El Paso city council approve proposed amendment on removing El Paso mayor's veto power
Published: Tue, 07/19/22
El Paso city council approve proposed amendment on removing El Paso mayor's veto power
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — The El Paso City Council representatives received a presentation from the city’s Ad Hoc Committee regarding eleven proposed amendments.
Out of the 11 proposed amendments, the proposal to allow the mayor to vote on all city council items and therefore remove the veto capacity passed with a 6 to 1 vote.
During the discussion, Representative Isabel Salcido asked for a comparison of what is done in other Texas cities.
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According to the chart, the city most similar to El Paso was Laredo, where the mayor is a “non-voting member of city council unless there is a tie, while holding veto powers.”
District 4 Representative Joe Molinar was the only one who voted no to the proposal.
“We are a local government that at the federal and state level we must have an executive branch, a legislative branch, and things like that," he said.
As for Mayor Pro Tem Peter Svarzbein, he said by giving the mayor the right to vote, the community would have a better understanding of their thought process.
“The reality is that this item if brought to the voters, would give the ability for our community to know the position of our mayor no matter who she or he may be in the future," Svarbein said.
Mayor Oscar Leeser also voiced his opinion; stating the way the city charter is now is the best practice to maintain checks and balances.
“I think this is the perfect way to continue to have those checks and balances when you do have the veto for the mayor. Now we talk about the mayor being transparent, I think I talk about almost every item," said Leeser.
The proposed amendments would be placed on the November ballot to then be voted on and implemented in the city’s charter.
A special election meeting will be called on August 2 and the city council has until August 16 to place the final proposed amendments on the November ballot.