Who are the 4 candidates vying for District 2 on City Council?

by Elida S. Perez, El Paso Matters
November 27, 2023

The top issues for the four candidates seeking the District 2 City Council seat range from improving city parks to boarding up vacant buildings to ensuring migrants aren’t roaming neighborhood streets, they said.

The four candidates – Josh Acevedo, Veronica Carbajal, Ben Mendoza and Judy Gutierrez – are seeking to replace city Rep. Alexsandra Annello, who resigned to run for state representative. The winner would serve the remainder of the four-year term, which runs through the end of December 2024. City representatives are paid about $60,000 per year.

The special election for District 2, which includes parts of Northeast, Central and the Ascarate Park area, is Dec. 9. Early voting starts Nov. 27 and ends Dec. 5.

Along with the issues specific to District 2, whomever is elected will have a vote on critical decisions facing the City Council next year, including hiring a new city manager and what to do about the long stalled multipurpose cultural and performing arts center.

The City Council also sets a tax rate, adopts a budget and makes policy decisions that impact everything from streets to economic development.

Every vote will be crucial in the upcoming election as past elections have shown District 2 has low voter turnout even during presidential election years.

In the 2020 election – the last time the District 2 seat was last up for a vote – 48% of registered voters in the district cast votes in the race, compared to 55% of overall voters in El Paso County. About 11% of the people in District 2 who did vote in other races in 2020 did not cast ballots for the City Council race.

Three of the four candidates to replace Annello in the nonpartisan race have previously sought elected office unsuccessfully: Carbajal, an attorney, ran for mayor in 2020; Gutierrez, a former city staffer in District 2, lost her bid for that office in 2020 as well as for county commissioner in 2022; Mendoza, a mediator, unsuccessfully ran for the El Paso Independent School District school board and for congress. Acevedo, an EPISD board member, will have to resign from the school board if he wins the city representative seat.

El Paso District 2 Special Election: Click HERE for early voting sites, dates and times.

Campaign finance reports show Acevedo and Carbajal have raised the most funds for the race. Acevedo has received about $7,000 in political contributions from nine contributors and spent about $3,200. Carbajal has raised about $6,500 from 28 contributors and spent about $2,500. 

Mendoza has not received political contributions, according to his campaign finance report. 

Gutierrez did not file a report for the 30th day before the election, instead signing a reporting declaration form stating she does not intend to accept or spend more than $1,010 in political contributions for the election cycle.

El Paso Matters interviewed each of the candidates about pressing concerns of district residents, how they would approach the search for a permanent city manager and how the city should move forward with the Downtown arena. Candidates’ responses are in alphabetical order.

District 2 resident’s needs

Acevedo, 34, said public safety, quality of life and city staffing issues need to be addressed first.

He said he wants to address understaffing at several city departments, including the 311 program, a hotline where residents can make requests or reports to various city departments. He did not outline a specific plan to achieve that goal.

To address public safety, Acevedo said he wants to have the police chief meet with district residents about their concerns such as car thefts.

“I think the police chief needs to come through our area (and) talk to our residents and really understand their pressing public safety issues,” he said.

There are at least two parks Acevedo said need to be addressed in the area: Grandview Aquatic Center, which is currently closed, and Modesto Gomez Park built above a landfill. Acevedo said he wants to ensure Modesto Gomez gets proper grass irrigation and wants to identify funding for Grandview.

“It’s an important part of our community,” he said.

Carbajal, 47, cited stormwater runoff, vacant and abandoned homes and buildings, stray animals, streets and the need for traffic calming measures among the top issues that residents need addressed.

“This district has some of the oldest housing stock in the city, and has also suffered the consequences of urban sprawl,” Carbajal said.

To address abandoned buildings, Carbajal said the city should foreclose those that are delinquent on property taxes to put them back on the tax rolls. She also suggests investigating whether any of the abandoned buildings are in violation of city codes and talking with property owners to figure out ways to use the buildings.

“We all know that abandoned buildings – they provide room for vagrancy, they provide room for stray animals. They’re a hazard,” Carbajal said.

To address stray animals, Carbajal said the city needs to be more proactive in enforcing its existing laws. The city should also consider implementing more stringent rules for breeders who sell litters on sites such as Craigslist by requiring mandatory spay and neuter of the adult animals that are being bred and surrendering puppies to local rescues.

Carbajal also said residents have complained that district parks such as Grandview, Memorial Park, Modesto Gomez and pocket parks have issues that need to be addressed such as poor lighting, dry grass and being too close to high traffic areas. She said she would like to look for federal funding to evaluate the safety of the ground under the Modesto Gomez Park.

Gutierrez, 59, said the biggest issue that District 2 residents face is public safety concerns caused by migrants, some of whom received temporary shelter at the vacant Bassett Middle School.

“People are telling me they can't sit in their front yard or front porch, because they don't feel safe and a large part of that is the migrant community being able to wander the streets,” Gutierrez said.

The middle school was to serve as an overflow shelter for migrants in late December and again in May and had room for up to 1,000 people. It remained mostly empty and was last used as a shelter in May.

“We've got to get those migrant centers out of the neighborhood…We cannot continue to have them in our backyard. That (public) safety component is one of my number one priorities,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez did not expand on how to address shelter needs for migrant influxes.

Gutierrez also cited stray animals as a concern. She said that while she has not seen stray animals in the streets, she wants to look into the operations of the city shelter to find ways to address the issue of strays mentioned to her by district residents. 

She also said if she is elected, she plans to donate her take-home pay to various causes or organizations, starting with the city’s animal shelter. Gutierrez said she earns enough from her retirement and income from a vacation rental in Canutillo to be able to afford to give up her city paycheck.

“That's one of the places where I first want to put my money where my mouth is because we've got to get these pets adopted and we've got to give whether it's to the foster parents or the forever parents, we need to help them to make it easier,” she said, giving extra resources such as medical procedures, pet food and other supplies will be helpful.

Mendoza, 68, said the biggest issue facing the district is a lack of “law and order.”

“There's a lot of vagrants and a lot of people are trespassing onto properties because there are a lot of vacant properties,” he said, adding that the city has to enforce trespassing laws.

Mendoza attributes the abandoned and vacant properties to high property taxes. 

“People are walking away from their properties because they can’t afford to pay their taxes,” he said. He said high property taxes need to be addressed, but did not outline a plan on how to do that.

Mendoza himself owes two years of back taxes and would have to pay the debt before being sworn into office if elected. He said since he is above age 65 he has been able to defer his taxes or make payment arrangements in the past, but is prepared to pay the remaining balance in full if necessary.

Hiring a permanent city manager

A key decision facing the City Council is hiring a permanent city manager since it fired former Tommy Gonzalez without cause in February. Cary Westin was hired to serve as interim city manager in March and was to serve until a permanent replacement is hired. But the council scrapped a bid for a national search firm in August.

Acevedo said hiring a national search firm can pose problems with producing quality candidates.

“I think the biggest issue with search firms is they bring in a lot of these recycled candidates. They've destroyed other communities and they're ready to destroy another community,” Acevedo said.

Acevedo said there needs to be a better approach, but did not say what that might be. However, he did say he would advocate for a high level of community involvement in the selection.

“I think we just need a good candidate pool with qualifications that are going to include community oriented features,” he said.

Acevedo said Westin is doing a good job with “what he’s been given.” If Westin applies for the permanent position, Acevedo said he’d review his application like any other.

Carbajal said she does not oppose a national search firm, but that the hiring process needs to be rigorous and include a high level of community involvement. She said the city’s recent process to hire El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas was not transparent and only offered one opportunity for the public as a whole to meet the finalists.

Carbajal said the city needs to invite community and business leaders to interview the city manager candidates and allow for pointed questions about their experience, how they create and implement policy and how they work with the community.

Gutierrez also said she supports a national search, but is hoping it produces El Pasoans in the candidate pool.

“If not, then we have to go with the most qualified candidate,” Gutierrez said.

Mendoza said a national search is not needed, but did not offer an alternative approach.

“Look what we ended up with the last time,” Mendoza said, referring to Gonzalez.

The Downtown arena controversy

Another major decision facing the council is the Downtown arena – the last 2012 signature bond project yet to be built.

The City Council in January abruptly voted not to build the arena in the Duranguito neighborhood following years of litigation. The city has yet to choose an alternate site, although it is considering Downtown Sun Metro properties as possible alternatives.

“I think that was a long battle and I think the city really dropped the ball on that one and they should have listened to the community,” Acevedo said of the former site.

Acevedo said the city should learn from its mistakes and get feedback from the community on the future of the project. He also said it will be difficult to stay within the $180 million budget.

The city has about $153 million left of the original bond allocation for the project. The city has spent bond funds for the center on land acquisition, appraisals, engineering fees and project consulting, among other expenses.

Acevedo said the city should consider partnering with the El Paso Independent School District for one of its properties.

“I think that school districts would all benefit from having a centrally located place that they could use for performing arts or for their sports,” he said.

Carbajal said any sports component to the project needs to be eliminated from the future project and the city needs to be more transparent about its plans.

“We all know that the sports arena and the performing arts center are two different things and sometimes they go well together and sometimes they don't,” she said, adding that a sports element will increase the cost of the project.

Carbajal said the city should consider the Judson F. Williams Convention center as the site for the project.

“I've always believed that the convention center was a much better option for the use of this money,” she said.

Gutierrez said sticking to the remaining budget is more important than the location of the project.

“I think that we have learned from our mistakes, and almost $4 million later in attorney fees, that we need to be more respectful of where we're going to put that arena,” she said. She added that she would not support eminent domain and relocating residents from their homes to build the arena.

Mendoza said if the project is going to be a success, it needs to be on a large scale.

“If you're going to build something, build it grand, it needs to be something big,” he said.

Mendoza said a small 4,000 seat stadium, for example, will not benefit the community. He said in order to get more money for the project the city should consider partnering with a national sponsor and have them invest in the cost difference for naming rights.

He said if that approach does not work, then the city should hold off on the project until it has the funds to make the project worthwhile, although he did not say where additional funds would come from.

“It may not be for another five (years) or another 10 (years), but it’d be grand,” he said.

This article first appeared on El Paso Matters and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.