With the State of Texas planning to cut 8 billion dollars from statewide school districts, local area teachers, coaches, and recent graduates are beginning to look outside of the state for their next position in academics. Del Valle High School Conquistadores head football coach Jesse Perales, however, won’t be hitting the job trail; as a matter of fact, he’s even turning down jobs from other schools because of his love for his students and the city of El Paso.

One of the most exciting trends of our time is the increasing involvement of young people in politics. TSM would like to encourage your civic involvement in the May 14th El Paso City Council Elections.
We’ve provided a jump-start guide to the candidates here.

Many El Pasoans are familiar with the name Tom Brown. His reputation in both the civic and Christian communities sparks instant emotions which lie on polar opposite ends of the spectrum. His followers love him while many have expressed hate and anger towards his heightened presence in local political discourse.

“When someone from El Paso City Council or a leading businessman sits in a crowd of his peers and talks about it intelligently, people will feel comfortable in admitting that, “hey, I agree this isn’t going anywhere.” So my goal is to certainly continue doing this in El Paso, but what I really think is more important is that we have this conversation nationally. That was what we were trying to do, and in some degree, we succeeded.”

While impressive, the titles published author, poet, artist, public speaker, anti-bullying activist, jewelry designer, guitarist, charity fundraiser, high school sophomore, and El Pasoan only scratch the surface of this young girls depth and talent.

“When I first began volunteering my time, which eventually led to the establishment of The Women’s Fund of El Paso, I have to admit I was scared and not really sure what I had gotten myself into,” said Schwartz, “but I learned fairly quickly that if we are able to open our hearts to a global community of giving and open our eyes to the responsibility we have to the people around us, then we have the power to change lives.”

A conversation with Texas House Representative Naomi Gonzalez was quick, but powerful. In fact, after taking the oath of office in January of this year, it’s a wonder she even gave TSM any time at all. With her professional commitments and supplemental work with constituents, Gonzalez has become one busy Texas House Representative.

“I’ve been in politics for years, but when I first started, at the age of twenty, I was the youngster,” says Mica Espinoza, who is now the Vice President of Government Relations for the El Paso Chamber of Commerce. “I was discounted for that, but once I met with everyone and worked with them, it became irrelevant.”

Amor Por Juarez calls itself an awareness campaign and its bringsing attention to the impact violence in Juarez is having on the city and region’s young generation that is being lost in the drug war.

“Working in politics is exciting. I love seeing people get active in public service, and I’m very honored to try to promote new things in the community,” said Joe Moody, the youngest serving legislator in Texas, who also happens to be running for reelection as State Representative.