County Judge touts investments, economic development in State of the County address

El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar delivered her sixth State of the County address Wednesday morning at the convention center in downtown El Paso.

The address was an opportunity to talk about what officials envision for the upcoming year and what the county has accomplished in the past year.

BELOW IS COUNTY JUDGE ESCOBAR’S 2016 STATE OF THE COUNTY ADDRESS

Good morning.

Thank you, Mary Beth, and thanks to the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce and to the staff who work hard to make this event a success each year. We appreciate this opportunity. Many thanks as well to Emergence Health Network for their generous sponsorship today. Happy 50th anniversary!

And on behalf the County of El Paso, thanks to each and every one of you for being here.

Investments, Reforms and Successes

Before I get to the core of my address today, I want to provide you with a brief update on this year’s budget and other quick highlights.

As most of you know, in April, the commissioners court hired Betsy Keller as our county administrator. We are so proud that after our search, the best candidate was also the El Paso candidate.

I’m also happy to report that the County in excellent financial shape. Last week, we approved our $347 million budget, which includes a very healthy fund balance – in fact our fund balance is at the higher end of the range recommended in our financial policies.

We’ve aligned our investments with our strategic plan, which includes improving parks, modernizing our technology, and investing in our workforce. There’s also greater investment in the outlying areas of the county, where growth outside the city limits is happening at a rapid pace.

Our budget reflects the Court’s desire to urbanize our approach for services in those unincorporated areas.

This year we again approved a tax rate below the effective rate and have now been at the same tax rate for three years. That means that again, El Paso County did not raise your taxes.

This year we are also continuing with our reforms and building on our partnerships. Our already important partnership with Emergence Health Network, for example, continues to grow. EHN is now providing mental healthcare in our jail, ensuring that individuals who come into our system access mental health screening, referrals, crisis intervention and emergency care.

We’ll continue to advance the relationship as we work on more diversion strategies. Thanks to Kristi Daugherty, her board and her team for this important partnership. We also appreciate Sheriff Richard Wiles whose collaborative approach has helped us implement these changes. Sheriff Wiles has initiated reforms of his own in the jail, creating efficiencies that have saved us over $6 million in the last two years alone. Thank you, Sheriff Wiles.

The criminal justice administrative reform initiated last year is still ongoing. Our daily jail population is down, which is good for the community and the budget. There’s more to do, but the advancements were possible because of the dedication of our Criminal Justice Coordination Office, Jo Anne Bernal’s team of county attorneys, and of course, the judiciary, led by Judges Alma Trejo and Maria Salas-Mendoza. In fact, their work and passion for this evolution has them aiming to have El Paso designated a “Judicial Center of Excellence.”

Another county success story this year came as a result of excellence in our medical examiner’s office – an office important to families during the most difficult times in their lives, and an office critical to the justice system.

The ME’s office has received accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiners. We went from dealing with chronic struggles and legitimate criticisms of that office, to bringing stability and leadership to it, to achieving success and accreditation enjoyed by only 4% of medical examiner’s offices in the country. That was an important and impressive turnaround.

There’s much more to our budget, too much to detail today; if you’d like to know more, please visit our homepage (www.epcounty.com) to learn about our strategic plan and other investments we’ll make in 2017.

The El Paso Vision

In reflecting about this address over the last few weeks, and what I should share with you all today, I’ve given a lot of thought about past speeches and finding a new way to tell the County’s story and where we’re headed.
It struck me that we – as a community – rarely take the time to reflect on and celebrate the successes we’ve enjoyed. Yes, we cheer when we receive accolades, like having recently been listed in the top 10 best places to raise a family, or the top 20 to start a small business. But we don’t collectively assess how or why it happened or even more fundamentally, how the vision we are following for El Paso came to be.

My daughter, Eloisa, for example, has just turned 18. She’s been an El Pasoan all her life. But she, like so many kids her age, grew up in a very different El Paso than many of us did. I look at some of our young leaders, those within my organization, in the business community, the nonprofit world, on Commissioners Court and City Council – and I love that there is so much new and young leadership! They, too, grew up in a different El Paso.

And there are those leaders who are new to El Paso altogether, who don’t have the benefit of knowing the fairly recent events that brought us to this point in our history. It’s important and instructive for us to consider what prompted our community’s recent successes and affirm the direction we’re moving in. This is especially true because administrations change; board members’ terms expire, and that community vision drafted at the
turn of this century that’s driven so much of our success needs to remain our guide. So that’s my focus today – the El Paso vision – and I’ll put the County’s role and our work into this context.

Reclaiming Our Identity

If we go back, not just ten, but 20 – 30 years ago, our community was reeling from the loss of manufacturing jobs, downtown El Paso was a ghost town, families struggled to get access to healthcare, talent (especially young talent) was fleeing, and our self-image was spiraling. We had before us not just an economic slump, or a struggle with what seemed like odds stacked against us, but from my perspective we had a real crisis of identity.

However, in the face of that crisis, leaders from different sectors in our community came together to craft a new vision for El Paso. I’m so proud of that leadership – too many individuals to name – a diverse group of Paseños who were true believers and gave of their names, their money, their reputations, and their hearts.

Their goal was to reverse El Paso’s downward spiral as a low-wage town and put us on a path that would help us regain our rightful place as a national leader.

I’m very proud that over the last several years, El Paso County has been an active participant in that evolution; we intend on continuing that noble pursuit.

Without a doubt, there is still a struggle in El Paso for El Paso. Whether it be fending off those who hold outdated and unfair opinions of our community, or debunking incessant and negative myths about the Border, we can’t relent and must continue to defend who we are. Thanks to our Congressmen, Beto O’Rourke and Will Hurd, for repudiating Trumped-Up rhetoric. Friends, we especially need to defend our beloved Border and our families more than ever at the ballot box this November.

In El Paso, we know that a negative image and lack of strong community pride is corrosive. But I hope you’d agree that we’re really turning a corner when it comes to how we view ourselves. We can especially see that transformation with what’s happening downtown.

When my friend Susie Byrd and I worked for Mayor Ray Caballero (15 years ago), he used to describe our downtown as our community’s “living room,” central to how we and others perceive us.

As a prime example, one only needs to look at what the Ballpark did to change our living room and boost El Paso’s pride and self-esteem. What the Chihuahuas and the stadium have done for El Paso has been wonderful, and the people who invested in it as well as the leaders on city council who took those courageous votes created a real catalyst for the future.

The trolley will be a similar catalyst. We need to thank former City Representative Steve Ortega and former TTC Chairman Ted Houghton and the support from their peers on City Council and the Transportation Commission, for the revival of this symbol of our glory days in El Paso.

And we have downtown property owners like Lane Gaddy and Renard Johnson and small business owners like Robert Espinoza and others, who are investing their money to renovate their pocket of downtown.

But there’s still a lot of heavy lifting to be done; there are far too many abandoned, decaying and crumbling architectural treasures. The County intends on helping change that.

Earlier this year, the commissioners court approved funding an architectural survey that could lead to a national historic designation for all of downtown, Chihuahuita and Segundo Barrio. Once we receive the designation, building owners will have access to state and federal tax credits worth up to 45% of the cost to rehabilitate their properties. This is a significant opportunity for the private sector and those who understand the value of improving their property but who need the financial help to make it happen.

This would not have been possible without the dogged efforts by the El Paso County Historical Commission. Those buildings are a testament to who we were when we were the leading metropolis of the southwest at the turn of the last century.

It is the County’s goal to honor our rich history and the important assets that defined us as a bold and ambitious community in our early beginnings. We want this designation and the tax credits that follow it to be a highly utilized and transformational incentive. We want to help bring back the beauty and functionality of the unique architecture that shapes our identity – and our tax base downtown – still today.

Seeing the investment happening without the tax credits is exciting, but can you imagine the acceleration of that investment with the tax credits? We can!

When it comes to historic preservation and the reclaiming of our identity, the County is doing even more than just working on the downtown designation. We intend to be facilitators of a larger, more significant commitment to historic preservation, enhancement and tourism.

One of our strategic priorities is the Mission Trail. In March of this year, we co-hosted a community meeting with Congressman Will Hurd where the Congressman brought in the National Parks Service to meet with local stakeholders and jurisdictions. At a follow-up meeting, thanks to San Elizario’s Mayor Maya Sanchez, we talked about areas of collaboration. Since then, local jurisdictions have all passed a resolution committing to a unified vision for this treasured historical asset.

Improving, enhancing and marketing the Mission Trail is not a new idea. Thanks to the diocese and various non-profits and volunteers, the Mission Trail has been safeguarded by these devotees. There’s certainly no lack of enthusiasm, commitment, or dedication from them. But the Mission Trail lacks fundamental infrastructure like safe walking and biking trails, wayfinding, uniform development and aesthetic standards, strategic incentives for small businesses, shops and vendors, and façade improvements. With these enhancements, the trail could be a more popular historic tourism draw, and possibly, one day a UNESCO site. It’s more than about tourism; we want to cement the significance of our history with our own citizens –
most importantly with our younger generations.

Our 2017 budget includes funding for a Mission Trail Master Plan, which will augment private funding that Congressman Hurd’s office is working on. The goal is to create a roadmap for the multiple jurisdictions – including the County, the cities of Socorro, San Elizario and El Paso, the Tiguas, the Diocese, the MPO, and others – that roadmap will guide the strategy and investments.

The Mission Trail is one piece in the puzzle that is our history. From the Don Juan de Oñate
crossing, to architectural gems in Sunset Heights and downtown, to Concordia Cemetery; from
the settlements of native people, conquistadores and pioneers, to sites that marked the Mexican
Revolution – each one of these places, assets and events (and so many others) – is significant and
requires the same strategy we’re employing with the Mission Trail. Separately, they are
interesting places and assets, but put together, they tell a powerful story and teach us about
who we were and who we are.

The Commissioners Court is attempting something no other Texas county we know of has tried, and that is put together a Heritage Sites Master Plan – similar to what we’ll do with the Mission Trail, but on a larger and more holistic, County-wide scale. We’ve set aside funding in our budget to work on this, the Texas Historical Commission is on board, and the County will be hiring an Historic Tourism Planner/Expert to manage the projects.

The County’s enthusiasm and appreciation for historic preservation has been inspired by so many who are already doing this great work, from our Mission Trail Association, to the San Elizario Genealogy and Historical Society, the County Historical Commission, the El Paso Community Foundation and others. What the County is doing for the first time is putting resources, a commitment, and a focus on this endeavor. We can’t wait to join all the stakeholders, unify our efforts and apply our resources and staffing to these plans.

Communities all over the U.S. and abroad that create opportunities for tourism, reflection, and education through history and historical assets and artifacts – they get it. The intrinsic value of a place increases significantly when people know the story behind it, whether it be a tourist – or one of our own kids – learning about us. There is much community pride that will follow this effort.

We know that years from now, we will see the historic anchors that we have all over the county connected to each another, connected to a broader vision, and better connected to us. This effort will be a catalyst for greater community pride, public and private investment, and economic development.

Economic Development

Many of you here have heard leaders like Woody Hunt or former Senator Eliot Shapleigh talk about El Paso’s economic past and where we were when we peaked. Woody references the 1950s, when El Paso’s educational attainment level was 20% higher than the rest of Texas and our median income was 14% higher. But as he points out, by 2000, educational attainment and per capita income were far below the rest of the state and nation. When that happened, we lost jobs and talent, and our economy went into decline.

We have made some important headway. Let’s look at the last 20 years.

In 1996, our unemployment rate was more than double the national rate, at over 12%. Ten years later in 2006, unemployment decreased to 6.6%, and we started closing in on the national rate of 4.6%. This year we mirror the national average at 4.9%.

Credit goes to the Borderplex Alliance, the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber, the Small Business Development Center, the Council and Commissioners Court, UTEP, Texas Tech, EPCC – and many others working to build, expand and recruit businesses and jobs.

While this is good news, our wages still lag far behind the rest of the state and the nation. In 2014, our per capita income was close to $32,000, but the U.S. average was at $46,000. We have to do better than that. To that end the County is taking on a more significant role when it comes to economic development and collaboration with the business community. Our recent efforts include building an economic development department with a strong leader who can execute our agenda.

Later this month, our new economic development director, Jose Quiñones, will join the County, bringing over 24 years of economic development experience with him. He helped the City of El Paso advance the foreign trade zone and has received several awards for the program. Welcome to the County team, Jose!
Once he’s on board, his work will include revamping our incentives policy and ensuring we are using good tools to assist the private sector. One of the newest economic development tools we have is our new Property Assessed Clean Energy (or PACE) program, which will spur private sector investment.

The PACE program enables commercial, agricultural, industrial and multi-family property owners to address their deferred maintenance and reduce their high utility costs by installing water and energy conserving retrofits and onsite generation technologies. It’s a unique program – very difficult to explain succinctly – but know that it uses no tax dollars; instead, private capital providers offer long-term financing secured by a senior lien on the improved property. It allows the property owners to ensure their businesses remain cash flow positive, helps conserve valuable water and energy resources, and creates jobs.

We’re very excited about PACE; it’s yet another tool for improvement of our commercial property tax base – not just downtown, but throughout the County.

The commissioners court also has a more determined binational focus. The recent news that the El Paso/Santa Teresa region is the 10th largest exporter in the nation only affirms why enhancing our relationship with Mexico is advantageous.

Months ago, the Borderplex Alliance brought leaders from San Diego/Tijuana to El Paso for a Baseball on the Border Summit. Soon after, the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce took us to San Diego where we saw first-hand the benefits of close collaboration with an International neighbor. The philosophy isn’t new to El Paso – we know we need to be strong partners to Ciudad Juárez – but the San Diego/Tijuana approach is different, far more integrated, with closer communication and unified strategies. We learned so much.

The County is fully on board and ready to institutionalize what we learned. We have even committed in our 2017 budget to investing in a “Binational Affairs Coordinator” – an idea we hope will be embraced by other partners and a position we’d like to see housed within the private sector to ensure the lessons learned in San Diego/Tijuana are implemented here in El Paso/Juárez.

I want you to know that our relationships with the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce and the Borderplex Alliance have never been better or stronger, and these relationships are a priority for the court.

Friends of mine in the business community periodically remind me that when the business and political leadership is aligned, great things can happen. And I agree. As County Judge, my own relationship with the business community is important me, and I’m very lucky to have a group of business and civic leaders who I look to for great dialogue, constructive criticism and perspective on where we’re headed. Some of them are here today, and I want them to know how much their leadership, support and friendship means to me.

We’re also very committed to our growing relationship with the University of Texas at El Paso. Just last week, we announced an exciting collaboration that will create a new opportunity for UTEP students, one we believe will be a draw for corporations that will want to be near this pool of incredible talent being cultivated by the university. We ultimately want to connect this pipeline of students to the kind of jobs they’ve had to leave El Paso for.

Our 400 acre FAA regulated airport in Fabens will be the anchor for UTEP’s Technology
Research and Innovation Acceleration Park (tRIAc), an expansion of UTEP’s Center for Space
Exploration and Technology Research. Our airport will be the Education, Research and
Development Site Headquarters. UTEP’s immediate plans are to house two testing sites, a
design studio and manufacturing workshop, and a flight wind tunnel research and education
complex – all in Fabens.

UTEP won’t just be educating undergraduate and graduate students there, but they also plan to
create K-12 educational programs intended to engage and train the next generation of science,
technology, engineering and math students.
Ultimately, UTEP and the County intend for the site to be a magnet for aerospace, defense and
government partners and one of El Paso’s economic engines.

We’re so grateful to UTEP, Dr. Diana Natalicio and Dr. Ashan Chadhouri for their vision; thanks
to their team as well to as our Public Works Director Pat Adauto and others for their work on
this. We’re very excited about the type of jobs and economic vibrancy this will ultimately bring
to El Paso – especially Far East El Paso County.

Healthcare

For decades, many counties along the Texas-Mexico border, including El Paso, have struggled with very low Medicaid reimbursement rates. That is exacerbated by having too few doctors and not enough healthcare access points for patients – all causing low utilization rates. The vision laid out in the late 1990s was to turn that around by building institutions that belonged to El Paso, that would grow our own doctors, and expand our community’s ability to care for her citizenry.

The County has an important role to play in that vision for healthcare. It goes beyond our state mandate to care for the indigent. We know that a healthy county hospital district is at the center of a healthy medical school campus, a healthy community, and a strong economy. I’ll never forget the day J.O. Stewart announced that he would donate land on Alameda and Reynolds – the site of what at that point was still a dream – a four year medical school in El Paso. And it’s incredible to see what’s happened since then.

With generous philanthropy from Paul Foster, Woody Hunt and his family, and Jack Cardwell; and the strong, visionary leadership of Texas Tech Regent Rick Francis, former Senator Eliot Shapleigh, members of our state delegations (current and past), and so many others, we don’t just have a 4 year medical school. We now have a stand-alone university with a health sciences center, a nursing school and soon to come a dental school.

You’ve heard me say that our hospital district and its investments are a critical component in the success of Texas Tech and the medical school. University Medical Center’s contractual relationship with Texas Tech has grown each year and almost tripled over this past decade alone. In 2006, UMC funded $32.5 million in Tech contracts; this year’s budgeted amount is nearly $89 million.

This collaboration, as well UMC’s increased focus on preventative care, has helped change our healthcare landscape and address some of the chronic gaps in access to care that we’ve had. Our private hospitals, non-profit clinics and programs at UTEP have also been expanding, and providing more services and access to care to our community all over town. Healthcare, which was an area of weakness 20 years ago, is now important economic driver in El Paso.

Twenty years ago, for example, the hospital district employed around 800 El Pasoans. Today that number is 2,700.

Overall, in El Paso there’s been a 36% increase in healthcare jobs over the last decade alone, and healthcare is now the second fastest job growth sector in El Paso. What a turnaround.

But the constantly changing landscape of healthcare is fraught with pitfalls and for public hospitals like UMC, cuts from the state cause significant hardship, especially when burdens aren’t decreasing. We are, after all, still dealing with low reimbursement rates for physicians, and because we are in an anti-Medicaid expansion state, we still have many El Pasoans who have no healthcare coverage at all.

There is great risk for public hospitals in Texas right now. Parkland Hospital in Dallas, for example, just had to eliminate 300 jobs because of state and county cuts. Thankfully, that’s not our story in El Paso. But this year, when we approved UMC’s campus-wide budget of just over $700 million, we also approved a tax rate increase; yet, even that increase didn’t fully cover the state cuts. (As a footnote, taxes fund 13% of the UMC total budget). There is other funding on the line- like the 1115 Medicaid Waiver program – so we have to be prepared for whatever comes next.

But there is also very good news to share from UMC, and what they’ve done over the last year has been remarkable.

Thanks to Steve DeGroat, a dedicated and hard-working volunteer chairman, he navigated what were really troubled waters. He:

Managed through budget challenges caused by the El Paso Children’s Hospital debts and bankruptcy. Ensured that the transition for UMC and El Paso Children’s was as positive and productive as possible. Worked to guarantee that the organization hired the best, most competent and talented leader possible to be its new CEO – all of that in one year.

It wasn’t just Steve; his entire board of dedicated volunteers provided strong service during
tough times. But Steve’s leadership was unrelenting and vital.

Indeed, talent and competence was found in our new CEO – a local leader who is an El Pasoan through and through and whose commitment and loyalty to our hospital district matches his commitment and loyalty to El Paso. Jacob Cintron came on board during a difficult time, in the middle of a budget process where he had to balance state cuts that deeply impacted his revenues against the need for growth required to address service demands. Thank you, Jacob, for being UMC’s new CEO; we are rooting for you and know you will be successful.

The challenges going forward are significant – Jacob’s going to have to keep salaries at UMC competitive; open two new clinics; continue to advance relationships; and, deal with fluctuating state funding. Furthermore, he has an important subsidiary – our children’s hospital -that will also require his attention.

El Paso Children’s Hospital

Today, we are 9 months into Childrens’ transition from absolute independence to its position as a subsidiary of UMC. I want you to remind you that before it was under UMC’s umbrella, El Paso Children’s losses were in the tens of millions of dollars, but it was important to all of us to save that hospital, those jobs and the care it provides to the children of El Paso.

Once again, thanks to service and good governance from dedicated and talented volunteer board members, their willingness to collaborate with UMC to access more federal funding, and their focus on operational changes, last year’s losses of $25 million are anticipated to shrink in Fiscal year 2017 – to $500,000

When the UMC-appointed volunteers were asked to come on board – late in 2015, we told them it would take hard work to turn the hospital around. But they were led by an indefatigable Ron Acton, who would become their chairman. You all need to know what a hero Ron is. He made it his personal mission to make this work.

The Children’s board, like UMC’s, has had an important year – they transitioned the hospital out of bankruptcy, worked toward stability and building trust with the doctors and staff, rebuilt the relationship with UMC, and sought a new, permanent CEO, who would commit to our community as well as our hospital. They found their leader, Mark Amox, who comes on board next week. He and his wife Carrie will be such great additions to our community. You all will really enjoy getting to know them. The Children’s Board made a wonderful selection.
These volunteers have been awesome.

I want to express my very deep gratitude to these community leaders who said “yes” when asked. Well, for the initial four Children’s board members, it actually took more than one ask, but once on board, they dedicated themselves to creating the strongest possible community institution they could.

When you take the business and civic experience of the UMC and Children’s board members – and most importantly their governance experience – and put it all together, we have two of the most impressive volunteer boards in El Paso. Some of them are here in the audience. I’m going to ask all of you to join me in giving them our sincerest thanks and a round of applause for their dedication to El Paso.

Our County Team

There’s so much more I wish I could share with you, but every year, I just never have enough time to cover it all.

Before I close, I want to recognize the outstanding commissioners court I have the privilege to work with. Each commissioner is a true professional and strong advocate on important public policy and reform. Commissioner Leon, is a champion for local businesses and our quality of life; Commissioner Stout is a champion for downtown, for equality and non-discrimination; Commissioner Perez, who heralded in important criminal justice reform, is also a champion for transportation and regionalism; Commissioner Haggerty is a champion for our workforce and the needs of his precinct, with a keen business perspective; both he and Commissioner Perez are strong advocates for greater investment in unincorporated areas. I’m lucky to have such strong leaders as colleagues, and consider them friends.

Thanks also to all the elected county officials and professional staff members who dedicate themselves to the organization and make our complex and vital government run. And finally, thanks to my staff. They make being in a high stress, high demand office not just productive, but a lot of fun, too.

I’m very lucky to work with all of them. This work is the result of a great County Team.

Shaping the Destiny of El Paso

El Paso has come a long way; and that’s obviously been one of my themes today. But we still have a lot of ground to make up if we want to be competitive.

Our community and our institutions must honestly confront and address deficiencies – and the county is not exempt. But as the past has taught us, accountability is important. Ignoring a problem is much worse than the problem itself. And what we’ve learned from this community journey is that we achieve success when we face our problems, solve them together, and keep our eye on the long-term vision.

When I think about the generation I grew up with – Ed Escudero, you were right there with me, so I think you’d agree – most couldn’t wait to leave El Paso. This is not a new story. And it’s okay to want to leave, but it’s not okay to feel driven out by – and even resentful of – the lack of opportunity. But, that’s what many of our peers felt.

However, there’s something in my own life that tells me we’re on the right track. My husband and I have two children. Our son, Cristian Diego, is a sophomore in college in Massachusetts; our daughter, Eloisa, is a senior at El Paso High. And both of them love El Paso and feel enormous community pride. Cristian loves coming home and being embraced by his mountains, big sky and warm people; and, last week, Eloisa told me that while she’s excited about leaving for college, she is determined to come back and make a difference in the community she loves.

I know they don’t represent every young person in their generation, and maybe their mom has made them a little biased toward El Paso, but I actually know many other kids their age who also feel the same way. That – more than any piece of data – tells me we’re making progress. In closing, I want to share with you a quote from one of my favorite plaques downtown – one that is on the side of the Camino Real Hotel, dedicated by the State National Bank of El Paso back in1973.

The plaque details the site and its operator, Ben Dowell, who became our first mayor in 1873, and the first official act by his city council, which was to pass an ordinance making it illegal to bathe in El Paso’s drinking water. And the plaque reads:

“From this inauspicious beginning grew a great city at this Pass of the north. A crossroads of the Western
hemisphere. This bronze is dedicated to those who through the years have helped shape the destiny of El Paso to its rightful place in the affairs of man, an International City of strength, warmth and continuing opportunity for all its people … our El Paso.”

We cannot forget where we came from, but more importantly where we’re headed and why.

Thank you, my friends, for the incredible honor of being your county judge and for everything you are doing to help shape our destiny.