The Many Faces of Svarzbein on Preservation

Photo Credit (Left) Richard Baron

It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to rationalize City Rep Peter Svarzbein's campaign rhetoric and his vote to kill acceptance of a grant for historical designation of the downtown area.

Candidate Svarzbein said one thing - he was supportive of, and even participated in, historical preservation projects, while Representative Svarzbein votes against it.

He has no cover for that vote. It was a bad vote.

He took the easy way out the minute there was a little, and trust me when I say a little, adversity. Svarzbein the candidate would've backed that grant every day of the week and twice on Sunday. For whatever reason Representative Svarzbein didn't.

Critics have said that he sold out.

That is probably one of the worst criticisms that can be laid out against an elected leader.

Is it true? I don't know. All I know is what Svarzbein actually said on the record during an interview on ABC 7 Xtra last night and that was essentially this - no one had mentioned political donations to his campaign in the conversation about the grant except Max Grossman from the Historical Commission.

I'll get to Grossman and the contributions in just a second. But let me wrap up my point about Svarzbein and taking the easy way out.

Svarzbein was the only member of council that wanted to have a deeper and more thoughtful conversation about the grant and he proposed a committee to bring people together on the issue. The fact that Svarzbein actually thinks that is a good idea demonstrates his political naiveté. Creating a committee is how council kills things.

And creating a committee for the two sides to come to an agreement on this is completely unrealistic. The two sides will never agree on it. Negotiating the Iran nuclear deal was an easier task.

Svarzbein likes to please everyone and that is a huge flaw for an elected official. It means they are prone to try to make the "safe" political decision rather than take a hard stand on an issue. You can hear it in his political rhetoric. He likes to use phrases like "bring people together" "build consensus", etc. Its just how he is wired.

The problem is when you try to appease everyone, you usually appease no one.

His fear of being criticized led to what he feared the most...being criticized. Its the political equivalent of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man scene at the end of Ghostbusters.

Svarzbein is right to be upset about people challenging his commitment to historic preservation. He has demonstrated a commitment to the issue. Which makes his vote all that more confusing and frankly, disappointing.

I know Svarzbein's rhetoric is hard to keep track of so let me sum it up for you.

He was for historical preservation.

Then he voted against it.

Then he apologized for voting against it.

Then he said the easy way out was voting for it.

Svarzbein & ABC 7 Xtra

Frankly, I don't know why he even agreed to go on the air. Niland was the main opponent to the issue, so why would he be so willing to take a place that clearly should've been hers on the show?

Svarzbein took at shot at the reps that voted in favor of the grant by saying that it was the easy vote. Not sure who Svarzbein thinks he's kidding. He makes it sound like he was standing in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square. Svarzbein, you're the one that took the easy way out.

And if you are going to go on television to discuss this issue, how about dressing like an adult and wear a suit? Look like you care about your job. Look like you take the vote of the public serious enough to actually dress like a city representative not a hipster that reluctantly threw on a suit coat. If you want people to take you seriously, you have to give them a reason to.

Max Grossman

Speaking of giving people a reason to take you seriously, Max Grossman has almost single-handedly derailed this issue which is a shame. The business community expressed concern about Grossman being difficult to work with etc. Following the vote Grossman took to social media and set people's balls on fire with spittle-producing rhetoric about Svarzbein and Niland. That little stunt undermines the issue and reduces the conversation to an insult trading post rather than an important dialogue this city needs to discuss.

For whatever reason everyone was really delicate about him during the Xtra segment but the reality is that Grossman has had a negative impact on the credibility of the organization. He needs to completely disappear for a while and let Bernie Sargent be the voice of the issue for a while so that he isn't a distraction.

The Bullshit that is Gentrification

I think its time to go down to Segundo and have a talk with some of my gente about the load of bullshit they are being fed about gentrification.

That is a word being used by rich white people to scare poor raza into supporting their position in support of the business community. They are basically telling raza in Segundo Barrio that historical designation grant money will somehow lead to white people and Starbucks in their neighborhoods and drive the property values up so high that raza won't be able to live there anymore.

Too bad its not actually based on any hard data. Its just simple fear-mongering.

The truth is that El Paso is the only major city in the state of Texas to say no to a project like this. And frankly, I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out what the reason for the opposition even is in the first place.

Not enough buy-in from property owners is just code for saying the rich business folks don't want it. People should at least be honest about the fact that rich business owners don't want to have to do anything more to their properties than they have to. If they actually cared about taking advantage of historic value you they would do something on their own instead of waiting until they are compelled to do so.