Open Letter to Mayor Leeser on City Manager Search

Read HERE today's El Paso Time's story about those meeting with Affion Public as part of the search for a new city manager. What's missing in those meetings is the green community of El Paso. Here is a letter that I wrote Mayor Leeser and hand delivered to his office today:

January 28, 2014

The Honorable Oscar Leeser
Mayor of the City of El Paso
300 N. Campbell
El Paso, TX 79901

Dear Mayor Leeser,

After reading the El Paso Time’s front page story this morning about the search for our next City Manager, it became clear to me that a very important part of El Paso stakeholders are not part of the search process. My hope is that you can help correct this oversight. There are no representatives from El Paso’s open space/conservation/environmental community.

It is essential that a City Manager possesses good business and financial sense, education and experience and has strong, well-honed administrative and managerial skills. So it is a good thing that Affion Public is visiting with our Chambers of Commerce and that the successful business community is well-represented by the Council members’ appointees to the advisory committee. On the other hand, a City Manager also helps to shape the culture throughout city government and participates in the formation and implementation of a City’s vision based on [all of] our City’s values.

El Pasoans do care about issues related to the environment, sustainability, open space and natural areas. El Pasoans have a deep sense of family and generations and want to see precious resources such as water and open space conserved for their great-grandchildren and beyond. 

We reflect these values in many ways. You yourself will be an introductory speaker at the Eco-El Paso Symposium next week. The El Paso Convention and Visitor’s Bureau regularly promotes outdoor recreation in our natural open spaces. Through the Office of Economic Adjustment our City received a grant to develop a forward-thinking Master Plan, Plan El Paso. Senator Rodriguez has a citizen’s advisory committee on sustainable energy and another on the environment. The Master Gardeners have a new community garden at Ascarate and the Columban Fathers have a community garden on Magoffin. El Paso has important and involved organizations such as the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition, the West Texas Urban Forestry Council and the Borderland Mountain Bike Association to name just three. Celebration of Our Mountains had a very successful 19th annual schedule of fall events in 2013.

Please consider inviting one or two members of El Paso’s conservation community to meet with Affion on Thursday. May I suggest that you invite persons who are not only successful business people but who also  highly value our outdoors? Charlie Wakeem has the most city expertise. Don Baumgardt does the official El Paso visitor’s guide. Robert Ardovino is someone with great business and “green” sense. There are others.

Thank you for considering this proposal. Thank you for your great leadership in bringing El Paso together.

Sincerely,


Jim Tolbert