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Opinion: What county government accomplished in 2024 [1]

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Date: 2024-12-27

By David Stout

The holiday season is in full swing, with New Year around the corner and a year of change imminent.

El Paso County is prepared for the next year, building on a very active 2024.

Here’s a brief recap of 2024 activity at El Paso County, and in Precinct 2, and a look ahead to 2025.

Justice reform

More than 50% of the county’s budget goes toward the Sheriff’s Office and courts system. Since I entered office in 2015, it has been a priority to ensure that we have tough and fair law enforcement and criminal justice.

David Stout

In terms of the county, which operates the courts system and jails, that has meant a focus on reducing the number of repeat offenders, offering a chance for people to get out of what often seems like a revolving door. We also want to prevent people from entering the justice system in the first place. In both cases, we have made progress.

As a county-appointed board member of Emergence Health Network, I brought in the concept of the crisis intervention team, so that we don’t automatically throw a person having a mental health crisis in jail. Both the El Paso Police Department and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office now have crisis intervention teams, and this year, we continued to build on that program.

And only a few weeks ago, El Paso County approved a contract with local nonprofits to provide shelter and wraparound services to people who have served their debt to society but do not have anywhere to go once released from jail.

Next year, we will continue to build on that through the development of a “sobering center,” a safe place for people who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, this will save taxpayer money and law enforcement time in addition to giving people a chance to do better without going through the costly criminal justice system.

Health and quality of life

I believe that El Paso County residents have a right to clean air, water and soil, and to live in neighborhoods that offer opportunity and quality of life. For generations, El Paso has underinvested and underserved constituents in neighborhoods south of Interstate 10.

I’ve focused investment in Ascarate Park, where work on the lake is set to begin in 2025; worked with the community to develop a plan to create a community healing space at the former Naked Harem; fought to reimagine the Bridge of the Americas port of entry as a streamlined welcome point for personal vehicles and pedestrians, which will support families, workers, and local business activity in our malls and on our Main Streets; challenged Marathon Refinery to pollute less by contesting their pollution permit because we know they can do better, and we believe that in partnership with the community they will; saved the iconic and constantly active County Coliseum campus, which has nearly daily events welcoming about 200,000 people a year; and re-allocated federal funds to create margin within the county budget to begin an arts master plan, Arts Commission, and arts projects in each precinct in 2025.

Economic mobility and economic development

As an active member of the National Association of Counties, I am part of an exclusive leadership cohort looking at best practices to support economic mobility. The county supports local organizations such as the Chamber and Borderplex Alliance in business recruitment and retention; our focus is ensuring quality jobs, and small business opportunities.

In the last year El Paso County continued the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which I brought to the county as a way to provide low-interest loans and grants to small businesses that provide healthy foods in “food desert” neighborhoods.

We signed a contract to spend $6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds on broadband access in areas that lack service, or have poor service. I pushed for this because the internet is how students connect with school – which became especially apparent during COVID – and how small businesses connect to financing institutions, just to name two applications.

I raised the level of county work on historic preservation and tourism, which has resulted in the Segundo Barrio National Historic District and increased promotion of the Mission Trail, and in the coming year will work with community groups that recognize the significance of our urban core from Five Points to Lincoln Park to the Coliseum to Ascarate to Alameda from Downtown to UMC to the Chamizal.

We were the first local government to implement a tax credit for child-care facilities to allow working parents more opportunity, and we are developing new economic development incentive policies that we can expect to see in 2025.

Finally, also through NACo, I am immediate past chair of the Immigration Reform Task Force, which in part allows local governments to share best practices for ensuring that migrants are treated humanely and have opportunities to contribute to their new communities. This has been invaluable in informing El Paso County’s response working with local service providers to shelter, transport, and assist migrants.

Managing county operations

We took steps forward in county operations this year, implementing paid parental leave, creating a paid internship program to give more young El Pasoans real world experience, and moving ahead with leadership succession planning to ensure continuity of operations when senior staff leaves.

We are undergoing an energy audit, which I have worked on for years and will produce renovated and new facilities that reduce our energy use and therefore our carbon footprint and our operational costs.

With a general fund budget of $467 million, commissioners have a weighty responsibility to manage your money effectively and efficiently. We have to balance services that are required by law and requested by the public with sensitivity to the taxpayer.

This year, we adopted a tax rate of 42.6323 cents per $100 property valuation, which was what is known as the “no-new-revenue rate.” Of course, we understand that depending on individual changes in property valuations, some property owners may pay more out of pocket than the previous year.

This is just a snapshot of activities in 2024, and what we have planned for 2025.

Finally, I want to thank El Pasoans who voted to approve three of five items on the bond election in November. Parks, a new Animal Services facility, and a new Medical Examiner’s office totaling about $155 million.

The county will work hard in 2025 to deliver projects on time and on budget.

Have a great holiday season, and a great New Year. Here’s saying goodbye to 2024 and onward to 2025!

David Stout is county commissioner for Precinct 2.

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[1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/12/27/opinion-commissioner-david-stout-county-government-2024/

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