Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack was named as El Paso’s next city manager by a 6-2 vote of City Council on Monday, ending a process that sharply divided the council and drew criticism from volunteers tasked by the city to help in the selection.
“I am humbled to be considered. I am humbled to be positioned to be able to carry forth the vision for the city, and I look forward to working with each of you in (your) current role, or whatever your future role might be – and ultimately, the city and our employees,” Mack told the City Council after the vote.
The appointment is effective Sept. 3.
City Reps. Chris Canales, Henry Rivera, Cassandra Hernandez, Brian Kennedy, Isabel Salcido and Josh Acevedo voted in favor of Mack; while city Reps. Art Fierro and Joe Molinar voted against the motion, saying they favored Chief Financial Officer Robert Cortinas.
Canales, who made the motion to hire Mack, said she was the top scorer from input received from community meetings as well as two citizen advisory groups who interviewed the finalists.
“I think, as a starting position for the decision that we have to make, that’s a very important data point – it’s important that we listen to the voice of the public in a process,” Canales said.
Hernandez said she’s learned a lot from Mack.
“Working with you intimately, Mrs. Mack, has been not only a pleasure – you’ve taught me a lot,” Hernandez said. “It’s been very pleasant, but you also challenge us to think greater, how we can not only achieve economies of scale, how we can build more partnerships and I really value that.”
Acevedo, who has been critical of the process, said the interviews with the candidates helped him to feel more comfortable with making a decision Tuesday.
“I didn’t leave that room thinking – I wish I would have asked this question, or I would have asked this other question – so I do want to commend the process today,” Acevedo said. “I will respect what my colleagues vote on today.”
The selection comes following an hours-long executive session where the City Council interviewed each of the four finalists for an hour and 45 minutes. The council deadlocked 4-4 at the start of the day Monday on a motion by Salcido to postpone the selection until after the Nov. 5 elections, and Mayor Oscar Leeser cast the tie-breaking vote to move forward with the selection.
The other finalists were Cortinas, Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino, Community and Human Development Director Nicole Alderete-Ferrini.
The council is expected to negotiate a contract with Mack on Tuesday. The job posting lists the city manager salary between $325,000 to $375,000.
The city manager reports to the mayor and council and serves as the chief administrative officer for the city and is responsible for hiring executive leadership, overseeing staff operations and city services, and preparing an annual budget, which now stands at about $1.3 billion.
Postponement effort fails
Salcido, Rivera, Hernandez and Acevedo voted in favor of postponing the hiring until after the next mayor and City Council take office in January. City Reps. Kennedy, Fierro, Canales, Molinar and Leeser voted to proceed.
Salcido, Hernandez and Kennedy are all running for mayor in the Nov. 5 election, and an unprecedented six of the eight council seats will be decided by voters. Four of the eight seats usually are up for election every two years, but Salcido and Kennedy’s seats also are up for election this year because they resigned in the middle of their terms to run for mayor.
Leeser has served the maximum two terms allowed by the City Charter and cannot seek re-election.
The City Council Monday also approved calling for a special election for the Far East Side’s District 5 seat, which is being vacated by Salcido, who filed to run for mayor on Aug. 15. The City Council previously approved a Nov. 5 special election for Kennedy’s West Side District 1` seat.
City manager hiring process scrutinized
The city manager hiring follows four recent community meet-and-greets and two citizen advisory panel interviews held Aug. 13.
The hiring process has drawn scrutiny from some city representatives and community leaders after a national search resulted in the four current city executives being named finalists. Some expressed concern that the position was being filled just months before the election.
Baker Tilly, the search firm hired to conduct the national search, received 121 applications for the position, documents obtained by El Paso Matters through the Texas Public Information Act show.
Of those, 21 applicants had city or county management experience.
Baker Tilly narrowed down the list of applicants for the mayor and council to review to 14, 10 of whom were applicants from outside of El Paso with county and city manager experience, documents show.
Former City Manager Tommy Gonzalez was fired by the City Council in February 2023. Cary Westin has served as interim city manager since March 2023, but has said he was not interested in serving in the role permanently.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The post Dionne Mack named El Paso city manager, to start Sept. 3 appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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