El Paso mayor slams criticism of city manager selection process; Says it has been ‘transparent’

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser held a press conference on Thursday, Aug. 15 at City Hall to discuss the city manager selection process and set the record straight.

“I’m tired of hearing that it was rushed. I’m really tired of hearing that we’re in a lame-duck session, because [t’s] none of the above. What we are, is in a very transparent process,” Leeser declared.

Leeser was intense throughout the conference, arguing that the El Paso City Council has been committed to a thorough and transparent hiring process in search for the new city manager.

He provided handouts with a timeline of the city manager search dating back to March 28, 2023, when City Council voted to prepare a request for proposal (RFP) to select an Executive Recruiting Firm.

You can read the complete timeline below:

CM-Selection-Process-TimelineDownload

There are currently four finalists out of a pool of over 80 candidates that the search firm Baker Tilly looked at, all of which currently serve in different roles for the City of El Paso.

The finalists selected by the City Council were announced on July 12, and they are Chief Financial Officer Robert Cortinas; Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino; Climate and Sustainability Officer Nicole Alderete-Ferrini; and Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack.

KTSM was the first to bring you the concerns of City Council member Josh Acevedo last month when the finalists were announced.

Acevedo had criticized the process for falling short on being transparent, and said the City Council never received a report from Baker Tilly on candidate rankings.

But at Thursday’s conference, Leeser double downed that all City Council members received a report after Baker Tilly narrowed down the pool of candidates down to 14.

“Every City Council member got to look at the final 14. They had to look at their email to be able to do this. They looked at the application, they had a video on there, and then you got to pick your top 5. It was full involvement by council, you couldn’t have done it if you didn’t open your email,” Leeser said.

Leeser also addressed criticisms that there were no real efforts to conduct a national search for a candidate.

“Back in February I said ‘We ought to look in our backyard. We ought to look at our local talent first.’ And then if we don’t find anybody, if we don’t feel we have anybody qualified, then let’s go out and spend the money to hire a search firm,” Leeser said. “To spend the $40,000-$50,000 we spent to determine that the top four were sitting in our own backyard.”

Leeser noted that the City has already looked out of town twice before, and that “it’s time we stay local.”

City Council is set to interview all four candidates in executive session on Monday, August 19, which Leeser said will be conducted with the “utmost care” and “diligence.”

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