El Paso Politics

Look if I spent all my time correcting El Paso's biggest douchebag, that being Max Powers) I'd never have time for anything else. You remember him, he's the guy who has a blog about my blog and is definitely not, under any circumstances, Rick Armendariz. Honest. Anywho, let me correct the baboso...again. I don't live in Socorro, I live in Ysleta. Yes, I disagree with Rep Gonzalez on two policy issues. But I've disagreed with every elected official in town on policy issues at one point or another. Including, wait for it...County Judge Veronica Escobar. I thought she was wrong on redistricting a few years back. Still do.  Hell I've often said Rep Acosta reminds me of my mother. I've disagreed with her too. But most electeds understand that you won't always get 100% agreement on policy. That's part of our system.  Il Douche doesn't get that because well, he's a pendejo. And because the circle he runs with freaks the hell out when you disagree as...

The Gandaras are back in office in Socorro. Another cousin has been elected to office in Socorro and he's filling the seat omce held Jesse Gandara. What's Jesse been up to these days? Well aside from running a Facebook page everyone in town knows is his, he's been getting ready for trial in January. But he apparently took time to walk his cousin into the administration building in Socorro yesterday for a sit down with the city manager. The one thing everyone was concerned about was the return of Jesse.  The new Ganadara took office last night and he is filling the rest of the term of the late Chito Bowling who stomped a mud hole in Jesse Gandara in the special election last year. People in Socorro are pretty forgiving and willing to give people a chance but the new Gandara showing up to city hall admin with his now infamous cousin isn't exactly starting things off on the right foot. Interestingly Socorro isn't giving up the video from the admin building that shows t...

According to an article in the El Paso Times by Diana Washington-Valdez, University Medical Center (UMC) is getting slapped with a fine. That has an impact on the tax payer no matter how this tries to get spun. The fines are from penalties the feds are whacking UMC with because of health problems people acquired while they were hospitalized for something else if I understand correctly. That means that is such a problem at UMC that it rises to the level of getting punished for it. UMC's side of the story, and it has some merit, is the fact that we are under-insured and under-cared for so when we go to UMC, we are therefore more likely to get something else. That makes sense and is basically reasonable. But it doesn't explain away the issue entirely. Look, no matter how this tries to get shaped, UMC scored the worst possible score for "hospital-acquired conditions". UMC earned a 10, with 10 being the worst possible score you can possibly achieve. Interestingly Valenti i...

I've been practically screaming at the top of my lungs for months about the problems at Clint ISD and there is no action from the "education representative". Maria Garcia of KVIA did a story on Tornillo's school board problems last year. Fabens school board members are about ready to face the wrath of the community as well. It seems like several school districts with major issues have all popped up in the valley. It might seem like that, but this isn't a new problem. This is a problem that has plagued the valley for years and why people have such little trust in local government. Its a damn shame too. First, props to Maria Garcia and KVIA for doing the story and shining light on an issue that is a big problem. She was probably tipped by a community member to go out and cover the story and good for her for doing so. But if more people knew the crap that was going on, there's no way it would be tolerated. Tornillo's ISD did a forensic audit and God only know...

The next session of the Texas legislature will be starting soon and El Paso's delegation has filed their normal pile of bills. I'm still going through most of them but a couple of them are noteworthy. The weed bill and the cow bill. Representative Joe Moody (HD 78) has filed a bill that has drawn praise from newspapers across the state of Texas (San Antonio, Houston, Dallas) but for whatever reason really hasn't gained any attention here in El Paso. Essentially what Moody wants to do is decriminalize user amounts of weed. Its probably the most common-sense approach to dealing with the "War on Drugs" anyone in the delegation has ever proposed. We pay more for our judicial system and jail system in El Paso County than anywhere else in the state. Decriminalizing weed is likely a pretty good tax-saver for El Paso.  Moody is a former prosecutor, so he's got some clout and street cred being the state representative that introduces the bill. If this bill was introduc...

(If you love Creepy Rob Lowe and Steve Carell, stick around until the end of this one.) Well since I seem to be the object of obsession for Maxi Pad lately I thought I'd give him a little gift this Christmas. The gift of laughter.  Maxi Pad, who is definitely not Rick Armendariz of Forma Group (no seriously, I really mean it, honest to gosh) has been pretty obsessed with me lately.  And while I firmly believe Maxi Pad and Martin Paredes should be able to be legally wed in all 50 states, I am regrettably going to have to turn down Maxi Pads advances. While I am impressed that you purchased my name as a domain name and point it to your blog (not creepy at all) and I'm flattered that you care about my hair cuts, my sex life, the fact that i don't drink over-priced beverages in order to maintain some status, my junk, how I speak, my affinity toward cholas, and the way I dress, I am however, uninterested in being the top to your bottom. But fear not Maxi Pad, I know a nice young...

In the never-ended drama headquarters of west Texas that is El Paso City Council, there was an interesting incident recently. Sources at city hall indicate that there was a holiday party that was supposed to be for city staff and it was hosted by City Reps Limon and Robinson. Limon likes to through a lot of parties from what I'm told. Anywho, the staff from the other city rep offices weren't invited to the exclusive little shin dig. Having been a staffer, thats a pretty big violation of staffer code. Typically staff have an unwritten rule that while you are always expected to remain loyal to the boss, you still have to get along with the other staff. So having a party for all city staff but not inviting your colleagues' staff is not only a ZAS to the colleagues, but it creates bad blood with staff. That is NEVER a good thing for an elected that has to work with other electeds. Funny part is, from what I hear from city hall peeps, Robinson and Limon allegedly has the huevos ...

I'll make this quick. It's pretty quiet out there in terms of city council candidates. If a serious contender plans on making a move against any of the incumbent city reps, they had better make the move pretty quickly. It takes longer to defeat them. It also takes more money. I haven't heard about a single opponent for any of the three incumbents (Reps Niland, Noe, and Ordaz), much less serious contenders. Based on previous performances it's not likely any of them will actually get any serious opposition either. Sure, an ankle-biter or two may make a bid, but no one credible. With Niland someone would have to come up with a lot of cash to take her on. Good luck with that, fundraising was her profession. Ordaz has money left over from the special election and made a statement with her win. She has been very non-controversial and has a campaign team that are as close to unbeatable as you can get. Dr. Noe is the only one that is remotely close to being classified as vulner...

I wanted to clarify a couple points about my piece yesterday having to do with what happens when the senator eventually leaves his seat. First, the main point of what I wrote was the fact that Marquez is the most likely to run, but least likely to win. Not sure how any of you interpreted what I said any differently, but that was my point. Do I think she's qualified? Yes, certainly. More so than one or two other members of the delegation to be sure. The other thing I wanted to underscore is that she's tougher than most people give her credit for. I have two reasons for thinking this. #1 - she's terrible at relationship management which surprisingly doesn't appear to have hurt her in Austin yet, but has at home. She can't keep political allies and constantly has to keep looking for another port in the storm. That has to suck. Especially as she looks towards playing the long game in politics. I mean she's really put herself on an island. #2 - she had to deal with a...

So that buzz around town is that Senator Rodriguez may be on his last ride in Austin. Whether or not that is actually true remains to be seen but it will no doubt create another shuffling of the deck. Who wants the job most? Probably State Representative Marisa Marquez. The Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) will likely make it rain on her should she make the bid for the seat. If she runs, it will leave her seat open. I'm sure a myriad of candidates will line up for that job. I'm not convinced that she's the only member of the delegation what will take a stab at the seat either. Rookie mistake. Here's the thing about state representatives. As much as they hate to hear it, they have less influence with the electorate than a member of city council. Thats not an exaggeration either. Think about it, state reps run every two years and since the session only meets once every two years, they are really only relevant once every two years. Members of city council, or commissioners ...

You're watching City Council right now (okay, let's be real, you aren't) and you see Rep Limon on the screen.  The first thing you think is, hey what gives! She's not wearing lime today. The next thing you think is, hey she looks like she's dealing poker on a riverboat casino. I feel you, I thought the same thing.

Okay so today is the black mail deadline. To bring you up to speed, Maxi Pad has apparently tried to use me in a weird bid to black mail the County Judge. He apparently has emails that are supposed to be a big deal. Personally I think he's full of it. The reality is Maxi Pad just wants a public hand job. But hey, I find the black mail bid entertaining. So I'll play along. I'm supposed to say that Maxi Pad is not Rick Armendariz or anyone affiliated with Forma Group.  So, "Max Powers is not Rick Armendariz or anyone else affiliated with Forma Group". Now that I've done that, let's see what happens. Your move Maxi Pad...

I visited Chairman Maya today and since so many of you are asking how he's doing I thought I'd pass on a quic update. His health is improving. The stroke affected his mobility but there was no cognitive impact. In other words it didn't affect his ability to continue as the Chairman of the El Paso Democratic Party. We talked about the news and some other stuff. He will be at the facility he is at right now for about a month and probably go home after that.

Last night the San Elizario city council ultimately did the right thing. After a controversial agenda item that would've made property owned by the mayor's parents the temporary city hall, the council voted to no longer consider the location. The City of San Elizario is going to pursue securing a lease for property that was once a fire station but now belongs to the San Elizario Independent School District as its location for city hall. Ultimately that makes more sense because they need a long-term plan for city hall. As it is now the current council has to make do. A lot of city business is conducted via cell phone and home visits. That simply won't work. I went to the city council meeting and most of the council and many in the audience seemed offended that people showed up to the meeting that don't normally go to city council meetings. Council is going to have to grow thicker skin. That is the nature of politics and only a very small fraction of people actually show ...

A source in Clint ISD indicates that one of the school board members that recently won a seat in the last election has not taken office yet. The source indicates that Hilda James allegedly isn't taking office because of a policy relating to nepotism. Apparently there is a policy in the Clint ISD that basically says that you can't be a board member if you have a relative (probably some level of consanguinity is defined in the policy) that works for the district. The source indicates that you can't take office if said relative has worked for the district for less than 6 months prior to taking office. I'm doing more research to see the exact policy and to check to see if the policy says 6 months before the election or taking office. But at any rate, my source indicates that Ms. James allegedly publicly indicated that she was going to wait until the 6 months is up before she takes the oath of office. If true, then constituents are going to go without full representation in ...

I'm working on a piece about Clint ISD that I'll post tomorrow after I track down a few things. Interestingly in a climate where people are starting to lose confidence in their local governments, this is going to be yet another blow to public confidence. Details tomorrow...

Look I get why Maxi Pad is all on Valenti's sack lately. He's sore at the County Judge and Vince Perez for taking away business from Forma Group. Forma would've normally ran the Judge's race and other races that they don't get hired to run anymore or they are reduced to a more limited role than they used to have. So it makes sense that he's blasting them on the regular. So if they're against Valenti, he's gonna be for him. Makes sense. What doesn't make sense is why Muench writes a political column for the Times. I mean the guy is more of a sports guy. Sez here (I stole that from him) he was better off writing tidbits about Miner football. Seriously, its time to bench Muench. In last week's column Muench basically said that El Pasoans are upset that Valenti got the bonus because he's rich. Well at least Muench acknowledges that across the board, people are upset about the bonus, so he got that part right. And frankly thats far more than what ...

The City of San Elizario will face one of its first controversies as Texas' newest incorporated town this evening when city council takes up the issue of the selection of a city hall location. The controversy is over the fact that the City of San Elizario seems prepared to lease property that is owned by Mayor Maya Sanchez's father, Ben Sanchez, for use as a city hall. The location, called Maya's Garden, is on Socorro Road just as you enter the heart of the community. The location has been a natural meeting place for the community during the incorporation effort back when a previous city council in the neighboring community of Socorro was trying to annex San Elizario. That effort was spearheaded by then-City Councilman Jesse Gandara. Gandara will be going to trial on several different charges next month, one of which is relating to an alleged attempt to bribe prominent members of the San Elizario community in exchange for their support of the annexation effort. The Sanchez ...

Here are the details of the funeral services for Rita Sariñana.(pictured with her daughter and Senator Shapleigh) Visitation 5-9 PM 12-10-14 at Hillcrest Funeral Home on Carolina and Yarbrough. Vigil Service at 7 PM.  Mass 9:00 AM at Cristo Rey Catholic Church on Thursday 12-11-14. Internment to follow at Fort Bliss National Cemetery.

You can hear from your Congressman this weekend.  Here are the details: Saturday, December 13, 2014 *General Town Hall* Eastwood High School Theater 2430 McRae Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.   *Veteran Town Hall* Eastwood High School Theater 2430 McRae Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Actually two. That's right, for the second time in a long while Texas Monthly named some from the 915 to the list.  Lucky us. That's sarcasm. Ann Morgan Lilly and Lily Limon made the list. But really, it's about Lily Limon and the fact that she apparently can't play nice with others. Here's the article and a fun little cartoon that goes along with the piece. Could've been worse, they could've given it to her for the light display at the park. 

Rita Sariñana, a long-time Democratic Party activist passed away earlier this evening. Mrs. Sariñana was in declining health over the last few years.  Despite her declining health she was a constant fixture at early voting locations in the valley. She was known for her trademark glasses and hats and was always smiling.  Funeral arrangements are being made.

If what I'm told by a source is accurate, then Peter Svarzbein is a legit candidate and coming out early was the best thing he could've done. I'm told the Svarzbein campaign raised around $17,000 at his campaign kick-off event. That's about half of what he needs to win in that race if there's a field of legitimate candidates. That's big money for a city council race and I can't recall another time that a single kick-off event for a council seat raised that kind of money. I don't know how much he already has and a good campaign will have money ready to go, but even if he had zero in the bank, $17k is still impressive. He's gonna need to duplicate that effort before its all said and done. We will see what the numbers look like officially when the campaign finance reports come out soon. Either way coming out that early and raising that kind of money is impressive. If he starts block walking now, he may kill most opposition in the cradle. By the way, he...

El Paso County Democratic Party Chairman Glenn "Butch" Maya has been released from UMC. Chairman Maya has been released to a rehabilitation facility until he recovers more use of his left side. His health has improved enough to be moved to the rehab facility. No indication as to the length of time he will be at the facility. I was unable to reach the Chairman for more details.

Patricia Adauto, who is retired from the City of El Paso and has been called in to head the Public Works Department at the County, is apparently making a pretty healthy salary. I'm not sure if she's there on an interim basis or if she's there permanently but word around the Courthouse is that she's pulling down $12k per month in her current position. That means she's making $144,000 per year, not counting any benefits she might be receiving. Thats a pretty steep jump over the former Public Works Director Ernie Carrizal. County records indicate that he was making about $131,000 per year. Don't get me wrong, I know the reality is that you have to pay a competitive wage if you want to attract the best talent. My only question is why so much more than the previous director.

A few years ago a guy named Manny Barraza very famously declared in a debate in the courthouse that "there is no corruption in this courthouse". That was after the FBI had raided then County Judge Anthony Cobos' office.  That guy Barraza would eventually become a judge. Then he faced charges himself and did some prison time. He's now a paralegal with some attorney here in town. I forget who. Well I used to think no other quote would ever approach Barraza's in terms of irony.  Until last year. You memmer, memmer? When one of the judges charged up to Commissioner's Court, thumped his chest and defiantly questioned County Commissioner Vince Perez, "What is the problem?" It was quite the scene. He did so because he was pissed about what the Commissioner was looking into regarding indigent defense.  How dare he interfere with the judiciary?  was the prevailing sentiment among the judges. Not all of them of course. And certainly not all of the attorneys ei...

Congressman-elect Hurd will hold a meet and greet in San Elizario on Wednesday, December 3rd. The event will take place at El Bandido Cantina and Restaurant. Hurd is scheduled to be there from 1:30pm to 2:45pm. The address for the location is 1591 Main Street, San Elizario, Texas. Hurd, a Republican, defeated Democratic Congressman Pete Gallego in the November general election.

Look there's a pecking order in the blogosphere and the two bottom feeders know it. I'm the blogger those two write about, not the other way around. I rarely if ever dignify them with a click. They can believe that or not, I really don't care. But the irony of both of them having the initials MP hasn't been lost on me. Its convenient because most of the time I think they are mas pu....anyway. Since I can't get people to stop emailing me the stupid stuff they've said on Valenti, I thought I might as well address it, which will likely lead to the two of them writing more about me. But thats what bottom feeders do anyway. Its the lay of the land and they can continue. Lets start with Maxi Pad. The way that guy has been defending Valenti, it wouldn't shock me if Forma Group approached the UMC Board to offer to do some crisis management. You know, similar to what they did when they approached Canutillo for similar services. If you recall thats when Armando Rodrig...