Well, it might not be outright corruption, but there sure is something happening at City Hall.
What do you make of their unwavering support for the arena? It defies logic. During one City Council meeting, District 5 Representative Michiel Noe delivered that old canard about getting commercial property owners to pay a larger share of taxes. Like the arena will raise commercial property tax values, or attract more industry.
How, exactly, is that supposed to work?
There must be some hidden agenda at play there. Corruption is one of the possible explanations. There may be others.
Do tell.
Noe’s canard is that they’re taking 50 properties OFF the tax rolls and putting something in that isn’t paying taxes. I’ve used the example of Southwest U. Ballpark. We imploded a non taxable building (cty hall), built a stadium that isn’t taxed (though ticket sales and concessions are), then bought 7 buildings to replace city hall for a net loss of 8 buildings from the tax rolls.
Bring in businesses that will pay taxes??? Hell, the only businesses of any size so far coming to our wonderful city are being paid by the city to bring in jobs that don’t pay any more than what we have now. The ones taking the big money are the construction companies, the hotel owners, and the performers at the venue. Everyone else that gets a job is barely making minimum wage. Guess who is taking it in the arss… yup, you guessed it… we taxpayers.
They’re just putting up smoke screens while they scramble to cover each other’s arses and create more inventive lies and cover ups. The question we should be asking is what they’re being promised ($$$) in order to have a unanimous vote to destroy Duranguito. It’s so embarrassingly obvious, but nobody dares expose the corruption because those who do report any wrongdoings will be black balled, harassed and ultimately ruined professionaly and financially….
With the ballpark, they basically gave the two wealthiest families in town prime downtown real estate so they can enjoy their hobby without having to pay much for it. The ballpark hasn’t brought any money to El Paso. People who ordinarily would have went to see a movie or took the family dining out instead watch a baseball game. The difference is that the movie theaters and restaurants didn’t get subsidized nor do they get exclusivity, and now they get less money. Now, with the arena, the same thing will happen. More people will suffer the consequences than count gains. Some people will do really well. Not many, but some.