County readies legislative agenda
November 24, 2008
With little more than a month remaining before the start of the next state legislative session, Commissioners Court on Monday could finalize the issues it wants to push for El Paso County.
Written by Erica Molina Johnson, The El Paso Times
EL PASO -- With little more than a month remaining before the start of the next state legislative session, Commissioners Court on Monday could finalize the issues it wants to push for El Paso County.
"The legislative agenda is somewhat rooted in pragmatism and somewhat rooted in being a wish list," Commissioner Veronica Escobar said. "You know your lobbyist and delegation will not accomplish everything, but it's important for us to have a road map for our delegation and lobbyist so everybody knows what we're working toward."
Among the items already submitted for the county's legislative agenda are:
- A request to authorize the county to create an ethics board that could assess civil penalties for violations of its ethics code.
- A request to exempt all government entities from the stormwater fee.
- A request to change the size and rules regarding Thomason Hospital's board.
- A request for increased funding for mental health services.
Commissioner Dan Haggerty said he is hopeful the items regarding the Thomason board and mental health funding are approved.
"We're like the 48th state for mental health funding. We don't take it real seriously and it's really sad," he said. "I've heard Austin is going to, in fact, try very hard to do something with mental health. We want to be on the front end burner to go down there and fight for our cause in general statewide and for El Paso."
Escobar said she will ask for additions to the agenda including a request for funding a third building at the medical school and increasing funding for various issues.
The court on Monday will also discuss a proposal to open the position for planning director for the county through Dec. 5. The job and department were eliminated at the county several years ago.
Escobar said the unusually short job posting window would hobble the county's efforts to get the most qualified applicants.
"It would give interested applicants little to no time to apply for what I consider an extremely important position in the county," she said. "If we want a good, strong pool of applicants that position should be open for at least 30 days, especially because the posting is happening during a holiday period."
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