By Max Grossman
Lately the opinion pages of the El Paso Times have been littered with folks like Henry Felix demanding a downtown arena, afraid our City might build one that is too small or, worse, not build one at all.
Never mind that a 15,000-seat venue would cost over $500 million and raise our property tax even higher.
Never mind that the City allotted only $180 million for the project and that not a single private investor has stepped forward to contribute to the massive budget shortfall.
Never mind that the already-existing downtown sports venue, the Ballpark, needs $4.2 million in annual subsidies from the Hotel Occupancy tax to stay afloat.
Never mind that a half-billion-dollar arena would have no Hotel Occupancy Tax subsidy and that there has never been a business plan that would make it solvent.
Never mind that the City’s basketball arena was disguised as a “multipurpose performing arts and entertainment facility” on the 2012 ballot and that the words “sports” and “downtown” were strategically omitted in order to deceive the voting public.
Never mind that the City empowered itself to use eminent domain for an entertainment purpose and that there is clearly a private agenda behind the arena project.
Never mind that the City’s plan to build an arena in Duranguito displaced dozens of vulnerable El Pasoans from their homes and threatened their historic neighborhood with demolition.
Never mind that our City has no mandate–neither from the US Constitution nor the Texas Constitution–to provide the citizens with entertainment.
Never mind that El Pasoans suffer from one of the highest property tax burdens relative to wages in the entire country and that large “capital improvement projects” are unaffordable.
Never mind that the same people clamoring for a large arena are the same people who would be unaffected by a property tax increase.
Never mind that we are sick and tired of whining children demanding expensive new toys that are unneeded and cannot be paid for!
If Henry Felix wants an arena so badly, he should round up a group of wealthy investors and build one himself, assuming 100% of the capital risk, because that is the American way.
We are the El Paso Taxpayer Revolt and we approve this message.
About the Author:
Dr. Max Grossman is an architectural historian. He earned his B.A. in Art History and English at the University of California-Berkeley, and his M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Art History at Columbia University. Grossman has been active in the preservation of El Paso’s historical buildings and led the effort to protect the Duranguito neighborhood from gentrification for a sports arena. He operates the El Paso Taxpayer Revolt website and Facebook group.
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