5.17.2005

 

Another marathon meeting, my friends (over five and a half hours) means marathon notes (again). 

 

This week featured CAD-baiting hounds from hell, a social worker more concerned with pandering to voters than the comfort of a small child, and Sid’s top ten list.

 

Consenting to Minutes

Passed on the consent agenda:

 

3.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES: [Municipal Clerk, Richarda Duffy Momsen, (915) 541-4127] Approval of Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of May 10, 2005. (Attachment) Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of May 10, 2005

 

Reform Interrupted

When I saw that John Cook had placed the following item on the Council agenda, I couldn’t wait ‘till Tuesday:

 

14B. Discussion and action on developing an Ordinance which would limit campaign contributions to candidates running for Mayor and City Council, to One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per person in a calendar year and no more than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) per family in a calendar year. [Representative John F. Cook, (915) 541-4140]

 

As a reminder, Dan Power (the architect of the City Manager push, not Joe Wardy) began the campaign finance reform discussion early on in this administration.  John Cook was picking up the torch and said, “I would strongly urge that we send this back [to the Ethics Commission]…this is for the future so we can have some legitimate campaign finance reform…and if they can’t come up with some suggestions for us, we need to come up with them ourselves.”

 

Anthony Cobos, who has been demonstrating (even more than usually) nasty behavior since decisively losing his bid for re-election, said pointedly that City Representative Dan Power initially brought this forward (as if Cook had no right to revive it).  Acting as if he was sitting on some damning information, he asked Richarda Momsen, Municipal Clerk, to look at how each Council member voted on the day the item was first proposed in 2003, and to bring those voting records back to Council before the discussion would begin.

 

Momsen said she would, and the item was postponed for later in the meeting in order to give her office time to find the information.

 

Cutting Off Our Progress to Spite the CAD

Council then moved onto the next item, which was placed on the agenda by Joe Wardy.  Wardy is so desperately trying to pander to any tax-hating voter in El Paso that he has taken his cause to self-defeating extremes:

 

14C. Discussion and action on authorizing a written request by the City of El Paso for the State of Texas Comptroller to audit the performance of the El Paso Central Appraisal District in accordance with Section 5.12 (b) of the Texas Property Tax Code. [Mayor's Office, Adrian Ocegueda, (915) 541-4145]

 

My friends, if I thought some of last week’s discussions were mind-numbing, I was in for the “stay awake” struggle of my life on this one!

 

Wardy began by announcing, “For about the last ten days I’ve received a barrage of emails and there seems to be tremendous confusion about what we do and the Central Appraisal District does as governmental entities and what the Central Appraisal does as a governmental entity.”  He said he asked the CAD to come and make a presentation to the Council “to explain their actions,” but he warned, “this is not a barbecue session.”

 

“Not a barbeque session?”  This from the man who placed this item on the agenda in order to portray himself as the tax cutting hero in shining armor?  Whatever, Joe.

 

Jerry Griffin, Director of Valuations of the Central Appraisal District (CAD), was there as well as the CAD’s attorney, Robert Mott.

 

Griffin explained that the CAD is a political subdivision of the state that is required to provide a single appraisal to all properties within the County of El Paso.  He said that the CAD utilizes a mass appraisal system in their computers as well as the sales from the previous year.  “The appraisal district doesn’t set the market or establish the market,” he said, “We try to interpret what’s going on in the market place between the buyers and sellers.  An appraisal is not a scientific fact of value.”

 

He explained that the CAD doesn’t know what the inside of a property looks like, and the only time they go out to look at a house is when it’s new or when building permits are issued.

 

Griffin explained that property owners saw an increase in property values last year after having three years of no new valuations.  He said that if no changes have been made to homes, the majority of property owners will see about a 7% average increase.  He said during this new reappraisal year, 20.6% of property owners in the County have received a 2.9% increase in their appraised value; 24.8% of property owners received a 5.4% increase; 35.75% received a 6.5% increase; and a minority of property owners received either larger or smaller increases than mentioned.

 

He said that although the CAD is not required to hold informal hearings to allow property owners to appeal their valuations, they do it anyway and about 50% of the property owners who appeal receive some kind of an adjustment.  He said all property owners have a right to protest their value. 

 

I Need a Data!*

*a little inside joke for you loyal readers who have stuck with me since the beginning of the reign of terror and evil and greed!

 

“The values we come up with are as good as the data we are able to gather from sales information and business income and information on rental property,” he said, adding, “We get very little sales information on commercial properties.  The appraisal district in El Paso, as well as appraisal districts all across the state, needs better access to rental income and expense and sales information.”

 

I have expected Lozano to jump up and proclaim, “See!  We need a data, we need a data!  I told you!”

 

Griffin explained that two years ago the state legislature “implemented mandatory business personal property rendition, and they implemented a penalty if the businesses did not render.  After the first year of implementation we had some 8,500 local businesses that did not render their property, and that 10% penalty was applied and generated additional funds for the City of El Paso and each one of the taxing jurisdictions of a little over $1 million total.”  He added that the information has made working the business personal property easier for the CAD.  He said the information generated about $350 million in appraised value for “existing businesses and businesses we didn’t know about that were out there.”

 

Griffin added that Senate Bill 282 would have “full sales disclosure for all property sales countywide and statewide.  The information could be used to come up with a good valuation system to make properties more equal.”

 

Prior to the creation of the CAD in the 1980s, each individual taxing entity was responsible for getting valuations on its own.  If property owners wanted to appeal their valuation, they had to appeal to each taxing entity.

 

Griffin added that the El Paso real estate is still a good market and a seller’s market and there could be another increase in property valuation in 2006.

 

The Politicos Weigh In

After Griffin completed his half hour presentation, the questions began.

 

Representative John Cook was first and said the public was upset because it is used to reappraisals happening every three years, not every year, and he asked if they would be reappraising every year from now on.

 

Griffin said they would be looking at the how much the market increases from year to year in order to make that determination in the future.  He also said that the property owners apparently don’t like one-time large jumps.

 

Cook expressed his concern over increasing foreclosures and the fact that that is an indicator that more and more El Pasoans are unable to pay their mortgages; Griffin said that if there were no buyers for houses, that fact would translate in the market place with sellers lowering sales prices to turn over the homes.  Also, if there were lots of job losses, “we wouldn’t see the developers out there building new houses.”

 

When Cook asked how new developments are appraised Griffin explained that they go to the developers to ask what the new homes are selling for; and for existing properties, they use resale values minus depreciation.

 

Representative Paul Escobar said that he’s concerned that the exemption Council recently gave to the elderly would be “a wash out” with the increased valuations.

 

Griffin said that might be true, but that determination would be up to City Council when it looks at its budget to see if the elderly need additional assistance.  “That’s your determination,” he said.

 

Escobar also asked Griffin if he would submit to an audit.  Griffin said that he’s been in the property tax appraisal business in Texas for the past 38 years and with El Paso CAD since the 1980s, and he stands behind the El Paso CAD.  “We’re currently audited by the state Comptroller’s Office every year,” he said, “so, basically it’s being done.”

 

That’s right.  Wardy was asking for an audit that already happens annually.  Next week he’ll put an item on the agenda demanding that the City of El Paso create an annual budget!  That’s right, Joe, that’ll show ‘em that you know what you’re doin’! 

 

Cushing then blew a lot of hot air asking useless questions about computer programs, the school districts, and who files lawsuits against the CAD.

 

Wardy wanted to know when the CAD decided to go from reappraisals being done every three years to once a year, and Griffin said it was at the beginning of the year.  Griffin explained that based on input from the board and the public, the CAD had been made aware of the fact that the property owners were not happy with large increases, so they thought it would be best if there were smaller increases more often instead of larger increases less often.

 

Wardy then asked if the CAD notifies the public when an appraisal year will occur, and Griffin said the appraisal notice is the only notice.

 

The Case of the Misplaced Anger

Wardy then chastised Griffin for not communicating with the public about the fact that this would be another reappraisal year.  While he was doing this, two of the Central Appraisal District board members, Vivian Rojas and Robert Cushing (who, as members of the board, had to have known about this reappraisal), were sitting in their seats on each side of him.

 

The hapless Vivian Rojas, who was (as usual) trying to deflect attention away from her failure as a CAD Board Member and City Representative to communicate this reappraisal, stated that she didn’t remember voting on the decision to reappraise.

 

Griffin explained that the final decision to reappraise a second year in a row was a management decision, not a board decision, but “We discussed the possibility of it with the board during last year’s mass appraisal cycle.”  Griffith also pointed out that the board members had suggested more frequent appraisals.  He confirmed my suspicions that the two City Councilors who are members of that board—Robert Cushing and Vivian Rojas—were aware of the reappraisal and did nothing to communicate that fact to the citizens of El Paso. 

 

Paul Escobar said that he suspected this was a way to get the schools more money, and was tied to school finance; Cushing agreed and (without any segue whatsoever) mentioned that he knew of “a house in the Willows that was bought in 1993 at $230,000, and this year it’s on the property tax rolls for $220,000; that causes me a lot of concern, and I think driven by the school finance.”  Cushing added that the CAD employees, including Griffin, are doing a good job and are just “caught as victims of circumstance.”  (Actually Cushy, most “victims” are your own!  He always uses the most interesting language.)

 

Lisa Turner addressed Council, pointing out that “Businesses were required to file a rendition, and it wasn’t until this past year that there was a penalty if they didn’t.”  She wanted to know if it was true that some of the businesses in the city and county—over 8,000 businesses—were not paying their fair share.  The answer seemed to be yes, or maybe it was no…I couldn’t translate the bureaucratic response completely.

 

Sal Gomez was there (it’s been a while since he’s visited Council), and he, of course, complained about the increased appraisals.  Despite the fact that the audience had just been told that the audit Wardy was requesting happens anyway, he said that he applauded the Mayor and Council’s actions regarding the audit.

 

My friends, Mr. Gomez and other irate citizens (like the NIMBY crowd that Vivian Rojas has gotten all riled up on the Cedar Oaks project) have a serious case of “misplaced anger.”  I don’t know whether it was the neighbors or the mayor and Council who contracted it first.  Nevertheless, it seems to be highly contagious and is spreading like wildfire!

 

Stuart Mitchell spoke and, my friends, he hit the nail right on the head (over and over).  He expressed my own concerns and feelings almost to the letter.

 

Logic, the Antidote to Cheap Anti-Tax Rhetoric

Mitchell said that he was there to speak on his own behalf, not as a neighborhood association representative.  He said he was “concerned about the dynamic” he had witnessed that morning.  “Many of you have expressed grave concern as we’ve interviewed Mr. Griffin concerning the increase in appraisals of properties in El Paso…but practically no one expressed concern about the decrease in appraisals in El Paso.  I don’t know how other people are, but for me, and I consider myself just an ordinary mortal here in El Paso, my home is the largest single investment that I make.  I’m delighted if my home is continuing to increase in value.” 

 

I wanted to rush to the podium and yell, “BINGO!  Finally!”

 

He continued, “If you could promise me that my home would continue to increase in value every year, I would be delighted because that means that my value, my assets, are getting more and more value every single year.  And what’s more, I suggest to you that if you take a poll of the people in this room and ask them, how many of them are willing to sell you their home for the price they paid for it   because it hasn’t gone up in value at all, you’ll find very few people are willing to do that.”

 

He is so, so right, my friends.  Whenever I see someone on the news complaining that their home isn’t worth as much as it is appraised for, I shake my head.  Who in the world would want their property values to decrease or stay stagnant?  I have never understood that mindset.   

 

Mitchell added, “Everyone wants their home to continue to appreciate in value.  My concern is the economic devastation that comes when various properties in our city are losing value, when our industrial properties are losing value.”

 

He’s right.  When values go down, that’s a serious symptom of an economic problem, and we should all be alarmed by that.

 

He continued, “I’m far more concerned about the 2% of properties that went down value than I am about the 98% that went up in value.  We need to look at the economic development of our city.  And we need to look at what we can do to improve the property values of every single property in El Paso.”

 

Case Solved!

Then he articulated where the misplaced anger comes from.  “The problem isn’t really that people are getting higher appraisals.  The problem is they think they have to pay higher taxes when they get higher appraisals.  And that’s not the property appraiser’s problem, that’s your [City Council’s] problem.  That’s the elected officials’ problem.  You have the power to reduce the tax rate anytime you choose to reduce the tax rate.”

 

“Let’s not put the shoe on the wrong foot,” he urged, and said that there are other issues with regard to the appraisals that he’s concerned about.  “For example, it makes no sense to me that the developers in our city are able to buy property and hold it at taxed appraised values that they would absolutely refuse to sell it to the City for,” and he gave the example of the Resler Canyon arroyo property that Woody Hunt is refusing to sell or trade out.  He said that we need to have fair assessments of residential property as well as the properties of the rest of the City.  “Let’s raise the hue and cry about what’s happening to the tax base of our city because land that does have real economic value is not being appraised at the value that the owner would sell it for,” he said.

 

He closed by saying, “Let’s not crucify the tax appraisal district for bringing us the good news that our land is increasing in value; let’s look at getting a fair assessment of people who have the big bucks to go in and negotiate with the tax appraisal district, the people who have the power to manipulate and get lower taxes.  Let’s start looking at fairness of industrial plants, the developable land, those areas of the city which are being under-appraised and let’s not complain that our houses are going up in value.  We all bought them with the hope that they would go up in value.” 

 

Yes, he’s right, right, right.

 

Speaking of Misplaced Anger…

Then it was Theresa Caballero’s turn.  Whenever she appears at Council, I know to brace myself for strident attacks...and yes, there were attacks, and yes, they were strident.

 

She came to the podium and, referring to Mitchell’s statement, said, “I think the Central Appraisal District should not only be crucified, but they should be nailed to the cross and upside down.”

 

I guess this is one way to turn a legitimate public forum into an episode of “Jerry Springer.”  With an opening statement like that, I’m assuming that this particular speaker had no interest in maintaining any credibility or decorum.  She immediately made it clear that she was only concerned about complaining, threatening, and pandering to irate taxpayers with extreme and irresponsible rhetoric—exactly what she did on a now defunct local website that routinely libeled and trashed people. 

 

Because I’ve seen Ms. Caballero come before Council on issues like these before, I’ve come to know her strategy very well.  Instead of talking about issues and facts, she turns her time at the podium into an opportunity to launch vitriolic and completely irresponsible personal attacks on whomever she can.

 

Referring to the director of the CAD she asked, “Where is Cora Viescas?  Let’s give her a name and a face.”  And then, with hostility dripping from every part of her being, she said, “The Central Appraisal District is run by a core group of women who are political appointees, who’ve been in office, or who have held positions down there of great authority for a long time [I wasn’t sure why it was noteworthy that the people in charge were women].  What are their credentials?  Who appointed them?  What gives them the right to run the Central Appraisal District the way they do?”

 

Of course, she neither cited nor produced any evidence of wrongdoing, but she went out of her way to imply that there was.  My question to her would have been “What are your credentials to slander people, Madam?”  Ooops, wait a minute, she’s got plenty.  So sorry.  But then I’d also ask, “What gives you the right to turn a public meeting into an episode of Jerry Springer?”  Oh, never mind...the parliamentarian, Joe Wardy, gave her that right.

 

“Let’s talk about the human beings running the Central Appraisal District.  I don’t want to hear from some slick attorney from Houston, and I don’t want to hear from Mr. Griffith go on and on ad nauseam about, by the end, I don’t know what.”  She thanked Joe Wardy for putting this item on the agenda and then she quickly slipped into the shrill solipsism that characterizes most of her appearances before Council—she began, in short, to complain bitterly about her own state of affairs.  This, as we all know, is all that matters.

 

She said that she is one of the homeowners who was “hit up” with a reappraisal last year, and complained that not everyone’s property had been reappraised.  She said her mortgage went up by $200 a month and then re-launched her attacks.  She began to disparage John Cook.  Of course, Wardy allowed her to say whatever she wanted to and go on as long as she chose, especially because she began to shift her attacks to his opponent.  She also criticized the processes of the CAD.

 

The Horror, The Horror

Then, practically implying that she has no choice about where she lives and that she’s just a poor victim of circumstance, she complained, “My home on Richmond…is almost in the hood!  It’s right behind Louisville!”  I guess by the “hood,” she means that she lives in a neighborhood with brown people.  In El Paso, Ms. Caballero, that would be difficult for you to avoid.  Maybe El Paso isn’t the place for you.

 

I checked on the El Paso Central Appraisal District website to see what this young woman was complaining about.  She apparently has a home that is over 3,100 square feet in size, is situated in a historic district filled with neighboring grand homes, and has an appraised value of $170,598 (http://www.elpasocad.org/elpaso_detail.php?theKey=H453999105B2100). (This means, by my calculations, that her home is currently appraised at about $56.00 per square foot.  I consider that a bargain, my friends.  But I digress.)

 

Re-Enter the Hound of Hell

Caballero then said she has had to sue the Central Appraisal District and again complained about “the women.”  She said, “But those women down at the Central Appraisal District who we never name, nobody ever talks about, nobody ever calls them onto the carpet, and they send these guys down here to come do their talking so that by the time they’re finished nobody knows what the point is.  And the point is the taxpayer in El Paso is getting whacked but good.”  She then said, “If I were sitting on City Council, I would be raising hell down at that Central Appraisal District…because those women down at the Central Appraisal District are jeopardizing you as politicians.”

 

Well, the good news is that it is highly unlikely Ms. Caballero will ever be “sitting on City Council.”  And it’s not just because she’s thoroughly unelectable.  It’s far easier to appear before Council to viciously attack others—particularly when our City Council parliamentarian, Joe Wardy, tacitly encourages such behavior—than it is to run for Council oneself.  I very much doubt Ms. Caballero has the courage to seek elective office.  But the more important point is that the difference between Ms. Caballero and folks like Stuart Mitchell, Lisa Turner and Rick Schecter is that while Ms. Caballero comes to Council to launch ugly personal attacks, the others come to Council to respectfully (but firmly) discuss their concerns, which are based on what’s important to the community, not just to them personally.  While Ms. Caballero does nothing but spew invective, the others usually try to offer solutions.

 

Guess who has more credibility with this columnist?

 

And the fact that there is a difference between the appraised value of our property and the tax rate each entity applies to that value was apparently lost on Caballero.  When she claims that “the women” are “jeopardizing” the mayor and Council, she clearly doesn’t understand that it is the elected officials who create the tax rate, not the Appraisal District.

 

But wait, there’s more.  Caballero continued her tirade, and because she peppered it with attacks on John Cook (and others), our parliamentarian Joe Wardy was only too pleased to allow her as much time at the podium as she wanted.  Interestingly, many of those attacks on Cook mirrored some of the inflammatory statements Wardy disguised as questions in his push poll (http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005505170326).  Coincidence? 

 

(By the way, after promising to give the media a copy of those inflammatory statements disguised as questions, Wardy decided he better not!  http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005505180333)

 

With paranoia in full view, Caballero then said that “certain people get targeted and certain people don’t.”  She then accused the El Paso Times of supporting every tax increase that the City has put forward (by the way, there’s only been one tax increase in the last decade, so I’m not sure what other City tax increases she was referring to).  “The $230,000 home purchased in the Willows in 1993 referenced by Mr. Cushing, which in the year 2005 is appraised at $10,000 less, is owned by Don Flores, isn’t it, Mr. Cushing?”

 

“Yes, that’s correct,” said Cushing.  I’m sure Cushing was delighted to aid in Caballero’s attack on Don Flores, Executive Vice President and Editor at the Times, since, were it not for the Times (along with KVIA Channel 7 and newspapertree), this community would still be in the dark about Cushing’s pathologically violent behavior.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Cushing and his big supporter, Caballero, had planned this little maneuver before the Council meeting.

 

Then Caballero pointed out that Flores is the editor of the Times opinion section.  “So how convenient for the newspaper to be supporting every tax hike [all one of them] to be uncritical of the Central Appraisal District, when the editor of that paper has seen a decrease on the value of his home in a very exclusive neighborhood.”

 

She then began talking about Fort Bliss retirees, how the CAD and the taxing entities were driving them out, and she complained that the CAD made the managerial decision to go from a three-year reappraisal system to a one-year reappraisal system. 

 

Barking Orders from the Peanut Gallery

Then, with absolute contempt, and sounding like a spoiled child used to getting whatever she wants, she said, “I wanna see Cora Viescas down here, and want her face on TV and I want her answering these questions…I wanna know where her degrees are from, I wanna know what credentials she has, and I wanna know how long she’s been in that position.”

 

She then began complaining about the CAD’s record keeping, which she called “horrible,” and the mistakes on their website and records regarding her own property.  “They can’t keep track of anything.  And they’re responsible for this?  Uh uh!”

 

Then her attack turned to Wardy (sort of):  “You started off strong…and then, like everything else, by the time we finish, you’re a meltdown,” she said.  “They’re doing a lousy job, and it’s your job to call them on the carpet.”  I doubt that Ms. Caballero is so unsophisticated as not to understand that the CAD is not a City department and that, consequently, City Council has no control over it.  (Recognizing such fine distinctions is, of course, anathema to a person whose only interest is in hearing herself grandstand and in whipping up hysteria.)  I assume she was simply encouraging City Council members to join her in her demagogic attacks on the CAD.  Even Joe Wardy understands that City Council cannot control how the CAD operates; in fact, the independence of the CAD is something he’s counting on.  It’s a perfect opportunity for someone like Wardy.  He can demagogue this issue with impunity and then point out, as he done repeatedly, that he’s powerless to do anything. 

 

Ms. Caballero admitted that Wardy’s agenda item was political, and said, “I’m sure your motives for putting this on the agenda was to get re-elected,” but the agenda item wasn’t enough for her.  In typical fashion, she dramatically upped the ante.  Demagogic attacks weren’t enough.  She demanded that the Mayor and Council “go after the Central Appraisal District,” and said she wanted to “see a shakedown of the management down there.”  Once again, this demand conveniently ignored the fact that the CAD is an independent agency overseen by the State, not the City.  Undeterred by this fact, she warned that a few Councilors were in run-offs and complained that “Calling in the state comptroller’s office ain’t the answer.”

 

She then instructed them to hire “an expert” to help them.  Ah, yes.  The old “expert” instruction.  Remember that?  Cushing, who did Caballero’s bidding last year, hired a pricey auditor (after Caballero demanded that they do so) to find bags of money Caballero claimed were hidden in secret coffers at City Hall.  Of course, after paying this external auditor many thousands of our tax dollars, he didn’t find those hidden bags.  Unfortunately, we can’t vote her out of office for this gross incompetence.  But I’m glad the residents of District 2 did give Cushing the boot.

 

She continued to read from her list of demands and claimed that she had been targeted by the CAD.  She received applause from a handful of audience members and thanks from Wardy.  Go figure.

 

If Ms. Caballero’s goal in this performance was to cow the CAD into lowering her home’s appraised value, only time will tell if she succeeded.  What she did undeniably succeed at was demonstrating that she is an offensive, spoiled, irresponsible, hate-filled, megalomaniacal pseudo-victim, who clearly has serious issues with women, and who has a highly distorted view of herself and the world.  What else can you say about a woman who claims that a $175,000 home on Richmond Avenue is practically in the ghetto and who viciously attacks individuals who have merely appraised the value of her home as if their intention was to strike a death blow against her?

 

Oh, well.  Enough of Ms. Caballero. 

 

Cushing made a motion to ask for the audit, but to also authorize the mayor to solicit the support of the County.  Rojas seconded the motion.

 

Rolling Over for the Hound from Hell

The permanently enfeebled Lozano not only bought Caballero’s speech hook, line and sinker, but he actually tried to heed her command regarding Ms. Viescas.  He said, “Can I make an amendment, mayor?  The amendment, uh, to add, to, uh, to, uh, get Cora Viescas to make the final analysis of the, of the, investigation.”

 

Wardy (who must have been repressing a big “huh?”) said he didn’t understand Lozano’s amendment.  He wasn’t alone.  But then again, what is there to understand about Lasagna?  Lasagna…well…just is.

 

“Well, you know, if we’re gonna get an audit we wanna see what’s, what’s going on.  I want Cora Viescas to make herself present at the same time,” he said.

 

Cushing said the more appropriate thing to do would be to direct the City Attorney or the Mayor to direct Viescas to come before City Council to “answer” to them.

 

“Whatever it takes!” declared Lozano.

He might have well have asked Caballero to come up to his position on Council, read her amendment about “the women” into the record and vote for him.

 

Good Lord! 

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Spending Money to Figure Out How Not to Spend Money

The next item was another brainchild from Joe Wardy:

 

14D. Discussion and action on authorizing the Mayor to schedule a work session of City Council to receive reports and testimony from one or more property tax experts. [Mayor's Office, Adrian Ocegueda, (915) 541-4145]

 

Wardy said that “we can’t just rely on the Central Appraisal District to counsel us on taxes.”

 

What?!?  He wants “counseling on taxes” from an entity that does our appraisals? 

 

He said there are a number of tax experts in Texas, “and I think it’s very important as we go forward that members of Council understand how the operations of the appraisal district affect us as we go forward even in the tax issues because the setting of property values in the community is very important.”

 

Yes, Joe, you’re right.  It is.  And if you still don’t know, as we go forward, what you’re doing at the end of your term as mayor, why should we, the taxpayers, as we go forward, have to fund a tutorial for you?  Sheesh!  The more efficient thing would be to vote you out of office and let an experienced individual (like John Cook) take over so you can go back to golfing and smiling – full-time.  Oh…sorry…that’s what he does now.  At least it won’t be on our dime if we send him to an early municipal retirement.

 

Cushing said that he and Rojas sat on the CAD board for two years and he said what was discussed that morning was “the tip of the iceberg,” and said the City should move forward on this immediately.

 

If Cushing and Rojas know about the rest of the “iceberg,” then why didn’t they use these past two years to teach the residents of the City about the “iceberg” that is the CAD?  Did they just sit there, like bumps on a log (or icicles on an iceberg)?  They had much more access to information than any of us regular folks did, and they didn’t bother to share it with the rest of Council or the rest of us.

 

But they sure are good at joining the “righteous indignation” crowd that complains about the CAD!

 

Presi Ortega asked a question that was on my mind, “How are we going to determine who we’re going to bring in?”

 

Wardy said, “That’s not determined,” but said that the Comptroller has a technical advisory committee that could be tapped into to come to El Paso and make some kind of proposal (about what exactly, Mr. Joe didn’t say).  “It wouldn’t take long to complete that exercise,” said Wardy, who hopes that some expert somewhere will come give some “advice on tax policy” to Council at no cost.

 

Oh, yeah.  I’ll bet there are folks willing to give a tutorial to a do-nothing incompetent mayor and his crony crew on taxation for free!  They’re lining up, aren’t they, Joe?

 

Susan Austin said that all this information is already available to Council (and more), but “if we are going to bring an expert into this, when is it good vs. when is it bad for your home to be increasing in value for your community?”

 

Susan, I believe it’s safe to say that it’s never good for your home to decrease in value.  What do you think?

 

The Truth Will Out

Wardy observed that there has been no economic boom in El Paso—a startling admission from a mayor who has been trumpeting his outstanding success at . . . economic development.  Well, I guess the Wardy propaganda machine filter was inadvertently turned off there for a moment and we heard the unvarnished truth.  You know, Mr. Joe, I’m glad you acknowledge what many of us have been saying about your unimpressive efforts and even less impressive success in economic development.  Anyway, completely unaware that he was severely undercutting his own campaign rhetoric, Wardy concluded that because there has been no economic boom, there was no justification for an increase in property values.

 

Ray Gilbert said the Appraisal Review Board could do more if it was completely independent of the Appraisal Board and is considered a quasi-judicial body.

 

Lisa Turner reiterated the fact that we have no local control over the CAD, and Wardy agreed, adding that they serve “under the auspices of the state Comptroller’s office,” and complained that the fact that the management made the administrative decision to reappraise property every year was “kind of distressful.”  The possibility of four more years with you as Mayor, Joe, is very “distressful” to many of us (Poor old Joe…reading Lisa E.’s “Barbie’s Fun Words” Dictionary again!).

 

Turner said she can agree with having smaller reappraisals more often than having large reappraisals less often (and I agree with her completely), “Do you want to, say, get a 7% a year [increase], or three years later get hit with a 21% or 25% adjustment?

“How about none of the above,” asked Wardy?

 

Stagnation Now, Stagnation Tomorrow, Stagnation Forever!

“None of the above?”  Really?  Interesting.  Our mayor does not want to see our property values increase.  I guess urban decay would be preferable to increasing property values for Joe Wardy.  What a dunce. 

 

What I just don’t get, folks, is why on earth would we want our property values to remain stagnant.  Wardy (and Caballero) acted as if rising appraisal values were the result of a treasonous conspiracy.  If we want to fight for lower taxes, well, that’s one thing—a very different thing.  But to fight against seeing our investments increase in value is insane!  And while it’s true that under-appraised homesteads are often sold for a handsome profit, a system in which appraised values bear no relation to market values is no system at all.

 

The next speaker was Stuart Mitchell, and he deserved a standing ovation when he said, “I hate to quote Shakespeare too often, but I think he was the one who said ‘We hear sound and fury signifying nothing.’”

 

Amen, brother!

 

“We are facing a situation in which we talk and we talk and we talk, but the fact is we have no control over the Central Appraisal District.  We now want to spend money to talk about how to develop a tax policy.  We don’t know yet how much money we’re talking about spending.  We’ve kind of got this blanket endorsement idea of ‘Let’s go and get an expert and spend money so that we can develop a tax policy.” 

 

He then reminded Council that “taxing has been going on in local government since local government existed.  This is not a complex process; this is really pretty simple…the Central Appraisal District has nothing to do with how much the taxes are, they have only to do with what the values of our property are.  And to tie the cost of our taxes to our complaints about the CAD is nonsense.  It’s not about the CAD, it’s about the decisions local government makes about how much money we’re gonna spend on what…to stay here and spend two hours beating the Central Appraisal District because people don’t want to pay more taxes is a silly waste of time.”

 

Actually, Mr. Mitchell, I’d call it a cheap political ploy and an effort to manipulate less informed El Pasoans into believing that Wardy & Co. have nothing to do with our taxes and that it’s a bad thing to have valuable property.  It’s beautiful, if you think about it.  Wardy & Co. can blame the CAD for increased tax burdens while absolving themselves of all responsibility.  And frothing at the mouth ankle biters like Theresa Caballero aren’t smart enough to figure out that their vicious rhetoric gives the scheming politicos on Council the political cover they need to get away with this.  (Talk about a match made in hell.)  I’m sure Wardy was happy to put up with the rather mild criticism Caballero leveled at him in exchange for all that intense anti-CAD invective.

 

Referring to the enormous amount of time Council took debating this issue, Mitchell closed by saying, “It’s sound and fury signifying nothing.”     

 

Indeed.  This Mayor and Council haven’t been working on creating smart policies to make El Paso a better place; they’re not using precious Council time trying to think of creative ways to make our community thrive.  No way!  They’re busy spending their many hours at meetings pandering to the voters’ fear and loathing of taxes.

 

The motion to “solicit counsel from one or more independent property tax experts on property tax policy” passed unanimously. 

 

Luckily for Rojas…Kids Don’t Vote!

At this point in the meeting, it was about 1:00 in the afternoon, and Representative John Cook asked that item 21B (a zoning case) be moved up before any other business.  Rojas took issue with that suggestion, reminding everyone that 21B was in her district, not Cook’s, and expressing her preference to have the Cedar Oaks item moved up instead.

 

“The only reason I was requesting that is because I noticed they have a little child with them, and they’ve been sitting here for hours, but whatever you want, it’s your district” replied Cook.

 

“Well, I need to move forward the Cedar Oak project that’s on the additions,” she replied.

 

That’s right, John!  Get with the program!  Why worry about two voters with a child (kids can’t vote, Mr. Cook!), when you can pander to a slew of voters in an entire precinct?  I guess Cook hasn’t learned to callously cast aside the needs of a small child when you can pander for votes.  (Maybe that’s why we should all elect him mayor!)  But Rojas (who likes to brag about having been a social worker) sure knows how to do it.

 

The only two individuals who voted no on moving the Cedar Oak item up were Austin and Cook.  Good for them.

 

Pandering, Lying, and Discriminating

After the item was moved up, Council went into executive session to get legal advice before discussing the item.

 

1. MAYOR AND COUNCIL: Discussion and action regarding the City Attorney's research and recommendation on how to proceed on the Cedar Oak Townhomes Development Project. [Representative Vivian Rojas, (915) 541-4108]

 

When they came back out about half an hour later, one would assume they had been fully briefed by their lawyers.

 

Rojas announced (with evident hostility in her voice) that she had placed this item on the agenda so that the City Manager and City Attorney could do research on how to proceed, and “I basically want Joyce Wilson to answer to that.”

 

Hmmm.  Now I know I’m not in the same league as that sophisticated politician Vivian Rojas, but I don’t believe it is the role of the City Manager to give legal advice.  And I do not believe the agenda item called for that either.  (I know, Bob, I know—because I wasn’t the author of the agenda item, I am in no position to interpret it.  Just be quiet until it’s time for you to make your disgraced exit, okay?)  Anyway, this statement from Rojas sure did pique my interest.

 

Wilson said, “As you know, we have been expending a considerable amount of time and energy [which translates into money—our tax money] looking at all the issues associated with this particular project.  And at this point we will be focusing our energies on a pending meeting in Austin, which I believe is set for May 26th, and will be assisting the mayor and Representative Rojas in preparing the staff’s analysis and supporting documentation to assist you as you make your argument before the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs relative to the process of notification and the concerns that have been voiced by the members of this council and the community relative to this project.”

 

Rojas, who was staring at Wilson with an unattractive scowl on her face, said that there was public comment to be taken.

 

Art Rivera, a Cedar Oaks resident who has come before Council many times, addressed Council (and he looked and sounded completely drained).  He began reading a list of government regulations (at least that’s what I believe they were) that he claimed the TDHCA had violated.  He said he wanted to know why the agency had ignored the petitions from residents. 

 

Turner Turns Up the Heat

Lisa Turner was the next person to speak and she, too, deserved a round of applause…no…a standing ovation. 

 

When Rojas didn’t immediately see Turner, she quickly announced, “She’s left!”  Turner called out from the back of the chambers, “You wish!”  I’m sure Rojas did wish!  Ms. Turner is a speaker of the truth, so to a dishonest politician like Rojas, I’m sure she is to be feared.

 

Turner, who is also very good at injecting humor into these painful Council meetings, said, “I’m sorry, I went home and walked the dog so I could get back.  I figured you all would give me enough time.”  Everyone (including your buddy Sid) laughed.

 

She then pointedly asked, “Are we still grandstanding on this for political purposes?”

 

“Have you been at the location?” asked Presi, the grandstanding Prince of the Wardy admnistration.

 

“I know the Bowlings are putting in one right nearby,” she responded.

 

“That has nothing to do with this!” responded Rojas. 

 

“Nothing to do with this?”  Interesting…it has everything to do with this. 

 

Bobby Bowling, who is putting in a project two miles away, is on the record at the July 28th TDHCA meeting, speaking out during a discussion of the Cedar Oaks project by calling it “unfair.”  Poor Bobby!  He got three projects funded and a competitor got one funded.  I guess it’s just you against the world, Bobby!  And folks, this is the same meeting where two board members asked Bowling to keep El Paso politics out of the TDHCA meetings

http://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/pdf/agendas/040909-book-040902.pdf. 

 

The point is, Rojas is working overtime to kill the Bowlings’ competition for tax credit projects, and she has remained silent about the fact that just up the street, Bobby Bowling is going to create the exact same project, with the same issues, the same neighbors, the same schools, all of it.  And for Rojas to continue to dodge the Bowling issue shows that she cannot respond to it.  She’s dishonest and she’s used this group of neighbors to help her do Bobby Bowling’s bidding and she knows it.

 

“It’s zoned for apartments, Presi!” Turner reminded him, and said, “I’ll say it and I’ll say it bluntly.  I think if it was Tropicana that was putting this stuff in, it’d be no problem.  Thank you.”

 

Whoop!  There it is! 

 

The Truth Will Out, Part Two

Rojas responded, “And I agree” [oops!], and then corrected herself, “I disagree with that, excuse me!”  And then she began her list of inaccuracies—that’s the polite word for it—the kind of inaccuracies and half-truths she used to rile up the neighbors (in addition to the fact that she has encouraged their prejudiced beliefs that poor people are bad and cause crime).

 

“This project was rejected by the TDHCA initially for two reasons,” she said, citing the feasibility problem I discussed last week (which was caused by the fact that HUD pulled its “Difficult to Develop Area” or “DDA” designation at the last minute) and the capture rate problem, which showed that there was an over-abundance of low income housing in the area (which, remember, my friends, was caused by the yet-to-be-approved Bowling project up the street.  (But, naturally, Miss Viv never bothered to mention that in her little speech.)

 

Rojas also said that at the July meeting, “The project was terminated.”  Folks, this is absolutely false.  It was not “terminated”; the project funding was denied.  That is not at all the same thing.  (This important distinction is amplified on later in these notes.)

 

She added, “Later in the meeting, the remaining valid applications were placed on a waiting list; however, Cedar Oaks Townhomes was not placed on a waiting list because it was not approved.”

 

My friends, she’s either lying, still hasn’t bothered to read the minutes, or is more obtuse than even I thought.  According to those minutes, the list of projects to go on a waiting list included Cedar Oaks.  In the minutes for that July meeting, the board takes out two projects, but those two omitted projects did not include Cedar Oaks.  Instead, Cedar Oaks is on the list of projects to go on the waiting list (see the TDHCA minutes, page 31 http://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/pdf/agendas/040909-book-040902.pdf).  She can’t even lie logically!  Why on earth would a project that was approved for immediate funding then go onto a waiting list for that very same funding?

 

She also claimed that when it came time to reconsider other projects later in the year (after the DDA designation came up), new applications would have to have been submitted so that new public hearings would be called for.

 

Verification = Vindication for Sid!

I wanted to be certain that I was correct and that Rojas was either lying or mistaken about these claims at Council, so I contacted the TDHCA, and reached their Public Information Officer.  I asked him if (1) the Cedar Oaks project application had been “terminated” at the July meeting as Rojas contended it was, and (2) if the renewed HUD designation would require new applications.  Here’s the response I received on May 18, 2005:

 

The application remained "not recommended" but was not "terminated."  

 

The difference between "not recommended" and "terminated" is significant.  At the same time that the awards were made, all "not recommended" applications--Cedar Oak included--were placed on the waiting list. All applications on the waiting list remained "viable," if you will, until December 31 of that year. Only after December 31 were applications on the waiting list "dead." This is when the 2004 credits either had to be allocated or returned to a national pool of unused credits. Applications on the waiting list are not required to submit another application, nor are the developers required to hold any additional public hearings or otherwise notify/accept comment during this period. 

 

After the waiting list was established, TDHCA received the DDA designation notice from HUD that retroactively changed El Paso's status for 2004. Such a notice is extremely unusual. This retroactive change allowed Cedar Oak to claim additional credits and favorably altered its financial feasibility. As stated previously, Cedar Oak, like all waiting list applications, was under no obligation to hold additional hearings/provide additional notification.

 

If this information is available to your friend Sid, it most certainly is available to a sitting City Representative (and the media as well). 

 

So what’s going on here?  Ms. Rojas knows the truth, but because she’s so beholden to Bobby Bowling, and because she so desperately wants to appear like a hero to voters, she can’t let the truth stand in her way.  If the anti-Cedar Oaks folks knew the whole truth (about her incompetence, he inability to read basic minutes, the fact that she’s not being honest with them about what happened), I doubt they would continue to deify her or Wardy.  

 

The tragedy, my friends, is that at the same time she’s doing Bobby’s bidding and at the same time she’s trying to portray herself as hero who’s come to save the day, she’s dragging an entire neighborhood down with her.  She’s making them become incredibly angry and agitated and is using their anger to help her satisfy her political debt to Bobby Bowling.  She’s also wasting their time by making them attend meeting after meeting, and seriously misleading them by making them believe that the bogey man TDHCA has done them wrong. 

 

And again…she refuses to talk about the real issue:  the zoning and the other, similar project right down the street…the Bobby Bowling project.  While it’s not in her district (it’s in Paul Escobar’s district, a stone’s throw away from hers), it is adjacent to her district, and as I’ve said before, it involves the same neighbors and the same issues.

 

Rojas continued, saying, “I believe that the TDHCA is selectively and arbitrarily applying their own rules to the Cedar Oak Townhomes, and I believe under my opinion, the TDHCA favored this one developer.”  For the record, Ms. Rojas, I believe, under my opinion, that you are a deceitful, inept crony.

 

Now let’s discuss this assertion of Ms. Rojas’s.  First of all, Miss Viv, the only person who “selectively and arbitrarily” applies his own rules is Council parliamentarian Joe Wardy; second, and more importantly, the fact that El Paso received funding for four projects—three of which belonged to Bobby Bowling, and only one of which belonged to a Bowling competitor—shows that there is a need for more competition, and that if anyone is seen as a tax credit favorite, it’s Ms. Rojas’s campaign funder Bobby Bowling.

 

Lisa Turner, who was still at the podium, said, “Well I beg to differ, and that’ll come out in the wash.”  Rojas wouldn’t look up at Turner the whole time, and Turner added, “Every time I look in the paper y’all keep coming up with a different reason.  Now it’s crime!”

 

Turner is right.  According to the El Paso Times, these residents told a reporter that they fear low- to middle-income families would threaten their way of life: 

 

Jeannie Cruze, 30, said she fears the 160-unit Cedar Oak Townhomes at George Dieter and Pellicano will create too much traffic, burdening nearby schools.

Some are also concerned that the low-income units could bring crime problems.

"Right now, I feel relatively safe in my community," the mother of two said.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005505170345

 

I guess to Ms. Cruze, low- to middle-income residents, like daycare workers, medical assistants, school clerks, and checkers at the supermarket, are going to bring crime to her neighborhood.  Disgusting.

 

Back to Turner.

 

“And you keep saying ‘traffic.’  Presi, what do you think 3,800 new troops are gonna do for traffic?  Tell me something, be honest with me, are you gonna stop development on the east side?  Completely stop?  Issue no more permits, nothing, because of the traffic?” she asked.

 

Wardy, who doesn’t mind when speakers and Council members slander his opponents, wouldn’t tolerate Lisa Turner’s questions and tried to stop her (here’s an example of “selective and arbitrary” enforcement, Miss Viv!).

 

Turning on Tangent Lane with Turner

“By the way,” added Turner, “Do not let the Air Defense School get away.  It’s simple, you should not let it get away.”

 

She’s right (again).  According to the El Paso Times:

 

The Pentagon didn't leave the El Paso area completely unscathed, though.

One Pentagon recommendation was moving the Air Defense Artillery School, for decades a fixture at Fort Bliss, to Fort Sill, Okla. Together with the recommended relocation of the Army Research Laboratory from White Sands Missile Range to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, significant research and development components would be removed from the El Paso area.

One question is, how would those losses affect El Paso's economy? Would this hurt efforts to attract defense-related industry to El Paso?

That must be studied closely.

            http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005505140307

 

My friends, there’s a reason Joe Wardy and Silvestre Reyes don’t want to talk about this latest BRAC development.  They’ve been taking all the credit between the two of them—bragging on TV and in the paper that they brought in all the new troops (and they would have us believe that more powerful members of the Senate had nothing to do with it, and that it had nothing to do with the enormous amount of land and airspace that no military installation in the nation has). 

 

I wonder when the Times will ask them why, with all their purported “connections” and all their superhuman capabilities, they didn’t prevent our Air Defense Artillery School from being moved, taking with it the potential for high-paying research and defense related jobs?  If I were a leader in this community, I’d be willing to give up more than half of those new troops in order to keep the school.  Without it we cannot recruit the sophisticated industries and high paying defense jobs we want.

 

Where is the newspaper on this?  They claim in their editorial that “this must be studied closely.”  I say, GET TO IT, El Paso Times!  Wardy and Silver sure aren’t going to talk about it…it makes them look very, very bad.  But the more important, urgent issue is, what the heck are Wardy and Silver going to do to prevent this potential tragedy?  Are they going to stop smiling and waving at press conferences long enough to fix this?  Are they going to pick up their direct line to Donald Rumsfeld (Rummy, as they call him) to fight for El Paso?

 

I think I know the answer:  No.

 

Killing the Messenger

But Turner and I digressed.

 

Both Rojas and Cobos quickly objected, and in an effort to silence the woman who was bring up uncomfortable truths, said Turner was off topic!  Of course, Wardy cut off the discussion.

 

Before Turner left the podium, Cobos said that Turner should go to one of the community meetings. 

 

“Will I get the truth, or will I get something drummed up for the election?” she asked.

 

You said it, sister!

 

Yes, my friends, if I were mayor, the first Conquistador award I would give out would be to the honest, ethical, community-focused Lisa Turner.

 

Rojas brought her attention back to Joyce Wilson and asked Wilson if there was anything else the City could do, and said that she wanted to file a lawsuit because what the TDHCA has done is, “ridiculous in my opinion.”  Didn’t they discuss this in executive session?  Of course they did.  But Rojas wanted to milk the pandering machine as much as she could.  But why she was asking the City Manager for legal advice and not Jimbo with the Jumbo salary or our almost as highly paid City Attorney Lisa E. was beyond me.

 

Wilson responded, “At this point, it’s our recommendation that we pursue our energies and time focusing on the hearing in Austin with the authorizing agency.  And I believe that that was the consensus of the Council.”

 

Rojas sat there shaking her head and asked Wilson again, “Are there other options besides waiting for the hearing on May 28th that we can take as a municipal entity?”

 

Hmmm.  Maybe someone…someone like shadow City Attorney Lex Luther (Luther Jones, that is)…had given them differing legal advice.

 

“Not at this time,” responded Wilson.  At that moment, Rojas turned and looked incredulously at Anthony Cobos.  What did those two have up their sleeve, I wondered?

 

Presi Ortega said he wanted a traffic study initiated, so it could be used as “ammunition” at the TDHCA meeting.  Wilson said that had already been initiated.

 

Rojas asked yet again, “And that’s all we can do at this point?”

 

Then Cobos chimed in.  “C’mon, Ms. Wilson, that’s why we’re paying you the big bucks.  Get creative.  What else can you come up with?” he asked.

 

Thank goodness Cobos is on his way out.  What a putz!  In fact, as a reminder of how much of a putz Cobos is, we should have a wall of shame at City Hall…this way, we are forever cognizant of what happens when Luther Jones decides to run completely sold out slimeballs like Cobos for office.  We can have portraits of all our shameful Luther soldiers and titles above their portraits.  Above Cobos’ we can have the following inscribed:  “Anthony ‘The Putz’ Cobos:  There is no quid pro quo!  There is only the highest bidder.”  Ah, the possibilities!

 

But again, I digress.

 

Wilson responded to Cobos’ attack only by saying that if Council wanted to continue to discuss it, they should go back into executive session, presumably to receive yet more legal advice from their lawyer.  I guess they’re just not getting the legal advice they want.  Maybe if you promise to give Lisa E. another raise, she’ll give you the kind of advice you want.  Or maybe you should just end all the pretense and officially make Lex Luther City Attorney.

 

“Okay, I’ll take that as a ‘no,’” replied Cobos with a smarmy smirk on his face.

 

Rojas wanted to make a motion that a “delegation” go to the meeting on May 26th with her in addition to the mayor (she kept turning to look at Cobos, who seemed to be giving her some quiet guidance on this whole thing).

 

Wardy said that wasn’t posted on the agenda and Cobos said that a motion wasn’t necessary because everyone knew that she and Wardy would be flying to Austin to attend the meeting.  “Keep up the good fight,” said Cobos the putz.

 

“I sure will,” Rojas said, adding, “Can’t let TDHCA kick El Paso in the butt.”  Now that’s a classy Councilor.  (Hopefully your opponent in the runoff will do to you what you disingenuously claim TDHCA is doing to El Paso, Miss Viv.)

 

She looked angry and kept shaking her head incredulously at Cobos, confirming my suspicion that they had something up their collective sleeve – something that obviously didn’t work.

 

A Shot Across the Bowling Bow?

Once that discussion was over, Council came back to the discussion about the campaign contribution cap that Cook had cooked up.

 

14B. Discussion and action on developing an Ordinance which would limit campaign contributions to candidates running for Mayor and City Council, to One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per person in a calendar year and no more than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) per family in a calendar year. [Representative John F. Cook, (915) 541-4140]

 

Momsen said she gave everyone a copy of the motion regarding previous Council action; no one discussed what those votes were, but based on Cobos’s silence, it seems that he must have been wrong and couldn’t prove the point he was trying to make (that Cook didn’t support campaign finance reform in the past).  Believe me, I know Tony by now.  If he had had something to use against Cook, he would’ve used it.

 

Cook quickly made a motion to direct staff to place an item on the next agenda for the Ethics Review Commission to ask them to report back to Council on developing a plan for campaign finance reform.

 

Presi Ortega added that he wanted to see the ethics commission “put some type of limit on what type of loan a candidate can give himself.  Um, it’s happened in the past where a candidate buys the election with his own money.”  I didn’t know if that was a reference to Ray Caballero—who, to use Miss Viv’s phrase, kicked Presi’s butt in his first race for mayor—or a shot at Cook, who has probably lent himself lots of money in an effort to try to keep pace with the heavily crony-funded Wardy.  Gotta love that Presi; he’s ingratiating himself but good with Wardy & Co.  You better hope your man doesn’t go down come June 4th Presi old boy.

 

Cook had no problem with Presi’s suggestion and said, “I just want them to come back to us with their recommendations, which is what we had asked for on July 15, 2003, and I think if we gave them some polite urging that Council is growing impatient.”  He added, “If you recall, when this issue first came up there was some recommendations from Council members as to what the limits should be, and we thought it more appropriate that the ethics review commission should come up with those and they haven’t done so since July of 2003.”

 

Cushing said he thought it was more appropriate for a new Council to make that decision and that the legal department should be “intricately” involved in the process.  Cook reminded Cushing that every committee and commission, including the ethics commission, has a representative from the City Attorney’s Office involved.

 

Cobos asked Elaine Hengen from the City Attorney’s Office why the Ethics Review Commission hadn’t done anything about Council’s request for recommendations.  Hengen said that she had researched the issue for the Commission and had given the Ethics Review Commission members a copy of that; she has had a draft of recommendations ready for them since February, but since that point, the Commission has had a hard time reaching a quorum.  She also said that two days after the current Council meeting (on May 19th) the Commission would be meeting to discuss the recommendations (if they could get a quorum).  The list of the Ethics Commission members is on the City’s website:  http://www.elpasotexas.gov/boards/detail.asp?id=39.

 

For your information, one of the members of that commission, my friends, is Jerry Jarvis (he is Cobos’s appointee).  He recently wrote a letter to the El Paso Times defending Bob “The Woman Brutalizer and Dog Disembowler” Cushing.  Some ethics, huh?

 

Cook decided to withdraw his motion and asked Hengen to express Council’s wish that they move forward to the Ethics Commissioners.