EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso City Council members declined Tuesday to revive a controversial decision to ask the federal government to consider legalizing drugs as a way to help curb the Mexico drug cartel war.
The eight-member council split 4-4 on a vote upholding Mayor John Cook's veto of the resolution unanimously passed last week asking the federal government to consider an "open, honest, national dialogue on ending the prohibition of narcotics." The proposal was part of a broad resolution expressing the city's solidarity with Ciudad Juarez, a violence-plagued Mexican border city just across the Rio Grande from El Paso where nearly 1,600 people were killed in 2008 in the escalating struggle for power and control of lucrative drug- and human-smuggling routes.
At issue for at least three council members who initially supported the resolution was whether the city's stance would cost state and federal funding.
Five state representatives from the region said in a letter they feared that "there will be state agencies, state legislators and others in state government who will see this resolution as the city of El Paso supporting the legalization of drugs. Funding for local law enforcement efforts and other important programs to our community are likely being put in jeopardy, especially during a time when state resources are scarce."
The letter, signed by Democratic state Reps. Joe Pickett, Chente Quintanilla, Joseph Moody, Norma Chavez and Marisa Marquez, also said the goal of asking "the federal government to legalize narcotics does not bring the right attention to El Paso. It says 'we give up and we don't care.'"
U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, an El Paso Democrat, also sent a letter asking the council to uphold the veto to ensure that the effort doesn't get in the way of the region's federal agenda.
"While this resolution is well-intentioned, I believe its passage would be counterproductive to our efforts to enact an ambitious legislative agenda at the federal level," Reyes wrote.
Councilmen Beto O'Rourke, who initially pushed the effort for a federal debate, and Steve Ortega said the threats of withholding funding served only "to chill the debate."
O'Rourke amended the nonbinding resolution last week to add the request for the debate on legalizing drugs. Just hours after it was approved, Cook vetoed it. He said it was unrealistic.
On Tuesday, Cook stood by his earlier assessment, saying that O'Rourke's amendment "thwarted the rest of the resolution."
O'Rourke, who had become the target of critics of the resolution, said he accomplished at least part of his initial goal after nearly three dozen people spoke to the council about the veto override and countless others sent e-mails or called council members to talk about the issue.
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