Previous Deputy City Manager of El Paso, Dionne Mack has swiftly taken her seat in her new position as city manager.

Mack was one of four finalists running for the position, all of whom are current City of El Paso employees including Chief Financial Officer and Deputy City Manager for Internal Services Robert Cortinas, Deputy City Manager for Public Safety Mario D’Agostino, Community and Human Development Director Nicole Ferrini. 

The hiring process for the new city manager came after the termination of Tommy Gonzalez, who was fired in February 2023. Gonzalez served as the city manager for nine years and had a controversial duration in office including having a lucrative contract with the city in his first year on the job back in 2015.

Since then, Cary Westin, a former deputy city manager, served as the interim city manager while El Paso City Council looked for a replacement.

Following interviews with candidates, city council voted to hire Mack 6-2 last month. City Representatives Joe Molinar and Art Fierro voted in opposition.

As a deputy city manager for quality of life, Mack oversaw several of El Paso’s departments including zoos, public libraries, military affairs and police departments.

In her new position, Mack’s responsibilities include managing the city’s budget, directing and supervising administration of city departments, and reviewing and executing programs and policies selected by the mayor and city council and other officials.

Mack also saw a salary increase with her promotion to city manager. City council unanimously approved her $350,000 contract Aug. 27.

Mack received a base pay as the deputy city manager of quality of life of about $237,000. 

One big mission Mack has as city manager is creating a good relationship between the city’s citizens council to allow them to confide that their concerns are heard.

“As I went out to the community and had our various community meetings, it just became a theme that I heard about people talking about the quality of the service that we are delivering,” said Mack. “We know that people were talking about it being very frustrating to even try to navigate for the bureaucracy for the simplest things, and then those things taking a really long time for our team to be able to address.”

With a new system in place, Mack wants to create “heat maps” of what community services are being done and using those key performance indicators to allow the city’s budget to be more transparent, so citizens can know what their money is going towards.

“I want that information to then drive into our budget because people also said they don’t know how we spend our money,” said Mack. “People can then make the connection between what they are paying for that department, the result onto the community, and here are why those dollars are important.”

Regarding the “Sun Bowl Uplift,” that failed when it was proposed to county, Mack said that there has been no talk about the project from UTEP President Heather Wilson. 

Mack said she will soon meet with Wilson, to discuss how they will work together to strengthen the bond between the city and UTEP. 

“I have a meeting with (Wilson), next week so it’ll be our first meet and greet, and it will be an opportunity for us to talk about collaborative processes, and things we are working on,” said Mack. “I did meet with (Wilson) and her team several months ago, so I am familiar with the strategic plan for the organization in some of those key areas, so I look forward to aligning our priorities and making sure we are very clear on what those priorities are for the organization.”

To change the tide of graduate students leaving the city soon after they receive their degree, Mack said she is looking to create more job opportunities that tailor to different industries.

“As we talk about economic development, most of what we focus on is the type of jobs that come with those types of industries, I think we are bringing in some diversity in the types of industries that we are trying to move forward with,” said Mack. “I hope those are the types of things that will help people be able to stay here and not leave immediately.” 

Mack’s term will last until March 2, 2028, and will automatically renew to extend until March 2029.

Mack and the city will decide whether to renew the term or not. 

Sofia Sierra is the sports editor and may be reached at [email protected].