Cleaning Up El Paso: An Exclusive Interview with Mayoral Candidate Steven Winters

Tom Handy and Sergeant Major Steven WintersPhoto byTom Handy

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser is going into his final few months as the City mayor. After finishing two terms in office, a new mayor will fill his shoes. 

This past week, I had the honor of sitting with retired Army Sergeant Major Steven Winters over lunch. Winters announced on February 16, he was running for mayor of El Paso. 

After small talk, I asked candidate Winters why was he running for office. 

Winters talked about the politics and corruption that he sees in El Paso. He wanted to serve as mayor and help clean things up.

Over the past decade, leaders in El Paso have been in the spotlight over allegations of corruption. 

El Paso Times reported:

- 2006 to 2013. 18 El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) administrators were penalized or investigated for their involvement in student academics and behavior

- August 2011. former EPISD superintendent Lorenzo García was arrested for conspiracy to commit mail fraud sending inflated test scores to the federal government and providing a no-bid contract to his mistress

- December 2012. former Canutillo Independent School District (CISD) Damon Murphy was charged with fraud in the EPISD cheating scandal

- September 2015. Former EPISD Superintendent Juan Cabrera resigned for his involvement with a for-profit internet-based school according to KVIA

- 2020 to 2023. Three members of City Council, District 3 Representative Cassandra Hernandez, Former District 6 Representative Claudia Rodriguez, and Former District 2 Representative Alexsandra Annello, used their city gas cards excessively according to CBS 

Just in the past two decades, these and other corruption charges have infected El Paso politics. 

Winters wants to ensure ethical people are holding political office. 

In addition, he believes senior citizens over the age of 70 should get property tax relief and pay no taxes. 

After talking to Winters, he shared some details and explained why things happened in El Paso. 

Some citizens complained that the El Paso streetcar was a waste of money. Winters said this was planned as the City wants to bring more traffic to downtown. One idea was the creation of a soccer stadium for the El Paso Locomotives. 

Alan Ledford, president of Mountain Star Sports Group which owns the El Paso Locomotive said according to El Paso Inc:

“There was never a hard and fast requirement at the point in time when we joined the league to have a stadium.”

“In our case, our objective since day one has been to construct a stadium in Downtown, or near Downtown, for the Locomotive.”

Candidate Winters said not every El Paso citizen is aware of some of the politics that goes on in the City.