I Was Wrong - They Want $500 Million From You

I can admit when I'm wrong... sometimes.  In some cases there's no getting away from it and no fighting it.  I had originally told you that the quality of life bond issue was going to cost you around $100 million.  Later on I revised that up to $200 million and I did that because I figured it would be a number big enough to cover even the most ridiculously extravagant wish list from the PDN group.  I was prepared for the $200 million guess to be ridiculed when the actual "ask" would be somewhere around $150 million. Little did I know that they'd blast that number out of the water and exceed what can only be described as "my wildest dreams."

Just so you have this straight - I was trying to scare you with what I saw as the craziest sum possible for this quality of life bond issue and they more than doubled it!

This all comes from a report by the El Paso Times today that struck me as remarkably calm considering the amount of money involved and the absolutely tiny amount of public input being sought.  You would think that putting the financially ailing public in El Paso into $500 million of debt would be a cause for a concern, but the paper seems to want to throw a party.  When every other major city in the U.S. is trying to reduce debt and regroup at the core service line, El Paso is spending like it's the best economy ever.  Why?  If you forget, I'll remind you.  The PDN hopes to make its exclusive membership rich in a poor economy by tricking you into voting them huge sums of money from the nonexistent public treasury. Didn't somebody say something similar to this a few years back?

To add insult to future injury is that the paper readily admits that a private group of citizens are controlling the public monies in an unprecedented power shift away from voters and their interests. PDN hired Horrow Sports Ventures to advise the city on how to collect and spend YOUR money.  It makes a person wonder what all those people in that 10 story building downtown are doing all day.  If they're handing over the details of spending all of your tax dollars to a private group of people and their out-of-town consultant without even a hint of a fair process when doing so, what else must they be doing?  We could probably save a ton of money by handing the day to day operations of the city to the PDN group.  They're making all the calls right now, why waste the money on city employees? 

I would have liked to have seen a fair bidding process open to all groups looking to co-opt  a  half a billion dollars of taxpayer money.  I think it was an unfair process letting one group just waltz in and take control.  Running El Paso into the ground should be fairly bid upon like any other project the city undertakes.

Stewarding this flight to financial ruin are:

City Manager Joyce Wilson - Just doing what she's told.

County Commissioner Veronica Escobar - Very good person, but over-sold on this downtown thing to the point it will be the early death of what I was hoping was a long career.  Smartest person in the room almost all the time, just not when it comes to this issue. 

Mark Benitez - Don't know who he is, but he's in way over his head and in no way able to match wits with the heavyweights he's been paired with.

Ruben Guerra - Perpetually on boards... He's a finance guy, but a puppet for the PDN and others.  He personally wouldn't advise any one of you to borrow this kind of money yourself under these circumstances, but collectively he thinks it's okay.  I'd like to see him try to reason this kind of terrible financial decision in front of people who don't have a stake in this game.

Brent Harris - Damn good real estate guy.  Any advice he gives will be beneficial - if you're going to spend $500 million, you might as well have one of the top commercial real estate guys around telling you where to buy.  Can't fault Harris for his involvement. 

Tripper Goodman - A very good business mind, but one that is beholden to the PDN crowd.

And that's it...

You don't see any Jim Tolberts, Lisa Turners or Bill Addingtons on that list.  They'd be too problematic seeing as how one of them is a budget hawk and the other two would ask for things that are not arenas or convention centers.  A person like Turner would ask too many "why does that cost so much" questions and these people don't like those kind of questions.  Addington and Tolbert would commit the sin of demanding real quality of life amenities like parks, nature preserves and other things not generally conducive to filling private business interests' pockets with truck loads of cash.  They're more into enriching young minds than old men.  They would never fit in very well at the kind of meetings the PDN folks are having. 

The second most obvious thing about the board is the lack of elected people on it.  There's one - County Judge Veronica Escobar.  Everybody else isn't constrained by the idea they may not be reelected or even worse, recalled.  If you don't like what decisions these people make with your money, you have no recourse - you can't vote them out.  Kind of scary, isn't it?  I don't like it when someone is playing with my money and has nothing to lose. 

Why this process can't be managed by a committee originating from City Hall to include their economic development team (what a joke), members of the city council (that's scary) and members of the community, is beyond me.  At least the public could hold the committee accountable via the next election.  Unfortunately the people who are expected to make the big sacrifice have no say.  That's as un-American as Volkswagen, crickett and tofu pie. 

The good news is that there will be a series of meetings held at 6:00 p.m. in various parts of town over three days next week.  The bad news - the article in today's paper is the only advertising they'll do of those meetings.  Nobody will go, which doesn't really matter since they've already made up their mind to the point they know exactly how much their dreams are going to cost - $500 million. 

Ooops! I almost forgot - you can get "comment cards" at the zoo and several other places you'll never go in order to put your two cents in.  You can even comment on the city website, not that they will read them or care - the city isn't involved in how the money is going to be spent, a committee run by the PDN group is the governing body.  You can send a million comments to the city, but they will just ignore them, they're not in charge, the PDN group is.  Maybe the PDN group should have a link on their site where you can send comments directly to them since they are running the show.  Better yet, since we're about to pay this Horrow character a few million bucks to spend our money, why not give us his email address?

Let's be honest, it's not like you have been ready with a comprehensive plan on how to spend a few hundred million bucks in your neck of the woods.  You were told today that they are taking suggestions next week and that's not enough time to map out your needs in a manner that is sufficient to prove your need of hundreds of millions of dollars.  Showing up and requesting some new park equipment or sidewalks in your neighborhood isn't going to get very far unless you've produced all the ancillary materials to go along with them.  Do you think the city is going to build you a park because you jotted down three sentences on a note card at the zoo?  They're not.  This thing is already written, signed and ready to go - they just need your vote.  Any meeting you attend is a charade where they are pretending to care about what you think.  If they did care, they'd give you more than a week to prepare... and they wouldn't have handed the whole process over to a private group of individuals who have their own plan as stated in the media months ago.  The train has left the station. You can never run fast enough to catch it and you'll only look like a fool trying. 

Bottom line - you're being asked to fork over $500 million and you get three short meetings a week from now to say your peace and you don't even have access to the decision makers themselves.  What a deal!

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Obviously the PDN group is thinking of building more than just an arena downtown.  What are they planning to do with the rest of the money no slated for an arena, the roughly $400 million or so left over?  I'm thinking this is a Nancy Pelosi deal - pass it to find out what's in it! 

The article mentions something about a Triple A baseball team and that couldn't be scarier if they promised the team would be made up of convicted murders who would live next to elementary schools.  Baseball as a whole is in the cellar and the minor leagues are leading the charge to the bottom.  I have a feeling that this was mentioned in an effort to dangle a carrot in front of the electorate.  So many times we hear these rumors that somebody or something is coming and they often don't pan out.  In this case it's especially offensive because public officials are making backroom deals with taxpayers dollars and not telling anyone who the players are.  Taxpayers have the need to know (we don' t have the "right" to know) exactly who is making deals with the city for taxpayer dollars.  It shouldn't be a secret and those people at City Hall better hope to God they can produce something when an open records request comes in or tough questions will be asked.

There is no likely scenario where any sports park of any kind will be succesful in El Paso.  The places currently available in El Paso for sporting events don't draw capacity crowds - adding seats will only increase debts, not interest. El Paso is poor - really really really poor compared to cities its size and the disposable income for events like baseball games and concerts just isn't there.  It's why Las Cruces gets the acts it does and why El Paso doesn't. 

One local promoter in El Paso (now doing most of his business in other Texas cities) always sends me an email when someone says something to the effect of "El Pasoans are day of ticketbuyers" or "last minute purchasers."  His take is very different - El Paso aren't "day of" or "last minute" they are "not at all."  He laughs hartily at the idea a new arena will change the bookings for El Paso.  He simply points to this years crop of concerts and events that prove not many acts are interested in coming here now and that won't change when you have a bigger place wanting a bigger piece of the talent's take.

Forget for a minute one local's opinion and focus on the Wall Street Journal and their recent op-ed on cities drowning debt over convention center and arena projects HERE.  If you don't feel like reading the article it can be summed up rather easily - huge public expenditures on convention space and other amenities are gigantic failures that are to be paid for by the taxpayers.  What makes El Paso think it has something Boston, New York City and a plethora of other major cities don't have? 

We only know for sure that an arena and a bunch of the downtown stuff is set to be funded by the $500 million bond issue.  This comes on the heels of a major law firm/title company leaving downtown preceeded by Regis Bernard furniture and let's not forget an entire national conference pulled out of El Paso due to the condition of our flagship hotel.  The downtown plan, as touted by the very group who wants your tax dollars, has failed miserably.  In 2012 downtown El Paso is likely to have a net loss of jobs downtown if things continue the way they are going so far. 

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The big question here is will there be significant money for the parts of El Paso that aren't a part of downtown.  There are still lots of parts of town with no curb and gutter or sidewalks.  Parks all around the city have had upgrades, but there's a lot more to do.  General infrastructure needs in many parts of the city have yet to be met, but they're talking about new arenas and baseball stadiums.  What about kids being able to walk to school safely on a sidewalk instead of the street? 

El Paso is on the brink of becoming that rundown shanty of a house with a brand new Escalade parked out front.  The arena is the Escalade and the shanty is the rest of El Paso.  Nobody is all that impressed with your Escalade when they realize your home is in serious disrepair.   Dollar for dollar an El Pasoan will get more out of better streets, sidewalks and parks than they ever will an empty arena. 

And do you know what the best part about spending money on real quality life of issues is?  They are fair bid situations where taxpayers get the best deal and local businesses aren't excluded from bidding because they didn't get invited to join the right club.

You have to ask yourself if you're being ripped off right now given the lack of input you have on the proposed use of your tax dollars.  Are the things I describe above what you really want?  If not, make sure you go vote in November... hell, the way your local government is giving away its power,  your vote might not count by then.

Comments

[citizen voter]

The City held meetings on this subject before Thanksgiving. The meeting on the westside at the police station was attended by 5 citizens. Staff out numbered the citizens. So I guess they are doing a second round of meetings to catch the "after the holiday" crowd. Let's hope more people attend - especially on the westside. I did hear a comment that all this "public participation/input" that the City promotes, most citizens believe the fix is already in and that the meetings are held so the government can say "we solicited input". How do you convince the cynical citizens/voters among us that the City truly cares about your suggestions. Skip the suggestion box and the website input - send it directly to your City rep. Flood their mailbox with your suggestions. That can't be ignored as much as a comment card.

[Gossip Girl]

It could be that they floated the $500 million figure so they can walk it back to $250 million and we will be grateful they saved us money!

[Carl Starr]

Its all going to the voters, so its not like a protest sign or lawsuit is needed yet...I think with a $500mil tag...the public will not be easily hijacked eg stick a tag that big on anything and the public does it research. I also think even if passed a lot of the subcontracts etc will still have to be competitively bid.

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/miarticle.htm?id=7759

"The whole thing is a racket,” Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby recently observed. Once again the politicos will expand their empire. Once again crony capitalism will enrich a handful of wired business operators. And once again Joe and Jane Taxpayer will pay through the nose. How many times must we see this movie before we finally shut it off?”

[Stuart Blaugrund]

According to John Cook recent interview in El Paso Inc., the PDN intends to "tear City Hall down and build an arena there." Under the PDN plan, City Hall would relocate to a new facility in the governmental district at a cost to taxpayers of about $200 million. So, $123 million to build an arena + $200 million for a new City Hall = $323 million. Throw in another $100 million for "Field of Dreams" baseball stadium. Add it all up and you've spent over $400 million... just on Downtown; that's some serious coin! The rest of the city will share in the remaining crumbs, if there are any left.

http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/q_and_a/article_b39fb0de-0972-11e1-b865-001a4bcf6878.html

[Texaswoman]

Well if they go that way expect your taxes to jump 15 cents per hundred or more. For those of ou who don't know the City carries over $3 in debt for every dollar in property taxes it takes in. This bond issue when you include the interest will increase that outstanding to $6 for every dollar the city gets in property taxes that is before they skim money from all of these taxing districts that have frozen the property valuations so when those property values increase the increased tax revenue generated by the increase in property valuation is skimmed off for other projects. Of course this means the tax payer has to make up this loss of income to the General Fund through higher taxes. BTW a large portion of the most valuable commercial property in the city resides in such a tax district.

Ask yourself this question. Do you want the City Tax rate to rise to $.90/$100 valuation?

[Bill Addington]

Great analysis David K! I plan to print this out and use some of your arguments at City Council meetings. Don't always agree w you, but I will absolutely give you credit where credit is due.