Petition aims to save Duranguito neighborhood

Members of Paso Del Sur, a grassroots organization that aims to preserve the Union Plaza Barrios, created a petition to save the Duranguito neighborhood from demolition for the new downtown arena.

“We really feel that the only way to stop it, is with this petition — this citizens initiative,” historian Dr. David Romo said. “City council can’t make a decision for itself, it seems like. So we’re asking all of El Paso to make the decision for them.”

Romo organized the petition. City Council voted in December to spare Duranguito from the arena footprint. Then earlier this month, City Council approved a new feasibility study that once again included the neighborhood.

“You’re told that once again, your community is under threat — that you may lose your home,” Romo said. “That’s just not fair. That’s not right”

Section 3.11 of the City Charter states that citizens are allowed to petition for an ordinance that city council must place on the agenda and vote on. If council fails to pass the ordinance, the citizens canthen petition that the ordinance be places of the ballet for a vote in the next general election.

The catch is that the petition requires 1,830 signatures in order to make it on the agenda. That’s five percent of the people who voted in the last City election in 2015 (36,611 total votes).

“Quite a few dozens of volunteers are going to be doing 10, 15, 20 hours a week, trying to make this happen,” volunteer Gabriel Solis said.

Solis is concerned that El Paso will lose a part of its identity if the neighborhood is demolished.

“I feel like they want to build a carbon copy of a Phoenix, a Dallas, an Oklahoma City,” Solis said. “I want to keep this neighborhood ‘chuco.'”