County commissioners remove current chair, vice-chair from Historical Commission

The El Paso County Commissioners Court chose not to retain the current chair or vice-chair as it appointed new members to the County Historical Commission on Monday.

Chair Bernie Sargent had been with the historical commission for 17 years.

“It’s a terrible disappointment,” Sergant said. “I’m vocal, and I have a passion for heritage and culture. I have a passion for the community as a whole — from one end of the county to the other.”

Grossman, who was a member for eight years, believes that their removal could be a blow to the Duranguito preservation effort. The downtown El Paso neighborhood is being considered as a spot for the new arena.

“The ones who were not reappointed…are among the most vocal, among the most outspoken in terms of our advocacy — particularly saving the Union Plaza neighborhood,” Grossman said. “Our mission, now as citizens, remains unchanged. We’re going to continue to fight for the survival of our architecture, of our neighborhoods. We’re going to continue to fight for our people.”

After Mondays vote, the number Historical Commission member was increased from 21 to 25, with all seats up for grabs. The Commissioners Court voted unanimously to reappoint nine previous members, after its executive session. The court then voted to approved 16 new members.

The Historical Commission is currently under investigation for allegedly violating the Texas Open Meetings Act.

While County Judge Veronica Escobar said she believed the Historical Commission did not intentionally circumvent the Open Meetings Act, she also acknowledged the group was not properly trained when it came to the public meetings.

Grossman, spoke during comment and pleaded his case for remaining in the group. He cited the Historical Commission’s successful social media pages and the amount of time members of the group put in every week.

“My mother thought that I was having some kind of an affair because we moved her in after my brother passed away.I was gone all the time in the meeting and she goes, are you having an affair? I told her, I said ‘No. The other woman in my life is El Paso,'” Sargent said. “I just got a divorce from El Paso.”

Members of the Historical Commission are appointed every two years.