Candidate profile: Cassandra Hernandez, El Paso City Council District 3

NAME: Cassandra Hernandez
OFFICE YOU SEEK: City Council Representative for District 3
AGE: 33
OCCUPATION: City Representative
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in Political Science, UTEP 2010 Master’s of Public Administration, UTEP 2013. FAMILY: Second generation El Pasoan and mother of two children, 4 yr old daughter and 6 yr old son.

Number-one campaign focus: My current focus in my campaign is to bring awareness regarding the pandemic, the sense of urgency for our democracy locally and educate voters on the progress in the District and the city as a whole.

What sets you apart from your opponents? My track record of transparency and listening to the needs of community with proven results. My extensive experience in government, at the City of El Paso and executive leadership sets me apart from my opponent.

Relevant experience that qualifies you for the position you seek: Relevant experience includes the following:  Former member of the El Paso Financial Oversight and Audit Committee; Former member of the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization; Former Trustee of the City of El Paso Employees Retirement Trust - Pension Board; Former Volunteer Government Instructor teaching State and Local Government at the El Paso Community College (2018); Former Deputy Director for the non-profit Workforce Solutions Borderplex; Former Director of Policy and Programs for Education and Workforce Development at the El Paso Chamber of Commerce; Former support staff for Former two City Representatives from 2011 to 2013; Former President and Vice President of the Rosedale Neighborhood Association in District 3; Founding president of the Master of Public Administration Student Association (MPASA).

If you had the chance to revoke one ordinance in El Paso immediately upon taking office, which one would it be?

I would revoke the change in the city charter that our elected officials are not allowed to run with an affiliation of a party. I believe this should be changed as the municipal elections now take place in partisan elections in November.

In what ways is City government on the right track, and in what ways does it need to change course?

I believe the city is in the right track when it comes to quality of life and economic development efforts. Where the city is lacking are with transparency efforts, such as availability to the media and public relating to important city issues that El Pasoans should be made aware.

What steps can you or the city council take to increase transparency and the public's understanding about what's going on in the city?

I am one of the few members of council that make myself available for community meetings in person or by virtual meetings. I always try to make myself available to the public and the media. I have an open door policy with all members of media and public.  The city needs to do more to be available to the community for purposes of sharing information to the public.

Are you in favor or opposed to the construction of the downtown arena in the Duranguito District?
I am in favor of building the multipurpose center in Union Plaza footprint. The city has purchased the land and buildings and its time we build a project that has been long overdue. Since 2012 this project has been in a planning phase. The Multi-purpose center is going to drive economic stimulus to the downtown core and the City of El Paso. That project will bring more tourism to the City increasing tax and hotel revenues that provide better services to El Pasoans and shifting the burden away from property owners through their taxes.  

Do you think local health and city officials have responded to the coronavirus pandemic properly?

Public health officials have done their very best.  Where I disagree with the Mayor, some members of council, and City Attorney’s office is the disclosure of clusters that have been withheld from the public. These are unprecedented times, and require unprecedented measures including the listing of COVID-19 hotspots to the public. I have placed this item on the agenda several times, and they have failed with the Mayor breaking the tie in favor of not disclosing the clusters.

Are you in favor of diverting some police department funding, reallocating it toward local social
programs?

I am opposed to diverting funding from police funding because in order to improve transparency and safety within the police department, it will require substantial investment to provide the resources needed to become more transparent. Such as storage space of camera footage, the purchasing of body cameras to all officers and the personnel necessary to implement
and manage such programs will cost several million dollars over a course of 5 years. In addition, we need more police officers to reduce our response time, currently El Pasoans will wait up to 17 minutes on average for police to respond to life threatening calls. With more officers, we can
reduce the response rate. It is important that we increase our tax base and sale tax revenues through economic development efforts to bring more revenues to help fund social programs.