The TRUTH About Downtown Arena
Its almost like a scene in a movie where I now have white people challenging my barrio card because of the downtown arena because they've been like sheep and bought into the narrative of another white guy.
You know, because we all need white people to tell us whats best for us, like all the minority kids that are saved by that white teacher who comes to the hood to make a difference.
So to set the record straight, I don't give a shit where you put the arena, so long as its not at the rail yard because that would mean closures in the valley. That would screw over more poor brown people and no matter how much frosting you put on that shit cupcake, I ain't eating it. I'm not going to apologize for being the one that says that screwing over a larger group of poor brown people is right for the sake of saving some building that Pancho Villa may or may not have taken a piss on in the last century.
You could put it directly on top of Rosa's Cantina for all I care.
But lets set the record straight on some things about the downtown arena that are flat-out fabrications. The people that are spreading what I am about to clear up are either lying or stupid.
#1 - Eminent Domain is NOT being used. (ED is set forth in the constitution and is completely legal. Land isn't just taken away without compensation either. You have to be paid fair market value. Most of the people that bitch about ED are people that essentially tried to cash-in big at taxpayer expense and make a handsome profit and were upset that the profit wasn't high enough. Though not all people that complain about it are because of that reason, I acknowledge that).
For ED to be even considered, it would have to go back to city council to be voted on. Three members of council are running for reelection and its doubtful that any of them would vote for it. And oh yeah...Mayor Leeser has said on multiple occasions that he would VETO it if it came across his desk.
#2 - The City of El Paso is NOT evicting anyone. Why? Because they don't own the freaking buildings in the first place! Landlords are (allegedly) evicting people. Landlords can do that because they own the place. That is true of anyone in any apartment building or rented home in America. At any moment, for any or no reason, a landlord can choose to start evicting people. So long as their process isn't breaking the law or a lease, they are allowed to do with their property as they wish. So you can't advocate for property owners' rights because of eminent domain and at the same time say those property owners don't have the right to do what they want with their property. Its a massive hole in your logic. From all the published coverage, the city is going to HELP the people displaced.
As my friend Victor Cruz (92.3 The Fox) pointed out on his Facebook page earlier today, apartments get demolished and people gotta move out if they don't own the place.
What's different about the apartments on Airway than the people displaced downtown? Nothing really, except that the ones downtown are going to get help moving in to a new place. You haven't heard anything from the history people about the Cielo Vista Apartments though have you? Those people had to find another place to live.
I'll bet there were even a grandma or two that lived in that apartment complex. And I'll bet they were predominantly Latino too. Hell there were MORE people displaced by that apartment bulldozing than will be by the proposed arena.
The city didn't help those folks move. But they are helping those in the arena area.
Do I think its shitty that the landlords are using this situation to kick people out? Of course I do.
Is it morally right to do so (allegedly) during Christmas season? Of course not.
As I've written in the past, conveniently forgotten by my merry band of haters, the arena doesn't even have to be downtown. It is only in ordinance language (that can be changed at any time) that it states downtown.
So when you hear people talk about the big bad City of El Paso using eminent domain, stop those people and fix their ignorance.
And when you hear them say that the City is evicting people, tell Max Grossman and Rich Wright that they are lying.
You know, because we all need white people to tell us whats best for us, like all the minority kids that are saved by that white teacher who comes to the hood to make a difference.
So to set the record straight, I don't give a shit where you put the arena, so long as its not at the rail yard because that would mean closures in the valley. That would screw over more poor brown people and no matter how much frosting you put on that shit cupcake, I ain't eating it. I'm not going to apologize for being the one that says that screwing over a larger group of poor brown people is right for the sake of saving some building that Pancho Villa may or may not have taken a piss on in the last century.
You could put it directly on top of Rosa's Cantina for all I care.
But lets set the record straight on some things about the downtown arena that are flat-out fabrications. The people that are spreading what I am about to clear up are either lying or stupid.
#1 - Eminent Domain is NOT being used. (ED is set forth in the constitution and is completely legal. Land isn't just taken away without compensation either. You have to be paid fair market value. Most of the people that bitch about ED are people that essentially tried to cash-in big at taxpayer expense and make a handsome profit and were upset that the profit wasn't high enough. Though not all people that complain about it are because of that reason, I acknowledge that).
For ED to be even considered, it would have to go back to city council to be voted on. Three members of council are running for reelection and its doubtful that any of them would vote for it. And oh yeah...Mayor Leeser has said on multiple occasions that he would VETO it if it came across his desk.
#2 - The City of El Paso is NOT evicting anyone. Why? Because they don't own the freaking buildings in the first place! Landlords are (allegedly) evicting people. Landlords can do that because they own the place. That is true of anyone in any apartment building or rented home in America. At any moment, for any or no reason, a landlord can choose to start evicting people. So long as their process isn't breaking the law or a lease, they are allowed to do with their property as they wish. So you can't advocate for property owners' rights because of eminent domain and at the same time say those property owners don't have the right to do what they want with their property. Its a massive hole in your logic. From all the published coverage, the city is going to HELP the people displaced.
As my friend Victor Cruz (92.3 The Fox) pointed out on his Facebook page earlier today, apartments get demolished and people gotta move out if they don't own the place.
What's different about the apartments on Airway than the people displaced downtown? Nothing really, except that the ones downtown are going to get help moving in to a new place. You haven't heard anything from the history people about the Cielo Vista Apartments though have you? Those people had to find another place to live.
I'll bet there were even a grandma or two that lived in that apartment complex. And I'll bet they were predominantly Latino too. Hell there were MORE people displaced by that apartment bulldozing than will be by the proposed arena.
The city didn't help those folks move. But they are helping those in the arena area.
Do I think its shitty that the landlords are using this situation to kick people out? Of course I do.
Is it morally right to do so (allegedly) during Christmas season? Of course not.
As I've written in the past, conveniently forgotten by my merry band of haters, the arena doesn't even have to be downtown. It is only in ordinance language (that can be changed at any time) that it states downtown.
So when you hear people talk about the big bad City of El Paso using eminent domain, stop those people and fix their ignorance.
And when you hear them say that the City is evicting people, tell Max Grossman and Rich Wright that they are lying.
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