El Paso Politics

Mayor Chacón might’ve walked out of last week’s special meeting thinking, “Bueno, that was rough… but I survived.” Ay, pobrecito. If only survival mode was enough to stop what’s rolling his way now. Because the mess in San Eli? Oh, it’s nowhere near done. In fact, it looks like it just hit the preheat cycle. And judging by one little item he snuck onto the agenda, the mayor might already be scouting for an emergency exit - leaving tire marks and a cloud of taxpayer-funded dust behind him. Let’s clear something up, especially for the local tinfoil-hat brigade in San Eli who think corruption started the day the Camino Real was paved: yes, the last administration wasn’t perfect. Yes, they had their chaos. Yes, folks had questions. But listen—no administration has faced this level of accusations, alleged tranzas, and potential straight-up legal violations like the one under Chacón. No contest. Not even close. This is the heavyweight division of political cochinadas. Thankfully,...

Sometimes I wonder if political candidates ever stop and think, “Hmm… maybe I shouldn’t do that.” But then I remember - if they did, I’d have nothing to write about. Let’s talk about Justice of the Peace Precinct 5 candidate Jesús Olivas. So far, this is the only race that’s even remotely interesting. It’s got everything: a sitting JP, Lucilla Najera, who has no business holding that gavel; a couple of strong challengers, including a former JP and a former County Democratic Party Chair; and Olivas, who’s trying to make the “I’m a lawyer, so I’m more qualified” argument. The problem? JP courts weren’t designed for lawyers. These courts are supposed to be “the people’s court”- the place where you handle small legal matters in front of a trusted community member, not someone who’s been billing $300 an hour to write demand letters. Now, Olivas has a few built-in disadvantages. He’s an older guy running against mostly younger women. He also looks about 15 years older than the picture o...

If you want the clean, detailed, journalistic version of what went down at the San Elizario special meeting Monday night, go read the El Paso Matters piece . They do a great job breaking down the who, what, when, and where. But if you came here for the why, the ay dios mío, and the what the hell were they thinking? - then buckle up, because we’re diving into the mess the San Eli mayor seems to have cooked up. So here’s the short version: there’s alleged forgery, fake bids, breached emails, and a possible abuse of authority, all happening in one of the smallest cities in El Paso County. Apparently, San Eli wanted to get spicy and add a little Watergate to their chile con queso. Let’s start with the facts that make your eyebrows do that one-arched “what the hell?” thing. Documents and testimony suggest that someone - possibly with the mayor’s knowledge - faked proposals from three local marketing firms for a city contract. You know what’s gacho about it all? None of the companies s...

According to documents obtained by El Paso Political Blog, the City of San Elizario is facing troubling allegations involving what appears to be a fabricated response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) for social media and digital marketing services. The documents - released through an open records request - suggest that someone within city government may have created and submitted a fake proposal using the name and branding of a local marketing firm without its knowledge or consent. In an email included in the records, Gina Roe-Davis, Owner and Founder of Rave Marketing and Events, states unequivocally that her company did not submit the proposal attributed to her firm. She goes on to say that the unauthorized use of Rave’s name and logo “constitutes unauthorized use of my company’s trademark and logo, amounting to trademark infringement and false designation of origin. Furthermore, by fabricating and submitting a proposal falsely attributed to my company, the City of San Elizario has e...

You ever see one of those Facebook posts from a politician where you have to stop, tilt your head like a confused perro, and say, “…uh, what the hell does THAT mean?” Well, that was me today when State Rep. Claudia Ordaz posted a self-congratulatory, full-on Beyoncé–level humblebrag about having the “highest enactment rate.” Gurrl, what? I’ve heard politicians brag about all kinds of things - attendance awards, being “recognized” for something they sponsored but didn’t write, even being invited to speak at events they weren’t invited to (ay,ay, El Paso politicians). But the “highest enactment rate”? That one was new. So like any self-respecting vato trying to make sense of political algebra, I went digging. Turns out “enactment rate” just means the percentage of bills you wrote that got signed into law. Okay cool, sounds impressive… until you look at the actual number of bills each rep wrote. And, mi gente… Let me tell you… This is where the joke writes itself. Claudia,...