El Paso interim city manager discusses priorities as he begins new role
Published: Fri, 06/02/23
El Paso interim city manager discusses priorities as he begins new role
Cary Westin begins new role as interim city manager on June 1, 2023.
[Credit: KFOX14]
KFOX14
by Jennifer Cuevas
EL PASO, Texas [KFOX14] — The City of El Paso turned a new page regarding its city manager with the interim officially stepping into his new role Thursday.
Cary Westin was selected to serve as interim city manager in March after the city council decided to terminate Tommy Gonzalez’s contract.
Gonzalez remains city manager until June 29, per his contract with the city.
In a one-on-one interview Westin told KFOX14 he is ready to take on the job after preparing over the past three months with the help of Gonzalez.
“He’s done a very good job in bringing me up to speed on a lot of the projects, a lot of the things that we go through as a city through multiple departments, and we’ve done that over the last three months.”
Westin said there are three main priorities the office will be tackling over the next couple of months.
“We’re in the budget season so delivering a budget to the city council this summer is going to be very important, certainly carrying forward the council’s directive of a city manager search and that whole process is another big priority and then more than likely under my watch I will make a decision on the hiring of the police chief for our city as well.”
KFOX14 asked Westin if the city was looking to raise or lower taxes as they prepare the next budget plan.
He responded by stating the budget is still in its preliminary stages.
“We’re very cognizant of what our taxpayers and what our citizens are facing so we’re going to be very prudent in terms of how we look at the budget, and present a budget that's going to be friendly to our taxpayers.”
As for hiring a new police chief, Westin said the city wants to get more community input and stakeholder engagement before making a decision.
“We’ll get to a point where we’ll be able to define a better timeline. Right now I want to make sure we’re being very meticulous in getting the input that we need from our community first and then we’ll establish that,” said Westin.
Regarding the hiring of a permanent city manager, Westin said it can happen as soon as the fall but the city council will first have to decide on a search firm.