El Paso County Commissioners approve request for proposals for future Coliseum management
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso County commissioners voted unanimously to move forward with a Request for Proposals, or RFP, to find new management for the County Coliseum during Monday's meeting.
The decision opens up the facility's management rights after 23 years under the current arrangement.
The vote aims to give other entities a chance to manage the coliseum, currently operated by the El Paso Sports Commission.
The El Paso Sports Commission is under contract to manage the facility until September 2027. Ahead of the commissioners' decision, the Sports Commission offered to invest $12 million of its own money if the county agreed to extend their partnership for 30 years.
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego stated the court felt it was appropriate to seek new bids after more than two decades. El Paso County Precinct 2 Commissioner David Stout noted that contracts for services and programming typically go out for bid every three to five years, calling the RFP process the best option.
Rumors circulated that the University of Texas at El Paso could take over the coliseum.
UTEP declined an interview, providing a statement indicating the university talks to community partners like the county about future projects. A UTEP official added that if the county published an RFP, which it has, the university would consider offering a bid.
Concerns about transparency arose during last week's meeting, where the Sports Commission accused the county of discussing the contract with UTEP and having promised the contract when it expires next year.
Brian Kennedy, an El Paso attorney who formerly worked with the El Paso Sports Commission, questioned the process.
"You have that person who wrote the bid, will help analyze the bids, the recommendation of the bids, the negotiation of the contract, and the oversight of the contract, and all I'm going to say is anybody catching that Houston, we have a problem. People that scream transparency have become not exactly a beacon of transparency and my question was, what's going on here?," Kennedy said.
Kennedy told ABC-7 that a company he founded after he left the sports commission would submit a bid to manage the Coliseum.
Judge Samaniego said that these discussions did not constitute an agreement.
"There were discussions, and I want to be open about that. But there was never any agreements or anything or concessions that were made with UTEP," Samaniego said.
Judge Samaniego further emphasized the legality of the county's actions.
"The public still continues to believe that you're not able to have a discussion on something like this without letting everybody else know. In fact, it is legal," he said.
Local residents have expressed support for the current management.
Dora Villanueva, an El Paso resident who lives near the coliseum, praised the El Paso Sports Commission.
"Tony Rodriguez and Janet are very good at doing their functions and everything, keeping their prices for other people to be able to get in," Villanueva said.
The county stated that opening the management contract for bid is not an indication against the El Paso Sports Commission. They look forward to reviewing the proposals that come through the RFP process.
"We are excited by the possibility of sharing our dream for the future of the Coliseum and Sports tourism in this RFP," Sports Commission Events Director Tony Rodriguez said. "We appreciate the county judge and commissioners' commitment to a fair and equal bidding process."
"I know they're very professional and I don't think there would be any issue with them now going into an RFP, as long as it's all under the even playing ground," Samaniego said.
