El Paso Politics

Looks like Rick Armendariz is going to quarterback Dee Margo's Spanish-language media outreach. Armendariz is a political operative in town known to not really be tied to a political idealogy or persuasion and has worked with Democrats and Republicans in the past. Armendariz recently worked with State-Rep Elect Naomi Gonzalez who defeated long-time State Rep Norma Chavez in the last election and he previously did work for Chavez as well. He was also the name that the Camino Real Mexican American Democrats organized under when they first organized as a proprietorship.

I guess this piece is more of a critique of the Bill White campaign than it is a critique of Governor Rich Perry. What I find frustrating about Bill White, and why I think he’s going to lose is that I think he’s peaked too soon. From The Lion Star Blog There was a time when a few polls in the state of Texas made this race look like it was winnable for Bill White, the Democratic Party nominee. White was originally going to run for Senator and eventually shifted gears to retool his campaign toward a shot at the governor’s mansion. But after an initial buzz after defeating Farouk Shami, Bill White’s campaign seems to have lost some steam. The bulk of his campaign leadership seems to be a younger group of campaign workers. From The Lion Star Blog Maybe that’s why they appear to have missed a great opportunity to capitalize on the naked stupidity of Governor Perry. The governor made a remark recently in which he gave both Pinocchio of the guy who lies from Saturday Night Live a run for thei...

Former State Representative Anita Blair passed away today following complications with her heart. The 92 year-old former legislator was a pioneer for women in politics in the state of Texas. Tune in to The Strelz this afternoon at 4pm for more details and a rememberance of the life and times of Anita.

My Uncle Bernie sends me really good emails, mostly jokes. He sent this one this morning I thought I'd share with the rest of the class. "AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT AUGUST 2010. This August has 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays, 5 Tuesdays, all in one month. It happens once in 823 years. I'll probably miss the next one." Gotta love my Uncle Bernie...

From The Lion Star Blog Tim Collins has been actively soliciting signatures to try to get his name on the ballot for the November Congressional Election for a couple of months now. Today Collins collected the last few confirmed signatures needed to appear as a write-in candidate on the ballot. He will be facing the incumbent Democratic Congressman Sylvestre Reyes and Republican nominee Tim Besco. Collins' efforts may be in vain. The State of Texas allows a spot for write-in candidates on the ballot, but requires the candidate to get a certain amount of valid signatures before the votes for a write-in candidate will be counted as votes. Had his actual name appeared on the ballot, I think there was a real chance for him to received more votes than the Republican candidate Tim Besco.

I think this is one of the best responses to the discussion of the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque".

From The Lion Star Blog Gilbert Sanchez is making no secret about the fact that he is considering another run for political office. Sanchez has openly discussed running for City Council and County Commissioner's Court. A run a city hall would put him up against City Rep V. Rachel Quintana, if she chooses to run for re-election, or a large field of candidates that many on the eastside are predicting to surface. A run at County Commissioner's Court would pit Sanchez against Commissioner Anna Perez. A run in a field of candidates for the city rep seat is the better play for Sanchez because he's used to that type of campaign and has the family support needed to gather the most amount of votes and end up in a run-off. From The Lion Star Blog A run against Perez is probably not a good idea because Perez has already shown herself to be more than capable of beating an opponent with baggage. Its way too soon for Sanchez to jump in a race like that. Even if Sanchez beats the rap, whi...

According to people who attended the redistricting hearing earlier this week indicate that State Representative Norma Chavez had another "incident". From The Lion Star Blog Apparently Chavez was late to the event and State Rep Joe Pickett publically recognized her. Perhaps she didn't hear the part where witnesses say Pickett called her "Representative" but Chavez apparently snapped at him in front of the attendees saying something along the lines of, I'm still a state representative until November . I also acquired a copy of an email that she sent out to what is left of the Camino Real Mexican American Democrats' membership. The following is a selection of highlights from the email along with some additional commentary on my part: "Quick update, we will NOT be having our meeting today with Representative Roberto Alonzo as was planned." Wow, I'm shocked. "I have been in communication with the state leadership regarding several issues br...

Slideshow of J-Rod's Forum on Employment and Economic Development.

I checked the county records and I noticed that all of the names that were listed as the proprietors for the Camino Real Mexican American Democrats have now had their status changed to Inactive. This is a recent development because previously the organization had two names that were active. Click this link to see the actual status.

I have a feeling this is going to be a big deal. As you can see, there is some internal dispute about the leadership of the El Paso Municipal Police Officer's Association over their bargaining with the city. Watch Canal 26 tonight at 10 for some more information about collective bargaining and how it can be taken away. The brown stinky stuff is gonna hit the fan! From: Holguin, Robert Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 3:49 PM To: PD ALL OFFICERS Subject: EPMPOA Members, As an association, we are in dyer need of unity. This unity needs to start with our present EPMPOA board. We are one and we should act and be treated as such. There is no magic solution that will allow a new start and ignore the situation at hand, we must work with what we have. As an association we must work on our relationship with Chief Allen, Joyce Wilson, every member of the El Paso City Council, and our own command staff before it is too late and damaged beyond repair. Impeachment of our present EPMPOA President...

I interviewed JOP on a new story that is going to be run questioning the timing of his campaign activities during traditional work hours. I also had a chance to ask him questions on a few other issues as well.

From The Lion Star Blog The El Paso chapter of the Latino National Republican Coalition issued a statement to the media today calling for Senator Harry Reid's (D-NV) resignation as Majority Leader in the Senate because of comments he made questioning why Latinos would be members of the Republican Party. "The El Paso Latino National Republican Coalition finds the comments made by Harry Reid on a campaign stop in Nevada to be racialist and demeaning to the Hispanic Community. For many years Hispanics have been a part of the Republican Party not only in El Paso but nationally as well and the numbers have been steadily growing as more and more Hispanics find themselves being over taxed, don't want big government and are tired of working hard so others can live off of social programs. For Harry Reid to even think that all Hispanics should think a certain way only feeds into the stereotype that all Hispanics should also all look a certain way and should all talk a certain way. H...

Didn't get to take too many photos because I was interviewing people but here are a few.

I just posted a new poll here on the LSB. Look to your right, its a poll about the future of Norma Chavez's career.

I visited with Francisco "Quico" Canseco yesterday. He was in town campaigning and made a stop by the El Paso County Republican Party's grand opening of their new headquarters.

I intereviewed Chris Antcliff yesterday at the grand opening of the new headquarters building for the Republican Party.

From The Lion Star Blog I’m betting the spin cycle goes in to full gear regarding the resignations from Camino Real Mexican American Democrats starting at around 4:00 this afternoon. I’ve seen a bit of what is being sold to the public as far as spin goes already and I gotta tell ya, they aren’t doing a very good job! So let me lay out some important things that really can’t be disputed (from what I can see so far). I apologize in advance for a lot of direct quotes here, but I wanted to be very specific). On page 2 of the Campaign Finance Guide for Political Committees , “a political committee that meets any one of the descriptions set out below is a general purpose committee.” Several scenarios are laid out but the one that fits Camino Real MAD is actually used as an example. “A political committee that supports candidates who are members of a particular political party is a general-purpose political committee…” Which would then lead to the section on page 4 titled Filing an Appointmen...

From The Lion Star Blog The Lion and The Juice are working on a special joint project together. We are putting aside our periodic spats to work on this because we want to encourage more local discussion about politics and current events and in that spirit we are putting together a team of writers. This will be open to anyone who would like to contribute. So if you've ever wanted to have a weekly submisssion of information or editorial, now is your chance. All political view points are welcomed and we are getting to launch very soon. Deadline for the first edition is Wednesday, so get writing! Feel free to contact us with your submission, or the contact info of someone you know who might be interested. You can contact me at thelionstarblog@gmail.com or contact David K at www.refusethejuice.typepad.com

Another member of the executive committee of the Camino Real Mexican American Democrats has come forward to confirm their departure from the group. Dora Oaxaca, Vice Chair of the organization and a senior staffer to County Commissioner (and future congressional hopeful) Willie Gandara Jr. “I am confirming our resignation from MAD” , Oaxaca stated. Oaxaca went on to elaborate that their (hers and Willie Gandara Sr) centered on the revelation that the organization had been formed as a sole proprietorship. Upon being asked about taxes and reporting requirements Oaxaca replied, “Those are some of the issues and questions that we have.” Clarification I wanted to clarify a couple of issues that I’ve written about. First, when I stated that Alfredo Longoria worked for Reps Chavez and Marquez, I was talking about doing campaign volunteer work. He was not, nor did I state as such, employed by either candidate. Another point of clarification I wanted to make was that it is possible that the reas...

There is more to what I posted but I am in the process of digging around and getting some background from attorneys in terms of process before I write the rest, so stay tuned. A quick search of county records does show that the organization is registered as a proprietorship. This link shows that the group was first organized under Ricardo Armendariz. More commonly known as Rick Armendariz. He's a political consultant here in El Paso and is known for working on campaigns regardless of political affiliation. He recently ran Gus Haddad's bid for Mayor and has done some political work for State Representative Norma Chavez in the past. I wrote about a mailer that was done by Armendariz for Chavez a couple years back and a similar design was done for her opponent, State Representative-Elect Naomi Gonzalez, who recently defeated Chavez. This link shows an active registration under the name ANIBAL HIDALGO OLAGUE and lists an eastside address. This link shows an active registration un...

From The Lion Star Blog A member of the Executive Committee of the newly-elected Camino Real Mexican American Democrats confirms that most of the officers and all of the Executive Committee with the exception of State Representative Norma Chavez, have resigned from MAD. Alfredo Longoria, the Secretary of the Camino Real Mexican American Democrats says he turned in his resignation in writing last week to the newly-elected Chairman (and Mayor of Socorro) Willie Gandara Sr. Longoria also confirmed that the Chair and Vice-Chair Dora Oaxaca (senior staffer of County Commissioner Willie Gandara Jr.)also resigned. Though not specific as to why he resigned, Longoria did state that he felt the organization had "...been mismanaged over the last 8 years..." Longoria also said something that may shed some light on his reasons for leaving the organization. He said, "...I felt defrauded. I gave MAD my money and it was spent on other purposes..." Longoria has been active in the El...

I know I spend a lot of time making fun of my own party, especially here in town, so every once in a while its nice to laugh at the other team. Here's a video of a Republican candidate for Governor of Tennessee. Suddenly Rick Perry doesn't seem all that bad, lol. BTW, it was a Republican who brought it to my attention so props to his sense of humor.

In case you didn't get a chance to attend the Obama celebration last night here some video of the event.

I've made this point over the last few months about how the conservatives in this country have been on the wrong side of just about every social justice issue this country has faced since the end of slavery. Sometimes I'm not as articulate as I'd like to be on a particular issue, but I found someone who makes my point pretty clearly. I took this video last year, but the message strikes home now just as then.

I think I stepped out of the room when they sang Las Mananitas to the Commander-in-Chief, but last night's gathering of El Paso Democrats had all the feel of a birthday party. I know, a birthday party for Obama sounds cheesy. I agree. But it was more of an opportunity to get Dems together and start the big push toward November. Turnout was about what I expected, a mix of party regulars, African-Americans, candidates and electeds. (Quick side note: It disappoints me when electeds do drive-by appearances, duck in, get some pats on the back, and then they are out.) Conspicuously absent were the PDN Tejanos and their leadership. A couple of them were there, but their leadership was AWOL. With most of the other Dem leaders in attendance, their absence was noticable. The question I have is was it because it was an Obama event, was it because they are uncomfortable with Black people, or was it because of personal issues/rivalries with Black El Paso Democrats Chair Don Williams? It certa...

I could go on and on about this topic for days, but I'll restrict my current critiques to just a couple of areas. At some point I am going to write about the fact that we are the "Democratic stronghold of the state of Texas" but people don't "need" the party to win elections in this town. In fact, most of the people in town that have won elections lately aren't party regulars, so its pretty sad that the party is largely irrelevant in elections when we are the "Democratic stronghold of the state of Texas". But here are two problems with our local Democratic Party. #1-The website. What the hell? The site is fugly and many parts are not updated or functional. Click here to see what I mean. By comparison, check out the Republicans' website . They kick our ass. A good website should be clean, easy to navigate, intuitive, and updated regularly. I will volunteer myself and a team to help with this if necessary. #2-El Paso's answer to Vladimir ...

I don't always agree with Jaime O. Perez, infact we are usually on the opposite side of almost every issue that comes to mind. But he sent out this press release and I think he's right on this one. Mr. Perez said, "The 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868, granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," including slaves. The Constitution should be left alone. John McCain stated, "I believe that the Constitution is a strong, complete and carefully crafted document that has successfully governed our nation for centuries.." He is correct. Tinkering with the Constitution in the modern day vitriolic and toxic political environment can only bring hurt to our nation. The spirit behind the move to tinker with the Constitution is, regrettably, born of bigotry. Recognizing this will go a long way towards thwarting any attempts to modify the constitution. We must secure our borders and fix the immigration problem through thoughtful compro...

From The Lion Star Blog Rumor killer time. This one has spread like wild fire at the County Courthouse. County Commissioner Anna Perez is not seeking a judicial appointment to replace Judge Alvarez. I have plenty of direct quotes, but I'll be honest, I left my notebook at home so I don't have the quotes on me right now. I'll post the actual quotes tonight, but here's what she said in a nutshell. She's not going to pursue the post, despite the fact that some people have approached her and encouraged her to do so. Some people have gone so far as to tell her that Judge Alvarez would support her for the position. Perez says she has a job to do as county commissioner and very much enjoys being a county commissioner. She also said that a judicial post is a retirement job and not something she's looking at right now. She didn't close the door on the possibility of pursuing a judicial post at a later date, but its not something she's looking at now. The rumors, ...

From The Lion Star Blog Think about all the people that have taken a role in fighting Asarco and continuing the struggle for the clean-up of the site, etc. What names come to mind? Senator Shapleigh, Bill Addington, City Council, and a host of others. But for some reason, this didn't occur to me until very recently. What name have you not heard but would expect to? From The Lion Star Blog How about the State Rep that represents that area? State Representative Marissa Marquez. I've been checking around and it turns out that no one, so far, can remember Marquez having a presence at any event relating to Asarco. I just thought that was an interesting set of circumstances.

Okay, took me a while, but here are podcasts of some of my previous shows. In the future, just look for the audio archive link on the right hand side. Click on the link and it will take you directly to my podcast archive and you can select the podcast you want to listen to. From The Lion Star Blog July 19th, 2010 July 20th, 2010 July 21st, 2010 July 23rd, 2010 July 26th, 2010 July 27th, 2010 July 28th, 2010 July 29th, 2010

I just posted a new poll. Just look to your right and you'll see the poll. Weigh in and tell us who you think should be the next Chair of the El Paso Democratic Party.

(This is a long one, so strap in) In a very meaningful way, El Paso County Democratic Precinct Chairs may end up making a couple of key decisions this year that you should know about. I’ve written previously about the PC’s nominating a replacement for a judge if the vacancy occurs before August 19th, 2010. They also could’ve picked the nominee for one of the Justice of the Peace Courts as well, but I’ll get to that later. I will admit, this piece is more of an inside baseball thing for the Democratic Party, so not all of you will find this of interest, but you should at the very least understand the process and how things work in this town considering the cast of characters involved. The El Paso County Democratic Party Chair is Danny Anchondo. Anchondo is a guy that has been eyeing a seat on the bench for quite some time now. As I previously mentioned, he would like to be the person to fill a vacancy should one arise on the bench. According to at least one member of Commissioner’s Cour...

I know that sounds like a really open-ended question, but its part of a bit we are doing. This is a couple of videos we made at the office in case you haven't seen them yet.