El Paso City Manager’s contract extended for five more years

EL PASO, TX – The El Paso City Council approved authorizing the Mayor to execute an amendment to City Manager Tommy Gonzalez’s contract to extend his employment agreement for five years, through 2029.

Because of the above, the El Paso City Manager has informed City of Frisco recruiters that he is withdrawing his name from that location’s search.

“I am overwhelmed with the support I have received from the community, our employees and the City Council. With this in mind, I have withdrawn from the City Manager search in Frisco, Texas. I am committed to El Paso. We are not done here,” Gonzalez said.

As with previous contracts, the City Manager is required to maintain his residence in El Paso. Gonzalez and his wife have lived in El Paso since 2014.

The City Council reported that under Gonzalez’s leadership, the City of El Paso has so far achieved $227 million in cost savings. He has further bolstered financial stability, eliminating a $7.8 million deficit in the General Fund in 2014; as well as erasing a $27 million operating shortfall in the mass transit department.

In addition, it was noted that Gonzalez has successfully eliminated a $1 million annual operating deficit at the City’s golf course; tripling the fund balance by increasing it by more than $73 million; capturing state sales taxes for downtown hotel revitalization; and leading the municipal team to achieve zero audit findings for five consecutive years.

It was also noted that in 2022, Gonzalez received the E. David Spong Lifetime Leadership Achievement Award from the Malcolm Baldrige National Foundation. In 2019 and again in 2020, Gonzalez led his team to make El Paso the only municipality to earn the Texas Quality Foundation’s Texas Performance Excellence Award for two consecutive years. The city also won the All-America City (AAC) award in 2018 and 2020, and 2021; and was named an AAC finalist five years in a row.

Gonzalez retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving 22 years in the U.S. Army. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, and a bachelor of science degree from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, New Mexico. He is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt by the University of Texas at Austin.

Source: MEXICONOW Staff