El Paso Politics

Lets face it, the action in the May 2013 municipal elections is going to be in the districts with open seats, which are districts 2 and 7, currently held by termed-out Reps Byrd and Ortega. Districts 3 and 4 are up for election but City Reps Acosta and Robinson seem to be in the drivers' seats for re-election barring any major campaign malfunction. I should note, that I don't know if Rep Acosta is ruling out a bid for mayor but since I haven't heard about it yet, I assume its not going to happen. Plus she still has another term left, so if there's an Acosta bid, it probably won't be until the next election. City Rep Byrd has called in to question some of the information that was on District 2 candidate Getsemani Yanez's bio previously posted on The LionStar Blog. Byrd alleges that much of his participation in the organizations listed was to "pad his political resume" . She alleges that nothing has really come of his participation in any of the organiza...

Frankly the minute I heard Bob Costas speak I knew exactly what the outcome was going to be from the right. I knew that they would freak the hell out and take it as an assault against gun rights. Funny thing is, I never heard Bob Costas speak last night, I didn't hear one thing from him about repealing the 2nd Amendment. There's a reason why I never heard anything about the 2nd Amendment...because thats not what he said. It was less than 2 minutes of airtime and yet the right is crapping themselves like Costas jumped up and issued some sort of communist manifesto. He simply paraphrased what someone else said. That if the vato from the Chiefs didn't have a gun, he and his girlfriend would still be alive. Which sucks because it would still mean he plays for the Chiefs, but thats a whole other conversation. I don't think our guns should be taken away. I don't think our rights to protect our homes and selves should be eroded. But I also don't by stupid bumper sticke...

Name: Todd S. Miller Office: Candidate, El Paso City Representative District 7 Hometown:   Knoxville, Tennessee Education:   Bachelor's of Divinity Degree with a minor in Christian Counseling; pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration through the University of Phoenix Military Service:   United States Army. Human Resources Specialist – Medical Discharge Occupation:   Investment Manager Professional Experience:   Current occupation and military service. Community Involvement: Charity work through current employer. General Political Persuasion: Conservative What are your priority issues for the district?:   Transparency in government. Beef up police and fire. Encourage transparency in school districts. What are the first three acts you'd undertake as a member of city council?:   Beef up police and fire, fight for teachers to get annual pay raises, and implement an open door policy to better serve constituents. How often have you voted in el...

As I've mentioned before, District 7 is going to be an open seat. I expected a classroom size field of candidates to throw their hat in the ring to replace current City Rep and Mayoral Candidate Steve Ortega. Ortega is termed-out and in all likelihood will be the next mayor. So its been pretty surprising to me that no one has thrown their hat in the ring to run for the seat other than former YISD trustee Ray Mendoza. I heard a name thrown out there as a possible candidate and I will try to confirm with her within the next couple of days. Young, bright, attractive and has been pretty politically active at the grassroots level for a couple years now. Compelling candidate if she gets the right team behind her. I'll update you all once I get more info.

Name: Getsemani Yañez Office: Candidate for El Paso City Council, District 2 Hometown: Henderson, Texas (Now lives in El Paso) Education: UTEP, MA Candidate 2013 Baylor University, BA Southeastern University, AS Southern Careers Institute, Technical Degree Tatum I.S.D, (PK – 12) Military Service: Applied but was denied due to medical history Occupation: Small Business Owner Professional Experience: Public Sector Staffer in two Congressional Offices Private Sector Current Owner & Partner of two local small businesses Consulting Service Industry Staffer in Washington, D.C., Government Relations Office Industrial Construction (Energy) Community Involvement: Formerly Elected Central Neighborhood Coalition Representative Co-Founded Fort Blvd. Business Association Member of Central Neighborhood Association Former Board-Member of Five Points Development Association Formerly appointed to City of El Paso Community Development Steering Committee Form...

Yes, I will be ending the L*B in about a month. I've been getting lots of calls asking me if its true since the KVIA piece came out and yes it is. I'll be writing some farewell pieces as the date gets closer. I know, I've said I was quitting twice before. And each time my intent was to hang'em up. But something was always able to pull me back in. When I was quitting the other two times it was mostly out of frustration. You readers can be a very difficult master to please. But this time is different because I HAVE to quit the blog. So yes, it will be done and over on the 31st. I have plenty of time between now and then so I'll make sure I keep it interesting around here until then and the last week should be a lot of fun. Its good to go out on a high note, so I plan on having a lot of fun with the L*B over the last month. The question I keep getting asked the most is why? I've told people its because I'm going to go away to clown college. That's a bold fa...

Yes, it pains me greatly that I had to actually agree with City Rep Carl Robinson on an issue. I still think he's right, but I think in order to provide a more complete discussion of the context, I think we need to go to the instant replay booth for further review. Apparently the offending remark had to do with the alleged onset of dementia in a couple members of city council. I really started to wonder why Wilson might say something like that, ya know, how did she come to the conclusion that dementia might be setting in? Frankly I was stumped. The only thing I could come up with was Carl Robinson's " oversight " relating to citations about not having a driver's license. Guess we have to spend some time under the hood on this one...