Strategic Planning

Below, I will go through the different images within this graphic and explain the meaning behind each one. Through my descriptions, I tease out the four major themes of Sustainable Planning, Human Services, Housing & Living, and Connection to Community. This won’t be a short read (sorry!), but I think that it’s meaningful. This exercise offers a picture of the aspirational but also hopefully real future for El Paso that I want to bring to fruition:

Top left: This image shows a crew of Environmental Services employees with big smiles on their faces. Why are these City workers so happy? For one, they are paid a living wage and are thus able to meet their needs and the needs of their families. One of the biggest keys to happiness is economic stability, and the City’s employees should be able to count on at least that much. These workers are also satisfied because they are providing good and important service to the public, collecting recycling as part of the City’s curbside recycling program. Citizens are invested in the success of the recycling program and have reduced the percentage of contamination in the bins to a negligible amount. City vehicles like the recycling and garbage trucks (and police cars, fire engines, pothole patchers, and more!) are well-maintained and replaced incrementally on a regular schedule with funding in the annual budget, so the City doesn’t need to fund them by issuing debt.

Middle left:  Here we see a vibrant, walkable Downtown cityscape, filled with street trees, green space, and attractive buildings. There are lots of people out and about, because Downtown is thriving as a destination for business and play. There are multimodal transportation options. Some people are walking to work or to lunch, while others are cycling to their offices from their downtown residences on dedicated bikeways. None of them have to worry about their safety since the built environment is designed for pedestrians on a human-scale. In the background, a Sun Metro bus is picking some people up so they can go to their appointments in other parts of the City, as public transit is a quick, inexpensive, regularly available, and easily accessible option for moving around town.

Bottom left: Still in the Downtown area, there is a City building, perhaps a public health clinic, with solar panels on the roof to take advantage of El Paso’s 300+ days per year of sunshine. Not only do the panels power the building, but they also charge the electric City fleet vehicles parked out front, allowing the City to save on gasoline costs and reduce fossil fuel consumption, a benefit to both the taxpayer and the environment. The City is actively engaged in sustainable practices. For example, when procuring goods and services, the City offers bonus points to bidders who reduce waste and have smaller carbon footprints. The City building in the image receives the regular maintenance that it needs to keep it in good condition so that it doesn’t need expensive repairs like roof replacement or major plumbing work. This reduces facility down-time and keeps costs low.

Middle center: Here we see a group of children practicing soccer at City park, perhaps while their parents participate in a program at the community center in the background — a book club, a cooking class and demonstration, or even a GED course. Many things have had to come together for these kids to be playing soccer here. First, the City has provided an excellent Parks & Recreation facility with a high quality flat field. Second, these children have had their basic needs met — they have access to the healthy food they need in order to have the energy to play, their families are well enough off economically that the children don’t need to spend their time working to supplement the household income, and they have sufficient and safe transportation to and from the park. Third, there is a general culture of wellness and physical activity in El Paso — perhaps this soccer practice is part of the City’s Live Active El Paso initiative.

Bottom center:  This square shows El Pasoans engaged in a design charrette, which according to the Involve Foundation is “a type of participatory planning process that assembles an interdisciplinary team” to participate in “an intensive, hands-on workshop that brings people from different disciplines and backgrounds together with members of the community to explore design options for a particular area.” The charrette is well attended because the City conducted thorough public outreach and because residents are broadly engaged with their local government and feel connected to their community. Participation is fully welcomed, and ideas are listened to, discussed, captured, and integrated into the planning of the project. This collaborative design process leads to a final plan that both the professionals and community participants are proud of and excited about, leading to the delivery of the best product for the El Paso community.

Bottom right: Here we see a neighborhood in the core of the city with a variety of housing types — single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, quads, and multifamily apartment buildings. All of these residences coexist in harmony, and none of them look or feel like they don’t belong in the neighborhood. Even though this is an already established neighborhood, there is still construction of new housing happening — the neighborhood isn’t stagnant. Vacancy isn’t low, but there is enough housing for those who want to live here because there is appropriate density, keeping the cost of living down. The homes are built by private developers, some of whom may be receiving Infill Development incentives to build homes here instead of on the outskirts of the city where land is cheaper, but also by public entities like the Housing Authority and the El Paso Housing Finance Corporation, and the quality is good regardless. The streets are in acceptable condition — they may not be perfect, but the pavement is well within its useful life and maintenance is done quickly when needed. The sidewalks are well-kept, so there are rarely any accessibility concerns. There is dedicated, neighborhood-scale green space as well as more dispersed greening through desert-appropriate trees and plants throughout the neighborhood. The 

Middle right: This image shows a young girl carrying a box of fresh fruits and vegetables in an urban area. She is being supported or guided by two people who appear to be her parents on the right, but also by some other community members on the left. There are multiple possibilities of what is being shown here. What are the possible scenarios? Maybe the family has just come from a grocery store or a farmers market or a food co-op. In this case, the City has created the economic conditions for the girl’s parents to have good jobs that provide them the stability they need to afford fresh, nutritious food. Their neighborhood is not in a food desert, so they can walk to a nearby shop to buy their groceries in smaller quantities without the need to stock up on larger amounts that may spoil. Alternatively, maybe the family have fallen on difficult times but have the support network that they need to continue to meet their needs. Perhaps they are coming from a City-supported food bank that has provided them with healthy options, or perhaps they are benefitting from the mutual aid of their neighbors who are actively engaged and invested in the success of the whole community. While this family finds their feet again, they are hopefully able to make use of other supportive City programming, from free health clinics to housing affordability programs like utility assistance and eviction prevention. This family doesn’t feel scared, ashamed, or intimidated to ask for assistance from their City Representative, because they know the City government is both easily accessible to them and there to help them with a hand up in tough times.

Top right:  In the City Council chambers at City Hall, a resident addresses the Council from the podium to share their opinion on the business of the day. It looks like a full house; there are lots of civically-engaged residents seated in the gallery. The Mayor and all eight City Council members are actively listening, taking input and feedback from the public before voting on the issues before them. The Council is focused on making decisions that benefit the residents of El Paso, passing people-focused public policy to create a City that works for all El Pasoans. They are conscious of being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and also of providing important services that the public relies on. The residents of El Paso feel connected to their representatives and to the City government as a whole — the municipal government has an ethos of openness that doesn’t make it feel far away from the people it serves or out of their reach. Their opinions are actively sought, and they have the opportunities to express their thoughts on the many issues before the City at community meetings and public engagement sessions or by directly contacting their City Representative, who they know is responsive and responsible. This is truly a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” that works with the people to create the El Paso that we all want to achieve.