7.29.2005
Well, dear reader, the time
has finally come. No more farewell
tours. After two years I am now
retiring the pen, picking up the fishing pole and getting some much-needed R&R
from the goings on at City Hall.
Nothing Lasts Forever
This oldster has grown
pretty weary. And in case you haven’t
noticed, good government (while exciting in its possibilities and heart-warming
in its aspirations) is not as humorous as the Crony Crew was for old Sid. Not that I would want it any other way, mind
you, and not that I wouldn’t have retired had Wardy & Co. been re-elected
(perish the thought!). But I did want
to honor one reader’s request that I carry on for a bit more after the
election, at least to give my readers some insight into how the new Council would
handle issues and deal with one another.
And I was glad to oblige.
And because this is my final
column, please indulge me as I share some final thoughts with you instead of
discussing this week’s Council meeting.
I want to wish the new Mayor
and Council all the best. I know that
most of them have good hearts, good values and the community’s best interests
in mind. I know that most of them (not
all of them), want to do more than just pay lip service to their
constituents…they want to find wise and effective solutions to our tremendous
challenges and build on everything that’s great about El Paso. That makes me feel good about the
future. I trust that these good folks,
while they will probably make some mistakes along the way (even the best and
brightest stumble every now and then), will always put community first.
As I discontinue the weekly
column, I also want to remind these good folks that what our world needs—and
what good leaders have in common—is strong, assertive, thoughtful and
unyielding courage. I hope they
consistently strive to be as courageous as they can be in the face of what will
at times surely be forceful opposition from the special interest groups, power
brokers, and movers and shakers in town.
Be strong. As Mark Twain put it,
“Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.”
I want to remind the Mayor
that his decisions in particular set the tone for the community. Those decisions should not be based on
what’s most popular, what will score political points, or what will build
bridges with people whose only interest is what’s in it for them and not the
community. I will never, ever, for
example, understand the need to accommodate the special interest groups. (John Cook reappointing his “close ally”
David Escobar to the Housing Authority Board comes to mind http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005507290363.)
Do the special interest groups ever reach out to accommodate the
community? Of course not. Decisions by elected officials should be
based on what’s best for El Paso. Period.
The Dark Side
The people who, until very
recently, have had the run of City Hall—the special interest groups and the
power brokers—you know precisely who I’m referring to—will never give up. And they will never change. They’ll simply keep on keepin’ on…some are
driven by greed, others by power, but all of them by self-interest. They will do what they can to get what they
want at the community’s expense. Some
folks will just never stop wanting to take, take, take from this
community. As the Boss sang it,
“Rich man wanna
be king
And a king ain't satisfied
Till he rules everything.”
And in case you hadn’t
noticed, a couple of them are already hard at work, doing what they can to
unseat the good folks we elected. We’d
be fools to believe that they will respect the will of the community, which
ousted the Crony Crew at City Hall. No
sir. In fact, Luther Jones is trying to
paint the new Council and the Mayor with the same brush used on him and his
cronies—the tainted ethics brush.
In case you missed it, KVIA
ran a story on Tuesday night (I-Team: Did Campaign Contributions Lead to
Re-Hiring?
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?s=3643859),
insinuating that Laura Gordon was rehired because she contributed to the
campaigns of Cook, O’Rourke, Steve Ortega and Byrd. Not once did the “reporter” talk about Gordon’s years of
municipal experience or the fact that she was fired without cause by Wardy so
that he could turn the City Attorney’s office over to someone who would
desperately need Luther Jones’s and Carl Green’s help and direction, not to
mention our money. Not once did the
“reporter” go to the City Attorney to ask him why he decided to hire her or pay
her the salary she got (which he discussed in detail at the previous Council
meeting, and yes, Channel 7 was there that day). But that doesn’t matter to the station run by Kevin Lovell, good
buddy of Luther Jones. I’m willing to
bet money that they will continue to try to discredit the Council and the
Mayor…even if it takes them four years to do it.
And that’s why even though
we elected good people, that’s just not enough. We must all continue to keep a watchful eye. We must all continue to support good people,
good work and good projects. We must
also work against cronyism and officials who are not looking out for our best
interests. We must play an active role
in our community, not just at election time, but in the time before and after
elections as well. It’s our community
and we must be the ones to take ownership of it.
I, too, will remain
vigilant. Maybe after some rest, I can
begin sending out occasional updates (not on the same scale as before or with
the painful detail I always provided, though…I promise!). If not, then I’ll at least send out “Sid
Alerts!” when important issues or information come up. So keep your emails and tips and inside
information coming. I’ll always follow
up and, when necessary, alert the community.
Or maybe, just maybe, our
community will be so vigilant against these guys that I’ll be obsolete. That’d be a grand thing. I won’t hold my breath, though.
Stay Gold, Pony Boy
And finally, thanks to all
of you who care about and love this community.
Thanks to all of you who have made El Paso your home, who are proud of
it, and who want to make it the best place it can be.
Thank you, dear reader, for
tolerating the excruciating detail in my notes, my crankiness, my sarcasm and
my occasional outrage. I’ll be the
first to admit that my columns had more than a healthy dose of rage every now
and then. But putting a happy face on
corruption, a lack of ethics and poor representation in general just isn’t my
cup of tea. I’ll leave the more
dignified tone to others because I think rage shouldn’t be disguised or toned
down when it is absolutely appropriate and even necessary to create
change.
And speaking of rage…I was
infuriated by the recent actions of our State Representatives and I’m sure you
were, too. In case you missed it, Norma
Chavez, Joe Pickett, Chente Quintanilla and Pat Haggerty finally admitted what
we all knew—that they traded votes on public school finance. (The only two state officials of ours who
had the courage of their convictions, thankfully, were Eliot Shapleigh and Paul
Moreno, who consistently spoke out against the plan that would have hurt El
Paso kids).
From the El Paso Times:
El
Paso lawmakers switched their votes last month on a school finance reform plan
in an as-yet unsuccessful attempt to win funding for a four-year medical school
in El Paso, several of the lawmakers confirmed for the first time this week.
[Pat]
Haggerty said the reform bill was "never good for El Paso," but the
four delegates voted for it in the first special session only to "move the
process along."
"We
feel very strongly that our vote for our children is not for sale,"
[Interim EPISD Superintendent Robert] Ortega said. "It shouldn't be used
as leverage to solicit their votes."
[Norma] Chávez said she agrees.
"Part of politics is trading votes but not on issues as critical as public
education," she said.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005507290372
Norma Chavez has some
nerve. It’s amazing that she can make
that last statement without fear of being struck by lightening. She is the elected official who supported
Craddick as speaker of the House and, more importantly, the elected official
who stood side by side with Pickett, Quintanilla and Haggerty when they voted
for the same education bill that they now concede is unacceptable. These people need to go.
Anyhow, that’s what I mean
by necessary outrage.
Okay. Back to my tender farewell.
I want to thank Ray
Erlichman for extending an invitation for me to have my notes online, making
space for the column and faithfully putting it up each week. Thanks also to my loved ones for tolerating
the many hours I devoted to getting out the weekly column.
And finally, I want to thank
my original publisher, Anthony Martinez.
I’ll never forget the day Anthony reached out to me, sharing his
excitement and vision about newspapertree and telling me he was going to create
an online news source that would inform the masses. What a heady time that was.
Thanks, Anthony, for including me in your wonderful plan and for asking
me to make my own contribution to your tremendous effort. I’ll never forget the faith you had in me
and my writing.
Thanks for the Memories
(Readers’ Favorite Moments Along with a Few of My
Own)
And for my final hurrah,
I’ve pulled together (with the help of my ever loyal readers and in no
particular order) our own SHM/City Council Top Nineteen List! (Naturally, I couldn’t keep it to a measly
ten and I didn’t want to be too predictable, so I stayed away from the Top
Twenty.) Thanks for sharing,
everyone. Enjoy!
Oh, My Burning Joy Pocket!
The
next routine item was also of course approved:
6.
REQUEST TO EXCUSE ABSENT CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS: Robert Cushing
Speaking
of being ill, before the revisions were read into the record, Anthony Cobos
announced that Robert Cushing had called in that morning to inform Council that
“he’s feeling ill.”
Poor
guy! I hope Cushing wasn’t suffering from that odd virus circulating around
town. Or maybe it’s simply that he’s experiencing some of those “unwarranted”
lower-bodily region problems caused by hot substances that irritate one’s “joy
pocket.” I guess there’s no joy in joy-pocket-ville! http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2004_0907.htm
Here it is again…just for that reader…let’s all sing
along, why don’t we?
"CityCouncilVille"
(sung to the tune of Jimmy Buffett's
Margaritaville)
Nibblin' on cookies
She's such a rookie
Callin' do overs like a kid
Watchin' the laptop
Hopin' it will stop
Some of those Councilors wading in graft
Wastin' away again in
CityCouncilville
Searching for some semblance of pride
Some people claim that there's a Jobe to blame
Could it be, it's the voters' fault?
I don't know the reason
I stayed the whole meetin'
Nothin' to show but these sketchy notes
But it's a real doozie
A long horror movie
How we got here I haven't a clue
Wastin' away again in
CityCouncilville
Searchin' for some ethical folks
Some people claim that Luther Jones is to blame
But I think
Hell, it could be our fault
I overstayed my meter
Forgot to feed her
Got me a ticket, had to get back on home
But there's booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on
Wastin' away again in
CityCouncilville
Searching for my lost dreams for my town
Some people claim that Bobby Bowling's to blame
But I know it's our own damn fault
Yes and some people claim that there's a troika to blame
And I know it's our own damn fault
http://newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=92466c834ac24cfa
While Richarda Momsen, the Municipal Clerk, began reading
the items into the record, I suddenly felt a cold chill come over the
room. The room got darker and suddenly
I got a whiff of . . . sulfur?
Just then, I saw a rare event during daylight hours: None other than Luther Jones strode into
Council chambers (he seemed to be squinting, as if the light hurt his
eyes). He had a quick chat with Cushing
and said hello to Cobos.
As he walked back to towards the audience, I noticed that
instead of a briefcase, he was carrying an interesting man-purse. That made me wonder…could Luther be a
metrosexual? Hmmm.
http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2004_0921.htm
What Mr. Lozano wants to do is have all the businesses in
town register and have each one PAY A FEE (around $200) for the creation of
this "data." The term "businesses" would include any trade
organization and all non-profits. Mr. Lozano repeatedly said the City needs “a
data." Um . . . Mr. Lozano, I believe you mean to say a
"database", not “a data" . . . or maybe he's referring to the
android character Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
http://newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=626efe69c4fe4490&mc=a0eb122a26344072
America
Undercover: Joe Wardy at the Point
Well, in what has become a standard move by this Mayor and
Council, points are switched around at the last minute to ensure that the fair
competitive bidding process is thrown out the window and Wardy & Co.
campaign contributors walk away with taxpayer dollars. What a coincidence that this last-minute
points- switcheroo only happens when campaign contributors don’t win city bids
fair and square.
http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2005_0118.htm
Nailing the SOBs Will Have to Wait -- but the
Wait is Oh So Fine
The City Council decided, once again, to
postpone the item that would create stricter regulation of sexually oriented
businesses (SOBs) for four weeks.
According to Laura Gordon, the Assistant City
Attorney working on the ordinance, the outside counsel the City hired needs a
little more time to make sure the ordinance is as "tweaked" as it
possibly can be (that was John Cook's little pun from a few weeks ago).
Anthony Cobos then explained to the public that
"we're very, very close" and "we've worked very hard on
this", and "we don't want to get sloppy". . . uh, Mr. Cobos, is
it getting hot in those council chambers? Ouch. When it comes to sexing up the
business of legislating on business sex, you're taking it to a whole new level!
And who said the legislative process was boring?
Tweak me, baby!
http://newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=626efe69c4fe4490&mc=a0eb122a26344072
That's it, dear reader: long and tragic our meetings are.
Obstinate and hypocritical our leaders remain. Until next week. May the force
be with you.
(NOTE TO SELF…and, yes, my audience too: Why not unite the
two people who have chosen to team up -- the way Ben [Affleck] and Jennifer
[Lopez] have become Bennifer. I think that from now on, when I refer to the
Wardy/Cobos machine, I will refer to it as COWARDY!).
http://newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=690a38bf9e8b45b7&mc=166e5368afee4276
(Playbill note: the role of the bumbling, inarticulate council
member, formerly played by Luis Sariñana, will be performed during this
administration by Jose Lozano.) http://www.newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=f2a6f70be91b4290&mc=85bf414abc784fc0
Then spectators were then treated to the truly unappetizing
spectacle of Rep. Cushing, chomping on his gum, entering into an extended
discussion with highly-paid City Attorney Lisa Elizondo regarding whose
ordinance would be voted on first. Ms. Elizondo opined that would be up to the
mayor because neither representative was formally recognized by the mayor; she
said they'd have to have a "do over" (Black's Law Dictionary,
Fifth Edition, defines a "do over" as "a return to the
legal status quo ante occasioned by the ineptitude of elected representatives
and their over-compensated legal counsel"). http://www.newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=cccd8f877afa416c&mc=1a1d0917e1314be3
Speaking of Mr. Perez, he is no longer a paid employee of the City's and when his volunteer contract came up for approval by the council, Representative Austin inquired, "I presume a volunteer services contract can be terminated?" No, Ms. Austin, we can force him to work for free for the duration of the contract…of course it can. Aren't you one of the lawyers on Council? http://www.newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=8a734cd3738746e0&mc=ccacfa91da53407b
Entr’acte:
The Problem is White Guys and Careless Ducks
It was
noon at this point, and City Council decided to take a recess. It was more like
recess at school with all the interesting conversations taking place. (And by
the way, I must warn those of you readers with fragile ears…there’s one piece
of profanity in here, but it ain’t mine.)
On one
side of the Chamber was David Crowder, the reporter who has recently outed
Wardy and his “hush money” (the taxpayer funded pot of gold that helps Wardy
silence critics and former employees: http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20040822-159078.shtml).
He had a very animated conversation with Wardy, but unlike Jim Martinez, I
wasn’t skulking in the shadows eavesdropping, so I can’t tell you what they
were talking about.
When
Crowder then walked over to talk to Susan Austin, Jim Martinez skulked over and
sat down within earshot again. That guy is about as subtle and stealthy
as...well...Wardy’s tax increase!
Cobos
was chatting with Lozano and Cushing, and the microphones were on. As you can
imagine, I was beside myself with delight.
Cobos
excitedly declared, “This might be our man!” He was pointing out someone in the
audience. (Could it have been Tom Brown, Word of God Pastor and potential
candidate for Dan Power’s old position? Or was it the silent lamb himself,
Lance Ruck?) Cobos was saying, “Look at him.” He turned and asked Cushing, “Do
you have anyone else lined up? Did Shari come through?”
Cushing
responded, “We’re workin’ on somebody else.”
Cobos
said, “We need to do something fuckin’ fast.”
Cushing
insisted, “We’re workin’ on somebody who…”
Cobos
interrupted, “Where? When? Who? This guy might be our man…he’s gonna be
running...”
Then
Lozano said, “Another white guy? That’s the problem.”
Right.
That’s the problem, Mr. Lozano. It’s not the cronyism, not the incompetence,
not the poor representation and not the rubber stamping. It’s that the guy who
might run for office is Anglo.
So
whose Council seat were they plotting about, dear reader? Was it Dan Power’s?
John Cook’s? Or could it be the seat that now belongs to Cobos – who, rumor has
it, intends to run for County Judge the next time around?
Cushing
changed the subject and could be heard saying “All I can tell you is we have
the votes to do what Teresa Caballero said and have an internal audit…even if
it costs $100,000.” [What’s a mere $100 k among friends? Do you get the
impression that they actually think it’s their money?] Cobos responded, “Let’s
do it.” Suddenly horrified that his comments may have been picked up and
broadcast by the microphones, he thumped one and asked, “Are these off?” No,
Mr. Cobos, they were not.
As the
other representatives and the mayor walked in, the subject then turned to
taking over the County’s parks and Paul Escobar, referring to Ascarate Park,
could be overheard telling Wardy, “You know their ducks were dying of herpes?”
Great.
Now we’ll need an SOB ordinance for the animals over at Ascarate Lake! And with
cuts to the City-County Health District, these poor ducks won’t even be able to
get their STD check-ups at the local clinic. Oh, my!
http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2004_0824.htm
Jones, in a wonderfully telling slip of the
tongue, replied, "That's why we came up with a new system." Power
quickly asked, "Who's we?" Jones, momentarily caught off guard by his
own carelessness, responded with "Uh . . . you did, the City Council
did." Oh, no, no, no, no, Mr. Jones . . . you were correct the first time.
Many locals believe that it is YOU who make the decisions in this
administration, sir! You and the other two members of the troika (along with
certain developers). The pink elephant is standing in the middle of Council
chambers, and it's not even wearing the hood provided courtesy of the HACEP
protesters! It's too late to try to prevent us from noticing it.
http://newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=e3ef460ad7544802&mc=f401ae39ad994467
Speaking of baseball fields, Lozano, coming totally out of
left field, threw in a hypothetical for Shubert.
“So you’re telling me if I have a flag in front of my house,
and I put a light on it,”—here he stopped when he was interrupted by Wardy, who
exclaimed, “Light it up, Alex!” (I
guess Lozano parties as hardy as Bob Cushing—who woulda thought?) Lozano chuckled and continued, “I’m gonna
light it up and I’m gonna light it up across the street from my neighbor’s and
he’s gonna complain and I’m gonna say, ‘Well, I’m lighting the flag.’ So just beware.” (I wonder if “lighting the flag” is cool-guy code for, you know .
. . Maybe they’ll need some Scooby Snacks afterward, if you catch my drift!) http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/2005_0125.htm
Harangues from the Big Chair or Anthony wants to rule the world.
Coming of age in El Paso
While we learned last week that Alexandro Lozano
is a secret fan of the Pink Panther movies, we discovered this week that
Anthony Cobos is a closet anthropologist. Cobos opined that operations like Beer
Fast create a problem because "hobos will consume beer in cubby
holes." I was grateful to Cobos for this fascinating revelation, although
I wondered how Cobos (who disdains contact with "those people") could
have come by this intelligence. Then I took a close look at his appearance --
far from sporting his usual snappy Mafioso look, he was suspiciously
disheveled. In fact, his hair was a mess and he was wearing what looked like a
jersey polo shirt beneath his suit jacket. I immediately suspected that, in
anticipation of the discussion on this agenda item, he had been engaging in
what anthropologists call "participant observation," which in this
case might have meant throwing a few back with the down and outers by the canals
(or the "cubby holes") and observing their peculiar behavior.
Cobos added that "packaged liquor" (as
opposed to "unpackaged liquor"?) is the issue because "a rock
wall's a perfect place to get together to drink beer." This last
observation confirmed my suspicions regarding his newfound avocation. It was
either that or Cobos was reminiscing about his misspent youth. I'll let you,
dear reader, come to your own conclusions.
http://newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=46018cc98ea94887
Spitting in the face of danger
During the hostage negotiations, audience
members were given the delightful privilege of watching Robert Cushing -- yet
again -- spit god-only-knows-what into his Styrofoam cup. After the unsightly
spitting, Cobos congratulated himself and the rest of the Council for their
work on the bond election and with the way they had been "massaging the
numbers." Between the image of Cushing's dripping spittle, and the thought
of Cobos massaging anything, I thought I would be sick!
http://newspapertree.com/view_article.sstg?c=205e865d32954595&mc=7e0d27daea9741ec
It was fun reading through
your responses and sifting through the old columns. Maybe one of you will be inspired to work on the film version of
“Life in Wardyland According to Sid” or to put together a compilation of my work
called “SHM: The Crony Years.” I could
never refuse such an offer.
Anyway, thanks for indulging
me in a few laughs, folks.
And so, the time for this
old columnist to put down the keyboard and pick up the old fishin’ rod has
arrived. I’ll be stepping away from the
Byzantine politics of El Paso’s City Hall so I can match wits with a different
group of devious (but much more harmless) creatures.
My two years as your
chronicler of City Council have been at times tedious, at times enlightening,
frequently infuriating, but always rewarding.
I did my level best to report what happened at City Council
accurately. (When I got it wrong, which
I hope and believe was an infrequent occurrence, I always appreciated my
readers setting me straight.) Equally
important, or perhaps more important, I did my best to help my fellow El
Pasoans understand the major issues facing our city, the motivations of the
policy makers, and the importance to our community of an informed, engaged, and
motivated electorate. How effectively I
did this is, of course, for others to judge.
I can’t say this
enough: I deeply believe that we can’t
merely be passive observers of the local political scene. I know that not everyone has the luxury of
getting involved in political campaigns or appearing before City Council or
Commissioners’ Court. But we can all
try to educate ourselves and others. We
can all vote. We can all talk to, call
or email our elected officials. Those
of us who can do more, should. Those of
us who can should volunteer for good political candidates. Those of us who can should run for office
ourselves. And in the off-season, we
need to support good folks and hold the others accountable. The time for us to content ourselves with
letting the other guy make the sacrifice to help our community is over. Way over.
I’m not leaving El Paso…I’d
have to be dragged out, my friends. I’m
just giving up amateur journalism (or at least this form of amateur
journalism). I have been very moved by
all of you who have asked me not to retire.
But the time to leave is before you’ve overstayed your welcome.
So, I’ll see you in the
parks, on the mountain, at the fishin’ hole, in the desert, in the grocery
store, on the bridge, at the forums and the rallies, at the voting booth, and
maybe, just maybe, at City Council.
Thank you for being such
loyal readers. Buena suerte y un gran
abrazo.
Until we meet again.
Comments or questions: shmaven@yahoo.com
My commentaries are posted weekly at
http://www.thestrelz.com/shm/shm.htm
Also, if any of my readers would
like to add their own comments or thoughts, they can do that at
http://strelzbacktalk.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=shm