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PASO DEL SUR GROUP
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Petition
THIS STATEMENT IS MADE on behalf of the Paso del Sur Group and other members of the community who support our efforts. We are composed of academicians from UTEP, the Community College, students from area high schools, Segundo Barrio residents, artists, professional people and citizens from both sides of the border who share our concern for saving the historic heart of the Segundo Barrio in El Paso from demolition. The Paso Del Norte plan—with its top-down, secretive, anti-democratic decision-making process and in its illegal provisions—has fundamental flaws. We propose that City of El Paso scrap this plan in its entirety and create a different plan for the Segundo Barrio for the following reasons: • The Paso Del Norte Plan proposes the destruction of the heart of the Segundo Barrio, both a living community and the oldest neighborhood of El Paso. To replace the neighborhood with a Wal-Mart, a strip mall and service economy jobs is reprehensible. We are long past the mentality that says we had to destroy the village in order to save it. El Segundo Barrio is not part of downtown. El Segundo Barrio is not for sale. • The use of eminent domain either as a first or last resort to further enrich the already wealthy owners of real estate investment trusts (REIT) is morally repugnant and offensive to the great majority of El Pasoans. It is taking from lower income people to further enrich the wealthy, and will for generations mark this administration as one of the most avaricious in the City’s history. The City's plan should be called the Demolition Plan. This clearly is what it really is. • Any redevelopment plan that receives federal monies must conduct an environmental impact study. The PDNG plan has received such funds. The Group has violated federal law. No such study has been made. Any such study done at this late date would immediately be suspect and subject to challenge. • If the current attempt at transparency in
government efforts of the City does not include a disclosure of actual
and potential conflicts of interest among elected city officials,
property owners and members of the PDNG, then transparency in
government is a sham. Furthermore the actions of the PDNG requiring
City Representatives to sign a confidentiality agreement with them is a gross violation of the public trust. • Any City official who belongs to or who has
relatives belonging to the PDNG or who stands to profit from this plan
must immediately recuse themselves from any vote on this issue. We
speak specifically of City Representative Robert
O’Rourke—the son-in-law of billionaire developer William
Sanders who is the driving force behind the PDNG plan. We invite everyone who believes in social justice, equality and fairness in public policy to join us in opposing the Paso Del Norte Group Demolition and Gentrification Plan. |