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A new 501(c)(4) “federal tax-exempt social welfare organization” has deployed four mailers aimed at influencing all four City Council races only one week before the General Election of November 3.
Odette De Leon, Eddie Trevizo, and Angelica Ramos are the directors of The Sun City Coalition, Inc., which they incorporated on September 16, 2026. Their shared address is PO Box 12296, El Paso, TX 79913.
According to their Certificate of Formation, they are “dedicated to securing a prosperous, modern, and vibrant future for all El Paso families” and “shall advocate for responsible commercial investment that benefits the El Paso community, support the protection and improvement of vital public infrastructure, and support the expansion and stability of the local tax base.” They will also “engage in research, public education, community organizing, and advocacy consistent with the promotion of social welfare, including issue advocacy.”
Odette De Leon has been a Finance and Operations Specialist at the El Paso Chamber since November 2024.
Eddie Trevizo has been a Network System Integration Technician at El Paso Electric since April 2013 and a Political Registrar for IBEW Local 960 since August.
Angelica Rosales has been at Sundt Construction since June 2018, first in Business Development and, more recently, as a Project Director.
According to their campaign finance report, filed earlier today, they spent $20,336.12 on a mailer supporting Alejandra Chavez for District 1, $11,636.06 on a mailer supporting Ivan Nino for District 5, $13,336.21 on a mailer supporting Art Fierro for District 6, and $18,436.18 for a mailer opposing Chris Canales for election District 8.
That is a total of $63,744.57 worth of dark money from contributors who are concealed from the media and public at large.
WAS A CRIME COMMITTED?
The two mailers declare that the application of the 501(c)(4) is pending. That is not a problem since it is permitted to send out political mailers before approval.
However, a 501(c)(4) is required to spend more than 50% of its total resources and activities on social welfare purposes rather than political campaigns, and so far The Sun City Coalition, Inc. has spent 100% of its resources on political campaigns.
If they fail to spend more than $63,745 on activities other than political campaigns, they will be in violation of federal law and could face serious civil consequences.
Knowingly lying on the organization’s annual IRS Form 990 (such as hiding political expenditures or falsifying data under penalty of perjury) would be a criminal violation.
OUTRIGHT LIES
We intercepted the mailers supporting Alejandra Chavez and opposing Chris Canales.
The anti-Canales mailer states that Canales “voted to raise property taxes 4 times in 4 years,” when in fact he voted to increase them only twice, for FY 2026 and FY 2027. The mailer makes other dubious claims, including that a “recent poll” showed only 5% strong support, without identifying the poll or indicating whether it is scientific.
The pro-Chavez mailer states that Chavez “cut Taxes,” when in fact she voted to increase taxes twice while in office, for FY 2026 and FY 2027. It also states she cut crime, as if she were on the police force!
We will leave it to our readers to judge the actions of Odette de Leon, Eddie Trevizo, and Angelica Rosales and decide for themselves, based upon the facts, whether they have behaved unethically in their effort to influence four elections campaigns.
We reached out to all three for comment but received no replies.
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