The problem with serving a master is that eventually the truth reveals itself no matter how much someone tries to keep it a secret. Ann Morgan Lilly, Cortney Niland and Michiel Noe revealed the masters they are serving during the city’s emergency meeting last week to stop the demolition of the Lincoln Center.
As you remember, the city called an emergency meeting on May 20 to discuss filing an injunction to stop the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) from demolishing the Lincoln Center building.
However, you may personally feel about the demolition of the building you should expect that your city representative is present to represent you at city council, especially when the mayor has called an emergency meeting.
It is especially telling when the Anglo contingent is missing from a racially charged issue, especially an emergency meeting. So where were they?
Let’s examine the evidence.
During election time, politicians always argue that they will represent your interests full-time. During the last debates about increasing the city representatives’ salary, the argument was made that city representatives work full time.
On May 20, city council held a regularly scheduled meeting in which they made one of the most important appointments they can make; they hired the city’s next city manager. Everyone knew ahead of time that the meeting may last well into the afternoon, especially after the controversy about holding an emergency meeting on Monday about whether the legal work given to council was proper or not.
In other words and by common sense, the city representatives should have at the very least expected to work late into the afternoon. There is just no excuse for missing a city emergency meeting later that afternoon.
Except, may be if the meeting would have put Ann Morgan Lilly, Cortney Niland and Michiel Noe in the position of clearly having to vote for the needs of their master.
The horde, as in Woody Hunt and Paul Foster, embodied in Ted Houghton clearly wants the Lincoln Building gone as part of their gentrification of El Paso. The gentrification of El Paso has been the public policy since the Ray Caballero disciples took control of it.
Had Morgan Lilly, Niland and Noe being forced to vote during the emergency meeting they would have angered the constituency or their masters; Foster and Hunt. Had they voted not to direct the city attorney’s office to file the injunction they would have had to explain themselves to the voters during their next campaign.
On the other hand, had they voted to move forward on the injunction being placed their masters’ carefully placed façade of “it’s all good El Paso” would have developed more cracks as their fantasy would continue to erode. The horde could not afford that.
That left only one option for them, claim they were too busy to attend the emergency meeting and therefore they are not on the record one way or another on the Lincoln Center issue.
In other words, the master they are serving is not you and therefore they abdicated their responsibility to the voters. This is true regardless if their constituency is for, or against the spending of taxpayer monies to keep the building. They failed every voter that put them in office regardless of how you individually feel about the Lincoln Center.
That is the inconvenient truth many will ignore.
As an aside, I would not be surprised at all to get a legal notice from one of their attorneys, or all three of them for daring to superimpose their images on top of an obviously ethnic background. Stay tuned.
Makes sense to me.
TxDOT has owned that building since 1969. They are in the business of building roads. What the heck did you think they were going to do with that land? There have been generations of politicians who knew that at some point, a road was going to be built there. I saw no one fighting to save it in all that time. It’s been shuttered since 2006 – where has all the outcry been? And no one is going to tell their lawyers to do anything to you. Why would they bother?
The issue/s raised by this essay is not whether TXDOT owns the land or not, that point is moot. The question is why certain members of city council chose to boycott a meeting that would force them to take a stand that may or may not come back and bite them in the arse. But when it comes to asking for votes, they are out there lying about how they feel the constituent’s pain and will afford them representation to the max.
Indeed this gentrification process has been a bane for people who are generally not represented and have no great wealth, not only in El Paso but across the nation. That these three council members chose not to take a stand one way or the other on what seems to be a contentious issue shows their lack of leadership. Strong leaders face the hard issues at hand. The way I see it, this was most cowardly/uncaring of Ms. Niland, being that the Lincoln Center is in her district.
In contrast, when the money lords want something, say like a stadium, these same folks move mountains (figuratively speaking) and bring down buildings (literally speaking) to get it done. I get it that this has been in the planning for years and that the center has been closed for several years. But is it not possible to listen to the people and try for some solution that benefits the people too?
But I understand that it is a safer bet (human nature? greed?) to do the bidding of the money lords then to support those without money or power. I am curious though, about the reaction of those who always jump in to support these money lords( the ones who wave their fists and name call, get their panties in a wad) if one day the lords want what is theirs?
Gentrication? My 12 year old step son, who is a half breed like myself, noted yesterday when I went to vote, that ALL of the Republican balloteers were old white people… if that doesn’t speak volumes as to why we’ll spend millions to bail out a local redneck developer to refurbish the Fall Mansion and then turn around and lease it to Texas Tech for $1 a year then I don’t what will!
The truth will set you free.
Please get informed at http://standforlincoln.wix.com/stand4lincolncenter?from_fb=1
All racist rhetoric aside, you should really not use the race card as your opinion would be more valid if it was based on facts and not on assumptions.
JB, you got it. I don’t know why they insist on shooting themselves in the foot with racial comments. All these exaggerations serve no purpose except to alienate voters and public. I have seen charges of genocide, immigration and discrimination and the evil white man. All of which have nothing to do with the Lincoln Building. What we are hearing and seeing is a group with sixties revolutionary rhetoric hijacking the protest.
The reason they don’t bother to attend these meetings is that they’ve already taken a vote of some kind or reached some agreement behind the scenes and they know it will turn out in favor of their “masters.” If they had any question they would be there ready to tar and feather and humiliate any dissenter.
I take exception to the racial undertone of this essay. I am “anglo” and I was there at the meeting showing my support for Lincoln Center and seated right behind Miguel Juarez, and I was not the only “anglo” supporter in the room. Most people I know, whatever their ethnicity, strongly support preserving Lincoln Center. The racial/gentrification argument is unfortunate and detracts from the strength of the movement to save this important building for posterity.
The sad truth is that the majority of El Pasoans could care less about the building and even less about the elected who failed to show up at the emergency meeting.
What is even more of bummer is that the building is going down and with it a focal point of El Paso’s history for people of color.
We should never believe that true equality will ever be or shared….
Wow…I was censored because I insulted Patricia Martinez by reporting that she is a coconut?
zks, I don’t care if I’m called a coconut by someone who doesn’t have enough courage to post under their own name. Get back with me once you grow a pair.
like clockwork she shows…you must care. grow a pair of what?