El Paso Politics

David Saucedo's mayoral campaign is hilarious. Its one disaster after another and it never stops entertaining me. I found one picture that perfectly captures Saucedo. He's a Republican and had an event were he tried to take the page of an old school Democrat, FDR. He set-up a fire-side chat event. It perfectly captures how artificial the campaign is - a Republican, taking a play from a Democrat and then...even the fire is FAKE! It never stops giving!

I know everyone is paying attention to the shit show that is the mayor's race, but since there are no candidates worth a damn in that race, and since we have a weak mayor form of government anyway, the real races to watch are the city council races. And its a lot of interesting drama when you think about it. D3 and D4 (Eastside/Ascarate and Northeast) are open seats. D2 (central) features a candidate that rode into office on an ethics complaint and is now the subject of an investigation by the Texas Rangers against a field of candidates. The winners of those races will do more to change the direction of council than a mayor will. Personally I think the qualities to look for in this race, especially given the carnival freak show we have at council now, are financial management experience and temperament. Financial management is pretty obvious, we have big dollar issues facing us and we need to make sure we have people sitting at the table that know what the hell they are doing when ...

The anti-immigrant wave that has washed over America since Trump took office, happening even in our own courts in our own back yard, has created an even bigger urgency in the mayor's race in my opinion. Immigrants in communities across this country are worried about being separated from their families. This community needs leaders with the courage to stand up to Trump's policies and actions. That is why party matters...because of crap like what is happening right now. Saucedo has never voted in a primary that wasn't a Republican one. He's a big fan of Rick Santorum. He defended anti-immigrant rhetoric of Lou Holtz. Saying he's against the stadium doesn't wash him of the anti-immigrant stain. Its just his transparent gesture to try to guess the direction of the political winds and try to go with it in order to patronize voters. He could've come out against the Holtz, Trump, and Santorum rhetoric but he hasn't. He made a video about the border that never r...

Okay I won't bore you with the video of all the debate for the D4 candidates, I just thought I'd post the Morgan thing I mentioned yesterday and a round of all the candidates answering a specific question. I chose this question because I thought it was the best question from the panel. They asked the candidates to name two things they have done specifically for the Northeast. I think its the single question that gives voters the biggest insight into the Four for Four. And here is the Sam Morgan closing I was talking about.

Sam Morgan, Shane Haggerty, Jose Placensia, Diana Ramos I have video to follow, but its a lot and takes forever to edit, render, and upload. And contrary to what my haters think, I do have other things to do. After all, being in all the conspiracy theories you shut-ins accuse me of is time consuming. I'll paint with some broad strokes here for this post and get to the video later. The main event of the night was the District 4 race, which is the northeast seat that is soon to be vacated by City Rep Carl Robinson. Surprisingly, there wasn't a single D2 candidate in attendance. If you recall, debates in the northeast are a lot of fun. Mostly because they reflect the northeast - raucous, a huge chip on their shoulder, loud, and a obnoxious. Basically like any night at a bar on Dyer - complete with people who may or may not be slightly intoxicated being loud and rude. Mayoral Candidates - Only two candidates showed up, but interestingly Republican candidate for Mayor Dee Margo didn...

In another surprise, Mayor Oscar Leeser announced on Monday night that he would not be seeking the office of the 16th Congressional District in El Paso. Congressman O'Rourke has indicated that he will be taking on Texas Senator Ted Cruz and will be leaving his seat in Congress. That has created a pretty big seismic shift among local politicos and everybody and their abuelita are lining up to make their next campaign move. Leeser has been going back and forth about not running for reelection, then running for reelection, then not running, then running for congress, then not running for congress, then running for mayor again, then not running again, and now apparently - not running for congress either. Leeser made the announcement at the Northeast Democrats candidate forum that was held Monday night. I spoke briefly with the mayor after his announcement and was supposed to find out why he wasn't running but he hasn't called me back yet. In the mean time, here's video of t...

A source at city hall indicates that district 7 candidate Gerardo Chacon has withdrawn his candidacy. Sources also indicate that he withdrew in order to support fellow candidate Henry Rivera. Rivera recently married Dora Oaxaca, Emma Acosta's controversial staffer and the architect of the now-infamous, now-defunct Gandara family political dynasty. Rivera is taking on incumbent City Rep Lily Limón, who is running for reelection after upsetting the front-running Tania Chozet in a close run-off election. Rivera is still a policeman with the El Paso Police Department and he was the money guy for the police union. Both Rivera and Chacon filed shortly before the filing deadline. It'll be interesting to see how Dora is going to be able to run his campaign and help her boss in her bid to become mayor. Its hard to manager a high-profile mayoral race where your candidate can't raise any money and a competitive high-stakes council race against a popular incumbent.

All you big money people that donated big bucks to help out Jaime Favela in his bid to become the next city rep should know how poorly your money is being spent. Memmer when I told you he actually spent money to tell potential rival candidates that there was still time to file against him? Well it gets worse...or better depending on your perspective. I'm probably helping him by writing this, but its straight up amateur hour at his campaign and I know they don't know this, other wise they wouldn't have screwed up so badly.... ...but a big portion of the mailers didn't reach houses in District 3, which is a good thing for Jaime Barceleau-Favela... ...but he actually sent them to voters who don't live in District 3 anymore. So since the Barceleau-Favela campaign obviously doesn't know this, I'll point them in the right direction. You geniuses didn't realize that there was redistricting done a while back and since you guys are obviously trying to cast a REAL...

District 3 main money candidate Jaime Barceleau appears to not know how to spend campaign money...and I find it hilarious. I got a hold of his first mailer he sent out and boy is it hilarious. There is a lot wrong with this piece of mail, but as a very close friend often reminds me, I need to stop giving out free advice to candidates. So I'm not going to tell him how to fix this crappy mailer, but I will have a little fun with it. First of all, take note of the fact that he actually spent a lot of money to send this out to voters. This landed in mailboxes around February 8-10. The reason the day it landed is significant is pretty funny, but I'll get to that a little later. I've been making the point pretty often that his only redeeming quality as a candidate (hell as a person for that matter) is his wife, the District Clerk Norma Favela. Frankly, she's a great lady and the only reason anyone knows him is because he's her plus one to events. And he's clearly goin...

In a story that should have all El Pasoans worried about government transparency, and makes you wonder were Stephanie Townsend Allala is when you need her, City Rep Jim Tolbert may have gotten himself in even more hot water. Potentially more legal hot water. A story on KTSM last night broke down a major problem that the City of El Paso has with city representatives having to do with text messaging. They may have actually busted them in the infamous "read and delete" operation. Click this link to watch the story . The first part of the story talks about something that should infuriate everyone - lack of transparency. And they weren't the only station to catch it. KFOX also caught on to something that should be the biggest issue this community - your city electeds are doing business on their cell phones and deleting the messages to keep them from the public. In separate interviews with separate stations Rep Tolbert and Rep Niland all but admitted to deleting text messages....

Sources close to Mayor Leeser's private email address he got caught using for city business say that the embattled mayor will file for reelection today. Leeser, who is the subject of an investigation by the Texas Rangers will join the rest of the clown car of candidates vying for the City's Mayoral Office. Leeser is no longer viable for Congress after TOMA-gate, and would have a tough time winning reelection to his seat if it weren't for who is in the race and their field programs. So he'll announce today, cuz, well, what else is he gonna do at this point?

The filing deadline is just days away and a few candidates have thrown their names into the mix. If they are just now throwing their names in the mix, their chances of winning aren't very good unless they have a hell of a ground game that they are throwing into action now. District 2 Rep Tolbert is in some trouble. He's taken the sharpest nose-dive in popularity of anyone I've ever known in local politics and now he has competition - two of which could be very problematic for him, both of whom happen to be veterans Jud A. Burgess - If he were running in District 3, the name alone would be helpful to him. But he's not. He always seems angry and is going to campaign via Facebook memes he makes or maybe print out a bunch of literature, hopefully not low-key anti-semitic this time, to people who may or may not be voters. He's going to make a lot of noise on social media, but the fact that they guy has never voted in a municipal race is going to really hurt him. Not muc...

Well today being Valentine's Day and all, and being the cuddly hopeless romantic that I am - I thought I would send out a few Valentine's poems to El Paso politicos today. I realize I'm no Sergio Lewis, but here goes... EPISD Roses are red, Sweet & delicious is flan. Got no money for teacher raises, But they somehow found money for Juan. Teachers helped pass the bond, but their salad got tossed, Cabrera gotta raise, but you didn't...talk to your union buddy Ross. City Council Roses are red, El Paso has the best weather. City Council is a mess, When are you people going to get your shit together? Svarzbein & Tolbert Roses are red, And so are signs that mean stop. Seriously man, How many times are you two gonna flip-flop? Roses are red, Jim likes his steak, and loves political theater. His reelection is in doubt, Cuz Susie won't be there when he needs her. Mayor Candidates Roses are red, Gold and sweet is honey. David Saucedo's not mayor material, He's...

Well hell, when you're both being investigated by the Texas Rangers (not the one with the Adrian Beltre playing 3rd base) you might as well stick together, amirite? I wonder what kinda sweet deal he got on this purchase? Come on Jim, you mean the Mayor didn't come outside and help out with the sale? Thats disappointing, you'd think he woulda hooked it up for the homie. Hard to believe he wouldn't help out a colleague on council. Or maybe it was just a coincidence that Mr. Ruth's Chris purchased a vehicle where it just so happens the mayor owns the dealership? Okay trolls - I'm well aware there is nothing illegal about buying a Hyundai (but it outta be, hey-yo!) I KID, I KID. Its just funny to me, relax people. Actually, now that I think about it, that would be an interesting story. Just how many people at City Hall have purchased a vehicle at the Mayor's dealership since he's been elected?

A complaint was filed with the city ethics commission yesterday against a candidate for District 4 that is supported by Congressman O'Rourke and a few other prominent people. Ramos was a staffer for O'Rourke until sometime late last year. She moved in to District 4 less than a year ago, presumably to run for the District 4 seat. Ramos is from another part of town and graduated from El Dorado High School. In a previous interview Ramos indicated that she has always maintained her permanent residency in El Paso, however it is not clear if that actually complies with the rules set forth in the city charter or the verbiage included on the candidate application form she signed. Here is a link to the entire complaint document . Frankly, its a pretty in-depth complaint and there is a lot of back-up for the complaint. It appears the biggest problem for Ramos is the application she filed to run for office. Here is the link to her application to file for office and I've included a sc...

I'm not sure if people are just stupid, or if there is a concerted effort to mislead the public, I suspect the later because Grossman is quite the propogandist, but Sargent and Grossman are not the martyrs that they are being portrayed to be.  Sargent and Grossman weren't reappointed to the El Paso County Historic Commission...and we should be thankful.  Here's the truth, they weren't let go because of the fact that they were pro "Durangito". That is complete bullshit and is their way of trying to make themselves martyrs.  Anyone who thinks or says that is a liar or stupid.  Probably both.  What they don't want people to know is the fact that they are a huge liability and have been for, by their own admission, basically as long as they have been on the commission.  How do I know that? Because it as a unanimous vote. For those of you who don't know, a couple of members of the Court are against the site of the downtown arena. If the dynamic duo were trul...

I see a lot of really dumb conspiracy theories posted online - and I'm not talking your run-of-the-mill chem-trails, illuminati, Tupac is alive, we-faked-the-moon-landing stuff either. I mean industrial grade local stuff. Like today's vote on the members of the El Paso County Historical Commission membership. People should be required to know what they are talking about before they create conspiracy theories to fit their respective narratives. Max Grossman and Bernie Sargent aren't being singled-out because of their stance on Duranguito. They'd love nothing more than to play the martyr here, but the reality is the criticism I have leveled is based on what has been covered by the news. Oh wait, let me guess, the media is in on it too right? Grossman and Sargent and others are under investigation for a possible violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act - not because of the secret close-door meetings, but because they allegedly conducted a vote via email. Had something like...

This is seriously a disastrously weak mayoral field as most of you reading this already know. Other than people being paid by campaigns, I doubt there are many people that are actually excited about a mayoral candidate. And frankly, how could they be? Top to bottom its the biggest clown show this side of Ringling Brothers. The reality is I'll never vote for Emma Acosta under any circumstance. Any person that wants to make government less open is certainly not worthy of a vote. Not to mention the $60 million in lost project money because of the city's ineptitude on the MPO that happened under her watch. And do I really need to remind you that she's the lady that pushed for an obscene raise for the city manager while also defending Larry Romero? Seriously, she's the lady that wanted Romero to still keep getting tax-payer funded checks while he was just not coming to work and said he had no desire to. Saucedo. Lol, does anyone take a double-talking saccharine candidate lik...

You can call this a tale of self-inflicted wounds. But you could also call it a tale of avoidable mistakes. Mayor Leeser, in the span of just a few short weeks has seriously, if not fatally, jeopardized any chances he ever had at ascending to the congressional seat soon to be vacated by Beto O'Rourke. Hell, if there were an actual good mayoral campaign and not this clown car of candidates we have now, he would be hard pressed to get re-elected. But the mayor has an investigation by the Texas Rangers hanging over his head right now for a possible violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Despite what some of my colleagues might try to tell you, that is a big deal. That's one piece of negative mail right there. And trust me, voters in El Paso are very sensitive about having leadership they trust. Now the stories come out that Mayor Oscar Leeser not only did a douchey move that was David Saucedo-level of douchedom, he personally called the Chief of Police to help him in his little...

I'll rip the band-aid off here, the current leadership team of the El Paso County Historic Commission has made some very bad mistakes. Mistakes that have sparked an investigation by the District Attorney's Office and have stalled historic designation for sites in the Mission Valley including the cemetery at La Isla in the Fabens area and the cemetery in San Elizario and other projects. The delay is because of the way the Commission voted on their issues. It was a violation of the Texas Open Meetings act. And now, incredibly, Bernie Sargent (head honcho of the Commission) says he's putting together training curriculum for the board members to avoid that from happening again. Are you kidding me? He's the guy who conducted the vote improperly in the first place. And according to this article in the El Paso Inc , has been doing so for years! Guess what, anyone who wants to can now go back and challenge any historical designation that was done improperly. That is a huge liab...