City Council votes down motion to review TSA’s lease at El Paso International Airport
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso City Council failed to approve a motion directing the city manager and city attorney to work with TSA and the FAA to review the lease agreement for the security checkpoint at the El Paso International Airport.
At today's meeting, city council heard then discussed the item, which intended to align operations with applicable city guidelines, policies, procedures, and ordinances connected with political language. This matter came up for discussion and action after federal officials started playing a video of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in which she attributes the current government shutdown to Democrats. Several city representatives, in response, sent a letter to the TSA voicing their concerns with the video. Several representatives spoke out about their concern the video could violate the Hatch Act, and specified that the video was only being shown in the part of the airport leased and run by TSA.
Today's item, if it had passed, would have directed the city manager and city attorney to review all relevant documentation connected with the security checkpoint's existing contract and/or lease agreement. The item also called for a report to be presented to city council within 60 days.
The item did not pass, however, with Alejandra Chavez, Ivan Niño, Art Fierro, and Lily Limón all voting no. Four representatives, Josh Acevedo, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyar Trejo, and Chris Canales voted in favor of the item. Mayor Renard Johnson broke the tie by voting no, stopping the motion.
Mayor Johnson casted the tie-breaking vote against it.
“I don’t think it’s prudent to be spending the city’s money — our taxpayer dollars — to have our city manager and city attorney trying to get them to remove a view of a video and get the same response that we got,” Johnson said.
That response, according to Rep. Acevedo, was that TSA would not remove the video until receiving further guidance from the Department of Homeland Security or until the federal government shutdown ends.
In response to the display, the city posted a sign near the TSA-controlled video stating that “the views expressed in the TSA-controlled video display do not represent the El Paso International Airport.”
Acevedo said the proposed agreement would have encouraged better collaboration with TSA, particularly regarding messaging displayed in airport areas.
“The information that is being shared is also going to be under the policies of the City of El Paso — ordinances, procedures, anything like that — so we’re not caught off guard,” Acevedo said. “At the same time, we’re asking for the city manager to request a security clearance to be able to access documentation related to that area in the airport.”
Travelers at the airport had mixed reactions. Most declined to comment on camera, but one woman, Yvonne, said she felt the video was inappropriate for a public airport setting.
“I’m against that,” she said. “I don’t want to see political stuff while trying to fly.”
