EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 With Election Day next week, voters in El Paso\u2019s City Council District 8 will choose between incumbent Chris Canales and four challengers in a race that covers parts of downtown and West El Paso.<\/p>\n
Canales is seeking another term against Matthew Guzman, Arturo Alluin, Laura Ochoa-Todd and Johnny Gonzalez. A publicity photo for Gonzalez was not available.<\/p>\n
Asked about top priorities if elected, Canales pointed to ongoing plans and initiatives already underway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve put in place a lot things that we need to work on. A climate action plan, for example. Downtown, uptown, and surrounding neighborhoods plan for downtown revitalization,\u201d Canales said.<\/p>\n
Guzman said his first focus would be housing affordability, arguing the market has tightened since the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst is gonna be fixing the housing affordability issue. Since COVID-19, we’ve seen a huge block of our housing get locked into the low interest rates,\u201d Guzman said. \u201cThere’s only one way to get out of that situation and that’s to build more housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alluin said he would start with a comprehensive review of city spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy priorities are going to be initially to audit every single department so we know what’s happening with our money and so we as a community can decide what we want to do and how we want to prioritize our spending,\u201d Alluin said.<\/p>\n
Ochoa-Todd said street conditions and property taxes are among her top concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet’s fix the streets and roads already,\u201d Ochoa-Todd said. \u201cThey’re raising the taxes yearly, which has a lot of people very angry.\u201d She added, \u201cSo let’s solve that property tax situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
An attempt to reach Gonzalez for an interview was unsuccessful because no contact information could be found to request one.<\/p>\n
Early voting ends Friday. Election Day is Nov. 3.<\/p>\n
For all the information you need to know ahead of the election, visit this Election Guide. <\/a><\/p>\n