Yolanda L. Avila

How does your experience make you qualified to represent the people?

I have gained a great amount of institutional knowledge and experience by serving on the City Council for eight years. I am able to hit the ground running in balancing budgets and making land use decisions. As a city councilor I learned how all the departments served our city from public works, public safety, and parks and rec which are similar services that the county provides. I served on boards with El Paso County Commissioners such as; PPRTA, PPACG, the Airport Commission, and the El Paso County Board of Health. We made the decisions to fund capital projects throughout the city and county. I made sure to sit on these boards so my district would be well represented and invested in. I will carry this experience that culminated in positive results, forward to the El Paso County Commissioners District 5 seat. 

What are your top policy priorities?

Access to a fluid transportation system, affordable housing where people can live near where they work, and economic development and opportunity especially focusing on small businesses. 

What is one issue you think is being overlooked in this race, and how would you address it? 

The El Paso County Commissioners oversee the department of human services, which includes the El Paso County Board of Health department. This department is responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of all its residents. Their work with epidemics, including death by suicide is crucial. There are childhood diseases that were once a part of the past, and now are returning at alarming rates. The science is clear, it is our zip-codes that determine our health outcomes, not our DNA. Therefore it is imperative we build up this department instead of dismantling it. If the county does not invest in strengthening the El Paso County Health Department now, we will certainly pay for it on the backend.