Discussion and action directing the City Attorney, in collaboration with the City Manager as necessary and with the assistance of El Paso Water Public Service Board General Counsel as offered, to prepare and present for City Council consideration an ordinance requiring that any commercial solicitation distributed within the City of El Paso related to water quality, water safety, water testing, wat

Staff Report & Agenda Item Details

Discussion and action directing the City Attorney, in collaboration with the City Manager as necessary and with the assistance of El Paso Water Public Service Board General Counsel as offered, to prepare and present for City Council consideration an ordinance requiring that any commercial solicitation distributed within the City of El Paso related to water quality, water safety, water testing, water treatment, water filtration, or any service that represents, directly or indirectly, that it evaluates, affects, or improves water quality, safety, or compliance with public health standards include a clear and conspicuous disclosure identifying the business responsible for the solicitation and stating that the business is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency or public utility. For purposes of this ordinance, “commercial solicitation” means any written, printed, digital, or in-person communication primarily intended to advertise, market, or sell a product or service to residents. The proposed ordinance shall, at a minimum: 1) Require that the disclosure include language stating substantially the following: “This is an advertisement for a product or service by [Company Name]. This business is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency or public utility provider.” The ordinance may allow for substantially similar language that conveys the same meaning. 2) Require that the disclosure also include: (a) the full legal name of the business responsible for the solicitation; (b) any assumed name or “doing business as” (DBA) name used in the solicitation; (c) the business’s physical or mailing address; and (d) a valid business contact method, which shall include a telephone number or email address through which the business can be directly contacted by the recipient; a website alone shall not satisfy this requirement. The information provided must be sufficient to reasonably identify and contact the responsible party and shall not be false, misleading, or designed to obscure the identity of the business. 3) Require that the disclosure be clear and conspicuous, printed in a font size no smaller than the primary body text of the solicitation; in a contrasting color for legibility; and placed prominently on the face of any flyer, mailer, door hanger, or other written, printed, or digital solicitation, or, for digital formats, at the beginning of the communication or in a location immediately visible to the recipient without requiring scrolling or interaction. 4) Require that the disclosure appear in every language used in the solicitation. The ordinance shall include a Spanish-language version of the disclosure as guidance, such as: “Este es un anuncio de un producto o servicio de [Nombre de la empresa]. Esta empresa no está afiliada ni respaldada por ninguna agencia gubernamental ni proveedor de servicios públicos.” The ordinance shall further require that, when any language other than English appears in

This motion is scored as RESTRAINS_GOVERNMENT (Impact Weight: 6.8/10). Under the Bastiat Liberty Watchdog Index, voting YES on measures that cap or reduce ad valorem tax burdens, expand taxpayer exemptions, retire debt early, enforce competitive bidding caps, or remove regulatory/zoning barriers to private property rights earns a positive Pro-Liberty score.