Renewing American Leadership

This Democratic Party Platform deals with foreign policy, which is also something you wouldn’t think Counties can do much about. However, I have always understood that living on the border with a foreign country creates a different dynamic for us in El Paso. I have become a true fronterizo, and I spend time on both sides of the border. I know the importance that Cd. Juarez has for El Paso, and vice versa. For this reason, since being elected, I have always pushed for more and better communication between elected officials in El Paso with our counterparts in Cd. Juarez. In 2018, my office put together a binational summit to not only try and create understanding of the different governmental systems in both communities, but to create a space to have deeper conversations about how we can collaborate better. Out of that summit came the idea to create a binational affairs coordinator position at El Paso County that will help structure a vehicle that can serve to perpetuate that communication and collaborative work. I am proud to say that the binational affairs coordinator position will be filled within a few months and that work will begin soon. It has been a long time in the making, but something for which the pandemic underscored the need. Whether it is having a more regional approach in attracting high paying jobs and creating economic development, or fomenting cross border healthcare, or working to mitigate the impending climate crisis, we all need to be on the same page, on both sides of the border.