El Paso Politics

LVWD General Manager Jack Alayyan confirmed to a reporter, Kaylee Heck, from KFOX/KDBC yesterday that he is in fact on administrative leave relating to a charge of sexual harassment. Lower Valley Water had to pay out on a previous employment issue in which a claim of sexual harassment was alleged against Alayyan. This is now the second allegation against Alayyan raised that has risen to the level of the board. The person who was the alleged victim in the first allegation that the board ended up paying out money on went to the special meeting last night. She told the reporter she was there to show solidarity with the other woman raising the issue even though she doesn't know her. Alayyan told Heck that he would do an interview with her but was not at the meeting when the meeting started. He arrived only when the board had moved into executive session and he went in through a side door that had controlled access. He later tried to slip out of the building un-noticed but the reporter ...

I guess its bad timing for Senator Rodriguez, but an article I stumbled across in the Texas Monitor has a not-so-flattering mention of El Paso's senator which really put into perspective his recent comments regarding Duranguito and El Paso's city council in another publication, the Texas Monthly. More importantly, it points out something that might be embarrassing for the Senator that spoke about how we don't want gringolandia in El Paso. He is apparently totally cool with gringolandia in Austin. This is coming off a scathing letter from most of City Council about his comments regarding gringolandia and the Senator's insinuation that they are being brought off by developers that have contributed to their campaigns. Before I get to that, check out this story from KTSM about the letter. Check out Sito Negron's response to the news story. He's really not handling the media relations on this story well at all. Okay, so back to Senator Rodriguez's remarks and ...

Remember the guy that former City Rep Jim Tolbert called an asshole during a city council meeting? His name is Michael Patiño. He was initially one of the most outspoken advocates on the issue. There was talk of a recall of then-City Rep Cortney Niland. Well I was wandering around the Gringolandia - er I mean Do-ruhn-geee-toe - yesterday because well, I play a mean triangle. Seriously, I'm pretty freakin' good on that thing. Think Hendrix playing All Along the Watchtower, but me with a triangle playing Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star. Anywho, I saw that cool video on Facebook where Sito Negron and Max Grossman were having an impromptu drum session during the protest and I thought to myself, "Self, you know what that group is missing? The sound of your raging triangle." So I put on some cargo pants and some Vans with no socks, threw on some shades and went looking to join the band. What I found was more interesting. Mr. Patiño owns this building in the Do-ruhn-geee-toe are...

There is a special meeting tonight of the Lower Valley Water District and there are two very interesting items on the very short agenda. Both deal with Jack Alayyan and an allegation against him. Click here to see the agenda item . Item 8 deals with "discussion and possible action to address personnel investigation, pending personnel matter involving the General Manager, and status of General Manager's contract of employment." Items 9 and 10 also appear to be possibly related. They will "discuss the evaluation of the Chief Deputy General Manager's evaluation". Ricardo Hernandez is the Chief Deputy General Manager. He was previously a consultant for the LVWD until the position of Chief Deputy General Manager was created. Because the two are so close its not clear if items 9 and 10 are some sort of discipline for Hernandez or if they are on the agenda in the event that the Board chooses to replace Alayyan with Hernandez. As I previously mentioned, a similar it...

As I've said before, I post any campaign announcements that are sent to me. Chairwoman Holguin is having a fundraiser later this week.  She's been the best Chair the Party has had in years and I doubt anyone would take her on.  Also, reminder to anyone that wants the campaign events listed, all you have to do is email them to me at thelionstarblog@gmail.com

Stop saying Senator Rodriguez's statement was out of context. You're lying or stupid because it wasn't. You know who says that their statement was taken out of context? People who said something stupid and are taking heat for it, but don't want to apologize for it. But if you want to talk context, then I have an even bigger beef with it. The context in which the senator used the statement was essentially saying the young people leave El Paso and come back and want things better and change things to "gringolandia". First of all, how colonized is your mind that you think better means white? But lets talk about the term gringolandia itself. There is no context in which it isn't meant in a negative way towards white people. No one in the history of saying the word gringo , meant it in a good way. Mostly because its not a word you use with the intent of meaning it "in a good way". I had a friend on Facebook tell me "Gringolandia isn't racist ...

I've made mention of the fact that Dori Fenenbock has a mostly Republican voting history. The way Democrats that are supporting her are trying to reconcile that is by saying that both candidates are taking Republican money. Which is true, they are. But there's an obvious difference when one candidate, Fenenbock, took a majority of her money from out-of-town Republicans and Escobar that got a modest amount from Republicans. And to make matters worse, Fenenbock's biggest expenditure was to an anti-gay strategist. So its no surprise to me that Sam Morgan is supporter her. He has Republican history, but its been mostly Democratic voting history. Dave Jones is the Chair of the Northeast Democrats. He has been public about his support for Fenenbock, which is unique in terms of chairs of Democratic Party auxiliaries. None of them have endorsed a candidate yet because their chapters haven't held endorsements yet, so that makes Jones the only chapter boss that is already support...

I watch government meetings on line and I often wonder why I torture myself. It is quite often the source of my aggravation and Tuesday's council meeting was a perfect example. First of all, to the activists...stop saying your 1st Amendment Rights were violated. They weren't and you sound stupid as hell when you say that. The reason the general public usually ignores big protests and marches is because they think most of the people at the protests and marches don't know anything, and when you say you're rights were violated because you didn't get to speak at public comment, you're confirming it. There is no right to speak at public comment. A government body in Texas doesn't even have to have one if they don't want to and its not a violation of anything. Seriously, learn what the hell you are talking about before you say dumb shit. That being said, seriously City Council - get your head out of your ass. Override the Mayor on this bullshit cap on public c...

I check voting history of candidates. Its usually the first thing I check when someone files for office. I do that because you never know what you're going to find. Like the former appointed County Commissioner who had never voted in the Precinct she was appointed to represent, or municipal candidates that had Republican voting history, or Dori Fenenbock who has almost nothing but Republican voting history. Oh yeah, fun story later today about that tie-in, but you'll have to come back later for that. But this post is not about what I found in Judge Gonzalo "GG" Garcia's voting history. This post is about what I COULDN'T find in Judge Gonzalo Garcia's voting history. I couldn't find ANY voting history for GG at all. Zip. Zilch. Nada. That is extremely unusual for a guy who has been in office a really long time, but maybe not all that unusual considering he's never really had to campaign for the job. Now that he is in a campaign against Judge Monique...

Lower Valley Water District General Manager Jack Alayyan faced a personnel issue at the last board meeting and the Board took no action on the item. Here's a link to the agenda item . A source close to the situation alleges that there is an allegation of sexual harassment at issue. It was not clear what, if any, personnel action was taken against Alayyan. A different source indicates that the Lower Valley Water District has allegedly already had to pay out more than $50,000 in settlements related to the Alayyan on another case related to sexual harassment. The Lower Valley Water District is funded by the fees collected from areas they service including Socorro, San Eli, and Clint and other areas in the lower valley and a tax rate set by their board. So their customers and tax payers are paying for this bill.

So it appears that a rubber match may be in place for the County Commissioner Precinct 2 seat. Stout has been giving every indication that he is running for County Judge, mostly by jumping in front of anyone with a camera (including tourists) and commenting on just about anything under the sun that isn't in his lane. But on social media he has a fundraiser titled David Stout for Precinct 2, although in the description he does leave open the door for a run at County Judge because he uses the phrase "next campaign cycle" instead of re-election and also talks about discussing "all the great work we've done so far in Precinct 2, as well as future plans..." Also, if Stout isn't running for County Judge, that race just got even more boring - but coincidentally I hear a little rumor about another potential County Judge candidate that will change everything. More on that later. Here's a screen shot I took from the Facebook event:   All the great work huh... ...

Former County Commissioner Sergio Lewis has announced his bid to get his seat back on Commissioners Court. The seat is currently held by David Stout who is likely to run for County Judge. Stout is holding out for announcing which seat he is going to run for, either County Judge or for re-election until closer to the filing deadline because of the resign to run clause. The Commissioner will likely want to get paid as long as possible. Lewis’ press release cites holding the line on taxes, limited spending, and support for law enforcement as his successes.

Socorro Mayor Elia Garcia The City of Socorro is in a crisis of confidence with the community. It's as bad as the days of Jesse Gandara because the governance hasn't proved to be much different over the last year. The floods that ravaged the town are analogous to their turbulent, and at times, destructive leadership in the County's second-biggest municipality over the last year. They have a screwed up charter and ordinances because previous administrations have used them as tools to settle scores and minimize their opposition. They have a new young Latina mayor who is an attorney, Elia Garcia. They have one more set of elections in November that will set the trajectory for the city for the next couple of years and there can finally be some common sense and strategic thinking in charge, or it can be more of the same failed leadership that has plagued that community for so long. There is yet another agenda item that shows once again, the agenda for city council meetings is wh...

So over the last two days I have heard that three different people might be considering a bid to take on three incumbents in the court house. All three of the potential candidates are women. Well one candidate probably drawing an opponent is in a court house, just not the main county courthouse. Rebecca Bustamante has been talked about as a probable opponent for Jesus Urenda, the JP out on the eastside. Bustamante is an actual attorney, which is rare in JP races. John John Chatman in JP 5 already has an opponent, also a Latina. Male JPs are going to be particularly vulnerable in the primary because a lot of women are going to be voting - primarily because of the congressional race which will mean that El Paso is going to have its first female member of congress. Bustamante has been involved in the Party and in politics for many years and if she decided to run, you'd have to see her as a pretty strong favorite to unseat Urenda, who has been primarily worried about a challenge from M...

Seems like lately there is a universal complaint about the lack of good candidates running for office. Hell that is pretty much all we heard out of the presidential race is a bunch of people, Yours Truly included, that held their nose for their candidate. In the recent mayoral election I undervote because I just couldn't vote for either Republican, Dee Margo or Beyonce's stunt double David Saucedo... Quick side bar - the minute he showed up at the protest at Duranguito the protesters started lighting up my phone about him showing up in those maaaaassss puuu sunglasses. They couldn't understand why he was even there but once they saw him go live on Facebook they collectively rolled their eyes. But those glasses David, come one man, no mames. What I was REALLY surprised I didn't see and I found out later why, was Dori Fenenbock show up in the People's BMW with a bullhorn, the huelga flag, Bowie Bakery bread and some tamales from Gussie's for the protesters. I mean...

A frequent reader of the LSB sent me a screenshot that I obviously found very interesting. And by interesting, I mean hilariously hypocritical. Former Congressman Sylvestre Reyes posted this on Facebook and there were so many things that flooded into my brain when I read it. First, the same people that were pissed that Beto O'Rourke used the name Beto instead of Robert are the same people completely okay with Dori Fenenbock using the term ¡Si Se Puede! The same people that express pride in our culture, our raza, and our gente, the same people that want Latinos is positions of influence, are going to support a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, rich white woman. Which is fine with me, but it makes me laugh when I hear them stroke themselves about how brown they are. The other thing that makes me laugh is how he's not only blaming the demolition on Escobar, but how he talked about her handing out with Republicans. Now I'm not sure exactly what he's talking about, but this is the s...

Jaime Barceleau was replaced as a Precinct Chair last night. It was because he hasn't done anything for the precinct since he lost the election for City Council. I told you that was going to happen. I told you that he was only running for the seat because he was running for office. All of you that he gave literature to and shook hands with when you were at the polling place and he was there making promises to you about how much he cares about the area...yeah, look how long that happened. Replaced just a couple months after the election by the woman who has been doing the work in that precinct for years, Isela Castañon-Williams. Remember that about him. Because its part of the reason that no one trusts politicians. He swore an oath and he failed to fulfill the oath he took.

Okay let me lay things out as I understand them about the downtown demolition that happened yesterday. There was a court order that went into place on September 11th in the afternoon. That was a result of a court case filed by Max Grossman. The Court granted an 11th hour Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that would stop the City of El Paso from continuing with demolition. So here is the part you need to pay attention to because there is definitely a screw up and definitely a bad guy here for everyone to be mad at. The City of El Paso doesn't own the property yet. Its still owned by the property owners and the City is still trying to acquire the land. They property owners don't get paid for the property until the demolition is complete, which makes sense because its a cost savings for the tax payers and it avoids the scenario of there being some kind of court case that leaves the city stuck with property it can't do anything with and blighted buildings. Grossman screwed up. ...

I was wondering why Dori Fenenbock rather abruptly chose to resign from her position on EPISD on a Friday night of all nights. Obviously I knew that it had something to do with this story run by the El Paso Times and several other news outlets in town about controversial Superintendent Juan Cabrera and some major problems with the bidding process for the largest bond ever attempted in El Paso County . After all, Fenenbock and Cabrera are BFFs. At first I thought it was just really bad campaign messaging because well, honestly Fenenbock's messaging is pretty terrible, even by El Paso amateur hour standards. But it wasn't until I saw this sponsored ad by Dori Fenenbock's campaign that it clicked to me. Dori says things that are rivaled only by Donald Trump and David Saucedo on the El Paso political bullshitometer in this post, but what really got me was two things. First, her talk about corruption and most specifically - in schools. I underlined that part in red. The next par...

I've always hated when people who are not Latino feel like they need to speak to us in Spanish. I've been writing about it since Shapleigh used to do it regularly. Thats just flat-out old school pandering. But Dori Fenenbock took things an embarrassing step further during her announcement for the congressional seat currently occupied by Congressman Beto O'Rourke. She crossed the line from pandering into cultural exploitation. She used something from Chicano cultura for her own personal political gain and its shameful. Also, its good she was wearing boots because she must've known the amount of bullshit that was about to come out of her speech. The use of the chant of ¡Si Se Puede! was beyond pandering, it was cultural exploitation. Now before David K, a rich white guy from privilege writes a blog post to defend a rich white lady from privilege about the use of a Spanish term he doesn't even understand the cultural implications of, let me explain why it bothered me s...

I heard a funny story around the courthouse recently and since were are in campaign season I figured I'd write about it. I spoke to a few prominent attorneys in the courthouse that told me that Judge Gonzalo Garcia, commonly known as GG, has a rather unique fundraising strategy in mind. He hasn't really ever faced a challenger for a seat but he is facing one now, Judge Monique Velarde. He is the judge that presided over the case against former Socorro City Rep Jesse Gandara, who need up with an extremely light sentence of probation following a conviction in a case that has since been turned over. I believe that is the one and only time the District Attorney's Office actually pursued a public corruption case and they didn't present a single witness during the punishment phase of the trial. I was there for that trial. I sat through he entire phase of that trial. Jesse Gandara actually personally texted me (I was able to later confirm the number he was texting me from was ...

Socorro City Rep Yvonne Colon-Villalobos is the subject of an investigation voted upon last night by the Socorro City Council. The investigation stemmed from an agenda item that dealt with a formal complaint against her filed by the city manager of the city of Socorro. The formal complaint cited a range of issues from essentially interfering with staff getting city work done because of having to be taken away from their job for politically motivated requests to a serious claim that Rep Colon-Villalobos implied that she didn't earn her position as the city manager based on her qualifications. The city council will selected who will conduct the investigation at the next city council meeting. The action is very eerily similar to similar action taken by Colon-Villalobos and her council ally Maria Reyes against former Mayor Gloria Rodriguez. Representative Reyes absent from the meeting and has been absent from several meetings citing health concerns as the reason she has been missing a ...

Fraire (L) Colon-Viallobos (Top R) Reyes (Bottom R) Socorro City Rep Yvonne Colon-Villalobos is the subject of an official complaint from the City Manager of the City of Socorro. The complaint makes several allegations but a recording of a meeting between the representative, the City Manager, and the City Attorney, recording by Colon Villalobos herself, reveals that Rep Colon-Villalobos was warned 7 different times during the two-hour long conversation that the attorney was prohibited from providing advice on something that has potential criminal consequences for Colon-Villalobos. The recording also contains a conversation in which Colon-Villalobos sounds like she's implying that the City Manager didn't earn her position on her qualifications, something which the City Attorney also warns her about. The agenda item (along with the rather extensive back-up) can be seen here , and will be heard at the next meeting of Socorro City Council which will take place on Thursday at 6pm. L...

Turns out that Al Velarde was all set to be the successor to Dori Fenenbock for EPISD School Board President. Al Velarde was a member of the audit committee. Sources indicate that it was Velarde who raised the AIPAC trip issue with the Auditors and that is how it got out. What happened next? He was passed over and the Presidency went to the now-President of the school board. Was it payback? Thats for your to decide. But no matter how you slice this EPISD scandal, which the superintendent pretty much admitted he shaped an RFQ to fit a particular bidder - is a big mess for Fenenbock. They have been tied at the hip since she became a member of the board. To the point where there were allegations that the Super was even soliciting support on her behalf if you recall. Fenenbock has one of two courses of action to take - she can pull a Trump and blame the media and decry fake news or she can play tonta. If she plays tonta, then she looks inept and since she's hanging her hat on her time ...

There's a reason that Fenenbock doesn't speak about specifics very often. Because when she does, she gets herself in trouble. So I gotta call from a homie that was at the "annual Labor Day" breakfast today and was told that Dori Fenenbock was talking about the problem this community has with high taxes and the debt we are saddled with. So hol' up - slow ya roll... Like they said in Selena, "pues orale, rewind..." You memmer this don't you? This is Dori on election night for the bond. You'd think she was elected to something right? Even back then she had everything planned to run for congress. That bond election was what she planned to be her springboard toward higher office. Also, these pictures are from her campaign website. It was all designed to be the Dori Fenenbock show. It was a marked difference from President Haggerty and the YISD board who were very low key in the passage of their bond. The President wasn't the center of the show. Fu...

Before I begin - Nicole LeClaire gets a pass for not being at the Anti SB4 event this last Friday. She's the congressional candidate that most of you don't know about but she lives in Houston and is running for the seat in El Paso. Yes, its legal to do that. No, I don't think it should be. But that is besides the point. Houston got whacked with Hurricane Harvey and for obvious reasons, she couldn't be in El Paso. No one should criticize her for it and here is a link to her campaign Facebook page . I know a lot of El Pasoans are helping out with various efforts, so keep on eye on that page and she may post something about where you can send a contribution to help flood victims in the area. So I posted a question on social media and tagged both viable candidates to get some feedback from them about their absence from the event. The only one that replied was County Judge Veronica Escobar. She replied, " My family and I are in Boston right now, moving my daughter in to...