City Manager will not get annual evaluation, raise

El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez will appear before the city’s Ethics Review Commission for the first time Wednesday.

A hearing was called in response to an investigation that found Gonzalez violated city rules when he signed off on certain road projects.

On Tuesday, city council voted not to give Gonzalez his annual evaluation. In turn, Gonzalez will not get a pay raise. City Representative Michel Noe told ABC-7 the raise could have amounted to $15,000.

Mayor Oscar Leeser even made an appearance for the discussion. Leeser announced earlier this month he was taking time off to address health concerns.

ABC-7 was told it was a request by Gonzalez not to be evaluated because he wants to focus on his others goals set in a personal improvement plan.

It was in March that council unanimously voted to place Gonzalez on a performance improvement plan following the findings of an in independent investigation.

In April, the City of El Paso’s Ethics Review Commission investigating Gonzalez said there is “clear and convincing evidence” Gonzalez “recklessly disregarded the city’s 2015 Budget Resolution”. This was stated in a letter it sent to his attorney summarizing the evidence it found.

The Commission said it found “clear and convincing evidence” of more than two dozen actions by Gonzalez and others.

Those areas are “Financial Advisor,” “Street Resurfacing” and “Stanton Street” allegations.

The “Street Resurfacing” section is where the commission found Gonzalez recklessly disregarded city policy. This area of the investigation looked into how $871,177 in street repaving projects were added to the city’s plan at the request of former City Rep. Larry Romero, but without Council’s authorization. City policy states Gonzalez needed Council authorization for additions in excess of $500,000.

In the “Financial Advisor” section, the commission found Gonzalez took action without formal authorization to terminate a contract with the city’s financial adviser, First Southwest. They found no evidence the attempted contract termination was for cause, or any allegation that First Southwest had breached its contract with the City.

The final section of the letter dealt with speed humps installed on Stanton Street in front of Cathedral High School, in violation of the City’s criteria. The Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan (NTMP) does not authorize speed humps on a major arterial like Stanton Street.

The letter says three different city employees either wrote a memo or directly spoke to Gonzalez about the unsuitability of the project, but that Gonzalez, “nevertheless instructed staff to proceed with the installation of speed cushions from the NTMP inventory.”

The letter says Gonzalez, “asserts that he was unaware of the applicable NTMP criteria … claims that he was not involved in the details … (and) denies being made aware of” the concern about the project.