Casey Williams

Casey Williams

Education

High school

Maxine L. Silva Health Magnet High School for Healthcare Professions

Associate

El Paso Community College

Bachelor's

University of Texas, El Paso

Law

Texas Tech University

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Personal website

Casey "Antonio" Williams was a candidate for District 3 representative on the El Paso City Council in Texas. He was defeated in the general election on May 6, 2017.

Although city council elections in El Paso are officially nonpartisan, Williams has served on the Texas Democratic Party's State Democratic Executive Committee, as the president of the El Paso Stonewall Young Democrats, and as a member of multiple Democratic groups.

Biography

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Williams earned an A.A. in speech communication from El Paso Community College, a B.A. in communication from the University of Texas at El Paso, and a J.D. from the Texas Tech University School of Law.

At the time of his 2017 run for office, Williams owned his own law firm, Antonio Williams, Esq., Attorney at Law. His professional experience includes work as an associate attorney for Rocha Grenier & Associates, a law graduate for the Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, an immigration law intern for the Spurgin Law Firm, and a court clerk for the El Paso County district clerk's office.

Williams has served on the Texas Democratic Party's State Democratic Executive Committee, as the president of the El Paso Stonewall Young Democrats, and as a member of the El Paso Stonewall Democrats, the Black El Paso Democrats, the Paso Del Norte Tejano Democrats, the Westside Democrats, and the Eastside Democrats. He has also served as vice chair of the City of El Paso Civil Service Commission and a member of the City of El Paso Ad Hoc Charter Committee.

Elections

2017

See also: Municipal elections in El Paso, Texas (2017)

Cassandra Hernandez-Brown and Jaime Barceleau defeated Casey Williams, Elias Camacho, and Louis Pellicano in the general election for the District 3 seat on the El Paso City Council.

El Paso City Council, District 3 General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Cassandra Hernandez-Brown	37.80%	1,926
Jaime Barceleau	29.72%	1,514
Casey Williams	16.07%	819
Elias Camacho	11.80%	601
Louis Pellicano	4.61%	235
Total Votes		5,095
Source: El Paso County Elections, "Official Final Election Results," accessed May 23, 2017

Campaign themes

2017

Williams' campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“	Accountability City Manager's Office Implement Contract Term Limits for the City Manager---The City Manager's office is an important part of our city government since we instituted this change in our local government several years ago. However, like most City Government structures and policies, the City Manager's office remains an area of opportunity for the City of El Paso to improve upon. As a Candidate, I strongly believe--like many constituents in our district--that our city government must implement better accountability standards for our City Manager form of Government. As such, I believe that implementing Contract Term Limits for the City Manager will serve as an accessible remedy for the people of El Paso to ensure diversity in the leadership of our City Managers's office throughout the years to come, and will also serve as a reliably safe legal opportunity to hold the unelected position of the City Manager's position accountable with a natural break in the contract for the City Manager. If our City Council implements a contract term limit policy on the City Manager's Position, I would seek to have each contract made with the City Manager terminate after 4 years with an option for renewal; and also ask for an overall contract term limit not to exceed 8 years. These term limits would serve to ensure that the Council has an accessible way to try a different City Manager if they are unsatisfied with the City Manager's work after a term of 4 years--without the risk of litigation-- and would also ensure that our City Council has a good faith opportunity to evaluate the City Manager's performance and to hold the City Manager accountable in a meaningful way--where great performance by the City Manager encourages a contract renewal from City Council, and where less than great performance will encourage the non-renewal of the City Manager's Contract by City Council. Mayor and Council Substantially increase the power of Mayor and Council to hold City Department Heads Accountability--The current structure of the City Manager form of government creates a dsyfunctional zero-sum game between the Mayor and Council and the City Manager, because the idea that the City Manager is the Council's only employee creates an extraordinary bottle-neck for our elected leaders to hold City Department Heads accountable for negligent, illegal, or poor performance. If elected, I would push for reforms that empower the Mayor with the ability to terminate department heads for good cause with the right of appeal before City Council--without the Mayor's vote--where Council with a 3/4th's Majority can vote to overturn a termination initiated by the Mayor. This reform would empower the Mayor and Council with the strength they need to hold the City Manager's authority in check in a way that's meaningful for the people of El Paso, because their elected leadership would have a hand in holding City Officials accountable in a more effective way. City Attorney's Office Substantially increase the power of voters to hold the City Attorney Accountable--As our city continues to grow and engages in the reforms it needs to bring in new business and new construction projects for the city, there has been a great deal of discord among our constituents about the manner in which our city's contracts have been formed, executed, defended, and litigated by our City Attorney. Additionally, several issues regarding the quality of legal counsel our City Council have received from our City Attorney continue to be a lighting rod of controversy each time an allegation is made against our City's Mayor and Council about the manner in which in conducts the City's business. The need to have a City Attorney who is able to act independently and ethically and who is directly accountable to the people of El Paso is a paramount priority for restoring the people's confidence in City government. In light of as much, if elected, I will push very hard for reforms to our City Charter that will allow our City Attorney to be directly elected by the people of El Paso. City Police Chief Substantially increase the power of voters to hold the City Police Chief Accountable--our city has had a long history of civil rights struggles with the city government over the last 60 years. As our nation, state, and local city government continue to improve their efforts to ensure the safety of the public while Constitutionally balancing the fundamental rights of the people it protects, a sincere conversation must be made about the importance of having our City Police Chiefs being directly elected by the people of El Paso in the future. Local law enforcement benefits from a direct rapport with the people they are sworn to serve and to protect, and elections do not undermine the quality of law enforcement in our community. Our County Sheriff's office, for example, is an elected office and is more accountable and enjoys better relations with the general public because of the elimination of the democratic deficit caused by a police chief who is appointed by Council and not directly elected by the people of El Paso. In light of as much, if elected, I will push very hard for reforms to our City Charter that will allow our City Police Chief to be Directly elected by the people of El Paso. Transparency Ombudsman's Office for City Government Establish an Ombudsman's Office for City Government--One of the biggest challenges for city government, I have learned after serving on its Civil Service Commission for more than two years, is that the city lacks the personal, objectivity, and resources it needs to conduct thorough investigations of its employees, supervisors, department heads, processes, and elected official's business. The City's Human Resources Department, which is tasked with hundreds of other responsibilities for the city, has testified in our Civil Service Commission meetings to the challenges it has in collecting data and investigating claims of wrong doing in coalition with the City Attorney's office in a manner that's timely and comprehensive, because of limited resources. This is a challenge for all that are involved, especially for the general public and the employees, who feel that the Human Resources Department and City Attorney's office is beholden to the biases of the City Manager and cannot objectively criticize, investigate, or report on the wrong doing that takes place within the City Government in a consistently fair, holistic, reliable, and timely manner. In light of as much, and if I am elected, I will work with Council to create an independent Ombudsman's Office for City Government--which will answer only to City Council and which will be tasked with the responsibility to investigate all grievances, issues, and concerns of any city employee or any member of the general public. After the investigation has been made, the Ombudsman's office will make recommendations to the elected official, office, or appropriate body or commission it deems necessary to ameliorate the concern. The creation of this office will ensure fundamental fairness at all levels of city government and can later serve as a clearinghouse of information for the effectiveness of city government, thereby bearing the potential to save the city thousands of dollars each years. City Council Meeting Times Move City Council Meeting Times to at least one meeting a month in the evening--A very large and important criticism of city government is that it is very difficult for people to participate in the public comment portions of the council meetings--which are a vital link between Council and the General Public--because the City Council Meetings are held at the most inconvenient hours of the day: Tuesday mornings. This is unacceptable. The input of the general public in city business is vital for maintaining confidence and transparency in city government. As such, if elected, I will push for reforms to our City Meeting times, where we will be given an opportunity to meet at a reasonable hour in the evening during the work week when most people in El Paso are more available to attend and participate in the decision making process of City Government. Interactive Community Meetings Hold Interactive Community Meetings once a month--If elected I would like to hold interactive community meetings with the district once a month. The way this meeting would differ from most community meetings is that I would not bring a guest speaker to the meeting to lecture you about a topic; instead, I would like to allow the general public to submit requests to build an interactive agenda where I can group issues together with a common theme and then discuss them with you during our meeting. The people in my district would receive notice of the agenda for our meeting and the time and place, and we as a district can have a frank and meaningful conversation about how to address your concerns in our district on a monthly basis. I am open the idea of creating a District 3 Community Relations Board where the leadership of each Neighborhood Association can sit along with me as Representative to hear items placed on the agenda and collectively decide what actions we should take on behalf of our District at the city level. Quality of Life Improve accountability and completion times for City Quality of Life Projects and Construction Projects Another consistent grievance our district residents have expressed to me, and which I also share with our residents, is the frustration we share about how the city completes its construction projects and how it holds those responsible for those projects when they are not completed on time. All of the reforms that I propose in the Accountability section of my priorities directly address substantive ways in which we can improve accountability for our City's projects, but I also want to state that as your Representative, if elected, I will personally do everything that I can, the way I have served on the Civil Service Commission, to ensure that our district gets the answers it demands about the completion of our construction projects over our roads, quality of life projects, and transportation projects--and that we hold those accountable who are responsible for any delays that have cost the taxpayers money or anyone in our district unnecessary pain, delay, or inconvenience. Sustainability Solar Power Substantially increase the use of Solar Power over City Buildings--Many cities throughout the United States and the world have already begun to look for cost-effective strategies to use green-energy reforms to drive down the cost of conducting business. Our own city has taken several of those steps with the use of natural gas for its City buses, its recycling program for waste and water, and other city wide green projects. Solar energy is one of El Paso's most abundant resources. The time has arrived to make the most use of our most abundant resource for use in our City Buildings and also lead by example with green energy reforms for the rest of the City of El Paso. Solar power use for our city buildings has the potential save the city thousands of dollars each year and to also help create a surplus of energy that can help residents living in El Paso who rely on traditional forms of energy for electricity. If elected to office, I will strongly encourage the use of solar power energy on every building owned by the City of El Paso. Wind Power Explore the use of wind power for City buildings and infrastructure--Another benefit of living in the desert is the abundance of wind energy, which is nearly as abundant as our own solar power. The city has the potential to help lead the way with green-energy reform--which helps to create jobs and to work against climate change--by exploring options to add wind power as alternative power source for electricity for city buildings and energy. If elected, I will work very hard to encourage the City of El Paso to explore wind energy as alternative green energy source for city buildings and infrastructure. Flood Control Improve flood control for the City of El Paso--Although El Paso has long been held as the Sun City for many many years, when it rains in El Paso, we have also learned, it pours. Combating flooding for the city from torrentuous rains has been perennial concern for the city of El Paso. Many homes located in the lower valley of district 3 have battled issues that accompany flooding for decades. If elected to office, I will work very hard with the City and our State Delegation to get the funding we need to continue to improve the flood controls we have available to address the flooding that occurs after our heavy rains throughout our district. On the Arena: I do not support building the Arena in Durangito. I believe the City should build the Arena on the property it owns at Cohen Stadium in the Northeast for the following reasons: I do not support displacing anyone from one of the poorest zipcodes in the United States--whether they rent or own the homes they live in--when the City has a viable property it can build the Arena in at a location that will not displace anyone and will not require any usage of Eminent Domain. Despite the language of the ordinance authorizing the Arena on the ballot, the language the voters voted on in the Election of November 6, 2012, never specified downtown as the exclusive location for the Arena to be built. The Northeast generally supports building the Arena at Cohen Stadium--as a means to stimulate commerce and attract tourism to the Northeast. The site at Cohen Stadium is better suited to handle traffic into and out of the Arena if it were built at Cohen Stadium and not downtown.	”
—Antonio Williams' campaign website, (2017)

Endorsements

2017

Williams received endorsements from the following in 2017:

• American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
• Black El Paso Democrats
• Eastside Democrats
• El Paso History Alliance
• El Paso Northeast Democrats
• El Paso Queer Bar Association
• Paso Del Norte Tejano Democrats

See also

El Paso, Texas	Texas	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

Suggest a link

• City of El Paso
• Campaign website
• Social media
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