San Eli & Clint Issues

Mayor Dora Aguirre, Clint

Okay lets put a pin in the local elections and lets get back to governance. 

San Elizario is going to have a new round of municipal elections and I can't underscore the importance of their elections enough. The dichotomy of San Elizario is that its one of the oldest communities in the County and also has a lot of new growth. Think of it like San Elizario is the kid going through middle school. Its a transitional period and the community has one foot in childhood and one foot in teenage years - only in San Eli it has one foot in its deeply rural and historic roots and the other in a relatively new suburban existence. 

So obviously and naturally there are growing pains. 

Small town communities, probably more than anyone else, need competent representation at the helm that understands policy. Dollar amounts have a bigger impact in smaller communities. One of the biggest problems for San Elizario is that its current mayor, Antonio Araujo, stopped attending meetings at the Metropolitan Planning Organization - the MPO. 

I guess he didn't find it interesting or just doesn't care - but it was a terrible decision that lies solely on his shoulders. San Elizario lost their voting privileges because of his lack of attendance. The MPO is the entity that leverages millions and millions of public infrastructure dollars and helps shape what mobility in the county looks like. 

Thats literally millions of dollars that San Eli taxpayers will have absolutely no say in how they are disbursed. Its a major mistake on the part of the mayor and if he doesn't understand the depth of the impact of San Eli's vote being taken away due to lack of attendance - then quite frankly he shouldn't be the mayor. 

Y'all tired of the flooding on FM110 every time it rains out that way? Wanna see Socorro Road, Alameda, or North Loops get upgrades? Well guess what - shit ain't gonna happen for San Eli as long as they don't have a vote in the priority of infrastructure projects. 

This election is probably the most important election San Elizario has had since incorporation because it is likely going to completely change the face of leadership on council. 

I'll keep y'all posted on the elections in San Eli, so stay tuned...

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Okay, no lets talk about their neighbors in Clint. I don't know what the backstory is but the Mayor Dora Aguirre seems to have an axe to grind against the Clint police department. I have been observing what is going on in Clint for a few months and attended a recent meeting - but you can check out their meetings online (which I've been following for a while) and its very interesting. 

First some of you might be wondering what happened to the former El Paso City Attorney Sylvia Firth. Well, Ms Firth is the City Attorney in Clint now. 

I know, it took me by surprise as well. 

Anywho - if any of you have ever lived in the rural part of El Paso County you'd know that one of the biggest needs in the area - outside of infrastructure and a dog catcher - is law enforcement patrols. There aren't enough Sheriff's Deputies and the Constables often have to fill in the gaps for stuff like speed enforcement's and road closures. 

But all anyone has to do is watch a couple of meetings and its abundantly clear that Mayor Aguirre either doesn't like police or has a personal vendetta against Clint's Chief of Police. 

The city has an opportunity to keep costs down for residents with vehicle purchases through a grant but one of the hold-ups has been the fact that there has been no city budget audit in YEARS. 

I know, that sounds like some Socorro shit, right?

There are a bunch of other issues going on in Clint that deserve some attention as well, so I'm going to be working on finding out answers to questions I have about the Mayor's powers and role according to the Clint Town Charter and the role of a "volunteer" who appears to be acting in the capacity of a town official of some sort. 

I attended a meeting and the Mayor appeared to be pretty adversarial to most members of council and most definitely the Chief of Police. 

By the way everyone - we are in Women's History month and I wanted lift up the fact that Clint not only has a woman Mayor, but the Chief of Police, City Attorney, and Code Compliance Officer are all women. That's very noteworthy every day, but most especially this month. 

Anywho, back to the Mayor - I got the distinct impression that the Mayor sees law enforcement as too expensive to the city. I don't think there is anyone in the Lower Valley that thinks there is enough law enforcement coverage so it would be interesting if she made some effort to get rid of the department. 

So stay tuned, this is going to be interesting...