11.2.2004
Sugar daddies, sour milk,
and baby lawyers. It was a 2004 version
of Romper Room at City Hall, my friends!
Thanking the Sugar Daddy
Remember the absurd
“Halloween Happiness Week” proclamation from last week’s notes? Well, not only does Wardy waste time with
trivialities like Halloween Happiness Week (yes, I heard back from his
assistant, Delia Cortinas, who confirmed that Wardy approves these things), he
has created a new category. Oh joy! The new category is called
“Recognition.” In other words, Wardy
and his minions (Cushing, Cobos and Lozano) can now publicly honor their
bosses, benefactors and cronies. This
week’s “recognition” is a classic example.
It’s simply too perfect.
1.
Recognition of Tropicana Homes from the residents of District 2 of the
City of El Paso, for being a model member of the business community, but also
for taking the lead in supporting the citizens and residents of our City.
[Representative Robert A. Cushing, Jr., (915) 541-4996]
Could it have been more
syrupy?
Robert Cushing apparently
held a luncheon for his constituents so that they could meet the new City
Manager. Guess who sponsored the
luncheon? None other than the owner of
Tropicana Homes and the King of the El Paso Association of
Bowlings…er…Builders, Bobby Bowling.
(I’m not usually a betting person, but I’d be willing to wager a month’s
worth of Chico’s tacos that Stanley Jobe and David Escobar will be “recognized”
before Joe Wardy leaves office.)
Mr. Bowling, El Paso’s own
big builder who can control Mayor and Council with a single look and hand
signal, stood nearby, beaming, as he received accolades from two elderly
residents of central El Paso. Once he
had been gratuitously lionized, he said he wanted to “thank this Mayor and
Council for being pro business and such a good Council!” (This is like Halliburton thanking the Bush
administration for its pro-business stance.)
Bowling sounded like a proud dog owner praising his obedient cocker
spaniel. I half expected him to walk
over and pet the heads of Wardy, Cushing and Cobos. It was indeed, a ghoulish sight, one fit for last week’s
Halloween Happiness.
Note to anyone wishing to run in Cushing’s seat: He appears to have a firm lock on the older
folks in District 2, who only want a little attention; once they receive it,
they’re happy with their representation.
Anita Strikes Again
The first item to be
discussed on the public portion of the agenda was placed by Anita Blair:
1.
Discussion on President Abraham Lincoln. [Anita Blair]
Although other members of
the public have to follow strict rules about the posting and discussion of
their items, Anita Blair consistently gets a pass. She’ll post fairly random items and then her discussion will have
nothing to do with the subject as posted.
When Martin Rubalcaba (yes,
he was back!) wanted to speak on Blair’s item, Wardy, of course, strictly
enforced the rule: “When you sign up on
a particular item, you have to discuss the item…that’s our policy.”
Yes, Mayor, that’s your
policy, albeit one that’s enforced arbitrarily. And as Mr. Rubalcaba asked a few weeks ago, are the rules thrown
out for Ms. Blair because she’s “a beautiful elderly woman”? I won’t even waste my time or yours
discussing her item.
You’re Once…Twice…Three Times the Cronies
(…and the troika loouooves you!)
I’d like to remind all you
folks at home about the car wash contract that was discussed a few weeks ago
(and noted several times this fall in my notes).
Eduardo Barbosa is the
small-business owner who had competed for the city’s car wash bid and won it
fair and square – twice! But then, Council rejected his bid each time
at the behest of David Escobar, who represented Hector Escobar, owner of
Horizon Truck Wash (http://www.epcounty.com/clerk/assumed_search.htm?id=19940005288&name=HORIZON%20TRUCK%20WASH&datefile=12/13/1994&status=A&datewithdraw=&type=0). Both times, Representative Paul Escobar
voted on the rejection of bids (Paul Escobar is, I have been informed, David
and Hector’s nephew. Can someone say
“conflict of interest?” And even if it
ain’t a legal conflict, the mere appearance of conflict and cronyism should
have been enough to call for an abstention.)
For more details on that meeting, see http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2004_1019.htm.
David Escobar, who is Wardy’s
appointee to the very important Housing Authority board and who is Luther
Jones’ and Martie Jobes’ frequent collaborator, has an enormous amount of pull
with this Council. In fact, when he
says “Jump!” Wardy, Cushing & Cobos ask “How high?” On this contract, Council has voted the way
he wanted every time. The only
exceptions on this crony-vote were John Cook and Vivian Rojas.
Mr. Barbosa obviously wasn’t
ready to throw in the towel on the bid he legitimately won – twice!—and illegitimately lost – twice!
(Have I mentioned this has happened twice? And can someone tell me…where is that darned FBI? Where is the EPPD public integrity unit? The DA’s office?)
This week Mr. Barbosa placed
the following item on the public portion of the agenda:
3. Motion to
reconsider the rejection of Bid
No: 2004-226 Washing of Heavy
Duty Equipment (Rebid) and Award to: A & E Truck & Car Wash El Paso,
TX, as this bidder provides the best value to the City
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 for 3 years)
[Eduardo Barbosa]
Before we get into the
discussion, I’d like to clue everyone in to this Mayor and certain Council
member’s tactics: Wardy, Cobos and
Cushing like to cut the public off at its knees (when they are opposing Troika
members or other benefactors) by oh-so-kindly informing them—during the
meeting, not before—that their agenda items just aren’t properly posted to
merit action. They did it last week to
the arroyo folks, and they did it this week to Mr. Barbosa. Their crackerjack City Attorney, Lisa
Elizondo (who can rarely answer most municipal legal questions without
desperately looking to her staff for help), is always ready to back up the
Troikettes with a definitive legal opinion.
Poor Posting, Dead Deadlines and Sour Milk
Immediately after the item
was read into the record, Wardy announced, “Before we go any further on this
item…Ms. Elizondo, are we following proper order on the agenda the way that
this item is posted?”
I didn’t even need my
bifocals, folks, ‘cuz I saw that one coming from a mile away.
She said that while Council
can indeed reconsider the item as posted, unfortunately for Mr. Barbosa, his
bid has now expired.
Interesting…kinda like milk,
I guess, huh Lisa? Indeed. This whole “exercise” (to quote our
illustrious mayor) has left a very sour taste in my mouth—and in Mr. Barbosa’s
as well, I’m sure.
Wardy, who breathed a sigh
of relief, said, “Okay, so that puts this that we can’t even have a discussion
on this item, is that correct, Ms. Elizondo?”
Oh, you can discuss it, Joe,
if you want to. But ever the good
soldier, Elizondo replied, “It just wouldn’t be fruitful because you really
can’t take any appropriate action on the item.”
Basically, what Mr. Barbosa
was being told, folks, was that the car wash bid had had expired on October 31st,
and since the council meeting was taking place on November 2nd,
there was just nothin’ Council could do.
Lisa Elizondo, who was asked to explain this but couldn’t on her own,
literally had to read the explanation from notes supplied to her from one of
her subordinate attorneys. Sheesh.
Once the expiration issue
had been explained, I half-expected Wardy’s majority on Council to exclaim
“awwwww” as sorrowfully and insincerely as possible.
Marisol Montoya, Barbosa’s
representative, asked why Council couldn’t take action on the item, since
Barbosa presented his petition on October 24th BEFORE the expiration
date. Elizondo, who never really
answered her question, reminded her that the expiration occurred on the 31st
and said, “They [the bids] legally do not exist as of today.”
Ooooh. Spooky how that can happen. (I guess that
would be filed under “Halloween Un-Happiness”, next to Lisa’s “Totally
Un-Excellent” file.)
True to form, Susan Austin,
one of the two lawyers on Council, asked completely irrelevant legal
questions. She could have argued that Barbosa
did indeed meet the deadline by posting his item on the 24th. On its face, this seems like a plausible
legal argument. It might not have
carried the day, but we’ll never know now.
I would also like to have known if the City’s failure to extend the bids
was an error on the part of the City.
But we’ll never know that, either.
Instead, Austin asked, “If
we actually went back to the shoes we were in when this item got placed on the
agenda it was to accept this one particular bid, so does that change your
opinion at all?”
I expected Elizondo to
reply, “Susan! That was totally
dys-logical!” I was also surprised she
didn’t ask, “The shoes we were in? You
mean my red pumps?” But she
didn’t. Instead, Elizondo replied,
brilliantly, “Uh, I don’t think so.”
Wardy finally interrupted
Austin and her barrage of “road to nowhere” questions (I was about to bang my
head against the chair in front of me, so thankfully, he brought my pain to an
end) and informed Elizondo that Council would follow her lead. Talk about the blind leading the . . .
corrupt. That’s part of the problem,
Joe, isn’t it?
King of Irony
Representative Robert (I’m a
lawyer in my own mind, AND I play one on TV every week!) Cushing, mixing his
pies and apples, had to put in his two cents:
“In
the interest of fairness, we, you know, we can’t go here, and you know, split
the pie up and just say, ‘Well, because these people came forward we should
give them a second bite of the apple.’
And I don’t think there’s any quality or fairness in that thought
process like that, and I’m perfectly comfortable with accepting the advice of
Ms. Elizondo in this area.”
Amazing! Unbelievable! Incredible! (I guess
those were apple pies.)
Folks, immediately after
Cushing spoke those very words, my irony alert meter broke (that seems to be a
recurring problem for your old friend, Sid).
Cushing, that gum chomping, spittle ejecting, tongue slithering,
metaphor mixing Troikette, was pontificating about fairness? This is the guy who worked oh so hard for
the money and killed Barbosa’s award – twice! So,
the moral of the story, Mr. Cushing, is that it would be totally unfair to give
Mr. Barbosa, the man who legitimately won this contract, a “second bite at the
apple,” but it is totally fair, ethical and legal to reject Mr. Barbosa’s
winning bid not once, but twice, just so that Troika member David Escobar can
win the contract for his relative. Got
it. I’m gone.
My recommendation to Mr.
Barbosa: Get a good lawyer, my
friend. There’s nothing like the threat
of a lawsuit to focus the mind of this Council. Just ask Frank Ainsa.
Barbosa’s representative
asked when the new bids would be out and the City Manager had no idea.
That was that. The Council moved on and Mr. Barbosa walked
away.
Revisionist History?
Up next was the “revisions”
to the agenda. The revisions are done
after the public portion and it is the time when Council, staff and the public
can take items off the consent agenda for separate discussion or ask that items
be postponed or deleted.
Dear reader, this Mayor has
been sitting in Council meetings week after week now since June 2003. You’d think he would have caught on to what
I just explained by now.
During the routine
revisions, Vivian Rojas asked that item 19B (not listed in my notes) be
postponed. Again, this is pretty
routine…happens every week…her request was not unusual.
Wardy, who one would believe
should have a clue by now, said, “But that’s not on the consent agenda.”
Huh? I didn’t get it.
I wondered why he had not
allowed Rojas to postpone her item, which routinely happens each week. No one said a word.
“Wow, we must be doin’ a
good job here,” said Wardy (because of the minimal number of revisions).
To quote our dazzling City
Attorney, “Uh, I don’t think so.”
City staff asked that
another item be postponed, and Wardy allowed the postponement. Rojas then asked, “I was just stating that I
wanted to postpone another item as well.”
Wardy said, “Let’s wait.”
Huh?
Again, no one pointed out
that Rojas has every right to postpone an item or that her request was
perfectly acceptable. Then, making it
sound as if he were bending the rules Rojas, Wardy relented and allowed her to
postpone the item.
When someone pointed out
that requesting postponement for items regardless of where they are located on
the agenda is routinely done, Wardy said, “I was just trying to keep it clean
today. That’s alright.”
“Keep it clean?” Wow.
If only my irony alert meter hadn’t been broken that morning by Cushing,
I would’ve loved to have seen the needle jumpin’ into the red zone on Wardy’s
“keep it clean” statement. Mr. Wardy
may just have to be briefed by one of his three assistants in the future about
routine Council matters.
Approved on Consent
No postponements from Rojas
on these this week:
The minutes were approved on
the consent agenda.
Young Lawyers Unite
Also on the consent agenda
was the following new hire:
10. Appointment
of Jorge Villegas as Assistant City Attorney. (Attachment) [City Attorney's
Office, Lisa A. Elizondo, (915) 541-4550]
Lisa Elizondo has hired yet
another relatively inexperienced attorney to add to her staff because Mr.
Villegas, according to his resume (attached), became a lawyer only two years
ago. My readers will recall that
several weeks ago (when Elizondo asked Council to give her a blank check to pay
Carl Green to provide legal services), I documented that Elizondo admitted to
Council that her staff is neither “competent” nor “experienced” enough to
handle the City’s heavy caseload.
Why, then, I wanted to ask,
would she hire a baby lawyer – again?
Maybe, In LisaWorld (which
is a wealthy suburb of Wardyland), the only way for our City Attorney to feel
good about herself as a lawyer—to feel like she’s smarter and more experienced
than others—is to hire newly-minted lawyers.
They’re so non-threatening. Ah. Yes.
Must be it. But why Council
wouldn’t challenge her about the issue was also beyond me.
The Ex-Files
As I mentioned in last
week’s notes, Bill Chapman, the City’s CFO, is leaving El Paso. Robert Cushing had made Bill Chapman’s life
a Municipal Hell and Cushing finally got Chapman to leave. Add his name to the list of City Hall
ex’s. Paving the way for the
replacement and the item naming his replacement were:
8. Request
for provisional appointment in accordance with Article VI,
Section 6.6-2, of the Civil Service Charter Provisions: Deputy City Manager (1) (Attachment) [City Manager,
Joyce A. Wilson, (915) 541-4844]
9. Appointment of William F. Studer, Jr., as Interim
Deputy City Manager (provisional), effective November 2, 2004. (Attachment) [City Manager,
Joyce A. Wilson, (915) 541-4844]
They were approved on the
consent agenda, and there’s more on the discussion about Chapman’s replacement
later in the notes.
And speaking of City Hall
ex’s, here’s another article from Sid to you.
It details how thrilled the community of Dallas is to receive our
ex-Director of Arts and Culture, Alejandrina Drew:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/110304dnmetdrewprofile.5d53e.html
Her exit was definitely our
community’s loss, and I attribute her desire to leave her beloved post to Joe
Wardy. He (and his minions) have
inspired lots of good folks to leave (heck, he’s pushed many of them out the
door!). Talk about inspiring a renewed
brain drain…I’m sure she’ll do lots of great work there.
Wardy’s like a magnet whose
charge repels smart, talented, dedicated people. Now that he’s on the tenth floor, they’re all flying out of City
Hall and out of El Paso entirely. Thanks, Joe.
No More Pits and Leaks
The following item has been
the subject of much dispute by District 7 residents and City Representative
Vivian Rojas:
20A. Discussion and action on a Resolution approving
Detailed Site Development Plan No. ZON04-00070, for Tract 23 B, Block 29,
Ysleta Grant and Tract 8H, Block 33, Ysleta Grant, El Paso, El Paso County,
Texas (131 South Yarbrough Dr.) pursuant to zoning conditions as imposed by
Ordinance No. 014916. The Penalty being as provided in Chapter 20.68 of the El
Paso Municipal Code. Applicant: Ricardo Olague. (District 7) (Attachment) [Planning,
Research and Development, Jorge Rousselin, (915) 541-4723]
Apparently, all illegal pit,
falling-down fences and leaking canal issues have been worked out because there
was little discussion about this before it passed unanimously. Rojas announced that she was pleased with
the agreement. I have no idea what
issues were resolved or what compromises were made.
“Very Tight Controls”…but not really
The following item had been
postponed from last week and was back this week:
20C. An Ordinance changing the zoning of Lots 27, 28,
and 29, Block 2, Val Verde Addition, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas (215
Concepcion Avenue) from M-1 (Light Manufacturing) to C-4 (Commercial). The penalty being as provided in Chapter
20.68 of the El Paso Municipal Code. Applicant: Steve Escamilla.
ZON04-00109. (District 3) (Attachment) [Planning,
Research and Development, Jorge Rousselin, (915) 541-4723]
This request is regarding
property that is very close to the site of our four-year medical school—one of
the most significant developments in El Paso in many years.
The property owner would
like to have a contractor’s yard on the site and he’s asking for a “downgrade”
in the zoning: From M-1 (manufacturing)
to C-4 (commercial). Wardy warned that
the property, which again, is near our medical school, should look as
“professional” as possible. Wardy also
said he wants “very tight controls” over the properties on Concepcion Street.
Lozano, who wanted to get
the item passed swiftly, said that he had spoken to the owner “And of course we
don’t want nothing to, you know, get the area, uh, cosmetically, you know,
neat, in other words.” Huh?
Funny how natural it has
become for Lozano’s fellow Council members to ignore his irrelevant and
frequently undecipherable comments.
Anthony Cobos, without
skipping a beat, proclaimed that he agreed with Wardy about protecting the
integrity of the properties around the medical school.
Luis de la Cruz,
representing the owner, addressed the Council and claimed that in all his years
dealing with zoning issues, he’d never known City Council to reject a
“down-zoning.” While he was
impassioned, he never got out of line; nevertheless, Wardy, the diplomat, said,
“We’re not wanting to persecute your client…don’t get excited.”
Wardy continued, warning de
la Cruz that, “At some point, I would envision the hospital district, the
medical school or the City to buy all those properties in that block area for
the expansion of the medical school.”
He’s right. But, what can I say except “wow.” When the previous mayor simply mentioned
purchasing nearby properties as a possibility, many folks (including Vivian
Rojas and Anthony Cobos) were outraged.
The hypocrisy of Wardy & Co. marches on.
Once the presentation by
City staff was over, it was time for the public hearing.
BHI*:
Betraying Historic Improvements
*Wardy’s definition, anyway
The first person on the list
was Gilbert Guillen, the Executive Director of the Border Health Institute (http://www.r10.tdh.state.tx.us/obh/bhi/bhi.htm),
otherwise known as the BHI. For those
of you unfamiliar with the BHI, the website can provide you with some
information. Here’s what I pulled: “The Border Health Institute is a comprehensive
physical complex dedicated to research, service, and education of our
community. The central piece, but certainly not the only partner, must be a
medical school” (http://www.r10.tdh.state.tx.us/obh/bhi/faqs.htm).
How Mr. Guillen has helped
further that cause is beyond me because I haven’t heard a peep about the BHI
since this mayor was elected and since Guillen took the reins of the
organization. What the BHI could have been is another issue.
Clearly, though, the BHI has
a stake in the development of this area and I was delighted that Mr. Guillen
would be speaking. I assumed he’d be
advocating for protecting the integrity of the medical school and its surrounding
area.
When Richarda Momsen called
out for Mr. Guillen, letting him know it was his turn to speak, it became
apparent that Mr. Guillen wasn’t around.
Now there’s representation!
When it was Lisa Turner’s
turn, she asked a great question (as usual):
Why not create a zoning overlay to protect the properties surrounding
the school? (Maybe we should hire Turner to be the ED at the BHI. She at least is more concerned than
Guillen.)
George Sarmiento, the
Director of Planning, remarked that he, too, thought it was an excellent question. “We’ve been approached,” he said, “I guess
we’ve had an informal request to work with Texas Tech and the BHI to do
planning in this area, to do a conceptual plan for future land uses and that
could very well turn into an overlay-type zone.”
Wardy, who has done
virtually nothing to advance the goals of the BHI during his tenure as mayor of
El Paso, said contemptuously, “Okay, George, I’d like to instruct you today,
the BHI is not a stakeholder because they don’t own any land.”
Interesting…according to the
website, the BHI includes the City, Texas Tech and Thomason Hospital – all of
whom own land in that area. So by
virtue of its very makeup, not only does the BHI own land, but it’s also an
important stakeholder.
Wardy, who might have sensed
he had (once again) put his foot in his mouth by openly expressing his complete
disregard for the BHI, added, “Not that the BHI shouldn’t be involved, but they
don’t own anything there.”
Representative Cook asked
Lozano, who was ready to approve the zoning change, to stipulate in his motion
that the property owner be required to bring back a site plan (which would
detail the way the property would be used and what it would look like) before
getting the final zoning change.
But that just made too much
sense. After all, the City should
indeed do everything in its power to ensure that the property surrounding the
area doesn’t denigrate the multi-million dollar investment that’s being made
there. It would be foolish for the City
to proceed haphazardly and without careful planning and thoughtful review.
But then again, this is the
Wardy administration we’re talking about here.
So what happened?
Naturally, Lozano rejected
Cook’s request. So this “concern”
expressed by Wardy, Cobos and others about the property…all just lip service.
The motion to approve the
zoning change without the site plan was approved 6-1 with John Cook being the
only person to truly be concerned about seeing what the property would look
like before approving the change.
Neighborhoods Last?
This week, Council approved
zoning changes on the following two items despite pleas from the neighborhoods
and the neighborhood associations:
20D. An Ordinance changing the zoning of Westerly 42
Feet of Lot 17 to 20 and the Westerly 42 Feet of the Southerly 16 feet of Lot
16, Block 20, Alexander Addition, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas (501 East
California Avenue) from A-2 (Apartment) to A-O (Apartment/Office). The penalty being as provided in Chapter
20.68 of the El Paso Municipal Code. Applicant: Jamie Barron. ZON04-00110. (District 8) (Attachment) [Planning,
Research and Development, Jorge Rousselin, (915) 541-4723]
20G. An Ordinance changing the zoning of Tract 2B,
Block 14, Ysleta Grant, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas (Lomaland Drive South of
North Loop Drive) from R-4 (Residential) to A-2 (Apartment). The penalty being as provided in Chapter
20.68 of the El Paso Municipal Code.
Applicant: Oscar Andrade. ZON04-00114
THIS IS AN APPEAL CASE.
(District 7) (Attachment) Planning,
Research and Development, Fred Lopez, (915) 541-4925]
Item 20D was back from last
week, and if you’ll recall, I told you about the fact that Jamie Barron is
Cushing’s neighbor and his appointee to two different boards. The change was approved unanimously.
And despite Rojas’ request
(and the request of the neighborhood) to deny zoning on 20G, Council approved
the change on this one, too.
Uppin’ the Payscale
The last item to be
discussed was one which was taken off the consent agenda by Representative John
Cook:
6H. That the Classification and Compensation Plan,
shall be amended, as recommended by the Civil Service Commission. The class of DEPUTY CITY MANAGER is hereby
revised as specified in the duties and responsibilities attached hereto. The Code will remain 5869. The Grade shall be EX AA. (Attachment) [Human Resources,
Terry A. Bond, (915) 541-4509]
Mr. Cook explained that
approving this change would increase two of the three Deputy City Manager’s
salaries from a range of $85,348-13,304 to $90,546-142,483.
City Manager Joyce Wilson
explained that the position Deputy City Manager Bill Chapman is vacating exists
at the higher rate; all she was doing was bringing up the other two Deputy City
Manager positions (currently held by Pat Adauto and Debbie Hamlyn) to the same
salary.
Cook asked why the salary of
the one position couldn’t just be dropped down to meet that of the other two
positions, and Wilson said she could’ve done that but chose to do it the other
way around instead. Ultimately, she
reminded him, the decision would be up to Council.
Cook reminded her and
Council that he didn’t believe the increase would be fair “in light of the fact
that no city employees received a cost of living increase.” In fact, he reminded them that City
employees hadn’t received a COLA since February 3, 2002 (during the Caballero
administration). He stressed that this
increase for the upper-echelon staff would “send the wrong message,” and that
the salaries are already very good for El Paso.
Cushing and Cobos, of
course, spoke in favor of raising the salaries and Rpbert Cushing called Cook’s
concern “an emotional argument.” At
least he feels for the employees, Bob.
You, on the other hand, only have feelings for your patrónes.
The item passed, and of
course, the only person voting against the increase was Representative John
Cook – frequently, the lone voice of reason on Council and the only one who can
consistently be counted on to vote his conscience.
Presi’ing On
And
that was that.
As
a reminder to my readers, pretty soon newly-(re)elected District 5
representative Presi Ortega will be joining the crew. Will he, like John Cook, fight the cronyism, the corruption, the
hypocrisy and the ignorance? Or will he
join Wardy’s crony crew? Given Mr.
Ortega’s past performance on Council, I have strong suspicions on this
score.
But
we’ll have to wait and see…and I’ll tell ya…I can’t wait to see.
Until
next week.
Comments or questions: shmaven@yahoo.com
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