Let's Play Ball!

How exactly did El Paso chart a path from economic powerhouse of the southwest through the 1950s to low wage capital of the nation by the end of the century? My hunch: we traded in our ambition, getting hooked instead on an economic model where business feasted off of low wage labor with an eye towards retiring out of town. Guys that retire out of town with their loot aren't likely to want to invest big in the town that they are planning on leaving behind. Pretty soon El Paso became a city that was all too easy to leave behind.

I have seen many fits and starts of El Paso leadership trying to dig a way out from the bottom, and I have learned one very important thing: the public dollar can't do all the digging. If we move forward, if we increase wages, if we invest in the dynamo that we want downtown to be, if we build ourselves back into the role of economic powerhouse of the southwest, we only do it with private capital taking as much risk as public capital. Every city with a great story of economic re-birth had private investors and business leaders lined up along side public, civic and non-profit leadership.

We started this century ready to recapture our ambition for our community with elected and civic leaders making a case for big change. Why resign ourselves to low wages and poor quality of life? Why export our most talented and educated young people? We didn't lack for hope or vision or ambition or ideas on how to dig ourselves out, but we fell short on developing those critical partnerships with business leadership and private investors that create competitive cities.

Developers hoped that talk of smart growth and development paying for itself would be cured with the next election cycle, rather than figuring out how to move towards a development pattern that met the community's goals. Heavy public investment in the Union Entertainment District was not matched with similar enthusiasm from the private sector. Beautiful new tree lined streets with new park benches and historic street lights only seemed to amplify the meager private investment and the vacant buildings. The Border Health Institute turned Medical Center of the Americas that was supposed to grow into a transformative economic engine churning out high paying jobs languished and at times seemed on the point of collapse with only elected officials championing the business case.

That's changing. In the last five years, business leadership and private investors seem more willing than ever to take a chance on El Paso and the vision for change that the public has been mapping out through the last decade. Richard Aguilar and EPT bucked the development trend and all the naysayers (most of them developers) and are investing big in Smart Code with the 292 acre Montecillo Development. Other landowners and developers are starting to follow suit. The Medical Center of the Americas can now count on many private sector champions lined up to invest time and money and heartache in a dream of high wage, high value economic development for our region.

And then there is downtown. In a bolt of frenzied civic process, the public rallied for and railed against a Downtown Plan proposed by the Paso del Norte Group. The plan was adopted in 2006 and ever since the private sector has worked with the city to implement. While implementation looks nothing like the adopted plan, it certainly meets the public spirit and even some of the concern that shaped it. Investors big and small, private and non-profit have been building housing, night life, restaurants, events and offices. It is a work in progress but I have much more confidence that it will get done because the private sector is all in.

Which brings me to the baseball park. The hotly debated downtown plan envisioned five economic drivers that would bring people from all over the region to Downtown. One of these drivers was an arena or large event facility. People would come from Juarez, the Northeast, Las Cruces, the Mission Valley... to enjoy a great event hosted in the facility. Too early to go home, they would stay for a drink or dinner. Maybe they would hang out in the park, enjoy the El Paso summer nights. Downtown would become the great public gathering place that it was built to be.

The enthusiasm for a large event facility like this was tempered by others who wanted to make sure that new investment was inserted into downtown in a manner that was not disruptive of the existing economic, cultural or historic vitality of Downtown. People told us that an emphasis should be placed on reinventing the ambition of our history through the 1950s, rather than tearing down and starting over.

The private sector--Woody Hunt, Josht Hunt, Paul Foster and Alejandra de la Vega--went scouting for professional teams that they could buy and bring to El Paso's Downtown. As luck and good fortune would have it, a Triple A Baseball Team came up for sale. The ownership team agreed to buy the baseball team and operate it and asked the City to build the stadium.  The deal has to be approvated by the Pacific Coast League in order for El Paso to get the team. The Pacific Coast League is looking for a city that could deliver a ballpark for the team to start playing in by April 2014. They wanted a deal where the City could guarantee that the stadium get built.

Much of what drove the decision about locating the Triple A Baseball Park on the City Hall site were cost, timing and a desire that the ballpark be located so as not to destroy the great bones of Downtown. Buying property Downtown to accomodate a ballpark be cost prohibitive, time consuming and would likely require eminent domain which would mean years in court. Because of this City staff reviewed only large city-owned parcels to find the best fit for a ballpark. Of the threee sites reviewed, the City Hall site is the only one that could accomodate the ballpark, and it is the most visible site from the freeway. As you know, the City Hall site is a supersized suburban block that was built at time when it seemed like the best way to deal with Downtown was to remake it in the image of suburbia. That is how we ended up with a City Hall stranded in a sea of parking and built in the image of a toaster oven.

For a couple years now, we have been asked by City staff to invest between $12 to $15 million to bring the building up to standard. I opposed this investment and asked that we look at other locations for our City Hall operations. It didn't seem wise to invest that much money in a building that is only valued at $13 million and on a site that could be more meaningful to Downtown redevelopment efforts.

The City Council voted in a 6 to 2 vote to enter into a binding agreement to build the ballpark for not more than $50 million dollars, to re-locate City Hall and to authorize City staff to put an item on the November election to increase the Hotel Motel tax by 2% to pay for the ballpark.

There are a lot of questions and concerns about the particulars of this deal. You can find all you need to know about the deal points at: http://home.elpasotexas.gov/downtown-sports-complex.php and I am glad to answer any questions but I mostly wanted you to know why I voted in favor of a baseball park for Downtown El Paso.

Bottom line: you don't pass up historic opportunities to rebuild your community, especially when the private sector is willing to pony up in a big way to capture that opportunity.

TXDOT to El Paso: "My Way or the Highway"

TXDOT says we have two choices. We can take their $85 million and build a four lane freeway with two lanes of frontage on each side and four overpasses running up side the mountain. Or we can doom our citizens to a safety hazard of a road because if we don't like their idea they are sending the money back to Austin.

The El Paso Times says that development along the proposed Transmountain freeway is inevitable. Nothing we can do about it but sit idly by and let it happen.

The freeway is inevitable and crappy freeway development and suburban sprawl up the side of our moutain is inevitable.

Or is it? It is if we make decisions as a community and a City Council under coercion from TXDOT. It is if we accept false choices.

Is that the way to build a great city?

But if we want different choices, we need to take the time to demand other choices. And we don't have much time. TXDOT has opened up their public comment period, and they need to hear from you by April 1.

So what are other choices? First we need to know what the problem is.

The biggest problem that needs to be resolved is a saftey issue. Right now, two lanes of roadway going west transition abruptly into one lane. Turning movements on and off of Transmountain West are perilous. Also as land develops close to I-10, there are property owners with unlimited access to the Transmountain presenting a potential hazard if they decide to build driveways onto the main lanes of traffic wherever they choose.

The other problem is that the one lane in each direction on the West side of the mountain is not enough capacity for the cars using that road today, leading to delays, congestion and some aggressive driving.

So we need to solve the safety issue, and we need to expand the capacity of the roadway.

Is the freeway the only road type that does this? No.

A boulevard is an option that TXDOT modeled as an alternative to the freeway in their Environmental Assessment. A boulevard has features similar to a freeway in that there is limited access to the main through lanes. These through lanes are mostly for regional trips. The boulevard also features local roads alongside it to accomodate local traffic movements, similar to frontage roads but slower, less wide and safer and more comfortable for pedestrians and bicyclists (see rendering of a Transmountain boulevard below). The biggest difference between the boulevard and the freeway is that a boulevard doesn't have grade seperated overpasses and instead handles traffic through managed intersections. A boulevard could fit into the existing 200 feet of TXDOT right of way, whereas the proposed freeway will be 370 feet wide. (The current roadway is about 40 feet wide.)

TXDOT threw this out as an option primarily because they didn't think it had enough capacity to handle the projected volumes of traffic. The problem is that they used outdated information to make their case. TXDOT indicated that the current traffic volumes on Transmountain today is 17,000 cars per day. TXDOT estimated that in 2015 when the project is completed the car volume would increase to 40,000, a 57% increase in traffic volumes. TXDOT estimates that in 2035 the car trips per day would increase to 71,000. Problem is that the latest and greatest numbers show that only 18,000 cars will make this trip in 2020 and only 31,000 in 2035. Using the new numbers, the most recently adopted numbers, a boulevard holds up very well.

A boulevard also handles many of the safety concerns by eliminating the transition at high speeds from two lanes to one lane. Since it features local road alongside it, it resolves the issue of property owners building driveways directly onto the main lanes. In addition, pedestrians and bicyclists would feel safer and be safer walking or pedaling next to slow traffic on local roads rather than on fast traffic moving on frontage roads. When is the last time you thought to yourself that you would like to take a walk on frontage roads next to I10?

So the boulevard is a choice. Not TXDOT's choice, but a choice for resolving our mobility and safety issues in that area. What is your choice?

Another choice offered up by a group of determined El Pasoans is to let them have their freeway but to minimize the environmental impact by not building the last overpass closest to the mountain and to preserve the 900 acres of Public Service Board land that straddles that section of Transmountain. Their goal is to keep Transmountain scenic in the areas that the public has control over. That land is owned by the City of El Paso and there is nothing inevitable about it having to be developed. The public, you and I, can make a choice not to develop that section because it is more valuable to us as open space than it is as freeway development. If that last overpass closest to the State Park is built, it will set in place the line of development for all of the land north of it to the State line. Not building that overpass will create a pattern where most of the develop occurs closer to I-10.

So demand a choice. El Paso deserves real choices. Here's how:

• Attend the TXDOT Public Hearing on Thursday, March 22.


• If you can't make it, write them by April 1 to let them know what you want. I have a form letter with the different options that I would be happy to email you. Email me if you want it at byrdsm@elpasotexas.gov.

Do we want TXDOT to build our City? Or are we going to do the hard work of building our city, guided by our own values and priorities? It is our choice.

Go Hunt Communities!

We write city codes as minimums but hope that in building neighborhoods for El Pasoans, developers will go above and beyond the codes to build great places that will stand the test of time.

Recently, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board presented Hunt Communities for Excellence in Park Award by a Private Developer for their design and construction of Redstone Village Park Pond, 5910 Redstone Rim Rd. next to the Northeast Regional Park.

The 1½ acre “park – pond” through its unique architecture, provides passive park space for the neighborhood residents, as well as providing required drainage and stormwater capture.

Each year we will be recognizing developers for excellence in park design. If there is a new park that you would like us to consider for this recognition, let us know.

Domestic Partner Benefits

Two summers ago, Steve, Beto and I went to vist with young people enrolled in a program called Youth Build at Centro Salud Familiar La Fe. The program's aim is to teach young people who have dropped out of school a building trade and to work with them to get their G.E.D. We talked to them about El Paso, about our jobs and why we got involved in politics. We asked them to talk to us about their concerns, what they liked about El Paso, what they would like to see changed. A young man stood up and said he was in love with another young man and he wanted to know that they would have a welcome place in El Paso, in our commmunity. He wanted to know what we were doing to make El Paso a welcoming environment for gays and lesbians in our commmunity.

As a result of that young man's questions, Beto suggested that the City Council authorize domestic partner benefits for city employees. Essentially if a long time committed gay or lesbian couple can provide proof of that long time relationship, we would extend benefits to the partner in the same way that we would extend benefits for a spouse. Nothing more. Nothing less. Since gays and lesbians cannot consecrate their union by a legal marriage, domestic partner benefits would provide equal access to health insurance for committed partnerships. The City Council authorized the domestic partner benefits in a vote of 7 to 1.

There were many who came in support. There were also many who came and spoke out against this action of City Council. The people who came to speak out against it pounded bibles and quoted scripture and told us that homosexuals were immoral. Homosexuals could not claim love or commitment, only lust and deviance, they said. They told us that homosexuals were rapists and pedophiles. Some referenced domestic partner benefits as a subplot in a larger plot to legalize sex with children. They wanted us to know that homosexuals were "less than" and because of this should be treated as "less than." Barney Fields, an El Paso preacher, recently said that a vote in favor of domestic partner benefits was an open invitation to God for the violence in Juarez to spillover. The opponents said they would not stand for any measure by the City that would value the commitment of lesbians or gays in loving long term relationships.

To be clear, I do not think that everyone who opposes providing domestic partner benefits is led by the same hate and fear and hysteria that I illustrated above. For example, I heard from a city employee that he was concerned about adding additional people to the City's plan in a tough economic environment. Because we have to provide equal protection under the law, straight couples who meet the same criteria of domestic partners are also eligible for this benefit. Some people did not think it was right to provide these straight couples with benefits since they have legal access to the benefits of marriage.

But it was the people who dedicated themselves to this issue, the ones whose voices led the charge against domestic partner benefits, who seemed less concerned with "family values" and more concerned with tearing down people who live in our community and work for the City that brought this issue to the voters. They were so enraged when we passed the domestic partner benefits that they did the hard work of putting an item on the ballot to overturn the council's initiative. This is no small task. You have to collect thousands and thousands of signatures. Twice.

On November 2, 2010, 39,016 El Pasoans voted to "endorse traditional family values by making health benefits available only to city employees and their legal spouse and dependent children." 31,892 people voted against it. 10,931 people undervoted, which means they went to the polls but didn't vote on this measure either because they didn't understand the referendum or didn't care to weigh in on this particular issue.

On Tuesday, I voted to repeal this vote of a majority of El Pasoans. I also voted to introduce a city charter ammendment that stated, "The City shall afford equal employment and benefit opportunities to all qualified individuals in compliance with all applicable laws, without regard to their race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, color, religion, ethnic background or national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic or status that is protected by federal, state, or local law."

I lost on both points.

The ordinance will stand as written by the petitioners and adopted by the voters of El Paso.

I've received emails and calls asking me to explain myself, asking why I would vote against the will of the people.

I'll do my best to explain.

We have been asked by the voters through iniatitive petitions before to change our minds. Most recently, a group of citizens asked voters to transfer the ratemaking authority for the stormwater system from the Public Service Board to the City Council. That vote failed but had it passed, I would have had no argument with implementing it as directed by the voters. It was a matter of policy, a matter of how best to run the stormwater system.

It is a different matter though when you are asked to change your vote on a matter of conscience, a basic principle, a fundamental of who you are that guides the way you live your life and treat other people, a value that you work hard everyday to instill in your own children.

Domestic partner benefits obviously is about more than access to health care. It is about how we treat people who are perceived to be different and whether we welcome everyone despite their differences. Gay and lesbian men and women in our community have enduring committed relationships. Why should we not honor and value those committed relationships as we honor and value the committed relationships of straight people? Like the young gay man said at La Fe, he wanted to know he had a place here. Not just to be tolerated but to be recognized and valued equally as part of his community.

There have been moments in our history when the majority wished to withhold the benefits of citizenship and employment and fair pay and benefits and dignity and liberty from any number of groups of people including women, black people, Catholics, Jews. But relentless and vocal advocates willing to speak to the best in all of us were able re-shape and change the landscape of those fears and hatreds and make our cities and our nation stronger because of it.

I did not do this lightly. It was an unsettling choice to make: to vote to upend the will of El Pasoans who I asked to represent or to vote against the very deepest values that shape who I am. And honestly, no matter what choice I made, I knew it would not feel exactly right. I also knew that my vote would put me at odds with many voters in my district and make me a legitimate target of a recall campaign.

All of this was further complicated by the language that was approved by the voters. The petitioners were against domestic partners benefits and wanted them repealed but instead of asking the voters to repeal the domestic partner benefits, they asked the voters to "endorse traditional family values by making health benefits available only to city employees and their legal spouse and dependent children." Because of the phrase, "only to city employees," the petitioners left out any number of people who are currently covered by our health plan. Retirees are not city employees. Luckily, there is a provision in state law that requires us to cover retirees unless they have access to health care through another source. So there may be some retirees who lose their coverage. There are many agencies of the city, like the Public Service Board and the Metropolitan Planning Organization, where the employees are not technically city employees. These employees will likely lose their health benefits under the language approved by the voters.

The petitioners were advised in November of last year that the language that they presented on the petition had significant problems that would cause more harm to more people than they intended. They could have started over, presented more clear ballot language but they refused to do so. "You know what we mean," they said. I understand that the intent of the petitioners was deny health care coverage to the partners of gay and lesbians who are employees of the City. But I cannot say that that was the intent of every voter. There was a lot of media coverage about the many people beyond domestic partners who would lose coverage. Some of the emails I received from voters said that they voted for the measure because they agreed that these other affected parties should not receive coverage. For example, I received this note from a voter, "Most of the citizens of El Paso do not even have the option of getting health insurance through their employers. The citizens that do get health insurance usually have to pay the full cost to cover their families. They do not want the city to tax them to provide benefits to city employees that far exceed what the tax payers have available."

I understand the intent of the petitioners. I've understood it all too well from having sat through hours and hours of meetings where they visciously tore down people in our community who do not conform to their view of "right" and "normal." But I can't say with certainty what the intent of the 39,016 people who voted in favor of the measure was. This was another reason that I felt that it would be important to put the measure back to the voters and why I proposed the non-discrimination city charter ammendment.

My colleagues did not accept the more general anti-discrimination language I proposed for a city charter ammendment but instead asked that we craft specific language and put the question to the voters more plainly. Should the City provide domestic partner benefits? Yes or no.

The Bulldozers are Coming

The City of El Paso doesn't have a loop. Dallas has one. Austin has one. San Antonio has one. We have got to get us one of those. We are the only major Texas city without one. Shameful. Really shameful.

Although I have yet to have one constituent come knocking on my door demanding that we get us a loop right away, transportation planners, engineers and politicians are pretty sure that is exactly what we want, despite the costs and despite the consequences. Complete the loop has been the mantra of the transportation planners for the last decade.

Just what is a loop, you might ask. It is a freeway that rings your city, allowing you to travel at high speeds around your city in a circle without ever having to stop once. Which is exactly what I did once in Atlanta. Just went round and round the city unable to distinguish one towering office park strung together with chain restaurants and big boxes from the next and therefore unable to figure out just where to get off.

So what exactly do the fortunate cities with the loops get? Urban legend has it that these loops make you more competitive but if you take a look at Austin, Dallas, San Antonio you will see that loops induce more suburban sprawl, more traffic congestion, more development that is built for the car only at the expense of other modes of transportation, more air pollution and more fatal traffic accidents. Oooh, I can't wait to get us some of that.

You might have thought that Transmountain Road was only a scenic corridor, but it is in fact the skeleton of a freeway loop in the making. Thirty years ago, we hatched the plan. Got to get us a loop. Despite mounting evidence that freeways come with consequences, we have stayed on task without questioning some of the fundamental assumptions that build freeways.

I've been a part of that. In 2008, the City Council approved the Comprehensive Mobility Plan, a billion plan that completes the loop, or so they said. But as I recently learned, it turns out a billion dollars completes the loop, sort of, but not quite. When we approved the Mobility Plan, there was $17 million planned to add another lane to the westside of Transmountain from I10 to the Franklin State Park, an investment of about $5 million a mile. Makes sense. If you are heading west down the mountain on Transmountain, it all of sudden converts from two lanes to one lane. That one lane can't handle all the traffic we have on it now at rush hour. Turns out that adding the additional lanes was only the interim plan, the we're-only-half-way-there-with-a-billion-dollars plan. The real plan was to convert this 3.89 mile section into a full fledged freeway: two travel lanes in each direction with enough right-of-way to add another lane in each direction, four overpasses climbing up the side of the mountain to leap over current and planned aerterials, two frontage lanes on each side and a hike/bike lane on each side. The current road takes up about 42 feet. The planned freeway will consume 387 feet of right of way, almost 9 times the width of the current road. Approximately 187 acres of land running upside the mountain will have to be scraped and graded and turned to accomododate the new freeway. So much for scenic corridors.

Last year, El Paso was awarded $85 million to build the road that the traffic engineers had been dreaming about all along. On August 10 of this year, TXDOT and the property owners came to the City and asked us to change some of the zoning conditions on the property. If we change the zoning conditions, then the property owners will give TXDOT the right of way that it needs to finish the freeway in this section.

We went from a $5 million-a-mile project to a $28 million-a-mile project. All the extra money goes into frontage roads and making sure you don't have to stop your car, building grade seperated overpasses where there would normally be traffic lights. I asked Chuck Berry, the TXDOT chief engineer for this region, what that would mean for a driver. He estimated that going from the $17 million project to the $85 million project will mean a time savings of about 2 minutes for people traveling in their car. Wow. That sure is a lot of bucks spent and a lot of mountain consumed to save people 2 minutes.

But the trick of it is that the City Council and the public doesn't really have much in the way of options. TXDOT has let us know that we either approve the zoning conditions and wholeheartedly support the freeway design as proposed or we kiss $85 million good bye. No chance to weigh in with other options for accomodating growing traffic in the area. There are other ways and other road types that we can build to accomodate growing traffic but TXDOT tells us we don't have the time to consider these other options.

I say we call it a bluff and ask for real options, options that will help us build the city that we want, not the one that traffic engineers dreamed up stooped over a computer screen with the single goal of trying to move as many cars as possible in as little time as possible. I think we ask for an option that consumes less of the mountain, that preserves the character of Transmountain as a scenic corridor, that encourages something other than freeway pattern development, and that assumes that it is okay to slow traffic down a little, especially when traveling down one of our most precious assets, our mountain. Because you know what, everyone has a loop, but few can boast a mountain running through the center of their town.

Comments by Dr. Oscar J. Martínez at PRESS CONFERENCE IN SUPPORT OF CIUDAD JUÁREZ, EL PASO, MAY 17, 2010

We are here to express our unity with, and our sympathy and commitment to the people of Ciudad Juárez. We support them as they seek to free themselves from the terror that has plagued their city for the last several years. We who live north of the Rio Grande in El Paso and Las Cruces and other communities in the United States say to the people of Juárez: “Nosotros tambien somos juarenses.” (“We too are juarenses.”) We stand with you. Your fight is our fight. We recognize our role in creating the human catastrophe in your city and join you as you seek to restore order and bring life back to normal.


That is the essence of our DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF THE EFFORTS OF CIUDAD JUÁREZ TO REDUCE THE VIOLENCE RELATED TO DRUG TRAFFICKING that appeared in the El Paso, Inc., on May 16, 2010.

I wish to thank the members of the committee with whom I worked to put together that DECLARATION: UTEP Professor Dr. Kathy Staudt and the very courageous El Paso City Council Representatives Beto O’Rourke, Susie Byrd, and Steve Ortega. I also want to thank the other members of the Ciudad Juárez Support Network and all the people who signed the DECLARATION. The list of names includes many leaders in our community, including another member of the El Paso City Council, Ann Morgan Lilly, State Representative Marissa Márquez, and County Commissioner Verónica Escobar.

We have many more folks who have endorsed the DECLARATION, but because of the deadline to get it published in the newspaper, we could not include them all at this time. We will keep adding names as they come in and I am sure the list of endorsers will grow by leaps and bounds.
We want to state our conviction emphatically that the only way to bring down the violence significantly in Juárez is by legalizing drugs in the United States, especially marijuana, whose sale, mostly in our country, provides 50 to 70 percent of the revenues received by the Mexican cartels.

The evidence is now overwhelming that the U.S. War on Drugs has not achieved its goals, but rather has been extremely costly financially and has very harmful to our society in many ways. The War on Drugs has been a complete failure in reducing consumption of drugs among Americans. And let’s be very clear about this: the zero tolerance policy and emphasis on enforcement in the United States bear most of the responsibility for the horrible violence that has turned Juárez into the deadliest city in the world and has raised the possibility that Mexico could become a failed state.

Those who are not convinced that this is the honest truth need to do more homework and at the same time connect dots that are bigger than elephants. Some critical thinking is required here, although not that much, because the information is readily available and this is not that difficult to figure out.

Those who think they have the moral high ground by supporting drug prohibition are not giving proper attention to the disastrous consequences of that tragically misguided policy. The cure has been much more deadly than the disease itself. The price of drug prohibition—turning cities like Juárez into killing fields of massive proportions—is totally unacceptable and morally repugnant.

The moral high ground is really with those who have thoughtfully and honestly analyzed the drug problem, who have informed themselves well, who have come to understand the calamitous outcomes of rigid and unjust drug policies, and who realize that these policies are doomed to failure. The fundamental problem with the War on Drugs is that it seeks to transform an unchangeable aspect of human nature and attempts to change the unchangeable law of supply and demand. You stand on higher moral ground when you work to end the violence than when you defend a failed policy that brings massive destruction and suffering to your neighbors.

The primary concern of the supporters of the DECLARATION is eliminating the drug trade-fomented climate of lawlessness in Juárez, ending the massacres, ending the femicides, ending the kidnappings, ending the extortions, ending the arsons, and stopping the precipitous decline of a beautiful and proud city.

We have a crisis here, and we need more people to join us in demanding change from Washington. We need Congressman Silvestre Reyes to take some leadership on this issue. This is a moral imperative. This is a matter of conscience. Our neighbors are in deep trouble and we know why. We must help them.

We especially need more pillars of the community to step forward and openly express their opposition to current drug policies. We need corporate CEO’s, business people, attorneys, judges, and religious leaders to take a stand with us. It does no good to agree with the DECLARATION and continue to stay in the closet. Your open support of the cause will encourage more people to join us and will speed up the process of diminishing the violence.

We also need some in the media to stop trivializing our call for drug reform by calling it an effort to “legalize pot.” The people who have signed the DECLARATION are not potheads or hippies. They are respectable, responsible, and moral leaders in the community.

I personally am not here to encourage the use of drugs. Just the opposite—I am against the use of drugs and desperately want to see a well funded, aggressive program to discourage our citizens, especially the youth, from using drugs. Using drugs is a bad choice. I have never used drugs myself. But I make no moral judgment regarding drug use.

We badly need a comprehensive government and societal crusade against the use of narcotics similar to what we have had since the 1960s regarding the use of tobacco. Our many anti-smoking campaigns over the decades have been extremely successful, bringing down adult smoking rates in the United States from over 50 percent half a century ago to less than 20 percent today.

I just want a sensible and workable policy regarding drugs that gets us back to 1933, when a previous generation of Americans came to understand the deadly consequences of liquor prohibition and overwhelmingly repealed the eighteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That amendment, which outlawed liquor beginning in 1920, had not succeeded in stopping Americans from drinking and instead had given rise to massive violation of the law, gang warfare, uncontrolled violence, widespread corruption, and disrespect for authority.

Let’s not ignore the lesson that liquor prohibition taught us. Let’s use reason, common sense, and pragmatism to find a way out of the horrible mess that drug prohibition has created. Let’s bring an end to the War on Drugs in favor of a system that makes drugs legal but strictly controls, regulates, and taxes their production, distribution, and sale. And let’s start with the most widely used drug out there, marijuana. That is what the anti-prohibitionists of the 1920s and 1930s would do. Surely we are as smart as they were. We need to follow their example.

***

To sign onto the DECLARATION, go to: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/13/declaration-in-support-of-cuidad-juarez

Dia De Los Niños

Washington Park

200 Washington St.

11:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m.

Admission is free!

For more information call 543-5433 or visit the link below.

Dia de los Ninos/Dia de los Libros is this weekend at Washington Park. Great way to spend a Saturday with your kids. Dora the Explorer. Free books. Music. Fun. And Sun Metro is giving free rides to all kids headed out to the park.

http://www.elpasotexas.gov/library/archive/2010/news042410.asp

FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION IN EL PASO

Date:	Saturday, April 17, 2010
Time:	10:00am
Location:	Memorial Park Library, 3900 Copper Ave.

Our next District 2 community meeting will focus on the future of transportation in El Paso. Commissioner Veronica Escobar will be the guest host.

The speakers will be Mr. Jay Banasiak, Director of Sun Metro, who will update us on the City's Bus Rapit Transit plans and Mr. Edgar Fino, Transportation Engineer Supervisor at the Texas Department of Transportation, who will talk about TXDOT projects in the city.

Come learn about the exciting new transit plans for our community!

WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE (CELL PHONE) ORDINANCE

FACT LIST

This fact sheet is meant to clarify any confusion regarding the recent passing of and enforcement of the Wireless Communication Device Ordinance.

QUICK REVIEW

• If you hold your cell phone while driving OR use a hands-free device in an unsafe manner you may receive a citation under this ordinance.
  
  

BACKGROUND

The wireless communication device ordinance was passed on March 9, 2010 by City Council.

INTENT

The intent is to promote traffic safety by reducing driver distractions while using a cell phone.

WHEN CAN YOU USE YOUR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE

• While stopped AND off of the roadway.
• When the device is a part of the vehicle or affixed to the vehicle.
• All wireless communication devices must be used solely in a voice-activated or other hands-free mode SAFELY while operating on a public roadway at all times.

CANNOT USE A WIRELESS COMMUNICTION DEVICE

• Even the temporary or brief use of a hand-held wireless communication device is generally unacceptable and can result in a citation.
• The use of a hands-free device can still result in a citation if it is used in an unsafe manner which results in driver distraction or unsafe vehicle operation.

IN AN EMERGENCY YOU CAN USE YOUR DEVICE

• Request emergency assistance to report a traffic accident, medical emergency, or serious traffic hazard, or to prevent a crime about to be committed or other life threatening event or danger.

Midnight Basketball: Need Volunteer Coaches

I’m proud to announce the third year of Midnight Basketball at Nolan Richardson Recreation Center. Midnight Basketball is a basketball program designed to give youth something fun and safe to do on summer nights. Everyone between the ages of 13 and 18 can participate. Every year, we have improved the program to better suit the needs of youth in our community, particularly those that live the surrounding neighborhood. Depending on who you talk to, the surrounding neighborhood is called the Angel's Triangle or the Devil's Triangle. There is some drug dealing in this neighborhood and the youth often don't feel safe and have lots of temptations waiting on street corners. The youth in this area have asked me for more recreational facilities and more things to do.

Last year over 100 youth participated in the Midnight Basketball program.

The one thing that would really take the program to the next level is to have volunteer coaches who are there to mentor and to help build up teamwork and cooperation. The budget we have only provides for staffing of the center and for referees.

This year’s program will be on Thursday and Friday nights from 9 PM until midnight. The program will run from June 10 until August 13. It is a ten week program.

We would love to have coaches who could make a commitment for the full length of the program but are also glad to have coaches who may only be able to make it for a couple of nights throughout the length of the program.

Please let me know if you are interested in helping out. I can be reached at 915-541-4416 or at byrdsm@elpasotexas.gov.

Higher Internet Speeds for EP

Cities around the country are vying to host Google's experimental fiber-optic network, which will be more than 100 times faster than the Internet connections we have today.

We were made aware of this by El Pasoan Ruben Quintana who spoke at last Tuesday's "Call to the Public" portion of the City Council meeting. He pointed out that if we truly want to be a competitive city, then we need to go after opportunities like this one.

The City's Information Technology Department has completed the application to Google on behalf of the City Government, and now we need to get El Pasoans to complete the citizen participation portion of the agreement if we're going to have a shot at winning this.

So if you're interested, please go to the following link and fill out the survey found on "Nominate Your Community":

http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/options

More information on the project can be found at:

http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi

Some Notes on Bicycling

I can feel it. The weather is about to turn. Warm spring days are fast upon us. Time to get out the bikes.

Green Leaf Pedicab has noticed it too. I met with the owner Charles Lauser this week and he let me know that Green Leaf Pedicab will start up again on March 1. They are the bicycle cabs, mostly seen Downtown. It is a great, fun and easy way to get around Downtown. If you see them on the street, ask for a ride and don't forget to tip!

Charles is also offering a Bicycling Course at the Valle Verde EPCC Campus. The course will cover the practice of the correct use of gears, proper brake usage and balance techniques, basic bicycle maintenance and bicycle traffic laws. To sign up, call Charles at 422-0866.

As you know, we've been trying to make it easier for people to choose bicycling as a commuter option, which means making sure that all the infrastructure is there to support that choice. Bike lanes, bike parking, bike signage...

A couple months ago, a friend of mine who is an avid cyclist came up to me with a bunch of ideas about how we could improve cycling conditions in El Paso. He suggested that we require bicycle parking at all new commercial properties. I was excited to report to him that we already required this in the new zoning code that we passed in November of 2007. He didn’t believe it. He said he had not seen any new bicycle parking in the city and asked that I confirm that we were actually doing this.

I asked City Staff to review whether or not we were in fact requiring bicycle parking per our code. He provided me with a list of all the detailed site plans passed since then and whether or not they required bike parking. This is only a small portion of permits where we would require bike parking. He sent out inspectors to review whether or not there was actually bike parking at those locations.

Based on that initial audit, they were only able to find bike parking at 10 locations. My assistant Judy also went and randomly looked at 8 locations where bike parking was required and did not find bike parking at any of these locations.

So lesson learned is that policy is only as good as its implementation. Staff has now changed up the process to ensure that bike parking is in place before we issue certificates of occupancy. They are continuing their audit of all new construction done since 2007 to make sure that it has adequate bike parking.

A Call to Action. For Juarez. For our Region.

The resolution below will be considered on tomorrow's (February 9, 2010) City Council agenda.

As you know, the Juarez violence is the issue of the day for our region. History will judge our actions regarding the bloodshed across the border and will judge our resolve in addressing the issue. Inaction by the El Paso City Council in the midst of thousands of murders in our region is simply unacceptable.

The resolution, its language, and its proposals are imperfect – but they contain requests and ideas to improve a situation that is unsustainable.

If you have additional ideas that you would like considered or included, please let me know. We can make ammendments to the document tomorrow or in future council meetings as we all learn more about what our path towards a safer Juarez and a safer region should be.

RESOLUTION

Whereas, an unprecedented tragedy has been unfolding in our community, and our entire region is in immediate risk of further violence, devastation and chaos; and

Whereas, over 1,600 people in our community were killed in Juárez in 2008; over 2,650 in 2009; and over 250 killed so far this year; and

Whereas, nearly 150 children have been killed, and just within these past two weeks fifteen people were brutally murdered while attending family parties in private homes – most were high school-aged students and the youngest was a thirteen-year old girl; and

Whereas, in the past two years the violence in Juárez has led to the closing of over 10,000 businesses, has left over 100,000 homes vacant and over 100,000 Juarenses having already fled their city -- including at least 30,000 who have moved to El Paso; and

Whereas, El Paso and Juárez maintain a unique and unbreakable historical, familial and economic connection that has resulted in a rich culture and vibrant economy. In 2008 alone, the economies of U.S. and Mexico were bolstered by $51.1 billion in trade which passed through our ports of entry, accounting for 18% of all trade between these two countries.

Whereas, Juarenses annually spend over $1.2 billion in the El Paso economy, and over 60,000 jobs in El Paso are dependent upon economic activity in Juárez, contributing to an overall economic impact of well over $2 billion in El Paso; and
Whereas, Juárez is the deadliest city in the world. The absence of public safety and the rule of law are devastating the lives of our sister citizens and endangering the future peace and prosperity of this entire region, including El Paso, TX; and

Whereas, the terror taking place in Juárez is of human origin and therefore can be remedied through a human solution; and

Whereas, it is incumbent upon us to work towards a solution that restores justice and ends the violence, no matter how difficult or unpleasant, as lives and the future of our community and region are at stake; and

Whereas, it is understood that much of the violence is fueled by the various drug wars – those between cartels, those within cartels, and those between cartels and the governments of the U.S. and Mexico – wars that take the lives of members of drug trafficking organizations and those innocent of any involvement; and

Whereas, black market drug sales in the U.S. and Mexico fund the operations of the cartels, with marijuana comprising at least 50% of their revenues; and

Whereas, our country’s forty year War on Drugs has been a dismal social, economic and policy failure. It has not achieved any of its goals and narco-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border is raging at unprecedented levels with no end in sight; and

Whereas, this Council urges citizens on both sides of the border to refrain from buying and consuming illegal drugs that fund the cartel terrorism in our community; and
Whereas, important changes need to take place in Juárez and Mexico, including the restoration of public safety and the creation of a true respect for law. But there are ways we can help on this side of the border, and we must act now – people are dying, the future of our community is at stake, and enough is enough.

Now, therefore be it proclaimed that the beginning of a solution to regional drug violence will involve a bi-national effort centered on the following action statements:

· We request that Mayor John Cook invite United States President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon here to the largest bi-national community in the world to develop a coordinated strategy to bring an immediate end to the drug violence in our community.

· We urge comprehensive re-examination of our country’s failed War on Drugs and we support drug policy initiatives that do not result in wasting government funds and empowering criminal gangs and trafficking organizations.

· We advocate the repeal of ineffective marijuana drug laws in favor of regulating, controlling and taxing the production, sale and consumption of marijuana by adults – a drug whose sale in the black market contributes to at least 50% of cartel revenues.

· We support a national campaign to encourage people to refrain from the use of illegal drugs by connecting their use to cartel-related terror.

· We oppose unsuccessful militaristic approaches like Plan Mérida, and demand that any future aid, whether tied to Plan Mérida or otherwise, involve a rigorous accounting of allegations of human rights abuses and have strict performance metrics.

· We support U.S. aid that is tied to social, educational and economic development in Mexico and support that country’s fight to establish effective and just rule of law.

· We oppose current U.S. policy that deports Mexican nationals directly to Juárez instead of to their state and city of origin, a practice that is unjust and also serves to supply potential recruits and victims to the criminal organizations operating in Juárez.

· We support opening all potential humanitarian and asylum opportunities for individuals and families in Juárez who are threatened and live in fear for their safety.

· We ask that Mexico be made the number one foreign policy priority for the United States.

By adoption of this resolution the above stated proposals are hereby included in the City of El Paso’s federal and state legislative agendas.

Women's Spring Soccer Season Starting

It's that time again. Spring soccer is starting. The Azteca Women's Soccer League is looking for new players and new teams. If you want to put a team together or if you want in on one of the existing teams, contact Cecy Rodriguez at cecyt1111@aol.com. If you are in great shape or you just want to get in shape, if you have never played before or if you are a seasoned veteran, we'll find a spot for you.

ASARCO Update

I had a meeting this morning with the trustee who has been appointed to implement the remediation of the ASARCO site. His name is Roberto E. Puga, R.G from Project Navigator, LTD in Brea, California. His charge is to use the $52 million from the bankruptcy settlement with ASARCO to clean up the now abandoned ASARCO site and then to sell the site for redevelopment.

Right now, Mr. Puga is in the process of meeting with various stakeholders and beginning the detailed evaluation of the site and the implementation plan. He wants to include the public in some of the decisionmaking about the ultimate use of the site, and he wants to make sure that the public is kept apprised of all progress on the remediation. Towards that end, he is developing a website that will go live at the end of the month. The website will provide information on progress, tools for providing input and a portal for contractors to find out about bids.

Once he has a solid lay of the land, we will host a community meeting sometime in late March or early April to provide information about the remediation plan, to answer questions about the plan and to solicit input on uses for the site that the community would like to see or uses the community might be opposed to. One of the questions he asked in the meeting was whether we wanted to see the ASARCO stacks demolished or to remain as part of the redevelopment of the site. Much of this will be determined by the buyer of the site, but Mr. Puga wants to work to the extent possible to make sure that the ultimate use is a good fit for the community. The City, including our Economic Development team, will work with him closely to find a good fit.

The other thing that he is mindful about is making sure that most of the work stays here in El Paso. Towards that end, he said he has two incentives to encourage El Paso contractors to bid on work. One, he is going to make sure that there is additional preference given to local bidders. For very small contractors who have not worked with hazardous materials, he will help to train their workers as an incentive to encourage them to compete for work.

I will keep you posted as I hear more but wanted to give you a quick update on what I know.

Red Mesa

Seems like the film scene is hopping in El Paso these days. Great new film festivals popping up. I received a notice from my friend Eric Pearson about an El Paso made film called "Red Mesa." Eric and Charles Horack organize the great Classic Film Series at the Plaza Theatre. They showed the film, "Red Mesa" this past year. "Red Mesa" has won Best Short Film at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. Good news, but the great news is that the win at this festival qualifies it to submit to the Academy Awards for 2010.

To do that, the filmmakers need to make a film print, get a few more festivals under their belt and make a whole lot of DVDs. To get all this done, they will need to raise about $25,000. The El Paso Community Foundation is acting as their fiscal sponsor. Let's help them get to the Academy Awards. All contributions are tax deductible.

You can give by going to the Community Foundation's website and typing in "Red Mesa" on the subject.

It's All About the Panther Pride!

So most folks know I'm a proud graduate of Austin High School. Graduated in 1989. Just attended my 20 year reunion. The school has suffered in recent years from a vicious cycle of low expectations and poor performance. Parents pick up on that bad vibe and figure out ways not to send their kids there. Nothing is worse for a neighborhood than a neighborhood school with a bad reputation.

But all of that is changing. In ways big and small.

A couple of years ago, Dr. John Tanner came on board as the new principal. He had the big task of turning things around quick otherwise the State would go in and reconstitute the school. He attacked the problem at its root: low expectations. The teachers and counselors didn't expect much from the students. The students didn't expect much from themselves or the school. His crusade is against all the excuses for poor performance, and he is evangelical in his crusade. When he first came on board, the teachers complained that the poor performance was due to the fact that so many of the students were low income. Dr. Tanner went and dug up all the countywide statistics to show the teachers that schools with much poorer students were performing well above Austin High School students. No excuses. Anymore. Just hard work.

And pride. Panther Pride.

That's where Lisa Chavez and Juan Garza and Raul Renteria come in. Lisa Chavez, daughter of Abraham Chavez, is the Director of Piano and Choral Activities at Austin High School. At the beginning of the school year, I was invited to participate in the Freshman induction ceremony at Austin. Lisa Chavez' choir was featured. I was blown away by the performance. Incredible. First class. No one would have expected this from Austin High School.

Front and center was my neighbor Juan Carlos Garza and his buddy Raul Renteria. Seems like Juan Carlos had retired his skateboard and his raggedy skater attire and put on a tie and a suit and decided that he was going to be the best bass vocalist in the State of Texas. Raul Renteria, a tenor, and Juan Carlos have competed and won chairs in the All Region and All Area Choirs. Because they made it to the All Area Choir, they are now eligible to compete for the All State Choir. No one has placed in the All State Choir from Austin since the 1970s. Juan Carlos and Raul are set to make history for Austin High School.

But they need our help. They have been practicing for months. They have been invited to attend an All-State Music Workshop at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on January 2nd, 2010. This workshop aims to fine tune their skills and prepare them for the audition on January 9th in Midland, Texas. The trip will cost them $900, but the school is unable to cover their costs. So let's all pitch in to make sure that they don't miss this chance for themselves or for Austin High School.

If you would like to make a donation, you can make a check out to Austin High School and add at the bottom of the check that it is for the "Choir Fund." Since school is out, we can collect checks here at the office and deliver them over to Ms. Chavez before the boys head out to Austin. Please let me know if you can donate by emailing me at byrdsm@elpasotexas.gov.

Happy Holidays! We will see you in the New Year!

City 15 to Air Global Public Policy Forum on the War on Drugs

A precedent-setting, two-day conference on the forty-year old war on drugs, hosted by the University of Texas at El Paso, drew speakers of multiple points of view from the academic, government, and advocacy sectors. The consensus reached by many in attendance was that U.S. consumer drug demand fuels profitable organized crime, wreaking havoc on societies and fueling challenges to democracies in the Americas. The situation demands serious consideration of a range of practical alternatives to the currently costly and ineffective prohibition policies.

Residents who were unable to attend the Public Policy Forum are invited to view the panel discussions on Cable Channel 15, Your El Paso Government Information Source. The following is a schedule when the panel discussions will be aired:

• Monday, November 30 at noon: History, Successes, and Failures of the War on Drugs
• Wednesday, December 2 at noon: Reporting on the Drug War
• Thursday, December 3 at noon: Drug War and Violence: Effects on Communities in Mexico and the U.S.
• Friday, December 4 at noon: Exporting the Drug War: Historical and Geographic Perspectives
• Monday, December 7 at noon: Social Consequences of the Drug War
• Wednesday, December 9 at noon: Alternative Strategies and Policy Proposals for the Drug War
• Thursday, December 10 and noon: Based upon his experience as a former federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, a criminal defense attorney with the U.S. Navy JAG Corps, and a 25-year veteran on the trial court bench, Judge James P. Gray concluded that our nation's drug policy was not working. He offers policy alternatives to the current status quo.

October is here, so get out your calendars and prepare to fill them with several events going on in the El Paso throughout the month.

First, the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau has launched its Movies in the Canyon film series. Every Friday and Saturday throughout October, the CVB will show movies at the McKelligon Canyon Amphitheatre. classics such as Grease and E.T. will be shown along with favorites like The Karate Kid, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Back to the Future and Rudy.

For a complete list of movies, visit www.elpasocvb.com. All showings are free and begin promptly at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. each evening.

Second, the 4th Annual Great Southwest Book Fair & Sale will be held on Oct. 31 at the Main Library Downtown from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Authors Carlos Fuentes, Claudia Martinez, Xavier Garza and Joe Hayes and others will be present throughout the day to meet attendees and offer readings of their work. Kids are encourage to dress in costume and bring their jack-o-lanterns for the trick-or-treat festival.

For more information, visit www.elpasolibrary.org.

And finally, we will host our monthly District 2 Saturday community meeting on Saturday Oct. 17 at 10 a.m. inside the Memorial Park Library. Rep. Steve Ortega and Commander Mike Austin from the Northeast Regional Command will be this months guests, so make plans to attend and hear great presentations from these two dedicated public servants.

War on Drugs: Is It Working?

I went backpacking this past weekend and managed not to think about work or El Paso or much of anything. My mind quiet, I came home, relaxed and ready for just about anything.

First thing I did was check out the newspaper to see what I missed. A man from Horizon City was kipnapped in front of this home while schoolchildren watched on. Later that week, he was found brutally murdered in Juarez, his hands carved off and laid over his chest. Eighteen people were slain in a Juárez drug rehab center. Maybe the center was a cover for the cartels. Maybe not. But 18 people were dead.

It is strange to live so close to such daily and relentless and consuming violence, just minutes really. And yet I feel safe. There is not one neighborhood in this city that I would feel anxious in walking around after dark. We are the third safest U.S. city of our size sharing a common border, a common culture, a common history with a city that is by most accounts the most dangerous city in the world today.

It wasn't always that way. I miss Juarez. I miss crossing over for dinner, for New Year's Eve at Martino's, a drink at the Kentucky Club, a walk down to the Cathedral, shopping with friends from out of town... My mom and dad used to take the kids over for a special dinner and the Feria. We haven't been in a long while, a year maybe. It was always familiar, like home. Not anymore. Better not to chance it.

So it is easy to seal ourselves off from the violence in Juarez, not cross over. Bemoan the daily headlines and trust the law enforcement agencies that it will not spill over. But as citizens of El Paso, as citizens of the United States, we should not let our sense of security distance us from the violence in our sister city, from the violence begat from an insatiable hunger for illegal drugs in the United States and the laws that have created irresistible profit margins for greedy thugs with guns. The violence in Juarez is our problem. This region, El Paso and Juarez, have sat perched at the edge of a great renaissance. The insecurity in Juarez has unraveled economic gains in our region. Momentum is lost. Worry sets in.

We can't really afford to just stand by.

It is with this in mind that several UTEP professors and community folks came together to host "A Global Public Policy Forum on the U.S. War on Drugs." The War on Drugs was declared by Richard Nixon 40 years ago. Given the level of violence in Juarez, it is fair to ask whether the war is working and at what costs. The forum brings together thinkers and actors on this issue from all walks of life--government, journalists, academics, law enforcement--to examine the history of the war, its successes and its failures and to ask what options and alternatives we have as a global community to significantly reduce the threat of drug violence and drug use to our communities. The forum is meant as a time to reflect on current policy but its true aim is to develop an action plan for how we pull our region out of this crisis.

I invite you to attend, to participate, to put in your two cents, but most importantly to act.

A GLOBAL PUBLIC POLICY FORUM ON THE U.S. WAR ON DRUGS
When: September 20-22, 2009
Where: UTEP, Juarez and the Plaza Theatre
For more information: http://www.warondrugsconference.utep.edu/
RSVP to warondrugsconference@utep.edu