Mayor Margo again breaks tie El Paso City Council vote; virus cluster data to remain private

EL PASO, Texas -- For a third time in recent months, Mayor Dee Margo again broke a tie vote on Tuesday at El Paso City Council to withhold Covid-19 cluster data.

This means the city will not publicly identify government facilities that have large numbers of cases of Covid-19.

The city has cited state privacy laws to withhold the information and the Texas attorney general has agreed with the city's stance.

But city Rep. Cassandra Hernandez said there are exceptions permitted which is why the item was placed on the council agenda Tuesday.

The mayor has said that businesses and local facilities, if they want to, can release information on whether they have infections - but it's not up to the city to do so.

The vote was split with representatives Peter Svarzbein, Cassandra Hernandez, Alexsandra Annello, Henry Rivera voted in favor of releasing the data.

Representatives Sam Morgan, Cissy Lizarraga, Isabel Salcedo, Claudia Lizette Rodriguez along with Mayor Margo voted against it.