The four finalists for the El Paso city manager position — the top administrative post when it comes to shaping fiscal policy, overseeing public safety practices, making critical City Hall hiring and position the city for economic opportunities — made their pitches to residents during a meet-and-greet event.
The candidates made their first public comments since being named finalists in an oversized banquet hall before a small crowd Wednesday, Aug. 7, at the El Paso convention center.
The full City Council, many of whom are on the November general election ballot or barred from seeking re-election like Mayor Oscar Leeser, will have the final say on who gets the job. The position has remained open since the former city manager was let go without cause about a year ago.
The meet-and-greet was an opportunity for residents to speak one-on-one with the four finalists, though reporters were once again instructed not to interview the candidates, similar to the directive handed down by city staff during an event for the El Paso police chief candidates last year.
Still, the four local candidates netted from a nationwide search headed by executive recruitment firm Baker Tilly at a cost of roughly $42,000 spent about five minutes touting their experience and vision before taking to stations around the banquet room and speaking with attendees.
For Leeser, who spoke just before the candidates took to the stage, the four finalists proved both that city talent can compete on a national level and that the city's selection process yielded the best results possible for El Paso.
"There's been a lot of rumble ... that we didn't do the right thing, that we picked internally," Leeser said. "We did, because those were the best, and everyone thought that that was the best that we picked from and ... we didn't know how it was going to come out."
As Leeser closed his remarks, one by one, the four candidates spoke their piece.
Robert Cortinas
City Chief Financial Officer and Deputy City Manager for Internal Services Robert Cortinas was the first to speak and largely focused on his experience tackling the city's budget over his 17-year tenure in city government, which began as an intern in the budget office in 2007.
"My career literally started at the bottom," Cortinas said. "I have seen just about everything you can imagine as far as the government, our local government, is operated and how we run."
In his current role as the city's chief financial officer, Cortinas was instrumental last year in developing the city to its first no-new revenue budget since 2015.
When it comes to how he would approach the role of city manager, Cortinas said he hopes to inspire collaboration across all city departments and rebuild trust in the community.
“My vision as city manager, no different than how I operate on a day-to-day basis working with the mayor and (City) Council," he said. "Really, one, make sure we’re working collaboratively, we have a lot of challenges in front of us … developing sustainable solutions to really address some of those challenges. We’ve been able to do a lot of that recently but there’s still a lot in front of us. The next thing, really, is about building trust back in the community.”
The city is struggling with transparency — including its efforts to limit public scrutiny of key hires by placing restrictions on local reporters to interview candidates.
Mario D'Agostino
Deputy City Manager for Public Health and Safety Mario D'Agostino, a former El Paso fire chief and the face of the city's response to spikes in mass migration at the southern border, leaned on his 32 years of experience in public service.
"I've been able to grow a wealth of experience in my time with the organization," D'Agostino said, noting that he currently oversees roughly 3,800 employees and a budget of more than $400 million.
D'Agostino said that his years with the El Paso Fire Department gave him an intimate knowledge of every corner of the city and taught him the value of teamwork, a lesson that's carried over to his leadership style.
“I am comfortable in saying that I am confident in my leadership abilities as I’ve led the city of El Paso through numerous horrific instances over the last five years," he said. "Whether it’s the migration crisis of … 2019, which led to the horrific mass shooting on Aug. 3, whether it was the COVID-19 pandemic or the migration crisis that we see today, my leadership hasn’t faltered."
"I’ve stayed there, I’ve kept in it," D'Agostino continued. "I’ve done what’s best for the community and I always keep that in mind.”
Nicole Ferrini
City Community and Human Development Director Nicole Ferrini stressed her background as the biggest difference that sets her apart from the rest of the candidates.
Ferrini said she studied architecture, design and city planning at Texas Tech University, followed by a successful 12-year career as an architect, with no intent of entering government.
"Everything I learned in architecture and design was about how people live," she said. "It's about how the spaces that we occupy, the spaces we build, that's from rec centers, libraries, parks ... the environments we enjoy in this community, I spent that entire first half of my professional life in service in the private sector."
The city was one of 100 across the nation selected for a Rockefeller Foundation grant that led to Ferrini becoming the city's first chief resilience officer in 2014, where she recalled leading an office supporting nearly 100 area nonprofits and allocating $77 million in federal funding to save low-income El Pasoans from eviction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am excited to do that as your next city manager," she said. "I do believe in partnerships. I do believe that the work starts with the community. The role of the city manager is to bring all of that information and present those options to your elected City Council so that (it) can ultimately make those decisions."
"But a leader has to be responsible for what is being recommended every time," Ferrini added. "And I think that it is incredibly important that we be transparent with this community, that everything we do starts with you."
Dionne Mack
Dionne Mack, the city's deputy city for quality of life, noted her 28 years in public service, 14 in New York and 14 in El Paso. She took immediate issue with a recent survey that found only 18% of El Pasoans feel that they are getting value for their tax dollars and fees.
"That should not be something that we should be able to be comfortable with or live with," she said. "We have got to move the needle to make sure that people who are in this community can afford to live here, that we're talking about jobs, we're talking about economic development ..."
She added that another survey found that only 20% of El Pasoans are satisfied with city infrastructure.
"We're so behind in those areas that are really important," she said.
Mack noted that she has supervised 20 of the city's 34 departments and served as a deputy city manager for eight years. She said the next city manager has to be committed to finding ways to better provide for citizens without incurring further costs.
"That's the only way we're going to be able to pay attention to the tax rate, making sure that we're providing more to our community, it's being very frugal with the dollars that we have and being very strategic about those priorities."
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com
