2.22.2005
This week it was a veritable
smorgasbord of rock and rollers—T. Rex, the Clash, Death by Stereo and the
Doobie Brothers, plus the Gong Show thrown in for good measure. And ah, yes (can’t forget Jerry Lee Lewis),
a whole lotta exercisin’ goin’ on as
well…with Wardy’s limited vocabulary, that is.
He may not be as inarticulate as Alexandro Lozano, but his vocabulary is
about as big.
When Local Cops Enforce Federal Laws
The first public item was
placed on the agenda by an immigration activist:
2. Discussion
to present testimony on increasing incidents where El Paso Police agents
enforced immigration laws by asking El Paso residents for legal status.
[Fernando Garcia, Border Network for Human Rights]
Fernando Garcia explained
that the Border Network for Human Rights is a ten-year-old non-profit in El
Paso that educates people about constitutional rights and collects information
from the community regarding violations of these rights by federal law
enforcement agencies.
He explained that this year,
while there was a decrease in the amount of reported abuse of constitutional
rights by federal law enforcement, almost 43% of the documented cases of abuse
came from local police officers and/or sheriff’s deputies. In half of those cases, local police and
sheriff’s deputies were asking individuals for their legal status after minor
infractions (like parking violations, for example). Garcia said that whether or not this is legal, these incidents
create public safety and security problems because more people will fear local
police officers and will think twice before calling the police or the sheriff
for help.
Garcia said that they placed
this item on the City agenda to clarify what El Paso Police Department policy
is regarding local police enforcing immigration laws.
Betty Camargo was the next
to speak. She identified herself as the
Director of Poder de la Mujer, an organization that works with battered
immigrant women. Camargo stated that
three weeks ago she was entering her office on Yandell when she saw a police
officer questioning a woman and that shortly thereafter she saw a border patrol
vehicle arrive. Camargo said she asked
the Border Patrol officer what was going on and he explained that the woman had
been stopped because of a parking violation and the Border Patrol officer said,
“Because she didn’t have any papers, the police officer called us to
investigate.” She then asked the police
officer what happened and he said that he called the Border Patrol because he
asked for her papers and she didn’t have any.
Camargo said that the she
asked the Police Officer why he had asked her for her immigration status and he
said it was his “obligation” to do so.
The woman showed the officers identification and ultimately was not deported,
but Camacho asked, “Why do police call immigration on just a traffic
violation?” Camacho explained that the
battered women she works with now believe that if they call the police, their
immigration status will be questioned.
Asleep in the Lazy-Boy
Robert Cushing, who was
either being deliberately obtuse or had slept through the presentation
(actually, call it a hunch, but it ain’t hard to fall asleep when you’ve
switched your office chair out with a Lazy Boy recliner), asked Camacho, “Uh,
if I understand what you’ve brought before us today, your concern is that, uh,
citizens are being asked to provide a form of identification?” Uh, no, Bob. You know, Mr. Cushing, one of your functions on Council is to
listen to people who come before you.
Camacho explained—again—that
the issue is that individuals are being asked by local law enforcement
officials if they have the right to be in the United States. Got it, Bob?
Fernando Garcia reiterated
that he is concerned about the impact that these kinds of actions will have on
the community—especially in cases like those of the battered women who go to
Poder de la Mujer.
El Paso Police Chief Richard
Wiles said the procedures manual requires the police to turn over undocumented
immigrants to Border Patrol when they “come across an illegal immigrant”
through “legal means.” This really
didn’t address Ms. Camacho’s concerns, however. Does EPPD have a policy of affirmatively asking individuals what
their immigration status is?
Trying to get an answer to
this question, Susan Austin rightfully demanded to know why the police officers
would be asking individuals for immigration status and asked Wiles if that
wouldn’t be a violation of the policy.
Wiles said it was but that only one person in the last year has
complained about a police officer violating that policy.
Garcia said that Wiles’
response was “not enough,” and asked Council to be aware of what is happening
and question the validity of the policy.
He said that other cities have made established clear policies that prevent
local law enforcement from enforcing federal law.
Wardy asked if Garcia had
ever met with Wiles to discuss these issues and Garcia said he spoke with the
previous Chief, Carlos Leon, who had a clear policy against these kinds of
violations, but that he hasn’t yet had a meeting with Wiles.
Wardy said he wanted Garcia
to have this meeting with Wiles, “as a first step in this exercise.”
Lozano encouraged Garcia to
submit a written complaint if this happens again.
No action was taken on this
item.
I hope Mr. Garcia indeed
does meet with Chief Wiles. Our local
police officers have no business asking people if they are legally in the
U.S. That is not their role; they are
not trained to be Border Patrol agents.
The undocumented are vulnerable enough as it is; if they’re afraid to
call the police or the sheriff when they need their help, that does no one any
good, except the people who exploit them.
Minute Hit
Passed on the consent
agenda, here they are:
3. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES: [Municipal Clerk, Richarda Duffy Momsen, (915) 541-4127] Approval
of Minutes for Regular City Council Meeting of February 15, 2005. (Attachment)
I sometimes wonder if there
are “minutes” junkees, like me, out there…
It’s About Control
The following item was also
approved on the consent agenda with no discussion:
5O. Revised
Resolution providing for the 2005 General Election in the City of El Paso,
calling for an Election of Officers. (Attachment) [Municipal Clerk, Richarda Duffy Momsen,
(915) 541-4127]
This brings up an item I
neglected to discuss last week. Last
week there was an agenda item (also item number 5O) related to the elections
and the early voting locations. Here it
is off of the February 15th agenda:
5O. A
Resolution providing for the 2005 General Election in the City of El Paso,
calling for an election of officers. (Attachment) [Municipal Clerk,
Richarda Duffy Momsen, (915) 541-4127]
http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2005_0215.htm
An alert reader informed me
that if you click on last week’s Attachment and go to page
11, you’ll see that the Jobe Quarry is the location of a mobile voting site on
Thursday, April 28th from 9:00 – 5:00 p.m. (Thank you, alert
reader!)
While there’s nothing wrong
with Jobe having a mobile voting site available for its workers, it’s the
strategies that Jobe employs that make me shake my head in disgust. Every election, before the mobile voting
site arrives, the Jobes hold a rally for their employees and instruct them whom
to vote for. I have little doubt that
many if not most of these employees, who owe their livelihoods to the Jobes,
dutifully follow instructions.
Great strategy, eh,
folks? Control your employees, control
the elections, control the elected officials…then, you can be sure that your
wallet stays fat and you can do as you please.
And we let them get away with this.
I say, shame on us.
You Cannot Serve Two Masters
The following item was
spearheaded by Representative John Cook and the North Hills Neighborhood Pride
Association:
20A. Discussion and action on a Resolution that the
Mayor be requested to execute an Ordinance for the City of El Paso to initiate
an R-3 Zoning in each of the four parcels of land which the El Paso Water
Utilities has just released for development in Northeast El Paso; that all
parcels of land be limited from any commercial development; that all parcels of
land be developed as per the City of El Paso Master Plan for Northeast El Paso,
and that only two parcels of land, Parcel A & D, be considered for any
multi-family dwellings. (Attachment) [Representative John F. Cook, (915)
541-4400] POSTPONED FROM 02/15/05
Joel Bay, the President of
the North Hills Neighborhood Pride Association, said that he was there
representing 3,000 residents in his area, and that they had signed a resolution
asking for the following:
1. That the City initiate R-3 (single family, residential) zoning to
“preserve the quality of housing [and] the same property values;”
2. That Council keep the zoning strictly residential and restrict
commercial development.
3. That the City follow the Master Plan for Northeast El Paso.
4. Finally, that the City ensure that any apartments being built be
along the periphery of U.S. 54
Matt Watson, Assistant City
Attorney, explained that while the City can indeed initiate zoning changes on
City owned property within the City limits, this case is different. “We do have a public service board bid that
has gone out,” he explained, adding, “It does have specific requirements with
regard to the ultimate use of the property.”
He recommended that the City wait until the new property owner requests
a zoning change himself. He explained
that one of the bidders on one of the parcels would oppose the City rezoning
the property for residential use only.
According to the El Paso Times,
that bidder is none other than Tropicana Homes, owned by the Bowling Family (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050223-27366.shtml).
Representative John Cook
assured Watson that he had spoken with Mr. Bowling (he didn’t say which one),
who had agreed to keep most (but not all) of the property R-3 (single-family
residential); some of the property would be used for apartment buildings, which
Cook said adhered to the requests of the neighborhood. Cook also asked Mr. Bay, who was at the
meeting with Bowling, if he felt comfortable with what Bowling envisioned on
the property and Bay said he “was somewhat comfortable,” but did have other
concerns and that he felt there’s “room for additional modification.”
Mr. Cliché, a/k/a Joe Wardy,
replied, “Well, we have an exercise,
Mr. Bay, I mean, the good thing is you’re in the process step one…your concerns
are very valid” (everyone’s concerns are “valid” according to Wardy…that
statement is now as meaningless as ethics rules). Wardy pointed out that George Sarmiento, the Director of
Planning, was waiting to speak, “I’d kinda like to hear…your perspective going
in this exercise.”
Sarmiento said his only
concern is ensuring that the Master Plan is “in conformance with this vision
now that you allow multi-family and some neighborhood commercial.”
Susan Austin wanted to know
if the PSB had altered the original Master Plan via its bid, and Sarmiento said
that they had added conditions to allow for multi-family (apartments) and
neighborhood commercial (like corner convenience stores and gas stations), “so that
on its face would not be consistent with their master plan, so what we’re
saying now is you have to amend the master plan” he said.
Wardy kept insisting that
the City Council had approved the Master Plan for the northeast, and Austin
disagreed, saying Council had not approved it.
John Cook explained that the City had “accepted” it from the PSB and
directed the Planning Department to do a land study.
Rudy Valdez from the
Planning Department said that in September, Council “authorized the submittal
of the land study by the PSB for this master planned area.”
Bang a Gong!
Wardy said, “We did accept
the document from the PSB, the City voted to do so, correct? And submitted for [the] Planning
[Department] for the exercise to go
forward, right?”
(My friends, I wish I had a
gong inside Council Chambers—like the one on the Gong Show in the ‘70s—so that
every time Wardy says “exercise” I’d
bang the gong. You know, I’m also a CIA
hit man, folks. Just thought I’d throw
that in.)
Valdez explained that the item
on the agenda was to authorize the PSB to submit land studies for the master
plan—not approval of the master plan itself.
Susan Austin said, “If PSB
has the rightful latitude to put that spec in the packet, and then they sell
it, I would hate for us to take that away, and that’s my problem; I don’t think
we can take that away…we should have been more directive to the PSB up front
and we weren’t.”
Lozano (who should trademark
this response) complained that he didn’t understand why Council was doing this.
Cook said this whole
discussion highlights an issue he has been talking about for six years—namely,
that the City, not the PSB, owns the property, at least according to him. Because they are “a department of the City,”
he argued, they should not be the ones preparing the bid packages and selling
the land—the City should. “We embrace
their master plan…we look at what the uses were supposed to be and then they go
out and change it to multi-family without even asking our opinion on it…they go
in and tweak it and go against what the plan was which they presented to us in
the first place.”
Wardy, who is a member of
the Public Service Board, said, “I can assure you that this has been an orderly
exercise and not somebody running
off, uh, trying to change things as we go along,” and argued that this conforms
to the master plan.
GONG!
Cobos, who always seems
eager to prevent public involvement in City planning and growth issues
(especially when it benefits a major supporter like Bowling), spoke up, saying
he didn’t think it was in the City’s best interests to make a decision about
supporting the neighbors at that meeting.
“I don’t think that we have the technical wherewithal to make a decision
here today.” He added, “I don’t think
there’s any Planners on the City Council.
I don’t think any of us have a degree in Planning.” Wardy felt inspired to add, “Or architects
or engineers!” Or, I might add, with
very few exceptions, honest politicians.
Cobos continued, “And to make a decision so drastic today will be very
counterproductive, in my opinion.”
So supporting the neighbors
in their quest to preserve their neighborhood is “counterproductive,” Mr.
Cobos? To whom? Why developers, of course.
Cobos informed Cook that he
was willing to schedule a legislative review committee meeting to further
discuss the issue, and Cook responded, “I don’t know that I would be any better
a planner after attending a legislative review than I am at the moment.” And he’s right. Cobos’s delay tactics are extremely transparent. Either he supports the neighborhood
association or he doesn’t.
“I’m ready to move on,”
complained Cobos.
Mr. Bay spoke up and said
that it was the association’s intent to try to influence the development in
their area as soon as possible.
Wardy replied, “The whole
point of this exercise is to conform
with the master plan and that’s had some discussion at the Public Service Board
level…you have been successful today because this is at the very, very front of
this entire exercise, which is going
to be a lengthy exercise. There are steps along that way so you and
your neighborhood association can participate in this process, and that’s the
whole goal of this exercise.”
GONG! GONG! GONG! GONG!
My word! I felt physically drained by all of this exercise. Doesn’t this guy own a thesaurus?! Doesn’t Barbie’s Fun Words Dictionary have
any synonyms for exercise? Help
the poor shnook out, Lisa E!
Annexing Left Field
Coming out of left field,
Presi Ortega interjected and said, “I had a thought.” Oh oh. Danger, Will
Robinson! Presi’s had a thought! He asked about the City’s last annexation on
the east side of town and about how many acres were annexed (2,000 acres was
the response). He told Council that
“they” (whoever “they” are) did a great job and the City will need to consider
annexation soon.
Huh? Where did that come from? Does Presi have one of those electronic
zappers in his head that I mentioned last week? Reminds me of the classic scene from the film Roxanne, when Steve Martin’s character
is feeding lines via short-wave radio to the hapless hunk romancing
Roxanne. At one point they get
interference from a CBer’s communication and the brainless hunk starts shouting
out, “Breaker, breaker!” I can see it
now. In the middle of a discussion on
some proposed zoning change, Presi gets buzzed by a developer and he starts
yelping out “Annexation!
Annexation!”
Speaking of annexation…looks
like the candidates who are puppets of developers are starting to talk about
annexing more land for them to build on in an appeal to their base (the
developers). In case you missed the two
articles, here they are: Annexation
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050223-27359.shtml
and Land Use Could be campaign issue
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050223-27360.shtml
Presi closed by saying, “I’m
just concerned about how we handle this and this will affect future
annexation.”
I’ll tell you how you and
Wardy will handle annexation, Presi.
Wardy has promised to annex more land for his developer buddies to build
on within a year if re-elected. Isn’t
it interesting how this whole “annexation” issue has just popped up at campaign
time?
No one responded to Presi’s
“out of left field” commentary.
A Wise Man
Another member of the
public, Clifford Ellis, came to the podium and he made a perfect point. He said, “One of my biggest complaints is we
build houses, we do not build communities, and contrary to popular belief, we
all do not want a Circle K store on every corner. We want pure residential property.” He added, “You’ve got planned commercial property in that area,
let’s stick to it.” He made another
good point. He said other cities lay
out the condition of the sale and how the land would be developed before the
sale and it’s up to the buyer of the land to accept or reject the
conditions. He implored Council to plan
the City’s growth and then stick to the plan.
He said that the same lack of planning has been going on in El Paso
since he moved here in 1974 and he was extremely distraught. “We want a community we can be proud of,” he
said.
He’s absolutely correct.
Matt Watson reminded Council
that because the property has been sent out to bid, Council can no longer
change the zoning of the property; however, it is well within their discretion
to determine what the zoning should be once the developer (in this case, Bobby
“I Own the Mayor and a Majority of Council” Bowling) applies for his own zoning
change in the near future. And although
it does not require action by Council to do so, Cobos and Vivian Rojas made a
big to-do about having a legislative review committee meeting to discuss zoning
issues once the property is sold.
At this point, Wardy
announced he was on his way to Austin and Cobos had the opportunity to sit in
the big chair! (He didn’t, though…maybe
Wardy forgot to place the booster seat on the “big chair” for Cobos before he left!)
Renovations to the 9th Floor Renovations
I had anxiously awaited the
discussion on the following item:
14C. Solicitation No. 2005-074 City Hall 9th
Floor Renovation
Contractor: Jan-Car, Inc. Horizon City, Texas
Department:
Building and Planning
Services Funds
Available: PPWFA03009-31260001-60615-508027,
$24,586.40
FY03 Certificates of Obligation
PPWFA03009-31118111-27035-508027,
$49,421.98
1993 Certificates of Obligation
PPWFA03009-31134000-27101, 27102 & 27105
508027,
$40,529.33
997A
Certificates of Obligation
PPWFA03009-31250102-27178-508027,
$106,161.35
2000 Certificates of
Obligation
PPWFA03009-31250102-27179-508027,
$15,929.94
2000 Certificates of Obligation
Items: Base Bid II
$236,629.00
Total Award: $236,629.00
District (s): 8
The
Departments of Engineering and Building and Planning Services recommend the
award of this contract to Jan-Car, Inc., as this Offeror has provided the Best
Value Proposal. 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 City Manager and Staff be authorized to
execute budget transfers for this award and project, as necessary.
As part of the
award of this contract, the City Engineer is authorized to approve contract
changes which are necessary for proper construction of the work and carrying
out the intent of the design, but which do not increase the scope of the
contract as awarded, in an amount not to exceed $25,000 per numbered change
order, and not to exceed the total of 25% of the original contract price as
awarded, without further authorization by City Council.
The work is
to take place inside the 9th floor of City Hall, located at Two Civic Center
Plaza, El Paso, Texas. This project
will provide for furnishing and complete installation of an automated file
system for the City Attorney's office. Additionally, 2 renovated offices for
City Attorney's Department, space for the City Manager's Department and the
Deputy City Manager's offices will be renovated. The total area renovated, not inclusive of the filing system
space, is 8,548 sq ft at a per sq. ft cost of $20.64. The work consists of interior demolition work including removal of
carpet. Work includes, but is not
limited to sealants, doors and frames, hardware, glazing, partitions, finishes,
vinyl composition tile, paint, ceilings, etc., window blinds, operable metal
storage system, HVAC, plumbing, electrical power, lighting, and special
systems. Contractor shall provide
conduit for voice and data system.
Contractor will not provide cabling for voice and data system.
Contractor will not provide carpet and cove base.
The City
Manager and staff will be relocating to the 9th floor. This will allow for future 10th floor
reconfiguration to create a central reception area for visitors to 10th floor
offices, additional conference room meeting spaces for City Council and staff
other improvements and efficiencies in telephone and support services. (Attachment) [Purchasing
Department, Byron Johnson, (915) 541-4308]
Byron Johnson explained that
part of this renovation for the 9th floor would “redo a section of
the legal department for their offices, and the second piece is that the legal
department needs a filing system.” The
other part of the renovation is to help the City Manager and Deputy City
Managers to move into the area vacated by Community Development.
Hypocrisy Alert!*
*Okay, looks like I’m going to have
to trademark this one, too
Cobos, who only two years
ago complained when the previous administration wanted to remodel the 10th
floor, said he was sure the money for this ($237k) would be “spent well.”
Lozano asked why the City
was able to find money to renovate the 9th floor but can’t find
money to pave streets in his district.
He asked that the item be postponed for two weeks so Council could
consider the expenditure.
The City Manager, Joyce
Wilson, explained why the renovations were needed and that the money was
specifically earmarked for City Hall renovations and could not be used for
anything else. Furthermore, she
explained, this would help bring all the Deputy City Managers together as well.
I don’t doubt that the City
Manager’s new space on the 9th floor needs renovating, and I
completely support her efforts to maximize the space on that floor and
accomplish her goals 100%. I think her
portion of the project should be fully funded as soon as possible.
However, I can’t help but
wonder, my friends, why on earth the City Attorney’s Office (on the other side
of the 9th floor) needs any renovating when Lisa Elizondo spent many
thousands of our taxpayer dollars when she first came into her position to do
just that; in case you don’t remember this boondoggle, or if you just want to
re-live the fun, be sure to read about that renovation: http://newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=2c0eae8c6ae24893.
Power Play
As the discussion began,
Cobos called on Representative Cook, who had a comment, but Cushing quickly
interrupted before Cook could say a word and seconded Lozano’s motion. Remember, folks, a motion to postpone takes
precedence over any other motion and that means that Council members and the
public cannot comment.
“So you don’t want to allow
me to comment?” asked Cook.
“No, I’ll second his motion
to postpone,” responded Cushing.
“I appreciate that,” Cook
retorted sarcastically.
The motion to postpone
failed, with only Cushing and Lozano voting in favor of a postponement. Nice try, guys.
Cook then got his
opportunity to speak. He thanked Wilson
for her briefing and agreed that the City Manager and Assistant Manager should
indeed co-locate on the 9th floor.
I was hoping Cook would approve the renovations for the City Manager’s
Office, but deny any remodeling for the City Attorney’s Office and bring up
Lisa E’s extravagant and tacky renovations.
Alas, he didn’t, and he then moved to approve the item.
Before the vote was taken
there was much discussion. It was no
surprise that Presi Ortega (who a little birdie told me is an ardent admirer of
Lisa Elizondo) and Paul Escobar supported the move completely. In their eyes, it seems, Lisa E. can do no
wrong.
While those two (on one side
of the Council table) were supporting the renovations, Cushing and Lozano (on
the other side of the Council table) were falling all over themselves to
question it. Nothing like debating in
stereo, eh?
Cushing wanted to know who
came up with the scope of the work and Byron Johnson explained that staff
did. Johnson was then drilled by Lozano
and Cushing (who were asking questions at the same time, so it was hard to keep
track of who was asking what…isn’t Cobos a great parliamentarian?). They asked beaucoup questions about
carpeting, etc., and although Wilson had told them the money was coming from
old certificates of obligation identified specifically for City Hall
renovations, they asked Byron (again) where the money was coming from. He looked around, baffled, and then walked
away from the podium, waiting for someone else to answer the question. A frustrated Joyce Wilson quietly said,
“It’s coming from within. Byron, answer
the question.” Pat Adauto had to step
in and answer that and other questions for him.
What is going on here? It’s fascinating that a senior administrator
like Johnson, who can’t or won’t answer a simple question, is allowed to stay
on by Wardy, but dozens of able and experienced Assistant City Attorneys are
dispatched because, as Wardy has told some constituents, they’re “lazy and
incompetent”. Do you see a pattern
here, folks?
Cushing (who at one point
accused Pat Adauto of being “disingenuous” – guess he feels complete freedom to
insult staff while he’s sitting on Council) brought up the fact that the item
specifically states that this will clear the way for future 10th
floor “reconfiguration.”
When Lisa Elizondo tried to
make it seem as though very little work would be done in the City Attorney’s
Office, the City Manager pointed out that they are actually also getting extra
space plus the renovations and said “they [the City Attorney’s Office staff]
are part of this.” Elizondo complained
that the lawyers in her office have to walk across the office (Walk, El Paso, Walk!) to talk to the
paralegals, so she thought it was okay to “piggy back” on the work being done
for the City Manager. Oh my God! They have to walk?! Say it ain’t so, Lisa E! Might damage their designer shoes, eh?
Cobos complained that there
were too many “unanswered questions” and said the City should “live within its
means.”
Presi then said that this
Council hired the City Manager, but now they’re not “backing” her up. Cobos became angry about that and launched
into a defense of his statements.
(Watching Presi and Cobos get into a public spat was worth the price of
admission.) Presi said that he doesn’t
believe Council should be micro-managing and should instead be focused on
policy. Wow. First, Presi goes mano a mano with Cobos and then the political
hack actually says something that makes perfect sense.
The item was postponed for
two weeks (only Austin maintained her “no” vote the second time around).
Short Sightedness…Are there prescription lenses
available for that?
Your buddy Sid experienced
beaucoup frustrations about the following item—one set of frustrations with our
sorry excuse for leaders and the other set with our sorry excuse for reporters:
25. PUBLIC
HEARING - FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES: An Ordinance authorizing the
Mayor to sign a contract of sale and any other necessary documents between the
City of El Paso and Western Refining Company, L. P. for property legally described
as Collingsworth Survey 14, tracts 1-A, 1-C, and 1-E and portion of tracts 1-B
and 1-G, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas including the improvements thereon,
also known as the Clark Facility. (Attachment) [Financial and
Administrative Services, Gonzalo Cedillos, (915) 541-4074]
Before I go into what
happened at the meeting, I first need to give you a little background
(something you’ll never get from our pathetic excuse for a newspaper). Apparently, the previous administration
purchased a 13-acre property on Clark Street, which was surplus property from
TxDOT. The City paid $3.6 million for it
(and have invested $500,000 in repairs so far). The purpose of that purchase, according to my research, was to
avoid paying non-City sources to impound or store City-owned cars. Based on my quick research on this subject,
I found out that the City was paying half a million dollars a year in 2003 to store these vehicles
(the price almost certainly has gone up since then). Doing quick math, it’s easy to see that the savings in those
impound fees would have paid for the building in six years.
However, according to the
current administration, the rehabilitation of the building sitting on that
property would’ve cost too much. So
they decided to sell the whole thing.
Even if it turns out they can’t use the offices, I wonder if they
could’ve leveled the building. It seems
to me that they can still use the 13 acres to store the vehicles—at a cost
savings of at least half a million dollars a year, probably more. But no, they’ve decided to sell it…at a
loss…a $2 million loss.
Okay. How much sense does that make to you? They’ve got 13 acres to use, which will help
save half a million dollars a year (or more) for as long as the City owns the
building, but instead, they’re willing to practically give it away (to a
friend, nonetheless—Western Refining).
So after I had done my quick
research and found out about the impound fees the taxpayers are paying (and
which the purchase of this property was meant to mitigate), I watched the news
that evening and looked in the paper the next day to see what our local
reporters would say about the impound fee issue. Well, guess what? While
all of them reported on the sale of the property, they said nothing about the
impound issue at all—an important issue if you ask me (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050223-27366.shtml).
Selling Off Our Patrimony
What concerns me is that the
sale of this land is part of an overall strategy to sell off as much of the
City’s land as possible (no matter what the cost, it seems) in order to cover
some of the $7 million shortfall expected in the next fiscal year. My fear is that they will soon sell off one
of the City’s most valuable city investments—property near Thomason and the new
medical school, which will soon probably quadruple in value, and the sale of which
would be an incredibly thoughtless, shortsighted act. But that’s the modus operandi of Wardy & Co.—engage in
short-term gain and cause long-term pain.
That’s precisely what happened with the budget—they voted for the
expedient and politically popular option of not raising taxes so now we’re
scrambling to come up with $7 million and selling off valuable property as part
of that exercise. Is there anyone out there who still thinks
this crew should stay in office?
Anyway, back to the meeting.
Before discussion about this
item began, Terry Cullen-Garney made a floor amendment to the ordinance which
will allow $1 million of the money from the sale of the property to be
allocated to pay off some debt and the other $1 million to be allocated to the
new History Museum.
What a Fool Believes
Cushing pointed out that the
money should be used to pay back the remaining debt on the building; Cobos
launched into a campaign speech about using certificates of obligation; and
Gonzalo Cedillos, a City staff member, recommended “taking a loss” and selling
the property.
Presi Ortega asked Cedillos
if there are other properties they’ll be selling and Cedillos said there
are. Lozano asked Cedillos if he would
be selling the land near the medical school and Cedillos said he’s close. “Try to make some money, please,” said
Lozano.
Bingo! As I predicted, they’re going to do it. My friends, while I don’t know about the
other properties they’re planning on selling, with regards to this plot of land
near the medical school, the City has an enormous responsibility and
opportunity. That land could be used
for so much good for the community, and as the medical school is built we may
have a tremendous need for City property nearby; but nooooo. We’ve got the myopic crew in office, ready
to give away as many assets as they can for some short-term savings, and this
property near Thomason is a prime example.
Cobos tried pushing this
through, saying, “Let’s count our losses and move on…let’s not look back…let’s
do what we need to do…I hope you bring those [other properties] to us in the
proper manner.” He asked about
splitting the fees between the debt service and the History Museum, and the
City Manager explained to Council that the History Museum “lacked resources to
address furniture and fixtures” and that using $1 million for this was the best
option.
Lozano said, “That’s the
only thing I’m satisfied that we’re selling it to [Western Refining]…and even
though we’re losing $2 million, it’s in my district and we’re gonna donate land
if we ever do the Airways [sic] expansion, so, you know, it’s like a, you know,
trade, I see it, you know.”
No, I don’t know, Alex. And neither do you. (It’s probably because of that “short
sighted problem”…any ophthalmologists out there?)
The item was approved
unanimously.
Current Events
Pat Adauto, the Deputy City
Manager for Building and Planning, handled part A of the following item:
27. CITY
MANAGER: City Manager's report of current events and issues:
a. Update of Capital Improvements Program, including
capital project status (all funds) and 10-year plan development. POSTPONED FROM
02/15/05
b. Presentation of the 2004 annual report of the El
Paso Police Department pertaining to their analysis of the race and ethnicity
information collected in conjunction with traffic stops, as required by Article
2.132, Code of Criminal Procedure. (Attachment)
She went into a long (and
extremely monotonous) presentation about the Capital Improvement Projects and
there were only two things I found interesting enough to mention. The first thing is that we can expect the
next administration (if it’s Wardy) to ask the voters for permission to again
fill potholes and pave streets in either early 2006 or 2007. The second thing is that after the
presentation, Presi Ortega launched into a self-congratulatory speech, noting
that when things get done, “it makes it all worthwhile,” and Susan Austin
solemnly said, “hear, hear.”
I tried not to choke on my
donut. Instead of doing what every
other major city in Texas does and just get work done using certificates of
obligation, Wardy & Co. spends thousands of dollars to ask the voters for permission
to do it. “Can we pave your streets?”
they ask. “Is it okay to fix this leaky
roof at your recreation center?” they ponder.
“Should we go ahead and buy a couple of books for this library?” they
wonder.
And this, my friends, was
part of his 2003 campaign against progress.
And that was pretty much
that for the meeting.
Hypocrisy Alert!™ Part Deux
By the way, I was listening
to John Cook on KROD this week and an alert caller pointed out something
important about Wardy’s 2003 campaign materials. In those materials, Wardy promised that if he made any financial
commitments using City money for downtown revitalization, he would take it to
the voters. Guess what, folks? While he wants to spend taxpayer dollars on
an election to get permission to fill potholes, he didn’t bother to keep his campaign
promise and take a $250,000 investment in a downtown plan to the voters. Here’s another hypocrisy alert item for
you. How much do you want to bet that
if re-elected, something huge – enormous – gargantuan, like annexation
(certainly much more expensive than filling potholes) won’t go to the voters at
all. When he’s fulfilling campaign
contributor promises, he doesn’t want voter approval…keepin’ it quiet is his
strategy on that one.
Push Poll…What Push Poll? (OR The Clash would be
proud)
FINALLY this week, the El Paso Times—after a local candidate
forced a public discussion about them—decided to write about push polls (for
more on push polls, see last week’s column: http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2005_0215.htm).
The most interesting tidbit
in the article was Wardy’s denial of them:
"I'm not sure I
understand what a push poll is, and I'm not sure I've ever used one, despite
the accusations of many in the last election that I did," Wardy said.
"I would not resort to any type of polling to influence people.
"I never knew what
a push poll was. It sure wasn't paid for by me, and I'm not aware of any of my
supporters who have done it."
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050226-28860.shtml
For folks who missed last
week’s column, look at the Jobe PAC’s campaign finance records during the 2003
election – page 118 to be exact -- http://txprod.ethics.state.tx.us/public/219068.pdf
and you’ll see that the Jobes report that on February 13, 2003 they paid the
Kitchens Group (in Florida) $16,000 for a “survey” of El Paso.
I guess that seminal and
ground-breaking punk band, The Clash, sang it best…“You won’t know the truth if
it bit you in the eye.”
And the Grand Hypocrisy of the Week Award Goes To….drumroll, please…
Charlie Edgren of the El Paso Times! Congratulations, Carlitos.
This week, Mr. Edgren (who
writes for the same paper that absolutely refuses to cover serious corruption
and incompetence at City Hall, and the same paper that enthusiastically
supports Joe Wardy and his allies on Council, and the same paper that cannot do
right by its community) wrote that “We have few politicians in El Paso with the
backbone to stand up against the land barons, who represent both potential
votes and potential campaign donations” (http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/opinion/columnists/20050226-28875.shtml).
Woah! Really, Charlie? No way!
How about you all start
investigating and exposing the link between money and Council votes, Charlie? How about you all start naming names and
connecting the dots and informing the community, Chuck?
No go, eh?
Guess that’s Sid’s job for
now.
Until next week, my friends.
Comments or questions: shmaven@yahoo.com
My commentaries are posted
weekly at http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/shm.htm
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