter were

01:02:50.4] a large focus of the time that the committee spent in its meetings.

01:02:56.1] We discussed community resources, outreach, and public awareness.

01:03:00.4] Quite frequently, the topic came up about how we can better

01:03:03.9] connect residents to the services that already exist, how

01:03:07.7] residents can be made more aware

01:03:10.3] of,

01:03:12.1] again, available services, but also

01:03:14.8] Title 7 of the municipal code and our

01:03:17.7] animal welfare laws that are already on the books.

01:03:21.9] And we discussed the possible development of a community pet resource alert

01:03:25.8] page

01:03:27.8] to

01:03:29.4] put all of the resources in one place.

01:03:32.2] We also discussed regional coordination and ASAC's role.

01:03:35.3] As I mentioned, it has purview larger than just the city

01:03:38.9] shelter. And

01:03:40.6] for the last several years, I think a lot of the focus of the ASAC has been

01:03:43.8] primarily on the city shelter. As we see the county

01:03:47.8] go through their development process for their own large facility that was

01:03:51.6] approved by the voters a few years ago.

01:03:54.8] And

01:03:56.0] they restructure and grow their department.

01:03:58.6] We've begun to invite El Paso County

01:04:02.6] to now come present about their animal operations,

01:04:07.2] and that's been a fruitful partnership.

01:04:08.8] And the ASAC has discussed ways to further increase

01:04:12.7] engagement with other

01:04:14.8] shelters and rescues and other entities

01:04:17.7] that can come provide us with information about their operations at their shelters

01:04:21.6] across the county.

01:04:26.7] We also

01:04:28.1] identified some frequently raised concerns.

01:04:31.1] These were things that came up, again, across multiple meetings that we

01:04:35.0] thought were important to flag for the council.

01:04:39.5] You'll see some overlap with the frequently discussed topics, but insufficient

01:04:43.3] access to affordable spay and neuter services

01:04:46.2] was the primary concern that had the most

01:04:50.6] discussion at the ASAC meetings.

01:04:55.3] Again, that culminated in a recommendation to the council that

01:04:59.2] has already happened.

01:05:01.0] And

01:05:02.5] the committee was very happy that, again, the council

01:05:05.5] agreed to fund additional spay and neuter services in the budget

01:05:09.6] for fiscal year '27.

01:05:12.4] Maintaining strong shelter standards and animal care practices

01:05:16.1] was another frequently raised concern.

01:05:18.5] The committee discussed housing and sanitation and

01:05:22.6] appropriate separation of sick, injured, or diseased animals from healthy

01:05:26.2] animals.

01:05:30.2] The committee received a couple of updates on

01:05:34.0] the screw worm

01:05:37.5] outbreak

01:05:38.8] that we've seen in surrounding areas, and

01:05:43.3] thankfully

01:05:44.7] not heavily in El Paso yet. And fingers crossed that

01:05:48.2] we're in the clear here, but kind of all around us, there has been

01:05:52.3] a large outbreak of New World screw worm that has been very difficult for

01:05:57.0] shelters, animal welfare organizations, but also

01:06:00.4] farmers, ranchers, pet owners. It's created a lot of extra

01:06:04.2] burdens. And so that is another thing that the committee

01:06:08.0] discussed multiple times and actually brought in

01:06:11.3] some expert information and an expert to provide us with

01:06:15.2] information.

01:06:18.9] Another frequently raised concern was public awareness of animal

01:06:22.4] welfare resources. There are lots of great organizations

01:06:26.2] operating within the community and lots of great resources that the city

01:06:30.0] offers through the Animal Services Department.

01:06:33.8] But not everybody is aware of all of those services, and

01:06:37.7] so that was always something that the committee returned

01:06:41.5] to.

01:06:43.5] How can we increase that awareness and better connect people to those services?

01:06:48.3] The Pet Pantries program was one that was brought up frequently.

01:06:51.0] That's a program of the libraries, the El Paso Public Libraries,

01:06:54.9] not Animal Services, but it's another key service

01:06:58.8] for

01:07:00.1] pet owners in El Paso, and the committee frequently discussed ways to

01:07:03.8] better connect the people that those resources serve

01:07:07.8] to the availability of the resources.

01:07:11.6] And finally, supporting effective staffing, leadership, and regional

01:07:15.2] coordination. The committee discussed ways to better

01:07:19.2] recognize and support the employees,

01:07:22.3] in particular at El Paso Animal Services.

01:07:26.6] There are a lot of very difficult city jobs, but I would put some of

01:07:30.6] those positions at Animal Services up against any of them.

01:07:34.3] They're both physically difficult and I think emotionally difficult for a lot of

01:07:37.9] those employees. And so the ASAC

01:07:40.7] I was very focused on

01:07:43.9] making sure that those employees are being supported in their work

01:07:48.1] and

01:07:49.4] discussing ways that

01:07:51.8] potentially the community can support or the city can support those

01:07:55.4] employees better.

01:08:01.0] And so the ASAC, as a result, is making six

01:08:04.6] recommendations to the council.

01:08:07.2] You've seen recommendations come forward over the last couple of years,

01:08:10.9] and

01:08:12.5] the

01:08:14.1] subcommittee who prepared the report actually wanted me specifically to

01:08:17.9] thank the council for

01:08:20.3] adopting a lot of the recommendations that have come from the ASAC over the past

01:08:24.5] couple of years. And so

01:08:27.3] we can move to the first recommendation, and that is to establish recurring

01:08:31.0] funding to sustain high-volume spay and neuter services.

01:08:36.3] Again, the committee was very grateful that the council included, for the first

01:08:40.0] time, funding for

01:08:42.2] very high volume spay/neuter event, a single

01:08:46.1] event but a large one,

01:08:48.5] in the fiscal year 2027 budget.

01:08:52.0] The recommendation from the committee is essentially to

01:08:55.4] consider making that level of support something that's permanently included in

01:08:59.3] the city's budget in order to

01:09:03.2] be able to provide that expanded service to the public.

01:09:07.1] We anticipate that the funded program

01:09:11.1] in fiscal year 2027 will provide an additional,

01:09:15.5] somewhere between 1,000 and 1,400 spay and neuter surgeries

01:09:19.6] to the public.

01:09:21.1] And that can make a real dent in the number of animals that we see coming into the

01:09:25.1] shelter.

01:09:26.4] So we hope that this is something that the council will consider

01:09:30.1] in the development of next year's budget.

01:09:35.8] Recommendation number two is strengthen regional coordination and shared

01:09:39.2] responsibility for animal welfare.

01:09:41.3] Again, this is something that

01:09:43.9] is already

01:09:45.4] ongoing, and we've seen, I think, a strengthening of ties

01:09:49.2] between

01:09:50.6] city animal services, and then the

01:09:53.9] county's animal welfare department as well.

01:09:57.3] We want to continue

01:09:59.2] expanding those partnerships and making sure

01:10:02.9] that the council

01:10:05.7] is engaged as well on the

01:10:09.5] relationships that happen with counterparts at the county and other

01:10:13.4] jurisdictions with regard to their work on animal

01:10:17.3] welfare.

01:10:20.0] Recommendation number three is to maintain and modernize animal services

01:10:23.2] facilities, equipment, and fleet.

01:10:27.5] As was mentioned during the budget process recently, a lot of the

01:10:31.5] animal services fleet in particular is

01:10:35.5] beyond its useful life at this point.

01:10:39.3] And a lot of those vehicles, particularly the animal protection

01:10:43.4] officer vehicles that are out in the field every day,

01:10:46.9] are hanging on by a thread.

01:10:48.5] So this

01:10:52.8] recommendation number three

01:10:56.0] was to invest in those tools that the

01:11:01.4] El Paso Animal Services

01:11:03.5] needs

01:11:05.3] every day.

01:11:07.1] And again, facilities are a part of that as well.

01:11:10.4] There have been significant facilities upgrades at animal

01:11:14.1] services,

01:11:15.6] but there's always more need, and there are animals

01:11:19.3] being held because of capacity in temporary

01:11:22.8] facilities that

01:11:26.1] is not necessarily a longer-term sustainable solution.

01:11:29.5] And so the committee recommends making the investments in

01:11:33.4] those infrastructure pieces that the department needs.

01:11:39.0] Our recommendation number four is continuing strategies that reduce length of

01:11:42.8] stay and improve positive outcomes.

01:11:46.3] El Paso Animal Services has presented regularly to the committee about

01:11:51.7] pretty comprehensive restructuring of the foster program, the adoption

01:11:55.7] program, the behavioral program, the medical program,

01:12:02.1] and

01:12:03.6] placement practices. And so

01:12:07.8] all of that is change that's very welcome, and the

01:12:11.6] committee wants to make sure that those changes are

01:12:16.6] continued and that they're made formal parts of the way

01:12:20.4] that El Paso Animal Services operates.

01:12:23.7] Length of stay data is showing that the average length of

01:12:27.6] stay for animals is coming down significantly,

01:12:30.9] which is a great thing for capacity at the shelter.

01:12:36.1] So we hope that these upgrades and changes

01:12:39.8] to policies within the department continue.

01:12:44.2] And recommendation number five is to balance effective enforcement with a

01:12:47.7] strong community safety net.

01:12:50.8] The committee discussed at length, as I said,

01:12:55.3] Title 7, both changes to the city

01:12:59.0] code

01:13:00.4] with regard to animals and animal welfare,

01:13:03.4] but also enforcement of existing code

01:13:08.0] on things ranging from animal cruelty to breeding and sale

01:13:12.3] to standards of care.

01:13:15.0] We want to make sure that

01:13:17.0] that

01:13:18.4] enforcement aspect is also balanced with providing

01:13:22.3] resources to the public

01:13:24.4] in order to

01:13:26.3] maybe alleviate some of the pressures that people feel that can lead to some of the

01:13:30.5] bad behaviors or violations of Title 7.

01:13:34.2] So that includes things like pet food assistance, as mentioned before,

01:13:37.7] accessible spay and neuter services, lower cost veterinary care

01:13:43.3] Im-improve public education. That's something that we've seen from the

01:13:47.6] department already, but that we want to see an expansion of,

01:13:51.1] and better communication of available resources to the public.

01:13:56.3] And finally, recommendation number six is to invest in animal services

01:14:00.3] workforce capacity and development.

01:14:03.3] The department has wonderful employees and as I said earlier,

01:14:07.2] many of them doing very difficult jobs.

01:14:10.8] And so, the committee

01:14:12.7] recognizes that successful animal welfare outcomes

01:14:16.7] depend on

01:14:18.1] the staff at the shelter who are

01:14:22.0] being asked to do a lot of work,

01:14:24.8] doing that work in a way where they feel supported.

01:14:29.6] We want to

01:14:30.8] make sure that the focus is on identifying

01:14:34.5] ways that these employees can advance through the department,

01:14:39.3] strengthening the career pathways available to them, reducing

01:14:43.0] vacancies and turnover at the shelter,

01:14:47.1] and then recognizing the employees that are doing a great job,

01:14:51.2] and making sure that the staffing capacity keeps pace with the needs

01:14:55.2] of the shelter.

01:15:01.1] We also wanted to give special thanks to those who have been involved in the

01:15:05.0] meetings of the ASAC over the fiscal year.

01:15:09.5] Michael Waksman, the interim director at El Paso Animal Services, presents his

01:15:12.9] report to us at every meeting. So thank you to Michael.

01:15:15.9] Those reports have gotten more and more detailed.

01:15:18.2] They're now broken down

01:15:20.2] by program within the department, and we get a great

01:15:24.0] density of information from those.

01:15:26.9] I'll give extra special shout-outs to Maria Arciniega,

01:15:30.8] who is the staff liaison to the committee and prepares our

01:15:34.7] agendas and makes sure that

01:15:37.5] we're on track. And then,

01:15:40.2] another extra special shout-out to Mona Heydarian, who

01:15:44.2] is the staff attorney from the city attorney's office

01:15:48.5] assigned to the committee,

01:15:50.7] who in addition to all of the duties

01:15:54.7] of this assigned staff attorney, also gives us excellent

01:15:58.7] presentations quarterly about the ASAC's duties.

01:16:02.9] And we rotate through

01:16:05.3] the state law provisions that establish the ASAC and then the city code

01:16:08.9] provisions.

01:16:10.7] The ASAC is a strange committee in that it has

01:16:14.5] some requirements from the state and state law.

01:16:17.9] The city is required to have an Animal Shelter Advisory Committee,

01:16:22.5] but then also separate requirements from the city code.

01:16:25.9] And so in order to foster understanding both for the public and for

01:16:29.8] the members,

01:16:31.7] Mona goes through those presentations with us very regularly and it's very helpful.

01:16:35.8] So extra big shout-outs to those folks.

01:16:39.8] And that was the last slide. So with that,

01:16:42.1] I'm happy to answer any questions.

01:16:45.5] Thank you for the presentation.

01:16:48.1] Representative Rocha.

01:16:50.7] Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Thank you, Representative Canales, or should I say

01:16:54.4] President of ASAC Canales?

01:16:57.1] Put your president hat on. And a lot of these recommendations-

01:17:00.5] Chair. President sounds like a two bigger promotion.

01:17:02.8] Well, chairman.

01:17:05.0] Yeah.

01:17:05.0] So,

01:17:06.6] with all these recommendations, a lot of these are already being

01:17:09.7] implemented to some form.

01:17:11.7] Yes.

01:17:12.0] Correct?

01:17:13.2] Yes. And again,

01:17:14.7] recall this is

01:17:16.4] timed to the fiscal year-

01:17:18.0] Right

01:17:18.0] ... so it has already been a few months and many of the things that were

01:17:21.7] discussed and recommended here in the report did get considered and

01:17:25.4] adopted in the meanwhile.

01:17:27.3] So I want to give thanks to Michael and his staff

01:17:31.7] for really taking that initiative to be

01:17:35.6] able to do that. I know that now

01:17:39.0] you all are closing once a month, if I'm not mistaken, to clean

01:17:43.0] and just do a real deep cleaning if I'm not mistaken, and do some

01:17:46.7] staff

01:17:49.3] training. And so I think that all of that is super important to be able

01:17:53.3] to make sure that

01:17:55.3] you're reaching these particular goals.

01:17:59.4] The one concern, I know that as a council, we

01:18:03.3] adopted or included the recommendation for the

01:18:07.1] low-cost spay and neuter, right?

01:18:09.0] Yes.

01:18:09.2] Which I think is a total of 128,000. Is that right?

01:18:13.7] 122,000.

01:18:14.8] 122,000. And so that's going to come.

01:18:17.7] Unfortunately, we didn't pass the additional piece which

01:18:21.7] would have given the maintenance of the vehicles

01:18:25.9] on the animal services portion,

01:18:30.7] the much needed care that they need in order to be out there in the

01:18:34.6] community to do everything in the public education piece,

01:18:38.4] everything in being out in the community.

01:18:41.0] I really do support the recommendations that ASAC has

01:18:45.0] provided. I think that we need to do

01:18:49.7] some creativity as to how we can include more

01:18:53.6] for animal services. So thank you. I really appreciate it.

01:18:57.6] And thank you to the committee as well for their work.

01:19:04.8] Representative Nino.

01:19:06.4] Thank you, Chairman Canales, as well for all your work on this important

01:19:10.2] advocacy that has to take place in our community. I have one super quick follow-up.

01:19:13.8] During the conversation about the

01:19:16.2] spay and neuter services-

01:19:17.4] Mm-hmm

01:19:17.5] ... we mentioned a little about an organization possibly also

01:19:21.4] taking part of doing other spay and neuter events.

01:19:24.4] Do you know if they were able to approve that, or did they agree on

01:19:28.3] moving that forward?

01:19:30.5] It's still not 100% decided. Again,

01:19:34.7] the

01:19:35.9] city

01:19:37.4] approved funding for one event.

01:19:41.0] There's still the possibility of a couple of other events that

01:19:45.0] funding would come from

01:19:46.7] elsewhere. And so,

01:19:48.7] it's still not Committed, but I think it's very likely that we

01:19:52.6] will see additional work with that organization,

01:19:56.5] Greater Good Charities.

01:19:59.7] They have already visited El Paso.

01:20:03.8] They were here less than two weeks ago

01:20:07.0] for

01:20:08.9] site visits and going through their planning

01:20:12.9] process for bringing that first event here.

01:20:16.4] They

01:20:17.7] were,

01:20:18.8] I think it's fair to say,

01:20:20.8] their words, they were blown away by El Paso and the operation that we have going

01:20:24.5] here. They were very excited to work with us.

01:20:27.7] And so, I think that they

01:20:30.5] very much want to continue to have a presence here.

01:20:33.1] And

01:20:34.4] the funding pieces just have to come together for additional events for them.

01:20:37.3] But I think it's very likely.

01:20:38.8] Okay. No, I just wanted to follow up on that because I know that we had talked

01:20:41.4] briefly about that, and I was just curious to see if the other organizations had

01:20:45.0] agreed or not. But thank you for all your work. Appreciate it.

01:20:47.4] No further questions.

01:20:50.5] Thank you, Chair Canales. I also have a question.

01:20:53.0] Okay.

01:20:53.6] I know there are some board members that have been there for a bit

01:20:57.4] longer, and some others that are new.

01:21:00.0] What is the process of accepting these recommendations?

01:21:03.3] Was it unanimous from the board, or how does everybody feel about them?

01:21:07.4] Yeah.

01:21:08.5] Again, there was the subcommittee of myself plus

01:21:13.2] four other members, who

01:21:15.8] made an initial pass at the annual report.

01:21:18.7] It was then presented to the full committee,

01:21:22.3] who did adopt this unanimously, the

01:21:27.0] report and the six recommendations in the state they're currently in.

01:21:29.7] There were some small adjustments that were made along the way, but

01:21:33.7] yes, it was

01:21:35.0] a unanimous vote by the committee.

01:21:37.6] Okay. And that's really good to know, to see that there's consensus within the

01:21:40.8] committee for these recommendations.

01:21:43.0] I think it was a data point that you said, and I think it's important

01:21:47.1] probably to highlight it once again, how many additional spay and neuters you

01:21:50.9] think will take place given that additional funding that we adopted through the

01:21:54.8] budget?

01:21:56.2] Yeah. We anticipate somewhere between 1,000 and

01:21:59.4] 1,400.

01:22:01.6] We'll probably be in the ballpark of 1,200 additional

01:22:05.6] surgeries. A lot of it, I think, depends on the balance of

01:22:09.3] dog surgeries and cat surgeries.

01:22:12.4] Some are faster than others.

01:22:13.7] Right.

01:22:13.9] Larger dogs versus small dogs and things like that.

01:22:15.8] But it will be somewhere in that ballpark.

01:22:17.9] Okay. That's really good to know. And in addition to that, we've been supporting,

01:22:21.8] of course, the department because I do think they brought forward an

01:22:25.6] increase in their budget this fiscal year. Do you remember?

01:22:29.0] I think it was about $1.5 million-

01:22:31.6] Yes, that's-

01:22:31.8] ... in additional funding.

01:22:33.4] Mm-hmm.

01:22:34.5] And I'm really happy that the council has been supportive of the department.

01:22:38.2] I know that there's a lot of need across many city departments in our city.

01:22:41.6] So, we're happy to support. And I have a question, but I'll ask you

01:22:45.5] probably after the meeting-

01:22:46.7] Okay

01:22:47.2] ... regarding something specific to District 1.

01:22:49.8] Sounds good.

01:22:50.1] Thank you. Thank you, Chair Canales.

01:22:51.6] All right.

01:22:51.7] And I don't believe this is posted for any action.

01:22:53.8] It is not. One final note. At

01:22:56.8] full crew, the committee has 13 members.

01:23:01.3] There are currently two vacancies.

01:23:03.0] So I promise, not trying to shame anybody, just so

01:23:07.0] folks are aware, District 6 has a vacancy,

01:23:12.2] and District 7 has a fresh vacancy,

01:23:16.1] but a member who's eligible for reappointment.

01:23:18.6] And so,

01:23:20.7] otherwise, the committee currently stands at

01:23:23.9] 11 out of the 13 members. And one

01:23:27.8] final thing to say, and that is a big shout-out to

01:23:31.6] Barbara Candelaria, who served on the committee

01:23:35.5] for quite a long time,

01:23:37.7] and just termed out. So she's done

01:23:41.7] a couple of stints on the committee and

01:23:45.1] has been really a mainstay for years and years.

01:23:47.9] And

01:23:49.1] she was the District 6 appointee, and her term has expired.

01:23:52.7] So thank you to Barbara for the many years of service on the committee.

01:23:57.0] That's great. Thank you. I don't think there's any further questions.

01:24:00.1] All right. Thank you.

01:24:02.0] Ms. Prime, before we retire into executive, I think we have public

01:24:05.6] comment.

01:24:06.6] Yes, ma'am. There's public comment on EX1 from Kyle Elliott.

01:24:12.7] Good morning, Mr. Elliott. You have three minutes.

01:24:15.1] Good morning. Thank you.

01:24:16.8] Good morning.

01:24:18.0] Good morning. Mayor Pro Tem, city council members, thank you very much for giving

01:24:21.8] me this opportunity to speak to you about

01:24:26.3] the reason that I came here. My name is Kyle Elliott, and I'm a

01:24:30.1] resident of the Rancho Soreno community in El Paso's Upper

01:24:33.9] Valley. And this morning, simply all I want to do is just read a

01:24:37.3] statement from our homeowners association

01:24:40.5] concerning an ongoing problem that's

01:24:42.8] pushing two years

01:24:44.4] at this point. So, if I may.

01:24:45.9] "Dear council

01:24:49.6] representative for District 1 and city attorney's office.

01:24:53.2] The Rancho Soreno Homeowners Association supports affected

01:24:56.9] residents'

01:24:58.6] request for effective enforcement concerning the paddle courts adjacent to our

01:25:02.2] neighborhood.

01:25:04.0] Residents report recurring court noise, yelling, music, and

01:25:07.7] bright overhead lighting extending well into the nighttime hours.

01:25:11.5] These disturbances interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of nearby homes

01:25:15.7] and raise concerns about the long-term effects of our neighborhood's residential

01:25:19.5] character, marketability, and property values.

01:25:22.3] Although the property is outside our HOA, its impact extends into our

01:25:26.4] community. Regardless of whether paid commercial operations have

01:25:30.0] ceased or not,

01:25:32.5] residents report that the noise and lighting disturbances continue.

01:25:36.2] We respectfully request that the city address any established zoning,

01:25:40.0] permitting, noise, and lighting violations and pursue measures

01:25:43.9] that achieve lasting compliance.

01:25:46.3] We also oppose commercial rezoning or further expansion that would intensify these

01:25:50.2] impacts. Please include this correspondence in the city in record

01:25:54.2] for the city's consideration of this matter.

01:25:56.4] We appreciate your attention and ask that you advise us of any additional

01:26:00.2] documentation residents can provide to assist enforcement.

01:26:03.8] Sincerely, Board of Directors, Rancho Sorrento Homeowners Association.

01:26:08.5] And with that,

01:26:11.7] that's it.

01:26:12.6] Thank you, Mr. Elliott.

01:26:14.0] Thank you very much.

01:26:15.9] Council, is there a motion to return to executive session?

01:26:19.2] So moved.

01:26:19.2] Second.

01:26:19.8] There's the motion and a second to return to executive session. All in favor?

01:26:24.2] Aye.

01:26:24.2] Anyone opposed?

01:26:25.9] And the City Council of the City of El Paso may return to executive session

01:26:28.9] pursuant to Section 3.5a of the El Paso City Charter and the Texas Government Code

01:26:32.9] Chapter 551 Subchapter D to discuss any of the

01:26:36.6] following executive session item one, Patricia Alvarez and Paddle

01:26:40.4] Ranch Health and Wellness under 551.071.

01:26:43.7] Executive session item two, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo versus City of El Paso, cause

01:26:47.5] number EP-23-CV-132-DCG

01:26:52.1] under 551.071. Executive session item three, real estate

01:26:56.0] division update, HQ number 25-5035 under

01:27:00.5] 551.072, and executive session item four, legal advice regarding the grant

01:27:04.3] application to Meta Platforms, Inc.

01:27:06.6] through the Futures for Everyone fund, requesting $4 million in grant funds

01:27:10.6] with no match required from the City of El Paso for the El Paso Climate Action

01:27:14.6] Implementation Program under 551.071.

01:27:18.0] These measures are taken into executive session under 551.071.

01:27:22.1] Consultation with attorney in 551.072.

01:27:25.4] Deliberation regarding real property. It is 10:23 AM.

01:32:04.5] I just want to make sure that

01:32:06.5] I save enough time for this

01:32:08.9] course and the other students.

01:32:30.2] Also, what do you mean by the cost?

01:32:31.4] I mean, the economy of it. You want to make sure

01:32:35.7] that it's not going to be

01:32:40.2] . But this is

01:32:40.6] just

01:32:48.5] for one water.

01:32:50.0] I'm just wondering because the water situation is getting

01:33:11.6] tight.

01:33:15.6] There's been lots of less water. So one

01:33:19.5] test was four bottles a day.

01:33:23.8] So 100K gallons per day,

01:33:27.8] which

01:33:29.8] we just worked with the

01:33:33.3] portfolio stuff and they're taking about the same amount.

01:33:37.0] And then they are only spending 30,000 gallons a

01:33:43.2] day, which is peanuts compared to the similar portfolio properties on the school.

01:33:46.1] All 14 units are 500,000 a year.

01:33:48.7] Wow! So it would be less. What communities are going to be less than

01:33:52.7] the equivalent of all those?

01:33:54.7] Okay. So there's a lot of

01:33:58.6] noise about something that maybe is

01:34:01.5] stored.

01:34:03.8] Well, that's encouraging.

01:34:05.5] Yes. We're not doing that well.

01:34:08.7] It's not on that

01:34:10.0] big part.

01:34:19.1] Is this your first visit here?

01:34:20.8] Yes.

01:34:21.3] Welcome.

01:34:21.6] Thank you.

01:34:22.0] Have you made

01:34:25.0] it in?

01:34:25.8] No, I haven't.

01:34:26.9] This is Diane Allen. She's going to be your attorney and help you with real

01:34:30.7] estate.

01:34:32.6] Is that your area of expertise, real estate?

01:34:35.1] Yes.

01:34:35.7] Well, I'm going to need a ton of help with that.

01:34:37.4] I've done a lot of different property issues.

01:34:41.6] Nice.

01:34:41.7] Maybe it's going to be a game changer for some of

01:34:45.0] the people.

01:34:45.2] I mean, in general, I'm sure

01:34:48.0] any company would want to take

01:34:50.3] a

01:34:51.5] call on that.

01:34:51.8] But with the background in hospitality real estate, it seems like there's a lot of

01:34:54.8] flexibility for a company to be able to adjust their policies to be more

01:34:58.8] flexible about things being done

01:35:02.6] remotely.

01:35:03.7] Where were you working?

01:35:05.8] Before this, I was working in education, and I was getting super frustrated

01:35:10.0] with education. I don't think they're the most

01:35:12.9] innovative. They're all run by

01:35:16.2] bureaucrats, I think.

01:35:18.2] Okay. I think so.

01:35:19.7] They're very small.

01:35:26.1] You said you were

01:35:28.7] working in education.

01:35:29.7] I was

01:35:29.9] working

01:35:35.1] in housing with crisis workers still.

01:35:35.1] Really?

01:35:35.1] Yeah. I just felt like I was always doing too

01:35:38.1] much stuff. If I was trying to just make ends

01:35:41.5] meet.

01:35:41.9] You are a survivor.

01:35:44.7] Which I did a lot about coming to law school.

01:35:46.8] So I don't know. I just

01:35:50.5] feel like it's too much.

01:35:53.4] Yeah. So it feels like right now you're figuring out that one.

01:35:59.1] Yeah.

01:35:59.1] Yeah.

01:35:59.1] Honestly, I was kind of looking for a job.

01:36:02.0] Like I said.

01:36:04.1] I understand.

01:36:05.1] Yeah.

01:36:08.2] There's been plenty of times I took the first job offer.

01:36:12.7] You won't run out of interviews today.

01:36:14.8] Oh, no. Things get very busy.

01:36:16.6] Something from your last job

01:36:30.4] that you

01:36:30.6] really

01:36:37.1] liked or a future device?

01:36:37.5] It's always a vision.

01:36:39.2] Oh, okay.

01:36:39.9] Do you

01:36:40.1] think

01:36:46.7] it's just too early? Yeah. That's where I would go.

01:36:50.4] What's GS2?

01:36:50.5] What's that?

01:36:53.6] GS2.

01:36:55.9] Everyone has that.

01:36:58.0] Oh, I do.

01:36:59.6] Or at least take them all.

01:37:02.2] Yeah, sorry. I was studying the abbreviation.

01:37:04.8] I think I see it somewhere else too.

01:37:07.0] Oh, okay.

01:37:07.9] But I heard that in my

01:37:23.1] grad program.

01:37:24.5] Yes.

01:37:32.8] Correct.

01:37:45.6] I was like, do you still see that?

01:37:45.9] Is that an iPad or a Surface Pro?

01:37:48.0] This is an iPad.

01:37:49.7] Does everything function like a SharePoint?

01:37:52.6] SharePoint, yes.

01:37:57.7] What else would work though?

01:37:59.4] Just functionality because I know-

01:38:11.6] I think the only thing that I cannot do very well is anything myself.

01:38:18.4] I can see it but modifying them is

01:38:28.2] because I have expectations and I can

01:38:37.0] .

01:38:37.1] You know what problem could be explained with that?

01:38:40.4] On my math grad, there was

01:38:42.9] something about just the interface and how much you could do

01:39:27.0] with it. Oh, shoot!

01:39:30.4] We weren't muted.

01:39:34.0] What?

01:39:35.8] It's

01:39:39.8] wonderful.

01:39:42.0] So I'm glad we're

01:39:42.8] complaining

01:41:51.7] about

01:42:25.0] it.

01:50:35.5] I don't even know

01:50:37.2] what your response

01:50:43.0] is. Well, I think that the AI has not adopted.

01:50:46.4] I've got to learn to use Claude, ChatGPT,

01:50:50.4] or something.

01:50:51.9] And you may be so good at it that you're writing all these headlines and

01:50:55.4] answering questions much more efficiently

01:50:58.7] than I can. So I

01:51:02.6] end up being the college professor kind of thing

01:51:07.1] where she's going to get all these headlines from all these other places,

01:51:11.9] and it creates this kind of like this fog or something.

01:51:17.5] There's something about AI that's really equitable or a visual

01:51:21.4] aid

01:51:22.5] or something like

01:51:25.6] that. And I think that's one of the values of using

01:51:34.0] AI. It becomes very popular very quickly.

01:51:37.2] And so the problem with creating and teaching something is that you teach yourself

01:51:39.7] into technology. And whether or not it actually works for you or is successful or

01:51:39.9] not is like

01:51:49.8] a very different thing. And

01:51:54.5] while I understand why they would

01:51:55.9] want

01:52:00.0] to do that, I think

01:52:04.1] you have to contract

01:52:05.8] that

01:52:08.1] people will use things that way because it doesn't-- You can see where the AI was

01:52:09.8] probably thinking but wasn't correct

01:52:13.1] because- Yeah, there's some great uses for that,

01:52:18.8] but for imaging or something- Oh,

01:52:21.1] yeah.

01:52:27.0] Cancer research.

01:52:30.7] Gene edits. You have to go through

01:52:32.6] all those

01:52:34.0] obvious legal rights and things

01:52:38.0] like that. They also teach you how

01:52:43.9] to do things the same or a certain way,

01:52:47.3] and that means this thing is probably also

01:52:51.2] true. Except for stuff like cancer.

01:52:56.1] Yeah, and I think it was really interesting because the thing is, is that

01:53:00.2] we

01:53:06.8] have this big bubble of public sentiment where this

01:53:10.7] is so much application, and it's

01:53:14.7] working. But it all works until it doesn't work.

01:53:22.4] And I think

01:53:24.2] the history is showing that.

01:53:26.6] Which means that from this brief use that I had, and that

01:53:30.6] was a whole station that was like, "Oh no, I

01:53:34.8] had this whole big communication with this thing that turned into spam or they were

01:53:44.9] using AI to promote a product or something, and it didn't do what they

01:53:48.9] said it would do." And all of a sudden, yeah, that's when it's just like,

01:53:52.7] "Oh."

01:53:54.5] And

01:53:55.8] I didn't see anything come out of it negatively.

01:54:00.3] It's like so last week, two weeks ago, there was a

01:54:06.7] semi-famous person who posted naked

01:54:09.8] imagery. And so there was this

01:54:14.0] whole thing.

01:54:19.3] But in 2024, seeing just across

01:54:23.5] every practice area, there's almost nobody high that

01:54:27.6] isn't hearing about it.

01:54:31.6] And it seems to be having a bunch of people that are businesses seeing this as

01:54:35.0] something

01:54:36.6] that can either be on their side as opposed to

01:54:40.0] completely overwhelming them and destroying them.

01:54:44.9] I think a lot of people are going to

01:54:49.9] figure out very quickly that they're going to have to

01:54:52.7] do something about it. And I don't know.

01:54:56.2] When did you start this license issue?

01:55:04.7] In March. And the person in law school.

01:55:08.6] So for them, that is just what

01:55:12.9] we have.

01:55:24.7] And it's like, "Well, I don't know." And I think that's one of the biggest problems

01:55:28.0] is that most people who do something- Sure. ...

01:55:30.0] that's gone already scored 70 to 80% on

01:55:32.9] their potential testing

01:55:36.9] anyway. But

01:55:38.2] in a four-hole three-page section on how to use AI in this context, it's not very

01:55:41.9] descriptive.

01:55:51.7] In law school? Yeah. Because I have an email I know people get caught

01:55:55.6] by that all the time.

01:55:58.1] When you're researching, you have to look

01:56:01.0] at your text first and then

01:56:05.2] in order to find individual cases, you have to go to Westlaw

01:56:09.2] or LexisNexis.

01:56:11.2] So you understand what the scope of intelligence solutions

01:56:14.9] means. There's a lot of stuff that you have to do before you even get to the point

01:56:18.4] where it's educating you about what

01:56:22.6] intelligence means for you as opposed to

01:56:26.3] what it means for the next couple of years.

02:02:50.4] It's not perfect.

02:02:52.9] Yeah, and that just makes it a little quicker.

02:02:54.8] So five figures, automatic population, but the wall right

02:02:58.5] there. So I think we can pull that. And

02:03:02.5] the other thing that comes to mind is these walls all

02:03:05.7] around

02:03:17.0] the theater.

02:03:17.8] I think that actually goes for it.

02:03:19.6] Yeah,

02:03:22.3] they're going to use the wall location for

02:03:24.7] the

02:03:28.6] pop-up.

02:03:29.5] I assume whatever exists now.

02:03:30.6] Yeah.

02:03:30.6] I think that deserves attention.

02:03:30.6] Yeah.

02:03:30.6] I think that makes a lot of sense.

02:03:30.6] You know what? Here's another question. I have a wall between us.

02:03:30.8] So many choices.

02:03:30.8] We want to have two weeks of credits to go along with that.

02:03:33.4] Yeah.

02:03:34.0] So that gives us upwards of 15 weeks on it.

02:03:37.9] Yeah.

02:03:38.3] I like that.

02:03:38.7] That's the

02:03:42.7] same

02:03:47.6] concept.

02:03:47.9] Okay. Oh, yeah.

02:03:49.4] That is on course a little later.

02:03:50.3] Yeah.

02:03:50.3] We're saying a quarter of the way out.

02:03:55.8] Yeah.

02:03:56.2] There's one path that they track on.

02:03:58.9] Yeah.

02:04:02.2] I guess they all are.

02:04:03.1] How many classes do you think they might have?

02:04:06.5] I'm not going to say we can do that.

02:04:08.0] It's like a whole quarter.

02:04:11.1] Yeah.

02:04:11.6] We're not at six,

02:04:16.1] we're probably at seven.

02:04:16.5] So the next step, the next direct step is to do a statutory

02:04:20.4] notice. So there's a section within the qualified notice triggering,

02:04:24.6] and I have that letter drafted. We would send that to the

02:04:28.5] clerk and then from there,

02:04:31.6] responses received and everything, that would be in good time for

02:04:35.5] purposes of submitting. I think that after that, that

02:04:39.7] kind of feedback would be maybe the best time to talk to the

02:04:46.7] clerk and ask for 15

02:04:49.1] minutes.

02:04:55.9] I mean, I think that we'll necessarily going to get to the next point once we

02:04:59.7] get

02:05:03.9] to what they're helping with,

02:05:10.7] but I think it's just

02:05:14.2] starting to get to the point where we have to tell people

02:05:18.3] that we didn't get this message.

02:05:20.7] We're working on this. The rest is

02:05:24.6] up to us. And then also always

02:05:28.1] bringing up one part of the conversation and not the other.

02:05:31.6] That was actually my question.

02:05:33.2] Yeah.

02:05:34.5] Yeah,

02:05:46.4] I wanted to check

02:06:02.2] in with you about that. I would need to start outreach and see if this is something

02:06:04.9] that they would appreciate.

02:06:05.5] Yeah.

02:06:05.5] I know you want to do this.

02:06:05.6] Yeah.

02:06:05.6] So we have like five right now.

02:06:05.6] Yeah, I saw something earlier today.

02:06:06.1] I would say give us a week.

02:06:06.7] I would say give us a week, yeah.

02:06:09.8] These are going to save the seat. Can we talk on Friday, Nick, for us?

02:06:18.2] Okay.

02:06:27.2] Sure.

02:06:28.8] Okay.

02:06:29.7] There's not one other way.

02:06:30.8] Yeah.

02:06:31.3] Oh, of course.

02:08:43.0] Certain things.

02:08:45.7] All right.

02:08:46.6] I think we're good.

02:08:48.7] That's good.

02:08:50.3] Yeah.

02:15:10.2] Yeah.

02:15:14.1] Well,

02:15:15.9] we got two

02:15:16.4] things

02:15:25.2] that we wanted to do. That's nice. Did you get everything today?

02:15:32.6] Yeah. How big

02:15:33.2] is

02:15:46.9] it?

02:15:50.2] Actually, I hired someone just to do that.

02:15:59.4] I thought they did a pretty good job. Thank you very much.

02:16:11.1] Okay. My mom put-- Because our house

02:16:15.2] is 3,000 square feet.

02:16:22.8] And they quoted us 30K for, I guess,

02:16:26.9] a ton of jobs that would just require

02:16:31.4] some

02:16:33.1] maybe 10 years, but would last 50

02:16:35.7] years.

02:16:42.5] Whereas this one lasted-

02:16:55.6] They can tell it's not. And they told me,

02:16:58.1] I have to go up and make sure that the mortar's not broken.

02:17:05.2] Yeah. I'll send you the proof. Okay. That seems a little crazy. Yeah.

03:03:22.8] Is there a motion to come out of executive session?

03:03:26.6] There's a motion and a second to come out of executive session. All in favor?

03:03:30.9] Anyone opposed?

03:03:32.7] And the meeting is back in session at 12 noon.

03:03:36.5] Alternate Mayor Pro Tem, we're on EX1.

03:03:38.9] EX1, motion made, second, and carried that the city attorney,

03:03:42.8] in consultation with the city manager, be authorized to file suit

03:03:46.8] against Paddle Ranch Health & Wellness Center and

03:03:50.7] Patricia Alvarez in HQ matter number

03:03:55.0] 5684 to gain compliance with Title 20 of the City

03:03:59.0] Code of El Paso.

03:04:00.2] Second.

03:04:00.9] And to take all steps necessary, including the execution of

03:04:04.8] any required document in order to

03:04:09.9] effectuate this authority. I need a larger font.

03:04:14.2] Thank you.

03:04:14.3] Second.

03:04:18.2] There's a motion made by Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Piedra and read into the record,

03:04:22.2] seconded by Representative Limón, and this is on EX1 to

03:04:25.8] file a lawsuit.

03:04:28.6] On that motion, call for the vote.

03:04:44.6] Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Piedra?

03:04:46.4] Aye.

03:04:46.5] Thank you. End the voting session, and that motion passes

03:04:49.8] unanimously. Representative Acevedo not present.

03:04:53.5] EX2?

03:04:54.6] No action.

03:04:55.3] Thank you. EX3?

03:04:56.7] No action.

03:04:57.4] Thank you. EX4?

03:04:58.7] No action.

03:04:59.4] Thank you.

03:05:00.2] Move to adjourn.

03:05:01.1] Second.

03:05:02.4] There's a motion and a second to adjourn the work session. All in favor?

03:05:05.5] Aye.

03:05:05.6] Aye.

03:05:06.2] Anyone opposed? And the work session for Monday, October 12th,

03:05:10.2] 2026 is adjourned at 12:01 PM. Thank you, Council.