Margo Trading Ricks

It really didn't click to me how messed up Mayor Margo's move to kick Rick Bonart was until the White House banned a reporter from CNN yesterday.

Trump has made silencing dissenters all the latest rage - which is bad for Democracy.

Look, the Mayor has the authority to replace folks if he wants to. That is perfectly within his rights as the Mayor of the City of El Paso. But the reality is that it was, for lack of a better expression, a dick move.

First of all Bonart's term wasn't up and there is no real sense of urgency to remove him, other than the fact that he's going against what the mayor wants.

Second, he replaces Bonart with Rick Cabrera? Look I like Rick, and he's pretty decent at pick-up basketball, by why on earth would the Mayor risk the optics of appointing someone that works for a company that purchased a company Margo used to own and his son still works for?

And Rick...come on vato, you've been around news long enough to know that you'll be seen as the Mayor's boy on the commission from now until your term runs out.

I don't understand why either of them thought this was a good idea.

But back to my main point - this is a bad move by the Mayor and sets a dangerous precedent. Why would anyone but yes men/women want to serve on a commission if they know they are going to get booted out if they dare disagree with Heir Margo?

You can't ignore the timing on this move at all. Its the most transparent bullshit I've seen council do in a long time.

Now, if the removal was because he is running against Svarzbein, then the city needs to make a policy about holding commission seats and running for office. Absent a policy, there's no reason to remove an active and engaged member of a commission just because he's a dissenting voice. And oh by the way, he hasn't filed to run yet, so even if that was the reason, he hasn't filed yet.

Council - control your Mayor.

He's gonna keep bullying y'all until you grow a pair and put him in his place. This makes the city look bad. We want rigorous debate. We want a competition of ideas.

We don't want to be come Trumpistan where there is rule with an iron fist and dissenters are quickly disposed of.