What El Paso Missed and What It May Be Getting

What fracking has done to the land around Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Please read Robert Gray's excellent story posted online on July 27th by El Paso Inc.: New tax credit sparks activity across state: El Paso’s historic survey debate gets attention. It's about the benefits of having historic districts have been in Georgetown and Waxahahie, Texas. It's also about El Paso's City Council saying "no thanks" to do an historic survey which leads to having an historic district which is both a plus for building owners when they remodel and a huge plus for the city's economy with ecotourism and a revitalized downtown. 

Gray gives a balanced view and gives a building owner's point about low rents in El Paso. (That can change.) I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: City Council's rejection of this gift of an historic survey is not because they don't see that an historic district can help revitalize downtown and draw more revenue to the city; their main concern is having an arena downtown that will fill 12 square city blocks.

Also read Gray's equally excellent story posted online today: Shale Oil in Hudspeth County? Results show possible ‘oil field discovery’. Be sure that you check out the images for the story. (I'm betting an elpasonaturally post led Gray to get more information.)

One of the more telling lines in the story I am hoping came from Torchlight Energy Resources COO, Willard McAndrew and not from Gray: "The Orogrande Prospect stretches from the Hueco Mountains to the Cornudas Mountains, and on the surface, it looks like empty desert grassland."

Empty desert grassland? Tell that to the pronghorn sheep, the unique species of yucca, and all the other plants and wildlife. Soon our view as we drive from El Paso to the Guadalupe Mountains will be like the picture at the top of this post. 

Would City Council pass a resolution opposing fracking next to El Paso - the kind of operation that may compromise our drinking water once EPWU begins importing more water from Hudspeth County? Our County Commissioners passed such a resolution. Our City Council rejected it.

An arena and fracking. El Paso - it's all good.


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Impressions of a Farce: City Council Rejects Historical Survey

As did many others, I sat for nearly 4 hours yesterday at the special City Council meeting regarding accepting grant money to conduct a survey that could have led to El Paso's downtown being declared a National Historic District. Council rejected the survey which is what they could have done in 5 minutes instead of four hours. (The extra hours did give Romero time to text and Robinson to sleep.) All the rest was a smoke screen and a forum for Cortney Niland's loud tirades. (CN gets the Ethel Merman Award for Ranting.)

In a post after this one I will publish some of Max Grossman's comments from Facebook. For this post, here are some of my impressions:

First, City Council reps are smart people (well - most of them). They know full well that an historical survey comes with no strings attached. They know full well that El Paso's downtown becoming a National Historic District would not place any restrictions on what a property owner could do with his/her building. They know that a Local Historic District does come with some restrictions - but that wasn't the subject. They also know that having a National Historic District means that a building owner can receive 45% of project costs from state and federal sources for restoring a building. They know this. Cortney kept using the carrot and the stick analogy saying that she wants incentives not mandates when that 45% would have been a really great incentive. So why was there a chorus of fear? The survey will lead to restrictions! It will be a mandate and not an incentive! Building owners don't understand! (They do. Their bright people too.) Why? Because there is another agenda. More on that in a moment.

Next there was also the fear-mongering about the trolley. Oh my gosh, we have this big, expensive trolley project about to start and we don't want to stress out downtown property owners any more than we have already. Give me a break. The trolley was a red herring. Why? Because there is another agenda. More on that in a moment. 

Third, Redevelopment Director, Jessica Hererra, took the fall I'm sure at the direction of T-Rex (Tommy Gonzalez). Over and over she restated that the survey came with no restrictions but over and over she restated that the City had not gotten buy in from property owners - that they had not been nor had Council been adequately informed and it was her department's fault and now we had to go about it differently. (She knows that yesterday's vote kills the survey and the Historic District no matter how much pretended communication there is now.) I'll let my next post of Grossman's comments elaborate further. Again, the aim was not to give time to better inform others and then come back and maybe do a survey later. The aim was to shoot down the survey altogether. Again, why? Because there is another agenda. More on that in a moment.

From the very beginning, Niland insisted that the Mayor ask each speaker from the public to identify whether he or she was a "stakeholder" - i.e., a property owner downtown. This was demagoguery. Fortunately, most speakers identified themselves as stakeholders by virtue of being taxpayers and sharing a common heritage with all El Pasoans which includes downtown. Certainly property owners have rights. They also, as do all of us, have a duty to the community as members of that community. As a traditional conservative I hold these values dear. Niland's Ayn Randish definition was intended to further the aim of her stakeholders (i.e., Mayoral voters in 2017): the ones who have another agenda. More on that in a moment.

Finally, although some in the preservation community won't, I will cut Peter Svarzbein some slack. He voted with the majority to reject the grant. But that wasn't all of the motion. The motion also called for having staff work with Niland's "stakeholders" and preservation advocates and come back with a recommendation. I want to believe - I do believe - that Svarzbein believed that a survey is still a possibility as well as having a National Historic District. I watched him agonize. I admired what I saw was someone trying to weigh all sides. I especially saw someone with a heart who seeks collaboration and communication. What he failed to recognize is that the point of yesterday's farce by Niland, the Downtown Management people, Tanny Berg, Joe Gudenrath, T-Rex and his staff was to shut down the survey and an Historic District altogether. Why? Well here's my speculation:

What's the hidden agenda? My speculation may be wrong. However, there is a hidden agenda. Remember that new arena? It must be only so far from the civic center. That doesn't give too much latitude and it points to downtown. I understand that the arena's footprint is around 12 blocks. This means that there is a mega-million dollar deal that will benefit a number of downtown building owners. A National Historic District would, in their minds, threaten that. Our Ethel Merman recipient and her cohorts wanted one thing: kill even the possibility of an Historic District. They succeeded.

P.S. Thank you Claudia Ordaz and Lily Limon for your "no" votes. You wouldn't vote for a motion that killed the survey. You got the farce.

P.P.S. I owe Larry Romero an apology. As I was walking up the stairs to the Council meeting yesterday, Romero was passing by above the steps. Out of civility and courtesy I said "hi". He shunned me. This is my City Council Representative!? So, Larry, I'm sorry. I forgot that not only are you a do-nothing dud whose only moment of near eloquence in a council meeting was your defense of pay day predators, you are also a detestable and despicable figure. I'm sorry for forgetting. I'll remember next time.


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Documents Supporting Historic Survey Grant

This coming Monday, City Council will meet to discuss (and possibly take action) on accepting a grant to do an historic survey of downtown so that the El Paso downtown can be nominated for National Registry status and become a National Historic District. Becoming such does not obligate any owner to do anything. If an owner chooses to restore a building to its historic integrity, then she would have access to 45% of the project costs.

Please try to attend the meeting on June 20 at 9PM at City Hall. Please also consider contacting your city representative. A contact list is HERE.

Documents supporting seeking National Registry status can be found with links below. Peruse or read them thoroughly. You will easily see the advantage of having our downtown become a National Historic District.

The documents in the folder with link above are:

April 29, 2015 letter from Senator José Rodríguez to the Mayor and City Council supporting an historic preservation policy.

May 28, 2015 letter from Adair Margo supporting a National Historic District for downtown El Paso.

Letter from Steve Sandowsky, Historic Preservation Officer of Austin, TX supporting the survey.

Office of Economic Development, Dallas Texas report

Dallas Downtown Connection TIF District 2014 Annual Report

Letter from Eric Liefeld, President of the Mesilla Valley Preservation, Inc. urging Mayor and City Council and City Manager to value historical buildings in El Paso.

Letter to Max Grossman from Lloyd C. Engelbrecht, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati urging the historic survey.

Letter from Mark Wolfe, TX Historic Commission, pointing out the rich heritage El Paso has in its downtown historic buildings.

Letter from Catherine Gorman, Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Galveston touting their experience. [I've been there on a weeknight and the areas are crowded.]

Historic Preservation Essential to the Economy and Quality of Life in San Antonio, Feb. 18, 2015

Letter from David Bush, Deputy Directory of Preservation Houston giving financial benefits of having an Historic District.

Letter from Shanon Shea Miller, Historic Preservation Officer of San Antonio giving financial benefits of having an Historic District.

Letter from Leah Wood, President of Sunset Heights Neighborhood Improvement Association, urging El Paso to be pro-active and preserve history.

Letter from Geoffrey Wright, Wright and Dalbin Architects, Inc. of El Paso strongly supporting the creation of a national historic district in downtown El Paso.


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Council to Discuss Historic Survey Grant

Street sign in the Congress Avenue Historic District in Austin, Texas

Should downtown El Paso become a National Historic District, here are the facts:

If you are a building owner of a building on the national registry and you want to tear it down, put up a parking lot or build something new, YOU CAN. It's your property.

If you are a building owner and want to update your property without preserving the historic character, YOU CAN. It's your property.

If you are a building owner and want to restore the building to its historic character (while updating the inside), YOU CAN. And you can get 45% of the project cost to do so!

It's all up to the property owner. Period. If indeed you want to preserve an historic building that you own and refurbish it to maintain the historic integrity, you will have to follow some rigorous requirements. But you get 45% of the project cost. That's up from just 20% available when the Mills Building was 
redone.

Not only does a National Registry National Historic District mean money in the pockets of building owners, it means money in the pockets of the city. According to Shannon Shea Miller, the Historic Preservation Officer of San Antonio:

"[o]ur historic downtown has contributte greatly to the heritage tourism industry that supports our local economy . . . The income generated by visitors has an overall economic impact of more than $12 billion and employment generated by the tourism industry tops 112,000 jobs. Most of these visitors are staying, eating and shopping Downtown."

So why did the executive director of the El Paso Downtown Development District Joe Gudenrath call City Manager Tommy Gonzalez and Gonzalez then order the return of grant money to do an historic survey that would have led to an Historic Register District, 45% of project money to willing owners and billions of dollars in heritage tourism for the city?

Not only does it not make sense BUT it doesn't make sense that the City Manager took it upon himself to return the money rather than letting City Council make that decision as Rep. Claudia Ordaz argues. (See Why didn’t City Council decide? Historic survey funds returned without rep vote in last weekend's El Paso Inc.)

According to an El Paso Times story "the Downtown Management District said it opposes the survey because 'the simple act of preserving historical buildings does not advance the DMD's goals of revitalizing Downtown El Paso and discourages other investment.'

What other investment? What's the hidden agenda?

Apparently there has been enough outcry to place the grant on next Monday's City Council agenda. 

elpasonaturally has much more to say about this particular item. For now, here is a message from Max Grossman, Vice-Chair, El Paso County Historical Commission:

We just learned that our plan to conduct an architectural survey of downtown El Paso and establish a national historic district there is not dead after all! On Monday, City Council, Mayor Leeser and City Manager Gonzalez will meet and decide once and for all whether to move forward with our plan or terminate it completely.

Please write to the them IMMEDIATELY and express your support:

district1@elpasotexas.gov; district2@elpasotexas.gov;district3@elpasotexas.gov; district4@elpasotexas.gov;district5@elpasotexas.gov; district6@elpasotexas.gov;district7@elpasotexas.gov; district8@elpasotexas.gov;mayor@elpasotexas.gov; tgonzalez@elpasotexas.gov

I just sent a letter on behalf of the El Paso County Historical Commission (below). Please make certain that your own letter is productive and positive. For background information, see the two recent front-page reports:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_28459519/city-el-paso-give-back-texas-historical-commission
http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/article_35bf4106-2977-11e5-a92a-f74d7cb7c552.html

Feel free to share your letter with us as a Facebook message.

Many thanks,


Max


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