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Commissioners approve $20,000 sponsorship and membership for Texas Space Coalition—s Space Tech El Paso
Summary
The court authorized up to $20,000 to combine a year-long Texas Space Coalition membership and title sponsorship for the first Space Tech El Paso conference; Commissioner Butler voted no citing budget constraints.
El Paso County agreed to a $20,000 commitment to the Texas Space Coalition on Monday to combine a one-year membership and title sponsorship for Space Tech El Paso, the coalition—s first conference to be held in the city in November.
The county administration presented the request and said the $20,000 package would cover a county-level "galactic" membership in the coalition and title sponsorship for Space Tech El Paso, with the conference expected to draw industry, academia and government participants from across Texas and the region.
Mike Pryor, executive director of the Texas Space Coalition, told the court the conference will bring companies and institutions to El Paso and cited Fort Bliss, the Fabens airport initiative and regional workforce assets as local advantages. He asked the county to demonstrate support by being a lead sponsor during the event—s first year.
Budget question: Commissioner Jacqueline Butler opposed the expenditure and asked staff to pursue hotel-occupancy-tax or economic-impact funds rather than general contingency funds; she said the county has tight budgets and that private-sector sponsors should shoulder more of the conference costs. The county administrator said staff would identify possible funding sources and anticipated the commitment would be split between HOT and the county—s economic-impact fund rather than general contingencies.
Court vote and direction: The motion to fund the $20,000 package passed (Commissioner Butler voted no). Staff were directed to identify appropriate funding sources and return with formal allocation details and any necessary budget adjustments.
