EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Former El Paso city representative, county commissioner and longtime community volunteer Carl L. Robinson has died, Northeast City Rep. Joe Molinar confirmed Friday night, Dec. 22.

Robinson had been in declining health recently and was in his mid-70s. His exact age wasn’t immediately available.

Robinson represented Northeast El Paso on the City Council from 2009 to 2017, when he was ineligible to run for re-election because of term limits.

At the time of his election, he was just the third Black man to ever serve on the El Paso City Council.

Robinson, a Democrat, represented Precinct 4 on the El Paso County Commissioners Court from 2019 until leaving office on Jan. 1, 2023. In his bid for re-election, he lost in the Democratic primary in 2022 to Sergio Coronado who went on to win the seat in the general election.

Robinson grew up in Cleveland and served 25 years in the Army, retiring as a first sergeant. He was stationed at Fort Bliss three times and bought a house here during his first tour back in 1977. He also did two tours in Vietnam.

After leaving the Army, Robinson became a constant in Northeast El Paso, volunteering for numerous organizations. At the time of his election to his first term on the City Council, he served on the board of directors, a committee or was an officer with seven nonprofit agencies or civic groups in El Paso.

He was most well known for heading up the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Food Drive for many years.

The late Army Maj. Gen. John Oblinger, the commanding general for Fort Bliss from 1979 to 1982, worked with Robinson on the El Paso Salvation Army Advisory Board for at least 10 years.

Oblinger told the El Paso Times before Robinson started serving his first term on the City Council in 2009 that Robinson “always speaks from the heart.”

“He’s looking out for people, and he comes up with good ideas on how to do things. He’ll speak up if he doesn’t think something will work and that’s very helpful,” Oblinger said.

In politics, Robinson was a persistent though not always successful candidate. He lost City Council races in 2001, 2003 and 2005 before winning and earning his first term in 2009.

Twice he challenged John Cook for the Northeast City Council seat. Cook was on the council from 1999 until being elected mayor in 2005 and serving two terms.

“He’s shown he’s persistent,” Cook told the El Paso Times in 2009. “He takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”

Robinson said he was always a proud Black man, but told the El Paso Times in 2009: “I wasn’t elected to represent the African American community. I was elected to serve the community.”

Robinson continued to be active in the El Paso and Black communities after leaving Commissioners Court earlier in 2023.

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