Note: This interview was conducted in April of 2012 during his first Congressional campaign.
Beto O’Rourke is a proud El Pasoan and former city councilman who is running for U.S. Congress. One can say his vision for the borderland is years ahead of where it is today. He is not afraid to talk openly about controversial/taboo issues such as the legalization of drugs as well as rights for gay and lesbian couples. Beto’s goal is to make El Paso an economic and cultural mecca that can thrive and compete with any other city in the world. In this interview, Beto spoke with us about his experience and his vision of El Paso’s future.
Can you tell me a little about yourself?
I was born and raised here in El Paso. I have been involved in civic life for as long as I can remember. Certainly, when I moved back here when I started my business, I started two businesses at the same time. One was a web design firm and one was a publication that focused on politics, the arts, and culture. That was called StantonStreet.com and it was the first of its kind in El Paso. We started back in 1999 and we covered every single city council meeting. We covered the big shows, the little shows, the gallery openings, much of what you’re doing in Fusion today. We also had a weekly print publication called Stanton Street Weekly, a free weekly, again one of the first attempts at a truly comprehensive free weekly that looked at politics, art, culture.
Those two pursuits, the business building websites and then the business that covered politics, art and culture were my way of getting involved in civic life. I then ran and won a seat for city council in 2005 and I tried to do my best to improve things here. After 6 years I chose not run for re-election. Instead, took some time off and then ultimately chose to run for congress.
I saw you campaigning at Tricky Falls (venue) during the At The Drive-In show. What compelled you to campaign there?
Most people running for office completely ride off people who are under the age of 30 or under the age of 40 or under the age of 50. It’s typically older Americans or older El Pasoans who vote in most elections. I’m taking a chance that if young people understand what’s at stake in this election and realize that they can tip the balance in favor in their concerns and issues that they’ll get involved and vote. I went to the show to register people to vote, to introduce myself and see if I could get them excited to take part in this election. I think we were successful.
Did you grow up with those guys (ATDI)?
I did. They are a little younger than I. I’m 39, I guess Cedric is in his mid 30’s, Jim, mid 30’s. I knew them growing up. I played music with Cedric for a while and I’m very proud of him. Really, it was a good opportunity for us to campaign but it was great to be able to see them.
What did you play and do you still play music?
When I was playing with Cedric, I played guitar and bass. I’ll play guitar with the kids sometimes just to get them dancing, but not in any way like I used to.
Since we’re on the topic of music, what kind of music do you like?
I guess my heart is in the music I grew up with which is punk rock; the music and the bands that first got me excited about playing music and being involved in cultural life. I also have a spot in my heart for old British invasion stuff, The Who, The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks. I love all those bands. As I get older I keep thinking that I’m going to lose my taste for punk rock, the kind of aggressive music, idealistic music of my youth but it’s still my go to music.
I saw a commercial where you say El Paso is a “can do” city who needs a leader with a clear vision of the future. What do you mean by El Paso is a “can do” city.
The “can do” city comes from the recognition that for the first time since I’ve been alive, I’ll be 40 this year, El Paso is getting things done. And we’re being very ambitious and there is an energy and excitement and an expectation of greatness that didn’t exist when I was growing up here.
When I was growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, when I wanted to go see great punk rock shows, when the bands I was most excited about were passing El Paso by, this seemed like a town that was comfortable in its mediocrity. We didn’t have great expectations for ourselves and it held out very little hope or promise for young people growing up here. Many people, like myself, said, “hey I want to go to New York or Chicago or L.A. or Mexico City or somewhere else where there is excitement and life and energy and passion and people are performing at the highest level.” That has changed and I don’t know all the factors that contributed to it.
I think part of it is that El Paso really bottomed out in the 90’s after NAFTA and all the low-wage, low-skill jobs that we staked our future on went south of the border. And we had to decide who it is we wanted to be. Out of that soul searching in this community came the idea, as crazy as it sounded at the time, to have the first 4 year medical school built here that’s been built anywhere in the United States in the last 20 years. And it came to pass only 10 or 12 years after the idea was introduced.
The progress we have made in downtown, the fact that you and I can go see At The Drive-In at a venue on El Paso Street. The progress, whether you measure it in small ways or big ways with the medical school is palpable. Where we don’t see it is at the federal level, in the federal intersection with El Paso. So, the long bridge wait times, the poor performance of our VA, which is supposed to take care of our veterans in this region, our terrible medicaid reimbursement rate, which means you wait longer to see a doctor here than you do anywhere in the country, those federal issues.
What is your vision of the future?
My vision is, not only do we need to reverse those negative trends but we can capitalize on those areas where we really have something unique. The bridges, if we could arrest the problems we have there, fix the long bridge wait times and capitalize on our connection with Mexico. This can be the epicenter for U.S./Mexico culture, trade, commerce, finance and those institutions that come along with it, communications companies, magazines that are trying to reach an audience of people who understand the border or are both Mexican and American and have adopted the cultures of both- all of that can be headquartered out of El Paso. And the kinds of jobs and opportunities and excitement that that would create would not only give not only give younger people a reason to stay here, it would give people who’ve left a reason to come back and people who’ve never come to El Paso before a reason to be curious and interested and ultimately to come here. That is an example of the vision that I have. I think we can be the best and we should be the best. We have all the assets necessary to be the best.
During your time in city council, what did you achieve that you are most proud of?
I’m proudest of the fact that I always pushed for those things that I think the community needed regardless if they were politically convenient. So, talking about the drug war that had claimed the lives of so many; standing up for lesbian and gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered city employees. And then, in the case of Sun Metro, most of Sun Metro’s ridership starts their day in Ciudad Juarez- so they have no chance to vote for me. I’m not trying to help them out for the sake of staying in office. I wanted to turn that system around because so many people depend on Sun Metro to get them to school, to get them to work, to go do their grocery shopping. I wanted to make sure that system was working for the people who depended on it. I’m proud of doing those things that were necessary regardless of the political consequences or benefits.
Can you give me 3 reasons why people should support you?
We know the U.S./Mexico border better than anyone and yet our voice, El Paso’s voice, is rarely heard in the national debates that shape the policies that affect the border. On immigration, the drug war, on the border wall, on our relationship with Mexico and Mexicans that are immigrating into the United States, I feel like we can finally have a voice that represents El Paso and our perspectives on these issues, our knowledge of these issues and the desire or the ability to see the border not as a threat and Mexicans not as threats but the border as an asset to not just this community but to the country and our relationship with Mexico and Mexicans that are entering this country as a net positive.
Instead of 2 and 3 hour wait at the bridges, instead of a billion dollar border walls separating our communities, with me in congress you get someone who is advocating for bridge wait times that are shorter that brings two communities together, who will stop policies like the border wall and who will make us reflect on and ultimately change policies like the war on drugs that have contributed to the death of over 10,000 in our sister city and the fact that we imprison more people in this country than any other country on the face of the planet. You get someone in me who will be able to speak on the difficult but very important issues that we know better than anybody else.
Related to that, the second point is, I’ll always shoot straight and I’ll always do the right thing regardless of political consequence. So, standing up for gay and lesbian domestic partner health benefits in the city, in some circles, a very unpopular and politically inconvenient issue. But I did it anyhow because it was the right thing to do. Much like raising concerns about the drug war and the consequences of our policies here. Last point, I’m accessible. I’ll meet with and talk with anyone, anytime and anywhere who wants to move this community forward.