NEWS

RELEASE
Mayor shares information with the
4/12/2023
community on Proposition K
On January 31, 2022, the City Council created an Ad Hoc Charter
Advisory Committee and referred proposed amendments for their
review and recommendations. Their recommendations and additions
by the Council were approved on July 18, 2022. On July 25, 2022, a
group of El Pasoans presented to Council a petition asking for a
charter amendment related to climate initiatives for El Paso. That
petition included over 36,000 signatures from community members.
Under Section 9.004 of the Texas Local Government Code, the City
Clerk is required to verify a minimum of 20,000 of those signatures.
The charter election was postponed, to provide time for that
verification. Once that work was completed, that charter amendment –
Proposition K – was included in the charter election to be held this May
6, 2023. There have been some very active voices on both sides of
this issue advocating strongly for and against this amendment. This
amendment is not the only one on the ballot in May, but it is the one
that has generated the most reaction. It is extremely important that
citizens are fully informed of the facts prior to heading to the polls.
These include:
• Proposition K is a citizen-led petition to add climate policy to the
City Charter. Proposition K is not being proposed by the City, it is
the result of our democratic process, in which citizens have the
right to organize themselves around an issue, seek the required
number of registered voter signatures, and place an item on the
ballot to be voted on by the citizens of El Paso.
• Proposition K contains several separate initiatives related to
climate policy within the same amendment – one of which is
bringing El Paso Electric under the city’s ownership. A multi-year
feasibility study estimated to cost around $12 million would need
 to be conducted to determine the estimated cost of
municipalization. The utility was sold for $4.3 billion in 2020.
Assets have been added to the utility since then, and additional
investments are scheduled.
• Annual operating costs related to Proposition K are estimated at
over $4 million, with total costs estimated at approximately $150
million. Costs related to upgrading existing municipal facilities to
accommodate rooftop solar, EV charging and other advanced
technologies are unknown at this time, as are ongoing
maintenance costs.
• The fiscal impact of a ban on utilizing city water for fossil fuel
industry activities outside of the city limits, and costs associated
with cancelation of city contracts subject to the ban have not
been identified.
• The Bond Election approved by the voters in November of 2022
included a $5 million climate action plan.
• An environmentally sustainable future is important for every city.
As such, earlier this year, the City established the Office of
Climate and Sustainability.

The City is holding 8 informational meetings throughout our community

in April to share information with citizens on the charter amendments. I
highly encourage El Pasoans to attend one of the informational
meetings. If that is not feasible, then go online and learn more about
them. Citizens can go to www.elpasotexas.gov\epcharter to get
informed. I urge all El Pasoans to go out and vote on May 6. You have
the power. And the decisions you make today – for or against – will
affect your family for generations to come.