Petitions Getting Signed!

Two new petitions are now available for everyone to sign! The difference between these two petitions
and the one that had been previously circulated is that registered El Paso voters are asking City Council
to take action. If Council fails to do so or if the Mayor vetoes, then the same petitions will be circulated
again in order to go to a special election.

Section 3.11 of the City Charter specifies this very careful process. The number of signatures required by
Charter is 5% of the total votes cast in the last City of El Paso general election. That election was in May
of 2009 and the total votes cast were 30,943. That means that 1,547 signatures of registered El Paso
voters is all that it takes to put saving the Scenic Corridor on an election ballot.

The petitions, instructions and FAQs can be found and downloaded from here. Watch the box in the
upper right column of Elpasonaturally for updated FAQs, information sheets and maps as they become
available. If you can help gather petitions, please do so. Remember: only registered voters residing in
the City of El Paso can sign the petitions. They could have registered last week and that is fine. The
petitions have a column for the VUID (Voter Number) found on a registration card. That is the one
column that is optional because many people won’t have their cards with them.

Why two petitions? Both call for preserving the 792 acres of the Scenic Transmountain Corridor in
perpetuity. One adds that major roadways will not be built inside the preserved land. Although the first
petition should be sufficient, it will be good for TxDOT and the Federal Highway Administration to have
the added information that El Pasoans are ready to vote down the construction of Paseo del Norte
through the corridor. That arterial should be moved west by the Natural Gas pipeline road.

Take a look at how Transmountain looks now and how it will look should the PSB Master Plan for the
area be carried out. Take a look at the limited view of the mountains you will have with all the desired
commercial development to enrich just a few.

Finally, action on the NOS ordinance set for January 11 may be moved to a later date. Elpasonaturally is
following this closely and will let you know. However, circle January 11th on your calendar. If it changes,
I’ll let you know.