It sure looks like it.
On September 17, 2017, this editorial appeared in the print edition of the El Paso Times:
No matter how one feels about the city’s plans to build an arena in the Union Plaza area, we should all feel saddened at the rush to demolish buildings on Tuesday.
The bulk of the blame falls on the owners of eight properties in the Duranguito neighborhood, Roberto Assael and Alejo Restrepo. But the city government, which has tried to position itself as blameless in the sad saga that played out on Tuesday, has been far from an innocent bystander.
Plans to build the arena in Duranguito have been tied up in courts for months. In the latest development, architectural historian Max Grossman and the city jockeyed back and forth in court on Monday.
Grossman eventually obtained an order from the El Paso-based 8th Court of Appeals “prohibiting the city of El Paso from taking steps related to the demolition of properties located in the Duranguito neighborhood pending the Court’s review of this original proceeding.”
The city continuously said it complied with the court order. That claim is questionable.
The order prohibited the city from “taking steps related to the demolition of properties located in the Duranguito neighborhood.”
City employees, including police, helped private crews place fencing around the demolition area. Most troubling, the city allowed two large trucks with demolition equipment to park in traffic lanes on Paisano Drive while the drivers waited to move into the neighborhood.
Allowing a demolition contractor to park big vehicles in traffic lanes of a major arterial street sure seems to be an example of the city “taking steps related to the demolition of properties,” in defiance of the court order. It also risked further inflaming Duranguito supporters.
Two days later, this story appeared in the El Paso Times:
Robert Moore, a longtime executive editor and advocate for El Paso, announced Tuesday he is leaving the El Paso Times.
Moore, who is serving his second stint as editor in El Paso, told staff members during a newsroom announcement that his final day will be Oct. 6.
Coincidence? Perhaps. The story about his departure went on to say that “Moore made the decision to step aside to preserve reporting resources after he was asked to make payroll cuts at the Times, which has eliminated several positions in the past year.”
Of course, they couldn’t really say that he was fired because he wrote an editorial critical of the City.
I wrote this article back in the day and never posted it. And it’s not like Bob went gentle into that good night. He’s still reporting as though he needs the income. — Rich
Kabuki theater. Gives Bob plausible deniability so he can play the part of the much aggrieved, virtuous El Paso journalist emeritus who’s finally free to tell the truth. Horse shit.