El Paso City Council voted on various charter amendments for special May election

EL PASO, Texas -- On Tuesday, City Council members discussed several charter amendments that will ultimately go to voters in May.

The proposed charter amendments will also include changing the city's contribution to the police and fire pension fund to no less than 18 percent of the wages of the participants and remove the limit on the city's contribution.

There are various amendments, including the city establishing more flexible policies for hiring employees, a new climate department, and changing the reporting structure for the city's auditor.

Currently, the city's auditor reports to the City Manager, if voters approve Tuesday's motion, the auditor now will report directly to city council. The internal auditor looks into the city's finances, checks, and balances.

District 3 Representative Cassandra Hernandez voted against this proposal along with District 7 councilman Henry Rivera.

"The problem that I have with the proposal is that it could lead to potential practices that are unfavorable for our government," Hernandez said.

The proposed charter amendment passed and it will be added to May's ballot.

"The reason why I'm making a motion to strike that amendment is because for an entire decade we had a community that was concerned about corruption in our community and the response was this change," Representative Hernandez added.

District 1 Representative Brian Kennedy asked for a rewording of the amendment.

"The chief internal auditor shall be appointed and removed by and report to the council," Kennedy said. The motion by Representative Kennedy did pass.

Another charter amendment that passed to be in May's election was about climate. This is to have new climate policies, departments, and tracking emissions.

ABC-7 will keep giving you updates on Tuesday's decision on what El Pasoans will find in the ballot of May's special election.