El Paso City Council to discuss city manager’s salary on Tuesday

El Paso City Council will revisit City Manager Tommy Gonzalez’s compensation and employment agreement at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The item was put on the agenda by City Rep. Claudia Ordaz.

El Paso City Council voted earlier this month 6-2 in favor of giving Gonzalez the $61,000 pay raise, bumping his salary from $239,000 a year to $300,000 a year.

The pay raise goes into effect when the next fiscal year, which begins next month.

Not everyone on council believes Gonzalez deserves the raise, especially, since city employees have not received a pay raise in two years.

“It’s a slap in the face of city employees,” City Rep. Lily Limon said Aug. 4.

City representative Michiel Noe disagreed. “We’re not paying him more than he’s worth,” Noe said, “We’re paying him what he is worth.”

Gonzalez didn’t ask for the raise, but council praised his work when pointing out he is not paid as much as other city managers in Texas.

City representative Emma Acosta said Gonzalez is the chief executive officer of a quarter-billion dollar organization with 6,000 employees, 30 departments, and three international ports of entry.

“McAllen and Laredo are paying more than what we are paying him,” Acosta said on Aug. 4. “They are much smaller cities.”

Noe echoed Acosta’s sentiment. “The last thing I want is for some head hunter to come in here and offer this guy what he’s actually worth and lure him away.”

During his first year in office, Gonzalez closed a $7.5 million deficit in the city budget.

Gonzalez also put in $1 million dollars into the city’s savings account, causing credit agencies to praise the city for it’s fiscal management.

According to the city, Gonzalez also saved taxpayers more than $6 million dollars by restructuring and keeping construction projects under budget.

Noe pointed out Gonzalez’s savings allowed the city to give every employee a Christmas bonus in between $500 and $1,000. Gonzalez also made sure no city employee is paid under $10 an hour.

“He’s literally saved our taxpayers millions of dollars and he’s improved services,” Noe said.

Those accomplishments did not merit a pay raise, according to Limon and Northeast City Rep. Carl Robinson, who voted against the increase in salary.

Limon brought up the issue of botched applications for federal funding as a sign Gonzalez still needs improvement.

“I believe he has done a good job, but I am concerned because I believe a true leader would step up and accept responsibility for things like the (botched) MPO projects,” Limon said.

This prompted Acosta to fire back during the Aug. 4 City Council meeting.

“You praise in public and you chastise in private. Let’s stop this nonsense where we chastise the city manager when he didn’t even ask for this raise,” Acosta said.

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