Time is ticking as Mayor Leeser reviews and assesses the city manager’s contract extension

EL PASO, Texas - One day after the El Paso city council voted to extend the city manager's contract to 2029, Mayor Oscar Leeser is "reviewing and assessing the item."

City council voted 5-3 to extend City Manager Tommy Gonzalez's contract to 2029.

Usually, the mayor has 72 hours to veto an item passed by the council. The city charter, however, says the mayor does not have veto power on an item approved by council action that would remove the city manager.

ABC-7 reached out to a city spokesperson to ask if the city attorney could clarify whether the mayor has veto power in this instance, but our request for clarification was rejected.

A special meeting to grant the extension happened after Gonzalez became a finalist for a similar job in Frisco, Texas.

After the council approved the contract extension, Gonzalez withdrew his name from consideration for that job.