El Paso Politics

Here is Ortega's announcement in its entirety.

Photo by Peter Svarsbein Sorry, I'm a little behind on my blogging but here is video from an interview with Steve Ortega following his announcement for his bid to be Mayor of El Paso. I will follow-up with video of his entire announcement speech later this afternoon. The substantive question I had for Ortega was regarding a previous conversation we had in which he had indicated emphatically that he was not interested in running for Mayor. If you believe the word around town, there's a lot of that going on (people once saying they aren't interested in a seat and then deciding they are) and may impact a city rep race. But more on that particular development later. One last thing, as you can see in the photo, I didn't have a regular camera on my at the time so I had to improvise. Sorry about the background noise.

I'd say its yet another black-eye for the city of Socorro but they are out of eyes by now. ANOTHER member of the Socorro PD was taken in to custody today. There is going to be a fundamental lack of confidence in all of city government (there already is to a great extent) if the city doesn't do something to earn the trust of the people they govern. They have a huge public relations problem over there and the Socorro PR guy has more than earned his pay. But he's not a miracle worker. The posture and mind-set of the leadership in Socorro needs to change. It needs to change radically and quickly. Very much like EPISD. Quick and decisive action is what the public wants to see in both cases. The difference is EPISD is at least on the road to recovery. Socorro...not so much.

City Representative Eddie Holguin posted a statement on his Facebook page indicating that he was not going to be a candidate for Mayor of El Paso. In the statement he indicated a desire to complete his term as City Rep. So the statement closes the door on a run for Mayor in this election. The statement doesn't close the door to a future run and it also leaves the door open for a possible bid for House District 76.

Long lines at the polling places is a good problem to have, but even President Obama in his victory speech mentioned how important it was for that to get fixed. El Paso has its own problems with that. From what I've seen its the speed of the election workers signing people in. The County needs to have more than one person do that because it creates a bottle neck and people hate seeing long lines and voting booths that aren't being used. Thats what makes people cranky standing in line. Its one thing if they are all being used. But when there is a line and empty booths voters are rightfully upset. Also, how about some customer service training for the workers. I sometimes think the County looks for the grouchiest and rudest people they can find this side of the DMV to man the polling places. The last thing I want to do is put up with some old geezer's attitude when I had to stand in line to vote. The City needs to figure out a solution to another problem. If there is a locati...

As you no-doubt know by now, I self-identify as Chicano. While some older folks in this community consider it a bit of a derogatory term, where I come from it is not. On the contrary it implies political activism, community involvement, and cultural pride. If thats not me, then I don't know what is. And when I refer to someone else as a Chicano, I mean it as a huge compliment. I've written before about my old man and his love of baseball. A die-hard Dodger fan who bled Dodger blue and ensured his kids watched every Dodger game that came on TV. I grew up hearing Vin Scully call the games and my dad yell at the TV when LA was down. Tommy LaSorda was once the Grand Marshall of the Fiesta Bowl Parade and my dad rushed out to shake his hand, in the middle of the parade, as he drove by. A lot of Chicano kids from my generation played ball in the street and pretended they were Fernando Valenzuela himself. My kid brother was a pitcher and he must've spent hours trying to replicate ...

Okay, its been awhile so lets give out the Homeboy of the Week and Douchebag of the Week Award. Don't worry, my usual post-election awards are coming later. (Send me your suggestions by the way) So lets get to the Douchebag of the Week Award first. The voters of Vinton. You have obstructionist members of your town council that make Sunland Park look like a well-oiled machine. Why you people haven't tried to get a recall effort or something else going is beyond me. Word on the street in Vinton (Yes, the Lion Star Empire extends all the way out to Vinton) is that at least one of the members of town council has a personal relationship with someone involved with a septic tank service. Of course that is unconfirmed...at least until someone in the media starts poking around and asking questions. For your own good, do something about those people. Homeboy of the Week Award goes to all the campaign volunteers that worked for candidates or for/against the propositions. Block walking, ph...