El Paso Politics

Its been a while since I've done a separated at birth piece so here's the latest installment. Relax people, they are not meant to hurt feelings. They are just meant for a little comic relief, so don't get your thong twisted. First, lets start with a celebrity...sorta... This is Boo. He is "the world's cutest dog". He's a Pomeranian. Its a real dog, despite the fact that it looks like a stuffed animal. The dog on the right is Pink. She belongs to Claudia Ordaz, who has been a communications pro for Congressman Reyes and Senator Shapleigh. I'm told this dog acts like a stuffed animal. Claudia wants them to have puppies. (I know what you're thinking...my blog has officially jumped the shark because I'm blogging about puppies. But if you knew how much money Boo makes you'd be blown away.) The next separated at birth is local. Ironically they are on different sides of the same race, but they are both my buddies. This is Jose Landeros, who is Vin...

The bad part about what I do is that I often see the behind-the-scenes view of candidates and politicos in town and I'm often disappointed. I'm not sure why, maybe because I still have an innocent part of me that wants to believe in people. Which sucks because it means time after time I am let down. Lot of that going around for the last couple of months. But such is life. However I have always made it a point to highlight the times when I bust a candidate or a politico red-handed being a good person. Its the stuff that will never make it in to the news, but I still find it noteworthy. Yesterday I busted a politico red-handed being a good guy. His name is Alejandro Sanchez and he ran for Constable of Precinct 6, down in the valley. I was in Socorro yesterday afternoon and stopped at the convenience store on Horizon and North Loop. It was hotter than Hades yesterday. There was a man standing outside who clearly had some mental issues. I'm not sure if he was homeless but he wa...

Ex-County Commissioner Willie Gandara's upcoming guilty plea is really going to emphasize the importance of the decision voters are going to make on July 31st as to who is going to be the next Commissioner of Precinct #3. If there is a winner in this particularly sad situation its Vince Perez. He was the first to call-out then Commissioner Gandara. He was the first to issue a call to the end of Gandara politics. He issued stinging critiques of not only Gandara, but Dora Oaxaca's ties to Gandara after he dropped out of the race and raised the issue of cash being handed-out a pachanga being thrown by his run-off opponent Chente Quintanilla. Here is the article in the El Paso Times that gives you background on the story.  Now that the election for Precinct 3 is down to Vince Perez and Chente Quintanilla, voters will make a critical decision about the direction of their leadership. In the state rep race that shares part of the electorate as Precinct 3, voters went with a younger m...

Apparently there was some error, either with a bank or with the County, that led to the pay problem. Apparently the problem will be resolved some time today. I'll continue to provide updates as they become available.

Multiple sources at the County indicate that they did not receive their pay today as scheduled. It appears that  the pay situation is affecting employees in multiple departments including support personnel, deputies, and courthouse personnel. But it appears UMC employees did get paid. Sources in the Courthouse said the contacted HR and were told that an email was going to be sent out to employees from the Auditors to explain why. I'm still collecting details. More to follow...

In an unprecedented move, the staff of The LionStar Blog have made the decision to give an additional series of awards this week. And by staff, I mean me. So...here we go. Homeboy of the Week #2 - Chief Justice John Roberts. Douche Bag of the Week #2 - Republicans that are sore losers. When the SCOTUS upheld the Paper's Please portion of Arizona's SB1070, you people called it a victory for the Constitution and America. Now you are whining. Why do you hate America, the Constitution, baseball, and Mom's Apple pie? Where is your sense of patriotism? Deal with the fact that one of the most conservative members of the Court ruled that the main criticism you folks had against the President was Constitutional. The Court is decidedly Conservative and it sided with the Administration. I can't think of a better way to end this post that quoting the Vice President, "This is a big f%&king deal". See you vatos in November...

Jacklyn Ann Fierro, daughter of El Paso Community College Board President Art Fierro, passed away recently in Phoenix, Arizona. There will be a Memorial Mass in her honor today at 6:00pm. The Mass will be celebrated at St. Stephens Catholic Church located at 1700 George Dieter in El Paso. On a personal note - Art is a friend of mine. One of the few good friends I have. I cannot begin to understand the pain of this loss but knowing Art, expect to see him laughing and joking again. He's known for always smiling and joking. I'm sure its going to take awhile for him to do that again, but he's a resilient guy...even if he's known for hitting a few balls in to yards surrounding Vista Hills Golf Course. On behalf of the Abeytia family, I would like to extend our condolences on their loss. Politics aside, the loss of a child is a difficult thing. God bless the Fierro family.