12.28.2004
I’m baaack! I can’t even enjoy a little fishin’ without
our good buddies on Council spoiling my R&R.
But I guess it’s my own
doggone fault. I forgot to send the
memo, folks…my memo to Wardy, Cobos and Cushing asking them to behave while I’m
on vacation. The same one where I ask
them to refrain from acts of corruption, cronyism and incompetence while I’m
out matching wits with my favorite fish.
But since I forgot to send it, they were up to their old tricks. It means that a certain columnist had to
come out of a much needed vacation to keep you all in the loop. There’s a lot to read, folks, so take your
time.
Enforcement: Out to Lunch
The first item was a public
item placed on the agenda by Matthew Carroll, a community activist who has come
before Council many times:
1. Discussion
and action on ways to make the Building Services Dept. more responsive to citizen's concerns. [Matthew F. Carroll]
Citing a developer’s
seemingly illegal actions on a Saturday at the Wildwood Arroyo (an arroyo that
neighbors have been fighting to preserve), Carroll said that permit enforcement
by the City is non-existent on weekends (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041219-1884.shtml).
Carroll insisted that
something be done about this loophole in weekend enforcement, and he said he
had a theory about why the loophole has never been closed in the past. “Our elected officials…require two things to
getting into office and remaining in office:
The votes of the people and the financial support of their campaigns…the
lion’s share of which has been provided by builders and developers.” As a result, the elected officials believe
they can hide behind the loophole to keep the developers happy and pay lip
service to the public.
Carroll said if Council
chose not to take any action on closing the loophole at the meeting, he would
keep the discussion going until the election or until Council takes action,
whichever comes first.
Wardy told Carroll he wanted
to “set the record straight” and declared that “the system works.” He said he received a call from a citizen on
the weekend informing him of the scraping of the land at the Wildwood Arroyo
that Saturday, “and I don’t care who donates to who…the law is the same for me
and everyone sitting on this Council. I
share your concern.” He then offered
Carroll more of his typical empty rhetoric, saying, “We have to balance the
needs of the city, the needs of the people and private property rights and
that’s gonna take some time and some real critical discussion in order to make
sure we have good policy going forward.”
When that “real critical
discussion” or that “good policy” would happen, Wardy never said. Of course not. He’ll just keep saying it because he thinks it sounds good and
because he knows most folks will simply accept it (not all folks, though). And what Wardy conveniently forgotten to
mention is that (as of Christmas Day), the developer has yet to be cited for
his illegal action (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041219-1884.shtml). Sorry, Joe, but I’m with Carroll: the system doesn’t “work.”
Stuart Mitchell thanked
Wardy, Susan Austin, the City Manager, and the City Engineer for helping to
stop the work on the arroyo – for the time being. He said that the police, though, had a problem rectifying the
problem immediately. He showed a
photograph (a sad one) of a bulldozer ripping the upper layer off the beautiful
arroyo.
Council
took no action and moved on.
Flashback
For your holiday reading
pleasure, here are plenty of minutes from previous meetings:
2. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES: [Municipal Clerk, Richarda Duffy Momsen, (915) 541-4127] Approval of Minutes for the Regular City
Council Meetings of December 10, 2002, March 4, and April 15, 2003, and
December 21, 2004.
(Attachment)
Minutes for Regular City Council Meeting of December 10, 2002
(Attachment)
Minutes for Regular City Council Meeting of March 04, 2003
(Attachment)
Minutes for Regular City Council Meeting of April 15, 2003
(Attachment)
Minutes for Regular City Council Meeting of December 21, 2004
What I found incredibly
interesting is that minutes for meetings from 2002 and 2003 (meetings held by
the previous administration) were being approved. Wow. Talk about a blast
from the past!
Annoying, Pointless, Interminable
Questions Anyone?
Not
this week!
3. REQUEST
TO EXCUSE ABSENT CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Susan Austin
While I don’t want to appear
ungrateful for Susan Austin’s sometimes pointless and generally mind-numbing
questions, I have to admit, there was a part of me that was relieved she was on
vacation.
Every Dog Has His Day OR David Escobar
Finally Gets His Contract
The following item was
approved on the consent agenda without discussion:
14A. Solicitation No.: 2005-057 Washing of Heavy Duty Equipment
Award to:
Vendor
#1 Horizon Truck Wash El Paso, TX
Item (s):
Group 1
Vendor
#2 A & E Truck & Car Wash El
Paso, TX
Item (s):
Group 2
Total Amount:
$100,000.00 (estimated annually)
Department:
Fleet Services
Funds available:
37370510-45202-503125
Funding source:
Equipment Maintenance, Equipment Outside Services NOC
Total award:
$300,000.00
District (s):
All
Fleet
Services and Purchasing Department recommends award as indicated. Horizon Truck Wash & A & E Truck
& Car Wash were the lowest responsive bidders. This is a 36 month contract with the option to renew for one (1)
additional year. (Attachment)
[Purchasing Department, Ray Heredia, (915) 541-4316]
Remember this car wash bid,
folks? If you read my column regularly,
then of course you do. David Escobar
has been working very, very hard to get this award for his brother, Hector
Escobar (owner of Horizon Truck Wash) over a period of several months. In fact, this Mayor and Council postponed
awarding this bid all summer to accommodate the “vacation and trial schedules”
of one of their patrónes, David Escobar himself.
Despite the fact that the
same small business kept getting awarded the bid, Council re-bid this contract
three times – yes, three times (throwing it out twice)– until finally, David
Escobar’s client won at least part of the award. The City has split up the bid and awarded it to both the original
winner and Horizon Truck Wash, finalizing the action at this week’s meeting.
Before this passed on the
consent agenda, during the revisions section, Diana Nuñez (sitting in for
Municipal Clerk Richarda Momsen who was probably on a well-deserved vacation),
said that David Escobar wanted to take this item off the consent agenda for
separate discussion. Anthony Cobos
(loyal foot soldier for Escobar), who this week was sporting his classic
Mafioso look with a twist (he was wearing a bright orange UTEP polo shirt
beneath his wide collared double breasted grey jacket—sorry, Tony, but it was
not a happy combo), quickly responded to Nuñez’s statement. He said, “He [Escobar] would like to leave
that on consent.” Of course he
would…this time, Escobar got what he needed from his ever loyal
Troikettes. He didn’t get everything he
wanted (the entire contract), but as my old friends Mick and Keith have taught
us, you can’t always get what you want . . . but if you try sometimes, you get
what you need. Actually, Escobar almost
always gets what he needs from this Council.
That’s what owning an elected body is all about.
Yes, folks, the Wardy
cronyism marches on. It’s brazen, it’s
utterly relentless, and it’s happening over and over right under the noses of
law enforcement. I’ve just about given
up hope that the FBI will ever do anything to rein in these guys. And, of course, the cops, who answer to
Wardy, will never lift a finger—in fact, I suspect, just the opposite is the
case. Maybe the FBI should look into
that. But, alas, why even hope?
Positive Housing Progress
The following item could not
have been possible without the leadership of Housing Authority board members
like Steve Yellen (former chair) and strong non-profit and for-profit partners:
17. MAYOR AND
COUNCIL: Discussion and action on a Resolution that the Mayor be authorized to
sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of El Paso and Housing
Authority City of El Paso to create a
housing rehabilitation pilot program which will rehabilitate distressed and abandoned homes
in City neighborhoods and
will place the rehabilitated properties back on the tax rolls. (Attachment)
[Mayor's Office, Adrian Ocegueda, (915)
541-4145] POSTPONED FROM 12/14/04
Lisa Colquitt-Muñoz, who runs
a non-profit seeking to increase affordable housing and who is an El Paso
Independent School District trustee, presented a program about this
initiative. She and Housing Authority
Interim President Vince Dodds said that the program turns abandoned homes in
the inner city from “liabilities” into community assets and affordable
housing. It’s a great project, and the
key players (non-profits and HACEP) should be commended.
The
item passed unanimously.
Asleep at the Wheel or Brother, Can You
Spare an Abatement?
This next set of items
nicely proves that the incompetence of the Wardy administration continues
unabated (pun most definitely intended).
These items really got me going, folks.
First of all, any competent
administration (especially those that tout their primary goal as being economic
development as Wardy and Cobos and Cushing and Lozano did) will put an economic
development plan in place as quickly as possible after being elected. Once that plan is in place, the next step
should be conducting an efficient needs assessment and a thorough discussion
with the community about what incentives and tools will be used to lure new
businesses to the area. One of those
tools includes tax abatements.
This backward administration
of Wardy’s, however, which is a year and a half into its two-year term, has yet
to even announce what its plans are.
But suddenly, we’ve got two projects up for tax abatements and a
confusing proposed tax abatement policy at the same time and still, no general
economic development plan in place.
Incompetence thy name is
Wardy. Here’s the “plan” (good luck
wading through it):
20A. Discussion and action on a Resolution that the
City of El Paso Interim Guidelines and Criteria for Property Redevelopment and
Tax Abatement December 2004 be approved and are hereby immediately
effective. (All Districts) (Attachment)
[Economic Development, David G. Dobson, (915) 541-4680] POSTPONED FROM 12/21/04
Again, not only did Wardy
& Co. not have a plan, but they put the cart completely before the horse by
entering into two agreements before the plan was even in place; one agreement
was with a hospital (Las Palmas, http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041220-2206.shtml)
and the other was with a new hotel near UTEP (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/business/20041207-203669.shtml):
20B. Discussion and action on a Resolution that the
Mayor be authorized to sign a Tax Abatement Agreement by and between the City
of El Paso and El Paso Healthcare Systems, Ltd. which will provide for fifty
percent (50%) abatement of the assessed value of the Eligible Real Property it
proposes to construct within a designated reinvestment zone and a fifty (50%)
percent abatement of the assessed value of the Eligible Personal Property to be
installed within a designated reinvestment zone. The term of abatement under this Agreement shall be ten (10)
calendar years beginning on January 1 of the year following completion of
construction of the Improvements.
(District 1) (Attachment)
[Economic Development, David G. Dobson, (915) 541-4680] POSTPONED FROM 12/21/04
20C. Discussion and action on a Resolution that the
Mayor be authorized to sign a Tax Abatement Agreement by and between the City
of El Paso and High Desert Investors, L.P., which will provide for twenty-five
percent (25%) abatement of the assessed value of the Eligible Real Property it
proposes to construct within a designated reinvestment zone and a twenty-five (25%)
percent abatement of the assessed value of the Eligible Personal Property to be
installed within a designated reinvestment zone. The term of abatement under this Agreement shall be five (5)
calendar years beginning on January 1 of the year following completion of
construction of the Improvements.
(District 1) (Attachment)
[Economic Development, David G. Dobson, (915)
541-4680] POSTPONED FROM 12/21/04
Before we discuss the merits
(or lack thereof) of the agenda items, let’s discuss tax abatements, which are
interesting community tools. Smart
folks will use tax abatements in a wise manner and will create guidelines and
rules to help determine who gets them and who doesn’t. Others, like our City leaders (past and
present) have used abatements unwisely and frivolously. In our community, they have primarily been
used by so-called economic developers as gifts, if you will, for businesses
that were already planning on moving to or expanding within our community. Smart folks know that tax abatements,
meticulously crafted and sparingly used, can lure the kinds of good companies
we want – those that offer high-paying jobs and benefits, that are kind to our
environment, and that are good corporate citizens. In return, the City allows the company to avoid part or all of
its property taxes (hence the abatement).
So we have the smart folks and the not-so-smart folks. Guess which side our good buddy Joe Wardy is
on?
Council had been told that
although the Las Palmas tax abatement (item 20B) was originally approved in
October 2003, the City’s guidelines (created by the previous administration)
expired in June 2003. As a result, the
hospital’s tax abatement had to be reconsidered.
David Dobson, the Economic
Development Director, if you will—I’d rather not, explained that the new policy
the City has drafted (item 20A) will be in place for two years and will
“provide maximum flexibility” to Council in awarding tax abatements. (By the way, I counted six instances of “if
you will” in Dobson’s five-minute explanation.
Yes, I was keeping count. Have I
become pathetic or what?)
Wardy, who always looks
confused, told Dobson he was confused
(when is Wardy not?), saying he thought Council was just going to extend the
old policies in order to approve the two awards until they “vetted out” the new
guidelines.
Replied Dobson: Extending the existing guidelines would
create “a host of issues, if you will, that could be complicated.” He said that staff recommends approving
these guidelines in their “simplistic form” to allow Council more flexibility
in awarding the abatements.
Yep. They’re simplistic all right. That’s the problem, folks, in a nutshell (if
you will). I felt like slipping several
Councilors a note advising them to borrow Lisa E.’s “Barbie’s Fun Words
Dictionary” so that they could learn the subtle but oh-so-important distinction
between “simple” and “simplistic;” alas, I refrained.
We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Plan!
Representative John Cook,
who said he was also under the impression that the old guidelines were going to
be extended, pointed out that there were a series of different wage rates that
were required under the old guidelines, not the $8.50 wage requirement in the new
ones.
Dobson said, “We have
reviewed the old guidelines and found a number of provisions in there to be
very difficult,” and he specifically referred to a committee formed by the
previous administration that had to review the abatements. He said he couldn’t figure out how this
committee was constituted and said they did not want to be in a position today
of not completing all of the steps in those old guidelines (like getting
approval from this committee first).
There was also a reference
to “an overall economic development plan” by the previous administration, which
he said he couldn’t find. (Pssst, Mr. Dobson, maybe you should check Wardy’s
garbage bin…that’s where you’ll find everything done by the previous
administration. And, by the way, haven’t
you figured out yet that your boss doesn’t believe in plans?!)
“There were a number of
faults, if you will, in those guidelines,” said Dobson (I guess the fact that
it’s a plan is its primary fault).
Wardy asked Elizondo if
Council could just extend the current guidelines for 60 days. That question was a toughie for our Lisa
E! She looked completely baffled and
with a panicked look scanned the room for help. John Nance, one of her beleaguered Assistant City Attorneys who
frequently has to help her out, went to the podium to answer, telling Council
they could.
Dobson stood behind Nance,
smacking his gum, waiting for Council’s next move. Here’s a suggestion for a next move: We ban gum and (this is for Cushing) tobacco (or whatever noxious
juice it is that he spits out) from Council chambers! How’s that for a next move?
Could these bozos get any more unprofessional? I half expected Dobson to start blowing bubbles and then
stringing out his gum five inches in front of his face as children do.
The Little Prince
“You know, it was the
understanding of this Council, Ms. Elizondo and Ms. Wilson,” said an angry
Wardy, “that we were going to extend the existing guidelines for a period of 60
or 90 days so we could accommodate a couple of economic development
opportunities, and with the proper community involvement, vet out the new
guidelines so that we don’t have to go and adjust them, so I think it’s totally
out of place to vote on something before we have total community input.” Interestingly, Wardy was directing his anger
at Joyce Wilson, our City Manager.
Thankfully, Wilson didn’t
just bow down to Wardy. She
responded. “Your staff worked on these
in lieu of the guidelines that had expired as a preferred alternative and so if
I’m mistaken in that respect then I need to step back and confer with
staff. But we were coming forward with
the old guidelines to put them back in place, but through a series of meetings
that involved your office fairly substantially, these emerged in a series of
draft forms that I thought had been vetted through your office prior to coming
forward, so if that’s not true, I need to confer with staff.”
“Well I’ll be crystal
clear,” said Wardy, “The exercises
that went on from my office were changes to the guidelines that were being
proposed for the future as part of the vetting process with the economic
development foundation, with the Chambers of Commerce and with Paso del Norte
as part of that exercise, and I can
tell you very clearly instructions to my staff were that we were gonna continue
with the existing abatement policy for 60 days because that’s what we agreed
to.”
Shouldn’t you be yelling at
your little prince, Mr. Mayor, and not the City Manager? After all, it was Adrian Ocegueda (Wardy’s
$70k per year assistant) who placed the item on the agenda. Ocegueda is the individual who has been
working on these guidelines. And
Ocegueda is Wardy’s “liaison” and crackerjack assistant with economic
development. And word on the 10th
floor is that he’s having a difficult time giving up some of the power that
Wardy gave him after the shift to the City Manager form of government. This only confirms the maxim that no one,
especially not snot-nosed little principes,
gives up power willingly.
And speaking of the Little
Prince, here’s an interesting set of facts about the so-called “expired policy”
that involve him as sent to me by an alert reader.
As you know,
Wardy and his Economic Development Department staff (including Ocegueda)
informed Council that the City of El Paso’s tax abatement guidelines expired in
June 2003. That’s why the Las Palmas
abatement (approved in October 2003) had to be reconsidered. By state law, tax abatement guidelines
remain in place for two years, which would mean that, if Wardy and Ocegueda
were right about the expiration, the previous administration had to have
adopted its tax abatement guidelines in June 2001, immediately upon taking
office. But, in fact, they didn’t; they
first developed an overall plan then worked with public and private partners to
develop their tax abatement guidelines, which were adopted at the April 16,
2002 meeting (http://www.elpasotexas.gov/city_clerk/_documents/minutes/2002/04-16-02.pdf,
page 35). That means the guidelines
wouldn’t have expired until April 16, 2004.
So when Council
approved the abatement for the hospital in October 2003, the old guidelines
were still in place (to read the previous administration’s guidelines, see http://www.elpasotexas.gov/econdev/services_tax.asp). They’re still on the City’s website and are
a heckuva lot easier to understand than the drivel Dobson and Ocegueda put
together.
And, my friends,
Ocegueda would have known all this because he was part of that process (he’s
mentioned in the minutes).
Isn’t that interesting? It turns out Ocegueda, the little prince,
couldn’t be a more perfect fit for the incompetent and dishonest Wardy
administration.
Now…the real question here
is, what’s really going on? Why are
they claiming the guidelines expired on June 2003 instead of April 2004? Didn’t the newspaper bother checking to see
when the real expiration date was before they ran their story (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041220-2206.shtml)?
Hmmm. Something’s fishy…and it ain’t what I pulled
out of Elephant Butte!
Postponing the action…again
Back to the meeting. John Nance said Council could extend the
previously expired guidelines and come back in 30 days with new guidelines
after they’ve been vetted by everyone in the community. John Cook disagreed, saying that he didn’t
believe the item was posted in a way that would allow them to extend the
guidelines, and Elizondo said her staff needed time to review whether or not
there’s a posting problem. Council
agreed to her request to take items 20A, B and C at the end of the meeting.
I’ll Take Two Developers; Hold the
Anchovies
Council moved, and the next
items were those that Stuart Mitchell took off the consent agenda:
10B. Roman Bustillos to the City Plan Commission by
Representative Presi Ortega, Jr., District 5.
(Attachment)
[Representative Presi Ortega, Jr., (915) 541-4189]
10C. Miguel Teran to the City Plan Commission by
Mayor Pro Tempore Anthony W. Cobos, District 8. (Attachment)
[Mayor Pro-Tem Anthony W. Cobos, (915) 541-4123]
Mitchell, President of
Mountain Arroyos Neighborhood Association, has become a committed and outspoken
defender of our natural treasures:
Arroyos. He has come to Council
meetings, sat through hours of “baloney” and has always managed to remain cool,
articulate, passionate and logical.
He explained that
development issues have “become a major topic in the El Paso Times, in public discussion…in discussions here at this
Council,” and that the community now wants to “develop our city
intelligently…rather than in accordance to the whims and will of the developer
community.”
He said he had looked at the
agenda, “And when I came to these two nominations, looked at Mr. Cobos’
nomination of Miguel Teran and find his resume faxed in from C.F. Jordan, the
company that contributed to Mr. Cobos’ campaign and there is no resume attached
to Mr. Bustillos…but I discovered that he’s the engineer that is recommended by
Mr. Ortega and also the same engineer who drew up the plat and plan for the
development of the Wildwood Arroyo, the same engineer that got through the
planning commission on a quick deal they thought we can get this approved
without provision to protect the arroyos and this same Mr. Bustillos is also a
contributor to Mr. Ortega’s campaign fund, and we get to the place where
ordinary citizens…”
He didn’t have a chance to
finish his statement. Cobos interrupted
him, but undeterred, Mitchell continued.
“We need to look at the Plan Commission and start insisting that there
be some integrity…a body that would stand for the citizens of El Paso and …not
the whims of the developers.”
Wardy, rising to the defense
of the developers said, “They’re both citizens of El Paso and they do have to
make a living!”
Mitchell pointed out that
Council is “two more steps down the road of having a plan commission that will
rubber stamp what the development community wants.” He said he’s not opposed to development or having developers
having a say in the planning process, but he called for a “balanced view.”
Cobos said his nominee would
be replacing Oscar Benegas, who owns a general contracting firm. He also said that the developers currently
on the Plan Commission voted against the Resler Canyon arroyo and Suncrest Town
Homes (you remember the Suncrest debacle—where Cobos led a racist campaign to
derail a project providing housing for low- and middle-income folks because one
of his biggest benefactors—Bobby Bowling—would benefit if the project was
killed). Cobos then said the developers
would not rubber stamp other developers’ plans. He conceded that C.F. Jordan contributed to his campaign, but
insisted “that has no bearing on what the plan commission will do and who
better to have on the plan commission than people who are familiar with
building, planning and developing?”
Mitchell answered that
question and said, “People who are concerned about the tax base of this city.”
Cobos said he’d rather have
someone “familiar” with growth than “a pizza delivery boy” on the
commission. Well, that is unless that
pizza delivery boy was an eccentric millionaire with ties to developers who was
also a major contributor to Cobos’s campaign coffers. Then he’d be an offbeat but inspired addition to the city
planning apparatus, eh, Tony?
Presi Ortega said, “I
appreciate your emotions,” and said he “visited with twelve different
applicants” for an appointment to the Commission. He said he was looking for someone who knows the issues and who
will “be fair,” and says his appointee represents his beliefs. He also claimed he talked to him for “a
couple of hours” about conflicts. “I
believe who better to serve the city than an engineer who understands the
process? If at any time you believe
he’s not being fair, you call me and we’ll talk.” Talk is cheap, Presi, especially in the face of greenbacks.
Cushing brushed aside
Mitchell’s concerns and said that there is an ethics review commission that
will “come forward in the event that these issues become real,” and that the
commission members can always abstain from votes when there are conflicts of
interest. Of course, Cushing knows full
well that the ethics commission doesn’t seem to be very busy and it ain’t
because there are no violations going on (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041219-1881.shtml). It’s because folks are either too afraid to
step forward, or when they do, they have to try the case themselves as Lisa
Turner did when she filed her complaint against Paul Escobar and his refusal to
abstain from the car wash votes (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20041203-202037.shtml).
Wardy
thanked Mitchell and the items were approved unanimously.
We’re in the Money
The following item was taken
off the consent agenda by John Cook:
9. Appointment
of Ernesto Rodriguez as Assistant City Attorney effective January 3, 2005. (Attachment)
[City Attorney's Office, Lisa A. Elizondo, (915) 541-4550]
Cook said he wanted a separate
vote on this item, and Alexandro Lozano asked Elizondo, “I thought that we ran
out of money.” He’s right. The City Attorney’s office has not just been
hemorrhaging talented veteran attorneys; it’s also been hemorrhaging
money. In fact, according to a
high-ranking City official, Jimbo with the Jumbo salary recently discovered
that he and Lisa E. overpaid our federal lobbyists by a quarter of a million
dollars! (Naturally, they refuse to
accept blame for their incompetence and instead are blaming it on people who
were at City Hall two years ago. I so
admire their integrity, don’t you?) But
hey, what’s a quarter-mil among friends?
It’s not their money anyway…it’s ours.
Elizondo told Lozano that
they are using money from (yet another) Assistant City Attorney who recently
resigned and whose salary was formerly at $78,000. And “because of other personnel changes” she suddenly has the
money to pay the new guy $95,000 per year.
Man, with the way she can come up with fistfuls of cash despite a blown
budget, I wish I had Lisa E. as my personal financial manager. Hello Easy Street!
Cobos, feigning interest,
asked Cook what his concerns were and why took he took the item off the consent
agenda.
Cook said his primary
concern was the $95,000 salary and said “we have people with the legal
department who have earned $65,000 a year and hiring someone off the street at
$95,000 a year is hard to approve.”
Cook then pulled a Wardy and slighted the City’s lawyers, saying, “No
offense, but municipal law isn’t rocket science.”
Paul Escobar, who is one of
two intelligent people on Council (John Cook is the other) has unfortunately
become a very good WRS (Wardy Rubber Stamper). He came to the city lawyers’ defense (and, indirectly, to Elizondo’s
defense as well) and said that municipal legal work involved lots of reading
and research. Maybe it’s a lawyer
thing, I dunno. Escobar also said he
knows Ernie Rodriguez, who’s coming from one governmental entity (County
Attorney’s Office) to another and that he supported the hiring.
Elizondo also defended the
hire, saying that Mr. Rodriguez has been a lawyer for a long time (since
1987…wow, that’s, like, forever, Lisa!
How long will it take for you to feel threatened by all that experience,
I wonder). Nevertheless, she never
explained how she arrived at such an inflated salary. In fact, she’s rarely had to explain anything having to do with
how she spends our money (amounting to several hundred thousand dollars). Am I the only one who thinks that’s a very
serious problem?
Elizondo, following in
Jimbo/Jabba’s footsteps, probably believes that money will ultimately buy
silence. The last thing she needs is
disgruntled employees chatting up her incompetence at local watering holes. Instead, she can use our tax money to pay
inflated salaries to keep her staff happy.
A happy staff is a quiet staff.
The
item passed by a vote of 5-2, with Lozano and Cook voting against the hire.
Neighborhood Associations Aren’t
Trustworthy?
Stuart Mitchell also took
the following item off the agenda:
4C. That the
section of the Citizen Participation Plan for the Consolidated Plan that
relates to conflicts of interest regarding Community Development (CD) Steering
Committee members, be revised to address potential conflict of interest issues
that may arise due to expanded membership criteria recommended by the Mayor's
Blue Ribbon Ad Hoc Committee on June 15, 2004, and adopted by City Council on
July 13, 2004. (Attachment)
[Community and Human Development, Robert Salinas, (915) 541-4643]
Mitchell thanked Council for
deleting the language that disparaged neighborhood associations, but that he
was concerned about language in the original ordinance that identified
neighborhood associations as “less trustworthy.” He began to discuss this when
Wardy quickly interrupted him and said he would only let him speak to the
specific wording of the current ordinance.
All Mitchell could do was express his support for deleting the offending
language.
Council
unanimously approved the item.
Revisiting the Abatement Issue
Once Council had reached the
end of the meeting, it was time to revisit the abatement policy and the two
awards.
Wardy wanted to know from
the City Manager if Council could legally vote to extend the old abatement
policy (which they mistakenly or disingenuously asserted had expired in June
2003) under item 20A.
Elizondo responded and said
she needed more time to look at the posting issue, and so Council could either
postpone all of these items until the next meeting (again!) or just move to
approve the guidelines on a temporary basis.
Wardy said that he needed Council to approve the abatement guidelines on
a temporary basis because the two “worthy projects” needed to be approved at
the meeting.
Diana Nuñez read all three
items into the record again so that Council could discuss the items – again!
Lozano asked why the
abatement for Las Palmas needed to be approved again if it had already been
approved back in October 2003. Wardy
explained that due to “an oversight” Council had allowed the policies to
expire. Again, folks, Wardy’s facts are
inaccurate. He said that approving the
hospital’s abatement was “basically a housekeeping effort.”
Lozano wanted to know what
would happen if Council decided not to award the previously-approved abatement
to Las Palmas and Elizondo recommended that Council discuss that in executive
session.
Presi
Ortega made a motion to approve item 20A, the new tax abatement policy.
Stuart Mitchell, speaking in
his individual capacity, said that he looked at the items and had concerns
about the abatement policy.
Specifically, he was concerned that many of the approved zones include
arroyos, and about the fact that section 13 of the guidelines provide for
confidentiality, which in his mind created an environment for “secret
deals.” He recommended that things be
kept in the open. He also said that hospital
and hotel abatements violated the provisions and minimum requirements of the
policy guidelines, which he called “badly conceived.”
Wardy
said, “There’s no secret deals here.” Uh-huh.
Sure.
Mitchell further explained
that section 4, subsection 5 of the guidelines creates a requirement that there
will be company-paid health insurance for all full-time employees, but Las
Palmas (the hospital receiving the abatement) does not offer its employees a
100% company paid plan. Mitchell then
pointed out another area of non-compliance by the hospital: Minimum wage requirements.
When asked, Terry Wyatt, the
Director of Marketing and Community Relations for Las Palmas Medical Center,
couldn’t tell Council what percentage of the health care insurance benefits her
company pays for its employees.
As Wyatt put in a call to
the hospital to get the answer to their question, various Councilors wondered
what percentage would constitute a fair percentage when it came to an
employer’s contribution for health insurance benefits.
Cobos wanted the minimum
contribution by the company to be 55% and Wardy stated in no uncertain terms
that that was “unacceptable.” He
repeated that sentiment, saying, “If we’re gonna work with taxpayer dollars,
that percent is unacceptable.” He’s
right, but moments later, I’m sure he wanted to eat those words.
Terry Wyatt came back to the
podium and stated that, after conferring with the hospital on the phone, she
could confirm that Las Palmas pays 55% of the benefits for the employees. Wow!
Wasn’t that perfect timing? I
was waiting for Wardy to repeat that this percentage was “unacceptable” and
that when you’re “gonna work with taxpayer dollars that percent is
unacceptable,” but, to my utter amazement (not!), he sat silent. Apparently, 55% had suddenly become
acceptable. You gotta love that Joe
Wardy. He’s a man who really sticks to
his convictions. I didn’t know whether
to laugh or to scream out in fury.
Ric Schechter also spoke
and, along with giving Council suggestions for the policy, told Council that
they should have had their guidelines in place before making the
agreements. He’s absolutely
correct.
Once the public comments
were complete, Council voted to pass item 20A; it was approved with Cook and
Rojas voting no.
Cobos noted that on item
20B, there would be some “dissension” and suggested going into executive
session to discuss the “repercussions” of voting 20B down. They skipped 20B (the hospital abatement)
and moved on to 20C (the hotel abatement).
The No-Tell Hotel
Council took up item 20C
next and Dobson said the developers would be making a $15 million
investment. Russ Vandenberg, one of the
developers of the hotel, said they would be using a contractor out of Memphis,
Tennessee, but that the subcontractors would be from El Paso. And guess what, folks? Mr. Vandenberg also happens to be one of
Wardy’s regular big money contributors: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/city_clerk/_documents/2004/Mayor%20Wardy/wardy_071504.pdf
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/city_clerk/_documents/JoeWardy2.pdf
So it should come as no
surprise to anyone that Wardy is a big fan of this tax abatement for his good
buddy and frequent campaign contributor.
The Vandenberg Factor OR Lightning
Strikes!
Lozano, who, for the second
time in the meeting was opposing Wardy (first in the vote on Lisa E’s hire and
now on this item) asked Vandenberg if the developers had intended to build the
hotel even without the abatement.
Vandenberg didn’t really answer his question. Instead, stating that he was pretty certain they’d receive the
abatement, he called the assumption a “leap of faith.” Some leap.
Lozano, who was trying to
point out that these abatements seem to be rewards to folks who were planning
on doing their growing anyway, asked “So I guess Mayor, should we give all
businesses coming to El Paso or locals an abatement to every single restaurant,
bars?” The Mayor, visibly irritated,
said businesses were free to apply for abatements if they wanted to.
Lozano is absolutely correct
(gulp!) in his own befuddled way.
(Pardon me as I crouch to avoid the lightning bolt.) A central part of the failed economic
development policy of the past was giving away tax breaks as gifts to companies
that were already going to relocate or expand in our community. The other part of that very bad policy was
rewarding companies that paid low wages and provided poor or no benefits. It’s déjà vu all over again. Wardy is following in the footsteps of his
biggest supporters and fans: Those
chamber guys who couldn’t get it right in the 1990s, but who didn’t care
because they were making a fine living while the rest of the community
struggled under the Chamber’s pathetically poor leadership.
Stuart Mitchell stood at the
podium and wanted to comment on the abatement for the hotel; Wardy said public
comment was over, but Cook foiled his attempt to muzzle Mitchell by requesting
that Mitchell be given more time. Wardy
relented.
Mitchell pointed out that,
like the hospital tax abatement, there are problems with the tax abatement for
the hotel as well: There’s no provision
for sustainable wage, health insurance or a requirement for a minimum investment
– all minimum eligibility requirements.
He also pointed out the “numerous typos” in the document.
Wardy, who was really
irritated at this point as well as eager to pass this abatement, said, “I
assure you that they meet the minimum guidelines.”
The
abatement for 20C, Russ Vandenburg’s hotel, passed unanimously.
Council then went into
executive session to discuss item 20B and the other items and when they came
back, they were ready to vote on item 20B, the abatement for Las Palmas.
Healthy Profits in an Unhealthy Town
Ortega moved to approve the
tax abatement for Las Palmas after asking a few questions and applauding the
investment. Before the vote was taken,
Cook said he was glad he had an opportunity to re-evaluate the abatement for
Las Palmas (which Cushing pointedly observed had previously been approved
unanimously by Council after Cook have moved for its approval).
Trying perhaps to make up
for his original error in supporting the abatement previously, Cook observed
that upon further research, he found that Las Palmas and Del Sol send Thomason
Hospital demand letters asking for reimbursement for providing care to indigent
patients and said, “That makes me choke, especially when Thomason is looking at
how they’re going to balance their budget…and they can’t send Las Palmas and Del
Sol bills for the care they provide…and in 2003 HCA hospitals in El Paso had
basically got $55 million worth of profit [http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/business/20040727-147717.shtml]. When I look at tax abatements, I say to
myself, we should probably give them to people who create new jobs or invest
capital in our community that they wouldn’t have otherwise…this is almost like
a freebie as far as I’m concerned.”
Cook pointed out that
regular folks like you and me had to shoulder the City’s financial burden
through increased fees and said that he didn’t feel like we should be giving
away money. He asked Dobson if he
thought Las Palmas would have expanded without the abatement. Dobson said he couldn’t answer that
question.
Cushing, who also was now
irritated by Cook’s conscience, said Council shouldn’t “welsh” on their
deal. Dobson then repeated the racist
term used by Cushing in his own explanation.
(The term originated as a slur against, you guessed it, the Welsh. What’s next…are we gonna start accusing
Council of being “Indian givers”?)
Terry Wyatt from Las Palmas
then re-appeared. She was clearly not
happy with Cook’s concerns. She started
off as a cool cucumber but soon revealed her displeasure with a rising voice
and a stern look. She claimed that Las
Palmas would indeed have built the new emergency unit but not to the same
extent as they would have without the abatement. She also claimed that Las Palmas underwrites over $1 million a
month in un-reimbursed indigent care.
Cook asked that if that were
true, why would Hank Hernandez, Las Palmas CEO, send demand letters to Thomason
Hospital for that indigent care if they were not going to seek reimbursement.
An increasingly
hot-under-the-collar Wyatt could not or would not answer that question
directly. She said “If you were to do
your research more fully, you would see that is a standard letter sent out by
most hospitals. We cannot handle every
indigent patient…we do try to seek compensation for the indigent patient.”
The item was approved, but
not unanimously. Voting against the
abatement were Lozano and Cook.
The Do-Over Tradition Happily Continues
I thought it was all over,
but before I could begin pulling my post-Christmas-feasting, heavier self out
of my chair, Terry Cullen-Garney, Lisa Elizondo’s Deputy City Attorney, stepped
up to the podium and asked that item 20A be reconsidered because they
accidentally deleted a paragraph (oops!).
Cook pointed out that all items would then have to be reconsidered.
Amazing! The gang that couldn’t shoot straight just
keeps on keepin’ on. I wondered how
smoothly things would run in an administration that didn’t include Wardy or his
crackerjack City Attorney Lisa Elizondo.
Then I snapped out of my pleasant reverie.
Council had to vote on the
items all over again once the items were read into the record again.
Hello 2005!
Folks, this meeting – the
last of 2004 – was perfectly symbolic.
What we saw was yet another example of this administration’s
incompetence (as seen in the abatement issue), the cronyism (as seen in the car
wash and board appointments) and their lack of planning for our future (no
economic development plan).
Since this is the last column
of 2004, I say we make our new year’s resolutions for 2005 together. Here’s what we should all agree to:
Let’s follow the great
example of Stuart Mitchell – he ain’t sitting on the sidelines. He’s fighting for our future and he needs
our help.
Happy
New Year, my friends. Be safe, be
joyful, and let’s work together in ’05.
Comments or questions: shmaven@yahoo.com
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