elpasospeak

This is from Helen Marshall:

Are We Ready to Re-Think?

The El Paso Inc just honored Woody and Josh Hunt, Paul Foster and Alejandra de Vega Foster, and, yes, Joyce Wilson as El Pasoans of the Year for making the baseball team and ballpark happen. The accompanying article asserts: “This year, the revitalization of Downtown that the city and business leaders had been trying to kindle since the 1980s has finally caught fire, evidenced by the new businesses, restaurants, apartment and hotel projects and the excitement.” For example, Joe Gudenrath, executive director of the Downtown Management District, says there was only one more event Downtown this year than last, but 60,000 more people attended.

Paul Foster sings Wilson’s praises: “Joyce was an absolute key part of the whole process, and I don’t think it would have happened without her,” Paul Foster told El Paso Inc. “She took a lot of bullets and a lot of criticism. “I think if people had it to do over again, they’d probably rethink some of that criticism. Joyce has great skills, and I think is largely responsible for the success of the whole project.”

And Josh Hunt assures us that “Once it was built, I think we were able to move past some of the more controversial aspects of the process.”

The following exchange with Josh Hunt is recorded:

It would be an expensive venture for MountainStar and for El Paso taxpayers if they had to pay all or part of the costs for the new stadium and the infrastructure to serve it. Critics of major league sports investments say the costs far exceed the benefits for a community. What would you say?

“I’d say very few of those critics are actually looking at the real numbers and the hard and soft values that come with ventures like this. First, I think El Paso and the borderplex can make this happen through many financial means, and not just taxes. . . Just for instance, the ballpark here was financed significantly through the hotel occupancy tax, which is charged to our visitors. I think there are a lot of those types of financing tools out there. I think there are a lot of other intangibles that need to be looked at, like business recruitment and retention, quality of life, jobs, economic development and broadening our tax base. 

Go look at Denver. . .you can see what transformations have taken place in downtown Denver, which is now one of the most attractive places for young people to live. That started all the way back when they built Coors Field and followed that up with a downtown arena and then followed that up with a football stadium, all 100-percent publicly financed. It’s now one of the most livable downtowns in the country.”

This writer has been to a game, and, yes, it’s good to have baseball in El Paso. But I’m wondering if public confidence in civic leaders has recovered from the discovery that city manager Wilson and her Council allies called those opposed “crazies,” and deliberately schemed to bring about the destruction of City Hall to make way for the ballpark without any public discussion whatsoever. And I am waiting to read the names of all these new businesses and restaurants, and the surveys that identify the baseball team as the reason for building new hotels or apartments, or that identify the baseball team as the reason for attending a Downtown event.

Personally, I look now to see if there is anything happening in the ballpark when I plan to attend something downtown, and either don’t go or go much earlier than I would have planned to (which of course may mean I have to spend money in a restaurant, how clever of them!). I’m also waiting to see some honest accounting of the total expenses for the ballpark and how much is covered by the HOT.

As for public financing of venues in Denver – Denver is not exactly a parallel for El Paso. It is the state capitol, has a median family income of over $57K, and a very different downtown structure….

http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/el_pasoan_of_year/article_e99db9fc-8f79-11e4-9a75-bbd61883e3d2.html