El Paso Matters – City manager finalists say why they want the job

The four El Paso city manager finalists had their first opportunity to pitch themselves to the public Tuesday during a community meeting at the Nolan Richardson Recreation Center in Northeast El Paso.

The meeting was the first of four where the public can attend and ask questions of the finalists – Chief Financial Officer Robert Cortinas, Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino, Community and Human Development Director Nicole Alderete-Ferrini, and Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack.

About 50 El Pasoans gathered in the small room of the recreation center, where each finalist had a station where attendees could ask questions after they gave brief introductions of themselves and shed light on why they applied for the top executive job with the city.

“They have different strengths,” said Tony Delgado, CEO and association executive for the Greater El Paso Association of Realtors, who attended the community meeting. “How they communicate with us (is important), because – one is knowing the job, but the other is – to me, in my opinion, you can’t do that job by yourself.”

Delgado said whomever is selected will have to be able to communicate with their staff, but also the City Council.

“The position has to be strong,” he said. “A lot of what they may want to do is driven by them (the City Council). And as you know, there’s a lot of different opinions to sit on on the City Council with the mayor, but that position has got to be strong.”

He said Cortinas has strength in the financial sector, but did not seem as outgoing as Alderete-Ferrini and Mack, while D’Agostino seemed more down to earth.

“It’s really tough to choose and it’s all about this council and what they are really looking for,” he said.

Oscar Leeser introduces four finalists for the city manager position at a Community Meet and Greet, Aug. 6, 2024. (Luis Torres/El Paso Matters)

Richard Jeffrey, who also attended to meet with the finalists Tuesday, said the finalist list should have been narrowed to two so there would be more time to spend with each of them.

“I taught school for a long time, and when I chose a play for my kids, I’d give them two choices, and not more,” Jeffrey said, adding he did not get a chance to talk with all four finalists during the event.

Jeffrey said Mack rose to the top of his preference list because he liked what she had to say about making changes to the way economic development is addressed citywide. He also said he feels that if all the finalists were going to be current city employees, he’s not sure why the city hired a firm to do a national search.

“I feel that you probably got the best ones out of everybody that applied,” he said of the search. “They’re here, they know El Paso, the only thing is the outside person may have brought something new from another area that’s working somewhere else.”

The finalists were named July 12 and the City Council will vote on the final selection Aug. 19. The new city manager will start Sept. 1. 

The city initially scheduled only one meet-and-greet, but added additional sessions following pushback from the City Council in what has become a controversial process for hiring the next city manager to replace former City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, who was fired last February.

Baker Tilly, the search firm hired to conduct the national search, received 121 applications for the city manager position, documents obtained by El Paso Matters through the Texas Public Information Act show. Of those, 21 applicants had city or county management experience.

Here is what the city manager finalists had to say about why they decided to apply for the job and key decisions they have made during their tenures working with the city.

Chief Financial Officer Robert Cortinas

“I never thought some 10 years ago I’d be in this position, but I’ve seen firsthand the impact that public servants have on what we do for the community,” Cortinas said. “I felt that it was my obligation to be committed to the city to do what I can to help continue the positive momentum that we are on.”

Cortinas, 47, has worked for the city since 2007. He said he started as a graduate intern in the budget office at age 29 while attending the University of Texas at El Paso because he realized he needed experience. He was paid $12,480 at the time, documents obtained by El Paso Matters show. He is currently earning about $239,000.

Cortinas, an Andress High School graduate, said his father served in the military, which is how he ended up in El Paso.

Robert Cortinas, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy City Manager for Internal Services, speaks with residents at a Community Meet and Greet for the four finalists being considered for the City Manager position, Aug. 6, 2024. (Luis Torres/El Paso Matters)

“This is a great community, my wife and I decided to stay here and raise our family,” he said, adding they met in El Paso, have been married for 25 years and have a 25-year-old daughter, a 12-year old daughter and a 7-year-old son. His wife, Andrea Cortinas, is a vice president and chief of staff at the University of Texas at El Paso.

During his time working with the city, Cortinas also serves as deputy city manager of support services and oversees the Office of Management and Budget, the Tax Office, and the Comptroller’s Office. Cortinas has also held the positions of budget and management analyst, administrative analyst, business/finance manager, senior budget and management analyst, and senior strategic budget advisor. In 2014, he was appointed as the director of the Office of Management and Budget and was named chief financial officer in 2018.

Cortinas is largely responsible for preparing the annual budget, which generally stands at about $1.3 billion.

In the years being tasked with leading the development of the city’s budget, Cortinas has navigated the directives of City Council to keep the impact to taxpayers low, amid spikes to home valuations that have generated more income tax for local governments and led to homeowners paying higher property tax bills based, in part, on the tax rates the city has adopted.

Cortinas also has to factor in contractual obligations such police and fire collective bargaining agreements that will require millions of dollars over the next several years for pay raises, as well as determining when to issue voter-approved debt when developing the budget and issuing non-voter approved debt in the form of certificates of obligation.

He has also played a role in getting reimbursed by the federal government for the transportation of migrants out of El Paso during the border crossing surges, or finding other sources of funding within the city’s resources to cover expenditures while the city awaited reimbursement.

Two years into Cortinas’ tenure as chief financial officer, the city faced unprecedented financial strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, the mandatory closing of city facilities in the quality of life department including public pools, recreation centers left an impact that also nearly ended a majority of library services.

Multiple furloughed employees reached out to El Paso Matters in January 2021 after not getting information about their future with the city.

In February 2021, multiple library staffers received “layoff” notices after not hearing any word from the city about what was going to happen to their positions after being furloughed for more than a year. 

Cortinas, at the time, said the city was following civil service rules for returning furloughed employees back to work and that the employees would be offered other jobs in the city and have 24 hours to decide whether to accept a new position or be laid off. Several layoff notices were abruptly rescinded following swift community backlash at the possible closure of the city’s public libraries. 

Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino

“My vision is I want El Paso to be that place where people want to live. That place where people want to grow their family. That place where people are proud of – as I’m proud of this community, because I am part of this community,” D’Agostino said as part of the reason he wants to be the next city manager.

D’Agostino, 54, has worked for the city since he began training as a firefighter in 1992. His salary at the time was $19,058, city documents show. His current salary is about $232,000.

D’Agostino, who was born and raised in El Paso, said he has lived in the Northeast, just three miles from where he grew up. He graduated from Irvin High School.

“I was lucky to follow in my father’s footsteps of community service,” he said. “He actually retired after 26 years from the El Paso Fire Department as a deputy fire chief.”

Mario D’Agostino, Deputy City Manager for Health and Public Safety, speaks with residents at a Community Meet and Greet for the four finalists being considered for the City Manager position, Aug. 6, 2024. (Luis Torres/El Paso Matters)

D’Agostino rose through the ranks to become fire chief before being appointed the deputy city manager of public safety and support services in 2022. He oversees more than half of the city’s workforce, including public health, police, fire, Planning and Inspections, the Office of Emergency Management, the 911/311 Call Centers, Animal Services, Municipal Courts and Code Enforcement.

“I’ve had such a good base to grow my knowledge and my toolbox,” he said. “Growing up in the fire service I was able to work through all sides of town. So, that really gives you that vantage point of knowing what that part of the community is going through – and that’s what I want to bring to the table.”

D’Agostino has led the response to several community emergencies, including the Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting, the COVID-19 pandemic and migrant surges.

In his role helping to manage the multiple migrant influxes over the past few years, D’Agostino has helped coordinate the response amid changing state and federal laws. That response has included the transportation of migrants, erecting emergency shelters, using hotels as temporary housing to minimize the number of migrants sleeping in the streets and seeking federal and state reimbursements for up-front costs by the city. 

The city has also purchased the former Morehead Middle School as a migrant shelter and for use as an animal shelter. Previously, the city used the former Bassett Middle School for migrant overflow.

D’Agostino was also serving as deputy city manager of health and public safety when Peter Pacillas was hired as the next El Paso police chief. The hiring of Pacillas came after long-time Chief Greg Allen died last January. Pacillas was serving as interim chief. 

While interim City Manager Cary Westin made the final decision, D’Agostino led the police chief search committee and reviewed the applicants and selected the finalists. The process to hire the chief drew scrutiny from members of the community who felt there needed to be more public participation.

As deputy city manager, D’Agostino also played a key role in the controversial hiring of the new health director in June. The position had been vacant for more than two years before Dr. Veerinder “Vinny” Taneja – the former public health director of Tarrant County –was hired by Westin. 

While Westin made the final decision, D’Agostino was a part of the hiring process and said the city was aware of the accusations against Taneja during his time at the Tarrant County Public Health Department, but that the accusations were not substantiated.

D’Agostino, as fire chief, also helped manage the COVID-19 response though there were instances of concerns with vaccine equity and a breakdown in contact tracing during the pandemic spike in El Paso. D’Agostino also had to manage addressing staffing shortages amidst the pandemic as emergency responders contracted the illness including staff for the COVID-19 mega testing sites. D’Agostino at the time said the city was addressing shortages and maintaining minimum staffing levels through overtime and reassignments.

Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack

“I applied for this position mainly because I care so deeply for the staff who work here, you have an amazing group of people who are so passionate about the work and I believe that we can really accomplish anything that you put forth,” Mack said, adding she understands the challenges facing the community.

Mack, 52, moved to El Paso from New York to serve as the library director in 2011 with a starting salary of $142,000, city documents show. She is currently earning a base pay of about $237,000.

Mack told the group she unfortunately did not have a local high school that she graduated from, but said coming from out of state helped her realize the beauty of the El Paso community.

Mack was appointed El Paso’s first African American deputy city manager in 2017. That same year she told El Paso Inc. that becoming a city manager would be the next step in her career.

Dionne Mack, Deputy City Manager for Quality of Life, speaks with residents at a Community Meet and Greet for the four finalists being considered for the City Manager position, Aug. 6, 2024. (Luis Torres/El Paso Matters)

As deputy city manager, she oversees various departments, including Community & Human Development, Public Libraries, El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Military Affairs, Museum and Cultural Affairs and Parks and Recreations. She also served as deputy city manager for Animal Services, the Fire Department, Municipal Courts, the Police Department, and for the Public Health Department.

“I have held nine positions in El Paso since I’ve been here, so I’ve bounced around in terms of being able to see a variety of work,” Mack said. “I’ve had an opportunity to really see so many aspects of the work and so many of the dreams that you have that have come true. What is beautiful about the city manager’s position and being in public service is really about being able to give back, being able to make sure we’re lifting up our community.”

During her time as deputy city manager overseeing public safety, among other departments, from 2017 through 2022, Mack navigated several challenges facing the Police Department.

In 2017, the Police Department launched a crisis intervention team program. Developing the program came after former city Rep. Alexsandra Annello pushed for funding following multiple lawsuits filed against the city and Allen from 2014 and 2017 alleging excessive force and deadly force against people suffering a mental health crisis.

In 2020, some El Pasoans demanded police reform after officers clashed with protesters who were demonstrating following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.

Mack helped develop and served on a cross-functional team to develop a comprehensive plan that left out the term “reform,” but sought to eliminate racial disparities and “improve law enforcement interactions.” Community leaders say they are still wanting to further develop the plan, but talks slowed during the pandemic.

Since returning to overseeing libraries, parks and Museums and Cultural Affairs departments in May 2022, Mack has helped develop the library ID program that recently launched after prior councils voted down the effort to establish a community identification that can be obtained for El Pasoans that cannot get a state ID.

Mack was also involved with the City Council’s decision to not renew a long-time contract with the El Paso Zoological Society. The decision to sever the relationship followed contentious discussions and has resulted in a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit over the city’s access to its records now that there is no active contract, among other allegations. Since, the city partnered with the Paso del Norte Community Foundation to continue fundraising efforts for the zoo.

Climate and Sustainability Officer Nicole Alderete-Ferrini

“In the last eight years, I have leaned into neighborhoods. I have been out there with you. I have been out there helping … $77 million is what we pushed out during COVID-19,” Alderete-Ferrini said. “What did we do? We kept 10,000 families from being evicted. We kept thousands of families from having their lights turned off. We made sure people had food to eat. I want to continue that legacy as city manager.”

Alderete-Ferrini, 46, a native El Pasoan and Eastwood High School graduate, was hired by the city in 2014 as chief resilience officer earning $117,500, city documents show. She is currently earning about $176,000.

In 2017 she was appointed director of Community and Human Development. In her role as resilience officer, she helped develop a resiliency strategy that was put in place as a guideline to address housing, homelessness, climate change, social justice, civic empowerment and economic prosperity. In February 2023 she was named climate and sustainability officer leading the city’s new Office of Climate and Sustainability.

“Improving lives and making a difference for human beings is a professional calling that I have pursued my entire life,” she said, adding what sets her apart from the other finalists is that she did not begin her career in government.

Nicole Ferrini, Community and Human Development Director, speaks with residents at a Community Meet and Greet for the four finalists being considered for the City Manager position, Aug. 6, 2024. (Luis Torres/El Paso Matters)

She said after she graduated high school she moved to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock to study design, architecture and urban planning. She said that field of study helped her understand how people move and live and how systems affect people on a daily basis.

“Growing up in this environment, this beautiful binational metroplex, that we are; the concepts of equity, social justice, and community have been embedded in my DNA for as long as I can remember,” she said.

As the climate and sustainability officer, Alderete-Ferrini was tasked with using $5 million that El Paso voters granted in a bond election in November 2022 to craft the city’s comprehensive Climate Action Plan.

The purpose is, in part, to aim to lower emissions from transportation and electricity generation, ensure buildings are energy efficient and expand open green space.

The city in January hired Chicago-based consultant AECOM to work with the sustainability office to develop the region’s first comprehensive Climate Action Plan. Part of the goal was to develop a preliminary plan to apply for grants of up to $500 million of federal money available for U.S. metros to fight climate change. That preliminary plan was completed in March.

Her office also applied for an Environmental Protection Agency grant for $100 million to install rooftop solar panel systems on 4,000 to 5,000 low-income households throughout the area, but did not receive a grant award. The city also did not win a Climate Pollution Reduction Grant award where they were seeking up to $430 million.

The city is also working with adjacent municipalities including Hudspeth County, Anthony, San Elizario and Socorro to craft a region wide plan.

Alderete-Ferrini, her department and AECOM will produce a larger comprehensive plan with action items the city can implement to combat climate change. The larger plan is tentatively set to be completed next fall.

Prior to becoming the sustainability officer, Alderete-Ferrini in March 2022 led an effort to scrap funding for the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food bank community kitchen. The move came following a contentious back-and-forth with the food bank over how documents were being kept by the organization for the use of $3.7 million of coronavirus relief funds. 

The Fort Worth office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the city lacked the proper documentation to make sure the food bank was meeting goals of serving low-to moderate-income families, but ultimately rescinded the finding. The city ultimately awarded funding for the community kitchen after HUD accepted documents from the city and nonprofit.

She also pushed back against a cash assistance program that would have given low-income El Pasoans $500 cash payments to around 80 households across the city for a year. Alderete-Ferrini at the time said the city would have had to take money that was planned to go to a community resiliency center that was in a conceptual phase. 

The center was imagined as a location where service providers that helped the community during the COVID-19 pandemic could be under one roof and the community could go to access services. The City Council ultimately voted down the cash assistance program.

Disclosure: El Paso Matters CEO Robert Moore was a member of the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Board of Directors in 2022, when the city and food bank had disagreements over record keeping.

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