The city has chosen their preferred site for the arena.
In a recent Times article many city officials were quoted as saying that they do not believe that the use of the city’s eminent domain powers will be necessary.
While they are saying that the Times tells us that “The City Council will vote Tuesday on a resolution to activate the city’s eminent domain authority”.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
All those people being displaced !
Modern apartments are 2, . . . . 3 times the rent.
And to destroy or Fire Station #11 !
THAT we ALREADY Paid For !
Now, we have to pay AGAIN ? ? ?
And build it AGAIN . . . . somewhere else?
That area will need 20,000 more parking spaces.
I think Plaza sales are down due to all the parking being taken up with ONE event.
The streets cannot handle that much EXTRA traffic ALSO in the downtown area.
This is sooooooo dumb.
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You vill take your downtown redevelopment and you vill like it!
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I hope all you voters remember all these ‘tax & spend’ boondoggles come next election. It’s really too bad city council doesn’t address something important, like street repair or bridge wait time!
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The people of El Paso voted to spend all this money. Granted, the voters in El Paso are not exactly up to speed on the issues, but for a change this spending is not the fault of Council.
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Council has two other choices; 1) rescind the bond project(s), 2) build the arena at Cohen Stadium where there is more parking and a larger footprint. Make the arena count by making it a larger capacity. Council is stuck on downtown and refuses to consider anywhere outside of downtown, even though the bond vote did not specify the arena would be built there.
Yes, this bad decision is Council’s fault and the mayor himself would not supported it due to eminent domain.
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The Fix is In. Announce on Day One that Experts, who do not live in the city, have chosen the site and it is so urgent that council must decide on Day Five. Could this be to prevent the county from doing the survey of historic buildings that the city rejected last year, so there won’t be any need to explain why historic buildings are being torn down?
What next? Tear down part of Segundo Barrio to build the parking faciliity?
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So true. Follow the money to find out how Council got paid off. And Jim Tolbert voted yes, despite his supposed support of historic preservation. That’s not his first flip flop on his campaign statements. Public comment? Only today. Any involvement of historic advocates? None. Cohen Stadium could be expanded, has ample parking, and is much easier to access. Disgraceful. VOTE THEM ALL OUT.
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The machine is back in action.
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If a bullet coming from Mexico hit the old City Hall . . . . then . . . . a Sports Arena would be. . . EVEN CLOSER.
Sitting ducks !
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Activating eminent domain authority this early in the game is the City’s way of sending a signal to the property owners. It’s an implied threat. Take our offer or less. The city will not negotiate in good faith. Activating eminent domain before negotiations have even started is a bullying tactic designed to give the negotiators a club they can use to quickly beat property owners into submission. The city also knows that few if any of the residential property owners have the resources to defend themselves in court.
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Brutus
How many time has the the City lied to the people of El Paso and their are those still believe that the City will not continue to lie? At some point people have to stop being so gullible that these dirt bags care about the tax payers. Brutus look at the debt the city has now it’s to the point they could put all the money they take in a year and put it all to the debt for the next 20 years and still could not pay off the amount of debt the city has now. Think about that and are the people to believe that these moron will not add to this debt over the next 20 years, Brutus it has gone passed being just on the lunatic fringe side to the point craziness the level of debt local government across El Paso and the county are taking on.It’s insane! The stadium is just more pie in the sky,let’ call it what it is Brutus, “BULL SHIT”.
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The big secret is finally out about the location of this arenaaa. One article about those fraudulent cards all filled out the same with the same handwriting and the same wording stated they all or most came from the east side. Why does this thing have to be downtown? Why not out on the east side where are all those fake cards came from? Downtown is going down the drain and these projects are creeping towards an eventual south el paso makeover. Union plaza was supposed to be the big attraction project a few years back and now that will go down the drain along with the little community that’s going to be destroyed by the arena.
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Downtown is going down the drain??? Have you been downtown lately? We went to Chalk the Block and downtown was full of young people, families — all enjoying the evening. Every time there is any downtown event at all, people come. New lofts are being built adding to those that are already occupied. Hotels are going up. Streets have been landscaped. Shopping is nil because the Mexicans can buy inexpensive products in Mexico now. But as more and more people live downtown, shops will come. Private money is flowing into downtown.
I doubt if an arena on the east side would increase the tax base. A downtown arena will increase the possibility that El Paso will get more conventions.
But, hey, unlike the majority of El Paso, I voted against all those quality of life bonds.
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