In an upside down city like El Paso everything is done opposite to what makes financial and common sense. It’d be hilarious if it wasn’t so expensive to the taxpayer’s of the community.
In upside down El Paso; the city destroys a perfectly good building, then buys a used one, inappropriate for the needs of the city and in a continuation of the idiocy that drives the El Paso leadership, they then decentralize and scatter city services all over downtown. And, if that wasn’t enough the city then squeezes the leftovers into a building ill-suited for running governmental services.
Reading this you would think, great, here’s a city consolidating into a smaller footprint in order to lower the costs on the taxpayers and increase productivity. Unfortunately that is not what the city of El Paso is doing.
Instead, in their infinite wisdom the City of El Paso is demolishing City Hall in order to make way for a downtown arena.
Great, you are thinking the voters wanted this. Again, you would be wrong because the voters were not given an opportunity to opine on this at the ballot box.
I’m sure you are probably thinking but hey, at least the city is selling its building and the land to the developers who are building the arena. Guess what? You are wrong again.
And to top it off, the City of El Paso isn’t even going to make money off, of the arena, rather than charge rents or develop revenue streams; the city management is actually going to pay to build it for the developers.
Most readers are probably now asking themselves where is the power that allows this to happen.
Power is about the perception of having the ability to wield authority. In the business world, the person with the largest office is the one that wields the power at least that is the common perception.
So who has the biggest office in El Paso government?
You are probably thinking it has to be the Mayor’s office? Or, maybe it is the elected legislative members?
Again, you would be wrong. The biggest and better equipped office at the new City Hall is the City Manager’s office.
Representative Eddie Holguin recently posted some pictures of the new offices for the governing body of El Paso and while looking at them it brought something clearly into focus for me.
The real power in El Paso lies upon the shoulders of the city manager’s office. Joyce Wilson is the real power behind El Paso. It is she who wields the authority of the city.
According to City Representative Eddie Holguin, who has been a staunch advocate for the right of the people to vote on the arena project it is Joyce Wilson who got the biggest and best appointed office. She even gets a private bathroom and shower.
On the other hand, the City Representatives, who should be the ones wielding the power of the city, on behalf of the constituency, got half-sized offices, where Holguin’s furniture does not fit.
Worse yet are the support staff of each city representative who have been unceremoniously sent into cubicles to meet the needs of the constituents.
Power is about perception and Joyce Wilson, along with cohorts has clearly demonstrated that she is the real power of El Paso. She has the best office at City Hall.
The electorate? Well they’re just a nuisance to her grand-scheme for the city. Democracy be damned.
*Special thanks to Representative Eddie Holguin for allowing me to use his pictures of the offices. The image of City Hall from outside is courtesy of Theresa Caballero.
Interesting website here.
The current city hall is being demolished without performing much salvage. I believe this is in order to rush the process. They left many cubicles and other objects that could be salvaged and sold or recycled.
Also, the city is in an illegal arrangement with the airport to lease property there.