City representative apologizes for disappointing supporters of downtown survey

El Paso’s newest city representative responded to the backlash he faced surrounding a controversial decision regarding state funding for a downtown project.

Peter Svarzbein, who represents West El Paso and the Upper Valley, apologized to the constituents who attended his first community meeting Wednesday morning.

The apology, he said, was for disappointing anyone who was in favor of city council accepting $60,000 from the state to partially pay for a survey to determine which buildings downtown were historic.

Many downtown property owners had told the council that they were concerned that the survey would open them up to more restrictions regarding building renovation and upkeep.

On Monday, city representatives voted to reject the funding and continue the dialogue between the city, downtown property owners, historic preservationists and other stakeholders. Svarzbein was among the six representatives in the majority to vote against accepting the grant money from the state.

The vote sparked a war of words online, with supporters voicing their outrage on the Facebook page of the El Paso County Historical Commission. The page administrators are listed as commission chair Bernie Sargent, vice-chair Dr. Max Grossman and Melissa Sargent.

One of the page administrators posted a status update on Monday, accusing Svarzbein of violating his campaign promise to support and preserve downtown’s historic places by voting against accepting the grant.

The commission posted a comment on the status, adding, “When we confronted Mr. Svarzbein about his campaign donations before the election, he angrily insisted that he is his own man and would never be swayed by his big real estate donors when it came to major decisions about preservation; and after all, he is an artist, and how dare we doubt his credentials or sincerity! We invite him to defend himself on this forum.”

The initial post was followed by a flurry of comments and even arguments between Svarzbein supporters and detractors, many calling the city rep a liar.

On Wednesday, Svarzbein opened up his community meeting at Village Inn on North Mesa Street by revisiting the controversial topic.

“I want to apologize if I disappointed anyone with that vote,” Svarzbein told the more than a dozen people in attendance.

Svarzbein said his vote was not against the grant, but in favor of continuing the dialogue with all involved to come to an understanding of what the survey entails.

“Demonizing and name calling … don’t bring anyone closer to seeing eye to eye,” he said.

“I believe in the importance of having a historic survey and getting a national historic district. This time, there was not enough outreach. And there was not enough support from multiple communities to make this happen.”

Jessica Herrera, redevelopment manager for the city’s economic development department, told the group that there will be an opportunity for the city to apply for the grant next year. Herrera added that in coming months, the city will organize meetings with property owners and stakeholders to clear up any confusion about what the survey entails.

ABC-7 spoke to a woman who attended the meeting in hopes of learning more about the survey and why it wasn’t supported. Susan Godwin said she understood Svarzbein’s position, but is skeptical the city will be able to obtain the grant money in the future.
“Once you have money, you have money. Once you don’t have money, there’s no assurances you’ll get it again,” Godwin said.

Meantime, Svarzbein chalked up the experience as a hard-learned lesson three weeks into his new role as an elected official.

“The political vote would have been to be one of those nay voices,” said Svarzbein. “That would have been an easy vote.”