Who will be the next El Paso city manager? Meet the 4 finalists

With the field narrowed to four insiders at City Hall, El Paso's search for its next city manager is swiftly moved forward.

The El Paso City Council voted in February to hire executive recruitment firm Baker Tilly for about $42,000. After a lengthy nationwide search that included multiple community meetings, a bilingual online survey and meetings with the mayor, the City Council and other officials.

The city received 80 applications and ultimately culled the list down to 14 semifinalists. In the end, the four finalists for the post were already part of El Paso city government.

There are still a couple of hurdles for the candidates to clear before one is named the new city manager.

El Paso city manager finalists

Robert Cortinas

As the city's chief financial officer, Cortinas, who has been with the city since 2007, was instrumental in drafting last year's budget, the first no-new revenue budget since 2015.

Mario D'Agostino

D'Agostino, a former chief of the El Paso Fire Department, has led the city through multiple crises as deputy city manager of public safety, including the 2019 Walmart shooting, the COVID-19 pandemic and, most recently, the surge of migrants at the southern border .

Nicole Ferrini

Ferrini is likely best known for her role leading the city's climate department and drafting the climate action plan, as well as working alongside U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar on her Climate Crisis Advisory Committee .

Dionne Mack

Mack became El Paso's first black deputy city manager in 2017 and led the charge to establish the city's Enhanced Library Card program .

City manager's job

The city manager is El Paso's top appointed government administration job, overseeing the budget, all city departments, executing directives from City Council and signing off on contracts, tax abatements and grant applications, among other things.

El Paso has been without a city manager since February 2023, when Mayor Oscar Leeser cast the tie-breaking vote to terminate former City Manager Tommy Gonzalez's contract without cause. The council move cost taxpayers about $1 million in a payout to Gonzalez.

Interim City Manager Cary Westin was approved two weeks later and began his tenure at the end of June. Westin announced in January that he would not seek the full-time city manager position.

Westin announced in January that he would not seek the full-time city manager position.

While the salary for the next city manager has not been announced, Gonzalez was receiving an annual salary of over $436,000.

Interview process

On Wednesday, Aug. 7 and Thursday, Aug. 8, the four candidates will begin the interview process, which includes interviews with the mayor and City Council, as well as two nine-member, City Council-appointed panels.

The Citizen Advisory Committee Panel will focus on public perception, transparency, and the candidate’s vision for community improvement, according to a city news release.

The Community Leaders/Stakeholders Panel, meanwhile, will focus on community engagement, responsiveness to public needs, and the ability to build strong community relationships.

Meet and greet

Citizens will get their chance to meet the four finalists on Wednesday, Aug. 7, when the city will host a meet-and-greet event starting at 5:30 p.m. at the El Paso convention center.

The event will feature a brief candidate forum, where each candidate will be given two minutes to answer the same questions. Afterward, attendees will have an opportunity to meet each candidate individually.

Attendees can also fill out a survey to provide feedback on their experience. The media is allowed to submit questions. It doesn't appear that the mayor or council will allow the candidates to be interviewed by local reporters.

Final decision

While a date for a final decision has not been set, the City Council will likely officially greenlight one of the four candidates at its first meeting after the meet-and-greet event, which will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 13.

Controversy mires hiring process

At least one City Council member has raised concerns over the city manager search and selection process, claiming it lacked transparency. The council member also called for the City Council to hold off making the hire until new council members take office in January 2025.

“The effort to select the next city manager is one of our largest goals as a major Texas city, yet we were largely kept in the dark on selecting finalists to interview,” El Paso city Rep. Josh Acevedo, the newest member of the City Council, wrote in a statement. “I was only notified about the list of finalists through a draft press release I received hours before the press conference.”

Acevedo claimed the selection of the finalists during a "lame duck period" when six of nine City Council seats are up for grabs on Nov. 5 is a violation of the city's charter.

“This fact alone may have influenced candidates not to apply for the position because the potential for a new City Council may not bring continuity to their job security,” Acevedo said.

“I certainly did not expect this egregious process to come from this search firm, which highlights my point that even search firms require diligence in their selection, so that these processes are transparent," he continued. "As local representatives, we were given little to no information in this critical step of the search process about making this important decision that will have long-term implications for the future of our city."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Who will be the next El Paso city manager? Meet the 4 finalists