10.19.2004
Cronyism, threats, and
another UFO. It’s all in a day’s work
at City Hall, and my dear reader, although this is a long set of notes, it’s
worth the read (especially towards the end).
Settle in and enjoy.
I Am Nobody Who Are You?
The first proclamation to be
read was one I actually looked forward to.
In fact, I was hoping they’d be passing out free samples of valium! Based on what happened at this week’
meeting, however, morphine would have been more helpful:
1. NATIONAL
PHARMACY WEEK
After the proclamation was
read, a former City employee and now just a regular member of the public
spoke. His name was Martin Rubalcaba,
and he said he was there representing “nobody” and identified himself as a
“follower of everything good.” Unlike
your friend Sid, he doesn’t believe in pharmaceutical relief and called some
medications “poison.”
Mr. Rubalcaba was an
interesting man and a fascinating addition to Council that day. With a long white beard, a solid pair of
glasses and with something to say about almost everything, Mr. Rubalcaba’s
testimony was like a public conscience and it would come to grate on Joe
Wardy’s nerves by the end of the meeting.
I immediately wanted to befriend the man.
Although Mr. Rubalcaba
seemed focused on this very first item – the proclamation recognizing National
Pharmacy Week -- this would not be Mr. Rubalcaba’s only commentary.
Rubalcaba stayed for the
full meeting and had commentary for every single proclamation as well nearly
every agenda item discussed that day.
In one instance, he even volunteered to be an interpreter for a
Spanish-speaking member of the public (if only Council had asked him to
volunteer to interpret for monolingual PIO Mark Matthys. What a cost savings!).
Regarding Politics
Anita Blair, another member
of the public who has come before Council many times with various…shall we
say…unpredictable items, placed the following item on the agenda:
1.
Discussion: Regarding
Political Science. [Anita Blair]
Her discussion had nothing
to do with political science; she was there to push her candidates and Council
gave her all the freedom she wanted to discuss her endorsements. She also encouraged everyone to vote and
vote early.
Mr. Rubalcaba, who had been
waiting in the wings and who had spoken about all four proclamations,
approached the podium. Wardy, who was
already somewhat irritated with him, asked Rubalcaba if he had signed up to
speak on this item as well and Rubalcaba said he had indeed signed up on this
and various other items.
Agreeing with Anita Blair,
Rubalcaba said “November 2nd is a great day because we have the
right to vote.” He’s absolutely
right. As he spoke about our great
freedom to vote, an undercover police officer gravitated closer to him, waiting
for a nod from Wardy.
Rubalcaba then launched into
an attack on George W. Bush and called Bush a coward.
Wardy, Austin and Cobos then
scrambled to try and stop him from saying anything more and the police officer
moved in closer. Wardy scolded
Rubalcaba and said, “We do not allow, as a matter of policy, for people to
blast or to endorse candidates. We
showed the courtesy to Ms. Blair, but that’s improper for City Council.”
Rubalcaba, rising to his own
defense asked, “Is that because she is a woman or an elderly beautiful woman?”
“Mr. Rubalcaba,” replied Wardy,
“We do not engage in politics or political statements in favor of one candidate
or the other at the podium.”
Hmmmm. Interesting. I seem to recall members of Council openly supporting Rick Porras
when he stood at that same podium and announced his candidacy for County
Attorney (in fact, Cobos called out, “You’ll make a great County
Attorney!”). They extended the same
courtesy to Cobos’s sister-in-law, Angie Juarez Barrill. And this assertion that they do not engage
in politics would prove to be very false later in the meeting. But we’ll get to that in good time.
“Okay, mayor, then let me
mention this,” replied Mr. Rubalcaba.
“In politics…you have failed. I
asked you to generate enthusiasm among every citizen, civil service employee…and
under your leadership the morale has gone down.” He continued, saying, “This is politics, mayor, you because…”
Cobos rudely interrupted
Rubalcaba and commanded that he conclude.
Rubalcaba said he would
indeed conclude and said with finality, “You and any representative who did not
give every hard working civil service employee…a wage increase so that they
could raise their children and support their families and continue educating
themselves, I’m asking every city employee and their spouse and their children
of voting age and their father and mother to remember what this mayor and City
Council did to every city employee when it came to being able to be better
members of their employer.”
A flustered Susan Austin
stated she didn’t want political outbursts like this to happen again and asked
that “specific rules” about public items be created in order to avoid
endorsements during this election.
A stern Anthony Cobos, who
has used his own bully pulpit to…well…bully people, said repeatedly and
self-righteously that “this podium is for City business.” Uh-huh.
Wardy told Austin he’d ask
Lisa Elizondo to look into that. I’m
sure our crack City Attorney will be able to formulate a thoughtful policy that
will judiciously balance all the competing interests at stake. Right.
At least she’ll have plenty of time (since she doesn’t seem to be doing
anything else). The prospect of that is
such a comfort.
Without Consent
Representative Vivan Rojas
again asked that the minutes for 9/21/04 be postponed:
2.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
(Attachment) - Regular City
Council Meeting Minutes 09/21/04
(Attachment) - Regular City
Council Meeting Minutes 10/12/04
(Attachment) - Special City
Council Meeting Minutes 10/04/04
[Municipal Clerk, Richarda Duffy Momsen, (915) 541-4127]
Approval
of Minutes for Regular City
Council Meetings of September 21, 2004 and October 12,
2004 and Special City Council Meeting of October 4, 2004 (Joint Meeting with the
El Paso Water Utilities-Public Service Board).
September 21st
was the date the budget and tax discussions took place. All other minutes were approved on the
consent agenda.
The City: In
Violation of City Code
The following item is
regarding City property:
12. MAYOR
& COUNCIL: Discussion and action to commence condemnation proceedings on
the Clardy Fox Library due to the fact that this structure has not been
maintained in a safe manner, neighboring residents have complained of vagrants
and criminal activity which puts the neighborhood in danger, and, is currently
in violation of the El Paso Municipal Code, Chapter 18.52.040 -
Unsafe Structures -
Remedial action by owner of City defines unsafe structure as a structure
of part thereof that is:
a. Dilapidated, substandard, or unfit for
human habitation and a hazard to the public health, safety, and welfare; or
b. Regardless of its structural condition,
unoccupied by its owners, lessees or other invitees and is unsecured from
unauthorized entry to the extent that it could be entered or used by vagrants
or other uninvited persons as a place of harborage or could be entered or used
by children; or
c. Boarded up, fenced, or otherwise secured
in any manner in if:
i. The building constitutes a danger to the public even though
secured entry, or
ii. The means used to secure
the building are inadequate to prevent unauthorized entry or use of the
building in the manner described by subsection. (District 3) [Representative Jose Alexandro Lozano, (915)
541-4515]
Once it was read into the
record, Lozano said, “Yeah, Mayor, over a year ago, I wanted the City to allow
this property to be used by an association or anybody, and, um, it’s been very
difficult to do anything with this property.
Every month, it appears to be worst and worst. It’s a dump site, so I was wondering if, you know, we need to
fence this property, or I know we’re in a contract with the Housing Authority
but I don’t believe we should just forget about it even though we’re gonna turn
it over, we should secure it.”
The City apparently agreed
to offer this property to the Housing Authority in an agreement (wonder if this
gift from the City to HACEP was part of the Suncrest agreement…remember that
one?), but HACEP has over a year left to decide whether it wants to use it and
if so, has plenty of time to provide a plan for it.
Tom Maguire, the City’s
buildings inspector, showed photographs of the deplorable conditions that the
abandoned City library was in. Wardy
called it “an embarrassment” and pointed out that the City holds local property
owners to “a higher standard.”
Susan Austin asked that the
Housing Authority be approached again in order to find out what their plan for
the property might be.
Housing Authority board
member David Escobar happened to be at this Council meeting (more on him and
that later), and he promised to put it on the HACEP commissioners meeting for
October 27th.
I’ll keep an eye on this one
for you.
Airway(s) Highway(s)
Taken off the consent agenda
(the additions) by Alexandro Lozano was the following:
1. Resolution that the City Manager be authorized to
enter into a formal agreement to commence negotiations with Western Refining in
which Western Refining will deed to the City certain land, currently on Western
Refining property, which will allow the City to extend Airway Boulevard from
its intersection of Interstate 10 to Delta Drive.
Representative Lozano
announced that he would like to extend Airway Boulevard (or as Wardy calls it,
“Airways”) from I-10 to Delta Drive.
Wardy praised him for thinking of the idea and this resolution would
pave the way (pun intended!) for negotiations to begin between the City and
Western Refining (they own the property needed for the extension).
Pat Adauto, Deputy City
Manager for Building and Planning Services, cautioned Council and reminded them
that there need to be extensive studies on environmental issues related to the
Western Refining property in addition to the ponding, drainage and rail
issues. She also cautioned that this
project has yet to go through the transportation process, which includes going
before the Transportation Policy Board for approval.
Assistant City Attorney
Terry Cullen-Garney stated that legal had yet to see the resolution, and asked
that the negotiations be contingent on what happens with the study.
I was hoping someone would
ask why on earth our legal department wouldn’t ask for a one-week postponement
on this if there’s no real rush and if they haven’t even read the
resolution. Alas, no one did.
The motion to pass the
resolution passed unanimously.
Cushing’s Audit:
Petty Cash?
The following item had to do
with the conversation Cushing had with his buddies Cobos and Lozano when they
violated Texas’s Open Meetings law:
14.
COMPTROLLER: Discussion and action regarding an expanded annual
independent financial audit. The City Manager will coordinate with KPMG, the
City's external audit firm, the expansion of an audit on the financial
statements and other matters for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2004. KPMG
will review focus areas identified by the City Manager, with the concurrence of
City Council, in order to provide guidance and assurance in the financial matters
of the City of El Paso. (Attachment) [Comptroller,
Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria, (915) 541-4239]
Without any discussion,
Cushing made a motion to approve and the item passed unanimously. Based on the attachment, it looks like the
audit will cost about $300,000, but I don’t know if that includes services they
are already performing for the City or not.
Because Cushing is the one who flippantly disregarded the cost during
his open-meetings-violating-discussion, maybe the money should come out of his
petty cash account!
A Major Permission Slip, If You Will
The next item was all about
the film industry, if you will, in El Paso, and it was yet another opportunity
to see our Economic Development Director in action:
17. PUBLIC
HEARING - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: An Ordinance amending Title 13 (Streets,
Sidewalks and Public Places), to amend Chapter 13.30 (Film-making events), of
the El Paso Municipal code; by revising language pertaining to approval of
property owners abutting a film making events location; the penalty being as
provided in Section 13.30.110 of the Municipal Code. (All Districts) (Attachment) [Economic
Development, David G. Dobson, (915) 541-4680]
When this item came up, the
Director of Economic Development, David Dobson, was, if you will, nowhere to be
found. Wardy waited for a moment before
commenting that Dobson didn’t seem to be around, and City Manager Joyce Wilson
apologized for his absence. She
explained that this item would streamline the permit process and “expand
notification” of films.
Cushing said his concern was
that the backup stated that the ordinance would eliminate the requirement for
filmmakers to secure permission from abutting property owners. The yes/no power was now completely in
Dobson’s hands.
An out of breath Dobson
(maybe he was doing his version of the film “Running Man”?) finally showed up and
explained that not having this ordinance in place could seriously deter future
film making in El Paso.
Susan Austin asked why this
issue wasn’t raised during a recent revamping of the film ordinances and Dobson
indicated that it just came up during the filming of “Glory Road.”
“In this particular case,”
said Dobson, “we found that when we did put it to task with the first permit,
if you will, that there was strong opposition raised, and in fact there were
specific threats that ‘Glory Road’ would in fact pull out any filming from the
El Paso area.”
Dobson explained that a
single property owner could hold up the filming of a scene; the ordinance would
allow for the Economic Development Director to have the ability to issue the
permit and to decide if the filmmakers were providing adequate access. The City would provide notice of the action.
Lisa Turner stated that the
backup material seemed to indicate that barricades could be placed on lawns.
She objected to any impositions placed on private property owners and said that
property owners should retain the right to reject them. “It removes the homeowner from having a say
in this,” she said.
Naturally, Mr. Rubalcaba
needed to put in his cautionary two cents as well and said, “You’re
representing every citizen…a man’s home is his castle, kingdom, whatever.” He gave a worst-case emergency scenario
where fire trucks and other emergency vehicles would be unable to get in to
help residents. Instead of expressing
appreciation for Rubalcaba’s concern, Cobos made fun of his concerns and
mockingly asked, “Was that a movie?” (I
wanted to ask Cobos if his life was a remake of “The Jerk.”)
“Elderly beautiful woman”
Anita Blair wheeled up to the podium and informed Council that she made a movie
in Chicago and the camerawork for her scene only took a few minutes. She said “I don’t know whose idea it was to
have this long conversation about the economic development of the film
industry…[it’s] absolutely ludicrous to take up all this time and set in motion
something that’s never gonna happen…why do you waste all this time for such
foolishness?”
Wardy, smiling from ear to
ear, said, “Thank you, that was a great point and I appreciate you steppin’ up
there. I’ll clap for that one. Thank you, Anita.” Good Lord.
Lozano, if you will, made a
motion to approve and the motion passed unanimously.
Un-appealing HR Changes?
It looked like the following
item was about to be approved unanimously with no discussion from Council when
a member of the public asked for clarity:
19. PUBLIC
HEARING - HUMAN RESOURCES: An Ordinance amending Ordinance 8065, Civil Service
Rules and Regulations, Rule 14, Efficiency Ratings, Section 7, Appeals, To
Change the Process and Procedures for
Appeals. (Attachment) [Human
Resources, Terry A. Bond, (915) 541-4509]
To no one’s surprise, it was
Mr. Rubalcaba who had something to say!
He said when he was a City employee, he had the opportunity to file his own
appeal (I was curious about it, but he didn’t give us any history. Shucks!).
He asked that Council explain the amendment to the public.
Cushing said, “This has to
do with the appeal process concerning employee evaluations…basically, they have
taken what was in the policy and made it part of the rule…this is the position
that came unanimously out of Civil Service.
We had four legislative reviews on this issue and what has come back
here is basically the unanimous consent of the Civil Service Commission…it only
applies in one area, okay?”
No, Mr. Cushing, that
unwarranted non-explanation was not okay.
It was, in fact, simply a whole lotta nothin’ and it wouldn’t stand up
to your own special brand of scrutiny if you were cross-examining yourself.
I read the attachment (the
amendment to the ordinance) and the amendment allows a City employee who is
challenging his/her evaluation rating to bring his/her appeal to the Civil
Service Commission. John Cook asked the
question I had in mind. He asked, “Who
actually is going to make the [final] decision on the [employee] appeals if we
pass the ordinance?”
Terry Bond, Director of
Human Resources, explained that “one would hope that there would be a joint
decision made, that the commission would make a recommendation perhaps to have
the appeal redone by the supervisors and then there would be some joint
agreement on a rating.” Her answer made
it clear that there was no definitive individual or group designated to render
the final verdict.
“That’s not a good answer,”
complained a miffed Wardy. Bond then
deferred to Wardy’s legal eagle, Lisa Elizondo, so Wardy asked her the same
question, and guess what? Elizondo
couldn’t answer it either (but that’s not unusual).
Instead, Elizondo asked that
Council go into executive session so she could answer the question.
Folks, this is a classic
move by Elizondo and Wardy. Remember
that early into Wardy’s administration, El
Paso Times reporter David Crowder wrote about the unnecessary executive
sessions where Wardy admitted that certain items were discussed in private
simply to “keep City Council from embarrassing itself in public” (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20040525-122471.shtml). If that were the appropriate standard,
Council would spend 90 percent of its time in executive session and 10 percent
in public.
Well, folks, Council should
only conduct executive session discussions on items that require sensitive
legal advice or involve specific personnel matters; otherwise, what they’re
doing is having deliberations outside the public forum and violating the open
meetings act.
Thankfully, Cook questioned
why they’d have to go into executive session to talk about the ordinance,
pointing out that they weren’t talking about a particular employee’s appeal,
just the general policy. Cook was
absolutely right. This is a
quintessential example of what Council should be discussing in public, Ms.
Elizondo, not behind closed doors.
Elizondo just looked at Cook with a “huh?” look in her eyes. I’ve seen that look so many times now I’m
shocked when I don’t see it.
Mr. Rubalcaba, who of course
had something to say, approached the podium.
Wardy let out a loud and
audible sigh.
When Wardy indicated that he
would not allow Rubalcaba to speak, Rubalcaba begged for the opportunity. His request was granted, but soon after he
began to speak he was interrupted. “It
scares me,” began Rubalcaba, “that the employees…no raises, now everything’s
being changed…”
“Have a seat,” said an
irritated Wardy. Rubalcaba dutifully
complied.
Elizondo, who again couldn’t
seem to answer the question with any more specificity than the head of Human
Resources, Terry Bond, declared that she would simply read the rule into the
record (how’s that for a totally unexcellent non-answer?). She finally said the commission could
interpret the amendment in order to allow them to re-rate the employee.
Cushing‘s motion to approve
the ordinance passed, with only Cook voting no.
Yet Another Trip Down Hypocrisy Lane
As you probably know, dear reader,
our zoo director, Dr. William Torgerson, has resigned from the City of El Paso
(http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041013-180245.shtml). He quickly left El Paso altogether and the
City now needs to fill the position quickly and on an interim basis.
Cobos took this item off the
consent agenda and moved it to regular:
4Q. That the Mayor be authorized to sign a Contract between the CITY OF EL PASO and LEA HUTCHINSON, to assist the Zoo as Zoo Director at a biweekly rate of $3,144.60. The term of the contract shall be for the period of October 20, 2004 through April 19, 2005. (Attachment) [Quality of Life Services, Deborah Hamlyn, (915) 541-4686]
Before Cobos could ask his
question, Joyce Wilson stated, “I’d be happy to try to respond to your
questions if I can, but it’s my understanding that this didn’t really even need
to come to Council for approval, that Council’s already, like, delegated
authority through another action for personnel services under $50,000 and we
can deal with this administratively so I can strike this, but since it’s on the
agenda and you have questions, I’d like to respond to those.”
Cobos wanted to know how Dr.
Hutchinson had been selected and Wilson informed him that Hutchinson is retired
from the City and had agreed to assist the City zoo while they find another
director.
Cushing asked if it was a
provisional or temporary contract and Debbie Hamlyn, Assistant City Manager for
Quality of Life, said it was a simple contract appointment because a regular
appointment would affect his retirement.
Cushing, who once served on
the Civil Service Commission, then explained how the appointment should have
been handled. “What I was wondering is,
you know, I know we have to fill the position, alright? My only concern was we’re doing this kinda
like in a back door kinda way. You know
it really oughtta be done consistent with the charter.”
I had to keep myself from
laughing out loud or from screaming out “THE CHARTER?!” When have you, my dear gum-chewing,
spittle-ejecting, pompous-lawyer-in-your-own-mind man cared about the charter? HA!
But I didn’t. I just sat and
listened and thought to myself that Cushing is the same guy who “in a back door
sorta way” supported the charter-violating hire of Jim Martinez as CAO; he’s
also the guy who “in a back door sorta way” hired Lisa Elizondo, the individual
who facilitated the raping and pillaging of the City Attorney’s Office. He’s also the same guy who “in a back door
sorta way” awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in a no-bid contract to
this administration’s crony Carl Green by giving Lisa Elizondo a blank check to
farm out about forty cases to Green’s law firm.
Right. He’s the one now pontificating about
adhering to the charter.
Terry Bond explained that
the appointment did not violate the charter and, when challenged by Cushing as
to where in the charter the City had the power to hire an interim department
head on contract, she was able to cite the Charter language to defend the hire.
Cushing wanted to know how
the permanent director would be hired and Wilson explained that the proper
procedure would be followed. She also
said something very interesting; before the City hires anyone new, they would
begin assessing the future of the zoo and potential cost cutting measures
including “look[ing] at whether or not we want to maintain this as a standalone
operation [and]…look[ing] at some other ways to manage the facility outside of
it being a City agency.”
Wow. I hadn’t heard that one before. Major changes may be afoot at the zoo.
Cushing, who fancies himself
an expert on all things that have anything to do with anything, then challenged
newly appointed City Manager Joyce Wilson and her assertion that she could hire
contract employees without putting it on the agenda. He condescendingly told her “any contract position will have the approval of Council.”
Wilson politely reminded him
that Council had indeed given her the authority to hire individuals on contract
when the salary is under $50,000 per year.
Cushing’s own City Attorney, Lisa Elizondo, concurred. What a blow. Cushing, the lawyer manqué, was trumped by Lisa Elizondo,
the . . . lawyer manqué! How humiliating for Cushing.
Susan Austin, who cannot
seem to help herself, then began her usual barrage of pointless questions, including,
“Do we have to call him [a] department head?”
Joyce Wilson reminded her that they are hiring him in that
capacity. Ergo the title, Susan. I’m not sure what Austin thinks her
unnecessary and interminable questioning demonstrates—that she’s smart (as her
campaign billboards claimed) or that she’s working hard for her constituents,
or that she’s a woman to be reckoned with.
Hint to Susan Austin: It’s none
of the above.
Cobos wanted to pick apart
Hutchinson’s resume and at one point even claimed, “I’m concerned about equal
opportunity; how did we select Dr. Hutchinson?
Did we put an ad in the paper?”
What? Equal opportunity? Wow. The irony abounds.
I wanted to rush the podium
and ask, “Did you put an ad in the paper when you hired Jim Martinez as CAO,
Mr. Cobos? How about when you hired
Lisa Elizondo as City Attorney? Oh, and
Mark Matthys as PIO? No, of course
not!”
And, really, as if an ad
counts. I wanted to remind Cobos that
Wardy did have his boss, Luther Jones, put an ad on the University of Missouri
School of Journalism web site when he was looking for his first PIO. And yes, Elizondo placed an ad in the El Paso Times for the Trial Supervisor
position created for Jim Martinez, but we all knew the fix was in for that
one. Of course, though, I didn’t rush
to the podium—I left that to Mr. Rubalcaba.
Debbie Hamlyn explained that
Hutchinson’s past experience and work with the zoo would allow for
“continuity.” Joyce Wilson again stated
she supported the interim hire.
Lozano suggested that a
relatively new department head (Dr. Merrifield, the Director of Parks and
Recreation) take on the job and juggle both.
(I wanted to suggest that
the new zoo director should spend every Tuesday at our own zoo in Council
Chambers!)
Finally, following Wilson’s
recommendation, Cobos made a motion to delete and the item was deleted
unanimously. Remember, Wilson doesn’t
even need their approval on issues like this anymore. I suspect she won’t be seeking it in the future.
The Art of the Graft
As I mentioned last week,
new City Manager Joyce Wilson will have plenty of opportunity to enjoy what
Wardy termed the “shakedown period.”
Here’s the item I said would help her get her feet wet and introduce her
to the situation we’re currently facing at City Hall (and other local
governmental entities for that matter):
10. BEST
VALUE PROCUREMENT:
This contract shall be awarded to the bidder who
provides the best value to the City.
The City may consider price and other relevant criteria listed in the
request for bids.
Bid
No.: 2004-226 Washing of Heavy Duty Equipment (Rebid)
Award to: A & E Truck & Car Wash El Paso, TX
Item (s): All
Amount: $150,000.00 (estimated yearly)
Department: Fleet Services
Funds available: 37370510-45202-503125
Funding source: Fleet Services-Inventory Sales- Equipment Outside Repairs
Total
award: $450,000.00 (estimated)
District
(s): All
The Fleet Services Department and Purchasing
Departments recommend award as indicated, on the basis of Best Value
Procurement. This is a thirty-six (36) month contract with the option to extend
the term of the contract one additional year.
(Attachment) [Purchasing, Ray Heredia, (915) 541-4316]
Folks, Council’s handling of
this bid should be taught at public policy master’s degree programs as a case
study in cronyism at the municipal level.
Here we go.
Don’t forget, this is the
bid that was awarded to a company that DID NOT, I repeat, DID NOT belong to
David Escobar’s camp. (Don’t forget who
David Escobar is: He works closely with
Luther Jones and Martie Jobe to run the city behind the scenes, he’s one of
Wardy’s puppeteers, he’s Wardy’s appointee to a very powerful board, the
Housing Authority board, and by the way, he’s related to District 6
Representative Paul Escobar.)
This is also an item that
has been postponed over and over again since June. Council never gave a reason for the numerous postponements (they
don’t seem to have to) but my educated guess is that it was because Wardy,
Cobos, et. al. needed more time for their special maneuvering (READ: To get the bid awarded to David Escobar’s
client, who is also related to him).
Its time was up again this
week, but on this occasion, Joyce Wilson was sitting in the chair formerly
occupied by the poster boy for cronyism himself, Jabba, a/k/a Jim
Martinez.
Cobos moved the item off the
consent agenda and Byron Johnson, the Director of Purchasing, explained various
details about the bid to Council. In case you’ve forgotten, this bid has a long
history. It was sent out for re-bid
because Council didn’t like whom the award was given to the first time.
Johnson explained why
A&E (a small business owned by Eduardo Barbosa, who probably naively
believed—before this Council meeting—that City awards are based on merit and
not connections) was awarded the bid.
A&E would wash the trucks on site (at City locations), use recycled
water, dispose of the dirty water and would be available on call. The other competitors could not do the same,
so in the end, A&E was awarded the most points and won the bid.
Here’s where the lesson in
cronyism begins. I had to go back and
watch the meeting a second time to catch all of Anthony Cobos’s moves. It was actually quite interesting.
The UFO Maneuver
Immediately after Johnson
discussed the bid process, Cobos began the work of undermining City staff’s
recommendation. Cobos first asked, with
all the fake innocence he could muster, why the City couldn’t just do the work
itself; “it just seems that we could save money if we did this internally,” he
said.
Byron Johnson reminded Cobos
that the City doesn’t own any of the equipment necessary, and explained just
how expensive it would be to start up such an operation and then hire the staff
to do it.
City Manager Joyce Wilson
concurred with Johnson about the efficiency of the A&E bid and said, “One of
the benefits to have someone come on site is that it eliminates the travel, the
wear and tear and the gas.”
And referencing Cobos’s
absurd and sly inquiry into doing the work in-house, Wilson said “it would be
very difficult for me to think that we could accomplish this in house.”
Of course, Cobos knew all
that; he may look dense at times, but he’s no idiot. He was just employing his favorite tactic: Distract, distract, distract. Look!
Over there! There’s a UFO! Cobos was actually trying to draw attention
away from his real plan, which was to get the bid to Escobar’s client (who I am
told is David’s brother, but in any case, is an Escobar) and Cobos thought the
in-house argument (which he knows perfectly well is financially out of reach
for the City) would legitimize his next action. As I say, he’s no idiot; he tries very hard to camouflage his
cronyism. It never works, but he gets
an E for effort.
Here’s one more piece of
evidence. If Cobos is so concerned
about saving money by eliminating this $150,000-a-year contract, why didn’t he
try to save FIVE TIMES more money by eliminating cell phone contracts, which
cost us taxpayers a cool $750,000 (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20040829-162169.shtml)? I’ll tell you why…because his concern over
this $150,000 bid was not that the City was contracting out for these
services—it was to whom the City would be contracting. Everything else was just a smokescreen.
Once his disingenuous
in-house argument had been shot down (as he knew it would be), Cobos felt he
had established his bona fides. Then he
began the real work. He started to dissect
the bids, laying the groundwork for a little points switcheroo. His intent couldn’t have been more clear or
obvious to anyone familiar with his modus operandi: He was leaning towards David Escobar’s client’s facility and, as
I’ve stated before, when he’s on a mission, subtlety is not his strong suit.
Robert Cushing, who is
firmly in the Luther Jones/David Escobar back pocket, called the award a “huge
amount of money.” This is the same guy,
by the way, who thought $100,000 (or $300,000, depending on whose figures you
believe) was a drop in the bucket for an audit he hopes will help him get rid
of Bill Chapman, the City’s Chief Financial Officer. This is also the same guy who approved the same $750,000 cell
phone award that Cobos did. I hope no
one was fooled by his feigned concern for the budget.
Lisa Turner, who said she
had researched the issue, supported awarding the bid to A&E (as was
designated by an impartial evaluation committee), calling it “a great deal”
because of its efficiency.
Shakedown Street Revisited
Then it was David Escobar’s
turn to speak. Cushing and Cobos waited
with bated breath and hung on his every word.
David Escobar first thanked
Council for postponing this item because of his “trial and vacation
schedule.” Awwww. Isn’t that nice? City government can be put on hold for one individual (that’s if
you own the Mayor and a majority of Council anyway).
Escobar, a lawyer by trade
and acting as if he were in court, recited the history of the bid including the
fact that it was sent out to re-bid (he left out the why: Because Escobar’s client didn’t get it the
first and now the second time). He made
several objections to the bidding process, which he claimed did not conform to
what Council had requested back in June.
David Escobar had weak facts
on his side, but for the sake of the viewing public, he put on a good
show. He tried to convince Council to
change the awarding of points and he further went on to make statements about
his competitor (most of which, by the way, were disputed by the competitor and
City staff).
Escobar’s best argument was
that Horizon Truck Wash (his relative’s company and the company he was there to
represent) lost out on points it should have received. For example, he claimed that the City was
deducting points for travel time from the City facilities to the truck wash in
Horizon City. Horizon Truck Wash, he
pointed out, was less than a mile from I-10 on the way to or from the City
landfill to which the Solid Waste trucks go.
The truck wash is on City staff’s way home. In this he was probably
right.
However, City staff
countered this argument by reminding Council that because of the way the
employees are scheduled, a long stop at the Horizon Truck Wash would mean
employees would incur costly overtime as they sat and waited for their trucks
to be cleaned.
Escobar then argued that by
allowing A&E to wash trucks on-site at the City’s property, the City was
“subsidizing” the bid. He went on to say,
“We pay property taxes for our property” (trying to unfairly imply that A&E
doesn’t pay theirs). He also used the
very unconvincing argument that “A&E uses your lighting for night washes;
we [taxpayers] have to pay for the lighting!”
You know you’ve got bad facts when you have to make arguments that
weak. He then asked, “If we’re gonna be
fair, why don’t we deduct points for those items in the evaluation?”
Here was a member of the
Troika arguing to Wardy and City Council that it was UNFAIR for the City to
subsidize one private firm that was competing with other private firms. Imagine that, dear reader. Remember Wardy’s dream project, the project
he thought would make his mayoralty, Towne Centre? That was government subsidizing one private firm to the distinct
disadvantage of its competitors on a truly grand scale. But, hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Cushing, who did his best to
gently and casually help Escobar make his case, led Escobar in a Q&A
session about the points. Cushing, who
always asks leading questions of those he supports and is disparaging of those
who aren’t in the Troika camp, was a good Troika soldier. At one point he even allowed Escobar to
claim that the independent evaluation committee “skewed the numbers.”
And then, Escobar went one
step further and said, “The bid was not as directed by City Council…in that
regard, I believe you ought to punish this company in points.” Yes, he actually used the word “punish.” Indeed.
Anyone who goes against the Troika usually does end up being
punished. He asked Council to either
award the bid to his client or send this out for re-bid…again (maybe the third
time’s the charm).
The City’s Director of
Purchasing, Byron Johnson, stated that the City did indeed follow Council’s
directions when issuing the re-bid. An
angry Escobar stood behind Johnson, shaking his head. Assistant City Attorney Ruth Reyes concurred with Johnson and
disagreed with Escobar’s assessment.
Meanwhile, Eduardo Barbosa,
owner of A&E (the company that was awarded the bid), did his best to defend
himself against Escobar’s accusations, including Escobar’s not-so-veiled
accusation that Barbosa doesn’t pay property taxes because they offer on-site
services. (That David Escobar…he sure
is a wily one!)
John Cook, who had heard
Escobar’s complaint about the re-bidding process, asked staff if anyone had
expressed any concerns or complaints about the bid when it went out and Johnson
said no. Obviously, Cook was trying to
make the point that Escobar’s after-the-fact complaints were a little too late
(I’d go a step further…Escobar was only complaining because his guy didn’t win
the bid).
Cobos, the poor man’s
magician, then began his switcheroo magic routine and started to manipulate the
points on the bid. He began—get
this!--by saying, “Okay, we’re gonna do this fairly and equitably.” Coming from Cobos, that qualifies as a
genuine knee-slapper!
In Cobos-speak, “fairly and
equitably” means “Okay, we’re gonna have a do-over so we can award this bid to
a crony.” After all, it’s only fair and
equitable that the man who owns the mayor and a majority of Councilors gets
whatever he wants, right?
Cobos kept trying to
pressure staff to agree that Horizon (the company Escobar was representing) was
the best value.
But he was foiled! Assistant City Attorney Ruth Reyes came to
the podium to remind him that he couldn’t do it. “It is my opinion that we cannot now change the points. Because under our bid and our bid documents
the evaluation committee is the one who evaluates and selects those
points. That’s my legal opinion.”
Cobos (you could almost hear
the whine in his voice) complained, “We’ve modified points before.”
Ms. Reyes would not back
down. She said, “If we did…we should
not even be discussing the points at this time. Council can either reject or accept the recommendation.”
Then the City Manager
stepped in. Joyce Wilson agreed, and
said “That is the most appropriate approach…I was concerned that we were
dealing with this after the fact in direct violations of procurement codes.”
Yes, Ms. Wilson, Cobos could
teach a class about “direct violations of procurement codes.” He has become the master of violating
procurement codes.
Completely disregarding what
Reyes and Wilson just said and, in fact, acting as if they weren’t even there,
Cobos looked away and said, “Okay, Council, I would like to continue on.” Okay, Tony, we know who’s running this show.
So take note, Ms.
Wilson. Cobos et. al. have no regard for
legal advice when it means they can’t get their way (even when it’s given by a
competent attorney) and they clearly will have little or no regard for your
advice.
Another Do-Over
Staff struggled under the
pressure placed on them by Cobos and Cushing. Wardy, who should have been controlling this fiasco, was nowhere
to be found. Lisa Elizondo, the City
Attorney, sat silently watching her computer screen—I’ll bet Solitaire never
seemed so engaging. Elizondo never once
said a word to support her Assistant City Attorney, who was trying her best to
control the patently unethical (if not illegal) maneuvering by the Troikettes
on Council.
Susan Austin made a motion
to accept staff’s recommendation to award the bid to A&E. The only representatives with any courage to
support the motion were Cook and Rojas.
Unfortunately (but predictably) the motion failed. Representative Paul Escobar, who is related
to David Escobar, should have abstained from this vote if only to avoid the
perception of impropriety. Instead,
however, he voted against awarding the bid to A&E.
Folks, you need to remember
this. The only people who were willing
to stand up and vote against the Troika and cronyism were Susan Austin, John
Cook and Vivian Rojas.
The irrepressible Mr.
Rubalcaba tried to make comments from the peanut gallery (not the podium) but
he was scolded and wasn’t allowed to speak.
You gotta love him. Wardy, on
the other hand, who had no love left for him, had the undercover police officer
hovering over the poor man for most of the meeting and at that point, I thought
Mr. Rubalcaba was going to be pounced on by the cop.
I can see it now…a special
edition of the cult-hit television program “COPS” filming in City Council
chambers! The well-dressed undercover
cops tear off their suit jackets, exposing the famous blue uniform underneath,
flash their badge and pounce on elderly members of the public who dare try to
be a conscience for a corrupt City Council.
They’re dragged away in cuffs to the tune of “Bad boys, bad boys,
whatcha gonna do…whatcha gonna do when they come for you?”
Once Austin’s motion failed,
Cobos quickly moved to reject all bids.
Instead of standing firm, Austin—in her usual go with the prevailing
wind manner—voted yes (Cook and Rojas were the only two who stood by their
principles). Rep. Paul Escobar was with
the majority that voted to reject the bids yet again.
The bids were rejected and
we’re now going to start this process all over again, folks – for a third time! Mr. Barbosa, who believed back in June that
he won this thing fair and square, must have been dumbfounded. Once again, even with a very weak hand,
David Escobar got what he wanted from a pliant Council. As they say, money talks.
Professor Cobos
After the vote, a serious
Anthony Cobos stated that he was “concerned about the point system.”
He said that he thought
Council needed to give staff more “guidance” and “direction” when it comes to
awarding the points and bids. “They
needed more direction from staff...uh…Council in determining points.” These are Cobos code words for doing exactly
what the Troikettes want in the manner they want.
What a tutorial that’s gonna
be. What do you wanna bet that as part
of their research, City staff will be required to look at campaign contribution
lists of selected Councilors? Those who
contribute get more points, those who don’t get…“punished?”
My friends, this represents
Joyce Wilson’s first major test as City Manager. Will she stand firm and award this much-delayed contract on the
basis of what’s best for the City, or will she allow herself and her staff to
be bullied and manipulated by the Council Troikettes and do what’s best for
David Escobar? How she performs on this
test will be an important indication of how independent she will be and, even
more important, how well this city manager experiment will work in El Paso.
The irony here is that one
of the arguments for switching from a strong mayor to a city manager form of
municipal government (made by Wardy and his allies, no less) was that it would
take the politics out of running the city.
What a shock that in El Paso, once again, la plus ça change, la plus
c’est la mème chose.
After the Meeting…
By the way, those of you at
home who didn’t catch El Paso Times
reporter David Crowder’s article the next day about the meeting need to read
this:
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041020-183438.shtml
In the article, Crowder
describes Escobar’s bully tactics and threats against Byron Johnson, the
Director of Purchasing. Escobar told
Johnson he’d get him fired (and I have no doubt he’ll try). After all, Johnson had the audacity to
advocate awarding the bid to the guy who…well…won the bid fair and square.
This threatening bully is
the same guy who helps pull Wardy’s strings and whom Wardy has appointed to a
powerful board. I know, I know…maybe
I’m just not sympathetic enough…poor Escobar.
Can’t a bully get a break?
Even a Superstar Needs Time Off
By the way, folks, Jabba,
a/k/a Jim Martinez, a/k/a El Paso’s self-titled legal “superstar,” was sitting
in the audience à la Laura Uribarri right behind Lisa Elizondo for quite a bit
of the meeting (I couldn’t tell if he brought in a soda a popcorn). For a little while, he was playing with his
expensive and fancy Blackberry (which I’m quite sure, folks, you and I paid
for). I’m so glad we’re paying this guy
$165,000 a year to play with expensive toys that we’ve purchased for him. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Another Must-Read!
Here’s another must-read for
El Pasoans. In case you missed the El Paso Times story about Wardy’s ethics
violations and the miniscule fine he had to pay, here it is again. The interesting part of this article is who
his lawyer is: http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041019-183067.shtml
An alert reader asked me if
Martie Jobe (wife of Stanley Jobe and attorney for Jobe Concrete, member of the
troika, and the attorney representing the mayor on his ethics violation charge)
was representing the mayor free of charge.
I don’t know the answer to that, but this alert reader also pointed out
that her representation of Wardy seems to be a huge conflict of interest.
It seems to me that this
reader is correct. The City regulates
the Jobe Quarry run by Jobe Concrete and represented by Martie Jobe. Wardy should not be represented by the same
lawyer/associate of a quarry he (as the head of our City) is supposed to
regulate.
But then again, in
Wardyland, all is fair…even if it ain’t ethical!
Here’s a last word from
Professor Sid. If there’s one lesson
we’ve learned this week (and actually nearly every week in local government)
it’s that there are greedy people out there who want our money. They’ll stop at nothing, they’ll run
candidates whom they can control, and we pay the price.
What’s that saying about
money being the root of something?
That’s it folks…I’m wiped
out. Until next week.
Comments or questions: shmaven@yahoo.com
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