Funding for Sun Bowl improvements can still be decided on, says County Judge Samaniego

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego told ABC-7 that funding for Sun Bowl improvements can still be decided on and that he has the intention to bring it up for discussion to Commissioners Court on Monday, July 15.

This comes after the County Bond Advisory Committee (CBAC) did not include the Sun Bowl as part of their presentation of final recommendations for the quality-of-life bond that would be on the November ballot.

Samaniego says he believes the suggested $99 million project would generate revenue and thus improve quality of life; however, he also says he understands why the CBAC did not include the project as part of their final recommendations.

“When it's competing against quality of life things that hit precincts directly, it's very difficult to compete against. But I'm asking that we look at it from a business perspective. There's nothing like job creations, economic development. It will eventually impact everything else,” said Samaniego.

Despite believing this project can have a positive impact on the county, Judge Samaniego told ABC-7 that in order for the Commissioners Court to vote on whether or not to include this project on the November ballot, the public had to let their voice be heard during public comment.

“If you have an audience and people are there at public comment, that helps me tremendously. Not having that support makes it difficult on me because they'll say, "We don't have the support,"" said Samaniego.