EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said the pace of leading the city over the past 16 months has been faster and busier than he expected.
In a sit-down interview with KTSM’s Andy Morgan, Johnson reflected on his time in office and the priorities that continue to shape his administration.
El Paso Mayor Johnson focused on tax relief via growth
“We’ve been busy, my administration has been busy,” Johnson said.
Johnson campaigned on four major pillars:
Economic developmentInfrastructureQuality of lifePublic safety
He said none of the four areas is easier to tackle than another because they all work together. He pointed to the recent BTS concert weekend in El Paso as an example of how the city’s priorities connect.
Early estimates indicate the weekend generated approximately $75 million for the local economy.
(KTSM)
When asked about concerns over rising home evaluations, Johnson acknowledged residents are feeling pressure and said solutions will take time.
“It takes time,” Johnson said. He said attracting more commercial-based businesses to El Paso remains part of the long-term strategy to help ease the burden on homeowners.
City has ‘defined remedies’ if Meta doesn’t meet contract on data center
The mayor also addressed concerns surrounding large data centers potentially moving into El Paso and the impact they could have on local resources.
Johnson said City Council has worked to ensure protections are in place for residents.
“This city council has been very active in making sure we protect El Pasoans against large data centers that would want to move into El Paso,” Johnson said.
Construction begins at Northeast El Paso Meta data center. Photo courtesy of Meta.
City joins County in plan to keep Deck Plaza plan alive
Johnson also discussed the proposed Deck Plaza project and why he believes future generations should have the option to move forward with it.
“If we want to give the future generation the decision if they want to put in a deck plaza in 10 or 15 years, that they at least have the opportunity,” Johnson said.
He added that El Paso has outgrown San Jacinto Plaza.
El Paso ranked as No. 2 large city to live in across the nation
Watch more of Andy Morgan’s conversation with Mayor Renard Johnson on the KTSM+ app.The free streaming app is available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Samsung Smart TVs, where viewers can watch live newscasts and original KTSM programming on demand.
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