Abraham files lawsuit challenging commission’s building order

The attorney representing Billy Abraham filed a lawsuit against the city days before his client was ordered to pay $2.1 million and fix a dozen building code violations.

The Building and Standards Commission ordered Abraham to repair the electrical system, plumbing, broken windows, removal of trash among other things. (Click on the PDF LINK titled ‘Order of the Building and Standards Commission)

On Friday, Attorney Robert Skipworth filed the lawsuit, which calls the orders set by the commission ” arbitrary” and “unwarranted.” (Click on the PDF LINK titled ‘Petition for Judicial Review’)

“The order is illegal because the monetary award is excessive, unreasonable,” Skipworth stated in an email to ABC-7 . The attorney added the order was “not supported by substantial evidence.”

Abraham’s attorney requests that the order be vacated by the court as an unlawful abuse of power by the Building and Standards Commission.

Last month, City Attorney Laura Gordon asked the City’s Building and Standards Commission to approve the $2.1 million penalty, which was derived by charging Abraham a $1,000 per day fine for the 2,158 days that he did not comply with a city order issued March 31, 2010.

The City at that time gave Abraham 60 days to comply with the order but on the 55th day Abraham filed suit against the City, tangling the issue in court for six years.

The seven story building at the corner of San Antonio and Oregon, known as the American Furniture building, is only occupied by two tenants on the first floor. The rest is vacant.

We reached out to Billy Abraham and he sent us the following statement:

“It is my continued desire to cooperate with City Officials towards a common objective.Within that willingness to cooperate I have been working as diligently as possible these past months. When I was contacted by Laura Foster, AIA | RAS (City Architect, Planning, and Inspections) I was inspired by her knowledge and understanding of how to work with property owners to achieve a positive common goal. She should be commended for that. My resolve and willingness to work in unison with grounded intelligent city officials such as Ms. Foster remains strong. It is my sincere hope that punitive broadly-worded rhetoric and sanctions do not stymie and snatch the positive progress attained at the American Furniture Building, by and largely attributable to Ms. Foster‘s efforts. She understands how to get things done.

Nevertheless, the actions of the City Building and Standards Commission as expressed in an order of May 6, 2016, contradicts the efforts of Ms. Foster and required that I file an appeal of the order on June 3 to protect the interests of Caples Land Company, LLC and myself.

We feel that the occupancy permit issued for the building in 1988 governs the requirements which must be met. We have operated and have been a contributing component in downtown El Paso at this address for over 25 years. It is my position we have complied with the city order, as we will show in our appeal. “