1.25.2005
By the end of this week’s
meeting, I had grown mighty tired of watching both Robert Cushing and Lisa
Elizondo smack whatever substance was in their mouths throughout the
meeting. So, new rule: Can we puhhleeeze ban gum smacking in
Council chambers? I know ending
corruption is a lost hope for this Council, but can we at least have some basic
decorum for a few hours on Tuesdays?
Public Relations for Sale
The hot topic at this
meeting (leading into the ASARCO permitting hearing at UTEP) was, of course,
ASARCO. The following public item drew
plenty of discussion:
1. Inform
City Council of Asarco's support in the community. Asarco employs good people
with good paying jobs. City Council
should help stop the lies. We do not
want minimum wage jobs. [Juan Aguirre, Jr.]
Juan Aguirre, Jr., who was
very polite and seemed like a perfectly nice young man, said his
great-grandparents and grandparents were born in Smeltertown and his
grandfather worked for ASARCO. He
stumbled through a prepared statement supporting ASARCO. It was soon pretty clear that the very
specific (and at times, scientific) information had been pulled from other
sources. I couldn’t help but wonder if
someone had written the statement for him.
I suspect that if he indeed
got help, it was from ASARCO’s public relations gun-for-hire, Teresa
Montoya. She has gone down this road
before. She was the public relations
person for the anti-TIF zealots (which included Vivian Rojas and a few others)
a couple of years ago. She’s also the
one who “observes” activists at public rallies, taking photographs and
documenting names for the highest bidder (in this case, it’s ASARCO).
Aguirre said that all sorts
of lies about ASARCO had been spread, and he was certain that if ASARCO was
found to be the guilty polluter of all those homes in west-central El Paso, the
company would “belly up” and clean up the contamination. (The day before this Council meeting, the
Department of Justice agreed to send $2 million to El Paso from an ASARCO clean
up trust fund; $2 million is a drop in the bucket, considering all the polluted
property that is left to clean up
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050125-15520.shtml).
Wardy told Aguirre that he
respects his opinion, but he wouldn’t trade El Paso’s health for good-paying
jobs. (Whether Wardy was sincere in
this is not at all clear to me—what is clear is that some other members of
Council would gladly make this trade.)
Cobos was itching to get Aguirre to pin the “lies” on someone and asked
Aguirre to identify the guilty party.
Aguirre never really specified who it was.
Cushing, a Council member
who has not done a good job of disguising his support of ASARCO, thanked
Aguirre twice for coming to the Council meeting. Cushing came very close to tipping his hand and all but
repudiated the City’s official position—which he voted for—opposing the
reopening of Asarco. He said he agreed
with Aguirre about the lies and added that much of the information out in the
community was “hysterical” (he used that word a couple of times) and that the
hearing would “separate the hysteria from the facts of the case.” He concluded by saying, “At the end of the
day, I think there will be a finding.”
Well, yeah, Bob, that’s the whole point of the exercise—there will undoubtedly be a finding.
Word in the community is
that ASARCO is fairly confident about what that finding will be and that “at
the end of the day” it will get its permit renewed. This is why some are saying ASARCO doesn’t seem to be putting up
much of a fight. I take it that Cushing
agrees with this assessment. He may
know something we don’t.
Rick Provencio, a local
activist who has been fighting the re-opening of ASARCO, then came to the
podium. He said that he, too, is tired
of lies being spread regarding the issue.
He reminded Cushing and the rest of Council that the Centers for Disease
Control asks cities to test all children starting at age 6 months, “and
children have not been tested in this town, and that’s not a lie.”
Taylor Moore, an articulate
and committed retired lawyer who frequently visited Council at the beginning of
this administration’s term, also spoke.
Moore talked about injustices related to some of ASARCO’s former
employees whose healthcare had been cut and who were suffering from potentially
work-related illnesses. Ultimately,
said Moore, the impact of those healthcare cuts falls on the City. “Those retired workers that are sick have
very expensive health costs and when they can’t pay them, we do. These are not good jobs,” he said.
Daniel Arellano, a
third-generation, 20-year employee of ASARCO (his father and grandfather worked
for ASARCO) said he, too, had a message.
He said that since 1999, more than twenty of his co-workers have died
because of brain tumors and cancer. He
said there’s a group of them who are still alive but very ill, “and that’s very
hard without insurance…and my message here today is I want the city to take
this serious.” He said he’s fighting
leukemia and that re-opening ASARCO meant paying a price.
(I wonder if Teresa Montoya
was outside City Hall with her digital camera in one hand and camcorder in the
other to “observe” all the anti-Asarco speakers as they emerged from City
Hall.)
The Not So Secret Apologist
Robert Cushing then began
asking Arrellano leading questions.
Wasn’t he required to wear protective equipment while he worked at
ASARCO, he asked? Weren’t employees required
to wear body monitors and report periodically for blood testing? Didn’t dust from rail cars also contaminate
the smelter? All these questions, I
presume, were intended to say, hey, if you’re sick, it’s your fault.
Stuart Mitchell, President
of the Mountain Arroyos Neighborhood Association, registered his opposition to
the re-opening of the ASARCO smelter.
But then he said something that made my jaw drop.
He said that ASARCO
proponents raised a valid issue: The
importance of bringing high paying jobs to our city. But then he added, “And I am delighted to acknowledge that this
Council has worked hard to bring better paying jobs to El Paso.”
WHAT?! I had to check my ears to make sure I heard
correctly (yep, sure enough, my hearing aid was on “High…As High As It Gets”
mode). Mr. Mitchell, the last time I
looked, this Mayor and Council didn’t even have an economic development plan in
place. And, Mr. Mitchell, let’s not
forget that this was the same Mayor and Council that promoted, as the pièce de resistance of its non-existent
“plan” for economic development—a mall, which would produce not high-paying
jobs, Mr. Mitchell, but minimum-wage jobs.
Towne Centre was to be the major engine of job-growth in El Paso under
Wardy & Co.
So I have to ask, when did
my former hero Stuart Mitchell become president of the Wardy & Co. Fan
Club? I hope that comment was a slip of
the tongue. Otherwise, the name Stuart
Mitchell will fall precipitously from the top of my “favorite activists”
list. Hmph. Too bad.
He went on argue that even
the jobs ASARCO is promising are not worth community-wide health risks.
Council then ended the
public discussion and took no action on the item. They then moved on to the Mass Transit Board Agenda.
¿VIVA Más Rigging?
The Sun Metro/Mass Transit
Board meeting agendas can be found at
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/sunmetro/transit_agenda.asp.
This week, there were two
related items (a presentation and a postponed bid) back from last week:
2. Presentation
on Sun Metro Diesel Remediation Project. (Attachment)
3. Resolution
that the City of El Paso Mass Transit Department Board be authorized to sign an
Agreement for Consultant Services by and between the CITY OF EL PASO and AMEC
Earth & Environmental, Inc., for a project known as "Sun Metro Diesel
Remediation Project" in an amount not to exceed SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY
THOUSAND DOLLARS AND NO/100 DOLLARS ($740,000.00). (Action 05-07) (POSTPONED
FROM 01-18-05) (Attachment)
During her presentation on
item 2, Elizabeth Van Lauwe, the Assistant Director for Sun Metro, explained to
Council that Sun Metro had a history of diesel spills in the 1990s. VIVA Environmental, a company owned by Peter
Felix, was hired in 2000 to clean up the spills. She explained that since 1991 over $7 million has been spent on
cleanup that it will take another 3-10 years to finish the job. The contract with VIVA Environmental (Peter
Felix’s company) ended after they had received a one-year extension. She further explained that when a new
contract was ready to be bid, staff followed the Architect and Engineer (A/E)
selection ordinance, reviewed 10 eligible firms, and a committee of three (as
described in the ordinance) chose the firm that would win the final award (item
3, the award to AMEC). She explained
that the committee evaluated each company based on a list of criteria (staff,
available resources, experience, and expected availability).
Representative John Cook
asked if all 10 firms on their list met the qualifications, and Van Lauwe said
the Engineering Department could answer that.
However, Rick Connor, the City Engineer who was hired back in early
September, said he couldn’t in fact answer the question because he wasn’t on
the job at that time (call me crazy, but you’d think that, being the head of
the department, he’d want to get up to speed on this issue before a Council
meeting).
Representative Cook wanted
to know why VIVA Environmental wasn’t the firm selected to do the job again
since they were one of those 10 firms on the list.
Irene Ramirez from the
Engineering Department said that when the contract ended, the City went through
a new A/E selection process and AMEC was selected as the firm to do the
job. Sounds reasonable—the old firm’s contract
ended (after being extended for a year), so a new contract was needed.
“This is almost like a
cartoon,” interjected Wardy, who was clearly angry. (As a regular Council observer, I frequently feel that way,
Joe.) “This is pretty embarrassing.” And then pointing each hand at the other, he
added, “It’s kind of like, ‘who’s in charge?’ and now Council has to take the
heat and fix a mess,” he complained.
Here again, Joe, I know the
feeling. Since you took office, most
citizens have also wondered who among your string pullers—Martie Jobe, Luther
Jones, David Escobar and the Bowlings—is really in charge. But I guess that probably just depends on
who has the greatest need to batten at the public trough in a given week. And yes, it’s now up to the voters to come
in and fix the mess. But will we?
Cook asked again if VIVA met
the criteria. Ramirez said they all had
capabilities, but the committee believed AMEC was the most qualified. Cook then said that he had the impression
that VIVA had been blackballed by City staff on this; he said AMEC was a good
firm, but he was also impressed with VIVA’s capabilities and said it made more
sense to stick with the company that’s done the job before.
¡Viva Competición!
Sonny Holguin from the
Engineering Department said that one of the reasons VIVA wasn’t re-hired was
because of some “inefficiencies” like VIVA billing the City for lunches and for
errors and omissions. He added that
there were problems the City was having on other projects with them.
City Manager Joyce Wilson
explained that when the contract with VIVA ended, there was no option to extend
it past the one extra year. Wilson
added, however, that whatever performance issues they had did not bar them from
being considered for other City work.
But given the fact that the project cost is very close to the amount
that triggers a more formal selection process, she recommended that the City
Representatives reject this bid so that it could go through the more formal,
full Architect/Engineer (A/E) selection process. She said that should alleviate
the concerns that subjective issues are being interjected into the process.
Cook moved to reject the
bid.
Austin reminded Council that
there’s an appeal process, and “we don’t wanna be the ones that trigger this
process by second guessing it.” She
urged the “aggrieved parties” to use that appeal process.
“I know you were not here at
the time,” said Wardy, lecturing Joyce Wilson, “but this is an embarrassing day
for City government because this is a comedy of errors. When we hire a professional firm to do a
job, we need to get out of the way,” he said.
“I hope we learn a lesson from this process.” Because he didn’t go into details publicly about the City not
“getting out of the way,” I didn’t quite understand his statement.
Wilson said that she agreed
and that any problems the City experiences with companies should be dealt with
at the time, not during the next bid process.
Cushing complained that
personality, not professional issues, were at the core of this (although how he
would know what constitutes “personality” is beyond me, since he clearly has
none).
Jamie Barnes from AMEC (the
company that was awarded the bid that was now being rejected) said that he
respects the City’s decisions, but that this is not the first time he’s
experienced being selected for a contract only to have it pulled. He said the company has invested a
significant amount of time and money trying to get the bid—all of which would
be wasted now that the bid was going to be rejected. He said he’ll try again this next time, and that he’s certain
he’ll be able to come in at a lower price than VIVA.
Yep, folks, that’s the
problem…a big problem at City Hall under this administration. Mr. Barnes hit the nail on the head.
Wardy apologized and said
it’s unfortunate that he had to apologize.
(I think it’s unfortunate that we have to apologize for you, Joe.)
¡Viva Mi Opinión!
Well, folks. Here we have it again: A bid is thrown out by Council and work on
an important project remains at a standstill as a result. How many times has this happened over the
past two years and on how many projects?
I have no idea how long the
full-blown A/E process will take or when the bid will finally be awarded, but
this is another example for your long list of “Bids This Council Has Rejected
Causing Work at the City to Be Put on Hold.”
While the fact that John
Cook is concerned about the “blackball” issue gives this whole thing some
credibility, and there are obviously some inside issues related to the City’s
relationship to VIVA that your buddy Sid isn’t privy to, I am still suspicious
about all this.
If AMEC has been selected by
City staff (who seem to have followed the rules in an ordinance), why shouldn’t
AMEC be awarded the bid and be allowed to get started?
Out of curiosity I looked up
Peter Felix on Wardy’s campaign contribution lists, and sure enough, he and his
family have definitely been frequent donors to Wardy’s bank account…something
else this firm has in common with other firms that have ended up getting City
work even after first coming up short in the bid selection process.
But again, John Cook’s
concern over this gives me pause, and I’m not willing to say at this point that
this is part of the Wardy Gravy Train/Corruption Machine. However, I still want to know why it is that
this mayor and Council only second-guess staff recommendations when those
recommendations don’t mean awards for their buddies and campaign contributors.
Felix donations to Wardy
April 5, 2004 http://www.elpasotexas.gov/city_clerk/_documents/2004/Mayor%20Wardy/wardy_071504.pdf
July 30, 2004
June18, 2003
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/city_clerk/_documents/JoeWardy2.pdf
Felix donations to Cobos
June 16, 2003
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/city_clerk/_documents/AnthonyCobos2.pdf
Special Minutes
Passed on the consent agenda
were the following minutes:
2. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES: [Municipal Clerk, Richarda Duffy Momsen, (915) 541-4127] Approval of Minutes for the Regular City
Council Meeting of January 18, 2005 and Special City Council Meeting of January
17, 2003.
(Attachment) Minutes for
Regular City Council Meeting held on January 18, 2005
(Attachment) Minutes for
Special City Council Meeting held on January 17, 2003
A Budding Troikette Is in the House!
Presi Ortega was given an
excused absence for this week’s City Council meeting on the consent agenda:
3. REQUEST
TO EXCUSE ABSENT CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Presi Ortega
He only missed part of the
meeting, though, because he ended up arriving late instead of being
absent. When he arrived, Wardy
gleefully exclaimed, “Elvis is in the house!”
To which I say, “You ain’t nothin’ but a Troikette, Presi, shillin’ all
the time.”
Switcheroo Failure
The following item had
previously been postponed by Robert Cushing and was back this week:
15. BID: If apparent low bidder is disqualified for any
reason, City Council reserves the right to exercise any option legally
available under the law by awarding bid to next lowest responsive and
responsible bidder even though the bidder is not named on this agenda.
Solicitation
No.: 2005-065 Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Services
Award to:
Envirosolve, LLC Tulsa,
OK
Item (s):
All
Amount:
$200,000.00 (estimated
yearly)
Department:
Solid Waste Management
Funds available:
34010296-40403-502204
Funding source:
Outside Contracts
Total award: $400,000.00 (estimated)
District (s): All
Solid Waste Management Department and Purchasing
Department recommends award as indicated.
Envirosolve, LLC, provided the lowest bid that meets all requirements of
the Solicitation. This is a twenty-four
(24) month contract with the option to renew two (2) additional years on a
month to month basis. (Attachment) [Purchasing
Department, Ray Heredia, (915) 541-4316] POSTPONED FROM 01/18/05 AND 01/11/05
Before the revisions to the
agenda were completed, Cushing, who had originally postponed this item in
previous weeks, said awkwardly, “I, uh, just had a word with Representative
Lozano here, and uh, on item 15, I think if, uh, do we have somebody from Solid
Waste here today? He had a question as
to what exactly this contract was for.”
Ellen Smyth, Director of
Solid Waste, explained that this was a contract for the collection and disposal
of household hazardous waste.
After her succinct and clear
explanation, Lozano asked, “And this is to what?”
To collect household
hazardous waste, she explained…AGAIN.
Lozano reminded me of a little kid who’s done something wrong and is
stalling for time by answering every question with a question of his own.
Cushing’s weird introduction
to these questions and Lozano’s continued and extraordinarily inane questioning
raised my eyebrows a bit…something just wasn’t right here.
What sparked my curiosity
was not that Lozano was, as usual, inadvertently providing comic relief by
asking inane questions, but his timing in asking the questions. Cushing had originally postponed this item,
and now Lozano had very easy-to-answer questions about it (so easy that all he
had to do was read the agenda item to answer them). Maybe I’m paranoid, but I wonder if they were going to try to
work out some points-switcheroo that fell through.
While the floor was still
open for discussion on this item, I was very tempted to come up to the podium
and ask if we could please also dispose of the household hazardous waste that
usually comes out of Robert Cushing’s mouth and into his plastic
cup-turned-spittoon. I can see it
now…haz mat guys clothed in protective uniforms and gas masks gingerly
gathering the toxic waste and placing it into secure containers labeled
“WARNING: Bio Hazard!” Makes me
shudder. Maybe we can put that on the
next A/E Committee agenda, eh, Bob?
The item was approved with
no further discussion.
Who Needs Staff?
The following item was
deleted from this week’s agenda during the revisions:
16B. BT2005-528
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Set up appropriation for a contract executive
assistant in the City Manager's Department.
Decrease $40,931.00
from 10010274/01101 Personal Svcs
Increase
$40,931.00 to 15010704/01101
Personal Svcs
Interesting. Wonder what happened.
Light It Up, Alex!
(But Beware)
The City’s Building Permits
and Inspections staff requested that the following “dark skies” ordinance be
postponed for two weeks, but because there were several members of the public
ready to speak on the item, Wardy allowed discussion before the postponement:
25B. An Ordinance amending Title 18 (Building and
Construction), by creating Chapter 18.18 (Outdoor Lighting Ordinance), of the
El Paso City Code, the penalty being as provided in Section 18.02.107 of the El
Paso City Code. (Attachment) [Building Permits
and Inspections, R. Alan Shubert, (915) 541-4557]
Alan Shubert, Director of
Building Permits and Inspections, said this outdoor lighting ordinance had been
in the works for four years. He didn’t
really explain much about the ordinance itself, but for you folks unfamiliar
with this ordinance (and the national movement to limit “light pollution”) the
ordinance would require that all new outdoor lighting be focused only on the
streets and other areas that it is meant to illuminate. This would help keep the light from focusing
on homes or skies unnecessarily. It
would save electricity and keep our night skies dark and lovely, as they’re
supposed to be.
Shubert explained that the
City had removed two requirements from the ordinance: That the light equipment be changed on existing outdoor fixtures,
and that it would be enacted within a reasonable period of time. Because industry representatives (electrical
contractors) said they wanted to ensure that they have two years to stock up on
all the fixtures, Shubert said the City agreed (read: the City caved in). The only issue he needed to research, he
said, was whether a fixture exists that would comply for ball fields and he
needed two weeks to check on that.
Wardy asked how this
ordinance first got started and Schubert didn’t know (because, thanks to Joe
Wardy and his rubber stamping crew, there is no institutional memory left at
City Hall). Wardy then asked (because
he was, apparently, not listening to Shubert’s presentation) if older fixtures
would be grandfathered in. Shubert
repeated that they would not. For a
second time, existing fixtures are exempt, okay Joe?
Speaking of baseball fields,
Lozano, coming totally out of left field, threw in a hypothetical for Shubert.
“So you’re telling me if I
have a flag in front of my house, and I put a light on it,”—here he stopped
when he was interrupted by Wardy, who exclaimed, “Light it up, Alex!” (I guess Lozano parties as hardy as Bob Cushing—who
woulda thought?) Lozano chuckled and
continued, “I’m gonna light it up and I’m gonna light it up across the street
from my neighbor’s and he’s gonna complain and I’m gonna say, ‘Well, I’m
lighting the flag.’ So just beware.” (I wonder if “lighting the flag” is cool-guy
code for, you know . . . Maybe they’ll need some Scooby Snacks afterward, if
you catch my drift!)
Shubert, like everyone else,
was distinctly non-plussed. (Paul
Escobar impatiently asked, “So?”) But I
say, Beware is right. Maybe old Alex
should ease up on the wacky tobacky, at least on Council days.
Deciding to beat a very dead
horse, Wardy then discussed ad tedium the various reasons why the
ordinance shouldn’t grandfather in old fixtures. IT DOESN’T, JOE! Pay
attention, man! AND WE ALL AGREE THAT
IT SHOULDN’T, JOE! I think this was a
risk-free opportunity for old Joe to show off.
Since he knew everyone was in agreement against grandfathering, and
because, for once, he had a (more or less) firm grasp of an issue, Wardy took
the opportunity to show off for everyone his laser beam-like analysis of an
important public policy question (that no one happened to raise of
course). You nailed it, Joe. You really did. Do you feel better now?
Several activists spoke in
favor of the dark skies ordinance (which I also strongly support), including
John Peterson, the individual who initiated this discussion 13 years ago and
who has been involved in this lengthy bureaucratic effort for the last four
years. Alberto Rivas, a representative
of Grassroots El Paso, a coalition of neighborhood associations, was also there
(he’s the guy Cobos clumsily tried to get removed from the Five Points
neighborhood association). Rivas read
and submitted a neighborhood association resolution in support of the
ordinance. (As an interesting side
note, both Austin and Cushing questioned the process and legitimacy of the
neighborhood coalition’s resolution.
Neighborhood Associations, despite this Mayor and Council’s claim that
they support you--to quote Lozano--“just beware!”)
Council listened to everyone
and then postponed the item for two weeks.
Damn the Torpedos
The following item received
some publicity in the weeks preceding this meeting:
21A.
Discussion and action regarding the appeal by
Michael Hyneman of "Steakpedos and Spirits" at 910 E.
Redd Road, Suite "A" for
the sale of alcoholic beverages
due to the business's proximity to a
school in accordance with Section 20.08.090(B).4 of the El Paso Municipal Code.
(District 1) (Attachment) [Building Permits
and Inspections, R. Alan Shubert, (915) 541-4557] POSTPONED FROM 01/04/05 AND
12/28/04
Council, citing the fact
that numerous businesses already sell alcohol near the same west side middle
school, approved the appeal. Rojas
abstained (maybe because a similar request from Steakpedos will appear on a
coming agenda in her district).
Putting Along
Cushing quickly made a
motion to approve the following item because it’s in his district and “it’s a
great project”:
24B. Solicitation
No.: 2005-050 El Paso International Airport Golf Course
Contractor: Golf Works, Inc. Austin, Texas
Department: Department of Aviation
Funds Available: 62620026-PAP0023-41063-508027
Funding Source: Airport
Revenue
Items: Base
Bid $9,426,310.55 and
Alternate
No. 18 $ 25,000.00
Total Award: $9,451,310.55
District(s): 2
The Departments of Engineering and Aviation recommend
the award of this contract to Golf Works, Inc., the low responsible, responsive
bidder. It is requested that the Mayor
of the City of El Paso be authorized to
sign the referenced contract. Additionally, it is requested that the Mayor be
authorized to execute budget transfers for this award and project, as
necessary. Work under the unit price component is only an estimated value and
will be ordered, performed, invoiced and paid by measured quantity. The actual cost of the unit price component
will be the sum total of unit prices at the end of the contract term. (Attachment) [Purchasing,
Barbara Crumley, (915) 541-4113]
Lozano wanted to be sure the
public knew that the money for this golf course would not come from taxpayer
money—it would come from Airport Enterprise Funds.
This is yet another project
that was started by the previous administration and it’s one of the few that
survived the ruthless “IF IT’S CABALLERO’S LET’S KILL IT!” policy of Wardy
& Co.
Bill Addington, the water
issues Chair from the Sierra Club, expressed his concerns about the water usage
for the course and said there are better uses for this water, including
existing parks. While I agree that golf
courses—even this one, which will feature a lot of desert landscaping—require a
lot of our precious water, I don’t think it’s overkill to have one
state-of-the-art golf course (using reclaimed water) that will attract business
people and tourists to El Paso. I say,
bring it on!
The item was approved
unanimously.
Firing Jimbo?
Slow Down My Beating Heart
Finally, I can discuss an
item that I had been eagerly anticipating.
20A. Discussion and action authorizing the City
Attorney to hire Harless Benthul as outside counsel to assist in representing
the City of El Paso in the contested case hearing for the ASARCO Incorporated
Air Quality Permit No. 20345; TCEQ, Docket No. 2004-0049-AIR. [Representative John F. Cook, (915)
541-4140]
The passage of this item
(please…please…pretty please) would mean that Jimbo/Jabba/El Superstar would be
fired (or at least removed) from the City’s case against ASARCO. I had to sit on my hands and bite my lip in
order to keep from pumping my fist in the air and whupping it up when Richarda
Momsen read the item into the record.
Let me tell you, it was tough to maintain my composure.
Initially, during the
revisions to the agenda, Cobos said to Cook, “Representative Cook, you had
mentioned to me that you were going to postpone on page 10 item 20A, and as a
result of our discussion, I informed leaders of my neighborhood associations
not to come to today’s City Council meeting.”
“No, actually, I told you
that I was going to postpone the item on the remediation, that’s what I told
you,” responded Cook.
“Okay, I do know that there
were many members of neighborhood associations in my district that your item directly has an impact on, and they are
not here because I was under the understanding that this item was going to be
postponed,” said Cobos. Uh-huh. Likely story, Tony.
Wardy said they would not
discuss it in open Council but first discuss it in executive session. Taylor Moore informed Council that he was
there to speak on that item and Wardy said he would allow him to speak. After Council came out of executive session,
they were ready to talk.
Taylor Moore introduced
himself again. During the early weeks
of this administration, Mr. Moore frequently visited Council and was one of the
few activists with the courage to come forward to tell Council that they were
violating the City Charter by hiring Jimbo/Jabba/El Superstar as Chief
Administrative Officer of the City. He
also was courageous enough always to remind them that they were each bought and
paid for by Jobe. He also pointed out
that Jimbo was (until very recently) the attorney of record for hundreds of
Jobe cases.
Wardy, ever the loyal foot
soldier for Jobe (and Bowling and Luther Jones and David Escobar) always shut
him down during those appearances before Council (even when Moore posted the
item specifically for public discussion) and never allowed him to finish his
statements.
This week, it was déjà vu
all over again, my friends.
Mr. Moore said he had
followed this Council’s interest in ASARCO from the day they were each elected.
“Each of you were elected with the
strong support of Jobe Concrete Products.
Jobe is a multi-national…” but as always, he couldn’t finish his
sentence. Wardy cut him off. Wardy instructed him to restrict his
comments to the agenda item and not “dwell on generalities that don’t have
anything to do with this particular item.”
I guess in Wardy’s dictionary—maybe he borrowed Barbie’s Fun Words
Dictionary from Lisa E.—the definition for “conflict of interest” is “a generality
that doesn’t have to do with anything.”
Moore said his discussion
had to do with conflicts of interest issues (which are at the heart of the
agenda item—firing Jimbo/Jabba/El Superstar and hiring someone with no
conflicts). Wardy remained adamant,
saying, “We’re not going there today,” and said “that’s not what’s posted
here.”
Hmmm…funny…when Gen. Jim
Maloney outlined the goals and makeup of the Texas Military Preparedness
Commission last week during an agenda item about outsourcing more Building and
Planning duties, neither Lisa Elizondo nor Joe Wardy stopped to tell him he
wasn’t focusing on the posted issue (http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2005_0118.htm). Actually, a more accurate agenda item
posting for that discussion last week would have read (in Cushing’s absurdly
pompous, stilted, inflated, pseudo-technical style) like this:
“Discussion
and action relevant to anticipated emergence of critical housing needs
secondary to extensive influx of military and possibly civilian personnel at
Ft. Bliss military reservation and the role of the third-party permitting
initiative in providing essential tools to selected local developers/private
sector actors to address said critical development, said tools to include, but
not be limited to, 2005 model year Hummer vehicles with extended warranties
(and to include tax, title and license, otherwise known in the automotive
industry as “TTL”) and also to include all-expense paid trips to various
Caribbean sites to observe proposed third-party permitting plans.”
Anyway, with respect to
Council’s rules regarding posting agenda items and making public comment, this
crew always bends those rules when it suits them and enforces stricter versions
when they want to silence disfavored citizens.
It’s just business as usual at Wardy & Co.
And this brings up an important example. For those of you who received the item that
the El Paso Times called “junk mail”
(Wardy’s campaign letter) but that the Times
nevertheless believes is
“worth reading,” you might recognize the following statement from Wardy’s
mailer: “And let me also affirm that I respect and will always give careful
consideration to all dissenting viewpoints.”
Uh-huh. And
I’ve got waterfront property in northeast El Paso to sell you, Mr. Joe. I love how you “respect dissenting
viewpoints,” Mr. Mayor.
An unflappable Moore
continued, despite Wardy’s best efforts to shut him down. “We have a hearing
coming up and the City has employed lawyers and consultants who have huge
conflicts of interest. The attorneys
that represent the City in this complex proceeding not only have to be
qualified, but they have to be conflict free and it is your relationship with
Jobe that generates that conflict, and I’m sorry you don’t want to listen to me
about it…ASARCO contaminated Jobe’s property, and it’s really important for you
to understand that,” he said.
Moore showed a damning
aerial photograph of ASARCO’s dark plume blowing over Jobe’s El Toro quarry
(150 acres) and the Crystal A quarry (250-300 acres) in west El Paso. “That plume blew over 24 hours a day for 100
years, and it deposited contaminants. I
have the readings of the Sunland Park water tower…” but again Wardy interrupted
him, saying Moore wasn’t focusing on the issue on the agenda—the hiring of
Harliss Benthul.
“You have attorneys and
consultants representing the City who owe their loyalties to ASARCO and Jobe
and it’s got to stop,” said Moore, “and I’m trying to show you a picture here
of why this problem exists.” Elizondo
(whom I almost didn’t recognize because she had suddenly become part blonde)
took Wardy’s cue and jumped on the bandwagon.
She interrupted Moore as well, saying “I’m not sure if I’ve heard any
attribution [sic] from Mr. Moore on that [agenda item].” Don’t worry if you can’t make heads or tails
of that comment. Lisa E. had clearly
been thumbing through her Barbie’s Fun Words Dictionary again—once she had
gotten it back from Wardy.
“I’m saying you’re going
into a hearing with James Martinez representing the City of El Paso in the
ASARCO air permit hearing,” said Moore.
“James Martinez used to be Jobe’s lawyer and I think he’s still the
attorney of record in thousands of cases; that’s a conflict.”
Wardy said Martinez is an
employee of the City, and “You may have an opinion of him one way or the other,
as do other members of Council, but he’s our guy.”
He’s only our guy, Joe,
because Luther Jones, Martie Jobe (Jimbo’s old bosses) and David Escobar told
you he’s your guy.
Moore continued, “Since you
have taken your office, Mayor, you have employed…” but Wardy kept interrupting
him. Moore was relentless: “You’re
going into this hearing with people who have conflicts of interest representing
the City.”
Cushing took a moment from
his toxic smacking to say, “You allege to have been a lawyer, is that
correct?” (And you allege to be a city
rep, is that correct?) Cushing asked if
a lawyer wouldn’t be required to acknowledge and disclose conflicts of
interest, and Moore said that was true, but added, “I’m saying the City needs
conflict-free lawyers and consultants…and the current lawyers have
conflicts…It’s your job to be alert and listen to someone like me who tells you
they do have conflicts and represent the City, so don’t suggest to me, sir, that
you can unload your job on a lawyer who’s supposed to disclose his conflicts of
interest. I’m here to tell you the
conflicts exist, and I ask you to listen to me.”
As a matter of logic and
common sense, Bob, just because lawyers have an ethical duty to disclose
conflicts doesn’t mean they always do.
“I have yet to hear anything
to convince me that there’s a conflict of interest,” said Cushing, dismissing
Moore’s pleas for them to listen. And
yes, I’ll bet he has yet to hear anything to convince him not to support ASARCO
as well.
“The history from the day
you took office…” continued Moore, and then Wardy, who was visibly angry by
this point, told him to stop. Wardy
again stated that the item on the agenda was very specific and, with his voice
rising in anger, said, “I’m gonna allow your time at the podium to stop…it is
the hiring of Harris, Harris, whatever his name is—Harliss Benthul as an
attorney in this case. That’s all. Not about conflicts of interest or us or
Jobe Concrete or the Mars space shuttle [I didn’t know the space shuttle went
to Mars—where have I been? What a cool thing!] or whatever you wanna discuss
today. That’s not where we’re going
today…I’m gonna ask you to step away from the podium,” commanded Wardy.
“You can trivialize the
issue, but you can’t get away from it,” said Moore as he left the podium.
He’s absolutely right and
couldn’t be more right. Jim Martinez
represented Jobe Concrete in hundreds (if not thousands) of cases. Before representing industry (an industry
which also needs to maintain and keep its air permit, like ASARCO), Martinez
was a personal injury lawyer (car accidents and the like). How on earth is he (a) qualified and
competent to represent the City on environmental issues, and (b) conflict-free
when his job for so long was to help Jobe keep its own air permit?
Cook made a motion to
approve but not a single person on Council seconded the motion; Cook observed
that the item therefore died for lack of a second.
Of course, none of this made
the TV news that evening or the newspaper the next day. It’s only news, right, folks? All we saw on TV was Wardy’s Cheshire cat
smile, beaming about the golf course for which he would be given and all too
eagerly take credit.
You know, folks, it’s no
wonder that informed citizens doubt Wardy & Co.’s sincerity when it comes
to defending our interests regarding ASARCO.
With Cushing living his “defense attorney” fantasy—acting as ASARCO
apologist and would-be Perry Mason cross-examiner—and with Wardy defending
Jabba/Jimbo/El Superstar despite the conflict of interest issue, well, thank
goodness the people of El Paso were allowed to get their own attorneys (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050128-16650.shtml)
And then Wardy’s time for
“full consideration to dissenting viewpoints” was over.
Old Friends
After Richarda Momsen read
the following item into the record, El Superstar came to the podium and
sarcastically said (about Taylor Moore, presumably), “It’s nice to know that
old friends still care.” That’s right,
Jabba. Some people out there do
care. Thankfully, they are out there
working hard to defend our interests against corruption, unlike you and your
patrónes on Council and “the business community.”
28B. Frank Lopez III, Matthew Braxton, Placido
Hernandez, Victor Orta, Carlos Luna, and Violeta Corral vs. City of El Paso,
Texas, Carlos Leon, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Chief of
Police of El Paso, Texas; David Amparan, Jesus Ayala, Noe Baeza, Roberto Baeza
Jr., Jorge Luis Chavez, Luis Cortez, Joseph Duarte, Robert Holguin, Jose Lopez,
Vicente Macias, Ramon Antonio Mazza, Erik M. Messer, Adrian Nevarez, Ruben G.
Olmos, Jaime Payan, Victor Perez, Mark A. Vallejo, Peter F. Pacillas, and John
Doe Officers 1-10, Individually and in their Official Capacities as City of El
Paso Police Officers; Cause No. EP-05-CA-0009-FM in the United States District
Court of Texas. (551.071) [City
Attorney's Office, James A. Martinez, (915) 541-4550]
Council approved hiring
outside attorneys to defend the City against the Montwood High School
lawsuit. Not clear why our in-house
attorneys (including El Superstar) can’t do it. That’s more tax dollars flying out of City Hall.
And that was that for the
meeting.
On the Campaign Trail
Here comes Sidney Cotton
Tail, hoppin’ down the campaign trail…hippity, hoppity, election’s on the way!
So far, the mayoral race has
three real contenders: Joe Wardy (whose
price tag has been showing!), John Cook, and recently-announced Carmen
Rodriguez (a local lawyer and activist http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/4087394/detail.html).
And in District 8, well, it
looks like Anthony Cobos didn’t get permission from his string-pullers to run
for County Judge as he had fantasized.
This week, Cobos announced he was running for re-election. Here’s a quote from the blurb in the Times:
"I think I am seasoned now," Cobos, 37,
said. "I just want to finish some of the things we started, like
recycling, and to see the Keystone wetland secure and preserved and see that
whole area brought under the domain of the city."
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050128-16658.shtml
Seasoned? For what?
Roasting? I’m there, baby! Or for continued cronyism? And his biggest (stated) goal is to finish
recycling? LEADERSHIP VOID ALERT! LEADERSHIP VOID ALERT! Sheesh!
Have the community’s expectations sunk so low that we are willing to
accept zero leadership in addition to corruption?
Beto O’Rourke, a local
downtown business owner (and the individual who helped bring us StantonStreet,
an alternative media a few years back) announced that he would be seeking the
same District 8 seat (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050125-15526.shtml
and http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=2851299&nav=AbC0Vd98
and http://www.borderlandnews.com/under40/orourke.shtml
So, folks in District 8 have
a choice. Aren’t choices grand? Everyone knows how I feel about Cobos—I
haven’t been coy: He’s the guy who will
go to war on behalf of Bobby Bowling, even if it means having to use taxpayer
money to defend the City against a lawsuit as a result; a guy who juggles
numbers to help his friends get their hands on our tax money through rigged
government contracts; and a guy who has rubber stamped ALL of Wardy’s bad
decisions which have driven City Hall to near ruin.
Cobos’ handlers don’t want
an ethical leader in District 8—they want a puppet, which is why they
“suggested” to Cobos that he stay just where he is. And Cobos, obliging guy that he is, bent to the will of his
patrónes and financiers. The good news
is, he won’t be our next County Judge; but it’s up to the voters of District 8
as to whether or not they will allow him to continue to pillage our City
coffers for his friends.
In District 2, Cushing has
yet to announce his intentions regarding re-election. Let’s hope that this belly-scratching, pompous spittle ejector
decides to do his spitting and scratching at home rather than run again. But if he does run again, he’s got two
challengers: Oscar Gonzalez (who
vigorously campaigned for and helped elect Joe Wardy, worked as his
neighborhoods liaison, then quit City Hall in a huff and started his own
neighborhood coalition http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050103-7470.shtml
and http://community-2.webtv.net/grassrootselpaso/united/)
and Susie Byrd (who worked for her family’s publishing company and then for
former Mayor Ray Caballero, and now runs her own business http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050118-13449.shtml
and http://www.cincopuntos.com/family.html). I’ve seen both of their platforms and that
should be an interesting race. Cushing,
like Cobos, has had a major hand in helping make a mess of City Hall for the
benefit of his friends – Luther Jones, David Escobar and Bobby Bowling.
Voters need to understand
that incompetence and corruption at City Hall, in addition to being just bad
things, COST US MONEY! We know we’re
already $7 million short for next year; these guys are costing us even more
money by postponing city contracts so their friends can get rigged bids, by
keeping our City Attorney’s office very docile and in a state of shambles, and
by having no idea what it means to be a leader in a major American community.
In the coming weeks, I hope
more folks announce their candidacy in the other districts because one thing is
for sure: The people sitting up there
now (with one exception, John Cook), have wreaked havoc on our municipal
government, have manipulated and corrupted our procurement system (or silently
acquiesced to the havoc and the manipulation), and have generally been an
embarrassment to anyone who believes in honest and inclusive government.
Until next week.
Comments or questions: shmaven@yahoo.com
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http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/shm.htm
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