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The veterans capitol of the usa. From inside the alicia chacon commissioners courtroom of the

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enrique moreno county courthouse. You are watching the el paso county

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commissioners court meeting. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today is monday,

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december 8th, 2025. Today we are joined by asl interpreter selena salloum and tamara

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marquez. Commissioners court is meeting in regular open session. Commissioner olguin, would you

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like to introduce our pledge of allegiance students for today? Yes. Thank you. Good morning

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everyone. So today we are blessed to have a rather large group of students from fabens

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high school that are going to be leading us in the pledge. So as they make their way to the

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podium, I do want to give them a shout out. So these are students from the texas

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association of future educators, fabens chapter, and from the student council, the texas

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association of future educators. Chapter eight of these young folks actually just made it to

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state. So they will be competing at the state level here in the next few months. So

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congratulations to them. And of course, I want to give a shout out to their teachers, miss

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sotelo and mr. Vasquez. Without them, without their support, this wouldn't be possible. And

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thank you again to doctor segovia, the superintendent for fabens. And these students will

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actually be receiving a tour of the county court house after they listen to a few

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resolutions here in the commissioners courtroom. So I want to give a big shout out to

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lynn from the law library as well, for always doing such a great job and hosting our

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students when they come take tours of the courthouse. All right. Thank you. Welcome. I

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think we're ready. Mr. Chairman. Okay. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states

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of america and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under god, indivisible, with

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liberty and justice for all. Honor the texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, texas. One

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state under god, one and indivisible. Thank you so much. We welcome you and enjoy your

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your day here at the court. Thank you. Thank you all. Great job. And now we will receive an

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invocation by pam perrone. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you judge. Good morning. It is good

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to see you. You all judge samaniego and commissioners, all who are with us today are

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invited to join me as I pray, our father, who art in heaven, hallowed, holy and honored, be

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your name for the book of revelation. The unveiling or revealing tells us who shall

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not fear you, o lord? For you alone are holy. Thy kingdom come according to your word. In

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revelation 1115, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our lord and of his

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christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. We declare thy will be done on earth as it

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is in heaven. We know that in heaven no child is neglected, hungry, abused, trafficked, or

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harmed in any way. For your word is clear in revelation 21 four and god will wipe away

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every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There

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shall be no more pain. For the former things have passed away. Give us this day our daily

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bread. Jesus words written in john 635 are clear I am the bread of life. He who comes to

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me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. And forgive us our

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trespasses, the offenses we have committed against you. Oh, god, as we forgive those who

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trespass against us. For in matthew 614 and 15, jesus reveals that if you forgive men

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their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men

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their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father forgive your trespasses. And lead us

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not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the word of god is clear. In james

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113, let no one say, when he is tempted, I am tempted by god. For god cannot be tempted by

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evil, nor does he tempt anyone. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever

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and ever. For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given. And the government will

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be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty god,

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everlasting father, prince of peace, of the increase of his government and peace, there

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shall be no end upon the throne of david and over his kingdom, in order to to order it and

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establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the

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lord will perform this today. When we declare thy kingdom come, we celebrate with the

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words from handel's messiah. The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our lord

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and of his christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. King of kings and lord of lords.

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hallelujah! Lord, we are grateful that you have given us your truth in your word. You

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sent your son, born in a manger, into the world as savior, prince of peace, the word, the

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way, the truth, and the light. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great

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light upon them. A light has shined. Amen. And so be it. Thank you. We welcome you, or

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my best to your family, mrs. Ferrone. Thank you. Would you like to make opening comments

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before we thank you? Well, you know, thank you for being here. We welcome you on behalf of

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myself and our commissioners. We're always, always extremely thankful that that you're here

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with us today. You're going to hear some incredible resolutions. El paso I mean,

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one of the things that makes us unique is that we recognize people, organizations and and we allow others to understand who these individuals are because they make such an

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impact on our community. Just want to wish you well through the the holidays, and make sure

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that you go to the lake for the lights. You'll be very, very impressed with with what we

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have out there. So I thank you very much. As you could see, our I had a struggle with pa pa

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rate, I think is what it was called. So. We'll give you a little chance to, to see that.

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but. Yeah, the drone show was pretty magnificent.

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you please take your families. You have the opportunity to drive around

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the lake, or you can stop. And there's so many places to take pictures with your family. But,

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you know, I keep saying that this, for some reason, this christmas has to be very

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special. A lot of things went, you know, the shutting down of the benefits like snap and

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federal government and still a lot of people struggling out there. So if you can make it a

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point not only to be kind to your family, but go a little outside of your family, I think

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we're going to show the rest of the country what a great place el paso is. So thank you once

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again for being here and wishing you the best this whole week. Thank you. Item number

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four is the consent agenda, composed of items for a through four v. We do have a correction

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to read in for item four f correction reads. Accept the texas county and district

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retirement system plan assessment for plan year 2026. Contract number 2025 1024. We

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also have a request to delete item 40, which is a proven authorize the county judge to

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sign the interlocal agreement for law enforcement services with the el paso county

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hospital district, doing business as university medical center of el paso. For law

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enforcement services at the main hospital, campus and satellite emergency sites from

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december 1st, 2025 through november 30th, 2028, in the amount of $1,171,611.67.

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contract number 2025 0988. This item will be brought back at a later meeting. Are there any

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other items? Members of the public have any pool? If not, I'll move to approve. Have a

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motion by judge samaniego to approve. Second, by commissioner olguin. The voting

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is open. Motion carries. Item five resolutions five a approve an adopt a resolution

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recognizing the el paso marine honor unit for its exceptional service, sacrifice, and

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dedication to honoring our nation's heroes and its lasting contribution to the veterans

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and families of el paso county, texas. Thank you. Could you please come up, please? Oh, mr.

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wayne. Thank you. As you know that with the veterans capital of the usa. So we always get to

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honor all of these amazing contributions toward that end. Will I have the honor of

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presenting this resolution? And then we'll hear from our speakers? Whereas el paso

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county proudly recognizes el paso marine honor unit for its outstanding dedication and

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continued service to the veteran community, providing solemn and dignified honors to

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those who have served our nation and was. El paso marine honor unit was established in

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september 2015 with a mission of providing an honor of firing party detail for deceased

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veterans at their interment, ensuring that each veteran is laid to rest with military

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honors they have earned. Whereas since its formation, the el paso marine honor unit

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has conducted more than 900 honor firing details and memorial services for deceased

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veterans throughout the el paso area. Reflecting a decade of unwavering commitment to duty,

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honor and respect. Whereas during the covid 19 pandemic, when restrictions limited

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ceremonial participation, the el paso marine honor unit was on several occasions the only

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organization authorized to render honors at fort bliss national cemetery, ensuring

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that no veteran was buried without the dignity of a proper military farewell was. The el

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paso marine honor unit has also played a vital role in supporting the unaccompanied

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veteran burial program, standing in solemn tribute to those veterans who have no

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known family, ensuring that every service member is honored and remembered as part of our

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nation's promise that no veteran will ever be forgotten. Whereas through the unit has

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been a reduction in membership due to age and medical challenges, it continues to

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faithfully serve the veteran community by providing honors for their fallen comrades with

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the same reverence and professionalism that has defined their service since its

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inception. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the el paso county judge and commissioners court hereby expresses its deepest appreciation and gratitude to the el paso marine

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honor unit for its exceptional service, sacrifice, and dedication to honoring our

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nation's heroes, and commends the unit for its lasting contribution to the veterans

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and families of el paso county. Signed this eighth day of december 2025, we have a motion

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to approve by judge samaniego, second by commissioner stout. The voting is open. Motion

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carries. Welcome. Mr. Way, you have the also a veteran of the year as well. Actually our

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first veteran of the year. We start out a little bit bigger when we originally what we have

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right now, but we're still dedicated to taking care of our deceased veterans. It's a job

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we don't like to do, but we love to do because it's the right thing to do. And being

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the only veteran group right now for this length of time that's doing this, we're, you

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know, pushing to get more. We have started a veterans el paso honor unit through the united

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americans veterans organization. So for the past year I've been dual hatted, working with both

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of them. So that again, if we can't do it, they go off there and try and do it. Excellent.

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and again, it's a commitment that we're going to go as long as we can. And so thank you.

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thank you. You want to introduce yourselves please. Morning. My name is rafael

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luevanos. Thank you. Thank you. Gomez thank you. Eddie santiago. Thank you. Good morning, jose

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martinez. Thank you. You know, sometime back about four years ago, I was asked to go to an

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unaccompanied burial. And I don't think I've ever gone through a more sad experience.

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and one of the things when we talk about being the veterans capital of the usa, we get

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challenged, right? I mean, how can we have unaccompanied burial with nobody there? I

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mean, these were the landscape we're trying to, you know, get the casket out. It was just

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I'll never, ever forget that. And now after everybody, as always, you know, you all

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rallied. Now we've had as many as 100 people show up at unaccompanied burials. And that

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makes all the difference. The next thing we need to do is try to identify that someone

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doesn't end up in that situation, that didn't have friends, didn't have family.

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and I know there's a lot of work going towards that. Tony and others and debo and others

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are trying to figure out, you know, what can we do before we get to that point to realize

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that they were unaccompanied? So I thank you. It's something very important for el paso. As

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you mentioned, the word dignified. Oh my goodness, that's you. We have to you

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can't be a veteran and not have that, you know, someone honoring you in that honor. So

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we thank you very much. And we'd love to take a picture with all of you. Thank you.

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item five be approved. Adopt a resolution recognizing the first, second, and third place

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winners of the 2025 sticker design contest in el paso county, texas. Thank you. This

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is such a a special resolution, and I'd like to publicly thank lisa for everything. People

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don't realize how much goes on behind the scenes to do the elections. I mean, it's just

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amazing. People just show up and like magic. Everything just was there. But lisa, thank you

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so much for everything that you do. So I'd like to read the resolution. Whereas voting is a

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fundamental act of civic participation through which individuals contribute to the strength of our democracy. And while it is only one form of civic engagement, it remains

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one of the most powerful ways for young voters to make their voices heard and shape the

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issues that affect their lives and communities. Whereas voter education is essential to

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fostering a culture of participation, equipping future voters with knowledge and

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awareness necessary to understand the electoral process, and inspiring our

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youth to register and vote once they become eligible. And whereas, for the fourth edition

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of the I voted sticker contest, the el paso county elections department invited local

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elementary school students to design the next future voter sticker and high school student

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to design the next I voted sticker, for both of which will be proudly distributed during

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the 2026 electoral season in el paso county, as well as through the power of art. The el paso

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county elections department has fostered greater participation and civic engagement among the next generation of voters through this contest and for years to come, we are committed

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to using the sticker design contest as a creative and impactful tool to inspire civic

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pride and encourage lifelong participation in the democratic process. With this annual

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contest reflects el paso county's ongoing commitment to engaging youth and celebrating

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creativity and ensuring that every resident, present and future understands the

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importance of participation in the democratic process. Now, therefore, be it resolved by

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the el paso county judge and commissioners court that recognize the first, second and third place winners of the 2025 sticker design contest, signed this eighth day of december

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2025. We have a motion to approve by judge samaniego, second by commissioner stout.

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the voting is open. Motion carries. Thank you lisa. Welcome. Thank you. Judge.

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commissioners lisa weiss, the el paso county elections administrator. Before I start talking about this wonderful program, I'd like to invite our three winners for the future

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voted future voter stickers and the I voted sticker so I can have all six of my recipients

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up here. I know there's some in the back and some up towards the front. Right. You guys want

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to stand right here? That'd be great. Welcome, chico. And of course, chico. So this year,

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the el paso county elections department, as you stated, invited local elementary and high school students to showcase their creativity and promote civic engagement

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through the 2025 sticker design contest. This is something that we started. I think they said

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this was our fourth. So we've we've done it a couple of times, and every time it gets better

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and better, we get more submissions, we get more judges, we get the art is is improving

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as well. So the future voter category was open to elementary school students and I voted

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category was open to high school students. This year we received 162 submissions,

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compared to 68 for the last two midterm elections. I'm sorry for the last midterm election

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year. The first place winning designs will be distributed to voters during the 2026 election,

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so everybody will be seeing them out. Sorry I'm not flipping through for me. Okay,

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here we go. So an interesting thing is we had this was blind judging. As far as you know,

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our judges were not able to see the names or anything of that on the on the, the competitors.

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but as you can see, we have six wonderful young ladies from el paso county. Who managed to

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secure all of our spots this year. So I'm going to read off our future voter stickers first,

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and then we will go to the I future. I voted stickers and we have miss el paso usa here.

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welcome handout. Thank you. To help hand out the to help out the certificates. And

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afterwards we have some donations back in our office that we'd like for you guys to

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come back and grab as well. So for the future voter, third place, we have francella belen

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marin from lamar elementary, fifth grade. If you want to come over here and get your.

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and afterwards we'll take pictures with the court. So if you guys want to come stand up

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here, go on that side with pablo. Our second place for future voter is zoe tarango

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from alicia chacon international school, sixth grade. Congratulations. And our

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first place future voter sticker that you'll see thousands and thousands

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hopefully running around in 2026 is sofia salas from coach wally hartley, fourth grade.

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yeah. Congratulations. Yeah, they did great. As you can see, we posted their art up here and

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we've posted on our website and you'll see it out again. You'll see these first place winners

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out in the out in the community. Once we get started with 2026, the I voted, which were the

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high school students for third place, we have yamilet margarita garcia from mountain

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view high school, 12th grade. Congratulations. And if you can see these I mean, these

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stickers are so gorgeous. It's hard to pick because every single one was so it was so

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creative and colorful and vibrant and it just we really we love seeing everyone's

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talent. So in second place for the I voted is sofia alexa garcia from horizon school,

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12th grade. Congratulations. And our number one first place where we will be printing

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hundreds of thousands of these stickers for the community is novalee leon fortenberry, 10th

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grade, eastwood high school. Congratulations. Judge. I just want to take a couple minutes

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really quick and thank our judges because we would not be able to do this without them.

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every two years that we've done this, we've reached out to community leaders and we continue to get incredible support. So we just want to really quick and quickly thank

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our judges. Gina martinez, the ceo of la nube. Okay. She wasn't able to come. Miss iris

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lopez from 93.1 kiss co-host and founder of mija. Yes you can. Everyone knows iris. Local

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artist juan ornelas is here. Local artist and photographer marcus ray. Our official el

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paso chihuahua mascot. Chico. And our final judge who was unable to be here but is here

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in spirit. Paydirt pete official utep mascot. The last thing I want to say, just

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really quickly is that along with all of these, with the certificate, we also received

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donations from some really great community raising cane's we received. We want to thank

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wendy's. We want to thank el paso chihuahuas. We want to thank la nube. We want to thank.

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and mija, yes we can. I'm sorry. Miha. Yes you can. We want to thank. And our two local

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artists donated some really beautiful items. Juan ornelas and marcus ray. Thank you.

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thank you so much. And last but not least, I want to thank my two staff members who do this

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every two years. It's a lot harder than you probably think it is. Melissa martin and pablo

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aguirre. Stand up, stand up. These guys really go out. They print, they make sure all of

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the booklets are ready. They contact the judges, they do everything. So without them we would not be able to do that. So thank you everyone. And I think we'll have pictures and

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that's. Yeah, I just wanted to thank you for everything as you saw all the things that have to

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take place and and for all of you, what a great honor to to be able to 160 plus entries and

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to be able to be here at this point in time, very thankful for that. I had the opportunity

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to walk in when the judges were there at the at the end. Oh my god, they looked like it was

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difficult for them. It was so competitive. My staff reminded me, I apologize, I forgot. We

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made a quick video of all of the entries. Okay, great. Just. We're not okay. Sorry. Okay.

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technical difficulties go online. So yeah, go online. You can go online and you'll find

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them. So you'll find the the video with all of the entries. Otherwise I think yeah. Once

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again remember as you know this is a resolution that that highlights the importance of

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voting. We as elected officials, we're much better off when people go out to vote. We also

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when we have challenges like in state challenges or federal challenges, we want to be in a

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community that votes that have a lot of people that come out, and that makes a big difference

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to whether or not they're going to listen to us. If we're a community doesn't vote, we don't get a lot of attention in the state or federal level. So thank you, lisa, for everything

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that you do. Good luck on your 2026 elections. I know it's a little more complicated, but

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once again, one more round of applause for this. Incredible. All right. If you guys want to

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head up here.

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congratulations. Great resignation. Congratulations. Thank you so

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much. So great. I mean, they're just gorgeous. You guys okay? They want to do one winners and

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then. When you. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. All right. 12123. All the judges. Can I get one with

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the shirt. Yeah I guess you can. Girl power. You guys have your shirts. It. All. Girls. We did

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it. Ready? One. Two. Three. Me. Hi. Yes you can. The judges that are present.

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oh, I wanted to get our superintendent.

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item five c approval to adopt a resolution recognizing utep

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volleyball head coach ben wallace for being named conference usa coach of the

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year, and for his exceptional leadership and dedication to the success of the utep

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volleyball program.

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thank you. Welcome all of you. So I have the honor of reading the

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resolution into the record was the arrival of coach ben wallace in 2018 ushered in a

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run of unprecedented success for utep volleyball program. And whereas, on november 15th,

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2025, the miners defeated fiu 3 to 0 at memorial gym to to clinch a share of their first

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ever conference usa regular season championship, where the miners made their first ever

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ncaa tournament appearance in 2024 and was. The miners earned a second straight at large bid

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to the ncaa tournament on november 30th, 2025, garnering the number six seed and

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matching with north carolina and madison, wisconsin. And whereas, the utep volleyball program has racked up an astounding 52 victories over the last two seasons with only

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ten losses, whereas during that two year span, the miners have been dominant force in

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conference usa, posting a record of 31 and three in regular season league play,

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whereas utep 2025 team accomplishments include winning 3 to 0 on october 25th to snap

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the hilltoppers 100 match conference usa regular season win streak. Whereas utep

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volleyball program is firmly entrenched amongst the nation's elite programs, whereas the

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utep volleyball team continues to throw a parsons, posting a 25 four record at memorial gym

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over the last two years, while averaging 1624 fans per match. Now, therefore, be it resolved

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that the el paso county judge and commissioners court hereby recognize and proudly honors

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coach ben wallace and the utep volleyball program for a two year run of exceptional play

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and for representing el paso with pride, honor and excellence. Sign this eighth

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day of december 2025, we have a motion to approve by judge samaniego, second by

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commissioner coronado. The voting is open. Motion carries. Welcome. Welcome. Who cannot be

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heard. Can we hear that music again?

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thank you, thank you. Welcome. Thank you guys so much. Ben is, of course a very busy

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man and wishes that he could be here. He's actually on an all region call right now for the

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whole entire ncaa. So he's out there voting for all region players with other top ncaa

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volleyball coaches. So he wishes he could be here. And he's obviously honored to

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receive this award as well as our whole entire team. We're incredibly proud of this year's

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effort, obviously last year as well, and we've got a great group of young ladies behind us

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that does all the work, and us as coaches just kind of get to sit back and watch them shine.

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and we're very proud of getting to represent the city of el paso, always on on a national

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stage everywhere we go, including in madison over the over the weekend, and obviously

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would have wished for a better result. But we're very proud of the season that these guys put

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up and especially the seniors that played their last college volleyball games, were really

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proud of them and their efforts over the past four and five years and just really, really

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proud to be utep miners and represent el paso and get to wear the logo across our chest.

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and a lot of people used to not know what the pick was or what utep was, but they're starting

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to recognize it as far as on a volleyball stage goes. And that's that makes us really

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proud when we get to go places, and they are finally starting to recognize the work that

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we're putting in here. So I wouldn't want to work for anyone other than ben wallace. I wish he was here to be able to to talk to you guys too. But we're just we're just all

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really proud. And thank you very much for having us. And we were proud to receive this last

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year. We've got the resolution from last year hanging in our our brand new locker room, and

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we'll be proud to put this one right next to it. So thank you guys for having us. Well thank

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you so much. This is. You know, every time you put an el paso on the map, we go from what

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people believe we are to who we really are. And it's individuals like yourselves. And I have to always say that now you have a certain responsibility when you go

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through that kind of experience. There's, I think, some responsibility to help others.

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you saw the the six young ladies that were here for the artwork. Where's mihai? Yes.

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you can. Here you have them. I mean, it's just an amazing opportunity for el paso. Thank

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you for putting us on the map. Continued success to each and every one of you and ben, I

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know that. Please let him know that we really, really appreciate what he does and the

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work that's put in. But to every all the staff. And also don't forget that you're here

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because of your parents and what they do for each and every one of you. And so always be

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blessed that you're here in this opportunity. And there he is, and there he is. Well,

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thank you once again. And we'll take we'll take a picture with all of you. And thank you for

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honoring el paso. Thank you. Which of you are seeing which of you are seniors? I'm sorry,

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where are the seniors? Well, thank you all for your participation in the program and appreciate y'all. Yes. Yeah. We're going to have you introduce yourselves, if you

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don't mind just going in and letting us know what class you're in and and your name,

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please. We'll start. I am alexis, and what was the other question? Oh, I am a junior.

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thank you. I'm mackenzie and I'm a freshman. Well. I'm kayla and I'm a senior. Thank you,

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thank you. You can clap. Okay. There's no don't. I'm lavina and I'm a sophomore. Yeah. I'm

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ella and I'm a freshman. Yeah, well, I'm jordan and I'm a sophomore. Welcome. I'm kayla

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and I'm a junior. Okay, we're going to do a one clap, okay? I'm lauren and I'm a sophomore.

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yeah. My name is danika washington and I'm a senior. My name is torrance and I'm a

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senior. I'm landry and I'm a sophomore. My name is sarah and I'm a senior. My name is hannah,

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and I'm a sophomore. My name is maddie, and I'm a senior. I'm emma, and I'm a junior. Wasn't

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sure there. Hi. My name is sydney, and I'm a freshman. Hi. My name is lexi, and I'm a

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freshman. Wow. It's a young group, alex. Who's missing? Who's missing? Come. Come on in.

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come on in. My name is alex, and I'm a gay. Okay, gentlemen, you. We want to know who you

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are. I'm nick, and I'm an assistant coach. I'm also lexi, and I'm an assistant coach. My

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name is dale brown, and I'm the sport admin for volleyball. Hi, I'm liliana valdespino. I'm

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their sports information director. I'm missing any. Anyone. Okay. Thank you. And

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for those of you that are staying for next year's program, no pun intended, but go kill it.

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and you, you're a very young team, as I could see. My goodness, we got a long ways to

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go. Thank you. I think maybe we should get behind. Yeah. You guys, thank you so much. Great

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job, great job, great job, good job, good job okay. Thank you so much the first time. All the

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great. Next year you guys are going to be even better. Thank you thank you thank you. All

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know. Yes. All right. They're a little taller. Three. Two one.

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congratulations. Thank you.

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item five approve and adopt a resolution declaring december 8th, 2025 as el paso executive

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women lions club appreciation day in el paso county, texas. You want to come on up and

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you're going to have. Yeah. Up here first. That'd be okay. Can we reread the agenda once I get

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everybody up here? Yeah. Thank you. Approve and adopt a resolution declaring december

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8th, 2025 as el paso executive, women's lions club appreciation day and el paso county, texas.

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okay. We're ready. Okay. I've already read it. I've already read it twice. Okay. Where are

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we? Okay, I'll read the resolution. Well let me. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Okay. Was a group

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of professional women decided to form a lions club dedicated to empowering women and

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supporting our great community. On october 14th, 2013, the el paso executive women lions club

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was formed and chartered under lions club international and texas district 23223, whereas

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the el paso executive women lions club was founded by lion betsy castillo, who currently

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continues to serve the club as its membership chair. Whereas lions club international each

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year serves millions of people worldwide. Last year, from july 1 to 20, 2023 through june 30th,

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2024, more than 420 million people were helped all over the world thanks to the unwavering

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commitment of the more than 1.4 million lions around the world. Whereas the el paso executive

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women's lions club has conducted numerous local events, including helping our children

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to get much needed school supplies, supporting our vulnerable neighbors, the elderly, women, children and the justice involved to meet their food and basic needs.

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assisting the homeless with blankets and toiletries. Assisting our local animal

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services agency by walking shelter dogs. Assisting the services of tnr to trap and

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neuter cats and control their population. Supporting financially and with labors of

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love. The children of grief center el paso's fighting hunger, the rescue mission, the

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opportunity center, the salvation army, nami central, san vicente and the alzheimer's

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association, and numerous other community organizations. And by supporting the goals of lci,

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the district two tier three serving individuals facing cancer, diabetes vision

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challenges, as well as numerous environmental efforts through the area, cleanups and

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recycling for el paso executive, women's lions club has partnered with the el paso

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veterans and writers association to support veterans and their families by distributing snacks at va facilities, providing meals to displaced veterans, welcoming

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and returning our military, and supplying essential, essential items to veterans and military

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families. The epb deeply appreciates their support in our annual veterans food drives

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with el paso executive. Women's lions club supports el paso county's denomination of

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veterans capital of the usa, and will do its best to ensure this great initiative continues

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to grow and continues its support all over el paso veterans. Now, therefore, be it

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resolved that the el paso county judge and commissioners court do hereby declare

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december the 8th, 2025 as el paso executive women lions club appreciation day, signed this

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eighth day of december 2025. We have a motion to approve. We have a motion to approve by

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judge samaniego, second by commissioner. I'm very proud the voting is. Open. The vote.

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here we go. Motion carries. I'm sorry. It's been a long day. It's always like, okay, let's,

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let's let's do this. Well, we got we got work to do. Welcome, darrell. I'm very proud to

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announce that I am also lady lion. So they have patiently put up with me and my craziness

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and my ideas. But they're an awesome team. I have never seen a more dedicated group of

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ladies in my entire life who have such a goal of supporting our community. Even I have a

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hard time trying to track everything they're doing and they are outstanding. They are

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truly deserving of this recognition, and we look forward to working with them

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more. And we would like that, you guys, to know that they're here, they're very effective.

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they're awesome. So without further ado, miss betsy, the membership, the founding

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members. Thank you. Thank you betsy. First of all, thank you for having us. Welcome. I would

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like to thank the commissioners and county judge. And also with us today is past district

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governor patsy, who's decided to be with us. Welcome. Thank you. As well as pdg orlando

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ortega. And thank you all for doing rodriguez I'm sorry, orlando rodriguez good morning.

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county judge, county commissioners and distinguished guests on behalf of the el paso

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executive women lions club, I am honored and deeply grateful to accept this resolution.

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recognizing the formation of our lions club, we are humbled that our county has chosen to

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acknowledge this moment in our club's history, a moment that reflects not just the beginning

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of an organization, but the beginning of service, commitment and community impact.

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the lion motto is we serve. Those two words guide everything we do. With this

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recognition, you affirm the values we stand for, which is compassion, volunteerism, the

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belief that when people come together and the shared purpose, incredible things can happen.

381
00:59:08,566 --> 00:59:08,566
when we were newly chartered in december of 2013, our hearts were full of big plans. We

382
00:59:13,633 --> 00:59:13,633
looked forward to supporting local needs, from vision health initiatives to youth leadership,

383
00:59:18,533 --> 00:59:18,533
community partnerships, helping our veterans and responding wherever there is a need. We

384
00:59:23,600 --> 00:59:23,600
are here to work together with local leaders, businesses, nonprofits and every resident

385
00:59:27,633 --> 00:59:27,633
who wants to make a difference. What makes our club extraordinary is not just the

386
00:59:33,300 --> 00:59:33,300
work we do, but the heart behind it. Each member brings strength, dedication and spirit

387
00:59:37,433 --> 00:59:37,433
of service that defines who we are and what we stand for. Our community feels the difference

388
00:59:43,333 --> 00:59:43,333
because of the passion we bring to every project and every act of kindness. It has been a

389
00:59:48,433 --> 00:59:48,433
complete honor to serve alongside these remarkable women, and I look forward to

390
00:59:52,766 --> 00:59:52,766
our continuing journey and building an even stronger legacy of service, working

391
00:59:57,733 --> 01:00:01,533
collaboratively for the betterment of el paso. To the county commissioners, thank you for welcoming us and for believing in our mission. Your support energizes us and

392
01:00:07,900 --> 01:00:07,900
reinforces our commitment to serve with passion and integrity to our fellow lions.

393
01:00:13,366 --> 01:00:13,366
thank you for stepping up to serve, your willingness to give your time, your ideas, and your

394
01:00:18,633 --> 01:00:18,633
talent shows that leadership begins with action. And finally to our community, I get

395
01:00:24,766 --> 01:00:24,766
emotional. We are here for you, we are ready to listen and we are ready to help and ready to

396
01:00:30,266 --> 01:00:30,266
serve. Together we will make a lasting impact. Together, we will continue to serve and

397
01:00:34,533 --> 01:00:34,533
prove that where there is a need, there is a lion. Sincerely, betsy. Thank you.

398
01:00:39,766 --> 01:00:39,766
beautiful words. Thank you so much. And at this time we've got our current president

399
01:00:48,866 --> 01:00:48,866
that's holding us all together. Debbie fierro. Welcome. Excuse my voice. On behalf of the el

400
01:00:57,500 --> 01:00:57,500
paso executive lions club, we are we extend our sincere gratitude to you, judge and

401
01:01:02,933 --> 01:01:02,933
commissioners, for recognizing our service. Your support affirms our mission to uplift

402
01:01:08,866 --> 01:01:08,866
the community and inspires us to continue making a positive impact and reflects our

403
01:01:14,800 --> 01:01:14,800
commitment to compassion, dignity and service to those in most need. We are honored by

404
01:01:20,766 --> 01:01:20,766
this acknowledgment and we thank you for standing up with us. Thank you so much, I

405
01:01:27,033 --> 01:01:27,033
appreciate that. You want to introduce yourselves. Please introduce yourselves. You could

406
01:01:35,700 --> 01:01:35,700
come up to the mic. Thank you judge. Good morning everyone. Thank you for having us. I am

407
01:01:41,566 --> 01:01:41,566
associate judge dolores reyes with the county, but I'm also currently serving as the lions

408
01:01:46,366 --> 01:01:46,366
secretary for this year. Thank you so much. We could say our very own. Good morning. Mendoza.

409
01:01:54,466 --> 01:01:54,466
I'm chief of your eighth court of appeals. I'm a charter member of this club. Very proud

410
01:01:58,633 --> 01:01:58,633
of our work in the community. Great. Another county employee. Good morning. My name is

411
01:02:05,566 --> 01:02:05,566
christine selig, and I'm proud to stand as the second vice president. Thank you. Good

412
01:02:13,500 --> 01:02:13,500
morning. My name is denise morales, and I'm the immediate past president. Thank you. Good

413
01:02:19,300 --> 01:02:19,300
morning. I'm nancy zambrano. I'm a member, just a regular member, but I am a retiree from

414
01:02:26,566 --> 01:02:26,566
the county for 31 years of service. And it was an honor. Thank you for your service.

415
01:02:32,800 --> 01:02:32,800
thank you. I am christina gonzalez and I am the treasurer for this year. Thank thank you.

416
01:02:40,933 --> 01:02:40,933
we're going to do the one clap. We're going to get. Good morning magdalena delgado to

417
01:02:47,400 --> 01:02:47,400
town. I am part of the board. Hello nancy diaz I'm a chartered member and I'm also a

418
01:02:57,433 --> 01:02:57,433
firefighter. And I'm very honored to be part of this group. Welcome. Miriam guerrero.

419
01:03:06,566 --> 01:03:06,566
I'm also a member from workforce solutions. Hi, patsy. Good morning. My name is patsy.

420
01:03:15,400 --> 01:03:15,400
I may pass district governor and very proud to be their guiding lion. Thank you, thank

421
01:03:21,266 --> 01:03:21,266
you. Do we get everybody? Oh, orlando. Hi. I'm a past district governor, orlando

422
01:03:27,500 --> 01:03:27,500
rodriguez. I'm also president and publisher of spotlight news. Well thank you, thank you. We

423
01:03:34,500 --> 01:03:34,500
got everybody right. Well thank you for everything that you do. I mean, I keep saying that

424
01:03:39,066 --> 01:03:39,066
because of organizations like yourselves, it takes a lot of pressure from the county. You

425
01:03:43,533 --> 01:03:43,533
know, when when the county's outside of our county is not responding, it sort of falls on

426
01:03:49,266 --> 01:03:49,266
us. So anything that you do, you're actually helping the county government be able to do

427
01:03:54,300 --> 01:03:54,300
their job better. So we thank each and every one of you for doing that and wishing the best

428
01:03:59,833 --> 01:03:59,833
for, for each. And and I've got to be involved one way or the other. And I've seen how

429
01:04:05,700 --> 01:04:05,700
powerful it is for what you do. So thank you on behalf of myself and our commissioners,

430
01:04:10,833 --> 01:04:10,833
thank you for all your hard work. Thank you.

431
01:04:38,866 --> 01:04:38,866
thank. You, thank you for you, thank you, thank you for your work. Thank

432
01:04:49,166 --> 01:04:49,166
you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you,

433
01:05:12,600 --> 01:05:12,600
thank you. Good. Thank you for the work. Thank you for being a lady. Thank you.

434
01:05:45,366 --> 01:05:45,366
for.

435
01:06:19,566 --> 01:06:19,566
we'll see you, judge. Commissioner said we'd be done by 12.

436
01:06:49,433 --> 01:06:49,433
item five approve and adopt a resolution recognizing the el paso county

437
01:06:54,400 --> 01:06:54,400
sheriff's office for successful safety operations, including the 2025 4th of july and 2025

438
01:07:01,500 --> 01:07:01,500
turkey run at the red sands. Yes. Yes, judge and commissioner. Thank you,

439
01:07:10,400 --> 01:07:10,400
commissioner butler. Yes, I want to invite our sheriff's office and our constable, who

440
01:07:15,500 --> 01:07:15,500
are here in attendance, to join us at the front, if you don't mind. That's rudy right back

441
01:07:27,733 --> 01:07:27,733
there. Is that rudy? That's. The one the resolution is from. So good morning, judge. County

442
01:07:39,233 --> 01:07:39,233
commissioners welcome. Council. Thank you for being here, constable. Precinct six. Thank

443
01:07:43,700 --> 01:07:43,700
you. I'll go ahead and read the resolution. But really I want to. Stress how important the

444
01:07:52,600 --> 01:07:52,600
work that our sheriff's office has been doing in red sands this year. It really is, I

445
01:07:59,500 --> 01:07:59,500
think, a matter of life and death. And we've seen that because for the first time in

446
01:08:06,000 --> 01:08:06,000
many years, we've had zero we've seen zero fatalities at red sands over these major

447
01:08:11,333 --> 01:08:11,333
holiday weekends. And so I'll go ahead and read the resolution. But I really do

448
01:08:15,766 --> 01:08:15,766
want to stress that. The investment of time and resources that have been made

449
01:08:22,533 --> 01:08:22,533
by the sheriff's office, by our constables, our esd, and all of the partners who have

450
01:08:28,800 --> 01:08:32,666
participated in these operations has saved lives. And it's something worthy of immense recognition. So I'll go ahead and read this, and then I'll ask for some comments.

451
01:08:37,566 --> 01:08:37,566
whereas the el paso county sheriff's office, comprised of 1027 hardworking individuals,

452
01:08:42,866 --> 01:08:42,866
has this year alone coordinated, multi-agency efforts to maintain public safety during

453
01:08:47,533 --> 01:08:47,533
some of the county's most high impact events, including the 4th of july weekend and the

454
01:08:52,366 --> 01:08:52,366
annual turkey run at red sands. And whereas, during the 4th of july safe streets operation,

455
01:08:57,400 --> 01:08:57,400
the sheriff's office organized and unified the efforts of multiple law enforcement

456
01:09:01,733 --> 01:09:05,666
agencies, including the el paso police department, the socorro police department, horizon city police department. Clinton police department, anthony police department, san elizario

457
01:09:10,366 --> 01:09:10,366
marshal's office, texas department of public safety, and the offices of el paso

458
01:09:15,766 --> 01:09:15,766
county constable's frank armada, precinct one, luis aguilar, precinct four, and javier

459
01:09:20,566 --> 01:09:20,566
garcia precinct six. And whereas, the sheriff's office deployed 168 units across the

460
01:09:26,933 --> 01:09:30,766
county during the 4th of july weekend, with dedicated patrol coverage in each municipality to deter impaired driving, reduce collisions, and ensure a visible safety presence during

461
01:09:36,433 --> 01:09:36,433
one of el paso's busiest and most dangerous holiday periods. And whereas for the first time,

462
01:09:42,500 --> 01:09:42,500
the sheriff's office station deputies inside red sands, an area that draws thousands of

463
01:09:47,366 --> 01:09:47,366
visitors despite being privately owned and lacking formal infrastructure, during

464
01:09:51,433 --> 01:09:51,433
the 4th of july weekend, deploying approximately 30 deputies equipped with 4x4

465
01:09:56,400 --> 01:09:56,400
units atvs, lighting towers and on site medics to proactively prevent accidents and protect

466
01:10:02,533 --> 01:10:02,533
the surrounding precinct one neighborhoods. And whereas, during the annual turkey run at

467
01:10:06,766 --> 01:10:06,766
red sands, the sheriff's office once again conducted proactive operations, deploying more than

468
01:10:11,666 --> 01:10:11,666
40 units within the off road recreation area to prevent dangerous accidents, respond

469
01:10:16,566 --> 01:10:16,566
rapidly to emergencies, and safeguard nearby neighborhoods. And whereas, during both the

470
01:10:22,866 --> 01:10:22,866
4th of july weekend and the turkey run, the sheriff's office prioritized public

471
01:10:27,700 --> 01:10:27,700
education and community outreach to help residents and visitors understand how to stay

472
01:10:32,366 --> 01:10:32,366
safe in and around red sands. And whereas these large scale operations exemplify the

473
01:10:37,466 --> 01:10:41,466
county's ongoing commitment to public safety, and they highlight the sheriff's office ability to mobilize significant resources, build strong interagency partnerships, and

474
01:10:46,566 --> 01:10:46,566
address high traffic, high risk areas such as red sands. And whereas, due to these

475
01:10:52,000 --> 01:10:55,666
coordinated strategic efforts, the county recorded zero fatalities and zero serious accidents at red sands during 4th of july and the thanksgiving holiday events. An

476
01:11:00,500 --> 01:11:00,500
extraordinary demonstration of effective planning and multi-agency cooperation. And

477
01:11:05,600 --> 01:11:05,600
whereas these proactive deployments deployments mark a major step toward improving

478
01:11:10,533 --> 01:11:10,533
safety in an area that draws thousands of visitors despite lacking formal public

479
01:11:14,633 --> 01:11:14,633
infrastructure or jurisdictional oversight. Reflecting the sheriff's office

480
01:11:18,900 --> 01:11:18,900
commitment to protecting families in and around precinct one. Now, therefore, be it

481
01:11:23,466 --> 01:11:27,466
resolved that the el paso county commissioners hereby recognizes sheriff oscar ugarte and the el paso county sheriff's office for their outstanding leadership,

482
01:11:31,466 --> 01:11:31,466
professionalism, and safety operations throughout 2025, which significantly contributed

483
01:11:35,600 --> 01:11:35,600
to the well-being and protection of residents across el paso county, especially

484
01:11:40,466 --> 01:11:40,466
those living in and visiting precinct one. Signed this eighth day of december 2025, we

485
01:11:46,700 --> 01:11:46,700
have a motion to approve by commissioner butler, second by judge samaniego. The voting is

486
01:11:51,800 --> 01:11:51,800
open. Motion carries. Welcome. Good morning judge. Good morning, commissioners. Deputy

487
01:12:05,300 --> 01:12:05,300
chief for the law enforcement bureau. We know public safety is expensive, but this

488
01:12:10,466 --> 01:12:10,466
administration does listen to the concerns of the community and the court. And we put this

489
01:12:15,566 --> 01:12:15,566
operations in place. And we are happy to report that during these operations in our areas

490
01:12:20,866 --> 01:12:20,866
of responsibility, we had no shootings, major accidents or fatalities. We also like to

491
01:12:25,733 --> 01:12:29,733
thank the constable precinct one, four and six, the texas parks and wildlife department, the montana vista fire rescue. We continue to work hard to make this a safe community, and

492
01:12:35,533 --> 01:12:35,533
we thank the court for your continued support. Additionally, I'd also like to thank the

493
01:12:40,533 --> 01:12:40,533
commanders, lieutenant perales, that worked very hard on this logistics. As you can imagine,

494
01:12:47,433 --> 01:12:51,366
putting this together, making sure that everybody's in the right places, everybody's getting fed, everybody's getting breaks while, you know, making sure that everybody's

495
01:12:56,600 --> 01:12:56,600
having a safe and time during these events. So I'd like to also thank constable garcia for

496
01:13:04,066 --> 01:13:04,066
his tremendous support towards these operations. And again, thank you ultimately for all

497
01:13:09,766 --> 01:13:09,766
your, your, your wonderful support in getting and putting this operations together.

498
01:13:14,933 --> 01:13:14,933
safety operations. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Go ahead. And the constable is

499
01:13:21,666 --> 01:13:21,666
everywhere. Good morning judge. County commissioners javier garcia, constable precinct six.

500
01:13:27,400 --> 01:13:27,400
commissioner butler, thank you for recognizing the sheriff's office and for including the

501
01:13:31,500 --> 01:13:31,500
constable's office. It's always our pleasure to go help, you know, keep our community safe

502
01:13:37,800 --> 01:13:37,800
and assist the sheriff's office with their patrols. Even though it's not one of our duties,

503
01:13:42,733 --> 01:13:42,733
we're still peace officers. And it's our pleasure to go out there and keep our community

504
01:13:47,166 --> 01:13:47,166
safe. I'd like to thank sheriff ugarte and his command staff and all of his supervisors for,

505
01:13:53,433 --> 01:13:53,433
you know, including us and letting us go out there and keep our community safe. Thank

506
01:13:59,933 --> 01:14:03,633
you, council, for everything that you do. Always. You're always available for anything that we ask for. Go ahead. Welcome. Good morning commissioners. Commissioners.

507
01:14:15,200 --> 01:14:15,200
my name is ruben. Sorry, I'm commander for the patrol division. Thank you,

508
01:14:19,966 --> 01:14:19,966
commissioner butler, for introducing this resolution for recognizing the sheriff's

509
01:14:24,266 --> 01:14:24,266
office, along with many other first responders. The operation could have not been a success

510
01:14:29,866 --> 01:14:29,866
without everyone's participation. The goal was simple to show presence so that

511
01:14:35,466 --> 01:14:35,466
families can go out there and safely enjoy their holiday to prevent accidents, shootings,

512
01:14:40,533 --> 01:14:40,533
or disasters. This is a beginning of many more operations to come for the

513
01:14:45,633 --> 01:14:49,600
safety and well-being of the citizens of this community. And again, thank you for your resolution, your support. Thank you. Thank you for everything you do. Thank you, thank you.

514
01:14:53,533 --> 01:14:53,533
anyone else? Commander. Welcome. Good morning. Morning, jerome washington. Commander, el paso

515
01:15:00,700 --> 01:15:00,700
county sheriff's office. Well, you know, in law enforcement, we have a saying, you know, you

516
01:15:05,966 --> 01:15:05,966
kind of get dealt with the cards that you have to play with, right? And in this

517
01:15:10,566 --> 01:15:14,566
situation, you know, we would love to have that area in red sands kind of just regulated, you know, turn into a state park or something like that. But ultimately it's not. So our

518
01:15:18,533 --> 01:15:18,533
philosophy running up to that and going into the future is that visibility saves lives. So

519
01:15:22,900 --> 01:15:26,666
we're hoping that we can continue this with you all. Support under the sheriff's leadership to prevent lives. That is our biggest thing. We understand that alcohol and off

520
01:15:30,633 --> 01:15:34,633
roading do not make a good combination. But again, visibility saves lives and we thank you for your support and we will continue to do our job. Thank you. Thank you for

521
01:15:39,466 --> 01:15:39,466
everything you do. Thank you. Anybody else okay. Well, yeah. Each one of you that could

522
01:15:45,833 --> 01:15:45,833
introduce yourselves, to say hello. Morning, morales. I'm deputy sergeant with the el

523
01:15:53,166 --> 01:15:53,166
paso county sheriff's office. Thank you. Good morning. Court judge lieutenant perales, also

524
01:16:00,533 --> 01:16:00,533
with the sheriff's office. One thing I do want to say is recognize the deputies that

525
01:16:04,700 --> 01:16:04,700
were inside red sands taking care of business. It wasn't only us that were out there. It

526
01:16:09,900 --> 01:16:09,900
was also several deputies, several several other partners that that made this happen. So

527
01:16:14,466 --> 01:16:14,466
I want to recognize recognize them as well. Thank you, thank you. Good morning. Eduardo

528
01:16:20,900 --> 01:16:20,900
martinez from precinct six, constable's office. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I got to

529
01:16:26,466 --> 01:16:26,466
be quick. Just real quick. If you don't mind, I want to personally thank commissioner

530
01:16:31,633 --> 01:16:31,633
butler when you said about what's happening, she's the one that's really pushed on this

531
01:16:36,400 --> 01:16:36,400
and got everybody together. Worked with sheriff ugarte, constables and everyone else.

532
01:16:41,500 --> 01:16:41,500
we thank you very much for that and for that. Continued. And when you talk about what's

533
01:16:46,466 --> 01:16:46,466
going to happen in the future, it's in good hands with the commissioner. I think she'll

534
01:16:52,333 --> 01:16:52,333
find a way to to make sure that we make it more of a recreational place that we can

535
01:16:57,566 --> 01:16:57,566
control. And I just want to give you thanks because I, I'm very privileged. Sometimes when

536
01:17:01,900 --> 01:17:01,900
we talk to companies that are coming in and there's a couple of things that if we didn't

537
01:17:06,433 --> 01:17:06,433
have it, we have great people. They always talk about that. But the first thing that

538
01:17:11,466 --> 01:17:11,466
attracts them to our community is we're one of the safest communities. And people don't

539
01:17:16,400 --> 01:17:16,400
realize when you see, like meta, come in, give yourselves credit because they they come in a

540
01:17:23,233 --> 01:17:23,233
little like, are you sure you're the the safest community? They come a little leery and

541
01:17:29,366 --> 01:17:29,366
then they realize we have this great, safe community. So a lot of the reasons that we bring

542
01:17:34,466 --> 01:17:34,466
great companies in is because of the being one of the safest counties in the united states.

543
01:17:40,433 --> 01:17:40,433
so we thank you for that. I hope that you realize that you're contributing to the

544
01:17:44,600 --> 01:17:44,600
economic development by by being the way you are. So thank you. And thank you once again,

545
01:17:49,633 --> 01:17:53,500
commissioner butler. Thank you. Thank you, judge, I appreciate that. I wanted to also recognize somebody who's behind the scenes but deserves recognition. That's priscilla

546
01:17:59,566 --> 01:17:59,566
contreras, and she is the public information officer for the sheriff's office. A lot of

547
01:18:05,666 --> 01:18:05,666
what has transpired with these two major holidays has also included a public education

548
01:18:12,466 --> 01:18:12,466
campaign, and priscilla has been the one driving that. And she's there at red sands

549
01:18:17,700 --> 01:18:17,700
documenting it. And I think that's really important as well, because we need to change the

550
01:18:23,300 --> 01:18:23,300
narrative about red sands. We need to be able to google red sands and see that it's a

551
01:18:28,566 --> 01:18:28,566
family friendly, safe environment. And the more that we can continue these

552
01:18:34,433 --> 01:18:34,433
operations and and prevent and reduce accidents and fatalities, the more that narrative will

553
01:18:41,333 --> 01:18:41,333
change to the better. And priscilla is a key part of that. So thank you, priscilla. She's

554
01:18:46,966 --> 01:18:46,966
not going to come forward. But thank you for can I know there she is. At least come can be

555
01:18:53,566 --> 01:18:53,566
part of the picture. She's always hiding somewhere. But thank you. Absolutely. And then

556
01:18:58,566 --> 01:18:58,566
I do want to mention that the, the the deputies and everybody who is involved in these

557
01:19:04,566 --> 01:19:04,566
operations worked on a holiday. They sacrificed time with their families, with their children.

558
01:19:13,333 --> 01:19:13,333
and and I know it's not easy to do that, but I, I again I want to reinforce that that what

559
01:19:21,266 --> 01:19:21,266
they did, what you all have done has saved lives. And I hope that you know that, that

560
01:19:26,233 --> 01:19:26,233
you're making a difference. You're serving the public. You're you're saving lives with

561
01:19:30,433 --> 01:19:30,433
every operation and with your presence out there. So thank you very much for everything

562
01:19:36,600 --> 01:19:36,600
that you do. And I love that call. I get that call from sheriff ugarte. No casualties

563
01:19:41,666 --> 01:19:41,666
the the next day. It's so exciting. I could see in his voice. And of course, priscilla

564
01:19:47,433 --> 01:19:47,433
there, sleepless nights and all of you. So very heartfelt. Thank you to each and every one

565
01:19:53,133 --> 01:19:53,133
of you. Thank you. Let's go ahead and take a picture. Okay. We.

566
01:20:21,700 --> 01:20:21,700
thank you. Thank you for your work and your thank you guys. Thank you so much. Thank

567
01:20:29,766 --> 01:20:29,766
you. Thank you so much for. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate y'all. After the

568
01:20:47,833 --> 01:20:47,833
group picture. 123.

569
01:21:32,166 --> 01:21:32,166
it's all about efficiency. Item five e I'm sorry. Item five f approve

570
01:21:51,533 --> 01:21:51,533
and adopt a resolution celebrating the life of miss austin davis and recognizing

571
01:21:56,700 --> 01:21:56,700
her many contributions to el paso commissioner stoute. Thank you, judge and commissioners. I

572
01:22:06,466 --> 01:22:06,466
have the honor of being able to read this resolution into the record. We're joined here today

573
01:22:11,600 --> 01:22:11,600
by michael davis, mrs. Dean's son. But I want to start off by by saying that some individuals

574
01:22:21,300 --> 01:22:21,300
really leave a legacy that is so deep that it becomes woven into the fabric of a community.

575
01:22:28,500 --> 01:22:28,500
and mrs. Davis was one of those rare figures here in el paso for more than eight decades.

576
01:22:34,633 --> 01:22:34,633
she helped shape the cultural, civic and historic landscape of south central el paso through

577
01:22:41,800 --> 01:22:41,800
her leadership, creativity and unwavering commitment to service from her early years in

578
01:22:47,100 --> 01:22:47,100
el paso, in the segregated, segregated schools here, to becoming one of the first black

579
01:22:53,366 --> 01:22:53,366
women to own and operate her own business in our region, mrs. Stein broke barriers with

580
01:22:58,333 --> 01:22:58,333
grace and determination through her iconic barber shop, her mentorship of young people, her

581
01:23:04,633 --> 01:23:04,633
work preserving black history, and her involvement in civic and community initiatives. She

582
01:23:10,566 --> 01:23:10,566
became a pillar of strength, pride and progress for generations. So I'm going to

583
01:23:14,966 --> 01:23:14,966
read the resolution and then we'll hear from from michael, the resolution states. Whereas

584
01:23:19,500 --> 01:23:19,500
mrs. Stein died peacefully on november 10th, 2025 at age 92. And whereas mrs. Davis was born

585
01:23:27,600 --> 01:23:27,600
in troy, texas, on december 5th, 1932, to clark and beulah hill, her family moved to el paso

586
01:23:34,600 --> 01:23:34,600
when she was six years old, and she attended the segregated douglas elementary and douglas

587
01:23:39,900 --> 01:23:39,900
high school, which at the time was the only school black children were allowed to attend

588
01:23:45,466 --> 01:23:45,466
in el paso and juarez. Mrs. Steen moved to tyler, texas at 18 for barber school, then

589
01:23:50,800 --> 01:23:50,800
returned to el paso to work at fort bliss. In 1964, she joined east side barbershop, owned by

590
01:23:57,766 --> 01:23:57,766
her godfather, mr. Roscoe marlin, and took ownership the following year. Known as mrs.

591
01:24:03,666 --> 01:24:03,666
steen, she cut hair for over 62 years at 106 north piedras street, and whereas she was one

592
01:24:10,433 --> 01:24:10,433
of the first black women to own and operate her own business in el paso, texas, styling diverse

593
01:24:15,600 --> 01:24:15,600
clients from harlem globetrotters and entertainers like little richard and earl

594
01:24:21,200 --> 01:24:21,200
grant to professional wrestlers, college athletes, countless soldiers including army general

595
01:24:25,600 --> 01:24:25,600
officers, and everyday citizens who frequented the streets of piedras and alameda. And

596
01:24:31,300 --> 01:24:31,300
whereas, austin's barbershop welcomed visitors with a sense of history, especially through

597
01:24:36,266 --> 01:24:40,266
her wall of fame, which featured significant achievements by black americans from various backgrounds. The wall included 1966 national basketball championship team

598
01:24:46,366 --> 01:24:46,366
from texas western college, now utep, who received complimentary haircuts. And

599
01:24:51,800 --> 01:24:51,800
whereas, mrs. Stein was an active member of the shiloh baptist church in el paso for

600
01:24:57,100 --> 01:24:57,100
over 82 years, supervising and mentoring many young boys and girls. As director trainer of

601
01:25:02,300 --> 01:25:02,300
the children's usher board, ages 8 to 12 for over 65 years, organizing the easter parade

602
01:25:08,533 --> 01:25:08,533
each year at el paso national bank. Miss davis was also a member of mission society

603
01:25:13,633 --> 01:25:13,633
number two, and as mrs. Stein was the first black person to graduate from mannequin manor

604
01:25:19,433 --> 01:25:19,433
finishing and modeling school, inc. In el paso, founded stein's fashion model agency,

605
01:25:24,566 --> 01:25:28,566
which was the sole black modeling company in the southwest for more than 30 years and founded the annual miss black el paso southwest scholarship pageant. And

606
01:25:33,566 --> 01:25:33,566
whereas mrs. Stein was a dedicated community activist in el paso's black community,

607
01:25:39,266 --> 01:25:39,266
designing floats and joining the thanksgiving parade from 1982 to 2021, she was active

608
01:25:47,166 --> 01:25:47,166
with the naacp el paso chapter and co-founded the mccall neighborhood center in 1983. As

609
01:25:52,800 --> 01:25:52,800
president of the el paso chapter of the ninth and 10th horse cavalry association, she

610
01:25:58,400 --> 01:25:58,400
worked to preserve the legacy of the buffalo soldiers, and whereas for over 60 years, mrs.

611
01:26:04,433 --> 01:26:07,366
stein worked with city, county, and statewide leadership on numerous transportation, infrastructure, housing, commerce, and civil initiatives for the south central el paso

612
01:26:12,500 --> 01:26:12,500
area, a community that held a special place in her heart. There are numerous books,

613
01:26:18,533 --> 01:26:18,533
articles, and formal essays written about mrs. Stein davis and her accomplishments to

614
01:26:22,833 --> 01:26:22,833
include wheresoever my people chanced to dwell by doctor marcel c daly, and borders in a

615
01:26:29,333 --> 01:26:29,333
dream fulfilled at austin's east side barbershop. After all these years by eddie delgado,

616
01:26:36,833 --> 01:26:36,833
29th of april, 2010. And whereas mrs. Stein was a charter member of eta iota zeta

617
01:26:42,300 --> 01:26:42,300
mckay of the zeta phi beta sorority, and whereas following her retirement on 25th

618
01:26:48,900 --> 01:26:48,900
september 2022, mrs. Stein envisioned a renewed economic future for eastside central el

619
01:26:53,966 --> 01:26:53,966
paso. This vision led in january 2023 to the establishment of the nonprofit

620
01:26:59,066 --> 01:26:59,066
organization eastside central coalition, which aims to expand business opportunities within

621
01:27:04,233 --> 01:27:04,233
both government and commercial sectors. In the alameda corridor. And whereas, she was

622
01:27:11,500 --> 01:27:11,500
preceded in death by her parents, clark and beulah hill. Sisters, viola arabel, iola and

623
01:27:17,633 --> 01:27:17,633
esther. Brothers clark, junior ezell and boston, and her son william isaac davis junior. And

624
01:27:24,500 --> 01:27:24,500
whereas, she is survived by her son, michael davis denise. Sister in law, amelia hill

625
01:27:30,666 --> 01:27:30,666
johnson. Five grandchildren, tracy, tia, james, marquez, sarah and antonio. Five great

626
01:27:37,566 --> 01:27:37,566
grandchildren, jada, miles cottrell, atray and one great grandson, emmett. Four nieces

627
01:27:44,566 --> 01:27:44,566
and three nephews, a host of other relatives and friends. And now, therefore, be it

628
01:27:50,233 --> 01:27:50,233
resolved that the el paso county judge and commissioners court extend its warmest

629
01:27:54,566 --> 01:27:54,566
condolences to the family of mrs. Austin davis and recognizes her as a trailblazer

630
01:27:59,500 --> 01:27:59,500
and force to be reckoned with. Sign this eighth day of december 2025, the honorable

631
01:28:05,766 --> 01:28:05,766
county commissioners court. Okay, we have a motion to approve by commissioner stout.

632
01:28:09,900 --> 01:28:09,900
second by judge samaniego. The voting is open. Motion carries. Welcome, michael. Thank you.

633
01:28:17,866 --> 01:28:17,866
thank you all. Thank you very much. Over the last five days, I've had to tell everyone to

634
01:28:26,066 --> 01:28:30,066
keep it short. And the different venues that I've participated in when talking and and honoring my mother, mrs. Dean davis. And so I'm going to keep mine short as

635
01:28:35,400 --> 01:28:35,400
well. I am honored and blessed that I had miss davis as my mother, with such a role model

636
01:28:44,000 --> 01:28:44,000
to not only the black community, but the entire community that she loved so, so much. She's an

637
01:28:52,500 --> 01:28:52,500
icon in his biggest sense. She's only five feet, two and a half and 90 pounds, but she was

638
01:28:58,533 --> 01:28:58,533
such an energy, such a dynamic individual. It's big shoes for us to step into and we hope

639
01:29:08,366 --> 01:29:08,366
through the east side, central coalition and all of the members and people that live in

640
01:29:12,900 --> 01:29:12,900
the community that we're able to do just a few of the things that she was able to do in the

641
01:29:18,500 --> 01:29:18,500
90 plus years that she was on this planet and in el paso. So I thank the thank everyone for

642
01:29:25,766 --> 01:29:25,766
the honor. And I know she's upstairs arguing with god, no doubt. And god just told her to

643
01:29:35,466 --> 01:29:35,466
go down as an usher and stand at the gate with the white gloves on. And she's probably

644
01:29:40,333 --> 01:29:40,333
doing that with with great, great professionalism. So thank you all very much. And michael,

645
01:29:46,733 --> 01:29:46,733
thank you so much. It was such a beautiful ceremony and the privilege to speak in reality.

646
01:29:54,566 --> 01:29:54,566
I was speaking on behalf of of commissioner stout because he's been so involved. I'm sure he I

647
01:30:00,600 --> 01:30:00,600
mean, he wasn't able to be there, but but I really was representing you and what

648
01:30:05,366 --> 01:30:05,366
you've done in that community. And I'm so glad that the young people here, if you look her up

649
01:30:11,433 --> 01:30:11,433
and one of the things I said, you know, she is going to survive the test of time, her,

650
01:30:18,566 --> 01:30:18,566
you know, she'll go forward and we'll remember her. You won't get to meet her, but you need

651
01:30:23,766 --> 01:30:23,766
to see her as a role model because I've never seen something. Everything that

652
01:30:28,300 --> 01:30:28,300
she's gone through. And I was saying that anybody that comes out of douglas, something

653
01:30:33,533 --> 01:30:33,533
happens. They're like, on fire. They come out and they go through a lot, a lot of

654
01:30:39,366 --> 01:30:39,366
adversity. But she's turned adversity into success every step of the way. Everything was

655
01:30:44,666 --> 01:30:44,666
going to be new. Everything was a challenge, everything. And she was able to, you know, move

656
01:30:50,566 --> 01:30:50,566
forward. So we're very thankful for her memory. And we as I said, we got to figure a way

657
01:30:56,400 --> 01:30:56,400
how to keep her memory going as much as we can in the community for young people like we have

658
01:31:03,466 --> 01:31:03,466
today. So, michael, thank you for for allowing me to be there. And commissioner, thank you for

659
01:31:08,766 --> 01:31:08,766
your help on, on, on, on promoting that that area and what she wants in the future.

660
01:31:14,633 --> 01:31:14,633
thank you. Thank you. Thanks, judge. And michael, do you want to come up and take a picture

661
01:31:24,633 --> 01:31:24,633
with the with with the with the resolution. But I just want to say thanks to michael for

662
01:31:29,866 --> 01:31:29,866
continuing her legacy and continuing the advocacy. It's obvious that the apple didn't

663
01:31:34,800 --> 01:31:34,800
fall far from the tree. And he's been a been a strong advocate for for his community

664
01:31:40,733 --> 01:31:40,733
and her community. And and I'm looking forward to continue continuing to working with you

665
01:31:46,566 --> 01:31:46,566
to continue pushing her legacy and making sure that people do not forget the work that she

666
01:31:52,466 --> 01:31:52,466
did in this community. And and she will continue to to to live in our memories forever. Thank

667
01:31:58,533 --> 01:31:58,533
you.

668
01:33:03,966 --> 01:33:03,966
item five g approve and adopt a resolution to recognize the efforts of margarita perez,

669
01:33:10,666 --> 01:33:10,666
mario ornelas, alberto perez and all of the supporters and organizers of el paso trails

670
01:33:16,600 --> 01:33:16,600
for toys and to designate december 13th, 2025, as el paso trails for toys day in el paso

671
01:33:22,666 --> 01:33:22,666
county, texas. Commissioner olguin thank you, judge. Good morning again everyone. It is

672
01:33:29,500 --> 01:33:29,500
such an honor for me to be able to recognize this organization and all of the incredible work

673
01:33:36,800 --> 01:33:36,800
that they do. For those of you all that may know, margie and alberto and marty, they like so

674
01:33:45,366 --> 01:33:45,366
many people who do incredible work in our community. They they don't want credit for it.

675
01:33:50,233 --> 01:33:50,233
they do it from the bottom of their heart because they want to help in whatever way that

676
01:33:54,900 --> 01:33:54,900
they can. But we felt that it was very important to honor the three of them and all of the

677
01:34:00,333 --> 01:34:00,333
volunteers that help with everything that they do from food drives, thanksgiving

678
01:34:05,933 --> 01:34:05,933
basket gifts. And they're not just a blessing to the socorro community, but they provide

679
01:34:12,100 --> 01:34:12,100
gifts to children internationally as well. So I know you don't like being in

680
01:34:16,700 --> 01:34:20,600
the spotlight, margie, but I really felt that it was important that everyone in our community knew about the wonderful work that you all do. So I'm going to go ahead and

681
01:34:25,533 --> 01:34:25,533
read the resolution into the record, and then we'd love to hear from the three of you. And

682
01:34:29,700 --> 01:34:29,700
we have a couple of our elected officials. Mayor cruz from the city of socorro, thank you for

683
01:34:34,933 --> 01:34:34,933
being with us, constable garcia. Thank you also for all of the support that you provide to

684
01:34:39,433 --> 01:34:39,433
margie. So whereas christmas trails for toys is a volunteer driven effort that mobilizes

685
01:34:45,433 --> 01:34:45,433
families, clubs and local businesses to collect toys and essential items for children

686
01:34:50,866 --> 01:34:50,866
and families in need across el paso county and beyond, often organizing car show benefits

687
01:34:56,500 --> 01:34:56,500
and community drives to power its giving. And whereas through these community events,

688
01:35:01,466 --> 01:35:01,466
christmas trails for toys and its partners have gathered toys, raised funds and assembled care

689
01:35:06,500 --> 01:35:06,500
packages at local venues to benefit under-resourced children and families while

690
01:35:10,666 --> 01:35:10,666
building a culture of neighbor to neighbor service across the region. And whereas, the

691
01:35:15,533 --> 01:35:15,533
organization service has included international and cross-border generosity, such

692
01:35:19,566 --> 01:35:19,566
as the donation of uniforms and 20 pairs of eyeglasses in venezuela in 2022 and 2023, as

693
01:35:25,266 --> 01:35:25,266
well as local and regional outreach, including 500 pairs of new boots from cowtown boots

694
01:35:30,966 --> 01:35:30,966
delivered in january 2023 to socorro area schools, churches and daycares within the socorro

695
01:35:36,066 --> 01:35:36,066
independent school district community, and 100 toys delivered to casas grandes,

696
01:35:40,500 --> 01:35:40,500
chihuahua for christmas in 2022. And whereas this community effort is animated by the

697
01:35:45,866 --> 01:35:45,866
leadership and dedication of margarita margie perez, alberto perez and mario ornelas, whose

698
01:35:51,533 --> 01:35:51,533
consistent organizing, fundraising, logistics and hands on service have inspired

699
01:35:56,133 --> 01:35:56,133
volunteers and partners across el paso county to join in the mission of helping families

700
01:36:00,866 --> 01:36:00,866
during the holidays and throughout the year. And whereas christmas trails for

701
01:36:05,033 --> 01:36:08,666
toys extends heartfelt thanks to the many volunteers, donors, small businesses, faith partners, school communities, venue hosts, and civic allies whose contributions, large and

702
01:36:13,566 --> 01:36:13,566
small, make this work possible and multiply the impact for children and families across

703
01:36:17,700 --> 01:36:17,700
our borderland community. And whereas, in recognition of exemplary community leadership,

704
01:36:22,666 --> 01:36:22,666
margarita perez and her organization have been honored with the following awards and

705
01:36:28,300 --> 01:36:28,300
recognitions. Telemundo march 2025. Mujeres imparables award, mujeres con sentido, march 2024

706
01:36:35,800 --> 01:36:35,800
award. Constable's office precinct precinct six 2023 award, serna elementary may

707
01:36:42,366 --> 01:36:42,366
2023 award, socorro isd 2023 volunteer education empowerment award, cte diamond gallery 2023

708
01:36:51,000 --> 01:36:51,000
award ktsm 2023 remarkable women award, clint univision, 26th march 2022 rompiendo

709
01:36:59,633 --> 01:36:59,633
barreras. And whereas local media and community storytellers have highlighted

710
01:37:04,666 --> 01:37:08,433
margarita perez's tireless advocacy for families, underscoring her determination to help those most in need and to rally our community to action through christmas trails

711
01:37:13,733 --> 01:37:13,733
for toys. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the el paso county judge and commissioners court

712
01:37:18,700 --> 01:37:22,466
in grateful recognition of christmas trails for toys, generous service to children and families in appreciation of the leadership of margarita perez, alberto perez and mario

713
01:37:27,366 --> 01:37:27,366
ornelas. And with thanks to every volunteer donor, partner and friend who helps make this

714
01:37:32,400 --> 01:37:32,400
mission possible. That december 13th, 2025 be hereby declared as christmas trails for toys

715
01:37:39,566 --> 01:37:39,566
day, an official official recognition thereof. The commissioners court hereby

716
01:37:43,600 --> 01:37:43,600
affixes their signature this eighth day of december 2025, we have a motion to approve by

717
01:37:49,333 --> 01:37:49,333
commissioner olguin, second by judge samaniego. The voting is open. Welcome, commissioner.

718
01:37:57,800 --> 01:37:57,800
thank you. Motion. Motion carries. Good morning, judge samaniego. Commissioners.

719
01:38:09,433 --> 01:38:09,433
christmas trails for toys has been in existence since 2003. We serve the community. We

720
01:38:18,666 --> 01:38:18,666
serve underprivileged children from mainly socorro, texas, as children, but we also serve

721
01:38:29,966 --> 01:38:29,966
mexico, south america, and we do it from the bottom of our hearts. Christmas trails for

722
01:38:36,566 --> 01:38:36,566
toys. We give the children and make them smile. Christmas toys, christmas goodies. We provide

723
01:38:46,833 --> 01:38:46,833
turkey baskets, medical items, dental items. And you know, we really thank you for the

724
01:38:56,466 --> 01:38:56,466
acknowledgment of all our hard work and dedication. Here's a little something that we would

725
01:39:03,600 --> 01:39:03,600
like to present to you for your dedication to our community. Thank you. Thank you very much.

726
01:39:23,166 --> 01:39:23,166
oh, beautiful. Well, thank you, maddie. Thank you so much. Good morning. County judge, county

727
01:39:37,566 --> 01:39:37,566
commissioner, once again, once again, javier garcia. Constable, precinct six. Constable. I was

728
01:39:43,766 --> 01:39:43,766
asked to accompany miss margie perez this morning, and I'm. I'm here to show my

729
01:39:48,433 --> 01:39:48,433
appreciation and my support for her organization and tell her just thank you. Maddie, albert,

730
01:39:56,733 --> 01:39:56,733
margie, all your family for always bringing smiles and and providing for my hometown of

731
01:40:03,700 --> 01:40:03,700
socorro. I grew up in that area and I know the needs of of of that community, you know. So

732
01:40:10,800 --> 01:40:10,800
thank you so much for for always being there for for my community and for always

733
01:40:15,566 --> 01:40:15,566
allowing my office to help you. Thank you. You know, if you go to her house during

734
01:40:22,733 --> 01:40:22,733
thanksgiving and christmas, she sacrifices her house because it's full of toys, it's full of

735
01:40:28,533 --> 01:40:28,533
food, it's full of turkeys and all to help out the socorro community. So once again, thank

736
01:40:34,433 --> 01:40:34,433
you so much for everything you do. Commissioner. Thank you for drafting up this resolution and

737
01:40:39,100 --> 01:40:39,100
recognizing such a wonderful organization. Thank you constable. Mayor rudy cruz,

738
01:40:50,366 --> 01:40:50,366
welcome. Thank you. Good morning. County judge and commissioners. First and

739
01:40:56,433 --> 01:40:56,433
foremost, just to echo what constable garcia said, I've witnessed it myself. Miss

740
01:41:01,633 --> 01:41:01,633
margie, along with her sister and her husband, have have been have been pillars of our

741
01:41:07,566 --> 01:41:11,333
community. If you were if you were to look up the definition of what a pillar for the community means, you'd see a photograph of these three individuals. They're a small

742
01:41:16,366 --> 01:41:16,366
group, but they it's a big impact that they make in the city of socorro, such an

743
01:41:22,100 --> 01:41:22,100
underserved population and just the work that they do in socorro, not only that, but in

744
01:41:26,766 --> 01:41:26,766
other countries, it's something that should go, you know, just recognized and, well, margie, I

745
01:41:34,300 --> 01:41:34,300
know her as margie, miss perez, I'm just so thrilled to see you recognize that you've you've

746
01:41:40,766 --> 01:41:40,766
been the steady heart of this community for so long, and you're always there to lift

747
01:41:45,533 --> 01:41:45,533
others up. Your strength and kindness are truly unmatched. So. So cheers to you, margie,

748
01:41:51,866 --> 01:41:51,866
on this amazing achievement and just want to let the the commissioners court know, as

749
01:41:57,366 --> 01:41:57,366
well as those in attendance and those watching that we need more people like margie in our

750
01:42:03,700 --> 01:42:03,700
community because it's very difficult. And I'll take my hat off to say this out of respect

751
01:42:09,666 --> 01:42:09,666
for margie and christmas trails for toys, but it's very difficult as elected officials

752
01:42:14,633 --> 01:42:14,633
because we can only see and do so much. But with the help of people like this and

753
01:42:19,633 --> 01:42:19,633
organizations like this, it's just so impactful. So we we try and help out as much as we can

754
01:42:24,366 --> 01:42:24,366
as elected officials. But margie, today's your day and today's a special day for

755
01:42:29,366 --> 01:42:29,366
christmas trolls, for toys and for that city of socorro is forever grateful. Thank you so

756
01:42:33,533 --> 01:42:33,533
much. And mayor mayor rudy cruz, thank you for what you do and the support you you provide to

757
01:42:44,566 --> 01:42:44,566
our commissioner. It's really we're very appreciative. Thank you. Again. Thank you so much

758
01:42:54,333 --> 01:42:54,333
for acknowledging our work. And december 13th will be our toy giveaway in the city of socorro.

759
01:43:04,533 --> 01:43:04,533
and we are we will be having a small parade. And then at peter piper's will be our toy

760
01:43:11,533 --> 01:43:11,533
giveaway for the children and the sisd area. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Introduce

761
01:43:19,666 --> 01:43:19,666
yourselves. Just introduce yourselves. Just let us know who you are. And I'm mario

762
01:43:25,466 --> 01:43:25,466
ornelas and I have been a socorro resident for the past 65 years and very proud to

763
01:43:31,666 --> 01:43:31,666
serve my community. Thank you. Alberto perez. Thank you. Just a quick shout out also to our

764
01:43:44,000 --> 01:43:44,000
commissioner olguin and everything she does in that area. I know she gets a lot of

765
01:43:49,000 --> 01:43:52,666
support for anything that that comes up. And like I said, mayor, thank you for that partnership that we have with the rural mayors and being able to do as much as we can at

766
01:43:57,633 --> 01:43:57,633
every different community. So, commissioner leon, back to you and thank you very much. Thank

767
01:44:02,600 --> 01:44:02,600
you. Well, I just want to remind everyone, margie is still collecting toys for the

768
01:44:06,633 --> 01:44:06,633
toy giveaway that she just mentioned that will be taking place there in socorro on the

769
01:44:11,266 --> 01:44:11,266
13th this coming saturday morning. So if anyone has any toys that they would like to

770
01:44:16,666 --> 01:44:16,666
donate to christmas trails for toys, please reach out to my office and we will gladly get

771
01:44:22,333 --> 01:44:22,333
them to margie. There is a lot of need in the community, as we all know, and that's why we are

772
01:44:28,500 --> 01:44:32,500
particularly thankful for all of the incredible work that the three of you do every single day. Thank you, thank you.

773
01:45:37,833 --> 01:45:37,833
do we scoot over a little?

774
01:46:16,766 --> 01:46:16,766
for the pledge kids? Do you? Of course, yes. Come on. Some of you maybe.

775
01:47:35,000 --> 01:47:35,000
I have. To. Okay. Thank you. Item five h approve and adopt a resolution recognizing and

776
01:48:20,733 --> 01:48:20,733
honoring the legacy of doctor pedro galaviz for his remarkable contributions as an

777
01:48:25,400 --> 01:48:25,400
educator, mentor, and community leader during his time as superintendent of the canutillo

778
01:48:31,000 --> 01:48:31,000
independent school district commissioner, coronado. Thank you, judge and commissioners.

779
01:48:36,466 --> 01:48:36,466
this is really not just an honor, but a pleasure to be able to present this resolution

780
01:48:42,633 --> 01:48:42,633
to the court. We've known this gentleman for quite some time, and I was very honored and

781
01:48:50,800 --> 01:48:50,800
proud that I was a board president when we canutillo independent school district

782
01:48:55,866 --> 01:48:55,866
recruited and hired doctor pedro galaviz to be the leader of the canutillo independent

783
01:49:02,100 --> 01:49:02,100
school district, and we knew we had the right person for the job there and is really

784
01:49:09,066 --> 01:49:09,066
currently the longest serving superintendent in this region. And so I really gives me

785
01:49:17,333 --> 01:49:17,333
pleasure to read this resolution to the court. Whereas doctor pedro galaviz

786
01:49:24,433 --> 01:49:24,433
has faithfully served as superintendent of canutillo independent school district

787
01:49:29,633 --> 01:49:29,633
cisd for nearly 13 years, demonstrating unwavering dedication, exceptional

788
01:49:35,400 --> 01:49:35,400
leadership and a steadfast belief in the potential of every child. And whereas, under

789
01:49:40,933 --> 01:49:40,933
doctor galaviz leadership, canutillo isd earned statewide recognition as one of the

790
01:49:46,066 --> 01:49:46,066
highest performing school districts in texas, achieving three consecutive a ratings

791
01:49:50,500 --> 01:49:50,500
from the texas education agency and accomplished unmatched by any other district in the el

792
01:49:56,366 --> 01:49:56,366
paso region. And we're after doctor galaviz legacy extends far beyond academic metrics,

793
01:50:01,866 --> 01:50:01,866
reflecting a deep commitment to students, educators, and families. His belief in the

794
01:50:07,666 --> 01:50:07,666
power of education changed countless lives, uplifted diverse communities, and

795
01:50:14,300 --> 01:50:14,300
fostered a culture of respect, celebration, and opportunity. And throughout his tenure,

796
01:50:21,900 --> 01:50:21,900
doctor galaviz championed numerous innovative initiatives, including the establishment of

797
01:50:26,600 --> 01:50:26,600
the region's first public montessori program, the creation of the steam academy

798
01:50:31,766 --> 01:50:31,766
at canutillo middle school, the public service academies at alderete middle school, and the

799
01:50:37,333 --> 01:50:37,333
advancement of the northwest early college high school to the us department of

800
01:50:42,400 --> 01:50:42,400
education's national blue ribbon school status. And whereas, under his guidance,

801
01:50:47,533 --> 01:50:47,533
canutillo isd earned the prestigious h-e-b excellence in education award for the best

802
01:50:52,533 --> 01:50:52,533
small district in texas, marking the first time in el paso area district received

803
01:50:56,733 --> 01:50:56,733
this honor. And whereas doctor galaviz played a pivotal role in the successful passage of

804
01:51:02,600 --> 01:51:02,600
the 2024 bond, ensuring the district facilities will continue to grow and modernize

805
01:51:08,333 --> 01:51:08,333
in service of present and future students. And whereas doctor galaviz decision to

806
01:51:14,366 --> 01:51:14,366
retire this year marks the end of a remarkable chapter in canutillo history, and the el

807
01:51:19,933 --> 01:51:19,933
paso county community recognizes the profound, lasting impact of his

808
01:51:24,566 --> 01:51:24,566
leadership and service. So now, therefore, be it resolved, that the commissioners court of el

809
01:51:29,300 --> 01:51:29,300
paso county formally honors and expresses its deepest gratitude, doctor pedro galaviz, for his

810
01:51:35,733 --> 01:51:35,733
visionary leadership, his tireless dedication to students and families, and his

811
01:51:41,366 --> 01:51:41,366
extraordinary contributions to public education in our region. Signed this eighth day of

812
01:51:47,266 --> 01:51:47,266
december 2025 by the honorable commissioners and the honorable county judge, we have a motion

813
01:51:53,300 --> 01:51:53,300
to approve by commissioner coronado, second by judge samaniego. The voting is open.

814
01:51:59,400 --> 01:51:59,400
motion carries. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you, judge and commissioners, I just wanted to

815
01:52:11,366 --> 01:52:11,366
I have to tell the fabian's kids because I told them santa claus is from canutillo. So I

816
01:52:16,500 --> 01:52:16,500
want to make sure that fabian's sorry about that. I'd like to also introduce your one of your

817
01:52:23,666 --> 01:52:23,666
newest assistant district attorneys, my son, gabriel galaviz. Welcome. 2018 grad

818
01:52:33,300 --> 01:52:33,300
from. So he came back because he he knows that, you know, el paso's growing and there's a

819
01:52:39,400 --> 01:52:39,400
lot of opportunities here. But so you brought me 13 years ago to make a difference. You miss

820
01:52:44,400 --> 01:52:44,400
patsy mendoza, armando rodriguez I got miss cindy, trustee. Miss miss. Your

821
01:52:51,366 --> 01:52:51,366
brother bobby was a trustee, but you all brought me here to make a difference and do

822
01:52:55,766 --> 01:52:55,766
something special for for the kids in the region. And we did it. I know we did it. So thank

823
01:53:00,433 --> 01:53:00,433
you for this resolution and for recognizing my 13 years as superintendent of canutillo. It

824
01:53:06,433 --> 01:53:06,433
has been the honor of my professional life to serve the students, families, and

825
01:53:11,466 --> 01:53:11,466
educators of our community. Every graduate we celebrated, every improvement we made, and

826
01:53:19,366 --> 01:53:19,366
every challenge we faced was done with partnership, shared purpose, and a belief in public

827
01:53:26,500 --> 01:53:26,500
education. You know, judge, you mentioned something about putting putting el paso on the

828
01:53:31,966 --> 01:53:31,966
map, making sure that what you say is not who they think we are, but who we really are. And

829
01:53:39,633 --> 01:53:39,633
I think that's very important. So I have a call to action for you all. El paso needs a true

830
01:53:48,966 --> 01:53:48,966
regional plan, not one agency at a time, not a district by district, but together, city,

831
01:53:58,566 --> 01:53:58,566
county school systems, higher ed economic transportation, public housing or housing and

832
01:54:06,933 --> 01:54:06,933
public safety. Because our students move across boundaries. So our leadership must as well,

833
01:54:14,433 --> 01:54:14,433
if we want a future that keeps our young people here working, raising families, contributing,

834
01:54:20,733 --> 01:54:20,733
we must align funding, planning and a vision across the region. Thank you for this recognition

835
01:54:27,666 --> 01:54:27,666
and thank you for your continued commitment. For every child in el paso county. I am

836
01:54:33,433 --> 01:54:33,433
grateful for the partnership, the service and the opportunity to lead on behalf of students.

837
01:54:40,333 --> 01:54:40,333
for more than a decade. Again, it's really a team effort, and I'll let each member of the

838
01:54:47,933 --> 01:54:47,933
team come up and be recognized. Gustavo, I'll stop using ai now for my speeches. Thank you.

839
01:54:54,400 --> 01:54:54,400
come introduce yourselves, please. Hello. Jessica arellano, interim superintendent for

840
01:55:07,166 --> 01:55:07,166
canutillo isd, emeritus of doctor galaviz. And not only a friend, but of the family, but

841
01:55:14,233 --> 01:55:14,233
really an example in a model. Hard shoes to fill. Definitely. Thank you. Good luck. Hi, my

842
01:55:25,333 --> 01:55:25,333
name is cindy andrade and I'm a school board member and I really don't know what to say.

843
01:55:32,666 --> 01:55:32,666
I just want to say thank you. He's helped us a lot. You know, I was really, really new to

844
01:55:37,833 --> 01:55:37,833
being a board member. And he guided me, you know, through a lot of things that I didn't

845
01:55:43,400 --> 01:55:43,400
know and just want to say thank you and we'll miss you. I get free tamales. True. Thank you.

846
01:55:51,300 --> 01:55:51,300
and I am oscar rico. I oversee operations at the school district. And I want to thank

847
01:55:56,400 --> 01:55:56,400
you all for letting the rest of the county know what we knew all along that we had an

848
01:56:01,466 --> 01:56:01,466
amazing leader, and that we continue to have him as member of our community and our county,

849
01:56:05,566 --> 01:56:05,566
for which we are a lucky bunch to to have him around. So thank you. Thank you. Just one rule

850
01:56:11,566 --> 01:56:11,566
you can look better than us. So when you come to commissioners court, cut it down a little bit.

851
01:56:20,400 --> 01:56:20,400
judge. And I'm abiding by that rule. So here we go, gustavo. Rebels. I'm the director of

852
01:56:25,833 --> 01:56:28,633
communications for the school district. And I was lucky enough to work for doctor galaviz twice and try to keep him in line. But I was not very successful most of the time.

853
01:56:34,733 --> 01:56:34,733
thank you. Good morning. I just want to thank mr. Coronado because he brought our family

854
01:56:42,533 --> 01:56:42,533
here and my daughter, who couldn't be here to el paso canutillo region. And my dad

855
01:56:48,466 --> 01:56:48,466
was very concerned as to where my husband was going to bring me, bless his soul. But

856
01:56:54,300 --> 01:56:54,300
everything that you mentioned judge that el paso was a safe community, and it was the best

857
01:57:00,666 --> 01:57:00,666
place my husband could have brought our family here to serve the community, parents

858
01:57:05,800 --> 01:57:05,800
and students, which I have been blessed to do as a nurse practitioner. Thank you, thank

859
01:57:11,133 --> 01:57:11,133
you, thank you. And then my name is gabriel galaviz. And yeah, thank you all for

860
01:57:16,400 --> 01:57:16,400
honoring my dad today. But we do got to get more people to move to el paso. Everybody's

861
01:57:21,500 --> 01:57:21,500
leaving. I know nobody wants to come back when they leave, so I'm glad I'm here. I'm back and

862
01:57:26,433 --> 01:57:26,433
going to try to help bring more people back to el paso. But thank you all again for

863
01:57:31,400 --> 01:57:31,400
honoring honoring my dad. It's been a wild journey and we're all happy we're here. Welcome

864
01:57:36,533 --> 01:57:36,533
back. Yeah. Thank you. Go ahead. Bob, the two gentlemen. Good morning. Judge. Commissioners,

865
01:57:47,600 --> 01:57:47,600
I'm a committee member. Canutillo lifelong. I was on the school board. I was lucky

866
01:57:53,966 --> 01:57:53,966
enough to serve or help doctor galaviz. He's done wonders for our district, and and we really

867
01:58:00,700 --> 01:58:00,700
appreciate him. We're going to miss him, but he's going to be around, and I think he's going

868
01:58:05,600 --> 01:58:05,600
to jump in and and and be part of our community for and help our students for, for as long

869
01:58:12,366 --> 01:58:12,366
as he can. And again, I thank you very much, and I thank and appreciate you all for honoring

870
01:58:17,766 --> 01:58:17,766
him today. Thank you. So silica commitment, doctor galaviz that you're not leaving. Yeah. One

871
01:58:23,533 --> 01:58:23,533
more gentleman. You want to go ahead and introduce yourself to. Buenos. Yes. And superintendent

872
01:58:31,733 --> 01:58:31,733
doctor galaviz es el mejor superintendent bueno en la comunidad. Ya mucho mucho se ha

873
01:58:40,533 --> 01:58:40,533
ganado el carrinho de toda la gente en la comunidad. Y pues es el mejor para muchas gracias.

874
01:58:46,700 --> 01:58:46,700
muchas gracias. You know. You know what's really cool is that your commissioner coronado's

875
01:58:55,300 --> 01:58:55,300
biggest fan and that he's your biggest fan. So I just what a person to be able to that

876
01:59:01,333 --> 01:59:01,333
understands canutillo. And so his words come from the heart. And so we thank you for

877
01:59:07,433 --> 01:59:07,433
everything that that you've done for being a role model. You know, we always have

878
01:59:11,600 --> 01:59:11,600
difficulties in the schools. And and somehow you've been able to evolve into all these

879
01:59:16,600 --> 01:59:16,600
challenges and continue to be a role model. So we thank you for everything that you do. And

880
01:59:22,233 --> 01:59:22,233
obviously the relationship you have with with our great commissioner is very valuable.

881
01:59:26,266 --> 01:59:26,266
I know tio or orange because, you know, he'll jump in, right? Completely. So back to you,

882
01:59:34,566 --> 01:59:34,566
commissioner. Thank you judge. Commissioners again, pedro, it's been an honor to have you

883
01:59:41,966 --> 01:59:41,966
leading our humble but proud district and canutillo and all the accomplishments. And we

884
01:59:47,433 --> 01:59:47,433
know that the most of all that that I can say about him is that he's really student

885
01:59:52,733 --> 01:59:52,733
centered and he's ingrained ourselves not just in the school system, but in our

886
01:59:58,300 --> 01:59:58,300
community, including his family. And so we appreciate everything you do for our community, not

887
02:00:03,366 --> 02:00:03,366
just for the students, but our entire community. And we really appreciate you and make your

888
02:00:08,400 --> 02:00:08,400
honor honorable and honorary. El pasoan. Thank you. You. And yolanda commissioner, a little

889
02:00:19,533 --> 02:00:19,533
bit more. If you make your color a little bit more of burnt orange, a little well,

890
02:00:24,633 --> 02:00:24,633
thank you each and every one of you. We thank you for that. And we'll take a picture with all

891
02:00:30,066 --> 02:00:30,066
of you. Thank you. Now, I really do like it. Like like the three of us. Yeah, yeah. Oh

892
02:00:46,633 --> 02:00:46,633
thank you. Yeah, I love it. Thank you. I saw you. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks for coming up. Oh.

893
02:01:31,866 --> 02:01:31,866
hey.

894
02:02:03,433 --> 02:02:03,433
for pedro. Thank you so much. One, two. Thank you. Thank. You. Just put it in the

895
02:02:37,500 --> 02:02:37,500
middle here. Pedro. Thank you. Notice you. Okay? Item six is public comment. We do have

896
02:03:04,800 --> 02:03:04,800
several speakers for public comment. First, we have mr. Darryl jamon. Who do we have?

897
02:03:16,500 --> 02:03:16,500
oh. Welcome. It's a long day. Beautiful day, beautiful day, beautiful day to be in the

898
02:03:40,333 --> 02:03:40,333
veterans capital of the usa. Yes. I just want to give you an update on the food drive. We've

899
02:03:45,933 --> 02:03:49,366
been doing well. We are start picking up food donations, everything. Friday we picked up from the district attorney's office. We also picked up from. Your box is almost full, but we

900
02:03:53,400 --> 02:03:53,400
had the help so we emptied out. We did something this year to kick off our food drive with

901
02:03:58,300 --> 02:03:58,300
the city of socorro with the, you know, they cut the the support from the federal

902
02:04:02,866 --> 02:04:06,400
government on on food stamps and everything. And we coordinated with mayor rudy cruz. We went out there and did an emergency distribution of food. The epi coordinator, with

903
02:04:11,366 --> 02:04:11,366
him, we just we distributed over 400 bags of food to the socorro residents. And we want

904
02:04:16,533 --> 02:04:16,533
to thank mayor cruz, the socorro pd, and the city manager, adriana, for their

905
02:04:23,000 --> 02:04:23,000
help and cooperation. But I really want you all to just take a moment. Come here. He's

906
02:04:28,333 --> 02:04:28,333
like the hardest person to get modest, you know? Join me. Give me mayor cruz a big round of

907
02:04:35,500 --> 02:04:35,500
applause. What he has done out there, the one clap. Okay, that's very special. All that

908
02:04:43,533 --> 02:04:43,533
practice for nothing. Well, he is an author. Socorro has been amazing, coordinating efforts

909
02:04:47,700 --> 02:04:50,633
with the entire county and everything. And commissioner green and everything. All this has just been really amazing. We appreciate it and the support and everything. We will

910
02:04:54,633 --> 02:04:54,633
start picking up the food on december 18th. If you need an earlier pickup, please

911
02:04:59,366 --> 02:04:59,366
coordinate with me. If not, we can go out there. Also, the army recruiting command has

912
02:05:03,866 --> 02:05:03,866
came in. Correction, el paso army recruiting has came in. You can now leave all food at

913
02:05:08,266 --> 02:05:08,266
any army recruiting station. They're supporting us. A lot of people are coming to support us.

914
02:05:13,766 --> 02:05:17,266
group one four has been our major supporter. They're going to be our base of operations for the food drive this year. So if you guys want to volunteer and come pass out

915
02:05:21,600 --> 02:05:21,600
food, I know you got a lot on your plate, but we can always use help. Thank you. Appreciate

916
02:05:26,233 --> 02:05:26,233
that. Thank you all for what you do. Thank you for what you do. Thank you mayor. Thank you

917
02:05:36,600 --> 02:05:36,600
for your partnership. Really appreciate that. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you all.

918
02:05:42,866 --> 02:05:42,866
have a good day. Our next public comment is from miss elizabeth crawford. Welcome,

919
02:05:53,066 --> 02:05:53,066
elizabeth. Miss crawford could not be with us. She sent in her comments. I'll be reading those

920
02:05:58,133 --> 02:05:58,133
in. Thank you. Miss. From miss elizabeth crawford. Good afternoon. I first want to

921
02:06:05,766 --> 02:06:05,766
express my appreciation for the courtesy and kindness shown to me when I've had issues calling

922
02:06:10,600 --> 02:06:10,600
in. Thank you so much. I often tell my friends I am often taken aback by the courtesy of

923
02:06:16,200 --> 02:06:16,200
el pasoans. This morning as I fly to the midwest. It is my hope to be there on the day

924
02:06:21,833 --> 02:06:21,833
that the mw abortion center in lewisville is being demolished to make room for a new hotel

925
02:06:26,866 --> 02:06:26,866
construction. We as pro-lifers are thrilled beyond words. Thankful to the lord.

926
02:06:31,533 --> 02:06:31,533
louisville, kentucky. In indianapolis, little rock, arkansas, and jackson,

927
02:06:36,400 --> 02:06:36,400
mississippi are for the cities in the center of our nation where the surgical abortion

928
02:06:40,600 --> 02:06:40,600
centers have closed down. In this season of focus on the incarnation of jesus, it is

929
02:06:46,466 --> 02:06:46,466
fascinating to look at the prophecies of the christ child tucked in a passage written

930
02:06:51,766 --> 02:06:51,766
through the prophet isaiah spoken to king. Is a promise of a sign with its ultimate

931
02:06:59,733 --> 02:06:59,733
fulfillment. Centuries later, in the advent of the lord jesus, therefore the lord himself

932
02:07:05,033 --> 02:07:05,033
shall give you a sign behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name

933
02:07:11,400 --> 02:07:11,400
emmanuel. We often hear christians in our day speak about the founding fathers of

934
02:07:16,633 --> 02:07:16,633
our nation being christian. Some were, yes, some were christians, but a number of

935
02:07:22,000 --> 02:07:22,000
them were deists. Deism basically teaches god made the earth, wound it up like a clock,

936
02:07:27,766 --> 02:07:27,766
and let it go to function completely by natural laws untouched by divine

937
02:07:32,533 --> 02:07:32,533
intervention. Deism. The bible teaches the exact opposite. Immanuel means god with us. God

938
02:07:39,766 --> 02:07:39,766
is with his children even through suffering, deism, miscarry, and hopeless. Those

939
02:07:45,066 --> 02:07:45,066
who support abortion generally embrace this mindset. They reason impossible situation,

940
02:07:50,500 --> 02:07:50,500
financially messed up relationship. Product of an affair. A baby conceived in

941
02:07:55,866 --> 02:07:55,866
rape. Just abort the baby and move on. Yet the god of the bible delights in bringing

942
02:08:01,533 --> 02:08:01,533
beauty out of the ashes for those who come to him desperate for help, god does indeed

943
02:08:06,433 --> 02:08:06,433
intervene in the affairs of mankind. In the beautiful words of the carol hark, the herald

944
02:08:11,633 --> 02:08:11,633
angels sing christ by highest heaven adored, christ the everlasting lord. Late in time

945
02:08:19,400 --> 02:08:19,400
behold him come, offspring of the virgin's womb, veiled in flesh the godhead see. Hail the

946
02:08:28,333 --> 02:08:28,333
incarnate deity. Pleased as man with men to dwell in jesus our emmanuel. This is still in the

947
02:08:35,666 --> 02:08:35,666
21st century. The good news of the baby. Once lying in the manger, there is a god who has

948
02:08:41,300 --> 02:08:41,300
lovingly intervened in the history of mankind. Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and

949
02:08:46,366 --> 02:08:46,366
shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name emmanuel, which being

950
02:08:51,366 --> 02:08:51,366
interpreted is god with us. Matthew 123. End of public comment. Thank you. And finally,

951
02:09:02,566 --> 02:09:02,566
judge, we do have the elections video for the I voted sticker contest that we'd like to go

952
02:09:08,200 --> 02:09:08,200
ahead and play for the court. Thank you. Thank you very much for that.

953
02:10:24,866 --> 02:10:24,866
well amazing entries. My goodness. It's must be really tough for the judges.

954
02:10:31,600 --> 02:10:31,600
wow. And that completes everybody signed up for public comment. Item seven county

955
02:10:40,466 --> 02:10:40,466
administration seven a receive a presentation. Discuss and take appropriate action

956
02:10:44,733 --> 02:10:44,733
regarding federal legislative items and communications with the 119th us congress. Buenos

957
02:10:53,533 --> 02:10:53,533
dias. Good morning, judge and commissioners alisa tamayo, governmental affairs manager.

958
02:10:59,266 --> 02:10:59,266
today, with a federal legislative update. I won't take a lot of your time. I know

959
02:11:04,366 --> 02:11:04,366
there's a letter also posted on the backup, but I'll just go through the slides real quick

960
02:11:10,233 --> 02:11:10,233
to just share a little bit of what has happened with the us 19 119th congress over the last

961
02:11:18,166 --> 02:11:18,166
few months. So a little reminder about h.r. One and sb 1790, which is, as you might

962
02:11:29,533 --> 02:11:29,533
recall, earlier this year, it was senator cornyn who introduced senate bill 1790 to

963
02:11:35,433 --> 02:11:35,433
include reimbursements for border states for immigration enforcement operations. And

964
02:11:41,533 --> 02:11:41,533
later in the summer, the the budget, h.r. One included some of these provisions. A lot of

965
02:11:47,966 --> 02:11:47,966
the senate bill 1790 provisions were rolled into h.r. One, which is the budget for

966
02:11:52,533 --> 02:11:52,533
congress, and then the one senate bill 1790, before we knew about those versions,

967
02:11:59,600 --> 02:11:59,600
rolling into into the h.r. One bill, the court directed staff to send letters to our

968
02:12:05,866 --> 02:12:05,866
congressional delegation members requesting that these funds be sent directly to

969
02:12:10,000 --> 02:12:10,000
counties following kind of the arpa model from previous years in lieu of like the the state

970
02:12:15,800 --> 02:12:15,800
pass through model. However, during those budget negotiations, these provisions,

971
02:12:20,500 --> 02:12:20,500
like I said, were rolled into h.r. One. And that is a current budget bill. And so following

972
02:12:27,266 --> 02:12:27,266
up with that, we sent a couple of weeks ago, we sent two different letters to our

973
02:12:32,733 --> 02:12:32,733
congressional delegation asking for guidance on on how to access those funds from from

974
02:12:39,200 --> 02:12:39,200
h.r. One to get reimbursed for those border enforcement operations. I, I'm not sure if

975
02:12:46,366 --> 02:12:46,366
we've received a response yet or not, but the letters went out, I believe, the before

976
02:12:52,600 --> 02:12:52,600
thanksgiving, and I know it was our county attorney, christina sanchez, who signed the letters

977
02:13:00,800 --> 02:13:00,800
and sent them out. And if you have any questions, let us know. But I know we will be following

978
02:13:06,600 --> 02:13:06,600
up to see, you know, if we get a response or how we can access those funds. Also during the

979
02:13:12,266 --> 02:13:12,266
visit in february, this could be something to bring up with our congressional delegation to

980
02:13:17,400 --> 02:13:17,400
see how we can, like I said, tap into the funds or get some guidance. We haven't seen

981
02:13:23,433 --> 02:13:23,433
anything yet, and I know it takes a few months to to get that out, but but we're working

982
02:13:28,600 --> 02:13:28,600
on that. If we could go to the next slide, please. Some updates about the government

983
02:13:35,633 --> 02:13:35,633
shutdown. As you know, they're not only were a lot of federal employees affected by the

984
02:13:42,500 --> 02:13:42,500
shutdown that lasted over 40 days, the longest government shutdown in our history, but

985
02:13:47,700 --> 02:13:47,700
also snap benefits recipients, you know, they struggle during those month and and ten days.

986
02:13:55,466 --> 02:13:55,466
the healthcare access was also impacted. Funding for congressional project funding,

987
02:14:00,900 --> 02:14:00,900
funding requests and and all those things were all impacted. Right now, congress has been

988
02:14:06,600 --> 02:14:06,600
funded through a continuing resolution. So it's still they haven't passed the 12

989
02:14:11,333 --> 02:14:11,333
appropriations bills. They have only passed, I believe, like three of those. So they have

990
02:14:16,333 --> 02:14:16,333
until january the 30th to fully pass all the appropriations. So we don't go on with this

991
02:14:23,233 --> 02:14:23,233
continuing resolution funding. There's they're part of the government shutdown.

992
02:14:28,566 --> 02:14:28,566
negotiations included a vote. There was a promise of a vote on healthcare subsidies.

993
02:14:35,433 --> 02:14:35,433
there's a short window to extend those enhanced tax credits, what they call a

994
02:14:40,600 --> 02:14:40,600
premium tax credits on the affordable care act before the end of the year. If they expire,

995
02:14:45,233 --> 02:14:45,233
then a lot of the health care premiums for many people in our community will go up. There is

996
02:14:51,700 --> 02:14:51,700
an alternate proposal being floated around. I know that a lot of republican members are

997
02:14:57,700 --> 02:14:57,700
discussing potentially direct health savings accounts payments for enrollees, instead

998
02:15:05,000 --> 02:15:05,000
of giving the these tax credits to the insurers and the marketplace. So there's a lot

999
02:15:11,400 --> 02:15:11,400
of negotiations going on right now, which is the reason that we drafted this letter for your

1000
02:15:16,500 --> 02:15:16,500
consideration that is attached to the backup. Most affordable care act enrollees must sign up

1001
02:15:21,100 --> 02:15:21,100
before or by december 15th for coverage in the next year, or they would risk being shut out

1002
02:15:27,533 --> 02:15:27,533
of the market and not have insurance or access to healthcare. There's also a

1003
02:15:33,666 --> 02:15:33,666
pending proposal by the white house for an affordable care act extension with a lot of

1004
02:15:38,400 --> 02:15:38,400
limits, but we haven't seen what that looks like as of yesterday. There's still no

1005
02:15:43,533 --> 02:15:43,533
public proposal from the white house. All that we know is that there's been ongoing

1006
02:15:47,666 --> 02:15:47,666
negotiations, so I don't know if we have another slide or if you have access to the backup.

1007
02:15:54,433 --> 02:15:54,433
yes. So the letters that are letters that are attached to the backup to our two senators,

1008
02:16:00,433 --> 02:16:00,433
john cornyn and ted cruz, asking them for their vote in this. We don't know when the

1009
02:16:08,300 --> 02:16:08,300
vote is going to happen, but, but, but that was a promise to reopen. The government

1010
02:16:13,666 --> 02:16:13,666
essentially was to have a vote on the enhanced premium tax credits. And the senate

1011
02:16:18,433 --> 02:16:18,433
leadership committed to a mid-december vote. So it should be coming up. But house

1012
02:16:22,466 --> 02:16:22,466
leadership did not hold the same commitment. So that's why the letter would be to our two

1013
02:16:29,633 --> 02:16:29,633
us senators basically asking them to to for their vote to approve the extension of this

1014
02:16:35,300 --> 02:16:35,300
expiring enhanced premium healthcare, enhanced premium healthcare tax credits for the

1015
02:16:40,400 --> 02:16:40,400
affordable care act. And I'm happy to answer any questions, if there's any at the moment.

1016
02:16:45,566 --> 02:16:45,566
yes, commissioner butler. Thank you, lisa, for the overview. I just had one comment on the

1017
02:16:53,566 --> 02:16:53,566
letter. The proposed letters to our senators on the affordable care act subsidies. I think

1018
02:17:01,233 --> 02:17:01,233
it's a good letter. I, I think it would it would help if we at least mentioned umc in there

1019
02:17:07,433 --> 02:17:07,433
and our county hospital district and talk about the uncompensated care that they

1020
02:17:13,633 --> 02:17:13,633
currently amount they currently provide in uncompensated care now, because, I mean, it does

1021
02:17:20,466 --> 02:17:20,466
mention affordability and impact to taxpayers here, but that is really, I think,

1022
02:17:25,366 --> 02:17:25,366
something that we could strengthen and personalize a little bit. And, and really

1023
02:17:32,300 --> 02:17:32,300
hopefully tell a story about how this will impact el paso county, specifically in the

1024
02:17:37,533 --> 02:17:37,533
taxpayers here. I don't know, I mean, I'm I'm assuming umc has that information we could get

1025
02:17:42,533 --> 02:17:42,533
from them. Yes. I've been working with umc with ruben and lisa hernandez. They did share

1026
02:17:49,833 --> 02:17:49,833
some one pagers and some of that info is included, but not. But you're right, I can I can

1027
02:17:55,200 --> 02:17:55,200
add on a paragraph if you if you'd like. After the second paragraph where we mention how

1028
02:18:01,366 --> 02:18:01,366
many people are impacted in the congressional district, I know that the congresswoman put out

1029
02:18:07,466 --> 02:18:07,466
that information, which is very helpful, but if you'd like, I can just add something after

1030
02:18:12,466 --> 02:18:12,466
that paragraph to say this is how much it's costing our hospital district, and then

1031
02:18:17,400 --> 02:18:17,400
just get that info from umc. Yeah, I mean, it would the the way I was reading it, it would

1032
02:18:24,100 --> 02:18:24,100
make sense to put it at the end of the second to last paragraph where you're talking about. A

1033
02:18:30,233 --> 02:18:30,233
fiscally responsible choice that impacts taxpayers. Yes, yes. Putting it on there. Okay.

1034
02:18:39,233 --> 02:18:39,233
definitely. I can add that information after after that sentence, I think it would make

1035
02:18:44,366 --> 02:18:44,366
sense. You're right. Unless there's any other feedback from the rest of the court. I had

1036
02:18:52,533 --> 02:18:52,533
other comments not related to the letter and just a couple of issues that that I'm tracking.

1037
02:18:58,733 --> 02:18:58,733
and I don't know how how closely we track the information that naco puts out,

1038
02:19:06,600 --> 02:19:06,600
but they've been putting out a lot of information related to hud cutting the continuum of

1039
02:19:11,833 --> 02:19:11,833
care funding for housing, which could have dramatic impacts here for our homeless

1040
02:19:18,866 --> 02:19:18,866
prevention efforts. And I get that information through the economic and workforce

1041
02:19:25,533 --> 02:19:25,533
development committee. But I'm not sure if anybody here is is tracking that there might be an

1042
02:19:33,033 --> 02:19:33,033
opportunity to send some letters to our delegation on that. And I know that there's

1043
02:19:39,666 --> 02:19:39,666
litigation that's been filed to stop that. Those cuts from happening as well. Good morning.

1044
02:19:46,666 --> 02:19:46,666
judge. Commissioners melissa carrillo county operations. We can definitely, if you'll allow

1045
02:19:51,666 --> 02:19:51,666
lisa and I to circle back to, to really clarify what's going on there and then bring back an

1046
02:19:56,633 --> 02:19:59,600
item regarding potential letters. We'd absolutely do that. One thing I wanted to mention is we recently met with staff of congresswoman veronica escobar, and given the timing

1047
02:20:04,633 --> 02:20:04,633
and the tax credits, this kind of jumped to the forefront, which is why we wanted to get

1048
02:20:09,500 --> 02:20:09,500
on your agenda. And I apologize for placing it on a resolution day, but just there's some

1049
02:20:13,600 --> 02:20:16,800
critical timing happening with regards to the tax credits. But absolutely, commissioner butler, if you'll let me circle back and we can bring an additional item with letters for your

1050
02:20:21,366 --> 02:20:25,333
consideration in the near future. Okay. And just one other issue that we talked about briefly at our transit board meeting last week, and something that I know our

1051
02:20:30,433 --> 02:20:30,433
executive director is watching very carefully is potential cuts to transit federal transit

1052
02:20:35,966 --> 02:20:35,966
funding, which would, would would cripple our our transit operations in el paso county.

1053
02:20:42,600 --> 02:20:42,600
so I understand the tax credits are you know, there's a there's a timing urgency for that. But

1054
02:20:48,533 --> 02:20:48,533
there are a lot of other issues related to federal spending cuts that I think I would like

1055
02:20:56,533 --> 02:20:56,533
to see if we're tracking them and how we could participate in, in advocating for those in the

1056
02:21:04,000 --> 02:21:04,000
next couple of months. Yes, ma'am. We'll do. Thank you. Commissioner, any other

1057
02:21:14,300 --> 02:21:14,300
feedback on the letter or on this item? No. We're okay. Thank you. Then get a motion to

1058
02:21:23,533 --> 02:21:23,533
approve the letter with the edits as suggested by commissioner butler. And then

1059
02:21:29,433 --> 02:21:29,433
we'll make sure to send that letter this week. Thank you lisa, as always, thank you for

1060
02:21:35,500 --> 02:21:35,500
keeping us up to date. We have a motion to approve the changes for the letters by commissioner

1061
02:21:42,400 --> 02:21:42,400
coronado, second by judge samaniego. The voting is open. Motion carries. Thank you,

1062
02:21:50,466 --> 02:21:50,466
thank you, judge. Thank you commissioners. Have a wonderful day, lisa. Thank you. You too.

1063
02:21:55,700 --> 02:21:55,700
thank you. Item eight human resources 88a. Receive an update. Discuss and take

1064
02:22:03,633 --> 02:22:03,633
appropriate action regarding hb 71 eight and the county tax assessor collector's office.

1065
02:22:10,133 --> 02:22:10,133
judge. Commissioners valeria fernandez with the human resources department, as

1066
02:22:15,500 --> 02:22:15,500
requested by the court, the hr department is here to provide the weekly update on the tax

1067
02:22:20,533 --> 02:22:20,533
assessor collector's office and its ongoing progress with hb 718 since our last update, we

1068
02:22:27,533 --> 02:22:27,533
do have the following information to share. The tax office currently has seven

1069
02:22:32,433 --> 02:22:32,433
vacancies and as previously reported, two of those positions will be filled in

1070
02:22:36,933 --> 02:22:36,933
january. Three employees were promoted this pay period, which vacated two customer relations

1071
02:22:43,200 --> 02:22:43,200
specialist positions and one customer relations specialist intermediate position. The

1072
02:22:50,733 --> 02:22:50,733
vacant accounting specialist intermediate position was posted internally and is

1073
02:22:56,566 --> 02:22:56,566
anticipated to be filled soon, and when this position is filled it will leave an entry

1074
02:23:02,400 --> 02:23:02,400
level accounting specialist position for which we have already posted and tested for.

1075
02:23:07,333 --> 02:23:07,333
the results are being sent to the department today. The last vacancy is an investigator

1076
02:23:13,700 --> 02:23:13,700
position which was vacated recently. We are also concluding the testing phase

1077
02:23:18,666 --> 02:23:18,666
for the entry level customer relations specialist in anticipation of future

1078
02:23:23,633 --> 02:23:23,633
vacancies, and our talent management team will continue to work with the tax office to

1079
02:23:29,233 --> 02:23:29,233
expedite any recruitment efforts. The court was previously updated that the tax

1080
02:23:34,400 --> 02:23:34,400
office will work the two saturday sessions in the first two weeks of december, and so

1081
02:23:39,800 --> 02:23:39,800
at this time, there are 576 pending transactions in web dealer. This is a reduction of

1082
02:23:48,666 --> 02:23:48,666
305 transactions from the last reporting date that we provided last week. We'll continue to

1083
02:23:54,966 --> 02:23:54,966
monitor staffing, training, process adjustments and report to the court. And then the time

1084
02:24:01,466 --> 02:24:01,466
and motion study is forthcoming. Does the court have any questions? Commission. I, I

1085
02:24:11,400 --> 02:24:11,400
guess my question is we've gotten my office has gotten a lot of outreach recently due to

1086
02:24:20,533 --> 02:24:20,533
the tax office being closed one day a week at the east side annex, and I believe the

1087
02:24:30,433 --> 02:24:30,433
posting on the door says due to a staffing shortage. And so I. I guess I want more clarity

1088
02:24:42,333 --> 02:24:42,333
about. The staffing needs that have been communicated by the tax assessor collector. From my

1089
02:24:53,466 --> 02:24:53,466
understanding, we've been responsive to all of his requests and have prioritized

1090
02:24:59,600 --> 02:24:59,600
filling the positions that he's asked for. So I'm really trying to to get a better

1091
02:25:05,833 --> 02:25:05,833
understanding of what needs are still pending. And and if there's any way that we can

1092
02:25:15,466 --> 02:25:15,466
validate that there's a staffing shortage that requires a closing of offices. If I can

1093
02:25:22,300 --> 02:25:22,300
respond to that before you add any details. So one of the things that mr. Gonzalez has

1094
02:25:28,466 --> 02:25:28,466
said is that we have denied his request for staff, and he's talking about over the last

1095
02:25:34,866 --> 02:25:34,866
couple years, we have not denied his request for staff. We have not accepted requests

1096
02:25:39,700 --> 02:25:39,700
for staffing. So departments, the sheriff's office is a great example. They have staffing

1097
02:25:46,433 --> 02:25:46,433
needs. They have used other positions to create the positions they needed. But but

1098
02:25:52,266 --> 02:25:52,266
he hasn't been able to submit staffing requests the last couple years. So those are

1099
02:25:58,266 --> 02:25:58,266
that's he he I know he phrases it as his requests have been denied his request have not

1100
02:26:05,866 --> 02:26:05,866
been able to be submitted for evaluation. The time and motion study the hr is completing will

1101
02:26:13,366 --> 02:26:13,366
tell us more information based on the number of transactions, the time it takes, and then,

1102
02:26:20,566 --> 02:26:20,566
you know, relief factors that have to be considered and other factors that have to be

1103
02:26:25,266 --> 02:26:25,266
considered in in providing full staffing. It will give us a recommendation on how much more

1104
02:26:30,866 --> 02:26:30,866
staffing, if any, but if if more staffing is needed for the tax office to be able to

1105
02:26:38,266 --> 02:26:38,266
operate at a reasonable operational level. So hopefully in the next couple weeks we'll

1106
02:26:45,666 --> 02:26:45,666
get that and be able to take it under advisement as we consider allocating positions coming in

1107
02:26:51,466 --> 02:26:51,466
into the coming 2026 year. Okay, I have a question as well. Have have we looked at other

1108
02:27:01,566 --> 02:27:01,566
counties that are similar to that are going through the same thing and what what they're

1109
02:27:06,500 --> 02:27:06,500
doing? And I mean, are they increasing staffing by a large amounts? Are they spending lots

1110
02:27:11,800 --> 02:27:11,800
more on overtime like we are? What what's going on in other counties and what what can we

1111
02:27:17,000 --> 02:27:17,000
do to what else can we do to make sure that we, you know, we're being as efficient as

1112
02:27:23,700 --> 02:27:23,700
possible? Because I don't really believe that throwing more resources all the time or

1113
02:27:29,500 --> 02:27:29,500
money or staff is, is the correct way to do things. We need to look at efficiency

1114
02:27:34,400 --> 02:27:34,400
first. Sir. There's there's a few things about this. So the large counties that I've talked

1115
02:27:40,200 --> 02:27:40,200
to, which is the majority of our largest counties, the ones I've spoken to directly, have

1116
02:27:46,500 --> 02:27:46,500
not added staffing, have not added overtime. They started doing training early on beyond

1117
02:27:54,666 --> 02:27:54,666
what the state provided to try to get dealers to minimize mistakes. By the time it was

1118
02:27:59,400 --> 02:27:59,400
actually required to be implemented. But that's not to say that we weren't

1119
02:28:05,466 --> 02:28:05,466
short-staffed before the law change. So this hr study will help us with that. But as far

1120
02:28:10,433 --> 02:28:10,433
as efficiency and, you know, there's so many things to any operation and leadership, how

1121
02:28:18,333 --> 02:28:18,333
you manage it. So you can you can to your point, commissioner. You can give as much staffing

1122
02:28:26,233 --> 02:28:26,233
as possible as long as it's being used effectively, that there's no morale challenges,

1123
02:28:34,266 --> 02:28:34,266
no other operational challenges. Those things also are an impact to efficiency. And so that's

1124
02:28:42,200 --> 02:28:42,200
part of what I do believe. When hr completes its time and motion study, it'll be able to

1125
02:28:48,033 --> 02:28:48,033
tell us comparatively for the number of transactions we have. Web dealers, some other

1126
02:28:53,700 --> 02:28:53,700
counties don't have web dealers. You know what? Or I'm sorry, not web dealers, but we have

1127
02:28:58,700 --> 02:28:58,700
contracted offices. Those all of those factors need to be taken in. But even even if it's

1128
02:29:03,533 --> 02:29:03,533
apples to apples, how we're operating is also an important part of the analysis, because

1129
02:29:10,600 --> 02:29:10,600
that that could be a factor as much as well. So even like our sick leave comparison to other

1130
02:29:15,966 --> 02:29:15,966
counties, which can be a sign of the morale in the office, those are things that would

1131
02:29:23,333 --> 02:29:23,333
need to be taken into consideration. I also want to mention that the tax tax

1132
02:29:29,533 --> 02:29:29,533
assessor has indicated that there's a resistance to give him staffing or space, and I

1133
02:29:35,633 --> 02:29:35,633
want to be clear that there's no individualized resistance to him having the space he needs

1134
02:29:43,400 --> 02:29:43,400
or the staff that he needs. As you mentioned, though, he needs to be using it efficiently and

1135
02:29:51,000 --> 02:29:51,000
just coming and asking for staff. No, none of our departments are allowed to just

1136
02:29:56,500 --> 02:29:56,500
come ask for staff without justifying the request, showing that they're using their

1137
02:30:02,400 --> 02:30:02,400
current staff efficiently. There is no different standard being applied to the tax

1138
02:30:07,533 --> 02:30:07,533
assessor. He's just not meeting our basic standard to request staff in the way he does it. He

1139
02:30:14,366 --> 02:30:14,366
needs to be able to show the data, show how he's using his staff efficiently, and we've

1140
02:30:19,400 --> 02:30:19,400
had conversations with him over years. I have been around for a long time and have had, every

1141
02:30:24,600 --> 02:30:24,600
time I met with him, have had similar conversations about that exact issue. Yes, sir.

1142
02:30:30,600 --> 02:30:30,600
yeah. And I think one of the hardest thing is the discrepancy between what's

1143
02:30:35,633 --> 02:30:35,633
coming out of his office and then what we're trying to accomplish. And, you know, I've

1144
02:30:41,366 --> 02:30:41,366
always felt we should be more in partnership, but it's just really difficult that, you know,

1145
02:30:46,333 --> 02:30:46,333
we go through all of this. We're trying our best to as much help as we can. And then

1146
02:30:51,366 --> 02:30:51,366
coming out of the offices like we're, you know, just sitting in our hands. So I wish there

1147
02:30:56,800 --> 02:30:56,800
was just a way we could, you know, close that gap between what's really happening and

1148
02:31:01,500 --> 02:31:01,500
what's being put out there. And, of course, he's an elected official, so he could do what

1149
02:31:05,533 --> 02:31:05,533
he needs to do. But I think in for the community, it's confusing the community

1150
02:31:10,666 --> 02:31:10,666
tremendously. I mean, I get a lot of calls about, you know, we're not assisting and then we

1151
02:31:15,666 --> 02:31:15,666
have to go through the whole thing that's about. It's about correcting the record and

1152
02:31:19,766 --> 02:31:19,766
setting the record straight. It's not about trying to point fingers. I mean, we're we're

1153
02:31:24,733 --> 02:31:24,733
all a team and we're trying to address this problem as, as quickly and as efficiently as

1154
02:31:31,433 --> 02:31:31,433
we possibly can. But we also need to make sure that the public understands what's being

1155
02:31:38,300 --> 02:31:38,300
done and what has been done and what hasn't. And you know how we got here and what we're

1156
02:31:43,466 --> 02:31:43,466
doing to get to get out of here. I agree. Thank you. Commissioner. Yes, commissioner

1157
02:31:48,566 --> 02:31:48,566
coronado has has he used up the allotment that we did for overtime? No, not yet sir, he

1158
02:31:57,433 --> 02:31:57,433
still has not. It's only about half, I think. Right, as of the last update, as of the last

1159
02:32:03,600 --> 02:32:03,600
update. And so this is periodically updated because it it's deducted from that account

1160
02:32:10,133 --> 02:32:10,133
once payroll runs, which is every two weeks. And the last time we reported it was almost

1161
02:32:16,333 --> 02:32:16,333
11,000 out of the 20 that's been approved. I know mr. Gonzalez was out out of town

1162
02:32:23,066 --> 02:32:23,066
for a couple of weeks. Do we know if he's back? Yes. Yes, ma'am. Okay, so then perhaps we

1163
02:32:28,433 --> 02:32:28,433
can ask him to be present at the next update so we can maybe answer some of these questions

1164
02:32:34,666 --> 02:32:34,666
for us. And, commissioner stout, to your question, previously, if there was other counties

1165
02:32:41,233 --> 02:32:41,233
that had approved new positions from our records and what we had been notified, there's been

1166
02:32:48,800 --> 02:32:48,800
three counties, two that denton and montgomery that did approve new positions. It was two and

1167
02:32:56,000 --> 02:32:56,000
three new positions. Bexar county also added new staffing, but I believe they opened a

1168
02:33:03,400 --> 02:33:03,400
large new office. From that location. And it was 20 full service deputies that were

1169
02:33:11,500 --> 02:33:11,500
added at that point. And so we are reviewing and that is will be part of that analysis that

1170
02:33:17,100 --> 02:33:17,100
we're conducting. Thank you. Thank you. I have one more question. I know that that up

1171
02:33:23,733 --> 02:33:23,733
till now these weekly updates have been related to to the changes in, in legislation and

1172
02:33:30,666 --> 02:33:30,666
the requirements that are that are coming forth because of that. But related to the office

1173
02:33:37,366 --> 02:33:37,366
closures, do you think do do we if we wanted to talk about that and address that, should we

1174
02:33:44,500 --> 02:33:44,500
have a separate agenda item in a future meeting? And and my my question is so, so up till now,

1175
02:33:50,300 --> 02:33:50,300
the primary impact did community has been the dealer community. But the the calls

1176
02:33:57,366 --> 02:33:57,366
that my office is getting now are from people who are just going to the tax office to

1177
02:34:02,566 --> 02:34:02,566
renew their registrations and, you know, do their do their basic renewals or pay their

1178
02:34:10,800 --> 02:34:10,800
taxes. They're taking time off of work and, you know, adjusting their schedules,

1179
02:34:15,633 --> 02:34:15,633
expecting the tax office to be open. And they show up and it's not and and it's not always

1180
02:34:22,833 --> 02:34:22,833
accessible or easy for them to travel across town to find a tax office that is open. And so

1181
02:34:28,266 --> 02:34:28,266
if this is going to be ongoing, I think, I think it would be helpful if we could get more

1182
02:34:34,766 --> 02:34:34,766
information from the tax assessor collector on how long that's going to continue. And

1183
02:34:39,766 --> 02:34:39,766
then if there's something that we can do to better communicate that to the public, recognizing

1184
02:34:45,966 --> 02:34:45,966
that the tax assessor collector, and this is what I tell my constituents, is we cannot

1185
02:34:54,266 --> 02:34:54,266
control whether he closes his office or not or where he does that. That's that's his

1186
02:34:59,400 --> 02:34:59,400
decision. And he's operating his office. And making those decisions. But it is impacting

1187
02:35:08,300 --> 02:35:08,300
the people who live in our communities. And so if there's a way that we can maybe

1188
02:35:13,566 --> 02:35:17,533
communicate that a little bit better, especially with the closures, if we can figure out how long that's going to be taking, I think that would be very helpful for the community.

1189
02:35:28,833 --> 02:35:28,833
so right now, we are able to discuss the item in terms of signage because presumably,

1190
02:35:35,333 --> 02:35:35,333
right, we have his action with regards to 718. Right. So because of presumably their

1191
02:35:41,433 --> 02:35:41,433
work on that, it has affected other items. If we are going to take a deep discussion to all

1192
02:35:46,833 --> 02:35:46,833
the other projects and things that he he does, I would recommend we bring that back.

1193
02:35:51,233 --> 02:35:51,233
but I think we do have a little bit of leeway if they're working on 718, and that's

1194
02:35:57,233 --> 02:35:57,233
therefore impacting their their hours and signage we may need. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So

1195
02:36:03,400 --> 02:36:03,400
when these closures are happening, do we know that all the personnel are working on

1196
02:36:09,066 --> 02:36:09,066
the issues related to 718? Do we know anything from that from the office? It's my

1197
02:36:13,733 --> 02:36:13,733
understanding that the staff in those locations is then shifted to work on the web dealer. So

1198
02:36:21,133 --> 02:36:21,133
that way I from my understanding, the staff, that of the office that's closed

1199
02:36:27,733 --> 02:36:27,733
each of those days is then reassigned to work on that web dealer. All of those items, I

1200
02:36:33,700 --> 02:36:33,700
can't say for certain, commissioner, I'm sorry, but that's my understanding, is

1201
02:36:39,033 --> 02:36:39,033
that that staff is reallocated or reassigned to. These are the kind of things that we need to

1202
02:36:43,466 --> 02:36:43,466
know. Yeah. That's why I think we need to ask them to be present at our next update.

1203
02:36:48,333 --> 02:36:48,333
yeah. Absolutely. Is there anything else I can answer? Thank you. I appreciate

1204
02:37:00,466 --> 02:37:00,466
everything you're doing. Thank you. Okay. We will take no action for item eight a item

1205
02:37:08,933 --> 02:37:08,933
nine public works nine a discuss and take appropriate action regarding the el paso

1206
02:37:13,833 --> 02:37:13,833
area transportation services. Local government corporation's proposed fiscal year 2026

1207
02:37:19,266 --> 02:37:19,266
staffing plan. Yes, county judge and members of the commissioners court john ando,

1208
02:37:30,533 --> 02:37:30,533
executive director of transit operations for eta. And I'm here today to request the

1209
02:37:37,433 --> 02:37:37,433
commissioners court's consideration to authorize the director. Let me use the exact

1210
02:37:43,800 --> 02:37:43,800
wording to take appropriate action to approve funding for the el paso area transportation

1211
02:37:49,800 --> 02:37:49,800
services. Local government corporation's proposed fiscal year 2026 staffing plan, and

1212
02:37:56,833 --> 02:37:56,833
further approve reorganization in conjunction with the el paso county human resources

1213
02:38:01,800 --> 02:38:01,800
department at the july 2025 board of directors meeting, I did present a proposal of a

1214
02:38:10,566 --> 02:38:10,566
staffing structure for eta to prepare eta for separation from county government next fiscal

1215
02:38:18,800 --> 02:38:18,800
year and to ensure that the organization has the appropriate fiscal, technical

1216
02:38:24,166 --> 02:38:24,166
and legal capacity to manage federal transit administration grants and the various transit

1217
02:38:30,666 --> 02:38:30,666
programs that that is presently under the purview of eta. Presently, in the current

1218
02:38:37,666 --> 02:38:37,666
budget, we have a director, which is myself and associate transportation planner, a

1219
02:38:44,300 --> 02:38:44,300
transit planner and administrative specialist senior, and then one vacant

1220
02:38:50,400 --> 02:38:50,400
position, which is the senior transit project manager. We are proposing to reclassify the

1221
02:38:58,966 --> 02:38:58,966
senior transit project manager and then add three additional positions that would function

1222
02:39:04,633 --> 02:39:04,633
in four distinct units of operations. We would have an operations group, a planning

1223
02:39:11,800 --> 02:39:11,800
group, a finance group, and an administration group. The proposed positions that I'm

1224
02:39:17,433 --> 02:39:17,433
proposing to add include an accounting and office manager, which will lead the finance

1225
02:39:22,400 --> 02:39:22,400
group, a contract coordinator which will support the transit operations group under the

1226
02:39:30,700 --> 02:39:30,700
transit planner, a grants and compliance specialist that would ensure that all of eta's

1227
02:39:36,166 --> 02:39:36,166
grants that we would be receiving directly from the fta, as well as from txdot, ensuring

1228
02:39:43,366 --> 02:39:43,366
that we're complying with those grants. And then a human services transportation plan

1229
02:39:47,933 --> 02:39:47,933
coordinator that will support the planning unit and ensure that we're effectively planning

1230
02:39:53,366 --> 02:39:53,366
transit services for the county. We have included in the eta budget, which was transmitted

1231
02:40:01,466 --> 02:40:01,466
to the eta board and approved at its september meeting. The appropriate funding through

1232
02:40:06,266 --> 02:40:06,266
various tech stocks, grants to cover these positions. And we are requesting that the

1233
02:40:12,466 --> 02:40:12,466
commissioners court approve the proposed staffing plan and that we will coordinate with human

1234
02:40:17,633 --> 02:40:17,633
resources on the next steps to fill those positions. I should stress that the positions are

1235
02:40:22,600 --> 02:40:22,600
in the budget for six months, so we anticipate we would start recruiting in early winter of

1236
02:40:29,366 --> 02:40:29,366
2026 and fill those positions around the spring time frame of 2026, and I'm happy to answer

1237
02:40:37,300 --> 02:40:37,300
any questions about this proposal, if there are any. I, I just have one comment. Thank

1238
02:40:46,400 --> 02:40:46,400
you, mister ando, for that overview. As mr. Ando mentioned, the eta board did review the

1239
02:40:52,966 --> 02:40:52,966
staffing plan in july, right after mr. Ando came on board, and I. I also had the

1240
02:41:03,233 --> 02:41:03,233
opportunity to sit in a meeting with mr. Gonzalez, who is the lead for txdot for for el paso,

1241
02:41:12,200 --> 02:41:12,200
for the transit side of texdot. And he was presented the staffing plan as well. And he

1242
02:41:21,533 --> 02:41:21,533
he gave us his his blessing and and really commended mr. Ando for the thoughtfulness he put

1243
02:41:29,600 --> 02:41:29,600
into that, because it does. Mimic what other transit operations that are the size of

1244
02:41:40,533 --> 02:41:40,533
eta have for staffing, not just in terms of size, but in the positions that mr. Ando is

1245
02:41:46,933 --> 02:41:46,933
trying to create and hire for. So, mr. Andrew, I appreciate your thoughtfulness in putting

1246
02:41:51,666 --> 02:41:51,666
the staffing plan together. And and again, this we have ensured that there is sufficient budget

1247
02:41:58,433 --> 02:41:58,433
for these positions in the next fiscal year. Good morning. Anna schumacher assistant county

1248
02:42:04,733 --> 02:42:08,566
attorney. I'm just going to restate that motion that mr. Andrews said at the beginning. Mr. Ando, please let me know if I misstate anything that was to approve funding for the el paso

1249
02:42:13,433 --> 02:42:16,366
area transportation services, local government corporations. Proposed fiscal year 2026 staffing plan and further approve reorganization in conjunction with the el paso

1250
02:42:21,433 --> 02:42:21,433
county human resources department. That is correct. Thank you, thank you. We have a

1251
02:42:28,600 --> 02:42:28,600
motion by commissioner butler, second by judge samaniego. The voting is open. Judge.

1252
02:42:33,733 --> 02:42:33,733
commissioners, may I make a comment first? This is barbara parker, county auditor. My

1253
02:42:38,333 --> 02:42:38,333
understanding is that the funding is through the grants. It's not through county funding.

1254
02:42:43,333 --> 02:42:43,333
unless we use some of the grants that require a 20% match, and they do have available

1255
02:42:48,966 --> 02:42:48,966
match. Thank you. Barbara. Thank you. Motion carries. Thank you judge and

1256
02:42:56,200 --> 02:42:56,200
commissioners. Appreciate your time. Thank you john. Nice sweater by the way. Yes, it's

1257
02:43:02,566 --> 02:43:02,566
my san francisco muni cable car sweater. Okay. True. Transit nerd over here. Thank you,

1258
02:43:09,166 --> 02:43:09,166
thank you. Good day. This brings us to item ten executive session. Before before we move

1259
02:43:18,866 --> 02:43:18,866
into executive session, we do have a legal memo to read in by county attorneys for item ten c.

1260
02:43:25,400 --> 02:43:25,400
thank you, miss dominguez. Anna schumacher an assistant county attorney. So staff is asking

1261
02:43:29,433 --> 02:43:29,433
that item ten be heard in executive session pursuant to texas government code section

1262
02:43:34,133 --> 02:43:34,133
55 1.0725. The county is currently in negotiations with phillips usd meacham partners,

1263
02:43:39,800 --> 02:43:42,900
regarding the consulting services agreement. The information to be discussed includes issues of business and financial information related to those contract negotiations,

1264
02:43:47,366 --> 02:43:47,366
and the court must be free to discuss those issues without undermining the county's

1265
02:43:51,433 --> 02:43:51,433
position. Therefore, erica resolves gaglione, as your legal advisor, has determined

1266
02:43:55,866 --> 02:43:59,333
that deliberation and open meeting concerning these business and financial issues relating to those negotiations would have a detrimental effect on the position of the

1267
02:44:03,933 --> 02:44:06,666
commissioners court in negotiations. Therefore, I am requesting that commissioners court unanimously vote that deliberations in an open meeting would have a

1268
02:44:10,400 --> 02:44:10,400
detrimental effect on the position of the commissioners and the county in the

1269
02:44:14,733 --> 02:44:17,400
negotiations, and that all deliberations take place in closed session. I would further request that the commissioners court direct the county administration, commissioners,

1270
02:44:20,800 --> 02:44:24,500
court reporters to ensure that all proceedings in closed session be recorded. If the commissioners court agrees, I need a motion, a second and a recorded vote at this time. And

1271
02:44:28,566 --> 02:44:28,566
I will also note that a copy of this legal memo has been provided to the county

1272
02:44:32,900 --> 02:44:36,266
administration, commissioners, court reporters to be made a part of the official court records. We have a motion to approve by commissioner butler, second, by commissioner

1273
02:44:40,266 --> 02:44:40,266
coronado. The voting is open. Motion carries commissioners court will now recess into

1274
02:44:48,000 --> 02:44:48,000
executive session to discuss items ten a through ten pursuant to texas government

1275
02:44:53,466 --> 02:44:53,466
code section 55 1.071 and 551.0725 commissioners court will reconvene to take official

1276
02:45:02,033 --> 02:45:02,033
action. It is 12:15 p.m.

1277
02:50:58,233 --> 02:50:58,233
oh my gosh, the ledges are wonderful. They grind amazing. Every

1278
02:51:04,700 --> 02:51:04,700
everything is smooth. It's beautiful. Park. We are so grateful. Thank you so much.

1279
02:51:09,433 --> 02:51:09,433
one, two and three. So today is a very, very happy day because we are here celebrating the

1280
02:51:18,433 --> 02:51:18,433
renovations at agua dulce park, but also the naming of this specific skateboard park to the

1281
02:51:24,200 --> 02:51:24,200
mario navarro skateboard park. Mario was a person who was very involved in our community and

1282
02:51:31,400 --> 02:51:31,400
who spent a lot of his own personal time teaching children how to skateboard and how to

1283
02:51:36,533 --> 02:51:36,533
skateboard safely. A big part of this project was receiving guidance and assistance from

1284
02:51:45,833 --> 02:51:45,833
actual skateboarding professionals. We had a skate park here at agua dulce before,

1285
02:51:51,466 --> 02:51:51,466
but it's nothing like what you see today. Go ahead. Woo woo! The county received grant funds

1286
02:52:01,466 --> 02:52:01,466
in 2021 to build three safe skate parks, and it was matched by county funds. The family of

1287
02:52:09,600 --> 02:52:09,600
elizabeth avila contacted us to let us know that they would like naming the park in her

1288
02:52:15,500 --> 02:52:15,500
honor as an option, and we were more than happy to do that. Elizabeth was an avid skater

1289
02:52:21,433 --> 02:52:21,433
and unfortunately passed away due to a skating injury, and so this is a way to honor her

1290
02:52:28,900 --> 02:52:32,733
legacy. You know, it's a bittersweet. Of course, I would want to see her here, but I know that through her tragedy, we can offer now these safe skate parks. And this park was

1291
02:52:40,466 --> 02:52:40,466
designed with safety in mind. And so we're really, really proud of the fact that we're

1292
02:52:45,266 --> 02:52:45,266
promoting safety in all aspects. And we hope that the skating community will use our parks

1293
02:52:50,366 --> 02:52:50,366
and know that it's a safe place for them to do so. Oh, this is a great event that we have here

1294
02:52:58,733 --> 02:52:58,733
out at gallegos park in the northwest area of the county, right next to canutillo middle

1295
02:53:03,666 --> 02:53:03,666
school. It's it's really nice. There's a lot of different areas that we can do different

1296
02:53:08,366 --> 02:53:08,366
tricks on. I'm really hoping that there's more skate parks to come. As you can see, a lot

1297
02:53:15,866 --> 02:53:19,433
of the community members are out here. These skateboarders have been out here actually, as soon as it was finished, they didn't wait for the ribbon cutting. They've been out here

1298
02:53:24,466 --> 02:53:24,466
daily using this park. Yeah. So I love the fact that one thing that stuck out to me is this

1299
02:53:29,900 --> 02:53:29,900
halfpipe here. Not a lot of skate parks here have half pipes that we can utilize. What

1300
02:53:34,866 --> 02:53:34,866
this means is that this community now is on track to make sure that el paso moves

1301
02:53:40,266 --> 02:53:40,266
forward with quality of life projects. Oh, it was excellent.

1302
02:55:50,433 --> 02:55:50,433
this is our second annual dog canine fiesta. We allow the dogs to come swim with their

1303
02:55:56,200 --> 02:55:56,200
owners for the end of the season. It kicks off our pilot program last year. We're going

1304
02:56:02,533 --> 02:56:02,533
to have dog days of the summer. Everybody's super excited. The dogs are actually inside the

1305
02:56:07,333 --> 02:56:07,333
water for the majority of the time, and all of our participants are just super

1306
02:56:11,366 --> 02:56:11,366
excited to be here and very happy. First one we have is chewbacca. Woohoo! The mariachi!

1307
02:56:19,166 --> 02:56:19,166
woohoo! This is super important to bring the community together for special events like this.

1308
02:56:24,500 --> 02:56:24,500
there's not a lot of places for owners to swim with their dogs, so that's where we came up with

1309
02:56:29,466 --> 02:56:29,466
the idea to enjoy the entire month of september. And it's just it's an overall exciting

1310
02:56:34,333 --> 02:56:34,333
event for our community to enjoy. So it's been really, really exciting for the end of

1311
02:56:39,466 --> 02:56:39,466
the summer to have such a different event. Lyla, minnie mouse, lyla, the winner, winner.

1312
02:56:48,533 --> 02:56:48,533
my dog lyla was dressed up as minnie mouse and I was mickey mouse and and we decided we

1313
02:56:56,333 --> 02:56:56,333
were looking for something fun to do. So we heard about this and we came home a winner. The

1314
02:57:01,600 --> 02:57:01,600
water makes it so much more fun. The costumes made a lively. You could judge a community by the

1315
02:57:09,300 --> 02:57:09,300
way they treat their dogs. And clearly el paso cares a lot, a lot about their canines. And

1316
02:57:15,366 --> 02:57:15,366
this canine fiesta was a great, great thing to do. And I know they're going to keep doing

1317
02:57:21,500 --> 02:57:21,500
things. And clearly everybody has had a great time today. Good job. Thank you to

1318
02:57:29,533 --> 02:57:29,533
everybody who has joined the county for the entire season. It has been a very great summer

1319
02:57:34,800 --> 02:57:34,800
with a lot of people that just really came to enjoy the fall. So we want to thank everybody

1320
02:57:39,800 --> 02:57:39,800
who joined us this summer, and we can't wait to start again next season.

1321
02:59:42,166 --> 02:59:42,166
el paso I'm laura gallegos and this is el paso county connects the county,

1322
02:59:47,466 --> 02:59:47,466
continues working hard on community projects, events and voter approved improvements

1323
02:59:52,700 --> 02:59:52,700
across our region. Let's take a look at what's been happening around the county. El paso

1324
03:00:00,366 --> 03:00:00,366
county and at&t kicked off a major broadband expansion that will bring high speed internet

1325
03:00:05,666 --> 03:00:05,666
to more than a thousand homes, including 57 colonias. As part of the celebration, 125

1326
03:00:12,600 --> 03:00:12,600
refurbished laptops were donated to families to help bridge the digital divide. The

1327
03:00:20,533 --> 03:00:20,533
county hosted this year's state of the county event, where judge ricardo samaniego

1328
03:00:25,466 --> 03:00:25,466
delivered the keynote address. He highlighted major progress in public safety,

1329
03:00:30,866 --> 03:00:34,533
infrastructure, economic development and the voter approved bond projects now moving forward across the region. Families camped out under the stars during the

1330
03:00:43,033 --> 03:00:43,033
annual ascarate park campout, a weekend filled with outdoor fun, games and community bonding at

1331
03:00:48,600 --> 03:00:48,600
one of the county's most iconic family gathering places. Communities across el paso

1332
03:00:58,266 --> 03:00:58,266
county came together to honor our heroes with veterans day parades and celebrations. As

1333
03:01:02,500 --> 03:01:02,500
the veterans capital of the usa, the county proudly recognized the service and sacrifice of

1334
03:01:08,366 --> 03:01:08,366
our veterans and active duty military. The county officially opened the new sparks park,

1335
03:01:17,400 --> 03:01:17,400
bringing fresh recreational space to the community. The project was made possible

1336
03:01:22,400 --> 03:01:22,400
through partnerships and will continue to grow, with future improvements funded by the 2024

1337
03:01:28,033 --> 03:01:28,033
capital improvement bond. The county continues its commitment to keeping residents informed

1338
03:01:36,633 --> 03:01:36,633
every step of the way. On 2024 voter approved projects this month, two major community

1339
03:01:42,200 --> 03:01:42,200
meetings took place one in fabens for the san felipe off-highway vehicle park

1340
03:01:47,266 --> 03:01:47,266
improvements and another for the new county animal shelter. Residents had the chance to

1341
03:01:52,733 --> 03:01:52,733
review early concepts, ask questions, and share ideas that will help shape these projects

1342
03:01:57,500 --> 03:01:57,500
as design work moves forward. It's all part of the county's effort to ensure transparency,

1343
03:02:03,466 --> 03:02:03,466
accountability, and strong community engagement throughout the entire bond program. That's

1344
03:02:11,433 --> 03:02:11,433
it for this month's el paso county connects. We hope to see you at the ascarate park

1345
03:02:16,533 --> 03:02:16,533
improvement meeting coming up on december 9th. As these community projects continue

1346
03:02:20,900 --> 03:02:20,900
moving forward from all of us at el paso county, we wish you and your family a very happy

1347
03:02:26,600 --> 03:02:26,600
thanksgiving. Until next time, stay warm and stay connected. Feliz navidad. Welcome to you

1348
03:02:47,366 --> 03:02:47,366
to the lights on the lake 2025 lighting ceremony at the beautiful park. The sunsets,

1349
03:02:55,933 --> 03:02:55,933
the mountains, our beautiful desert. You guys look amazing. I like the energy. I want to

1350
03:03:02,533 --> 03:03:02,533
wish you a merry christmas. I'm so grateful that all of you guys came out here to listen to

1351
03:03:09,333 --> 03:03:09,333
some music, to have some fun. As you all know, ascarate park is the heart of el paso county

1352
03:03:15,633 --> 03:03:15,633
and we are so happy to have so many of you here celebrating with us tonight as we celebrate

1353
03:03:22,266 --> 03:03:22,266
tradition and community and the joy of the season. Hey, hey. Why?

1354
03:03:47,400 --> 03:03:47,400
I think it was pretty awesome. Yeah, I liked it. Very colorful for the spirit of

1355
03:03:53,766 --> 03:03:53,766
christmas, so I liked it. You know what? It's awesome. This is the first time I come here.

1356
03:03:58,466 --> 03:03:58,466
so it's it's really awesome to know that our county is coming together and doing new stuff.

1357
03:04:03,733 --> 03:04:03,733
yeah. Get everyone in the holiday spirit better than being at home and, you know,

1358
03:04:08,433 --> 03:04:08,433
get everybody out and enjoy the holidays. Get ready for him. You know, it's free. People can

1359
03:04:12,600 --> 03:04:12,600
come here. They can enjoy. They can write in their in their cars, or they can get down lots

1360
03:04:17,666 --> 03:04:17,666
of beautiful places to take pictures with the family. Our parks and recreation team here

1361
03:04:22,366 --> 03:04:22,366
at el paso county dedicated 2660 staff hours, and our incredible volunteers and

1362
03:04:32,466 --> 03:04:32,466
community service members contributed an additional 2380 hours to bring this holiday

1363
03:04:40,000 --> 03:04:40,000
experience to life. Merry christmas to everybody here in el paso, and a special thanks

1364
03:04:45,600 --> 03:04:45,600
to the el paso county, especially all the commissioners here. And we'll

1365
03:04:49,933 --> 03:04:49,933
keep everything going strong here in el paso, especially here at esquerita. Thank you

1366
03:04:54,433 --> 03:04:54,433
very much. Merry christmas and happy new year. Hey merry christmas. Happy new year.

1367
03:05:00,200 --> 03:05:00,200
merry christmas, happy new year. Happy christmas and happy new year.

1368
03:10:23,100 --> 03:10:23,100
oh my gosh the ledges are wonderful. They grind amazing. Every everything is smooth.

1369
03:10:29,400 --> 03:10:29,400
it's beautiful. Park. We are so grateful. Thank you so much. One, two and three. So today is

1370
03:10:38,400 --> 03:10:38,400
a very, very happy day because we are here celebrating the renovations at agua dulce park,

1371
03:10:45,400 --> 03:10:45,400
but also the naming of this specific skateboard park to the mario navarro skateboard park.

1372
03:10:50,966 --> 03:10:50,966
mario was a person who was very involved in our community and who spent a lot of his own

1373
03:10:57,733 --> 03:10:57,733
personal time teaching children how to skateboard and how to skateboard safely. A big part

1374
03:11:05,333 --> 03:11:05,333
of this project was receiving guidance and assistance from actual skateboarding

1375
03:11:12,433 --> 03:11:12,433
professionals. We had a skate park here at agua dulce before, but it's nothing like what you

1376
03:11:18,300 --> 03:11:18,300
see today. Go ahead. Woo woo! The county received grant funds in 2021 to build three safe

1377
03:11:29,833 --> 03:11:29,833
skate parks, and it was matched by county funds. The family of elizabeth avila contacted us to

1378
03:11:35,600 --> 03:11:35,600
let us know that they would like naming the park in her honor as an option, and we were

1379
03:11:42,400 --> 03:11:42,400
more than happy to do that. Lizbeth was an avid skater and unfortunately passed away due

1380
03:11:48,433 --> 03:11:48,433
to a skating injury, and so this is a way to honor her legacy. You know, it's a

1381
03:11:54,200 --> 03:11:54,200
bittersweet. Of course, I would want to see her here, but I know that through her tragedy,

1382
03:12:00,333 --> 03:12:00,333
we can offer now these safe skate parks. And this park was designed with safety in mind.

1383
03:12:07,533 --> 03:12:07,533
and so we're really, really proud of the fact that we're promoting safety in all aspects.

1384
03:12:11,666 --> 03:12:11,666
and we hope that the skating community will use our parks and know that it's a safe place

1385
03:12:17,966 --> 03:12:17,966
for them to do so. Oh, this is a great event that we have here out at gallegos park in the

1386
03:12:25,900 --> 03:12:25,900
northwest area of the county, right next to canutillo middle school. It's it's really nice.

1387
03:12:30,900 --> 03:12:30,900
there's a lot of different areas that we can do different tricks on. I'm really hoping

1388
03:12:35,300 --> 03:12:35,300
that there's more skate parks to come. As you can see, a lot of the community members are

1389
03:12:41,333 --> 03:12:41,333
out here. These skateboarders have been out here actually, as soon as it was finished, they

1390
03:12:45,433 --> 03:12:45,433
didn't wait for the ribbon cutting. They've been out here daily using this park. Yeah. So

1391
03:12:50,433 --> 03:12:50,433
I love the fact that one thing that stuck out to me is this halfpipe here. Not a lot of

1392
03:12:56,500 --> 03:12:56,500
skate parks here have halfpipes that we can utilize. What this means is that this community

1393
03:13:00,766 --> 03:13:00,766
now is on track to make sure that el paso moves forward with quality of life projects. Oh,

1394
03:13:11,900 --> 03:13:11,900
it was excellent.

1395
03:15:15,066 --> 03:15:15,066
this is our second annual dog canine fiesta. We allow the dogs to come swim

1396
03:15:20,700 --> 03:15:20,700
with their owners for the end of the season. It kicks off our pilot program last year. We're

1397
03:15:27,433 --> 03:15:27,433
going to have dog days of the summer. Everybody's super excited. The dogs are actually

1398
03:15:31,533 --> 03:15:35,500
inside the water for the majority of the time, and all of our participants are just super excited to be here and very happy. First one we have is chewbacca. Woohoo! The

1399
03:15:41,766 --> 03:15:41,766
mariachi! Woohoo! This is super important to bring the community together for special

1400
03:15:48,200 --> 03:15:48,200
events like this. There's not a lot of places for owners to swim with their dogs, so that's

1401
03:15:52,533 --> 03:15:52,533
where we came up with the idea to enjoy the entire month of september. And it's just it's a

1402
03:15:57,466 --> 03:15:57,466
it's an overall exciting event for our community to enjoy. So it's been really, really

1403
03:16:02,766 --> 03:16:02,766
exciting for the end of the summer to have such a different event. Lyla. Minnie mouse hey,

1404
03:16:11,200 --> 03:16:11,200
lyla, you're the winner. My winner. My dog lyla was dressed up as minnie mouse and I was

1405
03:16:17,500 --> 03:16:17,500
mickey mouse. And and we decided we were looking for something fun to do. So we

1406
03:16:23,600 --> 03:16:23,600
heard about this and we came home a winner. The water makes it so much more fun. The

1407
03:16:29,700 --> 03:16:29,700
costumes made a lively. You could judge a community by the way they treat their dogs. And

1408
03:16:35,466 --> 03:16:35,466
clearly el paso cares a lot. There a lot about their canines, and this canine fiesta was a

1409
03:16:41,500 --> 03:16:41,500
great, great thing to do. And I know they're going to keep doing things. And clearly

1410
03:16:46,500 --> 03:16:46,500
everybody has had a great time today. Good job. Thank you to everybody who has joined the

1411
03:16:56,900 --> 03:16:56,900
county for the entire season. It has been a very great summer with a lot of people that just

1412
03:17:01,633 --> 03:17:01,633
really came to enjoy the call. So we want to thank everybody who joined us this summer, and

1413
03:17:06,333 --> 03:17:06,333
we can't wait to start again next season. Have a winner.

1414
03:19:06,866 --> 03:19:06,866
el paso I'm laura gallegos and this is el paso county connects

1415
03:19:11,366 --> 03:19:11,366
the county, continues working hard on community projects, events and voter approved

1416
03:19:16,533 --> 03:19:16,533
improvements across our region. Let's take a look at what's been happening around the

1417
03:19:20,866 --> 03:19:20,866
county. El paso county and at&t kicked off a major broadband expansion that will bring high

1418
03:19:30,133 --> 03:19:30,133
speed internet to more than a thousand homes, including 57 colonias. As part of the

1419
03:19:36,266 --> 03:19:36,266
celebration, 125 refurbished laptops were donated to families to help bridge the

1420
03:19:42,133 --> 03:19:42,133
digital divide. The county hosted this year's state of the county event, where judge

1421
03:19:49,733 --> 03:19:49,733
ricardo samaniego delivered the keynote address. He highlighted major progress in public safety,

1422
03:19:55,500 --> 03:19:59,433
infrastructure, economic development and the voter approved bond projects now moving forward across the region. Families camped out under the stars during the

1423
03:20:07,500 --> 03:20:07,500
annual ascarate park campout, a weekend filled with outdoor fun, games and community bonding at

1424
03:20:13,500 --> 03:20:13,500
one of the county's most iconic family gathering places. Communities across el paso

1425
03:20:22,533 --> 03:20:22,533
county came together to honor our heroes with veterans day parades and celebrations. As

1426
03:20:27,800 --> 03:20:27,800
the veterans capital of the usa, the county proudly recognized the service and sacrifice of

1427
03:20:32,433 --> 03:20:32,433
our veterans and active duty military. The county officially opened the new sparks park,

1428
03:20:42,266 --> 03:20:42,266
bringing fresh recreational space to the community. The project was made possible

1429
03:20:47,300 --> 03:20:47,300
through partnerships and will continue to grow, with future improvements funded by the 2024

1430
03:20:52,600 --> 03:20:52,600
capital improvement bond. The county continues its commitment to keeping residents informed

1431
03:21:01,466 --> 03:21:01,466
every step of the way on 2024 voter approved projects. This month, two major community

1432
03:21:07,800 --> 03:21:07,800
meetings took place one in fabens for the san felipe off-highway vehicle park

1433
03:21:12,300 --> 03:21:12,300
improvements and another for the new county animal shelter. Residents had the chance to

1434
03:21:17,500 --> 03:21:17,500
review early concepts, ask questions, and share ideas that will help shape these projects

1435
03:21:22,266 --> 03:21:22,266
as design work moves forward. It's all part of the county's effort to ensure transparency,

1436
03:21:28,433 --> 03:21:28,433
accountability, and strong community engagement throughout the entire bond program. That's

1437
03:21:36,200 --> 03:21:36,200
it for this month's el paso county connects. We hope to see you at the ascarate park

1438
03:21:41,266 --> 03:21:45,266
improvement meeting coming up on december 9th. As these community projects continue moving forward from all of us at el paso county, we wish you and your family a very happy

1439
03:21:50,933 --> 03:21:50,933
thanksgiving. Until next time, stay warm and stay connected. Feliz navidad. Welcome to you

1440
03:22:11,266 --> 03:22:11,266
to the lights on the lake 2025 lighting ceremony at the beautiful ascarate park. The

1441
03:22:18,933 --> 03:22:18,933
sunsets. The mountains are beautiful desert. You guys look amazing. I like the energy. I

1442
03:22:26,400 --> 03:22:26,400
want to wish you a merry christmas. I'm so grateful that all of you guys came out here

1443
03:22:33,200 --> 03:22:33,200
to listen to some music, to have some fun. As you all know, ascarate park is the heart of

1444
03:22:39,233 --> 03:22:39,233
el paso county and we are so happy to have so many of you here celebrating with us

1445
03:22:44,833 --> 03:22:44,833
tonight as we celebrate tradition and community and the joy of the season. Hey, hey.

1446
03:22:53,866 --> 03:22:53,866
why?

1447
03:23:12,300 --> 03:23:12,300
I think it was pretty awesome. Yeah, I liked it. Very colorful for the spirit of

1448
03:23:18,233 --> 03:23:18,233
christmas, so I liked it. You know what? It's awesome. This is the first time I come here,

1449
03:23:23,733 --> 03:23:23,733
so it's it's really awesome to know that our county is coming together and doing new stuff.

1450
03:23:28,533 --> 03:23:28,533
yeah. Getting into the holiday spirit better than being at home and, you know, get

1451
03:23:33,366 --> 03:23:37,300
everybody out and enjoy the holidays. Get ready for him. You know, it's free. People can come here. They can enjoy. They can write in their in their cars, or they can get down lots

1452
03:23:42,266 --> 03:23:42,266
of beautiful places to take pictures with a family. Our parks and recreation team here

1453
03:23:47,333 --> 03:23:47,333
at el paso county dedicated 2660 staff hours, and our incredible volunteers and

1454
03:23:56,733 --> 03:23:56,733
community service members contributed an additional 2380 hours to bring this holiday

1455
03:24:04,466 --> 03:24:04,466
experience to life. Merry christmas to everybody here in el paso, and a special thanks

1456
03:24:10,466 --> 03:24:14,433
to the el paso county, especially all the commissioners here. And we'll keep everything going strong here in el paso, especially here at esquerita. Thank you

1457
03:24:18,466 --> 03:24:18,466
very much. Merry christmas and happy new year. Merry christmas. Happy new year. Merry christmas,

1458
03:24:26,266 --> 03:24:26,266
happy new year, happy christmas and happy new year.

1459
03:29:47,633 --> 03:29:47,633
oh my gosh the ledges are wonderful. They grind amazing. Every everything

1460
03:29:53,666 --> 03:29:53,666
is smooth. It's beautiful. Park. We are so grateful. Thank you so much. One, two and three. So

1461
03:30:02,600 --> 03:30:02,600
today is a very, very happy day because we are here celebrating the renovations at agua dulce

1462
03:30:09,366 --> 03:30:09,366
park, but also the naming of this specific skateboard park to the mario navarro skateboard

1463
03:30:15,433 --> 03:30:15,433
park. Mario was a person who was very involved in our community and who spent a lot

1464
03:30:21,266 --> 03:30:21,266
of his own personal time teaching children how to skateboard and how to

1465
03:30:26,500 --> 03:30:26,500
skateboard safely. A big part of this project was receiving guidance and assistance from

1466
03:30:35,200 --> 03:30:35,200
actual skateboarding professionals. We had a skate park here at agua dulce before,

1467
03:30:41,233 --> 03:30:41,233
but it's nothing like what you see today. Go ahead. Woo! The county received grant funds in

1468
03:30:51,800 --> 03:30:51,800
2021 to build three safe skate parks, and it was matched by county funds. The family of

1469
03:30:59,733 --> 03:30:59,733
elizabeth avila contacted us to let us know that they would like naming the park in her

1470
03:31:05,466 --> 03:31:05,466
honor as an option, and we were more than happy to do that. Elizabeth was an avid skater

1471
03:31:11,000 --> 03:31:11,000
and unfortunately passed away due to a skating injury, and so this is a way to honor her

1472
03:31:17,333 --> 03:31:17,333
legacy. You know, it's a bittersweet. Of course, I would want to see her here, but I

1473
03:31:22,766 --> 03:31:22,766
know that through her tragedy, we can offer now these safe skate parks. And this park was

1474
03:31:29,900 --> 03:31:29,900
designed with safety in mind. And so we're really, really proud of the fact that we're

1475
03:31:35,300 --> 03:31:35,300
promoting safety in all aspects. And we hope that the skating community will use our parks

1476
03:31:40,400 --> 03:31:40,400
and know that it's a safe place for them to do so. Oh, this is a great event that we have here

1477
03:31:48,233 --> 03:31:48,233
out at gallegos park in the northwest area of the county, right next to canutillo middle

1478
03:31:52,466 --> 03:31:52,466
school. It's it's really nice. There's a lot of different areas that we can do different

1479
03:31:58,633 --> 03:31:58,633
tricks on. I'm really hoping that there's more skate parks to come. As you can see, a lot

1480
03:32:04,666 --> 03:32:08,400
of the community members are out here. These skateboarders have been out here actually, as soon as it was finished, they didn't wait for the ribbon cutting. They've been out here

1481
03:32:13,433 --> 03:32:13,433
daily using this park. Yeah. So I love the fact that one thing that stuck out to me is this

1482
03:32:19,266 --> 03:32:19,266
halfpipe here. Not a lot of skate parks here have halfpipes that we can utilize. What this

1483
03:32:23,866 --> 03:32:23,866
means is that this community now is on track to make sure that el paso moves forward with

1484
03:32:30,800 --> 03:32:30,800
quality of life projects. Oh, it was excellent.

1485
03:34:35,633 --> 03:34:35,633
you. This is our second annual dog canine fiesta. We allow the dogs to

1486
03:34:44,566 --> 03:34:44,566
come swim with their owners for the end of the season. It kicks off our pilot program last year.

1487
03:34:51,200 --> 03:34:51,200
we're going to have dog days of the summer. Everybody's super excited. The dogs are actually

1488
03:34:55,833 --> 03:34:55,833
inside the water for the majority of the time, and all of our participants are just

1489
03:35:00,700 --> 03:35:00,700
super excited to be here and very happy. First one we have is chewbacca. Woohoo! The

1490
03:35:06,600 --> 03:35:06,600
mariachi! Woohoo! This is super important to bring the community together for special

1491
03:35:13,466 --> 03:35:13,466
events like this. There's not a lot of places for owners to swim with their dogs, so that's

1492
03:35:17,933 --> 03:35:17,933
where we came up with the idea to enjoy the entire month of september. And it's just it's a

1493
03:35:22,566 --> 03:35:22,566
it's an overall exciting event for our community to enjoy. So it's been really, really

1494
03:35:27,633 --> 03:35:27,633
exciting for the end of the summer to have such a different event. Lyla. Hey, lyla. The

1495
03:35:36,166 --> 03:35:36,166
winner. Winner. My dog lyla was dressed up as minnie mouse and I was mickey mouse and and we

1496
03:35:44,533 --> 03:35:44,533
decided we were looking for something fun to do. So we heard about this and we came

1497
03:35:49,666 --> 03:35:49,666
home a winner. The water makes it so much more fun. The costumes made a lively. You

1498
03:35:57,333 --> 03:35:57,333
could judge a community by the way they treat their dogs. And clearly el paso cares a lot, a

1499
03:36:03,400 --> 03:36:03,400
lot about their canines. And this canine fiesta was a great, great thing to do. And I know

1500
03:36:09,766 --> 03:36:09,766
they're going to keep doing things. And clearly everybody has had a great time today.

1501
03:36:15,100 --> 03:36:15,100
good job. Thank you to everybody who has joined the county for the entire season.

1502
03:36:22,233 --> 03:36:22,233
it has been a very great summer with a lot of people that just really came to enjoy the call.

1503
03:36:27,433 --> 03:36:27,433
so we want to thank everybody who joined us this summer, and we can't wait to start again

1504
03:36:32,566 --> 03:36:32,566
next season. Have a winner.

1505
03:38:31,733 --> 03:38:35,666
el paso I'm laura gallegos and this is el paso county connects the county continues working hard on community projects, events and voter approved

1506
03:38:41,000 --> 03:38:41,000
improvements across our region. Let's take a look at what's been happening around the

1507
03:38:45,600 --> 03:38:45,600
county. El paso county and at&t kicked off a major broadband expansion that will bring high

1508
03:38:54,533 --> 03:38:54,533
speed internet to more than a thousand homes, including 57 colonias. As part of the

1509
03:39:01,133 --> 03:39:01,133
celebration, 125 refurbished laptops were donated to families to help bridge the

1510
03:39:06,600 --> 03:39:06,600
digital divide. The county hosted this year's state of the county event, where judge

1511
03:39:14,000 --> 03:39:14,000
ricardo samaniego delivered the keynote address. He highlighted major progress in public safety,

1512
03:39:19,533 --> 03:39:19,533
infrastructure, economic development and the voter approved bond projects now

1513
03:39:23,733 --> 03:39:23,733
moving forward across the region. Families camped out under the stars during the

1514
03:39:32,166 --> 03:39:32,166
annual ascarate park campout, a weekend filled with outdoor fun, games and community bonding at

1515
03:39:38,300 --> 03:39:38,300
one of the county's most iconic family gathering places. Communities across el paso

1516
03:39:47,400 --> 03:39:47,400
county came together to honor our heroes with veterans day parades and celebrations. As

1517
03:39:52,666 --> 03:39:52,666
the veterans capital of the usa, the county proudly recognized the service and sacrifice of

1518
03:39:57,766 --> 03:39:57,766
our veterans and active duty military. The county officially opened the new sparks park,

1519
03:40:07,466 --> 03:40:11,333
bringing fresh recreational space to the community. The project was made possible through partnerships and will continue to grow, with future improvements funded by the 2024

1520
03:40:17,300 --> 03:40:17,300
capital improvement bond. The county continues its commitment to keeping residents informed

1521
03:40:26,166 --> 03:40:26,166
every step of the way. On 2024 voter approved projects this month, two major community

1522
03:40:31,366 --> 03:40:31,366
meetings took place one in fabens for the san felipe off-highway vehicle park

1523
03:40:36,700 --> 03:40:36,700
improvements and another for the new county animal shelter. Residents had the chance to

1524
03:40:41,433 --> 03:40:41,433
review early concepts, ask questions, and share ideas that will help shape these projects

1525
03:40:46,966 --> 03:40:46,966
as design work moves forward. It's all part of the county's effort to ensure transparency,

1526
03:40:53,000 --> 03:40:53,000
accountability, and strong community engagement throughout the entire bond program. That's

1527
03:41:00,166 --> 03:41:00,166
it for this month's el paso county connects. We hope to see you at the ascarate park

1528
03:41:05,533 --> 03:41:05,533
improvement meeting coming up on december 9th. As these community projects continue

1529
03:41:09,900 --> 03:41:09,900
moving forward from all of us at el paso county, we wish you and your family a very happy

1530
03:41:16,200 --> 03:41:16,200
thanksgiving. Until next time, stay warm and stay connected. Feliz navidad. Welcome to you

1531
03:41:36,733 --> 03:41:36,733
to the lights on the lake 2025 lighting ceremony at the beautiful park. The sunsets.

1532
03:41:45,033 --> 03:41:45,033
the mountains are beautiful. Desert. Desierto toledo. You guys look amazing. I like the

1533
03:41:50,400 --> 03:41:50,400
energy. I want to wish you a merry christmas. I'm so grateful that all of you guys

1534
03:41:56,333 --> 03:41:56,333
came out here to listen to some music, to have some fun. As you all know, ascarate park is the

1535
03:42:03,400 --> 03:42:03,400
heart of el paso county and we are so happy to have so many of you here celebrating with us

1536
03:42:09,566 --> 03:42:09,566
tonight as we celebrate tradition and community and the joy of the season. Hey hey, one.

1537
03:42:36,866 --> 03:42:36,866
I think it was pretty awesome. Yeah, I liked it. Very colorful for the spirit of christmas, so

1538
03:42:43,633 --> 03:42:43,633
I liked it. You know what? It's awesome. This is the first time I come here. So it's it's

1539
03:42:48,533 --> 03:42:48,533
really awesome to know that our county is coming together and doing new stuff. Yeah. Get

1540
03:42:53,533 --> 03:42:53,533
everyone in the holiday spirit better than being at home and, you know, get everybody out and

1541
03:42:58,733 --> 03:42:58,733
enjoy the holidays. Get ready for them. You know, it's free. People can come here, they can

1542
03:43:03,633 --> 03:43:03,633
enjoy. They can write in their in their cars, or they can get down lots of beautiful places

1543
03:43:07,800 --> 03:43:07,800
to take pictures with the family. Our parks and recreation team here at el paso

1544
03:43:13,000 --> 03:43:13,000
county dedicated 2660 staff hours, and our incredible volunteers and community

1545
03:43:22,200 --> 03:43:22,200
service members contributed an additional 2380 hours to bring this holiday experience to life.

1546
03:43:30,533 --> 03:43:30,533
merry christmas to everybody here in el paso, and a special thanks to the el paso county,

1547
03:43:36,433 --> 03:43:40,366
especially all the commissioners here. And we'll keep everything going strong here in el paso, especially here at esquerita. Thank you very much. Merry christmas and

1548
03:43:45,300 --> 03:43:45,300
happy new year. Merry christmas. Happy new year. Merry christmas, happy new year, happy christmas

1549
03:43:53,333 --> 03:43:53,333
and happy new year.

1550
03:45:18,400 --> 03:45:18,400
go ahead. Has reconvened to regular open session. Item 11 a discuss and

1551
03:45:26,333 --> 03:45:26,333
take appropriate action pertaining to the commissioners court. Participation in the el

1552
03:45:30,666 --> 03:45:30,666
paso metropolitan planning organization meetings and the mpos. Proposed amendments to

1553
03:45:35,500 --> 03:45:39,500
its bylaws. Good afternoon. Anna schumacher, assistant county attorney. We're not getting any action for this item. Thank you. So no action for item 11 a item 11 b discuss

1554
03:45:45,633 --> 03:45:49,366
and take appropriate action regarding the consulting services agreement between el paso county and phillips mitchum partners. Contract number 2025 0811. An assistant

1555
03:45:57,533 --> 03:45:57,533
county attorney. I heard you say no requested action at this time. Thank you, thank you.

1556
03:46:02,333 --> 03:46:02,333
action item 11 b, that completes all the items on today's agenda. Judge. Okay.

1557
03:46:09,600 --> 03:46:09,600
thank you. Just wishing all of you a great week. Thank you. Appreciate everything.

1558
03:46:16,033 --> 03:46:16,033
everybody does. Promotion team doctor. Thank you. This concludes today's meeting at

1559
03:46:23,600 --> 03:46:23,600
1:16 p.m.