The machine just will not stop.
Three or four previous attempts have been made to fund and build a platform over the depressed train way downtown that leads to the new ball park.
In one attempt the former city manager tried to fund it with quality of life bond money. In another city staff tried to swap money with the state, using state money to build the pedestrian walkway and giving the state an equal amount of money for the state to beautify bridges crossing I-10. There was also talk of using ball park money to build the walkway.
In the case of the proposed swap of money with the state we saw a deputy city manager tell us that the project was related to the ball park. The former city manager stepped in and said that was not true. The deputy city manager was sent home to retire on our nickel.
At the Tuesday, September 2, 2014 city council meeting the project was finally approved. The Times reported that neither quality of life money nor ball park money is to be used.
Take comfort in the fact that none of the Apollo space program money and none of the national parks money will be used either.
Unfortunately local money will be used.
The presentation by city staff told us that the funding source was agreed upon in the Tuesday, February 11, 2014 city council meeting.
At the February 11 meeting the backup material for the agenda item stated “Costs will be allocated based on 80% Federal funding and 20% Local Government funding until the Federal funding reaches the maximum obligated amount. The Local Government will then be responsible for 100% of the costs.” The documentation also told us that the local matching funds could be Transportation Development Credits.
Credits
These credits could have been applied to other street projects. City council voted to spend our credits on the ball park, not on our local streets.
Why?
The ball park operated with record attendance this season. No platform was in place, nor was one evidently needed. Had there been a pedestrian congestion problem rest assured that the city would have temporarily closed part of the adjacent street to vehicle traffic thus creating a giant sidewalk. Why do we need to build this complicated platform over a depressed train way?
More to come
Curiously the September 2 presentation by city staff asked for approval to spend $2,085,000 from the feral funding. The slide used to explain the request also showed “TOTAL PROJECT EXPENDITURES NOT TO EXCEED $2,338,745”.
Evidently they are not done with us yet.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Meanwhile, streets all over town continue to deteriorate. By the time they finish robbing Peter to pay Paul, we’ll need a massive reconstruction project, citywide.
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To put things in perspective, the cost of this little bridge project is the equivalent of about 65% of the city budget deficit, which we were told could only be solved by imposing new, discriminatory water fees. if city council and staff put as much creative thought into solving basic problems as it does into giving Hunt and Foster what they want, some of our true quality of life issues might be resolved.
To quell resistance to the new stadium at the outset, Hunt said Mountainstar would donate a portion of its profits to charity for some period of time. The city is definitely non-profit, so perhaps Mountainstar should write the first check to the city.
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They are determined to change downtown El Paso because they truly believe that their efforts will result in a stampede by tourists.
They forgot or ignore the fact, that even if that was to occur, tourist will travel via rental cars or taxi. Unless we have developed flying cars, they will have to endure a trip with a lot of bumps, zig zagging, potholes and close calls because of the lack of visible traffic lanes. Not to mention duct taped repaired automobiles.
I suppose they could use the terrible streets as a tourist attraction. You know, experience a stagecoach trip thru El Paso. Comes with gun fire sounds from Juarez. El Paso even has a cattle baron that owns the city and those that oppose them are run out of town.
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Am driving in Montana and have only found roads in worse condition than El Paso streets in the rural areas of Glacier National Park where they are unpaved and full of mudholes…
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I’ve said it before, the stadium is a means to place a major burden on tax payers and property owners to “pay back”. It also allows the city to increase taxes and fees to steal forclosed and forfeited properties. It also forces many in Agenda 21 public or regular apartment style spaces with limited water, gas, and energy. The stadium and all the expendentures are a way for the investors to steal money from the city so that more control over the property and surrounding areas can take place. The City CONcil is a con-game that shows absolutely NO representation, but ways to commit fraud and theft from property owners and business owners. The county is the same way, but worse. These people who are managers and even the politicians should be in prison for fraud and theft.
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