Exclusive ride along with El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson

EL PASO, TX (KVIA) -During his campaign for Mayor, Renard Johnson constantly reiterated his commitment to economic development here in El Paso, and bringing more high profile jobs and industry to our borderland, and he continues on that mission, now as Mayor. 

In a special report, ABC-7'S Paul Cicala not only got an exclusive, sit-down interview with Mayor Johnson, he also got the chance to take a special tour with the Mayor. However, first, let's begin with an interview we had with Mayor Johnson before his term started:

"What I will do as Mayor is I will lean on my relationships to bring in economic development for this community.

"So I will focus on healthcare and bringing healthcare jobs to this region.  I am a board member of the Hospitals of Providence, so I've been around healthcare for over 15 years, so I know what it takes to recruit doctors and healthcare professionals to this industry."

"El Paso is often forgotten in the state and in the nation.  We've got to make sure that we go out and get our opportunities, and there's a tremendous amount of opportunities that do want to come to El Paso."

Renard Johnson has certainly kept busy since starting his job as Mayor of El Paso earlier this year, but, even before his term began, he's always been an ambassador of sorts to El Paso through his community involvement, and being one of the "go to borderlanders" to promote our city and bring in companies, investors and others who hope to make El Paso home.

He's won many people over by taking visitors on tours to show off all of the exciting places, and and people we have in El Paso, and, he took me one one of those tours in a story, you'll only see on ABC-7.

ABC-7's Paul Cicala got an exclusive tour from Mayor Renard Johnson, which began at UTEP as he greeted a group of students as he shows off Centennial Plaza, during one of the first stops where he takes out of town guests.

"Most people don't realize how beautiful UTEP is," said Mayor Johnson, so it makes perfect sense to showcase El Paso by first heading to campus.

As he took Cicala on his tour, Mayor Johnson added, "I talk specifically about the Bhutanese architecture that'll you see along most of the building, and I talk about the gift we received from Bhutan."

That gift, being the building on the UTEP campus with an exterior showcasing Bhutanese artistry.  As Mayor Johnson pointed out, many don't realize, but inside,  It's lined with intricate murals and figures that play a part in telling the history of Bhutan.

"It's gorgeous, I love it, so, this is the architecture of UTEP," said Mayor Johnson, who makes sure to showcase El Paso's biggest institution of learning to potential business contacts, which also includes a tour of the Sun Bowl. 

"Most people don't understand what the Sun Bowl looks like and how it's built into the mountains.  Those are all unique attributes that we have about El Paso and I just love to show it off," said Mayor Johnson, who also took us to a stop along Sun Bowl Drive to give a graphic look at El Paso, and our University's proximity to our sister city of Ciudad Juarez, "And although it's a poor area (of Juarez seen from UTEP), it still shows you that we are connected, it's one community, it's one region."

Johnson definitely made an impression through his tour that included UTEP to Nico Tejeda, one of three regional Tenet executives in the USA, who said Renard Johnson's tour a decade ago helped convince him to move to El Paso from California, and, take a job as the CEO for the hospitals of Providence East Campus.

"Renard was the governing board chair of that hospital," said Tejeda from Mayor Johnson's downtown office.

That visit took place in 2015, with Tejeda obviously thinking ahead about education as well. 

"Nico had young kids, and I knew that he wanted to know what the school systems were like, so immediately, I know that I need to focus on school," said Mayor Johnson.

Nevertheless, it's apart from Education, it's all about showcasing El Paso, and, that begins downtown.

Tejeda added, "And, there (downtown( I met Renard Johnson. He put his arm around me, and said, let's go down the street.  We went to Cafe Central. He said hello to everybody, everybody knows Renard, and it gives a sense of community, so, immediately, within two hours I see this investment and I see this bustling activity and this authenticity to a community."

 A community that Johnson is quick to prop up when it comes to the revitalization of downtown and the San Jacinto Plaza, including:

• The state of the art, Triple A baseball stadium in the heart of  our city.
• The number of high rises in a revitalized downtown El Paso.
• The state of the art Children's Museum "La Nube" and much more. 

Mayor Johnson said, "We have so much to offer, it's just a function of us telling our story."

It's a story, that's also based on the interests of the visitor.  For instance, if they enjoy outdoor activities, he'll suggest a visit to "Hueco Tanks" or the Franklin Mountains. 

"We can only do that in this part of Texas," said Mayor Johnson, who reiterates to visitor's El Paso's wide variety of Mexican food options.  

When it comes to lunch or dinner, "Carlos N' Mickeys" and "L & J;s" are just a few of the many "hot spots" in El Paso that make the stop on the Mayor's tou8r.  

"I don't want to leave anyone out because there's so many fine Mexican restaurants that I like to go to," said Mayor Johnson. 

When these visitors are getting their grub on, Johnson also loves to take the people he's pitching El Paso to, to Scenic Drive. 

"I get excited talking about El Paso," said Johnson, as he passed by Tommy Lea Park while heading up Scenic Drive.

At the top, just below the famous El Paso Star on the Franklin Mountains, he points out how you can see two nations (Mexico and the USA), two bustling border cities (El Paso and Ciudad Juarez), and three states (Texas, New Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico), all meeting alongside the historic Rio Grande. 

"And, when I brought Nico here, and I've brought many visitors here," said Mayor Johnson, "they look and they say 'wow, this is incredible.'"

Tejeda added, "I've never had a governing board chair, or anyone for that matter when I go to communities say "hey, come in my car, just you and me, and let's go to all parts of the community."

It's definitely a formula that seems to work, not just for Nico Tejeda, but, scores of others who've made our borderland home based much on the first impression they got from Renard Johnson's goodwill tour of El Paso.

However, what about the cases in which his tour didn't necessarily work, and people opted out of moving to El Paso?

"The times that I've been unsuccessful in a recruitment is primarily do to someone who has a very strong support structure in their community," Mayor Johnson said to Paul Cicala, "It could be they young kids and they have grandparents or they have a school system that's best situated for their family, and I understand that. For the most part, I'm batting in the 90 percentile"

Mayor Johnson also talked about how important it was to continue to make El Paso an attraction for visitors, and residents alike, -including the proposed deck project over Interstate 10 becoming a reality:

"An TexDot is going to widen I-10 whether El Paso wants that to happen or not, that's going to happen, but we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to cover the top and connect south el paso with uptown or midtown, and it gives an opportunity for kids in the Segundo Barrio to now be connected with uptown," said Johnson, "So, I think that's most important, it's bridging community.  If we can find the funding, and this doesn't fall 100 percent on the back of taxpayers, it's something we need to look at as El Pasoans."

From downtown attractions, to the chance for a park over the I-10 freeway, Renard's whirlwind tour goes full circle, and we ended up back at UTEP 

"This is where it began. This is where I learned to be who I am," Mayor Johnson proudly proclaimed!