Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Executive Session Actions topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
El Paso council authorizes settlements, denies mediator proposal and moves to intervene in El Paso Electric docket
Summary
After an executive session, the city council authorized the city attorney to pursue settlement negotiations in multiple cases, denied a mediator proposal in one lawsuit, and authorized hiring outside counsel to intervene in El Paso Electric Company's Texas Public Utility Commission application for a 101 MW solar and 100 MW battery project.
After a closed executive session on Jan. 21, the El Paso City Council authorized the city attorney’s office to engage in multiple settlement negotiations, to deny a mediator’s proposal in a police-related lawsuit and to hire outside counsel to intervene in El Paso Electric Company’s application at the Texas Public Utility Commission.
Mayor Pro Tem Susie Chavez read motions into the public record after the council reconvened, directing the city attorney’s office to negotiate settlement authority in John Surface and Aiden Chavez v. City of El Paso, cause number 24CV00226DB, and to deny the mediator’s proposal in Reuben A. Soto v. City of El Paso, cause number 323-CV-000256. Both instructions were approved by the council.
The council also approved a motion authorizing the city attorney, in consultation with the city manager, to hire outside counsel and any necessary consultants and to file an intervention in El Paso Electric Company’s application to amend its certificate of convenience and necessity for a 101-megawatt solar generating facility and a 100-megawatt battery storage system at the Texas Public Utility Commission, docket number 57501. The motion, as read into the record, authorized "all steps necessary including the execution of any required documents in order to effectuate this authority." The motion passed on a recorded vote.
Several council members disclosed campaign contributions before the vote on the El Paso Electric intervention. Representative Acevedo and Representative Nino each noted receiving $1,000 from the El Paso Electric employee PAC; other members likewise noted similar contributions on the record prior to the vote.
Council members also authorized settlement-negotiation authority related to an economic-development opportunity in Central El Paso (HQ number 24-2864). For several other executive-session items — including litigation updates and certain economic-development and personnel matters listed in the posted executive-session agenda — the council took no public action.
The motions were read into the public record after the council returned from executive session, and each motion included authorization for the city attorney to take steps necessary to effectuate the decisions, including executing documents and hiring consultants when required.
