This is your Friday update, which takes a quick look at the week ahead and some developments that El Paso Matters is following.
EPISO County Commissioner Candidate Forum: After a hiatus due to the pandemic, the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization/Border Interfaith will have its first in-person candidate accountability session this Sunday, May 1. The six El Paso County Commissioners Court candidates remaining in the May 24 primary runoff election for Precincts 2 and 4 have been invited to the session where they’ll be asked to state their position on policies such as colonias, education and economic development programs. In the Democratic primary, incumbent Precinct 2 Commissioner David Stout faces challenger Judy Gutierrez and incumbent Precinct 4 Commissioner Carl Robinson faces Sergio Coronado. Blanca Trout and David Adams are vying for the Republican primary nomination for Precinct 4. The forum starts at 3 p.m. at the All Saints Church, 1415 Dakota St. in Central El Paso. EPISO/Border Interfaith is a broad-based community organization consisting of faith and neighborhood institutions.
City Begins Work On Next Year’s Budget: In preparation of its annual budget process, the city of El Paso is asking residents to take a survey about which city services they would like the city to prioritize as it crafts a new budget. The Chime In! survey is available here in English and Spanish. The survey runs through May 31. Respondents will be asked whether they’d like to participate in future budget focus groups. El Paso City Council must adopt the 2023 fiscal year budget by Aug. 31.
County To Share $9.7 Million With Nonprofits: El Paso County has been working with the Paso del Norte Foundation to set the parameters that will be used to select which local nonprofits will be contracted to help the community rebuild — economically and socially — from the COVID-19 pandemic. At Monday’s Commissioners Court meeting the Paso del Norte Foundation will give a presentation on a Notice of Funding Opportunity template that will allow nonprofits to apply for a portion of the $9.7 million in federal COVID relief dollars the county has set aside for nonprofits. The notice of funding is expected to be published by mid-May, which is when applications will be accepted. Any nonprofit that applies for funding must have a local board and must have been established before March 1, 2020.
