El Paso Politics

No doubt most of you remember the rather famous text message that was mocked around town between State Representative Marisa Marquez and a former state representative. The former state rep sent a text message to Rep Marquez saying, U R Not My Friend. It became so talked about that there was talk around town about putting it on a t-shirt. The concept of Reps Marquez and Naomi Gonzalez endorsing (regardless of what they say in the paper, those comments are an endorsement. They were given specifically for a mail piece. Call it what you want but I don't have to stand outside all day to recognize the sun.) Dee Margo over Democratic candidate Joe Moody because Margo is a "nice guy" is being mocked around town now. Apparently at the UNITY walk this morning Senator Jose Rodriguez got the party started with a speech about his support for Joe Moody. I'm trying to find out if anyone recorded it and if they did, I'll post it. I'm told it was pretty good. He apparently tal...

There has been reaction at the state-level of the Texas Democratic Party to the endorsement of a Republican candidate, State Representative Dee Margo, by two Democratic State Representatives Marisa Marquez and Naomi Gonzalez. The Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party Gilberto Hinojosa told me via phone interview that he bothered and disappointed by what they did. "...their support for him means that they also support these extremist positions that the Republican Party has taken in the state of Texas that Dee Margo has supported." stated Chairman Hinojosa. He went on to say that "..they chose to ignore the importance of picking up new Democratic legislative seats in the state of Texas...I don't understand how they can't see how important it is that we start adding more Democrats. Look what happened this last legislative session, they (Republicans) overwhelmed and as a consequence the Republican legislators, led by what was supposed to be a moderate Speaker, did e...

Your comments on your blog are correct. In the past I supported Moody, with not only endorsements but with financial contributions. However, my choice not to support him came during this last primary. During my contested race, Moody considered actually joining my primary and challenging me for my District 77 seat, a complete about face and without any provocation. The level of trust I had for him, already strained for several reasons, was shattered. Our delegation cannot move forward with these types of actions. On a personal level, I like Dee. I find him to be a person who is true to his word. I chose to allow my support statement to be used for these reasons. These choices are about making decisions that support the betterment of the whole rather than the personal agenda of one. Our delegation has proven it can work together and make El Paso a priority. I will continue to do my part for what I believe is right, even though it may take sacrifice and I may receive criticism. It's t...

In a pretty surprising move two members of El Paso's Democratic delegation are included in Republican State Representative Dee Margo's latest mailer. Both State Representatives Marisa Marquez (HD 77) and Naomi Gonzalez (HD 76) were featured in the piece giving pretty glowing remarks about Margo. In the parlance of El Paso..."Zas!" Margo and former State Representative Joe Moody are locked in a very competitive race for state representative and is one of the few districts in Texas where a Democrat has the ability to gain a seat in the legislature. Representative Gonzalez states in part, "Dee has demonstrated time and again that he is willing to listen to both sides of an issue and work across party lines for the good of El Paso." Which is interesting and problematic for Gonzalez and Marquez because Margo was the only member of the delegation to vote in favor of the controversial budget last session. The duo both expressed opposition to that budget and Marquez...

Dr. Zolkoski, affectionately known as Dr. Z, is the Superintendent of the Ysleta Independent School District. You probably already knew that based on several articles highlighting the top administrator, like this one explaining the penalty YISD pays for having him, or this one that has actually sparked my interest in Dr. Z. This is the kind of stuff that infuriates tax-payers and ultimately does education a disservice in my opinion because it turns people off to the idea of giving school districts more money when they see their money spent on this kind of stuff. Here's what I mean. In addition to his nearly $248,500 salary, and the $100,000 Ysleta tax-payers have paid in fines since 2009 to employ Dr. Z, it turns out they also fund the maintenance on his pool, lawn care, and pest control. Yes, Dr. Z does in fact rent the home owned by YISD (why the hell they own a home in the first place is beyond me) but he only pays rent in the amount of $1,300 a month for a pretty nice pad wit...

Whenever I feel strongly about an issue having to do with the city, I usually pick of the phone and call the offices of almost every city rep and let them know how I feel about an issue. Sometimes I call them to support an issue or a vote, sometimes I call to complain. I'm entitled to, I'm a constituent. Their job is to hear me complain. But every once in a while, I have the opportunity to use my public soap box to discuss an issue I feel strongly about. This is one of those times. And be forewarned, I came pretty close to breaking my New Years Resolution against cursing in my blog (almost 10 months now!). Fellow bloggers Tim Tolbert and David K turned me on to an issue that should have everyone who cares about transparency, especially in the era of public corruption, up in arms about. Read about it in El Paso Naturally or Refuse the Juice . City officials need to fix it and fix it now. Yep, I'm talking to you Joyce Wilson and yes, I'm talking to the Mayor and every si...

I've commented on multiple occasions lately about the fact that Republicans seem to go out of their way to court Latinos through what seems to be silly ploys and stunts rather than policy positions. I've mentioned State Representative Dee Margo suddenly becoming Latino and rolling his r's as a ploy to appeal to Latino voters. But that's a state rep from just one district in El Paso. How about that Mitt for brains eh? Who in the blue hell came up with the idea of giving Mitt Romney a spray-on tan for his appearance on Univision? Seriously, Hulk Hogan and Snooky think it was a bad tan. The only other white man Romney's age that I know of that tries that hard to be brown is George Hamilton. Did his campaign staff actually talk that one out before making the decision? Did some campaign strategist talk with his intern about the idea? "Hey, ya know what would be a good idea for this whole Spanish-language television thing? We should get him a spray-on tan to make him...

Since we are on the topic of sports lately here on The Lion Star Blog, I thought I would show some love to a fellow blogger. I'm a little biased because, well he's my kid brother Relles. Yes, that's how its spelled. Get over it, move on. Anywho...my brother is about sports they way I am about politics. The vato knows his shizzle. He's never blogged before and we are totally different, so if you hate my blog, you might dig his. So far he just has an introductory piece but check back with him on Monday and I'm sure he'll have something new up. Trust me, if his blogs are half as interesting as his conversations with the TV are during a Redskins game, it should be fun stuff. Click the link and you'll find it. Its called the AZ Sports Guru .

By Chris Babcock, KVIA Hello citizens of El Paso, thanks to a new trans-dimensional portal here at Tier 1 University Texas Western (I believe it is called UTEP in your timeline) we would like to congratulate you on taking your first definite steps toward becoming the city a majority of your citizens have always dreamed of. From trolleys, to shopping malls, to pro-teams, our cities have taken very different paths, however it does warm our hearts that our fellow non-parallel universe El Pasoans are now on a very familiar and positive track.  Here are just a few examples of what you missed out on, and what the next few decades may hold for you guys. Now here in our timeline, our City Council and Mayors have been making what you'd call 'progressive' calls since the mid-1920's, but we didn't really start to see the results of those decisions until after World War 2, so don't expect a transformation overnight. In your timeline, thanks to pressure from internal combust...

On my previous post I mentioned how most of the people making a fuss for or against the new stadium don't really care about baseball all that much. I made a mistake. I should have also said that they don't really care about the City Hall Building all that much either. Again, this is more about opposition to the Shapleighites, The Progressives, or whatever you wanna call them more so than it is about baseball or city hall. Lets be honest most people on both sides of the issue don't follow baseball that closely and rarely visit city hall. So now that the opposition has lost, they move to their next step, the November bond stuff and a recall threat. There are two reasons why that doesn't matter: 1. A recall is the emptiest threat in this town next to sub-zero temperatures. Yep, they've happened exactly the same amount of times in El Paso County in recent history and they were both pretty expensive. Actually, its never happened in El Paso. The only successful recall was...

Last night was the meeting of the El Paso County Democratic Party's Executive Committee. You know, the follow-up to that embarrassment that happened last month at The Garden in which all the crazy in the El Paso Democratic Party was put on full display in all its drunk, old, petty, territorial, glory. In front of the new Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party no less. Way to make an impression team. Anywho... The previous raucous was over the attempt to fill vacancies with the precinct chairs. Most of the old nuts lost their mind over the fact that the new chairman was doing something that the previous chairman failed to do over his multiple terms as El Paso Democratic Party Chairman and that is fill vacancies of Precinct Chairs. Ironically the group were crying foul because no one had vetted the new Precinct Chairs. Which is ironic because these are the same people that nominated someone who has only voted as a Democrat one time to be the Parliamentarian. Gotta love the ...

( Editor's Note: As I mentioned previously, I extended an invitation to both Republicans and Democrats that attended their respective National Conventions to write guest posts about their experiences. This is the Republican submission.) By: Mark Ortega It has been close to a month since we left El Paso for Tampa Bay, Florida. The Republican National Convention was being held in late August and we didn’t let hurricane Isaac, or the fact that neither I nor my girlfriend Judy were delegates or alternates, stop us from going. The main event for us would be the Ron Paul Rally at the University of Southern Florida’s Sun Dome. At least ten thousand people were there from all over the country to hear Dr. Paul speak. It was a moving speech where he spoke of policy and also about virtue and excellence. These words are in stark contrast to what was witnessed at the GOP convention that officially started the next day. Judy and I, although we were close to the action and had a friend on the ins...

Seriously, I really don't want to hear people complaining and whining about the County budget and a tax increase if they didn't even take the time to weigh-in during the process. For those of you that did, relax I'm not talking to you anyway. But it amazes me how frighteningly few people keep abreast of the budget process. Yet it impacts all of us so much. But boy, do you people all of a sudden care about baseball! The County Budget has an item for the jail that is somewhere north of $45 million. Not a peep about it, but $50 million for a stadium that could bring economic development to our community. I hate to go all Jerome Tilghman on everyone but (in JT's voice) - We need to spend more money on recreation and less money on incarceration! But you can't fault the County if you don't know much about the budget. The meetings are available to be streamed online and are open to the public. The County Judge and the Court are actually actively seeking audiences in th...

By State Representative-Elect Mary Gonzalez It is without question that attending the Democratic National Convention (DNC) will always be one of the most memorable moments of my life. To see first hand such a large demonstration of coalition building, solidarity and diverse leadership- is exactly what makes me proud to be a democrat . I have previously discussed the beauty of the diversity at the DNC, I wanted to highlight another important aspect that was very evident during the convention: the power of Texas. Sometimes I believe it is easy for us to forget what an important role Texas plays at the National level. If we were able to turn Texas Blue ( which is very possible ), the National electoral map would be in our favor. The combination of Texas, New York and California equates to 122 electoral votes, and let’s remember we only need 270 to win the presidential seat. Every conversation I had with someone who was not from Texas (and I had a lot of them) started with the same questi...

I haven't posted much, if anything, about the stadium because I wanted to get all the facts before I opened my big mouth. But with so much changing in this issue, I'm not sure I ever will have all the facts. But in my time watching the issue unfold, I realized that there was something happening more interesting than the actual debate about the stadium. Its the heat between the two sides on the issue. So let me do what I do best and just tell it like it is. This fight is stupid. Lets be honest, none of you really give a crap about baseball as much as you all are trying to act like you do. This is about frustration over several issues over the years and this is the issue that has congealed the opposition to the majority on council. So lets be honest, this isn't about baseball and its barely, just barely, about he stadium itself. How do I know? Because none of you let out a peep about a $45 million school in Clint for 700 or so students. (Go ahead, look it up.) Okay, so lets g...

An email exchange is circulating around town in which former State Senator Eliot Shapleigh appears to clash with community activist and educator Xavier Miranda. Miranda is a teacher in EPISD and has been publicly discussing the need for education reform for quite some time.  The letter from Shapleigh, in my opinion, seems to imply that the Senator is accusing Miranda of being part of some effort to intimidate teachers that attended a press conference with the former Senator. In fact, he almost appears to cross-examine Miranda.  Frankly the tone of the email from the former Senator is exactly the tone that irritates people about Shapleigh. Especially the part near the end were he appears to question Miranda's stature as a grassroots leader. Sorry Senator, you don't get to decide who the community views as a grassroots leader. I've personally witnessed, on several occassions Mr. Miranda's grassroots leadership through organization of events, rallies, phone banking, block-...

(Editor's Note: I have extended the invitation to attendees of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions to write guest posts about their experiences. I'm still waiting on the GOP's pieces, so if you are a Republican and went to the Convention feel free to send me a guest piece for publication on the LSB.) By Don Williams, SDEC SD29 El Paso, Texas and Senatorial District 29 was amply represented at the Democratic National Convention by five (5) die-hard, yellow-dog democrats in Danny Anchondo, Esq., Immediate Past Chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party; Yolanda Clay, former State Democratic Executive Committeewoman and current Precinct Chair; my wife, Ruth Ybarra Williams, Community Organizer for Organizing for America (OFA) and current Precinct Chair; Jeanette Walker, former Precinct Chair and the local Matriarch for Organizing for America ; and, yours truly, Donald L. Williams, Esq., current State Democratic Executive Committeeman, Chair, Black El Paso Dem...

By State Representative Pete Gallego San Antonio resident and DREAM Act student Benita Veliz made us all proud when she shared her story of struggle and inspiration with the country. Ms. Veliz, who was brought to this country by her parents when she was only eight years old, last week became the first DREAM Act student to address a national political convention. At only 16, Benita graduated from San Antonio’s Jefferson High School as valedictorian. She was a National Merit Scholar and attended St. Mary’s University on a full scholarship, where she double majored in biology and sociology. Outside of the classroom, Benita continued to give back to her community by inspiring other students to continue to pursue an education. Despite her dedication, Benita could not join the workforce and fully contribute to this country. And she lived under the constant fear that any minute she could be deported. Stories like Benita’s are a reminder of just why we need the federal DREAM Act. The DREAM Act...

Attention policy wonks, people who keep up with current events, or just regular fans of comedy! The political satire troupe, The Capitol Steps will be in El Paso on Sunday, September the 30th at 6pm at the Plaza Theater. They are presented by Impact | Programs of Excellence, which is an El Paso-based non-profit that presents educational, cultural, and performing arts programs. They are hilarious and were started by former congressional staffers using satire and musical parody. Its some funny stuff. This video is a sample of the type of stuff they do and its a song I'm sure people in the Borderland that have been keeping up with Arizona's antics can appreciate.

I have a couple of pieces coming that you should look forward to. I extended an invitation to the El Paso Liberty Group and the GOP to submit a guest post about the Republican convention. The piece will be 100% their content and I will offer no commentary or critique. So they have complete license. I also extended the invitation to two El Paso Democratic delegates to write a piece about the Democratic National Convention. All of those pieces should be up on my blog within the next few days. We are less than 60 days from the election, so now is the time to start paying more attention to the big races...