El Paso, Texas: A History of Institutional Racism 83+%

Mexican-American, the City is "Rebranded" for Big Money

The history of El Paso has
been inextricably linked to the
history of the Rio Grande,
known as the Rio Bravo in
Mexico. The river, with
headwaters which flow from a
spring in the San Juan
Mountains in southern
Colorado, is the largest (and
maybe the only) river in the
United States which has been
girdled by cement, as it flows
through El Paso when there is
water in it, but which has
normally been reduced to a muddy trickle by the time is reaches Presidio, Texas. At Presidio,
some 250 miles southeast from El Paso, the river is revived by the waters of the Conchos River
flowing down from the northwestern Sierra Madre in Mexico, and those from the Pecos River in
New Mexico. (image courtesy University of Texas at E Paso)
It thus becomes the big river where so many migrants
have drowned in Texas downstream not far from the
Gulf of Mexico.
History lives in this area of Texas. In 1581, the
Rodrguez-Chamuscado expedition passed through
the area near what was to become El Paso. Antonio de
Espejo camped south of El Paso two years later,
finding the land rich in buffalo, other game and birds,
along with mineral deposits and sources of water.
These two expeditions were followed by that of Don
Juan de Oate, which, having survived a hazardous
passage across the Chihuahua desert, crossed the river
on April 30, 1598.
Oate formally took possession of the land - the
"Toma" - in the name of the Spanish crown, and, in
thanksgiving for the safe crossing of the desert, a
celebration was held featuring a dramatic play by Captain Marcos Farfn de los Gados. The
friendly Sumas were guests, but they too would lataer join the revolt against the Spanish heel

which built up early on even in the newly established missions along the river. (image courtesy
Jos Cisneros Estate)
In 1659, Fray Garca de San Francisco established and built the Misin Nuestra Seora de
Guadalupe del Rio del Norte de los Mansos on the site of today's Jurez, Mexico. In time the
Mission became known simply as Paso del Norte, and it grew dramatically following the exodus
from the north after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
Governor Antonio de Otermn's attempt to liberate Northern New Mexico from the Pueblo
Nation's grip failed. But on his return downriver, he stopped at the Isleta Tiwa Pueblo near
modern day Albuquerque and burned it to the ground. He took in excess of 350 people hostage
and returned with them, less those who did not survive the journey.
The situation worsened with the Sumas, Janos, Jumanos, Tanos, Mansos and Jemez, among
others. more or less in open revolt as they allied with the area Apaches. The missions at Ysleta
del Sur, San Antonio de Senec and Nuestra Seora de la Limpia Concepcin del Socorro were
all established in an attempt to pacify the original peoples who remained in the area.
Another mission, San Diego de los Sumas, was established, replacing Guadalupe de los Sumas,
along with one at San Elcario, near Oate's original crossing. With the election of Governor
Diego de Vargas and the reconquest of northern New Mexico and Santa Fe, the original peoples
in the Paso del Norte area were remarkably diminished.
Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, and in 1824 Paso del Norte formally became
part of the state of Chihuahua. In 1829, a disastrous flood left the river with two active channels
flowing. Socorro, Ysleta and San Elizario (the former Elcario) were left in an island in the
middle of both channels.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the close of the United States' war on Mexico made the river
the formal boundary between Mexico and the United States. As the settlement at Paso del Norte
grew in importance due to trade between the two countries, the north side of the border was
settled more and more. One of the settlements was Franklin, and it quickly was renamed El Paso.
The confusion in names only ended when Paso del Norte was renamed Ciudad Jurez in honor of
Mexican President Benito Jurez. When the Southern Pacific Railroad reached El Paso at the
close of the 1800s, the city was set on the road to becoming the El Paso of today.*
Every year, the newly incorporated City of San Elizario celebrates Oate's crossing. People dress
in period Spanish costumes, and the "Toma" is reenacted. And every year representatives of the
Pueblo tribes are given equal billing, and they relate the history as it really happened, complete
with native songs and dances.
San Eli, as the town is fondly known, has embarked on a national campaign claiming it as the
site of the real first Thanksgiving, held long before the Pilgrims arrived, giving rise to a healthy
national debate.
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Memories and Prognostications

Long ago, when Mexicans and Gringos - warily and with no small misgivings - eyed each other
across a great divide that has lessened more in the telling than in the doing, there were real
alligators ("lagartos" in Mexican Spanish) in the zcalo pool in downtown El Paso, Texas. The
pool was large, as were the beasts, and it was architecturally attractive. The zcalo was formally
known as San Jacinto Plaza, but everyone called it the "Alligator Plaza", "La Plaza de los
Lagartos", or simply "La Placita," and it was in fact a small park right in the middle of town with
the alligator pool at its center.
The park around the pool was put to good use by those who took their daily ease on the grass,
philosophers all, rising from time to time to lean on the handsome cement ledge over the
balustrades that encircled the pool, there to ponder and deliberate upon the ways of alligators and
other pressing affairs of the moment. The trees, large, tall old elms, were full of birds and
birdsong: the center of town, in contrast to the relaxed ambience of the park, was vibrant and
alive. There
was a sense of
community,
there was
movement of
commerce and
people, and the
city was firmly
anchored in
what was even
then called
downtown,
with the hub of
it all being the
pool and the
alligators On
any given day,
people were to
be seen
downtown until
late in the
evening.
Movies at the majestic Plaza Theatre were 9 cents for kids, and 15 cents for adults. The Ellanay,
Palace and Texas Grand offered similar prices. Of an after school day during the school year,
throngs of students from El Paso High, the old Bowie High, the St. Joseph's Academy (mostly
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known - and delicately stated - as toney Loretto Academy's little sister for brown girls not able to
afford the Loretto tuition) girls, and the boys from Cathedral High would make their way to the
plaza for a quick visit before going home or to wait for a given bus, in the meantime patronizing
the soda fountains at the Walgreen's and Kress and the Queen Anne Bakery as well, where the
best chocolate eclaires in town were two for thirteen cents - a real treat after one of the hotly
contested grammar school basketball games at the Catholic Youth Organization Hall nearby. A
slice of cherry pie with a cherry coke was a package deal for twenty cents at the soda fountains,
and the ogling of each other, the stolen glance, the budding teen age loves, all were part of the
approaching close of day.
Of a weekend evening, the older teenagers would cross over to Jurez and Fred's Rainbow Bar
for cold beer and American style sandwiches (where the kindly proprietor would not let the
young people get drunk, and who became a legend in his lifetime to legions of El Paso teens), or
the Cavernas Musicales, down a flight of stairs, with cavern decor, complete with large
stalactites and stalagmites.
The more adventurous would find their way to Calle Mariscal with its sellers of Gardenia
bouquets, the strolling musicians, the photographers with their Speed Graphic cameras who
would take your picture and deliver a not-too-wet black and white print in something like ten
minutes, and the houses of pleasures with a fair number of young ladies of the evening ready to
introduce their young clients to the faux joys and mysteries of sex.
The center of things had yet to unravel.
The Popular and the White House department stores, and later the Gilberts and Glass stores were
stocked with fine merchandise. It was not unusual for the Popular to open by appointment on a
given Sunday so high ranking military, industrialists, and other wealthy people from the interior
of Mexico could shop privately. The Casa Oppenheim in Jurez was known for the quality of its
German cutlery, crystal, and the expensive French perfumes kept in stock. Streetcars trundled
back and forth across the river, at the time free from the foul and dreary girdle of cement that
now contains it, its flow reduced to a muddy trickle fighting for passage through thick weeds and the border officials were surprise! generally courteous.
The Florida and its signature Filete Marcos, a filet mignon served with a spicy, peeled baked
potato and slices of roasted, tender long green chile, the Charmant, La Nueva Cucaracha, the
Lobby, the Chinese Palace, and the Crystal Palace were not only superb restaurants in Jurez;
they hosted world class entertainment as well up until the early 70s by way of floor shows: Stan
Kenton and June Christy, Peggy Lee, the Ballet Folclrico de Mxico de Amalia Hernndez,
Trio Los Panchos, the Ink Spots, Los Churumbeles de Espaa - far too many to name.
But one restaurant stood above them all - Martino's - a gourmet's delight, now but a shadow of
what it used to be, as its prosperous owners went off to live in Spain long ago. And by the 70s, la
Avenida Jurez, where these establishments were located, was showing signs of decay, and one
by one, the fine restaurants closed. Today, the avenue is lined with cheap disco or hard rock bars
4

that cater exclusively to the young, and the unregulated drinking poses problems on both sides of
the border.
The Bermdez family of Jurez had yet to embark on their wildly successful scheme to despoil socially, ecologically and spiritually - not only their city but ours - through the ugly maquiladora
industry and the exploitation of young women, an unseemly joining at the economic hip of all
that is bad about the robber barons on both sides of the border, where it is not unknown for
scrupulous factory owners to cart off their equipment in the middle of the night, leaving the
workers with unpaid salaries, without benefits and without recourse through the hapless host
country.
But even then, there were omens visible here and there, for those who cared to look. Consider:
with a growing university at hand to act as anchor for the education establishment so necessary
for any successful economy, the myopic city fathers of the day could do no better than to
proclaim the perceived economic cornucopia of the border as being based on the four Cs, cotton,
copper, cattle and cheap Mexican labor.
This mantra continued to be chanted for far too many years, and the city fathers, now joined by
late blooming city mothers, notably women sitting on the boards of our predatory banks,
peopling chambers of commerce and running the University of Texas at El Paso - imagine, if you
will, a university president whose legacy will be, beyond question, her attempts to kill the
departments of philosophy and communications while assisting in the militarization of the border
as a handmaiden to the Department of Homeland Security, and to force the departure of Duncan
Earl, a gifted anthropology professor, and again, as a local and exquisitely qualified
MexicanAmerican female with a PhD in library science from the University of Texas where she
had worked and had gained honors, was passed over for the position of University Librarian at
UTEP and a white male with no credentials in the field hired instead - great God, where do we
get such people? - continues to be chanted even now, for seemingly the only industries we are
able to attract are those willing to pay about $6 per hour to the hirelings. Those who claim that El
Paso has become the Mecca for the telemarketing industry may be on to something that the bulk
of the people ignore to their economic peril.
It was 1948 and I was an eighth grader at St. Joseph's Parochial school. All too soon, Fr. Walsh,
the pastor, along with Frs. Schimpf and Callaghan - much loved Jesuits all - were to leave St.
Joseph's and the other grammar schools in El Paso, set in the parishes the Jesuits had founded
and that the Sisters of Loretto had so well staffed for so many years.
Having been stymied in my attempt to join the Columbian Squires (the youth group of the
Knights of Columbus) by its new, racist chaplain and his seminarian satrap assigned to St.
Joseph's - one of whom had cast a viciously effective blackball barring my entry into the Squires
as I learned early on that religion could also be the refuge of the racist. I would also learn that I
lived in one of the more racist cities in the state of Texas - with its all Black school, prior to
Brown v. Board of Education, and up to 2005, its original "Mexican" school, Aoy grammar
school, recently replaced by a brand new model, specifically built on the wrong side of the tracks
5

to keep us there - a city that as late as 1968 still punished kids for speaking Spanish on the school
grounds by sending them to "Spanish Detention" for an hour or so after school.
And it took its toll. Having suffered racism - "dirty Mexican, greaser, spic, get the hell back to
Mexico, keep away from our white girls" - from grammar school, through Notre Dame, the Navy
and Austin, where I moved to work for a year before entering law school, and where, even as a
veteran with a brand new wife and a kid to boot, in 1959 I couldn't find a job for three months
until an enterprising employment agency passed me off as "Spanish" and I got a job pushing
furniture around in a warehouse with the result that I too momentarily succumbed to racism.
I hated my tormentors, and it was only through my involvement with civil rights beginning in the
middle 50s that, notwithstanding my initial debacle in Austin, that I continued to open my eyes, a
process that went on through the 60s when I was helped to get over a fair amount of hate by my
mentor, the late great west Texas lawyer, Warren Burnett, so untimely dead, who taught me that
you could meet the racist in an arena of his choosing and defeat him, now and again, if you but
used your head and your talents and respected him as a human being worthy of respect on that
ground alone, for Burnett in his agnosticism and later atheism was more a practitioner of the
beatitudes than any number of so called Christians and observant Jews I have met and yes, who
buttressed my belief that El Paso, beneath its rose-visioned chamber of commerce approach to
the real world was racist to its core. Yet, now and again, I realize I'm still not entirely sure, even
at my advanced age, that I have truly freed myself from this cancer that rots the soul.
The live alligators are today long gone - gone and replaced by substitutes crafted of fiberglass by
the gifted artist Luis Jimnez of El Paso (recently and tragically killed in a freak accident in his
New Mexico studio) - in menacing pose rising out of a waterless, would be pond that seeks to
compensate by bathing the fiberglass creatures in a fine mist during the hot summer months,
about which people gather to cool off (cheerfully known by the locals as "misting Mexicans").
But no matter how gifted the artist, no work of art can truly capture the raw reality of feral life.
Beyond question, it is not the same: nor is the zcalo.
The elms that once grew here have been replaced by recently planted live oaks, and some rather
ugly "desert-friendly trees" that will never grow to any semblance of towering majesty. The
grassy areas are now fenced off. Warning signs abound: "It is forbidden to feed the birds". This
last is generally ignored by mostly old people who cheerfully feed popcorn - readily available
from vendors around the plaza - to the pigeons and other feathered vagrants.
And, in fact, some four years ago, during the state Democratic convention which met in El Paso,
some Native Americans had put up a tipi in the park on the forbidden grass, and one afternoon I
saw a couple of young, handsome women in fringed and beaded buckskin feeding a riot of birds
assembled at their feet as a flute and drum sounded in the near distance, and it was enough to
pierce the soul. Although the police were around, they had had the good sense not to interfere.
So much for fences.

"Don't throw trash - fines up to $1000. No alcohol permitted. Restrooms permanently closed use facilities across the street". So many signs are truly jarring, and must seem so even to the
insensitive. Don't feed the birds. It is telling, that in a city right next door to a country where one
of the great revolutions (American, 1776, French, 1789, Mexican, 1910, Russian, 1917 - the last
two within living memory) that defined liberty took place, so many restrictions proliferate like
unwanted garbage. "Park closes at ten".
After ten o'clock of an evening, about the only living beings in the zcalo are humans of various
preferences in dress and tastes in matters sexual, of which El Paso seems to have an
inexhaustible supply, all circling each other like buzzards, all awake to the probability that more
than one of their number are police people seeking to entrap them; and entrap them they do,
having caught in years past a district judge, a few prominent citizens, and from time to time and
with great good humor, one another - all willing to live the lure of the moment for a few dollars,
and for pleasure feigned more often than not.
And alas, the cities of my youth, El Paso and Jurez, are no more. Progress as defined by the
damned developers and the maniacs united for growth unchecked has not been kind to either, and
the zcalo has suffered apace. Every few years, the city administration du jour tries to modernize
it. The results are invariably the waste of tax dollars spent on more cement and crushed rock, less
grass, and less space for people. Today, many of the buildings that defined downtown stand
mostly empty. The businesses that remain are generally confined to the first floors, where low
quality goods, perfumes, fast food and notions are sold.
Downtown is dying, as is the pattern in so many other cities. At night, the windows that once
drew crowds to their displays are now shuttered by the ugly roll-down metal curtains that are
spreading, crawling, despoiling the downtowns of America, victims to the malls, suburbia, the
automobile, suvs and changing values.
In El Paso, the current administration has embarked on a plan to "revitalize" the downtown area.
Totally oblivious to historical and economic facts - i.e., El Paso is about 80% MexicanAmerican,
and is economically deprived - the administration has entered into an unholy marriage with big
money, represented by billionaire Bill Sanders, a local boy who has been described as the biggest
and most powerful landlord in the country, according to Business Week magazine.
Not only would downtown be "revitalized", but in the bargain, the oldest historic neighborhood
in El Paso, the "Segundo Barrio", almost 100% Mexican-American and allegedly part of
downtown, would be "sanitized", in the words of the promoters and developers, through the
implementation of a "Plan" put together by a San Francisco firm from the top down, with
absolutely no input by the people most affected by this morally bankrupt madness.
Why am I not surprised?
The "Barrio" is part of downtown only in the latte fueled dreams of the promoters of destruction.
In reality, it is some blocks removed. The politicians propose to use the power of eminent
domain to condemn residential and commercial properties, sell them to real estate investors
7

through their "REITs" - real estate investment trusts which will, in theory, build modern
apartments and bring in "upscale businesses". All in the name of progress.
All in the name of the discredited Prof, Richard Florida, and his imaginary "creative class."
This pie-in-the-sky nonsense that will result in the displacement of thousands of people, mostly
women and children, is being and will continue to be fought every step of the way. Two recall
petitions have narrowly failed, one for technical reasons and the other for lack of thirty or so
signatures. Entrenched opposition continues to face this most avaricious, morally corrupt and
foolish administration in the history of the city.
If you picture downtown El Paso bisected by a
line running from west to east, the line being
Paisano Drive, you would arrive at a pretty
accurate distribution of buildings as they
define the central part of the city. The state
and federal courthouses are located three
blocks north of Paisano, and San Jacinto
Plaza, the historic center of the city, is five
blocks up in the same direction. The central
banks, City Hall, and most architecturally (but
not historically) significant buildings also lie
north.
About twenty or so blocks north of
Paisano
lies Rim Road, which leads to Scenic Drive, the latter straddling the lower reaches of Mt.
Franklin, where one can stop and look down on the city and on Mexico to the south through high
powered glasses. Rim Road pretty much defines the southernmost point where Mt. Franklin (this
tip end of the Rockies is best described as a tall hill or as a baby mountain, since it is somewhere
in between) ends, as the mountain bisects the city from north to south.
Rim Road runs along the bluff that overlooks the central city. When El Paso was first established,
the gentry preferred to live near the center of town. The bluff was not deemed to be desirable
property, and the Mexican settlers were relegated to the high ground which at the time was
known as "Stormsville". However, it did not take long to realize that a mistake had been made;
the gentry took the high ground, and the Mexicans were sent packing south of Paisano Drive,
then known as Second Street. At all times, Mexican-American, Chicano, or Latinxs have been a
significant numerical majority in Texas's largest city on the border with Mexico.
Early on, the Third and Fourth Wards made up the area where the fair skinned settlers lived; the
Second Ward, which was where the Mexicans lived soon swallowed up the First Ward which
more or less faded from popular usage, and any straying beyond its borders of the former by
brown folk was not suffered lightly. This, in spite of the fact that more than one of the early city
fathers took to wife a Mexican heiress of a land grant or of a few hundred acres of desirable land.
8

No fools they.
The first "Mexican" school was established in the Barrio in 1887 by Jaime Aoy Olies Vila, a
Spaniard, converted Mormon and humanitarian. Aoy not only taught, but supported his students
with food and clothing as well. In 1888 the El Paso School Board incorporated Aoy's school into
its system, but only on a segregated basis, and it was renamed the "Mexican Preparatory
School". A new "Aoy" grammar school today is located five blocks south of Paisano Drive, and
but two blocks away from the Mexican border. The old and historic building was razed by the El
Paso Independent School District while the people weren't really looking and when their protests
came too late.
The Second Ward was and is known to the residents as "El Segundo " (at one time 100%
Mexican-American with an occasional Black), and it is a thriving community with a deeply
ingrained sense of ethnic pride. It is the site of the original Bowie High School, now Guillen
Middle School, and its fabled 1949 state championship baseball team, the members of
which slept in their cars in Odessa and elsewhere, having been denied lodging while on
their way to Austin, seat of the state tournament.
Originally, the Second Ward also encompassed the area near the border known as Chihuahuita
and Smeltertown (formerly the First Ward), to the west and south of the old copper smelter
which was later replaced by the ASARCO smelter, now defunct. Smeltertown became known as
the home of many World War II casualties, Mexican-American young men who were members
of the storied Company E of the Texas-Oklahoma Arrowhead Division, needlessly sacrificed
during the failed attempts to cross the Rapido River in Italy.

El Segundo is the seat of Sacred Heart and Saint Ignatius Churches, which were homes to their
founders in the late 1800s, the Jesuit order in El Paso. It is also home to Public Housing Projects,
the earliest of which was the Alamito Projects, which dated back to the 1930s. They were
recently demolished under the gentrification-based Hope 6 project, approved by El Paso
Housing Authority directors appointed by former mayor Ray Caballero and current mayor John
Cook, over the strong objections of community people and Mexican-American pastors of
churches in the Barrio.
Two servicemen from the Barrio have been awarded the nation's second highest award - the
Distinguished Service Cross - for heroism during WWI. Marcos Armijo, whose name on display
at the Armijo Center in the Barrio is spelled "Marcus", and Marcelino Serna. An undocumented
immigrant, Serna was working in the sugar beet fields in Colorado when the Border Patrol
caught him and gave him two choices: either enlist in the Army or be deported to Mexico.
He enlisted, and was sent to Europe, where he became the highest decorated soldier from Texas
in that war. Serna, who later was called the Audie Murphy of WWI, was denied the Medal of
Honor because, as he was told, he (1) was an undocumented alien and a buck private, and (2) he
could not speak English. A bill introduced in Congress by Ron Coleman, former Congressman
from El Paso which would have rectified the errors, failed in the House, although it cited the
reasons set out above. Serna died in El Paso in 1992.
El Segundo shares two Medal of Honor awardees; Silvestre Herrera. a former farmworker who
lived in the Barrio but whose uncle took him to Arizona when he was young because there was
no work to be had in El Paso. He was a member of the "Arrowhead Division". He was honored
for his heroism in WWII by President Truman. Ambrosio Guillen, who sacrificed his life in
Korea, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. Guillen Middle School, pictured above,
where he was a student at the old Bowie High, was named in his honor.
The Segundo Barrio is viewed by many as a sort of Ellis Island of the border. It has been and
continues to be the gateway for immigrants from Mexico and the Americas, and passage has
always been difficult.
During the year the Public Health Service assigned a new physician to the El Paso
bridge and immediately upon arrival the new physician instituted an active campaign of
what he termed venereal diseases. One week after he had taken charge of the local
Station, he was taking up an average of fifty passports per day of local residents of El
Paso claiming that such persons were afflicted with either syphilis oradenitis. He went so
far as to make a statement to me that he had proofs that Mexican people or people of
Mexican ancestry were afflicted with such loathsome diseases and that the average ran
up to 95%, in other words, that 5% of such people were free of venereal diseases.
Exact figures are not available . . . The U. S. Immigration Service failed to keep an
accurate record; the Mexican service did likewise. I have made a close study of
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Repatriates and I can honestly state that a conservative estimate can be placed at
600,000 Mexicans returning to Mexico as Repatriates or as Voluntary Returns. . . I
know of my own personal knowledge that the majority of California repatriates left
California for two reasons: (a) That it was next to impossible for a Mexican to get a job.
(b) that a free railroad ticket was offered to the Border in order that he 'might find his
way to Mexico where he originally came from'. To satisfy my curiosity, I personally
questioned each adult on a California special train consisting of 9 chair cars (each seat
occupied by two adults and from three to five children in each seat, every available seat
occupied), and I found that out of a total of 915 persons on that particular train, only 127
persons were Mexican citizens; all the rest were American citizens . . .
Annual Report, El Paso Office, July 1, 1930 to June 30, 1931, July 1, 1931 to June 30, 1932.
My late uncle and El Paso historian Cleofas Calleros wrote the above in his capacity as Mexican
Border Representative for the United States Catholic Welfare Conference, which is now defunct.
The zeitgeist of the times was rabidly anti-Mexican in the frenzy that swept the country during
the depression years, a time when it was popular to blame Mexican-American citizens for having
taken "American jobs".
One of my earliest cases when I started practicing law in El Paso was one such citizen, who was
awarded significant damages for the wrongful repatriation.
The depression repatriations were followed by the infamous Operation Wetback of the
Eisenhower years, and it was my uncle's best estimate that for the two years or so that the
operation was active in Texas, approximately 1,800,000 were deported, and as in the
deportations of 1931-32, many American citizens were among their number.
In fact, it was a number of lawsuits brought by citizens, coupled with resistance from farmers
and ranchers, that eventually stopped the "operation". In one celebrated case, an American
citizen deportee was sent to the state of Chiapas, on the Guatemalan border. It took him some
two months to hitch-hike his way back to the border. He was reportedly awarded damages in six
figures.
In between the depression repatriations, Operation Wetback and currently, it has always been the
case that an inspector at any of the bridges can take a local crossing card from its bearer for any
reason, usually because of suspicion of fraud or because the card does not belong to the bearer,
etc. It is almost impossible for the bearer to recover a card wrongfully taken, since cards are
issued by the State Department, and its "discretionary" actions are not subject to review by
judicial authorities. This little bit of legal nonsense would seem to have no place in a society
based on law.
During the time that former Congressman Sylvestre Reyes, who had been chief of the El Paso
Sector of the Border Patrol, the practice reached its zenith. With the introduction of "laser" cards,
it has decreased, but people from Mexico with cards still cross at their peril. It is sufficient for an
inspector to take a card simply because he does not like the way the bearer looks, and to subject
the bearer to intense and intrusive questioning with practically no holds barred by law.
11

Particularly in these post twin towers times, when the former "El Paso Port of Entry" logo has
been replaced by that of the vaguely Teutonic "El Paso Sector - Department of Homeland
Security", ICE inspectors and Border Patrol personnel are not known to be kind.
"We all know El Paso is an awesome city with great people and assets. We also know
that we spend an inordinate amount of time defending our great city because we
have allowed others to define it and project an image that is not always positive. The
energy and resources we spend refuting these negative messages and images are
detracting from our important business of building a great community and creating
new investments and jobs for our citizens.
So stating, City Manager Joyce Wilson ushered in the modern era of institutional racism which
arrived with a monstrous bang.
A handy timeline for the rebranding of El Paso by outsiders acting with local business interests
and by a racist advertising/marketing campaign.
2003 October: Bill Sanders, a local real estate billionaire, is invited to redevelop downtown
El Paso by El Paso Mayor Raymond Caballero and group of developers.
2003 December: Sanders forms the Verde Group and Paso Del Norte Group in El Paso.
2004 January: Verde Group obtains millions of gallons of water rights for Santa Teresa
binational development project without any public process thanks to governor Richardsons
intervention.
2004 May: Sanders/Wingo Advertising, Inc., hires Antonio Patric Buchanan as its Chief
Marketing Officer. He quickly establishes a new business in California, named "Glass Beach
Marketing" and prepares a web page.
Registrant:
Glass Beach Marketing
15 rue montaigne
Paris, France
Registered through: CHEAPSUCKER.COM
Domain Name: GLASS-BEACH.COM
Created on: 04-May-04
Expires on: 04-May-07
Last Updated on: 04-May-06
Administrative Contact:
Ghobriel, Kenneth [email protected]
Glass Beach Marketing
15 rue montaigne
Paris,
France
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01 33 245 6579
Technical Contact:
Registrar, Domain [email protected]
Register.Com
575 8th Avenue - 11th Floor
New York, New York 10018
United States
902-749-2701 Fax -- 902-749-2704
September, 2004: Joyce Wilson begins work as City Manager for El Paso, Texas.
October 6, 2004: Bill Sanders's Verde Corporate Realty Services, LLC, is registered in Texas
2005 February 15: City of El Paso votes approves contract with Paso del Norte Group to
create downtown redevelopment plan. City Council grants them $250,000 to PNDG, headed
by Bill Sanders, as its contribution to the revitalization plan for downtown and the Segundo
Barrio.
"The plan calls for forming a Real Estate Investment Trust to buy properties in the
Redevelopment District. Sanders said the hope is that property and business owners can be
presented with a "compelling enough" business proposition and agree to sell "before we have to
flex our muscles and use eminent domain (condemnation)." ** The Redevelopment District
included the Barrio, and it was the Barrio Sanders was referring to.
Simon-Martin-Veque Winkelstein Moris (SMWM, the boutique "architecture, planning and
urban-design firm" from San Francisco is hired. Has no knowledge of El Paso, border culture
and customs. The Paso del Norte Group tasks it with preparing a revitalization plan for
downtown El Paso, including the Barrio.
September 13: City grants PDNG an extension to develop plan. Representative ORourke
defends plan secrecy otherwise residents and small business owners would tear it apart and
youd never be able to keep it together.
March 3, 2006: Wilson sends Glass Beach memo to targeted El Paso citizens, pays it
$100,000 in taxpayer money. Memo asks people to share their perception of El Paso for an
"immersion audit" of El Paso.
March 22, 23: Glass Beach come to El Paso in the person of Antonio Patric Buchanan. Is
given local perceptions of El Paso.
March 31: The PDNG Plan is unveiled by William Sanders and the City Council at the Plaza
Theater before an audience of enthusiastic business leaders on the same day of a large
immigrant rights march on Cesar Chvez day.

13

 April 12: Bill Sanders tells 500 downtown businessmen eminent domain will be used if they
refuse to sell. ORourke says he has no conflict of interest because his father in law (Bill
Sanders) does not own property in the development zone.
April 13: Sanders and ORourke face stiff opposition from South El Paso residents at Armijo
Park meeting MayCity holds meetings to sell plan to the public. Most people there speak out
against the plan. Police have to intervene to stop protests.
April 19: City Manager Joyce Wilson sends her staff an email instructing them how to
downplay displacement, neutralize the losers and pacify the opposition.
April 26: Sanders longs to flex his muscles, declares his love for eminent domain for private
purposes, and can't wait for condemnation proceedings to begin so those smelly, pesky
Mexicans and their hangers-on can be flushed out of the barrio once and for all:
As David Romo, auhor of Ringside Seat to a Revolution, wrote:
"Yet in El Paso, the major player behind the Paso Del Norte plan, William Sanders, thinks
the heart of the Segundo Barrio is mostly a lot of junk that should be swept away to make
room for 'big-box' retail stores and parking lots. 'Look at that,' Sanders recently told
downtown businessman Enoch Kimmelman as he pointed out the Segundo Barrio from his
Chase Manhattan offices. That's a pile of shit down there. I would be ashamed to have a
business there. It should all be razed. All of it.' According to local architect Geoffrey
Wright, Sanders expressed similar sentiments to him as well. 'There isn't a single historical
building inside the redevelopment zone,' the multibillionaire landlord asserted. 'Our
consultants have already checked. We can't save a building just because Pancho Villa had a
couple of drinks there.'"
May 25: More 250 Southside residents organized by La Campaa and Sin Fronteras
June 7: Bishop Armando X. Ochoa of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso writes an open letter to
City Council declaring the plan as unjust and divisive. Some of the more salient ones are:
5. In the midst of the anti-immigrant sentiment by many in the U.S., the residents of South El Paso
face yet another obstacle in the re-vitalization plan proposed by Paso del Norte Group. This plan,
if implemented, would displace numerous area residents, as well as small businesses. The fact
that the proposed low-cost housing will be subsidized only for four years predictably will force
those lower income residents to move to another area of the city after the subsidy is over.
Where? The poor from Mexico typically prefer closeness to downtown and to Ciudad Jurez.
The inevitable result of the present plan will be less affordable housing opportunities for
the poor, especially the poor immigrant in the South El Paso area. We reject a plan that
diminishes the number of low-cost housing units.

14

6. The plan of paying an owner "market value" as opposed to a real "replacement value" will leave
those affected in a very difficult situation if they plan to continue their business elsewhere and
were forced out of their present location by eminent domain. The same with housing. Those who
own a home will be paid very little according to "market value". What are they to do if they who
are typically poor and many elderly need to buy a new home elsewhere? Compensation based
on market value for an area such as the Segundo Barrio will be unjust in many cases.
7. The proposed use of "eminent domain" to force downtown, Segundo Barrio and Union Plaza
land owners into a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), managed by a select, few individuals,
negates the possibility of cooperation by a present property owner (and the tenant), from
improving their property. If the free, legal choice of the owner is in conflict with the plan and its
goals. If a landlord desires to cooperate and improve the building for low-cost housing, it
appears that he/she would have to sell if his/her building is not in-line with the present plan.
Eminent Domain should only be used for the "common good" of the community as in the
building of a public hospital, fire station, public school, etc.; not for exclusively personal or
corporate profit.
8. We have very serious concerns with the Real Estate Investment Trust approach to
revitalization. A Real Estate Investment Trust is a business entity which exists to maximize
cash flow of the real property in the Trust in order to maximize profit. Decisions by a REIT
are made by the Officers of the Trust and are made to accomplish its maximization-ofprofit
goal for the benefit of the investors in the Trust. Therefore, a REIT appears to not be
accountable to the community or to the City government, other than to abide by applicable
laws and regulations. The City government, on the other hand, is accountable to the
community and its citizens. Moreover, decisions by the City government are based on
considerations of different factors such as: quality of life; respect for culture; historic
preservation; betterment opportunities for its citizens, such as low-income housing, job
training, small-business opportunities and growth, development of industries, maintaining
infrastructure, etc.
9. Taking advantage of the immigrant occurs in our South El Paso community, in particular by
apartment owners who maintain their rental property in substandard conditions. This unjust
practice of renting inadequate housing has gone on for years without any effective intervention
by City Inspectors or Officials. Any plan for a South El Paso re-vitalization must NOT
diminish the number of units of affordable, low-income housing. Instead, if the Segundo
Barrio and the Union Plaza District are to be included in a downtown re-development plan,
their residential character MUST be maintained and improvement of the quality of
housing and an increase in the number of units of available, affordable housing for
lowincome persons in those two residential communities should be adopted AS A GOAL
OF THE RE-DEVELOPMENT PLAN. The City should also adopt an effective, aggressive
plan that demands apartment owners to maintain their units according to acceptable
standards and codes. The City presently has the power and mechanism to force negligent
landlords to improve sub-standard housing, i.e., by the "Municipal Regulation of Housing
and Other Structures", Loc. Gov't Code 214.003; Receiver. Landlords should relate to their
tenants in a way that is just and non-threatening.
15

10. Also, the Paso del Norte Group's membership of 300 plus, was kept secret until very recently.
The list of members was available from the City through the Freedom of Information Act. Why
were the names of the members withheld from public knowledge if the Paso del Norte Group's
plan received public funding?
11. If maximizing profit and land value is the driving force of the plan, there is a threat of major
chain stores, i.e., Walmart or Home Depot being able to purchase land from the REIT and
moving into the Segundo Barrio-downtown area. Although the residents of the Segundo Barrio
may benefit from Walmart's lower prices, we are aware of the certain elimination of area small
businesses - many existing for many years and part of the tradition of the neighborhood -attempting to compete. We oppose the establishment of these mega-stores which would also
destroy the unique cultural and historical character of the Segundo Barrio as well as small
businesses.
12. As Church, we want to stand in solidarity with the poor, with the immigrant, with the
marginalized, with the rejected one. There is a long history of neglect and discrimination with
regards to the Segundo Barrio. We are not opposed to progress, economic development,
improvement and construction of buildings. We are opposed to any plan that disregards and
displaces the poor, that ignores the plight of the immigrant, that divides the community,
that perpetuates injustice and inadequate housing, that diminishes low-cost housing; one
that seeks to enrich a select group.
The letter is signed by Most Rev. Armando X. Ochoa, Bishop, Catholic Diocese of El Paso, Rev.
John Stowe, O.F.M., Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, Diocese of El Paso, and Fr.
Rafael Garca, S.J, Pastor, Sacred Heart Church.

July 10: Council votes to postpone use of eminent domain until 2008 for owners who do not
wish to sell.

July 19: The Glass Beach marketing study that adopts racist imagery to support the PDNG plan
is approved by City Council.

16

October 5: City Planning Commission approves PDNG plan, increases redevelopment

zone to 168 acres from original 127.5.

Questions
1. Why was Glass Beach, a firm but two years in the business, chosen for the immersion
auditrebranding task, allegedly on the recommendation of MSG (the company that represents
the El Paso Convention Center), without disclosing what role, if any, Bob Wingo played in the
awarding of a $100,000 contract which would materially benefit Antonio Patric Buchanan?
2. Why were Bob Wingo and his employee's names included in the list of contact people for
Glass Beach?
3. What business relationship existed between Bob Wingo and Antonio Patric Buchanan? Was
the latter a salaried employee of Sanders/Wingo, was he a partner, was he a stockholder, at the
time the $100,000 contract was entered into?
4. Was the $100,000 contract put out to bid?
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5. Did the City Manager know of the Bob Wingo - Antonio Patric Buchanan business
relationship at the time the contract was awarded? Should she have known?
6. Since Bob Wingo was apparently a primary vendor of SMG, exactly what does the following
language mean? "According to city officials, the contract, for $100,000, was a subcontract
from SMG's primary vendor, Sanders Wingo?"
7. In plain English, exactly what role did Sanders Wingo play from the time the contract was
being negotiated to the actual awarding of the contract?
8. Who are the "city officials" who have or had knowledge of the events surrounding the granting
of the contract?
And that's for starters. All stories in fantasyland have a happy ending, so you'll be glad to know
that Paris married Antonio, and she is now the owner of The Buchanan Group, formerly Glass
Beach, where Antonio is the CEO. And Wingo/Sanders has surely profited by its relationship
with Wilson. It now represents the Convention Center, and UTEP has become a client.
It pays to be connected.
But with all this cozying up and intertwining relationships, one does wonder why the FBI and the
U.S. Attorney's Office or both have not taken an interest in what on the face of it seems to be
more than a passing appearance of impropriety. After all, former Mayor Ray Salazar gave the
FBI copies of all our data. But as we found out later, Bill Sanders is/was a close friend of the
then U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas.
In the final analysis, the revitalization plan became such a hot potato that the PDNG kicked it
back to the City, where it mostly lay with no further action, until

The Charrettes Came to El Paso, Courtesy of the Pentagon

I decided to attend a Charrette gathering at Bowie High School, having found out that the French
word now meant an intensive exercise in architectural/urban planning. I registered as Juan Pablo
Rodrguez and made my way to table No. 10, which bore a Central-West Side sign. There were
really large maps - I guess about 3x5 feet - with pictures of homes, apartments, parks, businesses,
etc., on the table, along with round peel-off stickers of red, green, brown and black colors.
I had a flashback to the toney San Francisco based Simon Martin-Vegue Winkelstein Moris
(SMWM) firm - that had asked for and received $750,000 to design the "Downtown
Revitalization Plan" for the Paso del Norte Group - $250,000 of which had been paid by the City
of El Paso - a grand gift to the already rich. Much like the Charrette, the SMWM firm had set up
tables with maps - but they had used little wooden boxes painted different colors which people
would place on a given map to show their preferences for houses, parks, businesses, and so on.

18

While I was dealing with my flashback, Victor Dover of Dover, Kohl & Partners, an urban
planning firm from Florida, began to make some introductory remarks. quoting from a recently
printed Town Paper featuring a "1925 Plan for El Paso." He spoke about the "team," how we
needed to plan for the next century, telling us that according to the Town Paper, El Paso had a
population of 100,000 souls, that thriving neighborhoods were connected to the downtown
through an extensive streetcar network that reached the outermost edges of the city.

Except that it was all false.

The assertion in the Town Paper that at the turn of the century the City of El Paso had a
population approaching 100,000 is woven out of whole cloth.
From El Paso - Then and Now, American Printing Company, 1954 - written by my late uncle and
respected El Paso historian, Cleofas Calleros:
"By 1896, according to that year's city directory, 15,568 souls led their lives within the
confines of El Paso. The directory was thorough and adequate, having been compiled and
published by the reputable firm of Evans and Worley of Dallas, Texas." pp. 19-21.
And the assertion in the Town Paper that . . ."thriving neighborhoods were connected to the
downtown through an extensive streetcar network that reached the outermost edges of the city"
may be pretty prose, but it is also splendidly false.

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"Street car service was composed of two 'rapid transit' lines . . . The cars were somewhat
larger than a piano box, drawn by a small Spanish mule with a bell jingling from his neck."
Ibid., p. 68.
A poll was conducted by another speaker, and the 30 or so attendees pressed 1 for yes, 2 for no,
on small calculator like devices given to them when they registered.
Having been given a rather chilling command - "When this whistle blows, everyone will stop" police type whistle is blown so the locals will recognize it when the time comes - the "citizen
input" began under the watchful eyes of the "facilitators." I was watching the three citizens at my
table - one of which was a young mother with two children who were pasting the stickers all
over the map - do their input when a facilitator approached me and the following conversation
took place.
F: Why aren't you participating?
Me: I had outgrown these types of games by the time I made it to the first grade.
F: We really value citizen input. You should participate.
Me: Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but we both know that this so-called citizen input will
fall by the wayside, that the ultimate decisions will be made by you experts and the city.
F: That's very cynical.
Me: But it's true. Three or so years ago, there was an architectural firm from San Francisco
which designed a revitalization plan for downtown El Paso, and they did exactly the same kind
of thing you're doing here, except that they used little wooden boxes painted different colors
instead of the stickers being used here. And they didn't call it a Charrette. Have you ever heard of
the SMWM firm?
F: No, but why is that important?
Me: When I registered, I told the people I was interested in the Segundo Barrio. They told me
that the Barrio would be discussed at this table. But look at the three people here. They are
obviously from the west side of El Paso, judging from their conversation. Do you really think
they would have any credible input regarding the Barrio? Take a look at the map. All the colored
stickers are on the west side. None for the Barrio.
F: But they're local, as are you, they can speak to the needs of the Barrio. Besides, you have
some marvelous city leaders.
Excuse me, I see an old friend I need to say hello to. So I got up and went to say hello to Pete
Duarte. We hugged and spoke. He was as disgusted as I was, and was on his way out. I asked him
if he had participated in the input. He said no, and laughed.
20

On my way out, I approached the young man who had blown the whistle. And I sort of got in his
face. What makes you people largely from the south think you can come to an 80% MexicanAmerican community and understand the culture and the needs of El Paso? I am amazed by your
arrogance. He was not at all nonplussed - that is why we have these Charrettes, for community
input.
At this point i was getting angry, and it showed in my next question. Your outfits don't come
cheap. How the hell is a city allegedly teetering on the point of bankruptcy paying for all this?
And his answer blew me away.
The City isn't paying for it. The Pentagon is. At my amazed look, he added, the Department
of Defense.
And I asked the obvious. Why? They're still tax dollars.
Because the Pentagon is very concerned with the impact that the growth of Ft. Bliss is having
and will have on the city. Would you rather have these tax dollars spent here or in financing
wars?
I told him not to patronize me, that he was posing a false dichotomy, that i was halfway
educated. As I started walking away, he said, please come to our design studio on Montana
Street, and please make it to our presentation at the public library. By the way, do you have a
copy of our Town Paper?
I called a daughter and bummed a ride home, where I took a good look at the Town Paper I had
picked up when registering. Coming from a family deeply steeped in printing and journalism, the
first thing I looked at was the masthead
The thing comes to us from Gaithersburg, Maryland? There are no printers in El Paso? This thing
is beyond belief. Did the Department of Defense also pay for this rag, which has at least two
errors in its attempt to bolster what has to be an expensive waste of taxpayers' money?
"Extensive streetcar network," indeed. I feel somewhat sorry for Editor Diane Dorney and her
assistant, Claire Fleischer. Historical data about early El Paso may well be hard to find from
Gaithersburg. But in the event these two ladies are local, they are incompetent to a fault.
I guess the Pentagon should be worried about the impact Ft. Bliss is having on the city. Tens of
thousands of new troops and their families in a desert town not geared to accommodate these
numbers, no matter how clever the planners may be will shortly arrive. Already military Children
stretch the overburdened public schools. Already several murders directly connected to Ft. Bliss.
and aAn increase in deaths caused by soldiers driving under the influence have occurred..
Hundreds of vets returning with post-traumatic stress syndrome, already being felt by the
overworked folks at the VA Clinic will add to the load.

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And as the Southern Poverty Law Center pointed out, as I recall, about two or so years ago,
approximately 15% - and this percentage has surely grown by now - of all troops in our
volunteer services have ties to hate groups ."A new Defense Department directive on
dissident and political activity issued on Nov. 27 - the first since 1996 - says service members
'must not actively advocate supremacist doctrine, ideology, or causes.' This includes writing
blogs or posting on Web sites . . .
"Last July, Stars and Stripes reported that 130 members of newsaxon.org, a social networking
Web site affiliated with the National Socialist Movement, had listed 'military' as their job in
'Facebook'-style user profiles. Swastikas, Nazi symbolism and militant imagery emblazon the
site.
"The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group in Montgomery, Ala., presented dozens
of the user profiles to Congress and the Pentagon. The center estimates 'thousands' of extremists
serve in the ranks and has lobbied the Pentagon for three years to adopt clearer anti-hate
measures and more vigorously pursue service members known to be affiliating with hate groups.
"'At long last, we think it's a great thing,' said Mark Potok, editor of the Intelligence Report, an
SPLC magazine. 'This really seems like an important change. Although some people chose to
deny it, this is a very real problem in the military.'"
It took the Pentagon until mid-2010 to act on the warning sounded by the New York Times in
2006:
"The report cited accounts by neo-Nazis of their infiltration of the military, including a
discussion on the white supremacist Web site Stormfront. 'There are others among you in the
forces,' one participant wrote. 'You are never alone.'
"An article in the National Alliance magazine Resistance urged skinheads to join the Army and
insist on being assigned to light infantry units.
"The Southern Poverty Law Center identified the author as Steven Barry, who it said was a
former Special Forces officer who was the alliance's 'military unit coordinator.'
"'Light infantry is your branch of choice because the coming race war and the ethnic cleansing to
follow will be very much an infantryman's war,' he wrote. 'It will be house-to-house,
neighborhood-by-neighborhood until your town or city is cleared and the alien races are driven
into the countryside where they can be hunted down and cleansed.'
"He concluded: 'As a professional soldier, my goal is to fill the ranks of the United States Army
with skinheads. As street brawlers, you will be useless in the coming race war. As trained
infantrymen, you will join the ranks of the Aryan warrior brotherhood.'"
Of a sudden, all the money the Department of Defense has poured into UTEP to host the yearly
dog-and-pony shows on border intelligence make sense. As does the badly named desalinization
plant at Ft. Bliss. When push comes to shove, do you really think El Paso will be able to
22

continue tapping into this source for water when it is becoming glaringly obvious that Fr. Bliss
will need all the water as it grows and grows?

Questions
So what happened to the downtown revitalization plan that once belonged to the Paso del Norte
Group, only to wind up as the city's plan, one that is not mentioned by the merry Charrettiers,
who are fixated on a 1925 plan? How much are the feds paying this large group of out-oftowners to tell the locals how we should live?
Do any of our elected officials at the City and County level understand that the planned
expansion of Ft. Bliss and the forced growth of a city that is beginning to starve for water is
stupid, stupid and more stupid?
In plain English, the City of El Paso didn't plan beans, nor did it task anyone to do
anything of substance regarding major plans. It was all done according to plans from
Washington, D.C. It was a farce programmed by city leaders seduced by the feds that was
behind the whole farce of the "Charrettes'" exercise in fantasy.
And consider how quickly the City acceded to develop housing on the lower reaches of
Trans-Mountain Road, again, to please the Department of Defense.
When San Antonio lost a couple of its big military bases some years back, the cries went up that
the city would never recover. History proved otherwise. San Antonio's growth has been
phenomenal - it's not on a desert, like El Paso - but it has proven that a progressive city's future
does not need to be tied to the military.
Full disclosure. I am a draftee Korean era veteran who has worn the uniform of the U.S. Navy. I
am not against the military.
But I am against politicians and public servants like our three prime examples of public service
gone wrong: former Mayor John Cook from New York, who gave the city away to the far right
neoliberals: City Manager Joyce Wilson, from Boston, who does not bother to hide her racism.
Watching her defend the $9,000 or so price tag put to a local television station for the privilege
of viewing a crooked cop's file - her curiously dry voice, her lack of expression and affect, as the
shrinks call it, that would give platoons of these last, as they pondered the inner workings of this
terribly flawed human being - who made possible the anti-Mexican piece of art shown above one hell of a run for their money.
And what to say about former Congressman Reyes, who did so much to promote the
militarization of the border? What works of art are these people, what moral vacuums, what
examples of all that is wrong with politics and politicians who have no business in it.

Postscript
23

One could say, with some justice, that the inmates control the asylum.
1. A perfectly sound City Hall, where all city departments were located, was razed to make room
for a downtown stadium financed by the city partnering with private money to house an AAA
minor league team. Now City Hall is housed in half of the building formerly occupied by daily
The El Paso Times newspaper. The other half still houses the printing press. City Departments
are scattered all over downtown.

2. Katherine Brennand, a longtime community activist and holder of many honors, in as gifted a
display of diplomacy as I have heard, spoke at a public hearing regarding the remake of the
alligator plaza. She began by praising the presentation and work of the SWA (Charrettes), firm,
stating that in large measure their work was beautiful, good and true to their mandate. But then
she remarked that "El Paso was what it is, a border city, with long and beautiful old Mexican and
Spanish history and traditions.
El Paso is not San Francisco, Dallas, San Antonio or Atlanta," she said, momentarily pausing
after naming each city.
Then she said that unfortunately, she saw none of this history or traditions reflected in the
design which had been presented by the SWA architects from California.
The SWA people were present when Brennand spoke. She was followed by former city planner,
Elder Nestor Valencia. "San Jacinto Plaza, or Plaza de Los Lagartos, is the beating heart of El
Paso. That is the genesis of the city," Valencia said of the 130-year-old park, El Paso's oldest
public space.

24

"It is especially important to El Paso's identity to have a thriving plaza in the heart of the city.
Spanish colonial law Las Leyes de Los Reinos de las Indias required that every town
built in Spanish America have a plaza and a kiosk. As a unique product of the border, it's
essential that El Paso have one as well, as It's almost like part of our existence, It's part of the
spirit of our community."
He was rudely interrupted continually by Representative Cortney Niland.
By a 7-1 vote, City Council agreed that the new Alligator Plaza would retain the balustrades on
the new alligator "pond" and its southwest character. After casting the lone no vote, Cortny
Niland cried, asked, "what do I do now?" and got hugged by a PDNG lackey.
3. The owners of the AAA team announced, to great media coverage, that the new stadium had
received 1,000,000 visitors since it was erected. That would work out, more or less, to 2,740 per
day for every day of the past year. Um, has it really been a year?
4.

This is what the old plaza looked like in the 20s. We don't know how the new one will look. It's
almost one year behind schedule, a quarter of a million dollars over cost. All we can tell is that
there is a lot of concrete. pavers, little grass, ugly trees, and no pond yet. City Manager Wilson
accepted Council's decision, saying there would only be a few "administrative changes." These

25

changes breed like bunnies. The bad people may have won.

(photo courtesy Rosemary Martnez)

5. In 2013, Ray Salazar, former Mayor of El Paso, myself and others filed suit against the City and
Council members in Federal Court in El Paso. We sought to enjoin the demolition of City Hall.
The court dismissed without prejudice as it felt the case was not ripe. We refiled in state court,
and also filed a lawsuit against Joyce Wilson, Courtney Niland and Steve Ortega alleging
misappropriation of public funds in that Wilson paid a huge commission to a broker for a
property given to the City where the broker did nothing. This was a suit for damages. The city
filed a suit in Austin, seeking to enjoin our suits in El Paso along with another group's petition
under the City's initiative provisions seeking to stop the demolition. The court in Austin, after an
accelerated hearing, ruled that our activities were harming a projected sale of bonds by the City,
enjoined our suit seeking injunctive relief, enjoined all voters in El Paso from voting on the
initiative, but allowed our suit for damages to continue. We were unable to appeal, given the
$1,000,000 appellate bond he imposed on us, in spite of our efforts to get him to lower it.
Enjoining people from voting, where we had raised the Voting Rights Act, was simply
outrageous.
Our damage suit was dismissed by a Judge from Kerrville, Texas, who has a history of making
derogatory remarks about minority lawyers in El Paso. This judge ruled from the bench after a
"hurry up" type of hearing. It was clear he had not read our briefs. We appealed to the appellate
court in El Paso, where, in spite of overwhelming case law, from the U.S. Supreme Court on
down, to the effect that public officials can be sued for damages so long as the government entity
is not sued, we could not convince the sitting panel. We did not sue the city, and the judge who
wrote the opinion, to put it mildly, was either dumb or had her mind made up. Appealing to the
far right Texas Supreme Court simply would have not been wise.
26

However, the incoming Mayor managed to convince City Council to cancel the sweetheart
contract Wilson had signed with her broker pal, so we saved the people several millions of
dollars. Wilson was publicly quoted as stating that the new Mayor was "dangerous."
6. The city buses used to arrive at the Plaza from all points throughout the city. The Plaza was
always full of mostly Mexicans, who make up the huge majority of those who depend on buses.
Then the city moved the bus terminal south, right next to the border. A huge inconvenience, as
most people have to transfer to another bus to get to where they were going in the first place. But
there is a payoff for the gentrification crowd. After the change, few Mexicans were seen at the
Plaza, even before the renovation began. Apparently we don't want fair skinned visitors to be
offended by their presence.
7. With the reduction of troops at Ft. Bliss, as opposed to the projected increase which has
evaporated into thin air, the Pentagon is now cast as suffering from an excess of dumb. It really
wasn't necessary to put so much lipstick on our border community to make if more appealing to
those phantom troops. In time, it will probably wash off.
8. The Texas Department of Transportation unveiled plans to demolish Lincoln Center at Lincoln
Park in south central El Paso in order to connect IH10 with the Border Highway toll road, which
few people use. There was a huge outcry, the people physically stopped the demolition efforts,
and police were called. When Chicanx politicians showed up, the police backed off and no
arrests were made. The state head of TDOT came to El Paso, complained that he was not fully
informed, and promised to do a thorough study of the issue before resorting to eminent domain.
The park is historically significant, it is under portions of IH10, and the pylons have been
beautifully decorated by local artists led by Gabriel Gaytan, who has roots in the Rarmuri
Nation of northern Mexico. It is significant not only to the Chicanxs in El Paso, but to artists and
people of all colors and races. It is part of the city's history. The people are still waiting for the
ultimate decision.
9. The border patrol murders of young men, both in El Paso and across the border, are given pretty
much of a cavalier treatment by the media, by the Federal officials, from the FBI, which
constantly lies to protect the murderers. I posit that the effects of gentrification, lack of
knowledge about your roots, a wanting to belong, living in a neoliberal society that informs the
ruling class of17% or so of the population, all contribute to a sense of worth that is lacking, that
makes one identify with the bad cop instead of with the victim, all are what that allows a Federal
Judge like David Briones, who is well steeped in El Paso politics and was aware of the latest
killing, to write an opinion wherein he fails to recognize that for a Border Patrolman to shoot
and kill a kid who is not armed, who is not threatening him, is nothing more and nothing
less than a monstrous crime that shocks the conscience. Serving the dark side of the force
has moral consequences.

* http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/paso/history.html
** http://texasrealestate.blogs.com/weblog/el_pasowest_texas/index.html (scroll down to the
April 26 entry).
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