reported<\/a>, Clause 13 of the META 380 Agreement includes a \u201cLimited Waiver of Immunity,\u201d that is not found in other 380 Agreements that the El Paso Herald Post has reviewed.<\/p>\nAfter denying that the immunity clause waiver was in META\u2019s agreement, Lim\u00f3n pointing it out to Gomez. Acevedo later added that he was concerned that outside counsel \u201cdirectly contradicted themselves by saying that immunity was not waived in the agreement, then later saying that it was\u201d in his closing remarks before the vote.<\/p>\n
Three of the city representatives who later voted against the measure, Ch\u00e1vez, Ni\u00f1o and Trejo focused their public comments on the liability the city would face should they move forward in canceling the contract. Ch\u00e1vez added that even if the city were to cancel the contract, \u201cthe environmental concerns would continue\u201d because META owned the land and had the funding to continue the project even if the city canceled its contracts with them.<\/p>\n
Public Speakers For and Against the Measure<\/p>\n
Many of the close to 200 speakers were members of two community groups, Amanecer People\u2019s Project and Sembrando Esperanza. Both community groups have been actively opposed to the META project due to concerns about electricity and water. Many of the community group speakers said that the city representatives voting against the measure would be voted out of office. Another group of speakers included private business officials and members of two trades unions.<\/p>\n
Trades union leader Eddie Treviso argued that canceling the contract would \u201churt the working-class people.\u201d Business owner architect Eugenio Meza argued that canceling the agreement would have a \u201cripple effect\u201d leading to discouraging future investments in the city.<\/p>\n
The Vote<\/p>\n
About seven hours after the city council opened the measure for discussion, they voted to leave the agreement in place. Canales opened the closing comments period saying that although he supported the measure to begin negotiating with META, that there was no \u201cguarantee that META\u201d would negotiate and that it was important \u201cto not underestimate the cost to the city\u201d that ending the contract would entail.<\/p>\n
Trejo, who represents that area where the datacenter is being built, said that she was not on council when META\u2019s 380 Agreement was voted on, but that she heard the \u201creal concerns\u201d people have about it. Trejo added that because of the concerns, she drafted a draft policy on future datacenters which the city council will take on later in the month. She added that council cannot \u201clegally\u201d break the contract with META, but that the city can adopt measures to force META to make the datacenter beneficial to El Paso, including ensuring resource management and having the promised jobs benefit El Pasoans. \u201cWe must hold META accountable but legally,\u201d she said, adding that she did not support the measure before them.<\/p>\n
Acevedo said that \u201cdatacenters are bringing people together across the nation.\u201d He reminded everyone that the outside counsel \u201cdirectly contradicted themselves by saying that immunity has not waived in the agreement, then later saying that it has.\u201d Acevedo added that city officials should consider looking at how effectively the outside legal counsel advocated for the city, suggesting that the city\u2019s counsel did not properly advise the city council about the contract. \u201cThis is a really bad contract,\u201d Acevedo stated.<\/p>\n
Rocha-Maldonado said that \u201cI have worked with datacenters for the last 30-years.\u201d She added that \u201cthe fight for DSL was messy\u2026we are in the same situation.\u201d Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) was one of the first high-speed internet connections that was adopted in the late 1990\u2019s and early 2000\u2019s. It used the telephone lines connecting homes to the telephone network to transmit data through the copper wires, replacing dial-up modems.<\/p>\n
DSL was controversial because it threatened the telephone company\u2019s monopolies and started the idea that access to the internet should be neutral. Because of the controversy, the telephone companies rolled out the service slowly, made it costly and preferred to deploy it in profitable urban centers instead of equally across the nation. Today, most internet connections use fiber optic cables.<\/p>\n
Rocha-Maldonado went on to add that during the DSL controversies what was missing then was the \u201corganized\u201d groups, which were before them yesterday. She, however, added that \u201cfiscal responsibility is one of the most important responsibilities\u201d for the city council. She was concerned that \u201cexposing taxpayers\u201d to liability is not responsible. Rocha-Maldonado said that many people she heard from were \u201cafraid\u201d to come speak before them but told her that canceling the contract would expose the taxpayers to tax increases. In voting against the measure, Rocha-Maldonado said that she did not support the measure because \u201cfiscal responsibility requires us to protect taxpayers,\u201d and that an attempt to end the agreement \u201cexposes taxpayers to unknown financial\u201d burdens.<\/p>\n
In her closing comments, Lim\u00f3n quoted several comments made during the public speaking portion of the meeting, including that \u201ccomplacency kills, we have become complacent\u201d and that \u201cjuries hate META,\u201d suggesting that a legal fight can end in the city\u2019s favor. Lim\u00f3n reminded her city council colleagues that the item called for the council \u201cto initiate discussions,\u201d not to cancel the contract, asking them to join her in voting for the measure.<\/p>\n
Mayor Renard Johnson said that \u201cthe passion we heard today comes from a shared love for our community,\u201d adding that \u201cwe all want what is best for El Paso.\u201d<\/p>\n
At around 8:30pm, the city council voted orally on the measure by suspending the rules of order for the vote after Lim\u00f3n moved to force an oral vote instead of the use of the electronic voting usually used by the city council.<\/p>\n
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