City Rep concerned City’s engineering department will be privatized

As the City of El Paso’s engineering department is evaluated by an outside firm, one city representative is concerned the move could eventually lead to the department being privatized while others on council have said the evaluation is meant to help employees.

The City last month hired Freese and Nichols to assess the engineering department, now called Capital Improvements, and make recommendations to City Council on how to improve workflow. Freese and Nichols is slated to review how the department is structured, managed and how it performs.

The City’s Engineering Department has been scrutinized for delays in high profile projects such as the reconstruction of San Jacinto Plaza and Barron Park.

City Rep. Lily Limon said she’s concerned the end game is to privatize the department. “Our engineering department has been repeatedly beated up on openly,” said Limon, referring to recent comments by other city representatives to the media.

Other City Representatives though, like Michiel Noe, said Limon may be jumping the gun. “We need to find out how we can help them (engineering) and I think that’s what this is about,” he said. Noe said the evaluation is meant to help the department, not get rid of it. “If you have a department that the public feels has let you down on some projects, you look to see if there’s a way to help them out. Do we need to provide different tools for them to succeed? Or are we asking them to do things perhaps they don’t have the expertise in house to do. And expect good outcomes and wonder why we didn’t get good outcomes?

Noe said some of the suggestions by Freese and Nichols may lead to out sourcing some of the department’s work but only because of the added workload of the Quality of Life Bond projects which is still being done by the same number of staff members.

Limon agrees the department may have too much work for the number of employees. “When we started putting in all of these quality of life bond projects, the work multiplied immensely but we still had the same level, the same number of employees working on all of these projects. But nobody stopped to think gee what are we doing to the people who are supporting the services.”

She is more wary of out sourcing. She said the city should invest in employees rather than contractors. “I understand there are issues. But you don’t throw people out. You don’t get rid of people. If anything, you strengthen them, you make them more successful. By providing them the resources, the tools.”

Noe however has a different perspective. He said hiring more employees is not always in the best interest of taxpayers. “But then when these projects get done what happens to those employees?”

City Manager Tommy Gonzalez has acknowledged there were systematic problems within engineering, such as a lack of leadership or cohesive processes. Despite that, engineering has delivered on time, early or under budget on about 87% of the City’s recent capital projects, according to city records.

“Factually, the department is still running. Everyone is still employed,” said Monica Lombrana, the new Director of Capital Improvements (formally known as engineering) on Tuesday. She said the city would “go with what the best scenario” after the Freese and Nichols evaluation.

Limon recently wrote an open letter to the engineering staff, which she also forwarded to local media, to send a message: “of confidence and trust and belief and encouragement for employees because right now they really weren’t getting that message, because right now they were getting the message of we’re done with you, you’re no good. We’re not going to have you around any longer.”

When asked about it, Noe said he’s concerned Limon’s letter may have crossed a line and broken a city charter rule that does not allow city representatives to address job performance with individual employees. “You’re not supposed to contact the average city employee directly mainly to protect them. You’re not supposed to try to pressure them to do anything,” he said.

Limon stands by the letter. “It was an open letter. If it had been a closed letter to an individual saying you or I, then that would have been a very different story but it went out to the entire department.”