El Paso mayoral candidates make their pitch at forum

Candidates running to become El Paso’s next mayor met Tuesday night for a debate at El Paso High School. The event was organized by Coronado High School’s “We(fillintheblank)” club.

All of the candidates were in attendance. ABC-7 spoke with the candidates after the debate, and asked them why they are running for mayor. Here are their responses.

Emma Acosta:

“We are in a renaissance right now, and I love my community. I want to continue to see that growth. And the progress that we’ve done, I want to see that continue. I was just having a conversation right now with a young man. We were talking about investment in the Medical Center of the Americas and how we’ve seen it expand in the last eight years. We’ve seen a lot of growth in our community. We are seeing a renaissance downtown, and I want to continue to see that and I want to continue to serve my community and serve the people of this community, make sure that we hold the line on taxes like everybody wants, start fixing those streets neighborhood by neighborhood not pothole by pothole, and make sure that we provide for our disabled community, for our veterans, and our senior citizens.”

Willie Cager:

“We need to make changes in the policies. If I become mayor of El Paso, it will be my first time ever [in office], but I will get things done.”

Dee Margo:

“Frankly, I care about this community. I spent 40 years here, it gives me roots. I grew up moving every three years. I love this community. Everything I’ve ever done reflects this community. Whether it be the civilian aide to the secretary of the army, serving in the legislature or doing Operation Noel coats for kids.”

Elisa Morales:

“The thing that I see is most pressing is that we need to have a government that is willing to engage with our community. I’ve been to many council meetings, I’ve talked to many constituents and many people feel like they don’t have a voice in our government. And that’s a really really unfortunate thing because our government is supposed to serve our community. And another thing is that we are really spending a lot on priorities that the city or many community members may not feel as important. We talk a lot about roads, but we haven’t invested in healthcare, or education outcomes, or senior citizen services. These things are really important just as it is important to invest in our roads.”

Jaime Perez:

“I think we are facing enormous challenges at the national level. They are interrupting trade with Mexico. We are having mass deportations which means less consumers in El Paso. We are having a wiping out of community development block grants. You’re having a situation in which the city is facing an enormous amount of economic cutbacks. So now we have to respond to that and change the conversation from ‘feel good projects’ to ‘what are we going to do when the money runs out?'”

David Saucedo:

“I’m running because I think El Paso needs a change. We are in a moment here in El Paso where the people are frustrated. They want a change they want prosperity. they want opportunity, and we need to level the playing field and give opportunity to all here in El Paso.”

ABC-7 was not able to interview Jorge Artalejo or Charlie Stapler. Our photographer was unable to locate them after the debate. We apologize.