El Paso mayoral hopefuls debate city-manager government [El Paso Times, Texas]

April 25--Restoring power to the mayor and doing away with a city manager form of government, investing in veterans affairs, and the Downtown were among the topics candidates discussed at Wednesday's mayoral forum at Burges High School.

Candidates Leo Gus Haddad, Oscar Leeser, Hector H. Lopez, Jaime O. Perez, Jorge Artalejo, city Rep. Steve Ortega and Dean "Dino" Martinez participated in the student-organized debate. Candidate Robert Cormell attended for a short time and left.

Martinez

and Perez objected to having El Paso run by a city manager and said municipal power needed to be restored to the mayor.

"I would turn around and see if I could use a city manager," Martinez said. "But the power must go back to the mayor and to the people of El Paso. Ever since 2007, the power from the mayor has been removed bit by bit, and that power has been removed from you (the voters) and you haven't had a chance to champion that."

The candidates agreed that more needed to be done for local war veterans.

Artalejo suggested that a website be created so veterans could submit complaints and requests. Lopez said a veterans commission needs to be created to advise the City Council and the mayor about ongoing problems and

issues.

"It's time to have real action when it comes to our veterans," Lopez said. "All they've gotten so far is lip service."

Leeser agreed and said the county and city needed to provide better services for veterans.

"Shame on us for not making sure that we don't have accessible areas for them to be taken care of," Leeser said. "They risked their lives for us. They are the backbone for what we stand for, and we need to make sure that we have a system for the county and the city that takes care of their needs."

Audience members asked how each of the candidates would revamp the Downtown to support the $50 million Triple-A baseball park.

Haddad said his concern was the cost of sustaining the ballpark project with clubs and restaurants.

"I don't think that restaurants and clubs in the area are sustainable enough," Haddad said.

Haddad suggested that a way to have sustainable growth in Downtown is to decrease waiting times at the bridges by implementing a freight shuttle that would pick up freight or a trailer and put it on a monorail system, which could then be inspected as it crossed the border.

Issues that were revisited Wednesday included whether candidates supported municipal

Proposition 7 and the Downtown ballpark. Proposition 7 is a ballot measure that would include gays in the city's nondiscrimination policy and would cement the partner benefits which that policy now provides.

Ortega said he was strongly for the baseball stadium project and Proposition 7.

Leeser said he was for supporting equal rights for all El Pasoans but that it was an issue he would leave up to the voters.

Perez said that Proposition 7 was deceiving and that the ballpark plan was accomplished against the will of the people and "shoved down our throats."

Throughout the forum, Perez repeatedly accused Ortega of having a corrupt agenda when he voted against the people's will by taking a stand in favor of providing benefits to same-sex couples and backing construction of the Triple-A minor league ballpark.

Ortega rebutted and pointed out that Perez was chief of staff for indicted former County Judge Anthony Cobos and also was associated with convicted lawyer Luther Jones.

Cobos originally was indicted and charged with conspiring to pay bribes with Lorenzo Aguilar, an architect, to rig a financial services contract as the county sought to refinance $40 million in debt.

A superseding indictment said Cobos received three $1,500 checks through Federal Express in 2007.

Cobos faces one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and deprivation of honest services. He has pleaded not guilty.

Cobos is scheduled to go on trial on Aug. 26.

Jones, a longtime El Paso lawyer, was convicted in 2011 of conspiring to commit wire fraud, deprivation of honest services and other crimes in connection with his role in a scheme to rig a contract to digitize county records.

He is serving a six-year federal prison sentence for those crimes.

Jones pleaded guilty in 2012 to aiding in a scheme to steer $100 million in health insurance business to El Paso County and area school districts.

Perez did not shy away from his association with Jones or Cobos and said he would continue to speak with both men because they are his friends.

"I'm not going to abandon my friends in their time of need," Perez said. "I have cousins and relatives that have gone to jail, and they will continue to be family. I don't throw the ones I care about in front of the bus. I do not abandon my friends because I am a human being."

Perez then turned the tables and asked Ortega for the feasibility study done for the Downtown ballpark and asked about his associations with local businessmen Woody Hunt and Paul Foster.

Ortega did not directly answer Perez, but said that El Paso needed to move toward progress and stop pushing the politics of yesterday that delayed the city's advancement.

"We can do a detour and do a U-turn or we can continue moving forward," Ortega said. "It all depends on how you vote."

Early voting for the May 11 election will begin Monday.

Alex Hinojosa may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6137.

Mayoral candidate debates and forums

-- 11:30 a.m. today, DoubleTree Hotel, 600 N. El Paso St. in Downtown. Sponsored by the Central Business Association. Luncheon costs $20 a seat; $200 for a table for 10. RSVP at 533-2656.

-- 4 p.m. today, Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, 10 Civic Center Plaza in Downtown. Information: 534-0500.

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