Romero Under Fire

In a very rare midweek story on the El Paso Inc, City Rep Larry Romero is under fire from his own colleagues on council in an article written by veteran reporter David Crowder.

Click here to read the article.

The story uncovers information about 9 streets being paved in Romero's district over the last year that were never on the city's approved street improvement plan. According to the article they streets were paved at the request of Representative Romero.

Those actions are being called "corruption" and "abuse of power" by Eastside City Rep Michiel Noe.

Amazingly Rep. Romero didn't respond to requests for comment from Crowder.

Representative Niland was also critical of Romero in the El Paso Inc story. She called it "dangerous" and said it could lead to politicians having influence on street paving decisions "instead of making it on need."

City Manager Tommy Gonzalez was also unavailable for comment according to the article.

What is particularly concerning is the fact that the addition of streets paved was questioned during a recent council meeting and an answer was given to council that indicated that there was no deviation from the council-approved plan. But that answer was later changed in response to a question from Crowder.

The article also says that the projects that are still on-going have since stopped.

Something to keep an eye on.