El Paso County Judge sees employment turnover as opportunity

El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar sees the recent employment turnover as an opportunity.

In the past year, many of the county’s department managers have retired, resigned or been fired. That means new faces will soon be running several county departments.

During a commissioner’s court meeting Thursday, long time County Tax Assessor Victor Flores called it quits due to health reasons. He joins a list of department heads who have recently left the county.

Over the past year, ABC-7 has covered the firing of Family and Community Services Director Rosemary Neill. County commissioners said she mishandled the Vamanos Vanpool program. Then, there’s the retirement of Ernie Carrizal, the public works director who worked 26 years for the county. County Elections Administrator Javier Chacon also left in November 2014 after 30 years with the county.

“There’s always a loss when we lose veteran leadership, but then the flip side of that coin is it presents opportunity for new leadership, a new set of eyes, a new set of skills and talent to come in,” Escobar said.

If you’re looking for a job, El Paso County may be a place to start. The human resources website has 45 jobs listed.

Former deputy city manager for the city of El Paso, Pat Audato, now works for the county as interim public works director. She told ABC-7 every organization loses key employees and is confident the county is moving in the right direction, thanks to the hiring of new County Administrator Steven Norwood. Audato is managing the fallout from the recent arrests of two former Ascarate Park employees, Park Manager Reynaldo Chavez for theft and account clerk Mayra Navarrete for forgery.

“We have been trying to work strategically through issues that have been chronic to the organization and that have been unaddressed before,” Escobar said. She also said there’s recently been turnover in the information technology, domestic relations and purchasing departments.

Commissioners expect to discuss a plan to replace Flores next week. Since it is an elected position, the public will get to vote for a new tax assessor in November 2016.