El Paso voters on Nov. 5 will likely decide whether to quash plans for the Downtown arena, after the City Council on Tuesday approved directing staff to prepare the ordinance calling for a bond revocation election.
Following a heated discussion, council voted 5 to 3 to to take the next step to
place a bond revocation proposal on the general election ballot. The council would have to vote whether to approve the ballot language July 30 and could formally call for the bond revocation election Aug. 13.
City Reps. Josh Acevedo, Cassandra Hernandez and Isabel Salcido voted against the motion; while city Reps. Brian Kennedy, Joe Molinar, Art Fierro, Henry Rivera and Chris Canales voted in favor of it.
If voters approve the bond revocation, it would allow the city to nix the $180 million multipurpose performing arts and entertainment facility approved by voters in 2012. The city would revoke the amount of bonds that have not yet been spent, which is about $128 million.
Of the bonds already sold, the city has about $34 million in cash and has spent about $18 million on purchasing properties to build the arena and litigation from lawsuits fighting the Duranguito neighborhood as the construction site.
If voters approve the bond revocation proposal, the unspent funds would essentially not be used and could not be spent on other projects. If the voters turn down the proposal, the city would have to move forward with the Downtown facility as approved by voters in 2012: an arena-style facility with a 12,000 to 15,000-seat capacity.
Hernandez, who voted against the motion, said the city already has a contract with the voters that should be honored, adding that it was not “the voters’ fault that bad actors put us in this position” and that the city has not done its due diligence.
Canales said his support of the bond revocation proposal is not an effort to “get rid of this project,” but rather “looking to ask the voters what they want.”
Acevedo said he worried that city leadership – which will see changes next year with a new mayor and possibly up to five new city representatives – could again vote to build the arena in the Duranguito neighborhood.
Some city representatives also questioned what the language on the ballot would be in order to avoid confusion among voters, leading Salcido to request the item be postponed while community meetings are held to gauge public interest in the revocation election and explain what it would mean. Her motion failed.
City attorneys said they would consult with bond attorneys to ensure the language meets legal requirements.
Texas government code allows city councils to order an election to determine whether to revoke the authority to issue bonds that were previously approved by voters and have not been sold. The state code also allows residents to petition for a bond revocation election.
On July 2, the council approved $31 million in incentives to Venu, the entertainment development company that’s looking to build a 12,500-seat amphitheater in the Northeast where Cohen Stadium once stood. That contract with Venu, formerly Notes Live, prohibits the city from building any other venue within 60 miles of the amphitheater, with the exception of the voter-approved Downtown arena.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
What’s next?
The City Council has up to Aug. 19 to approve the ballot language and formally call for the election.
The last day to register to vote for the general election is Oct. 7.
Early voting is Oct. 21 to Nov. 1.
Election Day is Nov. 5.
The post Downtown El Paso arena likely going back to voters in November appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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