Bettina Olivares

I support the widening of I-10 but I will always be in support of hearing the proposals and alternatives that RGNA has and help get that communicated to TXDOT. We can also talk about any alleviations that can be implemented like retaining walls and or tree and landscape boundaries to minimize impacts. The I-10 expansion itself is not going to increase traffic, traffic will increase on its own as population grows but when we don't have adequate infrastructure to help the flow of increased traffic, what we will get is gridlock and vehicle idling. This is an even greater source of air pollution.

Chris Canales

I can start with a simple response here: I oppose the widening of I-10 through the Copia to Schuster segment. I very closely follow every meeting of the Transportation Policy Board of the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and I have a deep personal interest in smart and transit-oriented transportation planning (I would definitely say I self-identify as a NUMTOT). As a result, on my own time I have done hours and hours of certificate-level training courses with the Federal Highway Administration's National Highway Institute in order to best understand the entire planning process from start to completion; my courses have included areas such as Air Quality Planning: Transportation Conformity, Public Involvement in Transportation Decision Making, Fundamentals of Environmental Justice, Implementing Performance-Based Planning and Programming, Value Engineering, and others.

This is all to say that this is a very important issue to me that I have personally involved myself in over the last several years. Adding lanes to I-10 will, in my opinion, simply induce additional travel demand -- put simply: if we build more lanes, traffic will fill them, and we won't see any real reduction in the harmful effects. Instead, we have options for alternatives, including one in particular that is already in the works, that can address congestion in the Downtown I-10 segment. The alternative that is already being worked on is the Borderland Expressway project (formerly known as the Northeast Parkway). That project will connect Loop 375 near the Railroad Drive overpass north to the state line, where it will meet up with a new highway project in New Mexico that would run through the Anthony gap to connect back to I-10.

This new route will allow commercial trucks and other non-local traffic to skip most of I-10's route through El Paso, alleviating the burden of traffic demand in the City's core. If elected, I would request to be appointed to the MPO given my qualifications, and a major goal would be to shepherd the Borderland Expressway project through to completion and delay any action on I-10 widening until TxDOT could study the real-world impact of the new, functional alternative route.

Rich Wright

I'm afraid that decision was made years ago, when Ted Houghton was the Chair of the Texas Transportation Commission. I believe the end game is to put a soccer stadium on the proposed cap over the freeway. Reason and common sense have nothing to do with their decision-making process, and the people making the decisions are incapable of shame. However, if I'm elected, I'll have a bigger soapbox from which to denounce their shenanigans.

Cruz Morales

I am against the widening of I10 close to the Downtown area. I will be arm in arm with you to oppose this proposed project. Let El Paso be El Paso put all that money to improve the neighborhoods in that area. Put that money into the betterment of Downtown and the creation of small business in the area. Also go into the area and speak with citizens about health issues that occur with the pollution in the area and offer services to help them. Especially children and older adults.

Bettina Olivares

The biggest component to keeping current residents in the Rio Grande Neighborhood is to have the cost of living remain affordable and to create better options for affordable living. I don’t oppose having knowledge-economy workers come to this area or any area of the city because having these workers means there are jobs here for those getting certification and degrees from our training schools, EPCC or UTEP. I want to see our graduates stay in El Paso for work and have access to housing in the core of the City.

Also, when more residents fill an area, there are more opportunities for businesses to bring their services and amenities to a neighborhood, such as grocery stores. For the El Paso High neighborhood, I support and would advocate for better quality streets and sidewalks which have been neglected for too long in the area and expanded public transit to improve walkability. While improving streets we can incorporate landscaping and trees for beautification and vegetation cover.

Chris Canales

Redlining definitely had a huge effect on central and south-central El Paso neighborhoods, and the resulting differences between your neighborhood and neighborhoods to your north are apparent today. I want to be very careful that the Uptown/Downtown Plan doesn't implicitly replicate the exclusionary effects that redlining explicitly carried out historically. During my time working in the District 8 office, I have worked very closely with neighborhood groups such as the South Side Neighborhood Association to scrutinize projects within their boundaries to ensure that they receive the benefits of new investment without suffering the ills of gentrification and displacement.

I can provide a case study of my work within this subject: In recent months, the City planned to grant an infill development incentive for the renovation of a tenement building in Segundo Barrio, but I learned that the current tenants in the apartments had not been made aware of the project. We delayed the hearing of the item at a City Council meeting, and I engaged the neighborhood association president in order to understand how the neighborhood wanted to proceed (which was to support the renovation but make sure the tenants were protected). I then met with the property owner individually, with the property owner and neighborhood association together, and with City staff.Through these meetings, we were able to ensure that every tenant was notified of the potential project, that the property owner had guaranteed temporary replacement housing that was satisfactory to every single tenant while the project was carried out, and that all tenants would be able to return to their apartments post-renovation without changes to the terms of their leases.

This is the type of direct involvement that I plan to bring to the table. It is important to invest in residents that already live in the area because a neighborhood IS its people. I don't think it's necessarily my place to propose specific development projects for your neighborhood. The prioritization of projects is something that should be driven by the residents of the neighborhood, and as your City Representative my role will be to listen to what kind of development the neighborhood wants and then to drive that to completion. I do think that we need to focus on adding density of housing and ensuring that the new housing is affordable to those already in the neighborhood.

I also think there are opportunities for other types of interventions to help current residents. I have been very interested in Homestead Preservation Reinvestment Zones, which are allowed in Texas but currently only in Austin and Houston (they were created by the legislature in bracketed, location-specific legislation in 2005, so there would need to be a change at the state level to allow them in El Paso). HPRZs are Tax Increment Financing zones that restrict TIF funds specifically for the development, construction, and preservation of affordable housing. I think that capturing an increment of any value growth brought about by the Uptown/Downtown Plan to be used specifically for affordable housing in the area would hopefully offset any gentrifying effects of the Plan.

I am also interested in Community Land Trusts as a possible intervention to ensure affordability, and I think the City needs to explore this option further. All in all, it's safe to say that I plan to do everything I can to hold the City accountable to its stated goal of development without displacement.

Rich Wright

Fortunately, the City of El Paso is particularly inept at Economic Development. But this Uptown Downtown study is a waste of the City's limited resources, and will only result in higher taxes. We need to stop these boondoggles until we can get our financial house in order.

Cruz Morales

The have and have nots issue that has always plagued District 8. I am from the Bowie High area. South Central El Paso. To combat this particular issue we must band together and make light of the situation get people interested in fighting back and keeping their way of living. People sometimes just take issues because they feels alone powerless.

It's time we banded together and fought back against these measures. If we have a plan and ask for help in development of these areas I'm very confident that we can get help. I am confident in my leadership in these issues. I might not have a college degree but I know our people I can speak to people in their own language in their lingo. I can get results. Sometimes the best laid plan does not go on schedule then you must adapt and overcome.

Bettina Olivares

Communication and engagement with the community is so important that it is a part of my platform. The city can always do better in communicating with the public but it is also up to the District 8 representative and their office to advocate for their neighborhoods. I will have an active social media account, newsletter and monthly community meetings in order to keep my district and especially our neighborhood and civic associations informed and involved.

The Uptown/Downtown Plan outreach has had various levels of engagement and is currently in the phase of seeking community input. I was glad to see many attend the meeting held on September 27, 2022, which I attended virtually and hope to be as much a part of future sessions as possible.

Chris Canales

Another simple response here: the City should always invite all affected neighborhoods from the beginning! There have been public meetings about the Uptown/Downtown Plan since January to which the public has been invited, but for any future projects it is vital that neighborhoods are included and listened to from the very start.

I commit to personally ensuring that all City departments include the Neighborhood Coalition and individual neighborhood associations from the start of their projects. I also pledge to have regular, standing meetings with the Rio Grande Neighborhood Improvement Association and all of the other associations in District 8 to ensure that information like this flows regularly and smoothly in both directions.

Rich Wright

I'll try to stay informed myself, and pass that information on to Neighborhood Associations and anyone who's interested. The City doesn't always like to keep the citizens informed because often their decisions have already been made by the time they bring the public into the mix. Witness, for instance, the decision to put the Mexican American Cultural Center into the Downtown Library. Three Representatives on City Council announced their decision before there was any public comment.

Cruz Morales

This is a great question. I plan to walk the District once elected. It is important to talk to people face to face and hear their wants and needs. Politicians forget they are "Public Servants"... most dont serve the populace. I am a man of the people I will walk the Disrict and knock on doors when elected. I will reach out to people at their homes and to the neighborhood associations and get their input firsthand. I dont have many things in this world but I have my word. I give you my "palabra" I will do this.