Finalist for city manager position opens up to ABC-7

This is only the second time the city of El Paso has had to hire a city manager. The search was narrowed from 119 candidates to four, who met the public last week. Now, there’s a lone finalist, Tommy Gonzalez. Gonzalez is currently a construction firm VP in Fort Worth.

“i think he’s a man who communicates very well and I think he’ll win the hearts of many people as he works to bring corrective measures, and corrective actions,” District 7 City Rep Lily Limon said.

Gonzalez has been in contact with Affion Public, a hiring firm, and says he plans to accept the position. City council must first hold a public vote about hiring Gonzalez, and plans to do so next week.

“We’re very excited. I think this is a great opportunity and fit for us as a family,” Gonzalez said. He plans to bring his wife and two young sons to El Paso.

City council members say what made Gonzalez stand out is his experience working in the public sector in other Texas city governments such as Lubbock, Harlingen, Irving and Dallas. They also liked his private sector experience, including his current role as vice president for the Sterling Construction Company, Inc., and his U.S. Army service.

“I don’t think the people of this community should have any fears. I think we have a very strict ethics ordinances here in El Paso,” District 3 City Rep Emma Acosta said.

While Gonzalez was Irving’s city manager, he earned high praise for his intellect, drive and vision. Others criticized his pay package as excessive, accused him of driving down morale by reorganizing city departments and used his influence to get perks, like free sports tickets. An investigation into the ticket issue was dropped with no charges filed.

“If he made a mistake before, if he did it, he’s going to learn from it … but he’s coming to a new place and we’re going to hold him responsible, and hold him to a level of being a good city manager for our city,” Limon said.

Gonzalez said that current city manager Joyce Wilson did send him a nice note about the possibility of taking over her position. He said he plans to meet with her when he’s in El Paso again next week.