El Paso City Council votes to hold special election for District 3 seat
EL PASO, Texas (CBS4) — El Paso City Council voted Tuesday to hold a special election to fill the District 3 seat.
The City Council voted to hold a special election for her position in November.
A Facebook post that read, “Cassandra Hernandez for mayor of El Paso” was posted on her public Facebook page.
The post was later deleted but it triggered that state of Texas resign-to-run law, which states that an elected official must resign from office after announcing a run for another seat.
Hernandez said she did not upload the post but one of her supporters did.
On Tuesday, she asked her colleagues to use their discretion and vote "no" and asked to be able to vote.
City leaders decided to hold a vote to see if they should be allowed to vote on the matter, it came to a tie and Mayor Dee Margo decided she should not vote.
“Your hands are not tied. I have given you sworn affidavits and the facts, along with the screenshots of what transpired, so just a picture of that Facebook post is not sufficient evidence,” Hernandez said.
“My constituents who are here today in the room are being disenfranchised of their representative. They have elected me to serve in this role. Now you have stripped me from my ability to vote on the matter. Calling this election sets a dangerous precedent,” she said.
During the discussion, City Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez held up a picture of the Facebook post.
She explained why she believes there is no exception to the situation.
“In this case, this individual was part of that team so, in essence, the buck stops with her,” Ordaz-Perez said.
Eight El Pasoans came and spoke in support of Hernandez.
Ordaz-Perez said Hernandez cannot run for her seat in the special election since she is under a holdover clause, meaning she is keeping the seat until her successor takes over.
Candidates can file for the election starting Tuesday until Sept. 26.
The fight for an El Paso city representative to keep her seat appears to be over after city leaders vote to move forward with a special election.
On Tuesday, the final decision was made about the fate of Councilwoman Cassandra Hernandez’s seat.
The City Council voted to hold a special election for her position in November.
A Facebook post that read, “Cassandra Hernandez for mayor of El Paso” was posted on her public Facebook page.
The post was later deleted but it triggered that state of Texas resign-to-run law, which states that an elected official must resign from office after announcing a run for another seat.
Hernandez said she did not upload the post but one of her supporters did.
On Tuesday, she asked her colleagues to use their discretion and vote "no" and asked to be able to vote.
City leaders decided to hold a vote to see if they should be allowed to vote on the matter, it came to a tie and Mayor Dee Margo decided she should not vote.
“Your hands are not tied. I have given you sworn affidavits and the facts, along with the screenshots of what transpired, so just a picture of that Facebook post is not sufficient evidence,” Hernandez said.
“My constituents who are here today in the room are being disenfranchised of their representative. They have elected me to serve in this role. Now you have stripped me from my ability to vote on the matter. Calling this election sets a dangerous precedent,” she said.
During the discussion, City Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez held up a picture of the Facebook post.
She explained why she believes there is no exception to the situation.
“In this case, this individual was part of that team so, in essence, the buck stops with her,” Ordaz-Perez said.
Eight El Pasoans came and spoke in support of Hernandez.
Ordaz-Perez said Hernandez cannot run for her seat in the special election since she is under a holdover clause, meaning she is keeping the seat until her successor takes over.
Candidates can file for the election starting Tuesday until Sept. 26.
