Notes from District 2

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

2011-03-17T11:22:00.009-06:00

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!

2011-01-05T14:02:00.003-07:00

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

2010-11-15T11:51:00.009-07:00

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

2010-09-19T16:24:00.005-06:00

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

2010-06-06T12:24:00.003-06:00

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

2010-04-21T11:19:00.012-06:00

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

2010-04-15T11:13:00.001-06:00

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!

2010-04-09T08:27:00.004-06:00

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

2010-04-01T16:14:00.004-06:00

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

2010-03-08T10:27:00.001-07:00

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

2010-02-24T16:19:00.003-07:00

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.

2010-02-08T17:36:00.001-07:00

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

2010-01-14T08:44:00.002-07:00

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

2010-01-13T14:23:00.003-07:00

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

2010-01-08T12:09:00.007-07:00

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!

2009-12-17T21:00:00.005-07:00

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

2009-11-23T12:26:00.002-07:00

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.

2009-10-08T17:47:00.000-06:00

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?

2009-09-11T14:41:00.005-06:00

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

Community Development Block Grants Available to Improve Low and Moderate Income Neighborhoods

2009-09-10T12:17:00.004-06:00

The federal government provides Community Development Block Grants to communities to help them improve low and moderate income neighborhoods. These grants can be used for park improvements, drainage and road improvements, sidewalks and other capital improvements in low and moderate income neighborhoods.

In District 2, we have recently used these grants for park improvements at Grandview Park and to re-design and resurface the tennis courts at Memorial Park. If you have any projects that you would like considered, you can find more information on the Community Development Department's website. Project requests are due November 13, 2009.

End of the Summer.

2009-08-28T13:12:00.005-06:00

We've had a grueling couple months of examining and building budgets, debating domestic partner benefits, annexation policy and billboards.

I'm sitting at my desk on a Friday afternoon trying to catch up with emails and projects and things to do. The building is empty, the last day of the four-day work week pilot project.

The summer is ending.

House of Pizza is open again after their much dreaded (at least in Central) annual summer vacation. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief and marched up the street to eat pizza and drink beer.

My kids started school this week. The baby started his first day of kindergarten at Crockett Elementary, the same school that my brothers and I grew up in. The baby's class is populated with a whole slew of kids whose parents went to school with me and my brothers. I walk with the boys, when they will let me, down the same path that I walked to school on growing up.

I guess I should be reporting to you all the latest goings on at the city or the new policy question before us, but mostly I just wanted you to know that I love the neighborhood I live in, the very same neighborhood that I grew up in. I love walking up to House of Pizza on a Thursday night in August. I love summer nights in Newman Park. I love walking my boys to school, waving to my parents as we begin our walk. I love chatting with the parents in the school yard, catching up after the summer, so many of us raised and rooted in this neighborhood. I love walking home towards the Franklin Mountain, daydreaming about the day and thinking about everything that I need to do. My love for this city grew on Louisville Street and that is where my heart still remains. The rhythm of this neighborhood is who I am.

Housing, Transportation, Affordability and Greenhouse Gases

2009-08-03T10:05:00.003-06:00

I live in Manhattan Heights. It takes me 10 minutes by car to get to work Downtown. Actually it takes me 5 to 10 minutes to get most anywhere I need to go in a day: grocery store, good restaurants, gas station. My kids can walk to school. We can walk to two parks, the library, the coffee shop in the library, the swimming pool, the House of Pizza, Papaburger and Food Q in five minutes. The bus runs down Piedras and Alabama, just two blocks from my house in either direction.

According to the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), this means I live in a location efficient neighborhood.

While the concept of energy efficiency is a familiar term, locations can be efficient too. Compact neighborhoods with walkable streets, access to transit, and a wide variety of stores and services have high location efficiency. They require less time, money, and greenhouse gas emissions for residents to meet their everyday travel requirements.

Based on this idea, CNT developed the Housing + Transportation Affordability Index. which takes into account not just the cost of housing, but also its location efficiency, by measuring the transportation costs associated with place. Some places cost more to live in not because of the costs of housing but because of the costs of transportation associated with living in that place. Location inefficient places require you to spend more time in your car and more money on gas and car travel.

The City recently contracted with CNT to analyze how affordable El Paso is when you take into account housing costs and transportation costs as a percentage of income. You'll be suprised at the results which can be found at http://www.htaindex.cnt.org/. There are also maps that show the greenhouse gas emmissions associated with car travel in El Paso.

Let me know what you think.

The Woodworkers Club is in District 2

2009-07-13T14:54:00.005-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to learn more about the Woodworkers Club of El Paso, which is in District 2. I didn't know about it so I figured others might not also. It is a great organization, especially for those that want to learn more about woodworking and need access to the tools and expertise to become capable or even master woodworkers. The club has been at it since 1985. They are located in a City building located at 3228 Sacramento Avenue. They have 130 members.

The Club promotes woodworking through classes, demonstrations and workshops. They also make about 3,000 wood toys a year that they donate to such organizations as Operation Santa Claus, Toys for Tots, the Ronald McDonald House and the Child Crisis Center.

Their center has workrooms open and available to all members, and a small retail center where you can pick out handcrafted wooden toys or other cool gifts. It has a library full of all you need to know about woodworking.

So if you have been wanting to learn more about woodworking, you can get more information about the Club by emailing Crafts30@aol.com or by stopping by the workshop. Tell them Susie sent you.

Why Mexico Matters to El Paso Taxpayers

2009-06-25T10:45:00.013-06:00

Every now and then an issue will pop up that reminds me that not everyone is convinced that El Paso gets any real benefit from sitting on the U.S./Mexico Border, and, in fact, some are convinced that the commerce and the travel between the two cities is a burden to residents who live and pay taxes here.

Not long ago, City Council was debating the issue of whether to impound cars in those cases where the drivers do not have car insurance. Many of the phone calls and emails that I received on this issue had less to do with whether it was a good idea or not and were more focused on how we were going to treat Mexican motorists driving in El Paso without insurance. Never mind that the number of accidents involving motorists from Mexico is a negligible percent of the number of accidents where drivers do not have insurance, some were convinced that most Mexican motorists were breaking our laws and leaving us to pick up the tab.

All of this, plus the recent debate about building a new port of entry, got me to thinking that we don't do a good enough job about talking about why Mexico matters to El Paso taxpayers. I think we have gotten better about communicating the economic benefits of our location on the U.S./Mexico border. We have more jobs here and more business opportunity as a result of robust growth in the maquila industry in Juarez. Many of our retail and service jobs are a result of the hundreds of thousands of Mexican shoppers who travel to El Paso to buy our goods and eat in our restaurants. But what about the taxpayers? How do we benefit?

Our tax base is made up of all different sources of revenue but the one that most people care about is property taxes. Two significant contributors to our tax base that are directly tied to commerce and travel between El Paso and Mexico are sales tax and bridge revenues. Depending on the source, estimates suggest that Mexican shoppers account for 10-14 percent (Federal Reserve) to 30 percent(local retailers) of retail activity in El Paso. Mexican shopppers pay sales taxes that go to our general fund. They are able to get that sales tax rebated through the manifesto program but estimates are that only about 20 percent of Mexican shoppers take advantage of the rebate. Every time someone crosses our bridges heading north, they pay a fee and those fees go straight to the general fund, paying for a whole range of municipal services.

Our adopted budget this year was dramatically impacted, not by the foreclosure crisis in the U.S., but by the drop in bridge revenues and by the drop in sales tax revenues which our analysts attributed to the peso devaluation. Because of this, I asked our budget analysts to tell me what would happen to our tax base if we didn't have Mexico to count on for revenues. If we had no shoppers from Mexico, we would have to slash $6,694,270 from our budget or make it up by raising taxes. (This assumes a conservative estimate that Mexican shoppers make up only 10% of our retail market. This is very, very conservative.) If no one crossed our bridges from Mexico and paid bridge fees, we would have to slash $9,079,244 from our budget or make it up by raising taxes. So approximately, $15.7 million in revenue, or 5.2% of the total annual projected revenue, can be directly attributed to Mexico.

So this is why Mexico matters to El Paso taxpayers. If we couldn't count on that $15.7 million, we would have to decrease services or increase taxes by 5.5 cents from $0.633/$100 to $0.688/$100 based on the certified valuation received on 7/25/2008 to make up for that shortfall. For a taxpayer, this would be a difference of $55 per every $100,000 of valuation on your property.

This is one of many reasons why we need to concern ourselves as El Pasoans with what is happening in Mexico and what we can do to better facilitate the easy movement of people and goods through our ports.

Midnight Basketball: Need Coaches and Volunteers

2009-06-25T10:27:00.004-06:00

The popular Midnight Basketball program is back at Nolan Richardson Recreation Center. A couple of years ago, a neighborhood advocate toured me with the surrounding neighborhood commonly refered to as the Devil's Triangle. The neighborhood has some great assetts--the recreation center, a senior center, a great shady park with lots of trees--but it also has some pretty significant challenges. Drug dealing and prostitution are everyday events. There are large apartment complexes that are in disrepair or boarded up. There is a lot of poverty. There are also a lot of kids in the neighborhood who need fun, safe things to do. The neighborhood advocate complained that there was not enough things to do and that the rec center wasn't open when the kids needed things to do and that some of the programming was out of reach because of the associated fees.

We provided scholarships for kids who could not afford programming and we instituted a Midnight Basketball program. It started off last year but wasn't a traditional Midnight Basketball program. Several sports were offered. It ended at 9 P.M. We got some participation from neighborhood kids but it was clear that they wanted something different. This year, it is just basketball and the program is on Thursday and Friday nights from 9 P.M. to midnight. There are a ton of kids participating and really enjoying it. The competition is fierce.

But we need some more help. We have staff managing the program and we have referees, but we need coaches and folks willing just to come out and hang out with kids. Volunteers can sign up to be a coach for the full length of the program or they can just pop in when they have some time.

Let me know if you are interested. I can be reached by email at byrdsm@elpasotexas.gov.

Meet Oscar Ortiz

2009-06-06T13:35:00.002-06:00

Last night, I was sitting on my front porch eating dinner with my daughter Hannah. The boys were off at Cohen Stadium watching the Diablos get beat up. A car pulls up and out jumps Oscar Ortiz. "Are you Susie Byrd?" he asks. "I'm Oscar Ortiz, and I want your help."

Oscar is a senior at El Paso High School. He plays the trumpet, the trombone and the euphonium. He has marched in the Tiger Pride Band for three years and is a principle trombone player in the El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestra. His lifelong dream and the reason he joined band was to march in Drum Corps International, the Marching Music's Major League.

His dream just might come true. Along with 100 other students from across the country, Victor was selected to become a member of the Memphis Sound Drum and Bugle Corps. This summer they will tour the country performing and competing against other drum and bugle corps from throughout the United States and Canada. The season will culminate in early August at the Drum Corps International Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Here's the hitch. Oscar has to raise $2,600 to cover the costs of the program. So he is popping up on people's porches asking for help. I told him I would let you guys know about his dream. I'm including the video that he sent in to convince Memphis Sound Drum and Bugle Corps that he was their guy. Once you see it, you will be convinced, like I am, that Oscar needs our help. Please consider making a donation. Checks can be made to the Memphis Youth Performing Arts Association. If you want to make a donation, email me at byrdsm@elpasotexas.gov and I will give you the address where you can mail Oscar a check.

Club Rec for Central!

2009-06-06T13:18:00.002-06:00

Central has some great things going for it: great parks, everything is in walking distrance, great schools, lots of history, great architecture... The list goes on and on. But several years ago, parents working with EPISO (El Paso Inter-religious Sponsoring Organization) said there are some things that Central doesn't have that the City needs to get busy fixing.

One of those things was youth services. As a result of some dedication and some organizing, the parents and EPISO got a commitment from the City and Representative Cushing to fund a Club Rec Summer Camp. (We also do not have a Recreation Center, which we will get to in the next bond election.)

The Club Rec program has had some great summers but more recently the program has dwindled in numbers so much so that City staff decided to scrap it without telling anyone. The first I heard about it was on Tuesday, and I quickly got busy trying to rectify it. So we are proceeding ahead with a Central Club Rec program but we need kiddos, lots of them.

This year's program will be at hosted at the Memorial Park Garden Center at 3105 Grant Avenue. The program will run from June 15 to August 7 from 9 A.M. to 1 P.M. Activities will include sports, arts and crafts, table games and of course trips to the Memorial Park Branch Library and Pool. And nothing can beat hanging out in a Memorial Park, the finest park in the City of El Paso. The program is $40 a week but scholarships are available to families who cannot afford the program fee. If you want to sign up, registration will be held on Friday, June 12 from 9 A.M. to noon at the Garden Center. Questions can be direction to 562-7071 or 544-0753.

My kids have done Club Rec for many many years and have always enjoyed the programming.

Save Neighborhood Schools! Save Houston Elementary!

2009-05-12T15:20:00.004-06:00

The El Paso Independent School District is considering closing down several small neighborhood schools to save money. One of the schools is Houston Elementary, an 87 year old neighborhood school on Grant Avenue that serves as an anchor to the Manhattan Heights Historic District. I am including a letter that will be presented to the Board of Trustees tonight. I would encourage all residents of this area and people interested in advocating for small neighborhood schools and better school planning to attend a meeting tomorrow night, Wednesday, May 13 at 6 P.M., at Houston Elementary to discuss the closure of these small neighborhood schools. I would also encourage you to attend the Smart Growth for Schools Workshop that will be on Friday, May 29 from 8:45 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. at the El Paso Museum of Art. Seating is limited so RSVP for the workshop by contacting Melissa Kellum at 915.541.4730 or KellumMA@elpasotexas.gov.

May 12, 2009

Dear EPISD Board of Trustees:

When I stand before you I always have to acknowledge the incredible gift of education that EPISD has given me and my children. I grew up attending small neighborhood schools. I walked to Crockett Elementary. I walked to Bassett Middle School. I walked to Austin High School. I graduated valedictorian and was accepted with a hefty scholarship at Emory University, a private university, mostly attended by students from private high schools.

I remember worrying that coming from a public school, I would not be able to compete with my peers. Not only was I able to compete, but I excelled because of my education at EPISD schools. My children are now walking to the same neighborhood school that I walked to when I was little. And I expect that EPISD will offer them no less than what I received—an excellent education in a great neighborhood.

I am here today to advocate for small neighborhood schools, in particular Houston Elementary. Houston has been part of our neighborhood for 87 years. We want it to remain a part of our neighborhood. In 2007, you asked the voters to invest in that school with a new multipurpose center. We want you to continue to invest in that school, rather than abandon it.

Having grown up benefiting from the wisdom of small neighborhood schools, I have been frustrated for some time by new school development by EPISD and other districts. The schools are over-large, having negative impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods and the children that attend them. The schools are not connected to the life of neighborhoods. They are often not even connected to the neighborhoods by sidewalks. Because of the size and location of them, the schools’ service areas are so large that a majority of students have to drive or be bused. This large movement of cars and buses into a school campus causes unnerving congestion and dangerous traffic conditions for surrounding neighborhoods. Not having the option to walk is one less chance to stave off the biggest public health threat to our children, obesity. And most significantly for your mission, many studies have demonstrated a direct and positive link between small schools and student achievement.

As an example, the district closed down a small neighborhood school, Wainwright Elementary, that was easy and safe for most kids to walk to. The district replaced it with Moye Elementary, which sits on Dyer, a six lane highway that is a danger to pedestrians. There were no improvements made to Dyer to address pedestrian safety. The vast majority of students going to that school have to cross six lanes of highway in order to attend that school. Last year, a family was struck and one was killed walking to Moye Elementary for an evening school event. This type of school planning does not serve neighborhoods and it does not serve our children.

On May 29, the City is hosting a session on Smart Schools. We want to work with you to improve education and to also improve neighborhoods through smart school planning. Especially in light of the recent conversations to close Houston Elementary, a small neighborhood school, I would urge all of the board and senior staff to attend this session before you make a mistake that our children and our neighborhood will have to live with.

I want to thank our trustee Carlos Flores and Dr. Garcia for their commitment to slow this process down and include the parents, the neighborhood and the board in a more thoughtful deliberative process that is not solely focused on your bottom line and more carefully considers the hidden costs of this closure on the children, the neighborhood, your budget and the budget of families who attend Houston. Before we move forward, I would like the board to consider and analyze the following in debating this issue:

What hidden costs are you not considering?

Will new portables need to be built to accommodate new growth at schools that will receive Houston students?

How much will bussing students to the new schools costs? How much will it cost families who walk their kids to school to instead have to take them by car? What will it cost our kid’s health in terms of lost physical activity?

What kind of congestion will this cause at the other schools? What will it cost either the district or the city to mitigate this congestion?

A vacant abandoned building such as Houston will be a blight on our neighborhood. Over time this blight will decrease property values in this neighborhood, a neighborhood that has recently seen an increase in young families and new investment. How much will this blight cost our tax base and your ability to increase revenues?

What impact will this move have on the classroom size at the schools that will be receiving them? Will it cost children at Paul Moreno and Coldwell who are now benefiting from small classroom sizes?

This move to close down Houston will also cost you the trust of many voters, who supported you in building Paul Moreno, not knowing it would come at the expense of one of our oldest neighborhood schools. Paul Moreno Elementary is just three blocks from Houston. In 2007, you asked us to vote for a bond that included building a multipurpose center at Houston. We supported you. Now just two years later, you are telling us you want to close this school?

And finally, the most important consideration, what other options does the district have to achieve your goals without harming our kids and our neighborhood? I know this neighborhood and the residents of this neighborhood well. I know that many parents do not send their children to Houston, even though they are in the service area. Many send them to Mesita for the dual language program or to other schools where there is a more obvious commitment to excellence in education from the board and the administration. One of my friends who lives in the Houston service area commented that her whole block is full of young families and not one of those families sends their children to Houston. Maybe one option could be for the board to invest in better programming, such as dual language, as a means to grow the population of this school. Since Crockett has refused to consider this program, I know I would consider sending my son to Houston if there was a dual language program there.

What other options could be considered? Please work with the parents and the neighborhood to find a better solution for our kids and for our neighborhood.

Sincerely,

Susie Byrd
City Council Representative, District 2

Impact Fees or a Higher Water Bill?

2009-05-08T14:23:00.002-06:00

It costs the ratepayers of El Paso over $2,000 in water and wastewater infrastructure for every new home that is built in El Paso. That means you and I are subsidizing the developers, to the tune of $2,000 per lot, as they continue to build their subdivisions at the far edges of the city. We do this through our water rates. For example, 35% of the increase in water rates last year was attributable to new infrastructure to support new development.

City Council has an opportunity on Tuesday to make the developers pay for these costs instead of the ratepayer.

If you want to help keep water rates low, if you want more responsible development and if you want new growth to pay for itself, please come to City Hall this Tuesday (5/12) at 6pm and support the imposition of impact fees.

Rail Runner Making a Stop in EP

2009-05-06T19:01:00.002-06:00

For those of you interested in expanding El Paso's commuting opportunities, you will have a chance to see just what the future has in store for the Borderland.

On Friday May 8, the New Mexico Rail Runner commuter train will be in El Paso so that city leaders and residents can see for themselves all the benefits offered by the regional rail line. The Rail Runner will be at 805 S. Santa Fe Street, with viewing beginning at 9:30 a.m. and a press conference scheduled for 2:30 p.m. For a map of the location, click

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF8&q=805+S.+Santa+Fe+El+Paso+Texas&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&cid=0,0,3545054276128661660&ei=2jECSuDBDILEM5Oe0dUH&ll=31.75169,-106.48814&spn=0.012827,0.019226&z=16&iwloc=A.

The Coolest Project Ever!

2009-05-05T16:13:00.004-06:00

On Monday at 5 P.M., we are celebrating one of the coolest projects ever. Please join us.

In 2004, the voters authorized Open Space Enhancement money for District 2. Working with the neighborhood, we decided to use this money to improve two large drainage ponds, one of them the Van Buren Dam on Harrison and Alabama. Through a community design process, we developed a plan that includes a hiking trail around the drainage pond, landscaping, trees, park benches and fitness centers located along the trail.

The pièce de résistance though is the public art. I used to get kids who would come and knock on my door at home and say, "Hey miss, we want a skate park." We didn't have any money for a skate park, and we couldn't use the open space money for this because of the way it was authorized by the voters. What we did have was public art funds and a brilliant local artist named Willie Ray Parish, who doesn't mind kids skating on his art. He created the first ever (at least in El Paso) skate art called "Sky Boulder."

By the way, we are going to be looking for a name for the park. Van Buren Dam doesn't cut it. If you have any ideas, let me know.

The Celebration is on Monday, May 11 at 5 P.M. at the Van Buren Dam on the corner of Harrison and Alabama.

Calling All Citizens!

2009-04-23T18:40:00.002-06:00

If any of you are interested in learning the inner workings of the El Paso Police Department, here is your chance.

The EPPD will host a Citizens' Academy. This will give you a chance to experience what a police officer goes through in his daily work.

Please contact Mr. Dale Baugh at (915) 276-1881 for more information.

El Paso Ranked Among Best Places to Live !

2009-04-23T18:38:00.001-06:00

El Paso has been selected by RelocateAmerica.com as one of "America’s Top 100 Places to live in 2009". Steve Nickerson, President and CEO of Relocate America said, "We looked at the local government and the business leadership in each community as we considered this Year’s winners. We selected communities with visionary leaders, improving or thriving economies including housing and realization of "green" initiatives.

In order to be considered for the list a community must have been nominated. The editorial team reviewed nominations and selected the Top 100 cities based on interviews with local leaders, feedback from residents and economic, environmental, education, crime, employment and housing data for the past years.

Scenic Sundays Returns, And This Time It's Year-round!

2009-04-14T18:30:00.003-06:00

City of El Paso Launches
Scenic Sundays Event

The City of El Paso, along with the El Paso Police Department, Apache Barricade and the Newman Park Neighborhood Association, is happy to announce the launch of Scenic Sundays, an outdoor special event that allows El Pasoans to enjoy Scenic Drive free of vehicle traffic.

“Last year, Scenic Sundays brought out large crowds of people who walked, jogged and biked on Scenic Drive,” Rep. Susie Byrd said. “This year, we’re extending Scenic Sundays beyond the summer so that families can enjoy the beautiful route year-round.”

Beginning Sunday April 19, Scenic Drive will be closed to vehicle traffic from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. throughout Spring and Summer. In Fall and Winter, Scenic Drive will be closed from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Officers from the El Paso Police Department will be present throughout the event, and vehicles will be kept off of Scenic Drive with barricades donated by Apache Barricade.

As a partner in Scenic Sundays, the Newman Park Neighborhood Association has agreed to store and transport the barricades before and after the events.

“We want to encourage residents to be more active, and we think Scenic Sundays will give everyone a chance to get outdoors and enjoy the breathtaking views and beautiful weather that El Paso has to offer,” added Byrd.

Welcome to El Paso

2009-04-03T16:49:00.009-06:00

An ongoing saga.

Billboards.

Last year, City Council was alerted to the fact that one of the billboard companies had put up 17 digital billboards, even though our current city code does not allow it. This is what I call policy making through the back door.

So we had to answer the question: do we want to allow digital billboards in El Paso, Texas, and if so, under what conditions?

Digital billboards are a new technology that allows sign companies to broadcast many more advertisements from a single board. Many of us, myself included, saw this as an opportunity to open up the debate about how we address billboards in general. We have too many billboards, too much visual clutter, too many roadway distractions. Not great advertisement for our city. Especially when what you want folks to remember is our mountain, our Downtown, our neighborhoods. Having done some marketing in my life, all the sign clutter also diminishes an advertisers ability to effectively reach their audience.

Our current billboard ordinance which has been in place for several years requires billboard companies to take down billboards every time they put up a new one. It is referred to as a cap and trade program. Problem is that it hasn't significantly reduced visual clutter, especially along those corridors that are saturated with signs.

Our planning department looked at what other cities are doing that is effective in reducing the number of billboards but still provides ample opportunities for businesses to advertise. Their research showed that many cities like Houston and Phoenix had effectively reduced billboards with a prohibition on all new sign construction. Based on the City Council direction to look at ways to reduce sign clutter in El Paso, they recommended that we adopt a similar prohibition and allow billboard companies to switch out existing static boards for digital boards in those cases where they were willing to remove 16 signs of equal value.

When the billboard company threatened to sue, City Council (in a vote that I did not support) asked that rather than establish policy through a public process, that we establish the policy through a negotiated settlement. Not surprisingly that negotiated settlement did not do much in the way of significantly reducing sign clutter in our community. It stuck with the cap and trade system and in the instance of digital boards only marginally increased the number of signs that a billboard company would need to remove in order to use a new technology that significantly enhances the value of their signs.

Last Monday at the urging of Representative Lilly, the Planning and Development Legislative Review Committee heard the issue again. We recommended that instead of setting policy under threat of lawsuit that we stick to our guns and go with the prohibition. We also recommended to City Council a cap of 15 digital signs citywide and that in order to trade out a static sign for a digital sign that a billboard company would need to take down 16 billboards of equal value. I added an ammendment that would require that all adjacent property owners and neighborhood associations would be contacted and that a public hearing would be held prior to a permit being awarded.

This issue will be heard by the full council in May. Don't forget to weigh in with your thoughts and ideas.

For more information on what other Texas cities are doing to keep Texas scenic, visit http://www.scenictexas.org/.

The Strangest Thing

2009-04-03T16:23:00.008-06:00

Last week I was walking on Portland Avenue up close to the base of the mountain. I introduced myself to a woman who was standing outside of her house. She had been daydreaming and looked a little startled by my "Hello!" "That's the strangest thing," she said. "I was standing here reminding myself that I needed to call you. (Of course, that's the kind of city representative I am, appearing when conjured up in someone's mental "to do" list.)

She and her husband owned the house that she was standing in front of, but rent it out and live on the eastside. She said the alley was a mess, and they wanted to talk to me about what the city could do to clean it up. Her husband appeared and walked me to the alley. Looming across the alley was a mountain of construction debris at least three stories high.

Her husband said that he grew up in the house. Lived there since he was 16 years old. He remembers when he was a teenager, dump trucks coming and dumping the mess on the lot behind the alley off of Cotton Street. He remembers that the building was City Hall or maybe a City County building.

So just like that, a public building (maybe) dumped some 40 years ago in this man's backyard. I told a couple of historians who hustled out there the minute they heard the story. The old city hall was demolished in 1959, which about fits the timeline described by the owner. There are a couple of large pieces from the top of the building at the bottom of the pile which might help identify the exact building that was unloaded in this neighborhood. From first glance, these pieces don't appear to be from City Hall, but it is hard to tell. I'm hoping a local historian or someone who can't stand a mystery is able to figure it out.

In the meantime, I am working with City staff to figure out how to clean this up. The pile is actually on private property and was recently sold through a tax foreclosure sale and then sold again.

So that's the latest from District 2.

The Great American Clean-up

2009-03-19T17:43:00.000-06:00

El Paso is one of the most scenic places to live in the United States. Our desert landscapes and soaring mountains give us year-round beauty and breathtaking views. But sometimes we do have some windy days (or months), which often leave trash strewn throughout our streets and across our natural spaces.

Next month, Keep El Paso Beautiful will hold the Great American Clean-up. On Saturday April 4, we will have the opportunity to get out, enjoy our open space and take pride in our community by helping to pick up some of the trash and debris that gets blown about by the wind or careless litterbugs.

Here is the press release from KEPB. I hope you are able to take part in this effort.

CALLING ALL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS, ENVIROMENTAL STEWARDS, & COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS
SPRING IS AROUND THE CORNER
TIME TO CLEAN-UP NOT ONLY YOUR CLOSETS BUT YOUR COMMUNITY TOO!

JOIN THOUSANDS OF VOLUNTEERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TAKING PRIDE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES ON
SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2009
FOR THE
GREAT AMERICAN CLEAN-UP (GAC)
CALL THE OFFICE OF KEPB @ 546.6742 TO REGISTER YOUR CLEAN-UP SITE
ALL SUPPLIES FOR THE GAC ARE AVAILABLE AT KEPB COMMUNITY TOOL SHEDS
LOCATED AT FIRE DEPARTMENTS THROUGHOUT EL PASO

FIRESTONE HAS, ONCE AGAIN, JOINED OUR EFFORTS TO KEEP EL PASO BEAUTIFUL ALL EIGHT FIRESTONE LOCATIONS WILL BE EXCEPTING TIRES TO DISPOSE OF THEM PROPERY DURING THE GREAT AMERICAN CLEAN-UP

Keep El Paso Beautiful (KEPB) in partnership with the El Paso Fire Department, Environmental Services Department, El Paso Street Department, Neighborhood Services and Community Volunteers are working together towards a cleaner, healthier, and safer El Paso.
El Pasoans now more than ever want to do their part to improve not only their own community, but our planet. Keep El Paso Beautiful is reminding environmental stewards of all ages and walks of life that Green Starts Here, with each volunteer and group that joins in to participate in the 2009 Great American Cleanup.

The Great American Cleanup in El Paso is scheduled to take place on Saturday April 4, 2009. The 2009 Great American Cleanup reminds individuals and families that a better environment for us all starts in our own communities and the volunteer work we do close to home affects our entire planet. Thousands of volunteers in El Paso will gather during the Great American Cleanup to rid our streets, waterways and public spaces of litter and illegal dumpsites. We’re greening up parks, schoolyards and other public spaces, hosting educational events, removing graffiti and much more.

REDUCE YOUR USE - THERE IS NO EXCUSE
Katherine Gunter- Palafox
Executive Director/Keep El Paso Beautiful
915.472.2985

Calling all teenagers! You are invited to join the MAYOR'S 100 TEENS.

2009-03-19T17:42:00.002-06:00

FACT SHEET

Purpose: The Mayor’s 100 Teens draws attention to the many ways in which teenagers make El Paso County a better place. The program focuses on heralding the achievements of youth who do not routinely receive recognition but who nonetheless make a difference in unique, personal ways. Teens who have overcome adversity, provided service to others, achieved something significant and who lead by example deserve to be honored. In recognizing them, the program intends to inspire more teens to higher levels of service and accomplishment.

Nomination Forms: Teachers, counselors, family (but not parents) and any others who recognize an individual’s spirit, drive, and accomplishments may nominate teens currently in grades 9, 10 or 11. It cannot be a teen currently in the 11th grade graduating early. We are requesting that nominators consult with the individual on their interest to pursue this opportunity before submitting the application as the selected teen will have to commit himself/herself to various events and activities. All nomination applications must be typed, handwritten applications will NOT be considered. Preferable method of nomination application submission is via email to nunezdx@elpasotexas.gov. Nomination applications are available at the Mayor’s web site (http://www.elpasotexas.gov/mayor/teens.asp), all city and county high schools at the counselors’ office, libraries, Police Regional Command Centers and a variety of other community locations. Please call Diana Nuñez at (915) 541-4015 for more information. Nomination application period opens on Monday, February 23, 2009 and closes on Friday, March 27, 2009.

Selection Process: Nominations for The Mayor’s 100 Teens are thoroughly reviewed by a committee of educators, community leaders, business people and representatives from youth organizations. Notification is made to selected teens in May.

Public Recognition: Each October, The Mayor’s 100 Teens are introduced and honored in a celebratory public event. A commemorative book that tells the story of each teen is published. Members of The Mayor’s 100 Teens accompany the Mayor to numerous public appearances, participate in community projects and groups and make public presentations throughout the year.

Sunday Meditations

2009-02-08T11:14:00.004-07:00

On Sundays, I like to lay on the couch and drink coffee and read the New York Times from the beginning to the end. It's a nice way to relax but also think through what's going on in the world. My dad recently sent me two other items to put into the Sunday mix. I'm passing them along to you. Maybe, like me, you like to spend your Sundays daydreaming and thinking through things.

The first is a music video from a group called Playing for Change. I'm not going to explain it here. It explains itself.

The second is from a radio program called This American Life that airs on NPR. The program is called "The Global Pool of Money," and it takes you through all the forces that came to bear in the recent crisis of the housing and mortgage market. To get to the full episode, click on "Full Episode" on the menu that runs along the left side of the screen. The radio program makes the crisis easier to understand because it introduces you to people who were operating at every level of housing bubble (the borrowers, the lenders, the brokers, the loan bundlers, the Wall Street investors buying bundles and selling them up the chain, etc.)

So some things to chew on on a Sunday afternoon.

Bye-Bye ASARCO

2009-02-04T09:50:00.011-07:00

We got word yesterday that ASARCO has decided not to re-open the El Paso Smelter. This is good news and something we--neighborhood advocates, environmentalists, business people and elected leaders--have all been working hard to accomplish for our region. We will work to make sure that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality operating permit for ASARCO is formally withdrawn and that ASARCO sets aside sufficient funds to clean up their site.

About a year and a half ago, almost 1,000 El Pasoans gathered for a photo called Faces Against ASARCO. Our goal was to send a message to the rest of Texas that our economy, our health and our quality of life depended on ASARCO staying closed. As part of that photo shoot, we waved good bye to ASARCO. It was a hope then. Maybe today, it is something we can depend on.

Photography by Robert Ardovino.

NEIGHBORHOOD: What My Mother Taught Me About Dreaming Big

2009-02-04T09:41:00.014-07:00

Note: These are my mother's words. Lee Byrd. She and I spoke at the Ysleta Independent School District Mother Daughter conference last week. My mother is a writer, editor and the co-publisher at Cinco Puntos Press. My speech follows hers.

Maybe you’re one of those people who dream about changing the world. I know I am. I know my daughter Susie Byrd is, too. In fact, when she was your age, she dreamed about becoming president of the United States. She was going to put an end to the death penalty. She talked about it a lot.

She was dreaming big which is a very good thing.

Dreaming big is, in fact, really important. But there are times in your life when your big dreams may get in the way of your seeing the treasure that’s right in front of you. I learned this from my mother, who was one heck of a big dreamer. Let me tell you about her.

My mother was born in 1906, in a little town outside of Boston, Massachusetts. If she were alive today, she would be 102.

My mother was a red head, an adventurous kid, full of ideas and experiments, always thinking of crazy things for her friends to do and hanging around with kids who were dumb enough to do them. Her father was from Scotland and made his living as a gardener so there wasn’t a whole lot of money for her to dream big with. But a doctor who lived close by must have noticed that my mother was a big dreamer and that there was something about her that would go far, because he decided to pay for her to go to Boston University. So in the early 1920s, when most women didn’t get past high school, my mother graduated from Boston University with a degree in business.

Ma taught school until 1935 when she met my father Eustace Merrill. They moved to Plainfield, New Jersey, and had us four kids. She raised us. She cared for us when we were sick, fixed our meals, took care of our house, shed tears over us when we failed and told everyone when we did well.

And it was there in that house where I grew up, that my mother taught us about neighborhood, about being a neighbor, about being involved in a community, especially the community that is right in front of you. My mother knew everyone in the neighborhood, she knew their kids. Through Ma, we knew everyone too. She lent things to the neighbors and she turned around and borrowed from them. She invited them over to play Scrabble, or to play cards, or for dinner or for her annual neighborhood Christmas party. And she and Dad went over to visit them, got to know them. The kids in the neighborhood played in our back yard because it was big and had a paved driveway and a basketball net and a long-roped swing underneath a huge oak tree.

Oh, she had her dreams, my mother did. Just like the rest of us, she had big dreams. But those dreams became real in the little things she did, in the very place where she chose to do them, there in our neighborhood.

My mother’s sense of neighborhood has been a blessing to me, a blessing and a legacy. In 1978, after moving from Alamosa, Colorado to Albuquerque and then Las Cruces, New Mexico, my husband and I and our three kids finally settled in El Paso, in a red brick bungalow on Louisville Street, right off Piedras, right down from the House of Pizza. We were so sick of moving that we decided that house on Louisville Street was just fine and we weren’t going to move again. And we’ve been there 30 years.

Almost right away, I wanted a neighborhood like the one I grew up in—not one that looked like my old New Jersey neighborhood, but one that felt like it. A community, a place where I knew everyone and they knew me. But how to go about making friends? I tried one lady across the street, someone about my age with kids about our kids’ age, but she didn’t seem too interested in knowing me. Maybe she hadn’t grown up in a real neighborhood herself—you know, a lot of people nowadays really don’t want to know their neighbors which I think is a real shame.

But there was another person down the street, a woman in her 30s who had mental retardation. Her name was Isabel. She thought she was nine years old. When she saw us unpacking our truck, she came down to visit right away. She saw our kids and decided they were perfect companions. And so she was at our house every day, playing with our kids—and what a treasure they thought she was: someone who looked like an adult but who had fun like a kid.

Through Isabel, I came to know her mother Benita and then her four brothers and two sisters and their families. Isabel’s father Lalo was friends with Mr. Acosta on the corner. Through Lalo, we met the Acosta family.

At night when we sat on our front porch, looking out at the lights of Juarez, we heard music. The Coulahans from across the street were sitting on their porch and listening to classical music.

There was a middle-aged bachelor next door, Art, and he liked to come out on his front porch late at night and sing old Elvis songs and he liked to sit in his living room and curse at the Dallas Cowboys when they weren’t playing very well. We could hear him from our porch.

Mrs. Pino was the neighborhood busybody. She had opinions about everyone’s house and yard, ours included, and she came over to tell us about them.

And so one house at a time, a neighborhood grew up around us. Some neighbors have moved, some have stayed, their children all grown up and coming back to visit us. They always stop in to say hi. The lady across the street who wasn’t interested in being friends with me moved, but not before we became really good friends. In her place came a woman named Terry Martinez who introduced me to Martha Garza on the corner. The three of us walked in the mornings and they taught me how to make friends by sharing all the small details of their lives. And then, the greatest thing of all, Susie and her husband Eddie and our grandkids moved into the house of the middle-aged bachelor Art when he left and so right there in the neighborhood I have all the great treasures of life: family, children, grandkids, dear friends and good good neighbors. When I think of the dreams I’ve dreamed, none could have been much better than watching this neighborhood become a reality.

And so I dream big in a small place, but I’m not constrained. And I want to encourage you to do the same: dream big, but never neglect the life and the people that God has put in front of you.

What My Mom Taught Me

2009-02-04T09:25:00.004-07:00

One year, my mom and dad posted their New Year’s Resolution on the fridge for everyone to see. “This year, we will welcome everyone into our home with a glad heart.” This is one of the most important things that have I learned from watching my mom move in the world.

My mom is a great fixer of things, and there is not much that she doesn’t think she is in charge of fixing. On her drive to work, she used to pass a homeless woman on Cotton Street. The homeless woman was bundled up in layers of clothes and had a too small sign asking for help. She sometimes held the sign up side down or turned the words towards her, instead of towards the intended audience. The sign was poorly written. Some words were misspelled. The sign also said that she needed the money for a drink, which my mom thought was a little counterproductive. As a writer and an editor, a person whose life is words, this was much more than my mom could bear. She couldn’t take it anymore. One day, she drove down to that corner with a big sign and some markers and she worked with the homeless woman on producing a more legible sign that better served its purpose.

Turns out that the woman’s name was Jeanne. In her fixing, my mom got to know Jeanne. She would stop by and visit sometimes. She got to know Jeanne’s story. Turns out Jeanne wanted money, not for beer, but for food and water. Mom explained that the sign would lead people to believe otherwise. My mom would fill me in sometimes. I think my mom tried to get her some help, find her a place to stay, but Jeanne was at that corner with her own purpose. She would not be moved. But I bet she was glad for the conversation, glad to have someone stop by and visit and want to know her.

My mom charges in to fix things and fix people. She sees a problem she wants it solved. That is her impulse always. It never quite works out the way she saw it, charging in. But what always happens is that my mom opens up a glad and welcome heart and it is that act of welcome, more than anything else my mom has to give, that helps people, that changes things.

This is my mom’s gift. She did not come by it naturally. She works hard at it. She recognizes in her actions what so few of us recognize: we will probably never have much luck in changing people, but in changing ourselves and making ourselves welcoming of just about anyone, we can change the world.

For the last 30 years, my mom has charged up and down Louisville Street with her fix-it-up spirit. She would like some of the men to quit drinking. She would like the man on the corner to fix up his house. She wants one of our neighbors, a renter, to be able to buy the house from the stingy landlord. She worries over some of the kids in the neighborhood, wants to warn them off of the path they have taken. She would like me to not work as much and spend more time at home. She knows all of our stories, she pays attention to all of us, she worries over all of us. We all depend on her.

This last year was a hard year for the neighborhood. A young boy whose father grew up in the neighborhood was killed in a gang fight. The boy’s dad grew up two houses down from me. His mom and sisters still live there. After his son died, he would often wander over to my mom’s house. He needed to talk to someone. He needed to talk to my mom. He would talk about his anger and his grief and his guilt. My mom would listen. Even after he left the neighborhood, he still needed what my mom had to give: a glad and a welcome heart that he could depend on.

So, remember this:

Our moms have a lot to teach us.
We should be the change we want in the world.

Note: This is from a speech that my mother and I delivered at the Ysleta Independent School District Mother Daughter Conference.

A New Year, A New Meeting Location

2009-01-27T16:53:00.003-07:00

I am pleased to announce the new schedule of community meetings for 2009 through the month of May. The meetings will be held every first Thursday and third Saturday of the month, and each meeting will feature a guest speaker to give you insight and information on what is happening throughout the Sun City.

Between now and May, you will have the opportunity to hear from several community leaders. Mayor John Cook, City Manager Joyce Wilson, PSB Vice President of Marketing Cristina Montoya, Environmental Services Director Ellen Smyth, County Commissioner Veronica Escobar, and County Sheriff Richard Wiles are all scheduled to speak at upcoming meetings.

The location of the Thursday morning meetings has changed, and they will now be held at Tierra del Sol Restaurant, 4201 Alabama, at 7:30 a.m. This move was done to make the meetings more accessible to a wider range of District 2 constituents. The Saturday morning meetings will continue to be held at the Memorial Park Library, 3200 Copper, at 10:00 a.m.

Be sure to include the District 2 community meetings in your calendars as I hope to reach out to and hear back from as many residents as I can so that we can continue to make District 2 one of the best places to live and work in El Paso.

Juarez and the Drug War

2009-01-11T14:20:00.004-07:00

Note: This editorial was written by my friend and colleague City Representative Beto O'Rourke about the action that we took last Tuesday as a response to the violence in our sister city Juarez. The Mayor vetoed the item and so it will be back for consideration on Tuesday. It will take 6 of 8 votes to override the veto. I encourage everyone to participate in this debate by emailing and calling the Mayor and city representatives and showing up to put in your two cents. We've been getting a ton of emails, thoughtful responses both in support and against. One of my constituents ended his email on the subject with the following quote from Mark Twain which I think is perfect for this moment in our history: "Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul."

From Beto: The civil government in Ciudad Juarez has collapsed. In our sister city of 1.5 million people murders, mutilation, torture, kidnappings and extortions are committed with impunity. Beyond the cost in human lives and safety, it also threatens to imperil the nascent economic rennaissance in this region and the over $2 billion spent by Mexican nationals in our local economy. And there is the very real national security threat, recently articulated by retired Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, that this brutality and lawlessness could extend throughout Mexico and lead to a flood of refugees who would overwhelm our border, our city and our country and make today's undocumented immigration problem seem insignificant by comparison.

A crisis of this magnitude requires different thinking. We can't assume that continuing, or slightly modifying, a 40-year "Drug War" policy is going to produce anything better for Juarez or El Paso or our two countries. That is why this past Tuesday the City Council added an important amendment to a resolution brought to us by the Committee on Border Relations.

The Committee's original resolution was a strong, positive statement of support for our beleagured sister city and it contained a number of important policy recommendations, including stepped up enforcement of gun-trafficking in the U.S. and more funding for and focus on prevention and rehabilitation. However, we did not feel that the resolution went far enough in demanding a more comprehensive review of what is clearly a failed policy, one that has cost us billions of dollars, allowed drugs to still reach the U.S. consumer in an affordable and accessible manner, and one that has empowered the thugs and criminal organizations to the point that they, not the democratically elected government, now control the city of Juarez.

We felt that the resolution had to take one more step critical to rethinking what has been a failed policy. And so the unanimously adopted resolution contained the added request that our national lawmakers have an open, honest dialog about the prohibition of drugs.

This past December marked the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the prohibition of alcohol. In the midst of the Great Depression, while crime gangs ruled the streets of Chicago and other major cities, the American public realized that the millions of dollars spent to wipe out alcohol had done nothing to limit demand or supply and had only enriched and empowered gangs of murderous criminal entrepreneurs. On top of that, the U.S. was unable to regulate, control or tax the alcohol that was being consumed in greater quantities than before prohibiton. It is worth noting that the U.S. now averages over $7 billion a year in alcohol related tax collections.

Our current drug policy does not work. Ending prohibition on one or more illegal drugs may be part of the answer. But we will never know if we aren't willing to talk about it. That's all we're asking for, and I think it's the least we can do as we try to help change a tragic situation that has serious consequences for the future of our region.

Please consider helping

2009-01-06T14:23:00.002-07:00

I received a note yesterday from a young woman named Paloma Gonzalez Rio, who has received a scholarship to attend the California College of Arts. The only thing preventing her from getting there is the plane fare to San Francisco. Is there anyone that might be able to pitch in to get her there? She can be contacted at: paloma.gonzalezrios@gmail.com.

I asked her to tell me a little bit about herself that I could share with you. Here are some of her words:

Despite financial and personal hardships, I have always considered myself to be very fortunate. I deeply believe that every single minute is to be lived with passion and force. This is my personal philosophy and the main reason behind my outgoing and positive personality.

My name is Paloma Isabella, I am 20 years old and I grew in a family of four. My mother, a single parent has always worked very hard and even with us helping in every way possible, we still live from day to day.

I was the victim of abuse but I have moved on with the help of my family's love and the strength of my mother's teachings. I have learned to turn the bad experiences into life lessons and as the years pass I continue acquiring the knowledge to search for opportunities and to take full advantage of them. All the everyday small victories have made me a hard working and focused individual that strives to find the precise equilibrium between her and the world around.
Due to my economic situation the chances of having an education past middle school were very few, more so aspiring to attend college. Despite all the odds I obtained a scholarship to the most prestigious private preparatory school in Mexico (ITESM/SACS).

This was a key experience in my academic life since it opened another window on my life, showing me an ample range of possibilities for a successful future as a human being and a professional. The abilities I developed as a student at ITESM enabled me to pursue a college education and gave me the desire to obtain every academic tool available to become a professional and to fulfill my goal of making a difference in world society.

My deep instilled moral values have always provided me with the understanding to defend the rights of others as well as my own. After surmounting so many daily difficulties I find almost any kind of obstacle is conquerable and that no matter what other trials I encounter in my future , I know for certain that through discipline and hard work I will be able to overcome them and achieve my goals.

More information:
I´m the eldest one and I´m going to be the first one in my family to pursue a higher education. My mother is the only support of my family (four dependants) and has seriously health problems. My single mother can not provide me with the possibilities to attend college.That is why after 3 long years searching, finally I obtained a great opportunity to go to College; I won the Gates Millennium Scholarship that will make possible for me to pursue a Major in Architecture, the one I love.

My mother works very hard to make ends meet and she does not have the financial means to contribute in anyway to my education-related expenses. Our economical situation is not very easy,that is why my brother, sister and I have had to win scholarships to attend school and worked independently (selling and making crafts,selling candies,etc) to contribute financially to our home.
I hope this is helpful,
Thanks in advance!!!
Paloma Gonzalez

You Go Girl!

2008-12-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

On Monday, my son and I ran into his basketball coach at mini dribbler's practice. John ran up to his coach with his big Johnny smile. "Coach, are we going to have a team this year?" The coach explained that they didn't have enough boys to make the team. I asked about the girls that played on the team last year. Weren't they going to play? "No," Coach Joey said, "the City won't let the girls play on the boys' teams anymore. They said it is a liability to let the girls play with the boys because the boys might hurt the girls."

Last year, my son John played on an under 10 basketball team at the Marty Robbins Center on the east side. They were undefeated. Two girls played on the team. The leading scorer was a girl. The other team that Coach Joey coached was under 8. They had a couple girls on the team. They were also undefeated. One of their best players was a girl. John's coach, who likes to win, is obviously very upset about losing some of his best players to a rule that doesn't make sense to him.

Johnny's real sport is baseball. He's been playing since he was four through t-ball, onto coach pitch and finally at kid pitch. There have always been girls on his team. One of the best players is a girl named Alisa who played short stop and was always dependable at bat. This was her last year to play on the team because her dad wants her to start getting used to girl's softball.

I played soccer most of my life but always liked playing football. The only opportunity I had to play football was neighborhood football that we used to play in middle of the street with one kid always posted to watch for oncoming traffic. In middle school, I spent a good ten minutes every day trying to convince the football coach to let me try out for the football team. I didn't ask him to put me on the team. I just asked him to let me try out. He refused even though he knew that I could kick farther than any of their punters and at that age, I was just as tough as any of them. Even though he knew that I could compete, he told me that I would not be allowed to compete because I was a girl. I would not have been able to compete in high school. By then, the boys had gotten a lot bigger and a lot stronger.

Studies show that there is little physiological difference girls and boys before the onset of puberty. Since more and more girls are encouraged to play sports from an early age, they have the ability and the skills to compete with boys. So, why won't we let them?

I asked our Parks and Recreation Department for an answer. Here is what I got back: "We do not currently offer co-ed youth sports leagues for programs managed by our Sports Section; we offer boys divisions and girls divisions. Girl players who are exceptional usually play up in age group. There are instances when girl age groups do not have enough players to make enough teams. When this happens, we do allow girls to play on boys teams, but staff also explains that if the girls division does make they would have to move to a girls team. Staff is guided by UIL and NCAA rules which are guided by Title IX. Paula states that she has been offering the program this way for 10 years with much success and has doubled the girls' programs."

I'm glad to hear that we are increasing participation in our girls' programs, but this still doesn't answer my question. If a girl under the age of 12 wants to compete and can compete on a boys' team, why can't she? The answer "because she is a girl" didn't seem fair to me in middle school and it doesn't seem fair to me now.

At Tuesday's meeting, I am going to ask City Council to reconsider the City's postion on this issue.

Thank you!

2008-12-18T10:12:00.002-07:00

Well, we made it through Dancing with the Stars. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the cause, either buying tickets to the event or writing a check to Big Brothers Big Sisters. I raised $3,000 through your support. We did not win in any category but had a great time competing. The event itself raised $57,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters, an organization that helps kids in needs by pairing them up with a community mentor.

Sometimes, its the small things that make it feel like there is movement afoot

2008-12-09T21:23:00.010-07:00

Yesterday in City Council, there was lots of heated debate about the Public Service Board and the stormwater utility district and user fees for senior aerobics classes. We didn't get out of the meeting until 4:30 P.M. We didn't break for lunch. The meeting was punctuated every now and then by some drama (Eddie Holguin wanted some advice on how to subpoena Ed Archuleta while an embarrassed council walked out leaving him without a quorum) or a temporary loss of cool (Ray Gilbert screamed, Steve Ortega screamed back, the mayor intervened).

Buried in yesterday's marathon meeting was a request by the owners of 300 Florence to put an historic overlay on their property. The owners are converting an old Trost designed warehouse into downtown lofts. The item was moved and approved with almost no comment or conversation. No passions were inflamed. There was no drama.

There should have been.

This was the first time in over a decade that a property owner has voluntarily signed up to put their property under an historic overlay. With an historic overlay comes a whole host of additional obligations and processes aimed at preserving the architectural significance of a building. It used to be if the City even whispered historic overlay to a property owner, the property owner would lawyer up and charge down to city council to beat those efforts down with a stick.

But we've been trying to change all of that. We re-wrote the historic preservation ordinance to streamline the process and to include tax incentives for both commerical and residential property owners who are willing to invest in old buildings. We waived the $1500 fee required to sign up for an historic overlay. We hired a full time Historic Preservation Officer dedicated to the preservation of our historic assets, rather than depend on a city planner with a pile of other work to do. This last budget cycle we gave the HPO some more staff support. We've been fixing the city's administrative processes which seemed to make it easy for property owners to ignore their obligations under the historic preservation ordinance, but very hard and time consuming and mind numbing for property owners who wanted to do the right thing. We told the City that if we were going to make property owners comply with the historic preservation ordinance that city departments had to do the same with parks and public space in historic districts.

We still have a lot more to do, but a lot of good work has been done so that people who want to invest in preserving an historic property view the City as an ally and a partner in that effort.

Mr. Perez

2008-12-04T12:14:00.003-07:00

On Monday night, we stood outside of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Perez' house on Joyce Circle to celebrate a huge victory for the neighborhood: the completion of a drainage project that they had been fighting for for 10 years. We drank hot chocolate and ate tamales and sweet bread. Mr. Perez' sons told me stories about growing up with flooding as an everyday event. One son told me that his friends used to ask if their dad was setting up a bunker because sandbags always surrounded the house.

I met Mr. Perez at one of my first District 2 Community meetings. He came with a crowd of angry neighbors and some photos of what his neighborhood looks like under water. Every time it rains, they explained, the neighborhood floods. No matter whether it is a tiny drizzle or a downpour, it is under water. What finally drove them to my meeting is that one of their oldest neighbors got trapped in her home by a flood of water pouring into her home and had to be rescued by the fire department. Some residents had moved out because they couldn't take the hassle and the property damage anymore. They had had enough.

I called the Streets Department to alert them, thinking I was the first on the scene. Turns out they knew the scene all too well. Every time it started to rain, they had the troops out at Joyce Circle with sand bags. Joyce Circle had been on the books for 10 years but had never been funded. This is what stormwater management looked like under the City. The Streets Department had been asking for the money for this project and other stormwater projects for 10 years but couldn't get anyone to listen. We finally funded the Joyce Circle project using certificates of obligation but not without some resistance from other members of council who wanted to wait and take it to the voters. One of our most basic obligations--public safety and the protection of property--had been ignored and underfunded to the detriment of many property owners in our city. This was starkly highlighted by the Storm 2006.

On Tuesday, the City Council will introduce an ordinance and then hear the issue on December 16 on the stormwater utility brought to us by a citizen initiative petition. The initiative petition was signed by 2,400 registered voters in El Paso. The signers of the initiative petition are asking that the responsibility for setting the fees for the stormwater utility be taken from the Public Service Board and given to city council.

I supported the creation of the stormwater utility, and I supported handing over the fee setting and the management of the stormwater utility to the Public Service Board. While it has been a bruising political battle, I still think it is the right thing to do for our community.

Here is what we were trying to accomplish in the creation of the stormwater utility:

1. One of the biggest deficiencies of the stormwater system under the City of El Paso was the regular and routine maintenance of the system. If culverts are clogged, if inlets are blocked by trash, if retention and detention basins have years and years of built up silt, the system loses its intended capacity to handle stormwater runoff. This is when flooding occurs. This is when property damage occurs. During the public hearings on the stormwater utility, the public indicated that they wanted a system that had dedicated resources to regularly maintain our existing stormwater system.

2. A second defiency of the system under the city was that there was not regular capital improvements made to the system. After the damage from Storm 2006, the City determined that at least 46% of the new projects that we had to undertake in order to fix the system had been on the books for at least 5 or more years, 20% of those (like Joyce Circle) had been on the books for 10 or more years. If we had taken on those projects when they were identified, we would not have seen the kind of damage we did in 2006 and the projects probably would not have cost us that much. During the public hearings on the stormwater utility, the public indicated that they wanted a system that had an annual amount available to begin chipping away at the millions of dollars in capital improvements needed to make the system function better.

3. The final consideration that was very important to me in representing an older area of the city that is more dense is that the system be funded based on a property's contribution to the need for stormwater management. If you own a sixteen acre asphalt car lot, you are contributing much more to the stormwater problem then if you own a a 10-story building on an acre of land. If you own a large home, you are contributing more to the stormwater problem than someone who owns a modest-sized home. Those who contribute more to the problem should pay more or find a way to offset their impact on the stormwater system.

So the stormwater utility got going in March. Since that time, we have seen more regular maintenance of the stormwater system. For example, five retention ponds up near Scenic Drive in my district have been de-silted for the first time in 15 years. The stormwater utility, under the Public Service Board, has begun a master planning process that will determine the priorities for capital improvements. Right now, the recommendations are being reviewed by a community advisory board and those final recommendations will come to the City Council for approval. Once approved, the stormwater utility will begin to make annual capital improvements to our stormwater system. The Public Service Board has responded appropriately to concerns about the fees being too high, but the fees are based on a property owner's contribution to the problem. I think there is still some work that needs to be done on fees, especially working with large property owners to find ways to reduce their impact on the system and thus their fees. I've suggested to the City Manager and will suggest the same to City Council that maybe we assign someone to work with property owners to identify ways to reduce their fees (ex. more landscaping, less asphalt).

So who knows what will happen on Tuesday, but I just wanted to refresh everyone's understanding of how we go here.

Meanwhile, Mr. Perez and the Joyce Circle neighborhood is happy. They told me that this will be the first time they will get to enjoy the rain. Mr. Perez told me once when I visited him during construction with the streets all dug up and workers everywhere and tractors moving dirt and laying pipe, "Susie, this is like Disneyland to me."

Thanksgiving Parade

2008-11-26T16:08:00.003-07:00

Don't forget the Sun Bowl Parade is tomorrow and don't forget your canned goods. The Sun Bowl Parade is asking for everyone to bring their canned goods. All canned goods will go to the West Texas Food Bank who makes sure that needy families in our community have food to eat. Representative Ann Lilly and I will be pushing shopping carts down the parade route to accept your canned food donations. Look for us.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Some quick city notes before Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T16:50:00.005-07:00

Neighborhood Traffic Managment Program. The City recently introduced a neighborhood traffic management program that gives us more tools and resources to solve dangerous traffic problems in neighborhoods. This is a reminder that the second round of applications are due on Monday, December 1. Don't forget to turn in your applications.

Trash. I've catching up on my emails and noticed several emails from constituents wanting to know just what the heck we were doing trying to take over commercial trash hauling in the city. Seems like there have been some newspaper ads and some notices from the Wastehaulers Association to individual businesses asking people to contact us to set us straight on the issue.

First off, while there was some conversation about what the advantages might be to the City taking over commercial waste hauling, I don't think this would be a real benefit or priority for the city and it isn't really the problem that we need to be prepared to solve.

I wanted to make sure everyone knew what we were working on and to let you know that it has much less to do with commercial trash hauling and much more to do with landfills. About two months ago, Environmental Services came to the City Council and said, "We might have a problem." Commercial waste hauling is a private affair in El Paso. Most of the waste from businesses goes to the Sunland Park Landfill in Sunland Park, New Mexico. The landfill recently applied for a 10 year permit to keep things going and the State of New Mexico responded with a one year permit, leaving in doubt the future of that landfill. While it is certainly not a settled deal--the landfill have vowed to fight the one year permit and has followed up with another 10 year permit application and the residents of Sunland Park have vowed to continue to fight the landfill--it leaves El Paso with a big question that we need to be prepared to answer. If the landfill is not granted its application, what do we do with all of that commercial trash?

If we have to build capacity in our landfills for that waste, we will probably need to re-0pen the McCombs landfill in Northeast El Paso. The upfront capital for preparing a landfill is pretty hefty so Evironmental Services would like us to consider an ordinance called flow control which would assure that we had enough revenues to cover those upfront costs and the ongoing operational costs. Flow control allows a city to mandate that all of the waste produced in a city is dumped in municipally-owned landfills. This would guarantee that all people producing waste in the city are contributing towards the costs of opening and maintaining the landfill and would therefore spread those costs over a larger customer case. So Environmental Services was given the go ahead by Council to look a little deeper into the costs of having to re-open McCombs and just how we would go about paying for this with the future of the Sunland Park landfill being in question.

Here is a little more background on the issue from Newspapertree. El Paso Times has covered the issue also but they don't archive their stories.

http://www.newspapertree.com/news/3093-garbage-fight-picking-up

http://www.newspapertree.com/news/2844-garbage-takeover

http://www.newspapertree.com/news/1931-long-cold-and-dark-at-the-camino-real-landfill-hearing

http://www.newspapertree.com/features/1922-sunland-park-landfill-hearings-test-new-mexico

http://www.newspapertree.com/politics/1875-camino-real-landfill-permit-fight-begins

Finally, We're Getting to Impact Fees

2008-10-09T11:26:00.018-06:00

Tuesday, City Council will be asked to kick start a process imposed by state law for when a community wants to impose impact fees on new development.

As a taxpayer and a resident and a representative of Central El Paso, the question of how we grow and who pays for it has always been an important one for me. The developers argue that we need to keep the infrastructure obligations and expectations that we impose on development low. We are a poor town, they say. If we want folks to be able to afford a new home in Far East El Paso better not to ask too much from the developer or homebuilder.

The development community wants to focus the community's discussion on affordablity for the new homebuyer. This is an important considertation but it should not be the only consideration. How about affordability for existing homeowners? If we don't ask for new development to pay all of the costs of new development, who picks up the rest of the bill and how does it impact affordability for existing homeowners who pay taxes and utilities?

As we start this community conversation, I think it is important that we all start with the same basic facts. In early September, the Builders Association fowarded a letter in opposition to impact fees to all of their members, asking them to sign and send the letter to City Council. I'm assuming that these are the talking points that they will carry to the media and to meetings. It concerns me because it is full of so much misinformation and is coming from an industry that knows better.

The Builders Association says that an impact fee would be double-billing new homeowners. An impact fee would not be double-billing new homebuyers because it is paying for infrastructure that is currently not paid for by developers or builders. No item that is currently paid for by the developer would be imposed through the impact fee. By State law, cities can only impose impact fees to pay for water and wastewater infrastructure, roadway infrastructure and stormwater infrastructure. Staff is recommending that we not impose any fees related to roadway infrastructure because our current subdivision ordinance and annexation agreements allow us to adequately capture the costs related to building out arterials that serve these subdivisions. Staff is also recommending that we not impose any fees related to stormwater infrastructure because the stormwater master plan is currently not complete.

The only impact fee that staff is currently recommending is for the costs related to building out water and wastewater infrastructure. These costs are currently not paid for or built by the developer. In the Association's letter, they state that “when a homebuilder builds a new home, he/she must pay all costs to extend the water and sewer lines to the home. Therefore, all costs for water and sewer are already included in the lot price and the construction of the new home because the developer and the home builder have incurred the costs.” While it is true that developers do pay for water and sewer lines to the homes within the subdivision, they do not pay for water-wells, water treatment, water storage, water distribution pumping, wastewater collection, pumping, treatment and reuse distribution. Therefore, the costs for these items are not paid for by the new homeowners. They are paid for by existing homeowners through the water rates.

Our water rates increased last year by 10%. 35% of the water rate increase was due to new growth that was not paid for by new homeowners. While I think it is important to be conscious in our decision making about affordability for new home construction, I think we have to be as equally conscious about affordability for existing homeowners. Because some portions of growth do not pay for themselves, existing homeowners foot the bill and increasingly these costs are harder to bear, especially given the rising costs of other goods and services.

Additionally, the Association states that “developers pay (both directly and indirectly) for all capital improvements and facility expansions related to new development.” This is not correct. Under the old subdivision ordinance, developers pay for street, sidewalk and utility infrastructure, a portion of arterials that is attributable to their development, neighborhood lighting and parkland. They do not pay for or contribute to park equipment (approximately $75,000 an acre), arterial lighting, fire stations, police stations, recreation centers, library branches and other regional municipal facilities. Also, as mentioned above they do not pay much for the water and wastewater infrastructure. We did fix some of this in our new subdivision ordinance. For example, we now require that developers provide a basic amenity package (playground equipment and park benches) for neighborhood parks so that existing taxpayers don’t have to pay for that. Unfortunately, many developers have opted to vest under the old ordinance so that they don’t have to follow the new subdivision rules and pay for these items. While most of this, except for the water and wastewater infrastructure, would not be recouped through impact fees, it is important to note that not all capital improvements required by new growth are paid for by the new homeowner.

The question really that we have to answer as a community is how much of new growth should be paid for by existing taxpayers through their water bills and how much should be charged to new homeowners.

There are other considerations that should be tackled through this process. Currently, the Public Service Board is recommending a standard fee that is applicable throughout the city regardless of where you are building. For example, if you are building on an infill lot in older area of the city that already has existing infrastructure, you would pay the same as if you were building out at the edges of the city in an area that requires totally new infrastructure. I will ask City Council to consider setting different service areas and fees to account for varying costs of infrastructure and to encourage developers to build in parts of the city where it is less costly for us as a community to build out infrastructure.

My understanding is that State law also allows for some rebates of the fees if you are building affordable housing for low and moderate income families. I will ask City Council to consider this option as we go through the process.

The important thing is to begin the process and the discussion. It has been a long time in coming.

For more news about the debate on impact fees, check out Newspapertree.com.

An El Paso Story

2008-10-06T14:11:00.005-06:00

I want to know that El Paso is moving in a different direction. I want to know that poverty is not our ultimate destination. I want to know that there is plenty of job opportunity and business opportunity. I want to know that we are digging ourselves out of years of low wages and zero confidence and even less expectation. So I mine the numbers and dig through data and keep my ears to the ground to see if I can spot a shift, a subtle seismic movement that shows a different trend emerging.

There's been some things worth shouting about lately: unemployment is low, three significant downtown buildings are under major reconstruction, a prominent Wall Street Journal article featured El Paso among the up and coming cities to be noticed, Beck decides to play at the Percolator and it makes it into Vanity Fair... Its all good.

But this one story made me think that times, they are a'changing:

A friend of mine took her tribe out to Orlando, Florida to brave three days of Disney World. One night, they took a break from Mickey Mouse and went out for a fancy dinner in the city. Their waiter was friendly, wanted to know where they were from.

"El Paso."

"El Paso? You know, I've been looking for a change of scene. I've been thinking about moving to El Paso."

"Why El Paso?" my friend asked.

"Seems like a cool city. I'm thinking about heading there or Dallas."

Who knows how he heard about us. But what he heard makes him think we are are a cool city. When folks in other cities have El Paso on their mind, I have to think that that is a very good sign.

Travel Green

2008-09-19T09:31:00.005-06:00

So after Al Fresco a couple weeks ago, my mom and dad called me from a PediCab. A PediCab? In El Paso? They were very excited. My dad took a bunch of pictures and some video. They wanted me to make sure everyone knew about it.

The next week Charles Lauser, the owner of Green Leaf Pedicab, showed up at City Council to talk about their business venture and to ask Council to ammend our codes regarding Vehicles for Hire to include a provision to allow him and other pedicab services to be able to charge for their service. Green Leaf Pedicab is starting out in the Downtown area with tours and trips from here to there. My understanding is that other pedicab services are also applying to be able to provide this unique and fun service for El Pasoans and tourists to El Paso.

This week, we will be introducing an ordinance to allow for pedicabs to charge for their service. So if you are Downtown, look for them.

I need your help

2008-08-28T21:16:00.003-06:00

I have been asked to dance in the upcoming Dancing with the Stars. The event will raise money for the Big Brother Big Sister program that hooks up at risk kids with community mentors. Big Brother Big Sister does great work in our community, but they need your help. So do I.

Here is the problem. I love to dance, and I love to win. Both of these attributes have caused me to shamelessly and continuously brag to my fellow competitors that I plan to win and I plan to win big.

There were some things that I failed to take into consideration prior to my loud mouth ways getting the best of me. I have a partner. His name is Al Velarde. He is the director of the Child Crisis Center. Alas, having a partner requires a woman to follow. It has been suggested by every dance partner I have ever encountered that perhaps I have not fully embraced my role as follower and that dancing with me is more like wrestling than dancing.

Al and I are dancing the cumbia. I grew up in Central El Paso and in Central the cumbia is pursued with wild abandon, much hip shaking, bent arms, elbows as much a part of the dance as the hips and lots of wide wild steps. Apparently, according to our dance instructor who is trying to prepare us for the event, this is not exactly the way it is supposed to happen at the event. Hers is a tamer version with short steps requiring that I actually follow and elbows and hips are no where to be found. At least not yet. It is taking me awhile to transform my being and my history in order to accommodate the dance. This is not to say that we won’t win. It is only to say that my bragging has far outpaced my actual abilities.

So here is where you come in. There is another way for us to win. You can either win by being the best dancer ever or you can win the old fashioned way by bringing in the most money. Al and I could win by selling the most tickets and raising the most money for Big Sisters Big Brothers. So you can buy a ticket to the event and come and holler loud when we dance making it that much more likely for us to win the dancing portion. Or you can donate to Big Sisters Big Brothers under our name. Either way, the kids served by Big Brothers Big Sisters win. And we win. This is, as we say way too many times at city hall, “a win win situation.”

Here’s how you can help:
Email me at susiebyrd@elp.rr.com if you want a ticket. Ticket prices are $50. The event is Saturday, October 25 at the Scottish Rite Theatre, 301 West Missouri in Downtown El Paso. Cocktails are at 6 P.M. Program starts at 7 P.M.
If you want to donate, go to our donation website and pledge all sorts of money to put us over the top.

Okay, thanks.

A Tus Brazos Otra Vez

2008-08-22T11:40:00.006-06:00

To El Pasoans, mariachis are our everyday. They are backyard birthday parties with the brinca-brinca. They are 40-year anniversary parties in big halls with old people dancing close while little kids in their starchy best glide along underfoot and teenagers in clothes too tight and too short smirk from the edges. They are Music Under the Stars with all of El Paso packed in next to friends and family. They are Saturday at the Tap with a plate of chiles relleños and a Tecate Michelada while a moon-eyed mariachi dressed in a powder blue polyester suit dudded up with a whole lot of razzamatazz belts out Volver as if you are the only woman he has ever, or will ever, love.

In El Paso, mariachis are there for our most special days, and they are there to make our most everyday special.

So if you want to tell the rest of the world about what makes El Paso the place to be, better be sure to send some mariachis.

Which is what we did.

And we sent our very best—Mariachis los Arrieros.

At the Smithsonian’s invitation, the City’s Museum and Cultural Affairs Department sent Los Arrieros to the 42nd annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. The festival is an annual event held on the National Mall. Every year, it features the culture, music and food of a particular part of the world. This year, it featured Texas, NASA and Bhutan.

El Paso was front and center at the festival. UTEP's close ties to Bhutanese architecture and culture were highlighted with a Bhutanese temple and traditional dance, music and song and heralded by our own President Diana Natalicio. Avila's Restaurant was dishing out Mexican food, reminding the rest of the world just what they were missing out on when they brave a taco in Georgia or an enchilada in Minnesota.

And then there were the mariachis.

One of the best parts about this Mayor Pro Tem business is that if the Mayor can't make it out, I have to go to DC to introduce Mariachis Los Arrieros to the rest of the world.

Which is what I did.

On a sticky hot evening in July, I stood before a mob of people from all around the world gathered under a big tent on the National Mall to tell them that I had no doubt that they were about to fall in love with El Paso.

Which is what they did.

They had no choice.

Mariachis Los Arrieros took the stage with a brash, full mariachi sound that left us breathless. Los Arrieros is a 15-member band of young men in their late 20s and early 30s. Juan Contreras, the musical director and one of the lead singers, mentioned to me that initially the Smithsonian folks only wanted him to bring out a handful of the group to save on costs. He wasn’t having any of that. It was all or nothing. Their sound is big, and it needs all 15 guys to be able to deliver.

Most of the group comes out of Del Valle, Hanks, Ysleta and Bowie High School. Some of them came out of formal high school mariachi programs. Others were trained classically in orchestra or band and took to the mariachi sound later at UTEP. They came together in 1996 through the mariachi circuit of regional competitions and performances. Of the 15, ten of them are educators in area high schools, teaching the next generation of mariachi performers. They are evangelical about the tradition of mariachi music. Every one of them that I talked to hammered home that their work as a group is more about passing on the tradition and love of the mariachi sound than it is about making money and being rock stars.

Even so, in the world of mariachis, Los Arrieros are rock stars. They have performed for thousands of people in Mexico and the United States. They are one of the top ten mariachi bands in the world. In 1997, they won the Best Mariachi in Texas competition in front of a crowd of 80,000 people in the Houston Astro Dome. In 2004, Los Arrieros became the premier mariachi group for the Chandler Mariachi Conference and will remain as the host mariachi group in the coming years. They have performed with extraordinary artists and groups including; Vicente Fernandez, Pepe Aguilar, Lucero, La Banda Recodo, Guadalupe Esparza, El Groupo Bronco, Marco Antonio Solis, El Buki, and Graciela Beltran.

They perform the songs that we all know and crave and ask for every chance we get: Volver, Cielito Lindo, Guadalajara, the boleros, the rancheras. You name it, they got it. They will play a bolero like Amor Eterno and whether you understand the words or not, you are crushed by the familiar emotion of a yearning heart. But from the very start, Los Arrieros wanted to set themselves apart. This is where Juan Contreras comes in. As the musical director, he started digging up the past, listening to old records, finding songs that weren’t part of the everyday repertoire of the mariachi. He found inspiration from old timers such as Juan Luis Guerra with his song Ojalá que llueve café. It is more of a salsa song so he remade it in their own sound, adopting it to their instruments and rhythms and style. He has taken jazz standards such as Moon Dance and Ojos Españolas, re-shaping the rhythms and the tempos, mariachi-style. And Juan has also written his own songs, such as Llegaron los Arrieros, evolving a tradition so that it continues to have a place in the heart of our culture.

In DC, Los Arrieros played twelve performances. Thousands of people from all over the world heard their music and heard them talk about their home in El Paso. Every time, the crowd went crazy nuts for Los Arrieros. They couldn’t get enough. They loved Mariachis los Arrieros and because they loved Mariachi los Arrieros, they loved El Paso.

The Smithsonian had recruited official male dancers whose job it was to be the shills. They would eye a woman dancing about in her seat and invite her out for a dance with the hopes that a throng would follow. This was a new approach to me since paseños are never shy about taking to the dance floor and don't need involved schemes to get the party started. The dance volunteers did not have to do much convincing with Mariachis los Arrieros on stage. Even with the bruising heat, people pushed themselves to the dance floor.

For several hours, Mariachis los Arrieros crooned love songs. They belted out boleros and rancheras, trading out singers, one a deep soulful base, another pitching a high note, holding it, holding it, holding it, until the crowd had to take a breath. They stomped the zapateado Veracruzana out on the dance floor, moving in and out of the audience, still playing their instruments. They played Niño Perdido, one trumpet player the mom calling for her lost child, the other trumpet player the child hiding in the crowd, losing his mom. We all left exhausted, satisfied.

After the show, several El Paso ex-patriots came to me. They would hug me and kiss me and thank me. They looked home-sick and sad. They had forgotten what they were missing out on. Mariachi los Arrieros reminded them, and they missed their home.

This event and watching the world respond to Mariachi los Arrieros reminded me that as a city our most valuable assets are our art, our culture, our traditions and those, like Mariachi los Arrieros, who are willing to share what is special about us with the rest of the world.

El Paso Gets Ready to Move on Mass Transit

2008-08-16T13:25:00.003-06:00

We are a city that is continuing to grow in all aspects. As we prepare to deal with expanding residential and commercial developments and as we are in the midst of revitalizing our city's core, we must also look at how to quickly move people to where they need to be.

On Monday Aug. 18 at 1:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall, the city council will hear the Mass Transit Strategic Plan, a plan that will open up the possibility for rapid transit programs that would serve all reaches of the Sun City.

This is a very important presentation, so I urge all of you to attend if you can. Whether you are a constituent of District 2, a daily long-distance commuter or simply want to hear how we are planning our community's future, please join us and give us some of your valuable insights.

Two Great Meetings

2008-08-13T16:52:00.004-06:00

This Saturday, there are two events that will surely be interesting for my fellow District 2 residents.

First, I will host my bi-weekly community meetings at the Memorial Park Library at 3200 Copper. My guest this week is Mr. Michael Hill, the director of the City of El Paso Health Department. Mr. Hill will be present to discuss his role as leader of the new department and what that department offers to El Paso residents. Stop in, pick up a cup of coffee from Le Squirrel Café and join us for a great discussion on the important city entity charged with your health and wellness.

Next, join me and residents from across the Sun City for the second annual Neighborhood Summit to be held at the Ysleta Independent School District Administration and Cultural Arts Center, 9600 Sims

If you are a member of a neighborhood association, this is the perfect opportunity to meet peers from other neighborhoods and see what projects they’ve undertaken to make their streets and neighborhoods better places to live. If you are not a neighborhood association member, you are more than welcome to attend the event and learn what resources are available to you for anything from graffiti removal, street paving and neighborhood revitalization programs.

So, that is what’s happening in El Paso this weekend. I hope to see you at both of these events so that we can find ways to make El Paso the brightest place to live in the Southwest.

Paper or Canvas, Just not Plastic.

2008-08-13T16:41:00.005-06:00

Over the past months, there have been several discussions among residents, elected officials and City Hall staff on the best way to bring forward a policy that would limit and eventually eliminate usage of plastic shopping bags.

As our desert landscape is one of our most precious natural resources, it is sometimes marred by plastic bags blown into trees, cacti and shrubs whenever seasonal winds blow into town. Since the bags are not biodegradable, they remain as unsightly ornaments until they are removed by stronger winds or by the hands of volunteers looking to clean up the mess.

In a few other cities in the U.S., local governments have sought to curb the standard issuance of plastic shopping bags at convenient stores, grocery shops and other retail outlets. Some plans call for the complete elimination of plastic bags at these stores while other municipalities have sought to discourage their use by offering economical yet environmentally friendly options, such as recyclable paper bags or low-cost canvas bags.

El Paso City Council is continuing to study the issue and will again reconsider the item in the coming months.

There are ways to both make shopping convenient for consumers and still help to keep serene beauty of the El Paso desert environment, and with as much input as possible from Sun City residents and consumers just like you, our city’s government will be able to make the best possible decision.

Environmental Services welcomes the public’s input and ideas on a plastic bag ban. They will be incorporated into proposals that Environmental Services will present to City Council early next year.

The meetings are all scheduled for 6 p.m. The meeting dates and locations are:

• Aug. 18: Polly Harris Senior Center, 650 Wallenberg Drive.

• Aug. 19: Memorial Park Senior Center, 1800 Byron Street.

• Aug. 25: Richard Burges Library, 9600 Dyer Street.

• Aug. 26: South El Paso Senior Center, 600 S. Ochoa Street.

• Aug. 27: Judge Edward S. Marquez Mission Valley Library, 610 N. Yarbrough Drive.

• Sept. 2: Carolina Recreation Center, 563 N. Carolina Drive.

• Sept. 3: Father Martinez Senior Center, 9311 Alameda Avenue.

• Sept. 9: Pebble Hills Regional Command Center, 10780 Pebble Hills Boulevard.

For more information the public may call (915) 621-6754.

Get on the bus. Ride your bike. Walk, already.

2008-08-03T22:36:00.006-06:00

(Some notes written in response to Sito Negron’s Newspapertree article, The Billion-Dollar Status Quo.)

A couple of years ago, the Mayor and City Council mapped out our strategic goals for the community. One of the five strategic goals is to make El Paso one of the least car dependent cities in the Southwest. For El Paso that is no mean feat. We’re the Ford 150 capital of the world. We love big gas guzzling man trucks. This City Council inherited a broken down bus system that was built and funded to accommodate only those who have no other choice but to get on the bus. All of our land use regulation, infrastructure requirements and public financing favored neighborhood development that practically imposes two-car ownership on every family if they think it is necessary to get to work or go grocery shopping or if they want to hang out at a public park. At the city and regional planning level, most of the thinking and planning and understanding and staffing and political will was about moving 1.1 persons per car on miles and miles of asphalt.

Run away gas prices, the uncertainty about gasoline always being an affordable and accessible commodity, a shallow tax base that demands that we have to get a lot more out of very few dollars, many families who cannot afford car transportation, poor air quality and the awful degradation that car dependence has imposed on the way that we build our city are some of the many reasons that we need to build for other alternative modes of transportation besides just the car.

In his article, Sito Negron asks City Council the billion dollar question. If our strategic goal is to make El Paso less car dependent, how come transit only got 2.5% of a billion dollars in the Comprehensive Mobility Plan approved two weeks ago by City Council and by the Metropolitan Planning Organization? Big giant goal. Seems like approving only $27 million of a billion dollar budget for transit is a status quo response to the big giant goal. Transit got scraps. Asphalt and concrete and the Ford 150 got the mother lode.

Sito assigns this to politics as usual. Big fat cats sitting behind closed doors scheming the future of El Paso. Fact is our transportation priorities weren’t decided last week by the City Council or the Metropolitan Planning Organization. They’ve been years in the making. Southern relief route. The completion of the loop. The Spur. These projects weren’t hatched yesterday, and since they weren’t hatched yesterday no one is going to give them up without a fight. Communities small and large have held endless public meeting and have been jockeying to get their projects in the near term funding plan for ages.

The last go round, El Paso didn’t have any projects lined up at the trough so TXDOT gave our money to communities that were ready to go. Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) Commissioner Ted Houghton was determined that this wouldn’t happen again and so hurried TXDOT staff to shake loose some projects so he could shake loose some money for El Paso. It seems to me like the list of transportation projects was fashioned from a realistic view of the politics of regional decision making and what projects were ready to go in a hurry. The unanimous vote at City Council and the unanimous vote at the Metropolitan Planning Organization coming on the heels of an rancorous year-long debate about whether transportation funding should include tolls and regional mobility authorities seem to affirm the rationale behind the projects that were selected.

With the Mayor at the lead, we’ve been pushing the idea of Rapid Transit for about two years now. Some folks think that Rapid Transit is just a prettier bus and there isn’t much chance of inducing more transit ridership with just a prettier bus. The thinking is that those folks that can afford single car occupancy just won’t take the bait. They aren’t switching over until light rail hits the ground. Depending on how you build it out though, Rapid Transit can be much more like light rail, only with wheels. Here’s where I think we need to go with it: dedicated transit lanes, pre-emption of traffic lights, loading bays that allow transit riders to board at grade, a pre-payment system that cuts out the hassles and the time of pitching nickels into a fare box, a high frequency system that doesn’t keep people waiting long and yes, a system designed and marketed as a different kind of transit. Every detail of the system (the way you pay, the way you get on and off, the way that it moves through the road system,) is about building speed and reliability that competes with your commute to work in a car all by yourself.

While Rapid Transit didn’t get much in the scheme of a billion dollars, it got much more than people understand that it got. Rapid Transit has been conceived as five fingers emanating from the connection between Juarez and Downtown El Paso. Mesa, Dyer, Montana, Alameda and North Loop would be the best candidates for moving lots of people where they want to go on rapid transit. Problem is they are all state roads. If we want to use them, if we want rapid transit to have dedicated lanes on these roads, TXDOT has to be on board. TXDOT, like transportation agencies throughout the nation, is making a slow, strained, tense transition from “all asphalt, all the time” to looking at other alternatives for moving people. Two months ago, we were asking them to commit to dedicating transit lanes on these key transit corridors. TXDOT made it clear that we were going to have to do a lot of work to convince them that people would transition from sitting in a car all by themselves to getting on rapid transit. Rapid transit has the capacity to carry many more people than road lanes. A typical freeway lane can carry about 2,300 cars per hour. Typical auto occupancy is 1.1 persons per car. So a freeway lane can move about 2,520 people in an hour. Rapid transit systems that have been built out with designated lanes have shown capacity performance between 7,300 to as many as 19,500 passengers per hour. Even so, transportation agencies like TXDOT aren’t willing to bank on the fact that people actually will transition from car usage to transit usage. The catch being that the only way to really make rapid transit competitive with the car is if you get the lanes dedicated.

So in committing $27 million to Rapid Transit along Mesa and Montana, TXDOT is committing two lanes to transit. That’s miles and miles of roadway that we would have had to acquire and build out if we didn’t get TXDOT on board. Their willingness to work with us on transforming these roadways for transit use is invaluable and historic.

In the history of the agency, TXDOT has never committed their funding to transit in El Paso. It’s mostly been about asphalt and concrete and traffic signalization. The way I see it is “One small step for rapid transit, one giant step for building a city that is less car dependent.”

The other significant change in TXDOT’s and the City's thinking about moving people is that they are beginning to understand that roads shouldn’t just be about moving people in cars occupied by 1.1 persons. All new road projects have to be designed to better accommodate all forms of transportation including transit, bicyclists and pedestrians.

I am committed as ever to our goal of getting El Paso become less car dependent, but I’m telling you right now it is a long and perilous road with not as many allies as one would like. On Monday night, I sat through a 2 ½ hour meeting about bike lanes on Hondo Pass. Except for a few strong individuals who spoke out at their peril, the proposal for bike lanes on Hondo Pass was met with screaming hostility. One of the proposed designs for the roadway did not take out any existing car lanes, added protected parking lanes, slowed down traffic AND added two bike lanes. No matter, it was viewed as an all out assault on the average Joe who was just trying to get by in the world. How dare we suggest that bike riders have as much right to the road as someone in a car?

So in the end, I didn’t ask for more dollars for transit. My assessment was and still is that it was better to move quickly with what transit got and prove up to the public and the policy makers and the funding agencies that if you build it right, people will begin to make fundamental changes in the way that they get from here to there.