Advertisements

County Commissioners Court will be meeting on Monday at 9:30 a.m. to hold their regularly scheduled meeting. Item 12 of the agenda calls for discussion and action to establish the boundaries of the proposed Segundo Barrio National Historic District and the Downtown National Historic District.

The Commissioners Court previously voted 3-2 on June 15 to excluding much of Segundo Barrio, including the Sacred Heart Church from the historical designation. Judge Samaniego and Commissioner Stout voted against dividing Segundo Barrio neighborhood into two section.

On June 22, the Commissioners Court rejected an alternative plan, the so-called “Option 3”, which would have established a much larger Segundo Barrio National Historic District conforming to the neighborhood’s proper historical and cultural boundaries, as per historical preservationist, Max Grossman in an email sent to the media on June 27. The so-called Option 3 is supported by the residents of Segundo Barrio as well as Sacred Heart Church, the Diocese of El Paso, Centro De Salud Familiar La Fe, South Side Neighborhood Association, and all the key historical groups, including Preservation Texas, the El Paso County Historical Commission, and El Paso County Historical Society, and the Chair of the Historic Landmark Commission of the City of El Paso. A petition supporting Option 3 has collected about 2,000 signatures.

The County Commissioners will consider Option 3 for Segundo Barrio on Monday. According to Grossman, Option 3, now renamed Option 3A is supported by County staff. Option 3A includes all 677 historic properties in Segundo Barrio.

Map: Option 3A

County Judge Samaniego and commissioner Stout have officially supported keeping Segundo Barrio intact. Commissioners Vince Perez, Carlos Leon and Carl Robinson have opposed it.

Max Grossman is encouraging the community to support Option 3A by calling in to the County Commissioners meeting on Monday morning.

Grossman provided the following steps to be added to the call-in list:

CALL IN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
To participate in public comment for Item 12 please do the following:

  1. Call 888-835-7276 (888-8EL-PASO) on Monday, June 29, 2020 at about 9:00 am
  2. Leave a message with your 1) name, 2) title/organization, and 3) indicate that you would like to provide public comment on Item 12
  3. Tune in to Commissioners Court on YouTube via this link.
  4. You will receive a call back from the clerks/IT when the item is up from either a (915), (469), or (439) area code – please answer
  5. When you are connected please introduce yourself to the court and be sure to MUTE your computer/TV if you are watching the YouTube feed
  6. Provide Public Comment and Please ask the court to approve Option 3A with the addition of Guillen School.

Guest Author

El Paso News guest authors.