Commentary: It has been two days since the El Paso City Council deleted an agenda item by city Rep. CissyLizarraga to issue a 90-day moratorium on the threat of demolition in violation of a court order in the neighborhood of Duranguito.
By deleted the item, the City Council was able to avoid a transparent discussion about its role in driving the illegal attempt at demolition of buildings in violation of a court order, and its complicity in the ongoing imminent threat of demolition in violation of that order.
Four members of our state delegation wrote a letter, which the city still has not responded to, that presented a way to allow the court processes to continue without the threat of demolition. That is to maintain a police presence to ensure the property owners do not once again attempt to sneak into the neighborhood and damage the buildings further, to stabilize the buildings from further damage, to remove the city requirement that the buildings be demolished before they close on the purchase of the properties. The Bishop of the El Paso Catholic Diocese, whose representative initially was not even allowed to read his letter, also asked for security and stabilization of the buildings.
Again, by deleting the item, the city avoided any discussion, and it still has not responded to these requests. Further, based on news reports, the property owners are threatening to sue the city for not allowing demolition. This is nonsensical. The city is in control of this entire situation because of the clause in the purchase agreement requiring demolition before closing on the purchase. They are clearly colluding with the property owners in a desperate attempt to avoid owning the buildings. We believe this is because the Antiquities Act would require the city to go through an evaluation process that would prove once again the historic significant of the neighborhood and many of its buildings, and it is trying to avoid that inquiry. They are in complete control of this process and all they have to do is remove the demolition stipulation to reduce the imminent threat of demolition while the court processes, which the city has lost at every turn, continue.
This community is an undisputed precious cultural resource and the mad rush to demolition is unwise given the ongoing legal process, which we believe will be resolved in the favor of Duranguito. There is no reason for demolition prior to conclusion of this process, other than to render the legal process moot. This is not how a city government should behave.
That process includes two rounds of petitions that garnered more than 4,600 signatures and it includes ongoing litigation, for which there is a COURT ORDER for the City prohibiting demolition. Regardless of how one feels about an arena, it is simply not acceptable for the city to wink and nod with the property owners to demolish in violation of a court order. The City is not above the law.
In addition to the neighborhood advocates, as stated previously, members of the state delegation wrote a letter to the city asking for police presence and stabilization of buildings, and also asked for removal of the demolition stipulation for the City to close on properties. The delegation also called upon the city to be responsive to residents who ask for a full accounting of what orders were given to whom and when during the police siege and illegal demolition attempts on Monday and Tuesday.
We hereby ask the city to release all communications between the City Attorney, City Manager, Mayor, and the Chief of Police on Monday, Sept. 11, and Tuesday, Sept 12.
It is important for the public to understand that among the many lies spread by the city, now amplified by an announced $400,000 ad campaign by the sports events company behind the arena proposal, is that the neighborhood has no historical or cultural value. In fact, it was the first platted (mapped with streets) neighborhood, and can be considered the birthplace of modern, urban El Paso. It was a railroad community, a central sport for the Chinese community, and a Mexican immigrant community. It is of a piece with the special core neighborhoods surrounding Downtown, from Magoffin to Segundo Barrio and Chihuahuita to San Francisco and Sunset Heights.
Demolishing this neighborhood for a sports arena is bad urban planning, poor economic development, and anti-neighborhood. It is not true progress, but rather a “regressive” progress based on false and misleading premises.
The City instead has an opportunity for an Old Town attraction in Duranguito that preserves the history, the people, and the place, while adding to the economic development taking place in and around Downtown in a people-centered way.
However, before that conversation can even take place, a conversation the City is attempting to forestall by demolishing the neighborhood, the damaged buildings must be shored up and protected until public and legal processes play out. The city apparently has no faith in its position, or it would not be rushing to demolish at all costs. This alone should give every citizen pause.
Again, we call upon the city to:
• Maintain the needed police presence to secure the neighborhood
• Stabilize damaged buildings so that no further damage takes place until the issues are lawfully resolved.
• Remove the city-required demolition stipulation for the sale of the buildings to close. The city could simply remove this requirement from its contract, purchase the properties, and follows the lawful processes. Instead, it is trying to “outsource” the demolition, as though it had no control over the situation.
• Provide accounting of who gave what orders and when to police during the siege and illegal demolition.
Supporters of Duranguito include the following groups:
Paso del Sur
Border Network for Human Rights
Fr. Rafael Garcia
West Fund
El Paso Equal Voice Network
Former city Rep. Lilly Limon
Mexican American Cultural Institute (MACI)
Task Force for Social Justice in Public Education
Velo Paso Bicycle Pedestrian Coalition
Carambola Community Music
Education Not Deportation
DSA El Chuco del Norte
YDS at UTEP
Casa Tabor
Monsignor Arturo Banuelas
Austin Terrace Historic Neighborhood Association
Lincoln Park Conservation Committee
Tejano Greens
Augment El Paso
Desert ADAPT
Centro de Los Trabajadores Agrícolas (CTAF)
MEChA del Chuco (UTEP)
L@s Fromteriz@s
Causa Unidos
Autonomous Berets
Centro Sin Fronteras Organizing Project Mesa Directiva
Association of Applied Border History (AABH)
Soñando Juntos