4.26.2005
My friends, this week
featured another six-hour meeting, yet another pre-executive session phone
call, blatant hand signals from one crony to another, and a whole lot of
pandering. How does this town spell
relief? ELECTIONS!
Mo’ Minutes
Before we get to the heart
of the meeting, let’s dispense with the consent agenda and the revision
details:
2. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES: [Municipal Clerk, Richarda Duffy Momsen, (915) 541-4127] Approval
of Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of April 19, 2005. (Attachment) Minutes for the
Regular City Council Meeting of April 19, 2005
The minutes were approved
with no discussion.
The Sports Society?
The following item was
postponed for four weeks in order to allow the County, the Humane Society, and
the El Paso Sports Commission to focus on what to do with the property:
29. PUBLIC
HEARING - FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES: An Ordinance authorizing the
City Manager to sign a Contract of Sale and any other necessary documents
between the City of El Paso and the Humane Society of El Paso, Inc. which will
allow for the City to convey property commonly known as 211 and 325 Shelter Place,
El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, including the improvements thereon. (District
3) (Attachment) [Financial and
Administrative Services, Gonzalo Cedillos, (915) 541-4074]
Wardy made it a point to say
that the City (unlike the County) supports the Humane Society, and Joyce Wilson
stated for the record that the Humane Society was not in favor of any
postponement at all.
The Sports Commission wants
the property for indoor skating, the Humane Society wants the property so it
can continue its work. I hope the
Humane Society is allowed to continue the invaluable service it provides this
community—and maybe they can offer some animal sensitivity training to Robert
Cushing, too.
Ruck Off?
The following item was
approved on the consent agenda with no discussion:
7D. Lance E. Ruck to the Civil Service Commission,
reappointment effective date 05/06/05, by Mayor Pro Tempore Anthony W. Cobos,
District 8. (Attachment) [Mayor Pro-Tem
Anthony W. Cobos, (915) 541-4123]
I sent the City an inquiry
about this board appointment because I wondered how Mr. Cobos could renew an
appointment (ahead of time) that expires on election day (http://www.elpasotexas.gov/boards/detail.asp?id=21). Isn’t he required, I wondered, to allow the
incoming City Representative (Lord, let it be Beto O’Rourke!) to make that
decision?
My loyal readers will recall
that, in the early days of the Wardy Dark Ages, Mr. Ruck challenged your old
friend Sid in a series of hilarious emails.
Mr. Ruck, it seems, was very exercised about my pointing out
various examples of his and his good buddy Bob Cushing’s glaring
hypocrisy. There was a time when Mr.
Ruck would have challenged me to a duel.
Of course, I would have had to get very drunk to make it a fair fight.
Anyway, it would appear that
Mr. Cobos wants to ensure that Mr. Ruck, who is the Cushiest of Cushing
Cronies, remains on this powerful board in case Cobos is not re-elected. (Further evidence that Ol’ Brown Eyes is
scared. Be scared, Tony. Be very scared.)
I received a lame-o
response-o from Assistant City Attorney Lupe Cuellar saying that there were “no
documents responsive to my request.”
Guess that means it’s
okay-o.
In El Paso, the War on Poverty Has Morphed into the
War on the Poor
The first item to be
discussed was the following item, which was brought back from last week:
21B. Discussion and Action regarding the Texas
Department of Housing and Community Affairs compliance with state regulations
to grant funding to the Cedar Oak Townhomes Development located at 1480 Cedar
Oak Dr. [Representative Vivian Rojas, (915) 541-4108]
As a quick reminder, a year
ago, Vivian Rojas told the neighbors in the area that they were about to be
attacked by the poor. Ike Monte, a
competitor of Bobby Bowling’s, had acquired property near George Dieter and
Pelicano and was planning on building affordable town homes using Texas
Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) tax credits. Instead of fighting the zoning, which allows
apartments to be built on the property, Vivian Rojas waged war against the
funding, which would create housing for the poor, and against the developer,
who was competing (God forbid!) with Bobby Bowling, puppet master
extraordinaire and El Paso Tax Credit King.
Hundreds of neighbors joined
the fight, going to Austin to tell the TDHCA to keep its tax credit assistance
that would create badly-needed affordable housing. Back then, they thought they had successfully killed the
project. They had not. The project was put on a waiting list and
was funded when the TDHCA received more Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) funding. Last week,
Rojas and the neighbors were up in arms anew, and she publicly vowed to fight
the good fight for the neighbors (and, secretly, for Bobby Bowling). Last week she tried to pull the building
permits the developer had lawfully obtained to proceed with the project, but
she and the rest of Council were informed in no uncertain terms that pulling
the permits would be illegal and would buy the City a costly lawsuit that it
was certain to lose. The item was postponed
for a week to allow her some time to visit with the TDHCA about the issue.
There was standing room only
at the Council meeting, and Rojas asked everyone who was there for that item to
stand up—a gal’s gotta know how many voters she needs to pander to—and there
were dozens upon dozens of neighbors there.
Many of them spoke that morning.
Laura Rivera said that the
TDHCA had “made a mockery” out of state rules and needed to be “held
accountable” for approving the low-income tax credits for the apartments on
George Dieter. She asked that Council
help stop the “assault” on their neighborhood.
James Camacho warned, “This
is not a district 7 problem” and then added, “Guess what? If it happened to us, it can happen to
you...this is an El Paso problem.” I
guess when Camacho said “it” can happen to you, “it” refers to the poor. He asked, “How can the issues of clustering,
student-teacher ratios, increased traffic that we voiced so flagrantly be
ignored by TDHCA?” He asked that City
Council “look TDHCA in the face, do not flinch, and hold them accountable.”
Art Rivera then spoke. The day before the meeting, he was quoted in
the Times:
“Art
Rivera, who belongs to the 700-member neighborhood association, said the
residents would have little objection to and no way to stop a regular apartment
project on the site because it’s properly zoned.
But, he said, they do object to an influx of low- and moderate-income
residents. ‘That’s the issue,’ he said.”
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200550424016
Rivera said that contrary to
what the Times had reported, they are
not against low-income housing. He said
they were against how the TDHCA funded the project, and listed the state code
they violated. He also said that
low-income housing is needed, but should be built where it is needed and not at
the expense of the safety of the neighbors.
Hmm. I do believe the Times reported his sentiment correctly.
Charlie Wakeem, President of
the Coronado Neighborhood Association, said that “this sounds interestingly
similar to the Suncrest” issue; he said that the neighborhood association was
not opposed to the apartments or town homes.
What they objected to was the fact that the apartments would be
“subsidized.” He said that the
Registered Neighborhood Associations are not notified on all developments, and
he said he remembered telling the three Council people who sponsored the
Tumbleweeds Forum (Cushing, Cobos and Lozano) that the neighborhoods should be
notified on all development applications in the neighborhoods.
Wardy said to Wakeem that
the two issues are the TDHCA issue, “which stinks to high heaven, okay?” The second issue, he said, was the
permitting, which the City could not restrict if the zoning is followed. But he agreed with Wakeem that that
expansion of the notification is important.
Hector Herrera, another
concerned citizen, asked why the City was promoting low-income rental housing
instead of low-income home ownership.
He said that while he understands there are people in need, he doesn’t
believe that rentals are the answer.
Wardy made a point of saying
that the City supports low-income housing and TDHCA projects, but his problem
with it is when they “try to drop ‘em in.”
He should have amended his comments to say that he only supports TDHCA
tax credit projects when the tax credits are going to the Tax Credit King,
Bobby Bowling. Wardy also said that tax
credit housing should not be placed in “mature” areas of town. Hmmm…so I guess, Mr. Joe, they should be
relegated to the outskirts, near the colonias maybe?
Herrera and two other
residents who identified themselves as educators said that they were concerned
about the overcrowding in the schools that would come as a result of the
apartments.
Dear reader, at this point,
all the billowing smoke from all the rhetorical smokescreens in Council started
to make my eyes tear. There were layers
upon layers of deception. Let’s try to
sort it out shall we?
With respect to the
neighbors, I am somewhat sympathetic. I
probably wouldn’t want apartments in my neighborhood either; but then, that’s
why I don’t own property near vacant land, because one can only guess what will
be built on it.
But my main objection to the
neighbors’ opposition was its fundamental dishonesty. If it’s true that these neighborhood folks are not opposed to the
apartments, but only the financing, then why talk about overcrowding? Overcrowding will still be an issue because
there will still be apartments. It
simply doesn’t make sense. If
overcrowding’s your concern, then it’s absolutely irrelevant whether the
apartments are low-income or not. So,
all of the neighbors’ pious rhetoric about how much they support low-income
housing should be seen for what it is:
B.S.
Only one of the speakers,
Larry Romero, said he was opposed to the building of multi-family units, and he
was the only one who made any sense because he talked about the danger of
having so many apartment complexes in one area. His was the most logical argument. For everyone else, however, the opposition came down to the
Vivian Rojas/Bobby Bowling argument: It
was about the financing.
This was Bobby Bowling’s
fantasy all over again: An entire
community up in arms, trying to kill a tax credit project that poses a
challenge to the Tax Credit King’s taxpayer-subsidized empire. This was indeed Suncrest all over again.
The NIMBY mob, desperately
fighting to keep poor people out of their neighborhood, reminded me of the
urban and suburban racists all over America who fought (and in some cases,
still fight today) against “allowing” blacks or Hispanics in their
neighborhoods. While the District 7
folks may not be trying to shut the door on a particular race or ethnic group
this time, they are most assuredly trying to slam the door on poor folks.
So, the very same Councilors
who incited NIMBY-driven fear to kill Suncrest on the west side are using the
same weapon to kill Cedar Crest on the east side. My question to this Mayor and Council is where should affordable
housing and low- to moderate-income folks go?
The river?
Vivian Rojas began to
speechify about all the state codes the TDHCA violated (which had to do with
posting and notification), but she never mentioned what came of her visit to
Austin to talk to the TDHCA and state representatives (as the Council had
authorized her to do so last week).
Instead, she read a very interesting motion into the record: “I’m asking for the City Attorney to take
action.” (Enthusiastic applause from the crowd.) Then, reading from her notes, she said, “And I believe the proper
terms would be to file a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief against
TDHCA regarding this development and the issues I brought forth.”
Clearly, my friends, someone
(a lawyer, probably) helped the rather unsophisticated Miss Viv with the legal
jargon. How much you wanna bet it was
either Bobby Bowling’s lawyer or Luther Jones or Martie Jobe (or maybe they’re
all the same person!). Evil can take
many strange forms, dear reader.
Lisa Elizondo looked
stunned, and Wardy looked confused.
Wardy asked Rojas if she had
discussed this motion with the City Attorney.
Elizondo said she was “a little caught off guard,” so Wardy quickly came
to Elizondo’s defense, scolding Rojas for not having provided the City
Attorney’s office with her motion. He
said “this is not the appropriate venue.”
Elizondo asked to talk to them in executive session.
Joyce Wilson said that a
formal reconsideration had been requested of the TDHCA and she had supplied the
Council with a copy of the letter.
*And Moderation In the
Pursuit of a Bowling Tax Credit Monopoly Is No Virtue
Cobos said, “We’re here in
the 11th hour and we need to take action, something drastic today,
because a correspondence war, a battle with correspondence, is not gonna get it
done…we need to take extreme measures today.”
(Applause from the crowd.) After
Cobos’s melodramatic statement, I could’ve sworn I heard an echo that kept
repeating, “There is no quid pro quo, there is no quid pro quo, there is no
quid pro quo.”
Every time one of the reps
spoke in opposition to the projects, they received a round of applause. What an ego boost for these
guys…enthusiastic applause from angry voters and campaign donations from Bobby
Bowling. Call it a twofer. Throw in an opportunity to bash the TDHCA
and you’ve got a hat trick!
Wardy said that while he was
against the project, “these surprise attacks on the City Attorney when she’s
had no opportunity to respond, I think we’ve put her at a tremendous
disadvantage…you at least need to show her the courtesy of sharing your
recommendations with her before Council.”
(I wanted to slip Wardy a note that read, “Uh, Joe…she’s always at a ‘tremendous
disadvantage.’ I know, I know, I can’t
believe you hired her either!”)
Rojas said she had shared
her concern about the TDHCA with Elizondo.
“Concern is one thing, Ms.
Rojas; threatening to sue is another…I support your efforts…to ask her to
respond on a legal issue with no time to prepare, I don’t think she’s able to
it, honestly,” said Wardy. (Another
note, “Uh, Joe…she is rarely ‘able to
do it, even with plenty of advanced warning, honestly.’”)
Elizondo said it wouldn’t be
appropriate for her to comment about the details in open session.
Pander Fest 2005!*
*Free votes for everyone!
Representative Escobar said
he was concerned about and opposed to the development because of the
congestion. Ah, yes, the congestion.
My friends, if congestion
truly is one of the issues, then why did the City allow zoning for multi-family
dwellings? Escobar has been on Council
long enough that he may very well have been around for that vote. Even if he wasn’t, why not change the zoning
before the land is sold or before permits are approved? Now, Council can’t pull the permits without
being sued. All that’s left—besides
spewing indignant rhetoric at the TDHCA while mouthing empty, pious intonations
about the need for affordable housing—is to undertake irresponsible and legally
dubious litigation against a state agency that appears to have followed its own
internal rules.
“We are in favor of
affordable housing in the proper location,” said Escobar, adding that that
there are probably some residents out there somewhere who would like low-income
housing instead of a vacant lot. Sorry,
Mr. Escobar, but it’s obvious that in the east side and the west side people
prefer empty lots over poor people.
Presi Ortega said he was
“real disappointed” in what happened.
Naturally, he received a round of applause. Emboldened by that applause, he ratcheted up the rhetoric. “I feel a real certain arrogance to a
developer and to those representatives who have pushed this project
forward…that’s uncalled for.” (More
applause.) Good Lord. If he had said, “The people building this
apartment complex are god-less communist child molesters who should be in
prison!”, he probably would have received thunderous applause. Presi then said they needed to take legal
action to move forward, and concluded by saying, “We need to stand up here,
folks, and I’m not grandstanding, I’m just very upset.” Uh-huh.
As it has been observed many times, if you repeat a lie often enough and
forcefully enough, some people will believe it. I said some people, Presi.
Susan Austin said that many
folks have talked about a shortage of public facilities and she said there is a
local government provision about being able to “hold up permits while there is
an investigation about shortage of public facilities” (more applause). She asked what permits had been issued (more
applause).
Alan Shubert said the City
has issued 42 building permits (grading and building permits).
Indicating that it was about
time to take some legal advice, Wardy promised the crowd that they would not
stay in executive session very long.
Furiously chomping away at
his gum, Cushing said his concern was a “two-headed snake we’re grabbin’. How do we bring this quickly to a halt?”
(More applause.) He said, “If we don’t
do something quickly we will end up in a myriad of legal issues…and my heart
goes out to this group of people here today.”
(More applause.)
Let’s not beat around the
bush here, folks. None of what anyone
said about why they oppose this project (with the possible exception of Larry
Romero) was truthful. The neighborhood
folks are opposed to this project because they don’t want poor people in their
neighborhood. At least four members of
City Council—Cushing, Lozano, Rojas and Cobos—oppose the project because they
are bound and determined to help the Bowling family maintain its monopoly on
tax credit housing in El Paso. The rest
of Council opposes the project because they love to pander to voters—and we’re
not just talking about the voters in Rojas’s district, because there are,
apparently, lots of voters who hate the idea of poor folks moving into their
neighborhood. Those Councilors who
weren’t eagerly pandering simply lack the courage to go against the prevailing
winds at Council.
Council retreated into
executive session and came out half an hour later.
Can You Hear Me Now, Deja Who?
But right before they walked
into the executive session chambers, in a moment of déjà vu, Vivian Rojas
picked up her trusty cell phone—her lifeline to the outside world, to the
puppetmasters, to the true decision makers.
This time she didn’t take a call, but made a call. Gee.
Whom do you think she was calling, my friends? Was it her hair stylist to confirm her appointment for yet
another much-needed make-over? Or was
it the lawyer who helped her draft her motion?
Or, was it just possibly her puppet master, Bobby Bowling? Sometimes, the options are just overwhelming!
Now, I don’t know if Miss
Viv was using her personal cell phone or a city cell phone, but if she was
using her city cell, I do think it would be interesting to know whom she called
right before she went into executive session on this issue. Don’t you?
We have yet to find out whom she was talking to last time around when
she and Cobos shared the same phone call right before a controversial vote on
an east side affordable housing unit (that they eventually shot down).
When they came out of executive
session, Paul Escobar read the following motion into the record: “Direct the City Attorney’s office to look
at all legal options available, including any legal recourse we may have
against this development…to stop this project,” and John Cook seconded the
motion.
And then the whole issue
went from disgusting to laughable. Like
a child desperate for praise from a parent, Rojas, visibly piqued, announced
that she wanted to be the one to read the motion into the record. So, she did just that. She actually re-read the very same motion
into the record. Wardy had to remind
her that the motion had already been made.
Then Cushing, falling over
himself to get on the Bobby-You-Are-My-Master pander wagon, tried to second the
motion only to be told that it had already been seconded.
I was waiting for Wardy to
jump up and down in his big chair and cry out like a needy child, “Oooh! Oooh! Can I vote? Can I vote? Pleeeezze?”
Council agreed to bring the
item back in one week, and the motion passed unanimously. They couldn’t pander to the voters and Bobby
Bowling fast or furiously enough.
Once the large group filed
out of the Council chambers, the Pandermaniacs moved on.
CDBG Funding
Even after the large group
left, there was still a crowd left for the following items:
27A. Public Hearing and discussion and action on the
adoption of a Proposed 2005-2010 Consolidated Plan for the City of El Paso and
a Proposed 2005-2006 Annual Action Plan, including the Proposed Budgets for the
31st Year (2005-2006) Community Development Block Grant Program Budget, the FY
2005 Emergency Shelter Grant Program, and the FY 2005 HOME Investment
Partnerships Program. (Attachment)
27B. Discussion and action on a Resolution that,
having conducted a public hearing, the City Council hereby adopts a Proposed
2005-2010 Consolidated Plan for the City of El Paso and a Proposed 2005-2006
Annual Action Plan, including the Proposed Budgets for the 31st Year
(2005-2006) Community Development Block Grant Program, the FY 2005 Emergency
Shelter Grant Program, and the FY 2005 HOME Investment Partnerships Program;
and
That the
City Council directs that the notice of availability of the Proposed 2005-2010
Consolidated Plan for the City of El Paso and the Proposed Budgets for the 31st
Year Community Development Block Grant Program, the FY 2005 Emergency Shelter
Grant Program, and the FY 2005 HOME Investment
Partnerships Program be published in the El Paso Times on Sunday, May 8, 2005, to provide the public with an
opportunity to review the Proposed
2005-2010 Consolidated Plan and the Proposed Budgets, as part of the
summary of the Proposed Annual Action Plan for 2005-2006, and submit comments
to the City Council or the Department of Community and Human Development. The deadline for submission of written
comments will be 5:00 p.m., on Wednesday, May 8, 2005.
The City
Council will conduct a public hearing in City Council Chambers during the
regular City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 21, 2005, for the purpose of
receiving comments from the public and adopting the 2005-2010 Consolidated Plan
and the Annual Action Plan, including the 31st Year (2005-2006) Community
Development Block Grant Program Budget, the FY 2005 Emergency Shelter Grant
Program Budget and the FY 2005 HOME Investment Partnerships Program Budget, for
submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (All Districts) (Attachment)
These items would determine
how millions of federal tax dollars intended to assist the community would be
used. Robert Salinas, Director of
Community Development, presented a plan that would dictate the direction of the
funding for the next five years, as well as the Community Development Block
Grant (CDBG) budget for the next year, the emergency shelter project, and the
HOME project. Salinas explained that
the steering committee was recommending local projects that had staff support
and while there was a lot of need and a lot of good projects, there was a
limited budget. He said after this
public hearing, they would notify the public that they can comment within the
next 30 days (May 8th-June 8th) and that, after the
public comment period, the final public hearing would be held to adopt the
budget.
Susan Austin had some
questions, and then it was Alexandro Lozano’s turn. He said, “Yes, uh, you know, I see the, uh, the chart, and I’m
puzzled by the request that we wanted and what the committee has brought to
us. Of course, you know, uh, we see
some of the collaboratives not receiving anything and some receiving a lot,
and, you know, that’s the problem that I have, that they all need it…but moreever
(he meant “moreover”), I’m very disappointed that…the priorities, the needs are
very important, and the commission should understand that. Yes, there are streets out there that need
repair, hundreds of streets need repair, but the most important part to me is
senior centers.” He complained that
some streets that weren’t in need of much repair took precedence. And, yes, I agreed with him (I hang my head
as I admit this).
Then, referring to the San
Juan Senior Center, he turned and said to Wardy, “Mayor, I hope that you’ll
support me on CO’s for emergency funding for this center, it desperately needs
funding” said Lozano. This is now the
second time Council has discussed using CO’s and violating their own “CO’s are
evil” policy (the first was the ASARCO cleanup).
Cushing said that they were
being asked to approve something they don’t have, meaning that Council hadn’t
seen the consolidated plan. A nervous
Salinas (yeah, I’d be nervous, too, if I had to be near the Cush-monster) said
that he was asking them to vote on this “proposed” plan. Cushing said he wanted this item
postponed. Salinas said a postponement
was “feasible.”
Cushing made a motion to
postpone both items, and Lozano seconded the item. Voting against the postponement were Austin, Cook, Escobar and
Rojas; the only yes votes were Cushing, Lozano and Cobos (Presi had stepped
out). The motion failed.
The Council then took public
comment. Trini Acevedo, the chair of
the CDBG Steering Committee, talked about how hard the decisions were, how hard
the steering committee worked, and said clearly that he expected City Council
to simply accept their recommendations with no changes. He said that if they made changes, it would
send the wrong message to the volunteer members of the committee.
Susan Austin asked him if
the committee was directed to look at the consolidated plan before making its
decisions, and he couldn’t be certain, but thought the committee members might
have received a copy.
Alexandro Lozano wanted to
know why the committee decided to give $1.4 million to one street instead of
the San Juan Senior Center. Acevedo
responded, “without no due disrespect to any age specific group,” he said that
they looked at completing projects that had already begun. When Lozano became irritated and remarked to
Acevedo that what the committee had done was take the recommendation of an
engineer over a group of seniors, Wardy reined him in and asked him to keep his
comments “above board.”
Cobos thanked Acevedo and
gratuitously, congratulated him for his work, and in a reference to Acevedo’s
candidacy for School Board, said, “I am hopeful that in the future you can
serve the citizens of El Paso in other capacities, in public service as
well.” If Cobos’ support isn’t the kiss
of death for a candidate and a “danger” sign for voters, I don’t know what is.
Vivian Rojas asked about
CDBG funds being used to fund City-owned properties, and specifically mentioned
the Central Fire Station HVAC replacement project. She said she had spoken with Pat Adauto, who had informed her
that some old Certificates of Obligation could pay for that renovation, which
would then free that money for other organizations. Pat Adauto said that Council had been supplied with a summary of
the available balances in old COs. She
said that ultimately it would be up to Council to decide whether or not to use
those COs for a specific project.
Wait a minute! I thought Certificates of Obligation (CO’s)
were baaaad? So baaad that we have to
scare voters about them (BOO!). Now they’re
not bad?
Cook said that in his
opinion, the fire station should have been part of the Capital Improvement
Project bond election. He said that he
wanted to substitute the Creative Kids project funding for the fire station funding,
and address the fire station needs as an emergency to be dealt with by using
emergency COs.
Cobos said he was ”very
concerned” about removing the fire station from CDBG funding. He said he was reluctant to take funding
away, calling it a “surprise” and stating he would not support it.
Susan Austin said that the
CDBG funding is for the improvement of the lives of low and moderate income El
Pasoans and preferred to fund the fire station with the emergency COs. She’s right. And while we do desperately need to fix infrastructure – streets,
drains, fire stations, etc. – the CDBG funding is not being used appropriately,
in my humble opinion. The City should
be issuing bonds—yes, those horrible CO’s—to address these City needs.
Then it was the public’s
turn, and Council took a lot of public testimony, including from the social
service agencies, the San Juan Senior Citizen folks, from residents of a
neighborhood that frequently floods, and the Creative Kids representatives.
Joyce Wilson asked that
Council provide Salinas with a list of projects that would be removed and
projects that would be funded. That
way, staff would have something to work with and bring back the recommendations
in two weeks.
Let’s see if Cobos and
Cushing follow through on their promise to Lozano a couple of weeks ago to
substitute one of the projects in their district for the funding of the San
Juan Senior Center.
Austin moved to approve
items 1-55. Elizondo asked for more
time in order to clean up the language on the resolution.
When it was brought back,
John Nance proposed taking out the second paragraph, just to mention what
Council would be approving today. It
was approved unanimously, and the remainder of 27A and B was postponed for two
weeks.
Bid Rigging Alert!™
I was waiting to see what
happened on the following item, which was postponed last week by Assistant
Chief Cronymeister Robert Cushing, who complained last week that he wanted City
Engineer Rick Connor to state on the backup that the bid was awarded after
going through the full-blown A/E [Architect and Engineer] selection process:
23.
ENGINEERING: (Attachment) [Engineering
Department, Irene Ramirez, (915) 541-4431] Discussion and action on a
resolution that the City Manager be authorized to sign a Consultant Services
Agreement by and between the CITY OF EL
PASO and AMEC EARTH & ENVIRONMENTAL, INC., for environmental engineering
services for a period of two (2) years in an amount not to exceed SEVEN HUNDRED
FIFTY THOUSAND AND NO/100 DOLLARS
($750,000.00). POSTPONED FROM 04/19/05
Having watched Cushing,
Wardy and Cobos in action at countless City Council meetings, I knew that his
stalling tactic was a bad sign for AMEC, the company that had won the bid fair
and square.
City Engineer Rick Connor
stood at the podium and explained that the item had been postponed because of
the “issues” Cushing had raised with the backup information, which had been
corrected. Presi Ortega, apprentice
cronymeister, had asked that more firms be allowed to participate in the
process. Connor responded, “I don’t
know if you’re aware of it, but we currently do overlapping open ended
contracts on environmental services.
The second contract will expire in September. The idea is to allow more firms to participate in this
process. What we would propose to you
today to help resolve the second issue is ask if you would consider awarding
this contract today, in the amount of $500,000 for the two-year period, let us
come back to you in September with the possibility of awarding more than one
firm the opportunity to do this for us.”
Connor said that because the
A/E Selection committee had unanimously recommended AMEC, he was asking that
they approve the bid at the reduced amount.
Wardy wasn’t pleased. He said, “You’re gonna have to tie it up a
little better.” I had no idea what that
meant.
Suddenly, Cushing, who no
longer could complain about or delay the bid because of missing details, expressed
“concern” about the second issue…that this bid would only go to one
company. He wanted to reject the bid in
order not to “sole source” the item. He
then leaned back, stretched, bared his enormous belly, shoved his gum out of
his mouth for public display, gave a little knowing look over at Cobos, and
then used his index and middle fingers to indicate the number two.
Now, given Bob Cushing’s
penchant for publicly displaying some very disgusting personal habits and
considering his absolute lack of interest in proper decorum, that signal could
have meant he was telling his good buddy Tony that he (Cushing) had to go the
bathroom and what specifically what needed to be done once he was there. (Information that I’m sure Tony is eager to
have.) Or, I suppose, Cushing could
have been flashing the peace sign.
However, based on what happened immediately after Cushing made the
gesture, I do believe it was a not-so-secret signal to Cobos that Cushing
wanted ol’ Tony to second Cushing’s motion to reject the bid. And, sure enough, Cobos, like the good
soldier he is, and like an obedient dog ready to roll over on command (yikes!
this is Bob Cushing the dog disemboweler we’re talking about), quickly
seconded the motion.
These individuals, my
friends, are unbelievable. They are so
blatant, so brazen, and so unafraid of any consequences, that they are open
about their machinations. And guess
what folks? They’re right to be
unafraid. Even though there was a room
full of cameras and reporters, a story that should have been reported on in
depth was barely mentioned the next day in our only daily print newspaper and
wasn’t mentioned at all by the television stations. I know the editors at the Times severely limit the column
inches for the weekly City Council round-up, but doesn’t this blatant bid
rigging deserve some follow-up investigative reporting?
Austin wanted to know who
had had the bid before, and Connor said the process started in September and he
didn’t remember who had it before then.
He said there is a second on-call environmental firm working now. While she had questions about the A/E criteria,
Austin stated clearly, “I don’t see how we can go back now and re-evaluate
this. I think it’s a fair process. You know, I don’t understand what the
problem is, why we’re second guessing the A/E process at this point.”
Cook agreed, and said that
“To go back after people submit their qualifications, you go through a process
and pick somebody, I think there’s something that really doesn’t pass the smell
test when we’re starting to reject all bids again until you get the firm that
you want. I think we need to move
forward, accept the recommendations to approve this…you don’t have to award all
of the money, this is an on-call contract…there’s nothing limiting us to two
firms.”
“Our recommendation was to
reduce the amount of the award so it would allow us to start the process
again,” said Joyce Wilson. “The current
contract that expires in September only has a little bit of capacity left…we
don’t necessarily have to wait until September,” and said that staff would be
making changes to the A/E ordinance anyway, based on City Council comments
about the process.
Cobos, who wasn’t happy with
the fact that Wilson was taking charge (gee…that is in her job description,
isn’t it, Tony?), asked about the policy changes. Wilson explained that the changes were intended to give some
flexibility when it came time to award the bids. (That frightened me…these guys, with a flexible ordinance?! That,
my friends, is a license to manipulate.)
Cobos then pointedly asked if the policy changes had been directed or
recommended by Presi Ortega, the chair of the A/E Legislative Review Committee,
and Wilson said no, but she was making changes that would help the ordinance
function more effectively. Cobos,
subtly indicating his disapproval of her leadership on this issue, called it “a
serious policy decision, a serious policy change.”
Then Presi, who initiated
the whole discussion about awarding this money to other companies last week,
said, “I received in my office an appeal from one of the companies on a
previous project. Does that affect this
bid at all?” (How much you wanna bet
that “appeal” is from VIVA Environmental, the company owned by their buddy,
Peter Felix).
City Manager Joyce Wilson
didn’t know what Presi was talking about and John Cook had to tell her that the
appeal was on the Sun Metro remediation project (remember that one? Presi, Wardy, Cobos and Cushing wanted to
award it to VIVA Environmental, probably the same company they wanted to give
this bid to). She said that her office
had not yet received a copy of any appeal, and that the owner of the company
was obviously not following the proper process by appealing to Council.
Presi said that the appeal
had just been filed that morning and, clearly grasping at straws, said, “I’m
concerned that we awarded another and something’s pending,” and then asked if
the bid could be postponed for two weeks.
Joyce Wilson had to remind
Presi (the apprentice cronymeister who seems to be getting as good as Cobos,
Wardy and Cushing at this game, folks!) that the project before them today was
a completely separate project. Assistant
City Attorney Lisa Hayes, who was replacing Terry Cullen-Garney (out on sick
leave), said the appeal had to have been filed within ten days of the award.
Barnes and the Ignoble
Jamie Barnes from AMEC – the
company whose award was on the verge of being stolen away – was there, and
spoke. It made all the difference in
the world. He said, “We put a lot of
effort into these packages with an understanding of an existing ordinance and
an existing selection process. We’re
basing our decision, it’s a business decision, on a fair and unbiased selection
process. Once we go into this, and
every other firm is buying into the same process, we’re assuming that the
process will be respected and approved.
There’s a clear appeal process.
If the process is inappropriate, I would hope that it would be appealed,
but I’d hate to see that we’re setting up a process where every selection is
appealed. If so, obviously we would
like to appeal every selection that we don’t win, and we don’t win a lot of
contracts. I do, on the other hand, Mr.
Ortega, agree that we have a set pie that we have to split up. Agreed.
We have had contracts that we wished we’d had that has gone to the same
firm year after year.”
Barnes said he was willing
to take a reduced award, and said, “We were selected fairly. It seems reasonable and appropriate to move
ahead. If the ordinance is flawed, we’d
like to see it changed.”
Backed into a corner, Cobos
withdrew his second to Cushing’s motion so they could discuss the lowered
amount.
Ortega was still asking for
staff to re-evaluate the whole thing and was clearly still angling for yet
another postponement. Wilson said no,
for several reasons.
Austin said that if another
company is brought in, it, too, should go through the full-blown process. She also said she felt better awarding the
bid at $750,000, which is how it was bid out and opined that amending the scope
of the project after the fact is wrong.
Cook made a motion to accept
the bid based on recommendations by staff to reduce the amount, but he had no
second.
Susan Austin, who was
sticking to her guns (mirabile dictu!) made a motion to approve the bid as
recommended and as posted on the agenda, for the full amount. Cook seconded her motion.
Barnes came back to the
podium and said he’d be willing to take the reduced bid, but “If we are not
awarding contracts on the current A/E selection process, I think you’re sending
a real strong message to the consulting community that the process is flawed,
or that there is a process outside of the ordinance process that is driving the
vote. [Bingo! That process is called bid rigging, Mr. Barnes.] You need to think about the message you’re
telling the engineering community today.”
(Where are you now, Elza Cushing…still consider your cronymeister
husband “independent”?)
Sending major hints to his
crony crew, Cobos announced that if Austin’s motion failed, he’d support Cook’s
previous motion to award the reduced bid.
Of course, after having
received their veiled instructions, the Crony Crew voted accordingly: Cushing, Lozano, Ortega, Escobar and Cobos
voted no. The only “yes” votes came
from Austin, Cook and Rojas.
Cook renewed his previous
motion, based on recommendations by staff to lower the amount, and Cobos
seconded it; it passed unanimously.
Money, Money, Money
Because of how late in the
day the meeting had run, the following item was postponed for one week:
31. CITY MANAGER: City Manager's report of current
events and issues: Quarterly Financial Report, 2nd Quarter, to Council and
preliminary revenue projections for Fiscal Year 2005/2006 and update on the
budget process for FY 2006. [Deputy City Manager, William Studer, (915)
541-4011]
And aside from other odds
and ends, that was it…after six hours.
The Luther Lineup:
Campaign Finance Reports are in!
Yes, those wonderful,
revealing reports are in again!
In the “Dead giveaway”
category, Luther Jones candidate Roy Gray (District 1) reports that he paid
long-time friend and Luther Jones campaign proofreader Gail Mortimer (who lives
in Massachusetts) to edit his campaign materials. He also used many of the same local companies that Luther uses to
get materials out for his slate of candidates.
Also clearly in Luther’s
Lineup is Melina Castro, who received $1,750 from Mr. and Mrs. David
Escobar. (Loyal readers know that
Luther Jones and David Escobar are close partners.) Castro, too, used the same Luther crew, including Gail Mortimer. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a
duck . . . .
If you look at Castro’s
expenses, you’ll notice an expenditure that will make you giggle. There are several instances where she pays
herself back for “gas for walking,” and spends very small amounts for volunteer
meals. For example, $5.17 for Dairy
Queen and $11.17 for Weinerschnitzel.
Either she’s incredibly cheap, or it’s an army of one, eh, dear reader? http://www.elpasotexas.gov/city_clerk/_documents/2005%20Elections/Campaign%20Finance%20Reports/Castro%20Melina8day.pdf
No surprises whatsoever in
Cobos’s reports, who listed the usual suspects (although no Bowling money this
time around…are they tapped out, or did they hand him another check right after
he turned in his campaign finance reports?)
But in the “had to see it to
believe it” category, people are still giving
Robert “I have no regard for human or animal life whatsoever” Cushing
money! Yes, dear reader, it’s
true! Although there weren’t many
people standing in line to contribute (only five), there are clearly some El
Pasoans who couldn’t give a damn about having a psychopathic thug on
Council. And yes, Gail Mortimer
proofread his work as well: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/city_clerk/_documents/2005%20Elections/Campaign%20Finance%20Reports/Cushing%20Jr%20Robert%20A8thday.pdf.
The list of the people who
gave Cushing money after the story of
his disregard for humanity broke were: The Jones Family Trust; Y.I. Santoscoy;
Randall O’Leary; the El Paso Association of Bowlings…er…Builders Political
Action Committee; and Daniel DelaHaye.
Mo’ Money
Mr. Joe “Money Bags” Wardy
got even mo’ money – lots of $1,000 - $3,000 contributions all over the place,
totaling $383,657. That’s obscene, my
friends. I wonder if Wardy is ever
tempted to go to the bank, get that money in one dollar bills, take them home
and have his wife pour the money over his unclothed body. Or maybe he empties the water from his
swimming pool and pours the one dollar bills in there so he can take a dive
into the money.
He even got a contribution
from Lisa Elizondo’s fiancé, Milner Carballo (he gave $1,000…he needs to help
ensure that Lisa E. keeps her job!) and from Jim Martinez’s significant
other/mother of his child, Carmen Tellez ($500…gimme a break, the guy earns
$165,000 a year and all he could muster was a measly five hundred bucks?). But what I couldn’t believe was that the El
Paso County Medical Society PAC gave to this guy ($1,000)—the same guy who
obviously doesn’t give a damn about the public health of this community. Go figure.
Of course, in the
expenditures was the fee to Gail Mortimer; there was also $160,000 to an
out-of-town advertising/media company to create Mr. “let’s buy local” Wardy’s
television commercials (I can hear him now…asking those TV guys, “How do you
make ‘I made it rain!’ more believable?”).
Wow.
Then came the very
interesting expenditures: More phone
service at City Hall (for campaign operations out of the Mayor’s Office, it
seems…or is it for those darn tree emergencies?) AND payment to Saratoga Homes
for sign installation.
Desperado (and the politics of fear)
It’s coming down to the
wire, my friends, and the incumbents are nervous—especially (and surprisingly)
Wardy. In case you didn’t get your copy
of his junk mailer on Friday, let me fill you in. Mr. Joe “I’m getting desperate now” Wardy has been on the
run. His critics and opponents have
been doing a good job of exposing him, and he’s become increasingly
defensive. His latest mailer is a color
postcard with “URGENT PUBLIC MESSAGE” in red caps across the front.
In that mailer he talks about
the demon CO’s and points out that his opponents haven’t demonized them like he
has. Oooooh! Bad CO’s, bad CO’s! BOO!
At the very end, Wardy
writes (if he, and not Martie, is the one who wrote it): “OUR FUTURE IS AT STAKE MORE THAN
EVER!!!!!!” It’s in caps, it’s in bold,
and yes, he uses six, count ‘em six, exclamation points. If those ridiculous exclamation points
aren’t a sign of a desperate man, I don’t know what is. Desperation thy name is Joe.
And Mr. Desperado is trying
to scare the bejeezus out of all of us…oooohhh…if you don’t watch out, those
scary CO’s will come and getcha!
John Cook, in the weekly
e-newsletter he sends out to thousands of El Pasoans every week, had this to
say:
In
a recent letter to his constituents, Mayor Wardy states that “Representative
Cook’s well known position that the elected City Council and Mayor should make
long-term debt spending decisions without voter approval.” That statement is
true, but only states half of my position on long-term debt.
You
may recall that in 1998, the community, led by prominent members of the Chamber
of Commerce, asked the city to split Life,
Health and Safety issues apart from Quality of Life issues. If I am not mistaken, Dee Margo chaired
the citizen committee. The committee reasoned that elected officials should be
responsible for providing essential life services such as streets, drainage and
flood control, police, emergency medical and fire services, and other such
public safety municipal services. Historically, these types of bonds, when put
to the voters, had been approved.
The
second part of the committee’s recommendation regarded “quality of life
projects.” Our city’s parks, libraries, museums and other such facilities were
in dire need of expansion and rehabilitation. Despite the public demand that
the city provide these services, quality of life bond issues had historically
failed when put to the voters.
The
committee committed that, if the City would issue the debt for Life, Health and
Safety infrastructure projects, they would assume the responsibility for
promoting the quality of life projects when put to a public vote.
Every
special interest group was asked to support the bonds. We had soccer, baseball,
football, tennis, gymnastics, swimming and every other kind of Moms and Dads
involved. We also had Friends of the Libraries, History Museum advocates,
Zoological Society members and others organized to promote spending millions
for improving these city services.
By
1999, projects had been identified and in May of 2000, after a year of public
dialogue and numerous community forums, the questions were put to the voters.
You, the voting public, decided to spend $141,000,000 to improve the quality of
life for our community. You are to be commended.
It
should be pointed out that every major city in the State of Texas uses
Certificates of Obligation to fund basic infrastructure needs. We are not
unique in using these tools. While some people condemn and characterize their
use as “tax and spend” policies, it is curious to note that during the current
administration we have spent tens of millions of dollars in previously issued
Certificates of Obligation to address basic infrastructure needs. Had the
administration been really sincere about asking the voters for approval before
spending their tax dollars, wouldn’t we have retired all of this “non-voter
approved” debt and asked you if you really wanted to spend the money? It is
also important to note that we “stacked the deck” by scheduling the “Capital
Improvement Plan (CIP) Bond Issue” for a February election, when the turnout
would be less than half that of a general election. Check the numbers out for
yourself. In February 2004 only 22,456 people voted, whereas in the 2003
Mayoral election 50,672 people voted.
So,
what is my position on issuance of long-term debt? The elected officials should
take the responsibility for providing basic infrastructure improvements such as
police, fire, emergency medical, streets and drainage. You elected us to make
sure these issues are carefully addressed within our limited means. You, the
voters, should decided on quality of life improvements.
Cook is absolutely
correct. Dee Margo, by the way, is the
same Chamber guy who wrote the laughable op-ed piece in the Times about why we shouldn’t use
superfund money to clean up polluted neighborhoods. If Margo had any kind of honor or courage, he would stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with Cook at a press conference and explain his work on
the Certificates of Obligation issue to the community. But noooo.
Tweedle-Dee Margo (or is it
Tweedle-Dumb?) has chosen to remain silent.
Now that’s what I call a stand-up guy.
Missing Gary
In the “What will we do
without Gary Scharrer” category, a reader sent me information about an
interesting event in Austin this Week.
State Representative Norma Chavez helped Texas Speaker Tom Craddick kill
an important ethics bill. Here’s how
the site, SaveTexasReps.com described Ms. Chavez’s (and a few of her cowardly
Democratic colleagues) act of betrayal:
One of the ugliest weeks in modern legislative history continued
this week as House Speaker Tom Craddick took a page from his old pal Tom
DeLay's playbook to kill an ethics bill that had the bi-partisan support of
more than 90 state lawmakers.
HB1348
by Todd Smith (R-Bedford) and Craig Eiland (D-Galveston) would have clarified
the prohibitions in state law against the kinds of corporate contributions that
are currently the subject of a criminal grand jury investigation in Austin.
Craddick and his allies, including DeLay, are at the center of that
investigation.
The usual gang of
Craddick Ds helped the autocratic Speaker pull off his DeLay imitation, with a
cast of occasional Craddick allies chipping in. Voting with the Speaker against
a bill that featured their own names as co-sponsors were: Kevin Bailey
(D-Houston), Norma
Chavez (D-El Paso), Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin), Harold Dutton
(D-Houston), Al Edwards (D-Houston), Kino Flores (D-Mission), Stephen Frost
(D-Atlanta), Helen Giddings (D-De Soto), Vilma Luna (D-Corpus Christi), and
Sylvester Turner (D-Houston), among others.
[Emphasis added.]
Unbelievable. In an era of state (and local) government
and politics when we desperately need strong ethics legislation, an El Paso
democrat votes to kill a bill that would help begin the process of cleaning
house. Who does she represent: The people or the corporations? Now that Gary Scharrer is no longer with the
Times, I’m sure we won’t be reading
much (if anything) locally about this travesty.
Silver Streak
And in the “It takes one to
know one” category, the Times has
continued its coverage of the Silvestre Reyes job-creation machine (don’t
forget that Congressman Reyes has become quite the political ally for Joe
Wardy…after all, they share the same puppet mistress, Martie Jobe). Mr. Reyes’ position on the U.S. Congress has
been a job boom – for his family, that is:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200550424012
It turns out
that his daughter isn’t the only person in his family to cash in on his
position as a U.S. Congressman—all of his kids did!
I wonder if I
can call some of these companies, tell them that I’m Reyes’s long-lost cousin,
and go from being a janitor to being Head Overseer of the Money Stream
Department? I like that! And while Reyes has (directly or indirectly)
been busy creating jobs, the only other thing taking up our Congressman’s time
is helping his buddies Joe Wardy and Roy Gray get elected.
He sure hasn’t
been busy creating any legislation to help El Paso, our poor folks, our need
for jobs, or our need for innovative projects, or our many other pressing
needs. According to Newspapertree, Reyes has filed the
following legislation:
-- H.CON.RES.93 : Expressing the sense of the Congress that the
Department of Justice should halt efforts to block compensation for torture
inflicted by the Government of Iraq on American prisoners of war during the
1991 Gulf War. Introduced March 10, with no cosponsors. It was referred to the
House Committee on the Judiciary.
-- H.R.861 : To amend the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama and
Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration Act to decrease the requisite
blood quantum required for membership in the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo tribe.
Introduced Feb. 16 with no cosponsors, it was referred to the House Committee
on Resources.
-- H.R.862 : To redesignate the Rio Grande American Canal in El
Paso, Texas, as the "Travis C. Johnson Canal." Introduced Feb. 16
with no cosponsors, it was referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
http://www.newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=fbcd71306dd04c0a&mc=ab95bd72208a4752
Oh…and he’s helped create
economic development (read: jobs)…for his kids. Aren’t you just darn proud of the people that Luther and Martie
choose to represent us?
Speak of the Devils
And also this week, the Times finally dug (albeit not too
deeply) into the Luther/Martie/Bowling support-for-influence machine.
In that article, Luther and
Martie and Bowling deny the influence they have over their puppets: Wardy, Cobos, Cushing, etc.
“Asked
about his interest in tax-credit financing for affordable housing in light of
the City Council's recent 5-4 vote to turn down a San Antonio firm's proposal,
Bowling said he had no reason for opposing that proposal.”
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005504300344
Right.
Is that why you called key Council members in the days before the
vote? Wouldn’t you love to see copies
of the Council members’ phone logs? And
how does Bowling explain the slow, painful, expensive death of his main
competitors’ tax credit projects—Suncrest and more recently, Cedar Crest? I guess no one asked, so he didn’t tell.
Martie Jobe calls her
support/financing of candidates in exchange for votes/influence “an urban
myth,” and Luther Jones told David Crowder, the El Paso Times reporter who worked on this story, that he “has never
been paid a penny by the city for anything.”
That’s probably true, and I have never asserted that Luther Jones gets
paid by the City. What I have pointed
out is that he gets paid by his clients to get what they need from the City.
The Fog of Political Control
Susie Byrd, candidate for
District 2, gave the Times a specific
example. The FOG issue, a/k/a the Fats,
Oil and Grease no-bid exclusive contract Luther was on the verge of getting
until the City Manager came to town!.
Byrd told the Times that based
on emails she obtained through a Texas open records request, she discovered
that City attorneys and employees were taking their directions from Luther
Jones.
But the strongest part of
the article came from Crowder’s interview with former Wardy insider and former
City Hall staffer, Oscar Gonzalez:
"He
got his advice and direction from Luther Jones, Martie Jobe and Stanley Jobe.
That's pretty much it," said Gonzalez, who worked as a volunteer in the
Wardy campaign and then went on to work for the newly elected mayor as the
city's first Neighborhoods Initiative liaison.
"How closely did Luther counsel him? Very closely," Gonzalez said.
"We had weekly meetings on Wednesday mornings that Luther directed. He is
a close adviser to Mr. Wardy, and I don't think that's a secret.
"He's the Number 1 political adviser. I think the mayor will call him
before anyone else."
Election Time!
Well, folks…the time has
come. The bell has tolled. The cup runneth over. Midnight has struck. The day is near.
What day, you dare ask? Why, election day! Tomorrow morning, the Times
will put out a poll that I bet will show that Wardy is set to win on
election day. Only fools follow polls
(especially Kaigh polls). Remember
that in 2001, the El Paso Times poll
showed Larry Francis defeating Ray Caballero by a landslide…the opposite turned
out to be true.
It’s up to us to ensure that
King Crony Joe Wardy and his Cronettes (Cobos, Cushing, Lozano, Rojas, etc.) do
not get re-elected. Call all your
friends, give them a quick education in good government vs. what we have now,
give them rides to the polls, make sure they call and quickly educate their
family, friends and neighbors and get them out to vote. High voter turnout (especially by an
informed electorate) helps the challengers, but low voter turnout helps the
incumbents.
I hope that this time next
week, we have a new Council, a new mayor, and a new lease on life in this
community. Can we do it? YES WE CAN!
Drumroll, please…
Comments or questions: shmaven@yahoo.com
My commentaries are posted weekly at
http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/shm.htm
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like to add their own comments or thoughts, they can do that at
http://strelzbacktalk.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=shm