Alejandra Chávez, candidate for El Paso City Council District 1
Name: Alejandra Chávez
Occupation: City of El Paso representative for District 1
Relevant Experience
I currently serve as the District 1 Representative on El Paso City Council, where I also serve as Mayor Pro Tem and Chair of the Financial Oversight and Audit Committee. In these roles, I work directly on City budgets, infrastructure, public safety, economic development, and the essential services our residents rely on every day, while helping strengthen oversight and accountability in how taxpayer dollars are managed.
Before entering public service, I spent 20 years building and operating a local business. That experience gave me a strong foundation in financial responsibility, problem-solving, customer service, and accountability. Together, my private-sector background and experience on City Council have given me a practical understanding of how decisions affect residents and businesses and how to navigate City government to get things done.
Personal
I am a lifelong El Pasoan, raised in District 1, a first-generation American, and the daughter of immigrant parents. I grew up in a loving home where my parents taught me that hard work matters, but so does what you do for others. My father, a physician, dedicated his career to caring for people, while my mother instilled in me a strong sense of compassion, service, and social justice. Those values continue to guide how I live my life and approach public service.
I am a proud graduate of Loretto Academy and The University of Texas at Austin, where I earned a degree in Corporate Communications with a minor in Business Administration. I began my career in the corporate sector but eventually took a chance on a lifelong dream of becoming a chef. I moved to Italy to study culinary arts and work in restaurants before returning home to El Paso, where I opened a tiny four-table restaurant that eventually grew into a full-service restaurant and catering business I operated for more than 20 years. I also completed the Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Education Program through the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Along the way, I met my husband, and today we are raising our three children in the same District 1 community that raised me. In January 2025, I was sworn in to the El Paso City Council and committed myself to serving District 1 full-time. The meaningful wins we have accomplished in neighborhoods throughout the district, and the difference that work can make in people's everyday lives, have given me a tremendous sense of purpose and continue to motivate me every day.
El Paso is where my parents built their lives, where I grew up, built my business, and am now raising my family. It is also the community I have the privilege of serving. Esta es mi casa, and it always will be.
What is your position on data centers?
I have never voted to approve a data center. I voted to end City recruitment and incentives for future hyperscale data centers, and I would not support reinstating those incentives. I share concerns about their water and energy use, environmental impacts, infrastructure demands, and potential costs to residential ratepayers.
I supported the City’s Data Center Policy Framework to put stronger guardrails in place through zoning, land-use oversight, and public review. Because private companies can still seek to develop data centers on private property, future hyperscale proposals should not simply be allowed by right. They should be subject to public review and City Council approval.
Protecting ratepayers is also critical. I supported the City’s intervention opposing the proposed McCloud Generation facility and efforts before the Public Utility Commission to protect residential customers from costs associated with serving large data centers. I have also supported state and federal advocacy for stronger transparency, utility protections, infrastructure oversight, and safeguards so residential ratepayers are not left paying for the energy demands of these projects.
I will continue supporting stronger regulation, environmental protections, transparency, ratepayer protections, and local control over future development.
What would you do differently to reduce property taxes?
I would focus on both sides of the equation: controlling City spending and reducing our reliance
on residential property taxes by growing our commercial tax base.
On spending, I would continue challenging departments to find sustainable efficiencies before asking residents to pay more. That includes examining staffing and vacancies, reviewing outside contracts and consultants for potential savings and value to taxpayers, controlling recurring costs, and identifying services or processes that can be delivered more efficiently.
At the same time, El Paso needs to grow commercial investment and sales tax revenue so a greater share of the cost of City services is supported by a broader tax base rather than homeowners. Responsible economic development that brings businesses, jobs and investment to El Paso is an important part of long-term property tax relief.
I have already pushed for this approach. The FY2027 budget included $27 million in savings from defunding vacant positions, and I proposed more than $9 million in additional reductions. I would continue looking for sustainable savings and new revenue while protecting police, fire, streets, infrastructure, and other essential services.
What’s your position on the Deck Plaza project?
I do not support placing the financial burden of the Downtown I-10 Deck Plaza on local taxpayers. I see potential value in the project and the connectivity it could create, but affordability and our community’s other priorities must come first.
I support pursuing state, federal, philanthropic, private, and other outside funding sources. Any City participation should be carefully evaluated and should not compromise essential services, infrastructure, or other priorities facing El Paso.
What are your plans to ensure transparency and make sure you are accessible to constituents?
Transparency means residents should understand how and why decisions are made, be able to reach their representative, and receive honest answers and follow-through.
Through Field Focused Fridays, community meetings, newsletters, and regular conversations throughout District 1, I have made it a priority to meet residents where they are. My office and I have responded to more than 1,000 constituent requests, and those conversations help us identify problems with City services and opportunities for improvement.
I will continue being present, accessible, responsive, and accountable to the people I represent.
What makes you the best candidate?
District 1 is home. I was raised here, built my business here, am raising my family here, and for more than 20 years, served this community as a local business owner. I have always had a heart for serving others, an example my parents gave me growing up, and I bring that same sense of responsibility to public service today.
I serve District 1 full-time and approach this job with honesty, transparency, accountability, and a commitment to being accessible to the people I represent. I show up, listen, answer questions honestly, advocate for our needs, and work every day to solve problems and make a positive difference in people’s lives.
From the beginning, I have been focused on achieving meaningful wins in every neighborhood, especially in areas where residents have told me they felt unseen or overlooked. Part of my responsibility is making sure District 1 has a strong voice at City Hall and advocating for our fair share of resources and investment. Sometimes that means moving a major infrastructure project forward. Other times, it means lighting a neighborhood basketball court, creating safer streets through traffic mitigation, organizing a neighborhood cleanup, improving a park or trail, or bringing families together for Movies at the Park. Big or small, these investments matter because every neighborhood deserves to be seen, represented, and improved.
I am not asking residents to judge me only on what I promise to do. They can evaluate my record and the work taking place throughout District 1. Through thousands of conversations with residents and my daily work as their representative, I have developed a firsthand understanding of the needs of this district and the responsibility that comes with this office.
This community has shaped every chapter of my life, and serving it has given me a tremendous sense of purpose. I would be honored to continue doing the work and delivering for the community that raised me.
