12.14.2004
An arroyo is destroyed, a
mayor gets lots of exercise, and Cushing looks for a joint. (I won’t be happy until he and his cronies
are in the joint.) It’s all in a day’s work at the Wardyland
City Council, my friends.
Out Lookin’ for “A Data”?
This week, our buddy,
Alexandro Lozano, called in sick to work:
7.
REQUEST TO EXCUSE ABSENT CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS: Alexandro Lozano
Strange as it might sound, I
was a bit disappointed. I have come to
look forward to his logically-challenged language-mangling remarks. Oh, well.
There’s always Robert Cushing, whose equally upsetting use of the
English language lends itself to some good laughs for this columnist.
The Last Green Valley
The first public item was
the following:
2. "Video
Presentation on Saving the Valley".
[Mary Frances Keisling, President of Save the Valley Neighborhoods First
Civic Association]
Mary Frances Keisling of the
Save the Valley group introduced a documentary that the entire community needs
to see. It was a short, lovely film
about the last green belt in our community:
The upper valley. The
documentary was a collection of stories by upper valley neighbors about their
area and it showcased the beauty of the wetlands, arroyos and ranchland in that
area. In the film, at least two
speakers attested to the fact that El Paso does not have a “housing crisis” (a
myth championed by Wardy, who was trying to please his developer-contributors
on election night by proclaiming “We're short 30,000 homes in this community!” http://www.borderlandnews.com/May2003elex/stories/20030504-109071.shtml). In that film, these same speakers also
advocated revitalizing the inner city and reasonable development that respects
open spaces and farmland.
When the short film was all
over, Wardy thanked the group and said, “Let’s move on…there’s no action on
this item.” Indeed. That’s the problem in a nutshell.
Arroyos, continued
The
film by Save the Valley was a perfect introduction to the next three items,
which were placed on the agenda by one of my favorite community activists,
Stuart Mitchell:
3. Discussion
and Action concerning the receipt of and response to a petition from El Paso
residents concerning protection of the Wildwood Arroyo. [Stuart Mitchell,
President of Mountain Arroyos Neighborhood Association]
4. Discussion
and Action concerning the establishment of a committee composed of a
representative of the PSB, a representative of the City Attorney's office, a
representative of a Land Preservation Trust and a representative of the leaders
of recognized El Paso Neighborhood Associations for the purpose of developing a
joint policy between the City Council and the PSB for utilization of Land Swaps
and Land Trusts as effective tools for the protection of land areas of special
interest in the smart growth and development of El Paso. [Stuart Mitchell, President of Mountain
Arroyos Neighborhood Association]
5. Discussion and Action concerning directing
the staff, in cooperation with Neighborhood Association leaders to draft an
appropriate ordinance for consideration by City Council within 45 days to
establish a moratorium on the issuance of building permits, approval of site
plan or subdivision plans or other development or construction in any arroyo
area in El Paso. [Stuart Mitchell, President of Mountain Arroyos Neighborhood
Association]
After
reading those agenda items, you know Mitchell’s tired of fooling around with
these guys and is ready for them to take some real action.
“Before
you begin,” said Wardy, “you’ve got three items on the agenda, how do you want
to approach this?”
Mitchell
said he wanted about 15-20 minutes to discuss all three of the items, and Wardy
said, “You’ve got ten…I wanna explain something to the citizens…we try to limit
the public portion of the agenda to 3-5 minutes.” Wardy called Mitchell’s
desire to address Council and lobby on behalf of his items “unusual” because,
he said, “it’s usually better to do it on a private basis,” one-on-one style
when Council is “more relaxed.”
Uh-huh. I don’t for a minute doubt that folks like
Cobos, Cushing and Wardy love those private meetings, behind closed doors and
away from public scrutiny. Most of us,
Mr. Wardy, prefer you do your dealings in public. I know it’s a cliché, but with Wardy & Co., sunshine really
is the best disinfectant.
Mitchell presented a
petition to Council signed by 650 voters in El Paso who oppose development on
the Wildwood arroyo that asked that the City enforce its current policy.
So Sue Me
Mitchell mentioned a couple
of troubling statements made at recent meetings they’ve had with City
representatives. He said one of the
reps claimed their only job as elected officials is to make sure there are EMS
and fire trucks. “What we really elect
each of you to do is to preserve a government we can trust… we cannot trust the
Planning staff to defend our interests.”
Mitchell described the other statement made by a City representative and
said he and the citizens need help with the “outrageous situation when I sit
with one of the members of Council and the response is ‘well you can go to the
court and get an injunction.’” Clearly,
the City representative (or representatives) who made those statements don’t
care about long-range planning and careful, well-thought development or the
needs of the entire community.
Mitchell asked Council to
“rise up and take control of the situation and protect the City, protect the
citizens, protect the arroyos,” and suggested two ways Council can do
that: 1. Work out a joint plan with the
PSB whereby the land of the city that is of special importance can be swapped;
2. Begin to explore the idea of land trusts.
“Let’s restore the rule of
law to our city and not have a city where the staff ignores laws while they
approve further and further uncontrolled development in our city,” Mitchell
said. “We need to create an ordinance
that creates some protection, but we need some protection until we can create
that ordinance,” he said, which was his logic behind the moratorium mentioned
in item 5. Mitchell acknowledged that
the City is already working on that in the water conveyance committee, which he
says is working hard, and said, “But as you probably have already heard they’re
way behind schedule. A committee that
originally was set up to take 90 days is beyond its 90 days and needs at least
another 90 or 120 days.”
Cobos’s Distraction Tactics, Part 100
Cobos, who loves to try to
change the subject (in very un-subtle ways) asked staff to clarify language in
the building code (Title 19, Subdivisions).
The preservation folks had mentioned this part of the code in the past
(although no one had mentioned it at the meeting that day). Here is the code Cobos was referring to (http://ordlink.com/codes/elpaso/index.htm):
Chapter 19.16 IMPROVEMENT STANDARDS AND DESIGN
PRINCIPLES; 9.16.050 Stormwater design. H. Preservation of Natural Arroyos.
Arroyos shall be preserved in their natural state, except that improvements or
modifications may be made in accordance with designs approved by the deputy
director for building services when such improvements or modifications are
necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare. (Ord. 13956 §§
116--118, 1999; Ord. 13111 § 1 (part), 1997)
After a discussion about the
code, Cobos proclaimed that it “does not say that building in arroyos is
prohibited.”
Okay. So now we know where Cobos really stands.
Vivian Rojas said she was
willing to discuss this issue in a legislative review committee meeting, and
Stuart Mitchell said that the problem goes beyond what can be done in a
meeting. “The issues far more go to our
concerns about the trust in our government and whether the staff works by rule
of law or rule of developer and whether or not you are willing to initiate a
process and develop a long-term plan and hold off and preserve the status quo
in the city now until that land can be made clear so we don’t have more
destruction before we get the plan in place,” responded Mitchell.
Representative Cook said
that his interpretation of the ordinance says “the only time we should be
developing an arroyo is when it’s necessary to protect people’s health safety
and welfare.” There was plenty of applause
to that statement. He said the
moratorium should be considered today because it’s an “old rule” and one that
is worthy of pursuing.
Wardy, fearless leader that
he is, once again tried to straddle both sides of the fence in public (Careful,
Joe, that’s a good way to hurt your you-know-whats—assuming you’ve got
‘em). He said, “The fact of reality is
that laws are like humans they leave themselves to, the 9 of us here could have
various interpretations of item H on here, but I think you’ve made a good
argument.” Sorry, Mr. Joe, but in
addition to being a very poor imitation of English, that statement is
meaningless. The El Paso Times, on the other hand, seemed to see Wardy’s empty
rhetoric as profound:
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/opinion/ourviews/20041218-1461.shtml. But then, what else should we expect from
them?
Wardy continued, adding, “It
begs a debate and a discussion as we go forward in our City…it begs a
legislative review and a discussion with the various efforts.”
And these folks have been
begging for your help, but where has that gotten them?
Back on Track
Mitchell, who had the floor
once again and who has clearly come to know Cobos’s tactics very well, made
note of how far away from his point the discussion had moved. He said, “I don’t want us to be distracted
here by focusing on subsection H of one particular statute. That’s a red herring.” He brought the discussion back to the original
focus: He wants Council to devise a
policy to halt the destruction.
Mitchell also said that on an informal basis, the PSB agreed to look
into devising a policy and he was asking City Council to do the same.
“The real issue is are we
willing to find a policy that will develop the tools to protect our city…and
will we stop destroying portions of our city while we’re…getting things in
motion,” said Mitchell.
“It’s real difficult to make
comments or make commitments on behalf of the Public Service Board,” said
Wardy, again, offering no leadership or commitments to the group.
Susan Austin said, “There is
so much to say on this topic and this is not the place to say it.” She explained that they are asking for a
“halt” with any new development and she said that the City legally cannot do
it.
Mitchell replied, “There are
many things that you can do to simply get the staff to work toward preserving
the status quo and not making irrationally quick decisions about things that
need to be given more thoughtful consideration. There are many options that you have that can be pursued…I am not
asking you to violate the law.”
City Manager Joyce Wilson
said she had met with Mr. Mitchell, had noted his concerns about City Planning
staff, and would look into whether or not the City is doing its due diligence
regarding ordinance enforcement. She
promised to report back to Council before the end of the year.
The problem, folks, is that
the staff gets their orders and direction from the top. I can’t believe that they simply decide to
be developer-friendly on their own. It
would be my guess that they believe they must be developer-friendly in order to
please the bosses on the 10th floor. El Paso is littered with ex-City Hall employees who failed to
goose-step to the Wardy tune.
Hopefully, Wilson can change that ethic.
Wardy, who can never just
make a declaration of commitment or take the lead on issues like this,
proclaimed, “I’m gonna tell you that I believe that this issue, Mr. Mitchell,
calls for a special City Council meeting just to address the facts surrounding
the Public Service Board…Ms. Wilson’s investigation…and the ancillary issues…I
would ask the Mayor Pro Tem and he would call, or maybe I would call a special
City Council meeting.”
John Cook interjected and
said he supports a special meeting. He
also had to be the one to remind Wardy that the mayor (not the mayor pro tem)
calls the special city council meetings.
I love it. Wardy’s official
powers have been whittled down to calling special city council meetings, making
board appointments, and presiding over regular Council meetings, but he can’t
even remember those duties!
“Well
I was just checking, but I’ll do it” replied Wardy.
Wardy then thanked Mitchell
and…thinking this makes him a statesman, offered more empty rhetoric: “This is an issue, but from constructive
dialogue, you know democracy can be a very painful process, okay, but from
constructive dialogue comes good law.”
Wardy ended the discussion
by promising to call a special City Council meeting early into 2005.
Here’s a little update. Just as I was finishing my beans and franks
for dinner this evening, I was watching the local news. The lead story on Channel 7 was about Mr.
Mitchell and the Wildwood Arroyo he’s been fighting to preserve (near
Westwind). Apparently, the Mayor and
Council’s refusal to take any action or show any leadership on this issue has
emboldened the Wildwood developer.
According to Mitchell, who was standing in the Wildwood Arroyo in front
of a moving bulldozer for the story, the developer went ahead and had his
bulldozers scrape away the plant life and topsoil of the arroyo. Mitchell, who surely was watching his worst
fears being realized, claimed that the developer didn’t have the permits
required to do it but was doing it anyway.
Since it was a Saturday, City Hall was closed, and nothing could be done
to stop it at that point.
This is what poor, cowardly
(or should I say COWARDY) and corrupt leadership gets us.
Cowardy Won’t Go Down Without A Fight
The following item was back
on the Mass Transit Board agenda from two weeks ago; it’s the one that awarded
Funk & Co. a bid. I can’t give you
the exact item because the City failed to post the Mass Transit Board meeting
agenda online this week, so here’s the item as posted two weeks ago:
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.
Solicitation No.: 2005-005
Sun Metro Administration & Depot Building HVAC Replacement
Award to: Funk
and Company El Paso, Texas
Item (s): HVAC
replacement
Department: Sun
Metro
Funds available: 60600011-G600444-11646-508003 $177,200.08
60600011-G600441-11643-508003 $262,000.00
60600011-G600441-11643-508008 $178,799.92
Funding source: Federal
Transportation Administration Grants
Items Base
Bid $618,000.00
Total Award: $618,000.00
District: 8
Action: 04-70
Purchasing, Engineering and Mass Transit
(Sun Metro) Departments recommend award as indicated, as this vendor has
provided the Best Value Bid. (Attachment)
This week, it was listed as
item 4 and once it was read into the record, Cobos moved to approve the
item. As we shall see, Cowardy really,
really works hard for the money (campaign contribution-wise, that is).
Wardy, who was trying to
railroad the award as subtly as possible, told Council that members of the
public had signed up to speak on the item.
Richarda Momsen, the Municipal Clerk, (the person with the sign-in
sheet) informed Wardy that no one had signed up. Hmm.
That didn’t seem to
matter. Albert Gamboa, the owner of
Thermodyn and Wardy’s biggest campaign contributor, just happened to be
standing in the audience, waiting to convince Council to award the bid to him,
not to Funk & Co (the company that won the award fair and square).
Gamboa said that his company
had never been terminated from any job as was stated at the previous Mass
Transit Board meeting. He also said,
“As we speak, Thermodyn is completing the so-called Texas Tech job that is
being discussed.” Gamboa also said that
a letter given to the City claiming that Thermodyn had problems on desalination
well was not true; in fact, he said his company was recently congratulated by
the Water Utilities because of the “quickness” of the job completion.
Cobos then withdrew his
motion, proclaimed Thermodyn was the lowest bidder, and asked Byron Johnson for
a copy of the bid tabulation.
Gamboa said he had
documentation with him showing that the Public Service Board just awarded a
$2.2 million job to Thermodyn two weeks prior and said, “I don’t understand
what really’s going on.”
Wardy then asked Byron
Johnson, Director of Purchasing, to answer some questions. Wardy said that in the backup was another
letter. This one was from Fernie Silva,
a construction manager, to El Paso Water Utilities, documenting poor
performance by Thermodyn on a Water Utility project. Acting as if this were all Johnson’s fault, Wardy complained,
“Here’s my quandary, we recognized Thermodyn at a PSB meeting…and then I see a
letter saying they did a poor job on the contract…this is very confusing…when
we [the PSB] acknowledge them for doing a good job and on the other hand a
letter is circulated…saying they didn’t…so how does this work, Mr. Johnson.”
Johnson said that when
Council insisted that work Thermodyn had completed for the Water Utility be
included in a review of work history, his department asked the Water Utility
for a copy of the vendor file rating, which included the letters of complaint
Wardy referred to. “This is why there
is a separate category for the work that is not the City work that was under
control of Engineering or…one of our departments is because we have to take
second hand information. We don’t have first
hand information, but the file that you have here is exactly what the Water
Utilities furnished us.” Johnson went
on to say that this was one of the reasons why Thermodyn didn’t get a perfect
score on the bid tabulation.
Hmmm. Very interesting. So the guy who oversaw the work that Thermodyn did on the Water
Utility contract wrote a letter of complaint to the Utility, which was placed
in their file and now the City has a copy of that file.
Johnson mentioned another
letter, this one from Texas Tech.
“When we contacted Texas Tech, they did provide the letter that is a
notice of termination. We did contact
Texas Tech back again and the contract is currently being done by the bonding
company…and it is seven months behind schedule.” Now that’s an impressive record, folks. You won me over, Joe.
Wardy then asked Gamboa to
respond to the letter from Texas Tech University and Gamboa said he had
documentation to contradict the letter in his file where “Texas Tech agrees to
rescind the default and termination of Thermodyn and is stating Thermodyn is
contractor of record,” and the letter was dated April 2004.
Seems to me that Byron
Johnson and the City, which asked for this information only two weeks ago would
have the most recent information.
Wardy, who seemed to be
angry at Byron Johnson for screwing up his bid-rigging attempt, complained that
he was confused. Johnson explained that
the letters only brought their performance rating levels to “above average” and
not “perfect.”
Cook asked that if in Johnson’s
opinion, the analysis of the bids was done in a fair manner and Johnson said it
was.
Cook
moved to approve the bid.
Before Cook could get a
second, Cobos decided to try another tactic.
Instead of building up Thermodyn, which they clearly could not do, it
appeared as if he would try to tear down Funk & Co.
Cobos wanted to know
specifics about Thermodyn’s competitor, Funk & Co. and wanted to know why
they scored well on the category that outlined past business with the
City. Johnson explained that they came
in on schedule, on budget and without liquidated damages. Cobos then asked Johnson to name the
projects; and when Johnson said he wasn’t sure, but that the Funk & Co.
representative was there and could respond, Cobos demanded from Johnson, “Wait
a minute, Mr. Johnson, I’m asking you the question. You know what Thermodyn did wrong. What did Funk do right?”
Johnson had already answered
that question (the work came in on time, on budget, etc.).
Johnson said “You asked
which contract at the City; I don’t know off the top of my head. I’m not on the committee, I just review it.”
Cobos
continued, asking more questions about Funk & Co.
Wardy, who was extremely
angry and all but yelling at Johnson, complained, “The problem is, Mr. Johnson,
Council asked these questions at the previous meeting…there should be somebody
here who can speak to how this was compiled.”
Johnson said that the
process was followed by the committee and sort of shrugged, as if to say “I
don’t know what else you want.”
Susan Austin said she was
happy to follow the staff recommendation but said, “I think it all goes back to
maybe there are too many points that are allowed to shift around in this
subjective category.” She then seconded
Cook’s motion.
Presi Ortega said, “For the
benefit of the public we are looking at a difference of almost $40,000, but I’m
concerned that in looking at these letters are there conflicts in personality?”
What a crock! Last time, when it was discovered that
Thermodyn had been debarred by the state, Wardy complained that maybe, just
maybe, they hadn’t had an opportunity to defend themselves and blamed it
(possibly) on faulty design. Well, we
know that wasn’t true. Now it’s
Ortega’s turn to be an apologist for Gamboa, and he’s throwing out “personality
conflicts” between Gamboa and Texas Tech and the Water Utility contractor as a
possibility. Right, Presi. I see where your loyalties lie. My own worst fears are being realized.
Cook reminded Council that
they could either accept staff’s recommendations or move to reject all the
bids.
Cobos asked various other
questions about the committee and their decisions and then asked if the
committee’s meeting was recorded.
Johnson said that they are not and Cobos said, “I think they should.” Maybe so, but your mayor, Mr. Cobos,
believes that Stuart Mitchell should try to wheel and deal you all in
private. What hypocrisy!
“Since we’re flushing out
this bid again, another process, is there a representative here from Funk,”
said Rojas.
Alex Aguirre, the Vice
President of Funk & Co. said he had just completed over a million dollars
worth of work for the City and he reminded Council that “best value” has been
put in place by City Council and was not intended to go to the lowest bid but
instead to the best value.
Wardy said that because the
PSB “has a perception” that Thermodyn does a very good job, but the engineer
that handled the work had written a letter alerting the City to poor
performance by Thermodyn, he was confused.
All this confusion on poor Wardy’s part. Clearly, spending over a year sitting in close proximity to
Alexandro Lozano is taking its toll on the Mayor. Wardy then said something that nearly made me gasp out loud: “We’re trying to have some fairness and some
balance in this exercise.” I know the man has no sense of propriety or
ethics; but this statement proves he has absolutely no sense of irony
either.
It’s Enough to Make a Person Go Into a
Funk
Before the vote to award the
bid could be taken, Presi Ortega made a motion to postpone the item for one
month (a motion to postpone takes precedence over any other motions). The only two individuals voting against the
postponement were Cook and Rojas; all the others, including Wardy (who is a member
of the mass transit board) and Austin (who had seconded the motion).
Brother Joe Will Explain It All for You
“We need a little more
sophisticated presentation on how we get here,” Wardy told Terry Lee Scott, the
director of mass transit. “I don’t feel
like you all were prepared adequately to discuss this with Council…there’s
questions that beg to be answered here in an issue with fairness,” complained
Wardy. “I think that the thought process from our process is Council is a
little confused.” Huh? (As always, dear reader, this is an exact
quote.)
But, Joe, you’re right. City staff and some Councilors clearly are
confused. Staff seems to think that
awards should be made on merit. But
you, Cobos, Cushing and now Presi will straighten them out. I can hear it now. Listen up, people. Forget
about “best value” and all those confusing categories. It’s really very simple. Awards are made by referring to my
contribution lists. As you can see, it’s a very simple exercise. What’s wrong with you people? Why can’t you get with the program?
And that was that. The item was postponed yet again, and I’m
going to make the same recommendation I always do to the jilted bidder…get
yourself a lawyer!
Need a Cure for Insomnia?
For
all you minute-obsessed fans out there, here they are:
6. APPROVAL OF
MINUTES: [Municipal
Clerk, Richarda Duffy Momsen, (915) 541-4127] Approval of Minutes for the
Regular City Council Meeting of December 7, 2004 and the Special City Council
Meeting of December 3, 2004.
(Attachment) Minutes for Regular
City Council Meeting of December 07,
2004
(Attachment) Minutes for Special
City Council Meeting of December 03,
2004
Limpia
anyone?
I
found the following appointment especially interesting:
13. That the salary of Philip P. LoPiccolo for
the position of Executive Assistant (Mayor & Council) be set at $62,000
effective January 10, 2005. (Attachment) [Mayor Joe Wardy, (915)
541-4145]
It seems that our
Congressman, Silvestre Reyes, is letting go of a staff member so that Wardy can
have him. The Reyes brothers are big
fans of Wardy. Silver’s brother, Chuy,
played a huge role in the Wardy for Mayor campaign, and of course, they also share
a generous benefactor and advisor:
Martie Jobe. It makes perfect
sense for them to share staff now.
Phillip LoPiccolo, who is
replacing Laura Uribarri, is said to be a very nice guy, and I don’t doubt he
is. In an article in the Times, though, and in a press release
issued this week, Wardy said “LoPiccolo will be
responsible for facilitating the City’s state and federal legislative
priorities. He will also work on policy matters and local legislative
issues unique to the Office of the Mayor.”
My question is what state
and federal legislative priorities?
I’ve pointed out many times that Wardy’s legislative agendas are
painfully, embarrassingly unambitious, lack all creativity, and don’t plan for
the future. One of his biggest
legislative priorities at the federal level is getting more buses for Sun
Metro. While that’s a worthy goal, it
should only be one of a long list of things we ask our federal government
for. If we don’t ask for more money, we
sure ain’t gonna get it.
And why on earth Wardy needs
staff to help him draft these meager and mediocre legislative agendas, especially
since his main role now is to be a figurehead, is beyond me. Why doesn’t he do it?
Uribarri’s staff position
should have been deleted from the Mayor’s Office and shifted over to the City
Manager’s Office. Joyce Wilson is the
individual who now runs the show and needs as much administrative support to do
her job as possible. But noooooo. Wardy wants to pretend he’s still the BMOC
(Big Man On Campus). By the way, John
Cook, who declared his candidacy for mayor last week, has promised that as mayor,
he will retain minimal staff and shift the excess over to the City Manager, who
really needs it.
And although LoPiccolo
clearly has experience with governmental issues, I found it so very interesting
that his master’s degree was in Anthropology and specifically in
curanderismo. Curanderismo is the
Mexican folk healing art.
During one of the low points
of the meeting, as my mind wandered, I wondered if we couldn’t engage LoPiccolo
to perform a “limpia” (a cleansing) of all the cronies and the partners in
corruption on the 10th floor.
But maybe he’s there to make sure that Wardy avoids “mal ojo” (or the
evil eye…in Wardy’s case, he probably considers the evil eye the watchful eye
of the FBI…although he doesn’t seem to need a curandero to help him ward those
guys off…they seem to be asleep at the wheel).
Code for Boring
Because this Mayor and (the
majority of) Council is eager to please its builder/developer buddies, they
voted (not unanimously) to move items 29C through 29I up to the forefront in order
to accommodate Ray Adauto, President of the El Paso Association of
Bowlings…er…Builders. Can you guess who
the lone dissenting voice was? That’s
right, boys and girls, it was Representative John Cook, who clearly must
believe in consistency and either applying the rules to everyone or breaking
the rules for everyone.
All
the items had to do with rewriting City Building Codes.
29C. An Ordinance amending Title 2 (Administration
and Personnel) of the El Paso City Code, by revising Chapter 2.30 (Building
Board of Appeals), to incorporate the responsibilities of the Electrical Board
of Appeals (Codified currently as Chapter 2.34), to incorporate the
responsibilities of the Plumbing/HVAC Board (Codified currently as Chapter
2.32), and to make significant changes to the board. (Attachment) [Building Permits &
Inspections, R. Alan Shubert, (915) 541-4557]
29D. An Ordinance amending Title 18 (Building and
Construction), Chapter 18.08 (Building Code), of the El Paso City Code, to
adopt the 2003 edition of the International Building Code with changes
appropriate for the City of El Paso with penalties not to exceed Two-Thousand
Dollars ($2,000.00) per day per violation as provided in Section 18.02.107 of
the El Paso City Code. (Attachment) [Building Permits and
Inspections, R. Alan Shubert, (915) 541-4557]
29F. An Ordinance amending Title 18 (Building and
Construction), Chapter 18.12 (Mechanical Code), of the El Paso City Code, to
adopt the 2003 edition of the International Mechanical Code and with changes
appropriate for the City of El Paso, with penalties not to exceed Two Thousand
Dollars ($2,000.00) per day per violation as provided in Section 18.02.107 of
the El Paso City Code. (Attachment) [Building Permits and
Inspections, R. Alan Shubert, (915) 541-4557]
29G. An Ordinance amending Title 18 (Building and
Construction), Chapter 18.20 (Plumbing Code), of the El Paso City Code, to
adopt the 2003 edition of the International Plumbing Code with changes
appropriate for the City of El Paso and with penalties not to exceed
Two-Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) per day per violation as provided in Section 18.02.107 of the El
Paso City Code. (Attachment) [Building Permits and
Inspections, R. Alan Shubert, (915) 541-4557]
29H. An Ordinance amending Title 18 (Building and
Construction), by creating Chapter 18.10 (Residential Code), of the El Paso
City Code and adopting the 2003 edition of the International Residential Code
with changes appropriate for the City of El Paso, with penalties not to exceed
Two-Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) per day per violation as provided in Section
18.02.107 of the El Paso City Code. (Attachment) [Building Permits and
Inspections, R. Alan Shubert, (915) 541-4557]
29I. An Ordinance amending Title 18 (Building and
Construction), Chapter 18.24 (Gas Code), of the El Paso City Code, to adopt the
2003 edition of the International Fuel Gas Code and with changes appropriate
for the City of El Paso, with penalties not to exceed Two-Thousand Dollars
($2,000.00) per day per violation as provided in Section 18.02.107 of the El
Paso City Code. (Attachment) [Building Permits and
Inspections, R. Alan Shubert, (915) 541-4557]
29E. An Ordinance amending Title 9 (Health and
Safety) Chapter 9.52 (Fire Prevention Code) by adopting the book entitled
"International Fire Code, 2003 Edition," with penalties not to exceed
Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) per day per violation as provided in Sections
9.52.109.3 (Violation Penalties) and 9.52.111.4 of the El Paso Municipal
Code. (Attachment) [Building Permits and
Inspections, R. Alan Shubert, (915) 541-4557]
Wardy wanted to be sure
there was input from “the industry” and Alan Shubert assured him that there
was. All items were approved without
public comment.
How ‘Bout that Downtown Mayor? (Wait A Minute, I Thought Caballero Lost)
I had been anxiously waiting
for the following item (which had been deleted from the agenda two weeks ago):
24B. Discussion and action on a Resolution that the
City Council appoints the City Manager or her designee to negotiate with the
appropriate parties to allow the City to fund and participate in the Paso del
Norte's Master Plan. (Attachment) [Mayor Pro-Tem Anthony W.
Cobos, (915) 541-4123]
Cobos announced that this
item was being made possible by the “Paseo” del Norte Group (and at other
times, he called it the “Pasel” Norte Group) and said that the group had “made
the rounds.”
Wardy said that “the
criticism will come that we have plans, but we don’t have master plans…people
would sit around the table and say ‘now what?’” He added that this is “not being driven by government,” but was
instead being driven by the private sector (with one third of the money coming
from government) and Wardy said the idea has “widespread community support.”
Representative Cook pointed
out that there are “boxes” of downtown development plans and said that while
he’s not against developing downtown, he’s concerned that when this master plan
was first begun under the Ramirez administration (conducted by the Linebarger
group), it would be an implementation plan.
It was not. He asked what would
be different with this plan and with the money the public would be putting in,
which totals about $750,000.
Mike Breitinger from the
Downtown Management District said that the plan Cook referred to was incomplete
and this plan would include the Segundo Barrio neighborhood and retail
development. He said that once the plan
is complete, it would be used to draw national developers. Breitinger also said that for the first
time, there was private sector leadership that would help.
World Class Hypocrisy
Cushing made a staged
attempt to point out that the City would not immediately be expending funds and
then Cobos, reading from notes, launched into a list of questions that needed
to be answered by a “world class master plan.”
At one point, without a trace of irony in his voice, he said that a
“world class” master plan might require a new TIF (something he worked to kill
when Caballero was mayor). Using 8th
grade debate class tactics, he kept repeating “we’re not world class master
planners” over and over and over again.
Tony, you’re not world class anything.
Trust me. It was kind of
silly. Poor guy.
Austin pointed out how vague
the resolution is, wondered what the City Manager was being asked to negotiate
and then gave a list of potential negotiation points. “We’re not telling her what the job is that we want done.” She also asked if the City can participate
in mapping out the criteria for the plan.
Wardy, who became irritated
by her question, said that the City was being asked to participate in “a
sophisticated planning document…and in that master plan, they will lay out what
the roles are for the municipal government.
I don’t think we have any idea what we should be doing in this.”
Cobos said he thought the
City Manager should receive “no direction” from the City.
Wardy never answered her
most pertinent question…what is the City Manager going to be negotiating? She said that she didn’t know most of the
details about the project, and gave an unfinished warning: “If somebody can’t articulate what our
role’s gonna be in the up-front process…”
Escobar asked if the Paso
del Norte group was the same group of people who had asked the City to put the
breaks on the arena project at Bassett Center and Wardy said it was not the
same group.
Breitinger said that the
private sector would be driving this, making it less political (how naïve is
this guy?), and mentioned that a tax abatement that was going to be offered to El Diario a couple of years ago to get
them to build their multi-million dollar, job creation downtown press/offices
was politicized and rejected.
Wardy said that a bit of the
money ($100,000) would come from the Public Service Board, and Cook asked where
the rest of the money would come from.
Cushing, a member of the
Central Appraisal District Board of Directors, then said that the Central Appraisal
District “didn’t spend all their money in their budget this year…we’re entitled
to a quasi refund of money and it’s a significant amount of money.” (Suddenly,
we’re awash in money!)
An (Incredibly Irritating) Exercise in
Limited Vocabulary
Wardy complained about the
lack of action in the past for downtown El Paso. Now isn’ that rich? This
is the same guy who criticized Ray Caballero as a “downtown mayor” and argued that
the City needed a “neighborhood mayor” instead. This is example number . . . oh, I’ve lost count of all the
hypocritical about-faces Wardy has made as our mayor.
“The timing of this exercise couldn’t be better because
there are players and there are leaders in this exercise,” said Wardy.
Ric Schecter said that as a
taxpayer, “It doesn’t seem like this resolution provides any foundation for the
City Manager to go negotiate what the City wants in terms of the plan…Ms.
Austin’s concerns are my concerns.”
Wardy, who had become…say it
with me now…exercised! said, “This is a very organized effort and they need a
positive affirmation that we are willing to participate in this exercise…they believe there needs to be
public participation in this exercise…as
an exercise ongoing we need to give
an indication that we’re going to participate in the exercise…we already did this exercise
once…it wasn’t a balanced exercise and
the world is littered with these types of exercises.”
In the next few minutes, he
used the word exercise another half
a dozen times. I had really exercised
my hand documenting all the sentences using ‘exercise.’ I’ve bolded them for you so you can get a
better idea of the pain your dear Sid must endure.
Schecter recommended that
the neighborhood associations be involved in the planning process and Wardy
asked “What do the neighborhoods have to do with a downtown plan?” Schecter reminded him that he called this a
“community plan” and Wardy had specifically mentioned Chihuahuita.
Wardy, who was clearly
angered, asked, “Why don’t we dare to dream a little bit?”
This time folks, when Wardy
uttered that statement, my irony meter was going nuts and my hypocrisy-detector
was blaring so loud I thought my ears would bleed. I feared that all the noise I was making would disrupt the meeting,
but I couldn’t help it. Well, folks,
you heard it here. “Pie-in-the-sky” is
now in. The pigs are once again walking
upright on two legs and smoking cigars.
Ultimately, Council approved
the item unanimously. Despite my
exercised wrist, I still supported this move.
I’m glad Council is investing in downtown. It’s a jewel that needs to be ripped away from the slumlords who
refuse to get off their arses and either sell the buildings or do something
with them. I hope that this plan moves
us in the right direction; the fact that Wardy & Co. aren’t leading the
effort gives me great comfort.
More:
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/business/20041216-207032.shtml
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes?
Robert Cushing, who was
immensely proud of himself, announced that he wanted to have a “joint” council
meeting with Las Cruces (why he felt the need to put “joint” in quotation marks
is beyond me. Unless, of course, he and
his Cruces counterparts really like to party, if you know what I mean. That could explain the convoluted,
pseudo-lawyerly, high-falutin’, interminable wording of his agenda items):
24C. Discussion and action allowing the City of El
Paso, consistent with previous Council action, to host the first "joint"
City of El Paso/City of Las Cruces meeting, at a location within the City of El
Paso, with the City of El Paso to accept any and all incidental costs in an
amount not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars and no cents ($250.00). [Representative Robert A. Cushing, Jr.,
(915) 541-4996]
Does Bob still think the
wording is brilliant after he comes down to earth? Probably. Vivian Rojas
said that she had concerns because she knew of at least one Las Cruces Council
member who wasn’t pleased about this. I
guess that Council member doesn’t party.
Too bad.
Cushing brushed off those
concerns and said, “They have a council person who is an angry person and kind
of negative about everything.” Whadda
guy! I’m sure that “angry person” will
love hearing how she was referred to by an El Paso Councilor. Man, Bob, just because she walks the
straight and narrow, you don’t have to, like, get all hostile. Some people just aren’t as groovy as you
are.
I wonder if at the same
time, at a Council meeting in Las Cruces, someone was referring to an El Paso
City Council member, saying, “They have a Council person who is a really
disgusting, pompous jerk who alternates between bullying people, spitting in a
plastic cup, yawning, stretching, and scratching his belly between acts of
blatant cronyism.” Wouldn’t that be
weird?
But then Cobos came in right
on cue and proclaimed, “I’d like to congratulate Representative Cushing. This is the kind of foresight, the kind of
planning that we want to show this region.”
I couldn’t have agreed more. As
I sat there, I said to myself, Sid, this is the kind of out-of-the-box,
paradigm-smashing, world-historical thought process that Dubya would just
love. Maybe we can convince Karl Rove
to replace the hapless Don Rumsfeld with Bob Cushing!
Sorry, dear reader. I just got so excited about this fabulous
“exercise” that I lost control. As it
happened at the meeting, my reverie was interrupted when my irony alert meter
and my hypocrisy-detector started blaring again. I was forcibly returned to reality and I suddenly felt
nauseated. I guess this is what is
considered a “big idea” by Cushing and Cobos.
Hey, wait a minute! Now it’s my turn for the big ideas. Let’s put Cushing’s big idea on Wardy’s
state legislative agenda! We can ask LoPiccolo
to figure out how to word that one and then we can ask that the State
Legislature recognize the importance of “joint” council meetings. Do they party in Austin?
What Not To Do
The next item is of no
particular significance, except that it should be put in the “What Not to Do at
Council Meetings” rule book:
18B. Solicitation No. 2005-037R Baseline Screening For Firefighters
Award to: Las Palmas & Del Sol Regional
Healthcare System
El Paso, TX
Item (s)
All
Amount: $164,364.00
(estimated yearly)
Department: Fire
Funds available:
22010090-01101-502111
Funding source:
Operating Funds,
Healthcare Provider Service
Total award:
$493,092.00 (estimated)
District (s): All
Fire Department and Purchasing Department recommends
award as indicated. Las Palmas &
Del Sol Regional Healthcare System, provided the sole proposal that meets all
requirements of the RFP. (Attachment) [Purchasing Department, Ray
Heredia, (915) 541-4316]
A Fire Department staffer
took this item off the consent agenda (which is approved in one, sweeping vote
at the beginning of the meeting) for separate discussion. When the item came up (three hours later) he
said he just wanted to make sure no one had any questions. I held my breath and hoped that Susan Austin
wouldn’t have any…she did (oh no!) but, thank the Almighty, it was a quick one. The item, which could have been approved at
the beginning of the meeting on the consent agenda, was then approved.
Tidbits
And that was it, folks. The agendas and therefore the meetings are
getting shorter, and I wonder if we can thank our City Manager for that. Your old buddy Sid really appreciates
shorter meetings.
As
a wrap-up, here are a few odds and ends I want to share with you.
Thanks
to everyone who helped me assemble that information.
By the way, folks, I’ve
decided to take the next two weeks off to enjoy the holiday and do a little
fishing. I’ll keep one eye on the
Council and the other eye on my fishing line, and I’ll be sure to report back
for duty the first week of January. And
soon after that, let the games begin!
It’ll be my favorite season…campaign season.
To all you folks who, like
me, have to live in Wardyland, have a wonderful holiday. Thanks for the support and the leaks and the
tips. Keep ‘em comin’. And here’s my New Year’s wish: May the coming year bring us ethical,
responsible, exciting candidates and a community that rejects corruption.
Until
2005!
Comments or questions: shmaven@yahoo.com
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