Say It Ain't So Joe (Muench)

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 William Hanson and the UMC Board of Directors is willing to admit.

But equating people that are rightfully upset about a bonus with the crazies is well, crazy. The crazies are people that are angry for the sake of being angry, and/or angry because their particular faction lost power. Its why they are in a Democratic congressional candidate's commercial until he lost and then showed up in a Republican candidates commercial. That and because she had an intense desire for attention. They are religious nuts that want to be taken seriously as candidates but don't know a single thing about policy. They are people that run for office mostly because they want a little attention.

Those are the crazies.

Being upset that the CEO who just let go 50-something employees because of money problems then is awarded a nice fat bonus several times the average salary of an El Pasoan is pretty righteous. Seriously, Muench is semi-retired but I'm pretty sure that if there were massive lay-offs while he was in the newsroom at the Times and the head honcho then turned around and got a fat bonus he'd be pretty upset too.

---------------------------

Speaking of upset, did you see the email exchange between the County Judge and Hanson when she asked for his resignation?

Two things about that.

#1 - he said no and there isn't a damn thing the commissioners can do about it. Which reminds me, Martin Paredes is a total dumbass. Commissioners Court can call for a review of the UMC budget from here to across the street, but it doesn't fix a single problem. Mostly because the budget they are operating on was already formulated and approved and the one for next year isn't up for formulation or review until next year.

#2 - Hanson shows exactly how detached from reality he and the other board members are from the reality of the situation and public sentiment. Hanson's characterization of the Judge and the Court as "political posturing" and "intimidation" is simply arrogant and ignorant all at once.

The public expects the Court to do something. The problem is they have no power to do anything because County government is the weakest form of government there is in Texas. Efforts to try to strengthen county government have been killed off by a member of our own delegation in the last session.

So the something that the court did was show up at your monthly meeting. That's what you found intimidating? The judge tweeted and Vince worse his suspenders. Hanson, you are an appointed member of a board. You have no political future in El Paso. If your intimidated by Vince Perez you should reconsider things in your life. Seriously, Vince is 110lbs soaking wet, with his boots and suspenders on. An intimidating figure he does not cut.

The truth is County Judge Escobar has been criticized for being such a strong supporter of Valelnti and UMC in the past. Lets be real, Valenti and the board wouldn't have the new clinics they just got if it wasn't for the very three most vocal critics of Valenti now, Judge Escobar and Commissioners Leon and Perez. Those are the three that voted in favor of the clinics. They are now the three most vocal clinics.

The fact that she and the Court are now so critical of the UMC board and the relationship has deteriorated so badly is an indication of just how bad things are. When even your biggest supporters are now the ones telling you that you made a mistake and need to fix it, be a responsible Board Member and do so. Period.

Hanson and Valenti sure didn't mind all that "political posturing" and "intimidation" when they were voting for their clinics did they?

Play this movie to the end. Valenti will be ousted and the board members that supported him will not be reappointed. I don't get why you people want to end your own service with UMC for the sake of someone else's fat bonus, but hey its your funeral.

Before I wrap this up, I have to give Laura Ponce some credit. She rightfully pointed out in the meeting that communication is terrible at UMC right now and she also rightfully pointed out the reason. Because half of the communication staff was let go by Valenti. So of course there's a communication problem!

Valenti, who normally loves a camera more than Eddie Holguin did, probably thought they weren't necessary because he felt he was so good on camera.

We see how well that decision worked out...