3.29.2005
Beaucoup public items,
postponing cleanup in West-Central El Paso, the Chamber Guys take it upon
themselves to speak on behalf of the community, and I do a shout-out to the
FBI…hey…FBI guys, are you listening?
Because this week’s meeting
was over five and half hours long, there are plenty of notes to read. In my humble opinion, it’s worth the read.
So…prop up your feet, get
yourself some coffee (or a cocktail), and prepare for some long notes.
Puttin’ it to the Voters
There were quite a few
public items this week, my friends, and each one was interesting in its own
right. The first public item was placed
by Candidate for City Council District 1 Richard Schecter:
1. Discussion
and action on a motion directing the City Attorney's Office to draft the
necessary documents for placing a $10,000,000 bond initiative on the next
legally acceptable Election Ballot. The
proceeds from the bond sale shall be placed in a Fund dedicated to preserving
arroyos, ecologically sensitive and/or historically significant areas within
the City of El Paso. [Richard Schecter]
Schecter explained that he
placed this item on the agenda because about six weeks ago, Wardy stated he was
amenable to allowing the voters to choose whether to support a bond issuance to
preserve arroyos. But because Wardy’s
staff hadn’t moved forward with placing such an item on the agenda, Schecter
said he decided to take the initiative.
Speaking directly to Presi
Ortega, who seems to be a big fan of having citizens take on the leadership
responsibilities of elected officials, Schecter explained that he had already
coordinated his effort with Congressman Reyes’s office, informed them he would
place this on the agenda, and asked that his staff begin to seek matching grant
funding for the arroyo preservation.
Representative John Cook
asked if all arroyos that the community wishes to preserve had been identified
and asked where Schecter came up with the $10 million figure. “The ten million dollar figure came from my
imagination,” replied Schecter. (I have
an imagination just as powerful as Schecter’s…there’s a whole lotta numbers
running around in my own mind, too…they are just usually fantasies about the
number of years these crooks would spend in jail if they were ever nailed by
the feds. I also usually daydream
during Council meetings about the number of margaritas I’ll have to fix myself
once I get home…you know, to help deal with the pounding post-Council
headaches.)
Schecter reminded Council
that the arroyo definition committee is still working on defining arroyos and
figuring out how to provide developers with incentives to preserve them.
Ortega, who has on other
occasions encouraged Schecter to take the initiative to make things happen on
his own (now that’s leadership, eh, folks?), created a nice little roadblock
for Schecter. Ortega reminded Wardy
that the next bond election is scheduled for 2007 (hmm…a few meetings ago,
Deputy City Manager Pat Adauto said it would be 2006) and said, “I don’t think
we can just have initiatives like this placed on the November ballot just for
one initiative like this.”
Wardy also threw in his own
criticism, saying, “I think this is premature since we haven’t completed the exercise, and I think it is on a menu
of things to do and take a hard look at as a Council as part of this whole exercise.”
Through a Glass Blankly
Schecter asked Lisa
Elizondo, highly paid Legal Eagle City Attorney, if Council would need to vote
down the agenda item for Schecter to take the next step, which was getting a
petition together to put this issue on the next bond election.
Elizondo, who rarely can
answer any questions, said that it was up to him (Schecter) whether he wanted
Council to vote to take any action.
Austin replied, “I don’t believe that was his question,” and then she
explained to Elizondo that Schecter had asked what is needed to bring forward a
petition/initiative.
Elizondo sat silent for a
moment with a vacant look on her face, and Anthony Cobos jumped in to explain
to Schecter that “the way it works is you go out, you get a petition, you bring
it to the City Council, if we deny it, then you call for a referendum with a
second petition.”
Wow! How pathetic has Elizondo become when even
Anthony Cobos can answer a basic municipal legal question, while she sits in
blank silence?
Cobos
and Austin both said they thought this item was premature.
Elizondo, trying to save
face, apologized for “not understanding” Schecter’s question, and promised that
someone from her office would help “walk him through” the Charter. While Schecter is being taken on that walk,
Lisa, you should definitely join him.
Maybe that way you could (after two years of being City Attorney) gain
some familiarity with this important document.
Wardy, who was either
suffering from allergies or recovering from a cold, was sporting a very deep
and raspy voice. He leaned in to the
microphone and, sounding Darth Vader-like, said no action was needed on the
item. I thought he might’ve said, “I've been waiting
for you Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last!” but he didn’t.
Wardy’s Legislative Agenda: From Spam to Ground Beef*
*But it still ain’t anywhere close
to steak
Schecter also placed the
following item on the agenda:
2.
Discussion and action on adding increased funding for the El Paso
Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic to the 2005 Federal Legislative
Priorities List for the City of El Paso.
[Richard Schecter]
Schecter reminded Council
that last week he had requested that the Mayor and Council make efforts to get
more public input when it came to drafting the community’s legislative
agenda. He said after that meeting,
community people contacted him asking him to request that more funding for the
Veterans Affairs Clinic be placed on the priority list.
Representative Cushing told
Schecter that while he was not against adding that item to Council’s
priorities, the City has already received enough funding for veterans, saying
“we’re pretty well beefed up on it.”
Philip LoPiccolo, recycled
Reyes staffer and currently Wardy’s “Intergovernmental Assistant,” listed all
of the funding he claimed Reyes had gotten for El Paso veterans (I wonder if
higher ranking republicans like Kay Bailey Hutchison had anything to do with
it, too, there Phil. Nah. It was ALL Silver, right?).
Lisa Turner, a local
activist, and Carl Robinson, a strong contender and candidate for City Council
District 4, both spoke in support of the item.
Turner listed all of the unfunded programs that had been created by the
federal government to help veterans, and reminded Council that most veterans
don’t have access to very basic and very important programs and health services
because of lack of funding.
Council unanimously approved
adding the item to their legislative priority list. Although the agenda isn’t very beefy (or ambitious…sorry, Gary
Warner), I’m glad these folks helped bulk it up a tad.
Note to Developers: Parks are Not Perks
Ester Perez, another
community activist, placed the following item on the agenda:
3.
Information on community parks and progress report on Sherman Park on
Tiger Eye St. in the Northeast. [Esther
Perez]
She explained that in
November she found out that the owner of property behind her home was
requesting a zoning change from the City.
She attended the public hearing relating to this zoning change request
and found out that the builder wanted to place homes on that property. She said she learned that any builder who
builds 300 or more homes in our community is required either to build a park
for that development or pay user fees instead (she meant parkland dedication
fees).
She said Sherman Park, which
is in her area, was built 20 years ago; the developer donated a very small
piece of land, but the residents had to build the park themselves. She said that in all the years she has lived
in her home, she has seen little improvement to the park. The only improvement, she said, is a
toddler’s sand lot. She also wanted to
know why the park’s name had not been changed yet to Montalvo Park. Considering all the new troops coming in and
developments being built, she wanted to know, was going to be done about parks?
Ms. Perez is absolutely
correct. For the last two decades,
developers have created row after row after row of new homes…on the east side,
on the west side, and now in the northeast.
But they have turned their backs on their obligation to build community
parks and green spaces because of their greed.
And our elected officials have facilitated that greed. As a result, we have a lot of tract houses
in El Paso, but few green spaces, open spaces or parks.
Representative Cook said
that the parkland dedication fees were not an option for this particular
development and the builder had been required to build a new park in that
area. Thank you, Mr. Cook!
Dr. Merrifield, the director
of the Parks and Recreation Department, said the sign would be going up soon
and the other new development in the northeast (which John Cook helped craft)
would include more open space. He also
said that in September or October of this year, there would be improvements
made to Sherman/Montalvo Park as a result of the 2000 bond election.
Wardy announced no action
would be taken on the item and they moved on.
(Did I hear Wardy say, “The force
is strong with this one!”? Maybe
not…there goes that imagination again.)
The Echo Chamber
Richard Dayoub, speaking on
behalf of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce and other civic and business
organizations, introduced this item:
4. Presentation on preparing for the growth of Fort
Bliss by Gus Rodriguez, Jr./Incoming Chair Business Development Division of the
Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce. (Attachment) [Minda Villarreal, Vice President/Business
Development Division of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, (915)
629-6714]
Dayoub wanted to inform the
community and Council about what the Chamber is doing to prepare for the
incoming troops.
Reed Decker, Chair of the
Business Development Division, began the presentation by saying their goal is
to “provide businesses with the necessary support and information to capture
some of the potential business that comes along with the new troops.”
Gus Rodriguez, Incoming
Chair of the Business Development Division of the Chamber (I’ll bet that’s the
Chamber’s least busy department), explained that every incoming soldier would
get a packet of information about El Paso (like “where you can buy houses”) and
talked about events that would help portray El Paso as a “soldier friendly”
community. Rodriguez further explained
that they spoke with the Home Builders Association regarding their concerns
about the home allowance given to the soldiers, and warned them that “it’s not
an opportunity to gouge soldier families and try to get some money out of
them.”
Glad it takes a chamber guy
to remind our local builders not to take advantage of service members and their
families. Did you get the message,
Bobby?
Rodriguez expressed another
concern regarding the realtors and said, “We didn’t want 1,500 realtors showing
up at the gate of Fort Bliss to try and target these individuals, so there’s a
process…to be fair and equitable.”
Wow. Sounds like they’re expecting a feeding
frenzy, eh?
Wardy
congratulated the Chamber and Council moved on.
The Hounds of Hell vs Barbie…or
Predator vs Alien?
The following item was the
last one on the long list of public items:
6. Follow up on Representative Cook's item regarding
legal fees paid by the City of El Paso to outside attorneys placed on the
agenda for 3/22/05, to include Council Members comments on that item as well as
the City's position on ongoing as well as past litigation including corrections
of misinformation presented to the community at the 3/22/05 Council meeting. [Theresa Caballero]
Theresa Caballero, local
attorney and anklebiter, placed this item on the agenda. Please recall that during Joe Wardy’s
botched budget process, she addressed Council to protest the proposed tax
increase that Joe Wardy & Co. didn’t realize was a tax increase. During that appearance, she warned Council
that if they proceeded down the tax increase road, they would face some serious
consequences. Here’s a reminder of what
was said at that Council meeting:
“She
[Caballero] asked that an out of town CPA be brought in to conduct an audit of
the City’s finances. She then issued a very stern warning: ‘If you don’t
protect us, you’re gonna unleash the hounds of hell...and the hounds of hell
are people like me.’”
http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2004_0824.htm
That
threat/recommendation/unpleasant image prompted Representative Robert Cushing
(who apparently has his own demons to deal with) to engineer an outside audit
of the City’s finances. During an open
meetings violation that I documented (http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2004_0824.htm), Cushing identified Theresa Caballero
as the prime mover behind that expensive audit, the avowed purpose of which was
to uncover bags of money. Of course, it
didn’t uncover a single bag of money, but it gave Cushing an excuse to slander
a smart, dedicated public servant—Bill Chapman—one of Bob the Bully Boy
Cushing’s favorite pastimes.
Returning to Ms. Caballero,
she explained that she had been “channel surfing” when she came across the
replay of last week’s City Council meeting.
As a result, she was witness to Lisa Elizondo’s offensive avoidance of
the truth, and said, “What I understood her to say was, basically, that she
wasn’t answering the question.” If you
recall, Representative John Cook had asked Elizondo to inform him and the
public about how much taxpayer money had been spent in outsourcing our legal
work. Among the many things Elizondo
saw fit not to tell us was that in a very short span of time (August through
February, to be exact) Carl Green’s law firm had run up bills totaling over
$300,000. That’s our money, folks.
Caballero also said that
“misinformation” had been given to Council and the public about the courts of
inquiry. She proceeded to describe the
courts of inquiry, the players involved, the fact that she and two other
attorneys handled the cases pro bono, and the documents she believed Council
had not reviewed.
As Caballero spoke, Lisa
Elizondo sat glaring at her. (I wonder
what was happening in that particular
imagination!)
Caballero noted that
Elizondo had claimed the bulk of her budget was used for the Hollebeke
case. “I’d like for you to sit down and
really look at your budget,” she said, and explained that the City had recently
settled a lawsuit for $250,000, in a case where a man had allegedly been
sodomized by a police officer. But the
same officer who committed the offense that triggered the lawsuit, Caballero
said, is “still on board at the police department and teaching training on
tazers.”
Yikes! If that’s true, that does not speak well for
the police department.
She said she represents Sun
Metro bus drivers who are fired by the City after one minor accident and wondered
about the double standard which allows cops to remain on the force after much
more serious infractions like the one she had just alluded to.
She said that once the
lawsuit over the Montwood incident (also known as the Montwood Riot) had been
filed, Wardy was quoted as saying, “I don’t know much about the lawsuit, but I
stand behind our police force,” and she demanded, “What kind of comment is
that?”
He May Be A Woman-Beating Bully, But
He’s My Woman-Beating Bully
She then turned her
criticism to the entire Council. “We
have people being killed, maimed, ruined, criminalized,” she said, “and you all
sit there and act like you don’t know nothin’ about nothin’.” (I wanted to pass her a note that said, “No,
no, no. The person playing the “I don’t
know nothin’ about nothin’ part is Elizondo” with a huge arrow pointing toward
the City Attorney’s desk like this one… →)
Interestingly, Caballero
observed (without naming names) how certain Council members rushed to
Elizondo’s defense when Cook wanted answers.
I say interestingly because two of the Councilors who rushed to
Elozondo’s defense—Cobos and Cushing (reliable Elizondo cheerleaders and
apologists both)—have in the past been Theresa Caballero’s allies. Moreover, I am told that Ms. Caballero
attended Cushing’s recent re-election fundraiser and openly supports Cushing’s
re-election. (Given her passionate
fight for a certain alleged rape victim, one wonders how she justifies
supporting a monster like Robert Cushing.
Double standards reign supreme in politics, I guess.)
Anyway, Caballero said such
behavior on the part of those Councilors “was sickening.” (Hmmm…I wonder how much money she gave to
the sickening Robert Cushing.)
Referring to Elizondo, Caballero said, “she’s bureaucrat, she is an
employee of the taxpayers. She’s there
to answer questions, not to evade a representative elected to represent
us. You’re not there to protect
her.” And then she left them with a
warning, “One sure fire way to draw me down here to the podium is to bandy my
client’s name about and give misinformation about her and my case and what I
think is important for this community.”
Then she had more complaints
to air. She asserted that the problems
with the police department started with former Chief Carlos Leon and former
Mayor Ray Caballero. She promised that
more lawsuits were on the way—“biggies” is what she called them. She also said that Council approved a
lawsuit to be filed against the Socorro School District, another taxing entity,
in order to “make them pay, too…I think the taxpayers need to be aware of that,
that you’ve directed your City Attorney to do that.” I don’t know the particulars of either the Montwood lawsuit
against the City or the City’s lawsuit against Socorro, but after discussing
such actions in general terms with an attorney friend, I am told that bringing
in other defendants to share in any liability is standard (and sound)
litigation strategy. Maybe Ms.
Caballero knows something we don’t.
She closed by saying, “Mr.
Cook and I have had our differences over the years. I never want to turn on the TV and see a representative who’s
asking legitimate questions…about the taxpayers’ dollars and you shut him
down. Because if you do that, you
deserve to lose.” On this, I’m in
complete agreement with Ms. Caballero.
Cobos, who looked wounded
the whole time, hung his head unhappily like a sick little pup.
When she was finished,
Caballero picked up her papers and walked away. “Thank you, Ms. Caballero,” said a spineless Wardy, who is too
afraid of one of “the hounds of hell” to do anything else than to thank her
after she’s given him a nice little spanking.
Mo’ minutes
For
you minutes aficionados…
7. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES: [Municipal Clerk, Richarda Duffy Momsen, (915) 541-4127] Approval
of Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of March 22, 2005. (Attachment)
Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of March 22, 2005
They
were approved on the consent agenda.
Extending the Contracts
The following two department
heads are being kept on board for another year:
9B. That the
City Manager be authorized to sign a Contract between the CITY OF EL PASO and ELEANOR A. SMYTH as an
Environmental Services Director, at a biweekly rate of $3,961.54. The term of the contract shall be for the
period of March 30, 2005 through March 29, 2006. Fund Source: 34010289-40403-34000 (Attachment)
[City Manager, Joyce A. Wilson, (915) 541-4844]
10. Appointment of William F. Studer, Jr., as Deputy
City Manager, effective March 29, 2005. (Attachment) [City Manager, Joyce A. Wilson, (915)
541-4844]
The
appointments passed without discussion on the consent agenda.
A Troikette’s Stronghold
The following item also
passed with no discussion on the consent agenda:
12B. Robert C. Schulz to the Public Utility
Regulation Board by Representative Vivian Rojas, District 7. (Attachment) [Representative Vivian Rojas, (915)
541-4108]
Schultz, a local
businessman, has been a busy bee lately.
He was appointed to the advisory committee convened to assist with the
hiring of the City Manager, and Wardy has appointed him to replace Jerry
Romero, a Wells Fargo executive, on the Housing Authority Board of
Commissioners (Romero resigned last month…wonder why). And now Representative Vivian Rojas has
appointed him to the Public Utility Regulation Board.
Who is this popular man and
why does he keep getting recycled on city boards? Well, folks, he’s a good friend and client of…drumroll,
please…David Escobar! Now that’s
serious influence, my friends.
A Golden Opportunity
The following item is one I
first covered three weeks ago (see http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2005_0308.htm):
9D. WHEREAS,
Chapter 5, Program for the Rehabilitation of Investor-Owned Properties, of the
Community and Human Development Housing Programs Handbook currently requires
that the City must have a first lien on the property in order to secure a loan
for rehabilitation of an investor-owned property under the Housing Program; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of El Paso has determined that there are
circumstances under which an exception should be granted for the first-lien
requirement in the Housing Programs Handbook;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF EL PASO:
That the City Council approve the following amendment
to Chapter 5, Program for the Rehabilitation of Investor-Owned Properties, of
the Community and Human Development Housing Programs Handbook, as recommended
by the Community and Human Development Director: 1. Section II.
FINANCING. Subsection A. on Page
5-3 is amended by adding the following sentence at the end of the paragraph:
An exception to the first-lien requirement will be
made for highly leveraged and/or tax-credit projects resulting in a minimum of
100 after-rehabilitation units of new affordable housing and where the City's
contribution will not exceed 20% of the total project cost.
2. The remaining provisions of Chapter 5, Program for
the Rehabilitation of Investor-Owned Properties, of the Community and Human
Development Housing Programs Handbook shall continue in full force and effect.
(All Districts) (Attachment)
[Community and Human Development, Robert Salinas, (915) 541-4643]
taken together with:
20A. Discussion and action on allowing certain
exceptions to policy requiring City to hold first lien on rental rehabilitation
projects under the HUD-funded HOME Investor-owned Properties program, including
but not limited to an exception for the Desert Pines project on George Dieter
Blvd., submitted by the San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation. [Representative Paul J. Escobar, (915)
541-4182] POSTPONED FROM 03/08/05
Three weeks ago, Council
decided it needed more time to figure this whole thing out. And to quote myself, here’s a recap:
“Although
there was no backup provided on this item, I learned (through the discussion at
the meeting) that City Representative Paul Escobar wanted the City to consider
granting a waiver to a San Antonio non-profit, the San Antonio Alternative
Housing Corporation (SAAHC) that had been denied local Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) funding. The SAAHC
needs the funding in order to purchase and rehabilitate a large apartment
complex on George Dieter, which would then be set aside for affordable housing
for El Paso families. In addition to
the CDBG funding, the SAAHC would also be asking for tax credits from the Texas
Department of Housing and Community Affairs (the TDHCA).”
I
also said,
“Because
the SAAHC would be applying for tax credits through the TDHCA, I wondered how
Cushing and Cobos (who are wholly owned by Bobby Bowling) would react to the
item. Bowling, who in addition to
owning Wardy, Cushing and Cobos, also owns Tropicana Homes, depends on these
tax credits, because, my friends, they are one of the ways that he stays
rich. (Imagine that—a champion of free
enterprise who makes much of his money from government benefits.)”
http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2005_0308.htm
The glitch in all of this is
that the project has to go before City Council because a change in policy is
necessary before approving the item.
The City would not be in a first lien position, which means that if the
project goes belly-up (which is highly unlikely to happen), the City would not
be reimbursed FIRST. It doesn’t mean,
however, that the City would not be reimbursed at all. But because the policy at the City is that
each project must place the City in the first lien position, the applicants for
the CDBG funding (the San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation) were asking
the City to modify its policy.
Well, three weeks ago, they
successfully postponed the item so that they could all get briefed and so that
the staff could work with the non-profit and Council to discuss the policy
modification.
Back to the meeting. Debbie Hamlyn, the Deputy City Manager for
Quality of Life, said that this project would create 180 affordable housing
units. If the letter of commitment for
the $900,000 were not granted, she stated, they would not be able to go through
with the project.
Let the Roadblocks Begin!
Cushing said that he
understood that this money was coming from a “finite pool.” He said there were two issues: The first was the change in policy, the
second was to “ramp up this house of cards argument” with Desert Pines (the
project). He wanted to know what
projects would not be funded. It turns
out that staff couldn’t be sure.
According to City staff, because the funds get replenished by the
federal government every year, all of the projects already in the pipeline
would probably get funding, too.
Cushing then wanted to know
if people who live there now would have to move out if they exceed the income
maximum. The answer was yes, but only
when leases were up.
Cushing said he was troubled
by this project and asked if the City was sending a message to the “apartment
community” that they would be rewarded for not taking care of their
property. (I wanted to yell from the
peanut gallery “This is your argument?
It’s weak, Cushing!”)
Rob Radle, Director of the
San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation (SAACH), said that he disagreed and
reminded Cushing about the diminishing number of low- to moderate-income
housing available and that this project would create affordable housing in that
complex for the next thirty years.
Once again trying to play
the part of a hot-shot lawyer, Cushing asked questions that he wanted yes/no
answers to with no explanation.
Speaking of imagination, I’m sure Cushing was imagining himself to be
one of those hot-shot lawyers in that hot ‘80s drama “L.A. Law.” Cushing plays Bobby Simone…or was he Arne
Becker? It couldn’t be either, because
neither one spits into Styrofoam cups or chomps on gum during trial…yes, yes, I
know they’re not real people. But at
least they have class (or appear to on TV).
Predictably, disgustingly,
and disrespectfully smacking his gum, Cushing asked why the SAAHC didn’t just
go to the bank and ask them for the money.
Radle reminded Cushing that the whole point of this project and of using
CDBG funding was to keep rents low and affordable.
Susan Austin corrected
Cushing’s erroneous assertion that CDBG funds were non-renewable—she pointed
out that the Department of Housing and Urban Development will replenish CDBG
funds when they are expended (Hamlyn said the funding would be replenished in
September and called it a “revolving fund”).
Potentially, it may not touch
the projects in the pipeline already, explained Joyce Wilson, but it could slow
them down depending on how quickly the City would replenish its funds.
Lozano complained that he
was against this because: (1) the owner
doesn’t own the building; (2) the City would hold a second lien; and (3) this
is not new construction.
“Residents are against
low-income housing in neighborhoods,” Lozano further complained.
At this point, I considered
yelling out another famous Darth Vader quote, “He is as clumsy as he is stupid!”…but I didn’t.
Wardy quickly jumped in to
correct Lozano’s all too honestly stated objection to the project. Wardy, who is much more adept at nuanced
posturing than the blundering Lozano, said that previous problems with low-income
housing had nothing to do with the City opposing low-income housing in
general—oh, no, that’s not us!—the problem had to do with “clustering.” “Clustering” is the codeword of choice for
people who claim to support low-income housing to justify killing projects that
will produce . . . low-income housing.
As you will recall, this line of attack was first made infamous by
Anthony Cobos in his disingenuous and racist (and, ultimately, successful)
effort to kill the Suncrest Townhomes project (which effort was undertaken at
the behest of his puppet master Bobby Bowling.) Come to think of it, although he wasn’t present at the meeting, I
thought I sensed ol’ Bobby’s spirit in Council chambers. I immediately felt queasy. I looked around and wanted to call
out…Bobby? Bobby? Yoo-hoo?
Lozano said he was confused
about why the City would consider funding his project when there are affordable
housing needs in other districts.
Cushing complained that the
San Antonio group didn’t have a public meeting to discuss this renovation;
Radle reminded him that no such requirement exists.
My friends, their weak and
illogical arguments were making it very clear to me that there was an ugly
force behind all of their protesting.
Can You Hear Me Now?
And I do believe the ugly
force and the spirit came calling…literally.
Really! But the spirit used a
cell phone instead of telepathy.
About two hours and 25
minutes into the meeting, Anthony Cobos began questioning Mr. Radle. At that same moment, a remarkable thing
happened. Vivian Rojas took a phone
call on her cell phone. When she was
done, she handed Cobos the phone.
Hmmm. Who could that have been?
Maybe it was Santa Claus
calling. Or was it the Easter
Bunny? What do you think, dear
reader? Could it have been the one
person in town who monopolizes tax credit housing? The one guy who freely uses his influence over Council members he
owns for his own personal gain when it comes to housing issues? The one guy who has used Cobos and Cushing
and Wardy before to eliminate a competitor?
Come on, I know you know the answer.
Think “spirit”!
Ding Ding Ding! You got it!
Bobby Bowling—of course! While I
don’t know for certain if it was Bobby who called (but an enterprising reporter
could do an open records request of Vivian Rojas’s phone log for that day…hint
hint!), I’d be willing to bet my laptop that it was ol’ Bobby on the other end
of that phone. And my earlier sixth
sense was right! That guy’s presence
hangs over Council like a black cloud.
And, lemme tell ya, he really knows how to reach out and touch those he
owns.
Cobos, who continued his
challenge against this good project, insisted that they could qualify for a
loan, but Radle continued to remind him that the non-profit could not provide
affordable rents if that were to happen.
Cobos also claimed that supporting this project would mean showing
“favoritism” to one group; Hamlyn said this was not unusual and was simply a
policy decision.
Irony Alert!™
Anthony Cobos, Special
Interest Poster Boy, talking about “favoritism?” I almost coughed out my dentures! (We oldsters have to watch that, you know.) How about the favoritism you showed your
friends and allies Bobby Bowling, Luther Jones, David Escobar and Albert
Gamboa, Mr. Cobos?
Non-profits, my friends, as
their name implies, do not make profits.
They differ in this important respect than the entities controlled by
the people listed in the previous paragraph.
And before I’m accused of opposing fair profits for business people,
that is emphatically not my point here.
This project would produce many magnitudes more housing units per dollar
spent than anything previously done in this town; it would also create $8
million worth of construction (read:
Jobs!). Which is precisely why,
as long as the Wardy gang is in power, we won’t do it.
Closing the Deal (Or the Opportunity
for It, Anyway)
Presi Ortega wanted to know
if the City was leveraging funds (in order to get the most bang for the buck)
on the other projects.
City staff showed Council a
document listing the amount of investment on other low-income units, and what
was absolutely clear was that the other projects were quite costly and had a
much lower rate of return – in one case, for example, the City would be
investing $700,000 for only 24 units.
Paul Escobar began a long,
logical litany of why this project would be wise and creative. He pointed out that the City would gain $7
million for the City’s $900,000 investment.
In the last two years, no one has applied for and closed on multi-family
bond money that this project would use, and if this project didn’t use that
state funding, it would go to another community. Escobar also argued that when families are spending less money on
rent, they would have more disposable income to contribute to the economy. This project would create affordable housing
for 30 years and this $8 million worth of renovations would create jobs and
would mean an infusion of money into the economy. Escobar also reminded Council about the outcry for affordable
housing as we expect incoming troops to Fort Bliss.
Cobos said that while the
City would be getting more units, there are other units that are being
condemned. When Cobos complained that
he hadn’t gotten any numbers from the non-profit, Radle said he had tried to
meet with all Council members, but that only some members were willing to meet
with him. Radle also reiterated that he
is trying to increase the number of affordable housing units being produced at
less cost.
Cobos’s opposition was
unbelievable. He was clearly grasping
at straws and, equally clearly, doing so on someone else’s behalf. Again, I wonder who that could have been?
Irony Alert!™
Cushing criticized the fact
that funding for this project came, from a large extent, from “public
funds.” What rank hypocrisy! This is the same guy who took his orders on
this item from Bobby “King of the Tax Credits” Bowling!
Austin interrupted him and
Cushing—a violent man who according to three articles has brutalized one woman
that we know of—became angry at her for interrupting. Austin reminded him that these bonds are sold to the private
sector and asked him not to mischaracterize the facts. After her statement, he aggressively and
angrily asked, “Are you finished?” (I’d
be careful there, Susan.)
Lozano was critical of the
fact that the non-profit was spending so much money (not the City’s) on the
rehabilitation. I couldn’t believe my
ears. When was the last time someone
complained about spending money on improving property? I guess it’s a BAD thing for anyone other
than Bowling to spend state money in our community.
Two very lovely ladies,
Trini Acosta and Rose de Leon from AARP, were at Council to support the project
because it would help provide housing for seniors and disabled people.
Vivian Rojas (a social
worker by trade) dismissively told them that there was already housing
available for the elderly through Housing Authority; however, Wardy reminded
her that there is no more Section 8 Housing available (the kind of assistance
that would help seniors on a fixed income).
Lisa Turner, an activist I
usually agree with, spoke out against the project and the risk involved. Although I almost always agree with Turner,
this time I have to strenuously disagree with her.
This Housing Corporation is
a well-known non-profit that has produced many, many units in other
cities. It’s too bad that they can’t do
business in El Paso, which Joe Wardy and Anthony Cobos have claimed is “open
for business.” Well, that might be so, but it’s only open for business
conducted by Wardy cronies.
Fear and Loathing In El Paso*
*(The fear comes from Wardy, afraid
of crossing Bowling. The loathing…well…that
comes from me)
Escobar made a motion to
approve item 9D and it was seconded by Austin.
The yes votes were Austin, Cook, Ortega, Escobar.
The
(thoroughly predictable) no votes were Cushing, Lozano, Rojas and Cobos.
Thus, there was a tie. Wardy became visibly nervous. After considerable silence, Cushing (as if
to put the fear of Bobby into Wardy) reminded Wardy that if 9D were approved
the project would become a workable project (i.e. “we don’t want that to
happen, do we?”).
Wardy slowly reached a
conclusion, and finally said that he’d listened to an hour and a half of
discussion, but that “more questions have been created…this is a major policy
decision…I would prefer that a vote for a major policy change like this would
be approved by the majority on Council and for that reason I’m going to vote
no.”
What?! This is leadership? Or is it fear? Because there’s a tie, you have to vote no? I guess Wardy felt he
had to come up with some justification for his vote, and this pathetic reason
was the best he could come up with. To
quote our illustrious mayor, that’s “happy crap.” (FYI: Two loyal readers
informed me that Mr. Joe, losing his cool at a recent northeast candidates’
forum, repeatedly blurted out this most infelicitous expression when
challenged.)
Cobos moved to delete item
20A and Lozano seconded the item. The “no” votes came from Austin, Cook, and
Escobar, so the motion to delete passed.
And in that act, this “pro
business” Council killed business.
Cushing, Cobos, Lozano, Rojas and Wardy killed an $8 million project
that would have created jobs, affordable housing units, and a significant
economic stimulus to the local economy.
Oh, yeah, these guys are very pro business.
Thankfully, the El Paso Times documented the discussion;
what they did not document, much to my disappointment, was the mystery call
Vivian Rojas and Anthony Cobos took:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005503300333.
Petty Protests
The next item to be
discussed was one placed on the agenda by Susan Austin, who, I’m sure, wanted
to pacify Alexandro “Mr. No” Lozano, who voted against supporting the
City-County Health Unit simply because there was no requirement for a
restaurateur to have a seat on the board:
20B. Discussion and action on a resolution to
dedicate a position on the El Paso City-County Health and Environmental
District, Board of Health to a member of the food service industry. (Attachment)
[Representative Susan Austin, (915) 541-4886 and City Manager Joyce Wilson,
(915) 541-4844]
Austin explained that the
County did not want to change the agreement, so this item would designate the
City’s appointee as a member of the food service industry. Cobos complained that this didn’t go far
enough and he said he wanted a requirement that two restaurateurs be placed on
the board. Lozano complained that he
hadn’t been notified about the item.
Wardy defended Austin’s work on the item and said “let’s not beat each
other up.” Tell that to your bully boy
buddy, Robert Cushing, Mr. Joe.
Despite
the petty protests, the item passed unanimously.
This Threat is Your Threat, This Threat
is My Threat
(From the PR War Room to ASARCO’s
smokestack, this threat was made for you and me!)
There had been much fanfare
about the following item in the paper in the day preceding the meeting:
1A.
Discussion and action authorizing the City of El Paso to undertake
efforts to collect cleanup costs for the El Paso Metals Site from ASARCO, to
include any legal action, and authorizing the city attorney or her designee to
negotiate and enter into contracts with outside counsel to represent the City
of El Paso in connection with these efforts. [Mayor's Office, Adrian Ocegueda,
(915) 541-4145] (Attachment)
As many of you know by now,
Wardy has disingenuously attempted to make himself look like a friend of the
West-Central neighborhoods and an ally of clean-up activists by placing a
picture of himself with Sen. Eliot Shapleigh (the true clean up guy) in his
campaign materials. The mere thought of
this makes my queasiness return. Will
the hypocrisy never end?
For those of you at home who
need an update on the ASARCO debate, Wardy has decided to try to appear as
environmentally-conscious as possible, and has announced that he will be suing
ASARCO! Wooooh! I bet they’re scared, Joe!
What Wardy doesn’t want to
talk about is the April 4th deadline that will surely come and go as
other important clean up deadlines have.
You see, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has informed El Paso
that if it wants the remaining 600 homes cleaned up and the toxic substances
removed, it will have to decide whether or not it wants to go on the National
Priorities List (NPL). The NPL will
allow the City to qualify for superfund monies.
ASARCO has played the Public
Relations (PR) game very well, convincing certain members of the community that
being declared a superfund site will have negative consequences for the
community. Wardy and the rest of the
usual suspects on Council have aggressively adopted this line.
Once the item was read into
the record, Wardy began by proclaiming, “There are elements of our community
that would like us to purse the NPL,” and called it an “extremely negative
connotation” in the community.
He claimed he was concerned
and pledged to “get the lead out.” He
called the EPA’s timelines “vague” and called working with them “reckless.”
Cobos launched into a
pathetic speech about El Paso’s poor image – of being sweaty, fatty, etc. “What’s wrong with suing ASARCO? Let’s try that,” said a sinister-looking,
5:00 shadowy Cobos. (Maybe with Cobos
leading the way, we’ll be labeled the most corrupt city in America. Something to shoot for, eh Tony?) Then—as if on cue—Cobos thanked Wardy for
initiating the item. “If we go
superfund…it’s gonna hurt our number one economic development possibility,”
which he said was Fort Bliss. He
offered no proof of that statement and expected us to simply believe him.
Wardy claimed that
Congressman Silvestre Reyes said he was “extremely concerned,” about the
superfund money. According to Wardy,
Reyes has said that the funding from superfund is uncertain, but the “stigma is
extremely dangerous at this time.”
Great. Looks like our good ole
boy Congressman has bought or is cynically perpetuating the same ASARCO
line. Wardy repeated that being placed
on the NPL should be the final option and that this lawsuit would “challenge
ASARCO.”
Cushing said there is an
April deadline for triggering the NPL deadline and opined that there is a
perception that if the deadline is missed, it’s a bad thing. He claimed that
there’s plenty of opportunity in the future to get on the list if we need to in
the future.
What Cushing didn’t say is
that the longer we wait to get on that list, the further down on the list we’ll
be. Furthermore, the longer we wait to
take action, the more of that contaminated dust is blown into the air, and the
more our children are exposed to lead.
But why would someone who is described in court records as a brutally
violent guy like Cushing care about lead in our kids anyway?
Someone…Hide the Lead!
Representative John Cook
said that other cities like Corpus Christi, Dallas, Amarillo, Fort Worth,
Harlingen, and Houston are superfund sites.
He said that “we’ve basically already taken the hit,” of being known for
lead contamination, but the superfund listing would help us solve that
problem. He also reminded Council that
ASARCO owes the City over $8 million.
There are no guarantees that ASARCO would clean up the property, but
that if the City went on the NPL, the EPA would begin cleaning up properties in
June and the work would be completed in 18-36 months.
Wardy complained that El
Paso is not like any of the cities mentioned and that the NPL designation would
kill the relocation of the soldiers during BRAC.
How absurd! I guess Washington D.C. doesn’t know that
our community is contaminated with lead.
So, shhhh! Let’s try to keep
this lingering lead a secret so it won’t upset the soldiers.
I couldn’t help but wonder,
wouldn’t it be better to have the yards cleaned up before they get here? Or is it better to sue a company like ASARCO
that will do everything in its power to drag out the litigation for years and
force the City to rack up huge attorney’s fees? You know what, you’re right, Joe. Why clean up now with federal money when we can spend many
thousands of precious taxpayer dollars on a speculative lawsuit against a
determined corporate defendant? I guess
that’s why we pay you the big bucks, Mr. Mayor.
Cushing, continuing his
disgusting gum chomping, said that superfund money doesn’t pay for neighborhood
or residential cleanups. He also said
that it’s very hard to get off of the NPL list.
Cobos complained that he
would first like to see the word “guarantee” in writing before he would trust
the EPA. (I gotta tell ya, when Cobos
pontificates about “trust issues,” I want to laugh and then I want to
puke.) And then, his eyes wistfully
looking upward, Cobos said he didn’t know of any other time when El Paso was
poised to make so many gains and that other communities facing base closures
would use the NPL listing against us.
Cook reminded Cobos that
there are already 600 known properties with lead contamination. That ain’t no secret, Tony.
Then Cook, responding to
Wardy’s claim that asking for help from the EPA would mean taking a risk, said
that the real risk is suing Asarco. He
reminded Wardy that the company will not just “roll over; they ‘d rather spend
money on lawyers,” he said, and the City will be left holding the bag. Cook also wondered what will happen if they
declare bankruptcy. Then, Mr. Cook,
we’re outta luck.
What COs really stand for*
*Cobos and/or Council
can be really Offensive
Cobos, trying to diminish
the cost and the impact of the pollution, enthusiastically announced that it
would only cost us around $10 million to remediate the property, saying, “It’s
not a tremendous amount of money…Why don’t we let the voters decide.” Now that’s leadership!
As if on cue (and apparently
thinking that Cobos, and not Wardy, was mayor), Lozano asked, “Mr. Cobos, can
we go ahead and do CO’s for this?”
“I would say that CO’s are
an option,” announced Mayor in Lozano’s Mind Cobos.
Ooooohhhh. So now CO’s are GOOD and not BAD.
Too bad Cobos’s mouthpiece
at the El Paso Times, Charlie Edgren,
wasn’t informed of this change in policy and opinion. Only days earlier, Chuck had done his part for Team Crony…er…Team
Wardy, by demonizing CO’s in his column (http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005503260302).
Wardy, in the final moments
of his speech, said (referring to the superfund cleanup), “I’m not prepared to
commit the citizens of El Paso to an endless exercise.”
So, postponing cleanup for
two years and starting a lawsuit that may not succeed, will certainly be very
expensive, and will probably take several years, isn’t “commit[ting] the
citizens of El Paso to an endless exercise”? Right, Mr. Joe.
The Emperor Has No Clothes
No surprise to this columnist, the Greater El Paso
Chamber of Commerce was there to speak against a superfund listing. In fact, their Emperor…er…Chairman, Dee
Margo, had written a spiffy little Op-Ed piece for the Times outlining why the City should not pursue superfund
money: http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005503310307
In his piece, Margo claims
that, “Our primary concern should be the most efficient expeditious and
cost-effective manner for clean-up of our contaminated neighborhoods.” Sorry, Big D, but a lengthy, drawn out
lawsuit does not make for either an “efficient” or “cost-effective” solution.
Margo goes on to say, “Isn't
the primary objective clean-up of our neighborhoods as soon as possible without
undue bureaucratic delay and any detrimental impact on our ability to attract
troops to Fort Bliss and jobs to El Paso?”
I agree 100%, Dee old
boy! And I also agree that a lawsuit is
an “undue bureaucratic delay,” that could keep our neighborhoods contaminated
and will have a “detrimental impact on our ability to attract troops to Fort
Bliss and jobs to El Paso.”
The White Man’s Burden
The Chamber, my friends, is
made up local business people. I would
venture to guess that the vast majority of the Chamber guys (and make no
mistake of it, they’re almost all of the same gender and the same race),
probably live in the same zip code.
This is the same
organization, my friends, that for two decades marketed El Paso as a place to
come and get it (cheap labor, that is)!
They are also the group that wasn’t doing anything to help local
businesses grow or to help attract new industry (that’s why a small group of
people – not Wardy, despite what he’s saying in his stump speeches – had to
form REDCO, a private Regional Economic Development Corporation).
Richard Dayoub from the
Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce then re-appeared at the podium and said
that “it was critical to our leadership…that we express our opinion to
you.” He said that his membership—no
surprises here—supports Wardy and Cushing and Cobos.
He called Cushing and Cobos’
comments “enlightening” and difficult for him to articulate. He said that although Texas Senator John
Cornyn and others have promised that the City will get the new troops and more,
that promise could be taken away.
“I would present to you this
point,” said Dayoub, “While we have the 3,800 troops coming to us, and while
Senator Cornyn did state in our own facility that that was a down payment on
future initiatives, if we move forward with an NPL listing at this point, it is our firm belief that that
down payment will go away.”
My friends, I italicized and
underlined the words “it is our firm belief.”
Not once during his presentation did Dayoub claim that he had been told
this by Senator Cornyn. Not once did he
say that he had been told this by the Pentagon. No, no, no. It is simply
what they say. And because the Chamber
guys say it, I guess we should believe it.
Wardy sure does!
He said that the
Chamber—almost single handedly, it seemed—had convinced the Pentagon over many
years that El Paso didn’t have a water problem (hey, didn’t Wardy take credit
for that one?). Dayoub complained that
he didn’t want to have to deal with this issue as well.
My friends, these are the
same guys who supported ASARCO’s efforts to prevent a public hearing. That’s right. They filed a brief on
behalf of ASARCO, NOT, I repeat, NOT on behalf of the community. But they have the community’s interests
at heart. Uh huh.
Dayoub, really going out on
a limb, said that regardless of who has caused the contamination, it needs to
be cleaned up. He also said that the
NPL listing opportunity is one that will come back. What he, like Cushing, didn’t tell Council is that the longer we
wait to be on that list, the further down the list we go. It’s first come, first served, my friends.
Dayoub continued, “It is the
belief of our 1,200 plus members, it is the belief of our leadership, and this
is your constituents, to whom we’re addressing, that we should not rush in
haste.” I agree. I prefer to rush slowly myself. He then claimed that it is “next to
impossible to be removed” from the National Priorities List, and that this
community is currently “exploding with growth and opportunity.”
It is? Wow…where have I been? Last time I checked, we’re still mired in
mediocre leadership (private and public), poverty, lack of education, and a
weak university.
Cook asked the question that
I was dying to ask. Wasn’t the Pentagon aware of the fact that there are toxic
levels of contamination in over 600 homes?
Dayoub conceded they were but quickly added that they’re only concerned
about how we deal with it. Actually,
Mr. Dayoub, I’m sure all they care about is that it be cleaned up.
Acting like a paternal
figure threatening a willful child, Dayoub warned that if we get an NPL
designation soldiers won’t want to relocate here. I guess soldiers prefer moving to a community with contaminated
soil over one where the contaminated soil is being cleaned up. Silly me.
I guess Mr. Dayoub really has some deep insight into the minds of our
service men and women.
Cook asked if San Antonio
was poised to receive more troops; Dayoub didn’t know. Dayoub said that what the D.C. leadership
has told them is “Keep on doing what you’re doing.” I didn’t hear him mention anything about them saying, “Hey guys,
don’t get a superfund designation!” He
closed with a serious warning: If the
superfund designation happens now, it could destroy our future! “Hold off,” he said.
Dayoub expected Council and
the public to simply take his word for it and didn’t offer a shred of evidence
to support any of his claims. It
appeared that the majority of Council bought it. I didn’t.
So, the Greater Chamber
wants the City to sue ASARCO. How much
you wanna bet that if the City does, the Chamber files a friend of the court
brief supporting ASARCO? Sound far-fetched? Don’t forget that, as I mentioned earlier, the Chamber stabbed
this community in the back by filing a brief against our right to a contested
hearing on ASARCO’s reopening.
Wardy is so afraid of angering the Chamber—the
business guys he so idolizes—that he’s even said he’d consider using our LOCAL
taxpayer dollars to pay for the clean up:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005503290337.
I say, over my dead body!
The People’s Court
Then,
it was time for real people to speak.
Rollyn Carlson was there to
speak on behalf of Margaret Bishop, a grandmother whose grandchild has lead
contamination. She read a heartbreaking
letter about the high levels of lead in her granddaughter’s blood. In the letter, she said she “cannot forgive
El Paso…the politicians” who allowed this to happen.
Loretta Akers from Sen.
Eliot Shapleigh’s office read a letter from Shapleigh, which she called the
fourth letter of its kind. In it,
Shapleigh asks Wardy to follow through with the request for NPL designation. Shapleigh said that on Thursday, during a
conference call, they learned El Paso would be one of the top priorities in the
nation for clean up; in fact, if Wardy met the April 4th deadline,
the cleanup could start by June. “What
will it take for the City administration to protect our children and our
community?” asked Shapleigh in the letter.
“We have learned that ASARCO
has used the word ‘superfund’ to confuse residents,” read Akers, “At Love
Canal, the great danger was tons of cancer causing chemicals, not the superfund
money used to clean up the site. In El
Paso, the great danger is the lead and arsenic in our soil and air that can
cause health problems for our children, not the EPA money used to clean up the
site. Dallas, Houston, other Texas
cities all have superfund sites. Each
has taken an aggressive, strong stance to clean up lead in their soil. Once the superfund site is designated,
investors know that there’s certainty in a clean up. Prices of real estate and values of homes go up, not down. You say it’s reckless to go NPL. We say it is reckless to leave lead in 600
homes around El Paso when we know it is hurting our children. Do you truly want El Paso to be the only
City in America to reject the EPA and fail to clean up the lead that harms our
children?”
The senator further called
the lawsuit a “political ploy to give the appearance of action, when your real
inaction has created significant risk to us.”
A very irritated Wardy
instructed Akers to “pay very close attention” to his comments. Wardy called the letter “disrespectful” and
angrily said that “this act of political grandstanding is unfortunate at this
time.” He also disputed some of the
facts in the letter. He called the
senator’s actions “reckless and irresponsible.”
Akers reminded Wardy that
the EPA has asked the City to help them communicate with property owners who
have not allowed the EPA to test the soil; the City had promised to get in
touch with those property owners to get them to agree and they have yet to follow
through on that promise.
Wardy pointedly observed
that there is no law that requires residents to allow the EPA on their
property.
Cobos, who had a sickly
smirk on his face, said he wanted to invite the senator to attend community
meetings regarding the issue; Akers said that the senator had been to “a number
of community meetings” regarding the cleanup efforts and ASARCO, and returned
the favor by inviting Cobos to attend community meetings; Cobos dismissively
shook his head and made a face.
Austin asked about cleaning
up only those properties that are most contaminated (by using a new standard of
600 parts per million instead of the state standard of 540 parts per
million). Austin seemed to suggest that
the City should only worry about the most contaminated homes, not all the
contaminated homes. Akers wanted to
know who would be required then to clean up the homes that meet the state
standard, and said, “There is a concern that there is a state standard and you
would not abide by a state standard in the City of El Paso.”
Austin, like Cobos and
Wardy, suggested that she doesn’t have a problem with asking the taxpayers—you
and me—to shoulder the burden of the clean up costs instead of ASARCO or the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Akers also corrected one of
Cushing’s pieces of misinformation:
Once the property is cleaned up, the property owner can and should
request that the property be de-listed, so his claim that it’s impossible to
get off the NPL is false.
Juan Garza, another local
activist, asked if the City is prepared to become a claims processing agency
for every contaminated property in the City.
Garza said that Community Block Grant money is now being spent to clean
up a Sunset Heights property that has a lien on it.
Lisa Turner said that the
City and the Senator should be on the same side. She also said that as for the BRAC issue, no other place has the
amount of restricted air space that our community has. “No one else has the room, we have the room,
that’s why we’re at the top of the list,” and she said that the lawsuit is a
waste of money.
She’s
right.
Susan Austin wanted to ask
some questions during executive session, so they decided to postpone action on
this until the end of the meeting, and moved on to the next item.
Slip Slidin’ Away* or A Brief Detour to
Shakedown Street
*You know, the nearer your destination the more you’re slip slidin’
away
I knew something was up
when, as soon as the following item was read into the record, Anthony Cobos
wanted to discuss it:
21A. BEST VALUE PROCUREMENT: This contract shall be awarded to the bidder
who provides the best value to the City.
The City may consider price and other relevant criteria listed in the
request for bids.
Solicitation No.:
2005-076 Security Guard Services
for the El Paso International Airport
Award to: Akal Security, Inc. Española, NM
Item (s): All
Amount: $517,153.14 (estimated annually)
Department: Department of Aviation
Funds available: 62620005-502212
Funding source: Airport Operating Fund
Total award: $1,551,459.42 (estimated)
District (s): 3
Award Best
Value Procurement for Solicitation 2005-076 "Security Guard Services for
the El Paso International Airport", as indicated. The recommended vendor is the Highest Ranked
bid submitted for the referenced solicitation.
The Review Committee, consisting of City staff members, has reviewed the
bids and recommends award as indicated.
The recommended vendor has provided
the Best Value bid and meets the
Best Value Criteria.
This
contract will be administered from Akal's local office at 6501 Boeing Street,
El Paso, Texas. Payments are made to
this address. This is a three (3) year
Contract, for Security Guard Services at the El Paso International Airport.
The Contract will officially begin at 12:01 a.m., May
1, 2005.
Vendor offers the City the option of extending the term of the contract
for twenty-four (24) additional months at the same unit prices, if the option
is exercised within two (2) years from the date of award of the contract.
Vendor does not offer a prompt payment discount. (Attachment)
[Purchasing Department, Enrique Acosta, Jr., (915) 541-4267]
Cobos argued that this award
was not going to the lowest bidder, Mike Garcia Security, and he wanted to know
why not.
An unnamed female member of
the Purchasing Department staff explained (as Cobos surely knew) that under
“Best Value Procurement,” contracts don’t go to the lowest bid; they go to the
“best value.” She said that Akal, the
company currently providing security service for the Airport, had been well
trained, was doing the job, and the Airport was pleased with their services.
Cobos asked, “We have a good
five weeks before we have to make a decision?”
The staff member said that was true.
Ah hah! The tipoff! Cobos, seeing his opening, now proceeded to
do his best to get the item postponed.
“This
is a big deal,” announced Cobos, “This is a lot of money.”
Those
are code words my friends!
FBI Alert!
My friends, Cobos’s
colleagues on Council (current and past) as well as lobbyists who deal with these
elected officials, have privately discussed this interesting maneuver by Cobos.
According to these
officials, Cobos will stall a large bid, asking for a postponement—usually a
few weeks. During that time, the
company that wants the bid bad enough will make a contribution to, you guessed
it, Mr. Anthony Cobos. If the
contribution is made, well, then the award goes through with no problems. If, however, the contribution is not made,
suddenly there are obstacles, and plenty of them.
As a long-time Council
watcher, I can attest to the fact that Cobos has (over the years) had lots of
“problems” understanding numerous bids and has therefore postponed them. For a specific example, let’s go back to the
Truck Wash bid that was rejected twice, sent out to bid three times, and
finally awarded to the client of Cobos and Wardy supporter/ally/lobbyist David
Escobar the third time it came before Council (http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2004_1228.htm). Escobar’s client, Hector Escobar, owner of
Horizon Truck Wash, made a nice little contribution ($500, to be exact) to
Cobos’s campaign funds on December 13, 2004, after the item had been postponed
twice and shortly before he was awarded the bid http://www.elpasotexas.gov/city_clerk/_documents/2005%20Elections/Cobos%20Anthony%2001-15-05.pdf
(see page 5).
Now, none of these officials
or lobbyists have gone to the authorities to report these goings on. Many business people probably regard these
shakedowns as simply a price of doing business with the City. But they should go to law
enforcement—preferably the FBI. Maybe,
just maybe, the FBI will one day do something about these allegations. But without having a participant/victim in
this shakedown maneuver willing to testify, it’s admittedly tough for law
enforcement to do anything. I hope
someone “induced” to make a contribution to Cobos develops the guts to rat him
out. Unfortunately, it may take a Cobos
double-cross of some business owner to create the proper incentive.
Back
to the discussion at Council.
Cobos made a motion to
postpone the item and Lozano very quickly seconded the motion. Things were looking up. It became increasingly clear, however, that
it was not to be. The rest of Council
seemed unwilling this time to support Cobos’s transparent efforts to temporarily
derail the bid.
Could it be that they fear
the watchful eye of the press? Could it
be that they fear the watchful eye of federal law enforcement?
Nope. It seemed they were just supporting our
outstanding Director of Aviation, Pat Abeln, who said the winning contractor
was a good company that has received expensive training to fulfill their duties
at the airport.
Cobos put up quite a fight
and looked very perturbed by the Council’s inclination to support staff’s
recommendation in this case. I mean,
really, the nerve of those people to actually support City staff.
Representative Paul Escobar
said he didn’t believe it was appropriate for the Council to be nickel and
dime-ing something as important as airport security.
In an incredibly revealing
riposte, Cobos said, “I’d like to have some of those nickels and dimes.” We know, Tony, we know.
That was exactly the point
of this whole exercise, wasn’t it,
Mr. Cobos? I’m sure you’re dying to get
your hands on the nickels and dimes the competitors were going to offer you,
eh? Too bad those nickels and dimes
seemed further and further out of your reach.
Cobos had a distinctly sad and frustrated expression when it became
clear that his opportunity for serious graft was slip sliding away.
When Richard Momsen finally
called for the vote, everyone quickly voted yes but when she came to the last
Councilor, our dear Anthony, he paused a long time before reluctantly voting
yes. The pain on his face as he voted
was clear to see.
Can You Hear Me Now? (Vol. 2)
There was only one minor
detail that was interesting about the following item:
9F.
That the City Manager be authorized to sign a Construction Management Service Agreement by and
between the CITY OF EL PASO and
PARAGON PROJECT RESOURCES, INC., for environmental engineering services for a period of two (2) years in an
amount not to exceed ONE
HUNDRED TWENTY SIX THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND
FORTY-SEVEN AND NO/100 DOLLARS ($126,347.00).
(District 2) Fund
Source: Airport Funds - G620AIP0022-62620031-11511-508027 (Attachment) [Engineering
Department, Irene Ramirez, (915) 541-4431]
Once the item was read into
the record, Cushing began by saying that he had lots of questions about
it. Before he could continue, Wardy
said, “Just a minute Mr. Cushing, someone’s phone is ringing.”
It was Cushing’s phone! This is becoming an epidemic! Cushing took a moment to see who was
calling, and then shut it off. Man, Bob
ol’ boy, Luther’s got you on a short leash.
Returning to the issue at
hand, Cushing said his original concern was that the agenda item had nothing to
do with the backup.
Pat Abeln, Director of
Aviation, who is ever the consummate professional, explained that this is a
very important multi-million dollar repaving of the Airport’s runway. The federal government is funding 95% of the
project, and the FAA has input to who the construction manager is.
Cushing complained again
that the backup to the agenda item is not consistent with what the item was and
complained about the engineer selected.
But since these are federal dollars he has no control over, I guess he
decided to throw in the towel.
Cushing
moved to approve and the item passed unanimously.
Buying Time and Spending Our Money
Once Council was done with
the City business on the agenda, they went into executive session. When they came out they unanimously approved
suing ASARCO. They also approved hiring
outside legal help if necessary.
So, let me get this
straight. Instead of moving forward
with getting on the National Priorities List, getting put near the top of that
list when it comes to receiving funding (as the EPA stated), having cleanup
start in June and be completed in 18-36 months, and then having property owners
get themselves off the superfund list once the properties are clean, here’s
what Wardy & Co. have chosen to do:
File a lawsuit against ASARCO,
a company that has waged a public relations war against taking responsibility
for its own actions.
In Wardy’s discussion
earlier, there were no details released about how long that lawsuit will last,
how much it will cost, what Wardy’s own personal deadline is for cleanup, what
will happen if ASARCO declares bankruptcy, or when he would be willing to
declare the lawsuit a failure if there are no immediate successes.
Hmmmm. Sounds a lot like current U.S. policy when
it comes to the war in Iraq: Hidden
agendas for going in and no strategy for getting out!
More important, Wardy is
willing to risk the health of our children just so that he can delay, delay,
delay. While we could have the
properties clean in 18-36 months, we’ll probably still be embroiled in costly
lawsuit in 18-36 months.
Turning Lemons into Lemonade
I wanted to see for myself
just how other superfund communities dealt with the so-called “stigma” of a superfund
designation. Not at all surprisingly,
as a result of great leadership in those other communities, they have taken
superfund sites (and the so-called “stigma” attached to them) and turned them
into a positive thing for their communities.
The examples are simply too numerous to include in a set of already very
long notes, so I’ll just provide you with a few examples of the communities,
the outcomes and the link to the information so you can see for yourself:
In Edison,
NJ, the mayor there announces that a cleaned up site is becoming a new park
http://www.edisonnj.org/mayor/press/2005/01/cicopen.asp
In Virginia, it becomes two parks including a
softball and soccer field
http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/environment/a_superfund.html
Silicon
Valley, CA turned the property into a Netscape Communications Campus
http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/environment/a_superfund.html
In West Dallas, they build the first major
supermarket ever built in the area
http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/environment/a_superfund.html
In Aspen,
Colorado, a site that was contaminated with lead was placed on the NPL in 1996,
cleaned up, and then removed from the list in 1999 http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/sites/co/smugmtn.html
In Snomish
County, Washington, they are debating using the land (which was REMOVED from
the superfund list) for a golf course, athletic fields, or a complex that includes
a new jail and offices for attorneys or courtrooms.
http://www.snohomishcountybusinessjournal.com/archive/oct02/superfundsite-oct02.htm
In Millcreek,
Pennsylvania their former superfund site became a nine-hole golf course.
http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/news/local/local11-7.html
Chisman Creek, Virginia now houses two recreational parks, restrooms, parking, two ponds, and
the county's memorial tree grove. http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/success/casestud/chiscsi.htm
Fort Devens, Massachusetts is now a mixed-use development http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/success/casestud/devecsi.htm
Even
Love Canal has built and sold 200 new homes.
But in El Paso, Texas,
well…we have a business community and a mayor (and apparently a Congressman,
according to Wardy) that makes the Environmental Protection Agency the enemy,
wants to spend the community’s money to clean up ASARCO’s mess, and, if possible,
would simply want to delay the clean up altogether by hiding their collective
head in the sand and hoping it will just go away.
And
that was that. The pain had finally
ended.
Sigh.
Here’s What Happens When the Law Steps
In…
Onto
other political goings on!
Although this issue is
unrelated to City Council, I simply couldn’t resist discussing the article in
the El Paso Times entitled, “Report
Faults Water Chief.”
In case you didn’t know,
Arturo Duran replaced Carlos Ramirez as the Director of the International
Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC).
Duran, who was the former chief of the Lower Valley Water District,
pulled a “Joe Wardy” maneuver when he took the job at the IBWC. He fired great staff and brought in cronies
at inflated salaries. The staff at the
IBWC (unlike the City staff that was ousted), cried foul and filed complaints
(that’s what happens when you exhibit some courage!).
Here’s what David Crowder of
the El Paso Times wrote this morning:
“In a scathing report on the actions of Arturo Duran,
appointed by President Bush 14
months ago to head the International Boundary and Water Commission in El Paso, federal inspectors have
recommended bringing the
agency under the control of the U.S. Department of State.” (http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20055040203 42).
And here’s what the federal
inspectors found:
“The report states the Duran has rewarded longtime
friends with ranking positions
and high salaries. His controls on hiring, purchasing, work hours and travel stripped managers of
responsibility and ‘demeaned all employees,’
creating serious operational problems for the commission, the report states.”
(http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20055040203 42)
Hmmmm. Sounds awfully familiar, eh? Like I said…Duran pulled a Joe Wardy. Guess who one of Duran’s “friends” is? Well, he brought on board none other than
Rick Porras, the Luther Jones stealth candidate who ran unsuccessfully against
our ethical County Attorney, José Rodríguez.
Can
I say “I told ya so?” Okay, I told ya
so.
Time is of the essence…
One final reminder before I
let you go back to your life…early voting is around the corner. Have you taken a long look at your
candidates? Have you made wise
decisions based on good information?
Have you taken the time to educate your friends, neighbors, countrymen
on how important this election is?
If
not, you have two weeks left. Now chug
that cocktail and get to work!
Until
next week.
Comments or questions: shmaven@yahoo.com
My commentaries are posted
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