El Paso Politics

In a fairly transparent effort of voter suppression the El Paso Republican Party made a pitch to commissioners court yesterday to remove an early voting location from Canutillo. The only real question is whether it is because Canutillo votes heavily Democratic or because Canutillo is heavily Latino. Originally the argument was about a specific voting location, which is the Canutillo ISD Administration building. Essentially the GOP won that argument and another location was chosen. I'll get to why commissioners court screwed Canutillo on that one in a minute. This started last week and within the last few days Javier Chacon (Elections Department Head) came up with a proposal to move the early voting location to the nutrition center in Canutillo. The Republicans tipped their hand to their true intentions when despite the suggestion of the alternate location, the GOP continued with their efforts to remove a voting location from Canutillo. Former Judge Bill Hicks addressed the legal po...

Some genius has decided to hold a voter protection training for the Democratic Party and Debate Watching Parties at almost the exact same time. Not sure who the genius was that thought of that one, but let me speak a little about the colossal waste of time that is a Debate Watching Party. There are apparently several debate watching parties that will be happening tomorrow. My question is, who gives a damn and why the hell are we wasting energy on that kind of cluster fudge. Debate parties accomplish nothing except a waste of resources. Time, effort, and whatever someone pays for refreshments. It doesn't move the ball down the field. It in no way helps Wendy Davis be competitive. Not in the least. We shouldn't be wasting time on people who are already going to vote for her. We shouldn't waste our time on people who will never vote for her. But we should be focusing on someone that we aren't talking to - persuadable voters. Its not happening and there doesn't appear t...

For some reason Joe Muench has a political column in the El Paso Times. Not sure why, but somewhere along the way he ended up with the job. Although now I guess he's retired. I don't really know what the deal is with him and his column but his column on Sunday said something I think he needs to be called to the carpet on. First, mark the date and time. I am about to defend Norma Chavez. Yes, that Norma Chavez. The one that I've had a very public and often brutal feud with for the past few years. I don't have to recount why the feud started because you all basically know. But the feud got pretty bad. Very, very, very personal. So you know if I'm defending her, then Muench must really be off the mark. I mean worse than the time he thought Sergio Lewis and Dan Haggerty lived in the same precinct. Apparently Muench finds Norma's facebook page quite entertaining and he wrote that she has been "Ms. Congeniality" on facebook lately. He ended the blurb about h...

If you've haven't kept up with the ongoing issue in the Clint ISD, read this article in the El Paso Times and it should get you up to speed. Again it is the biggest miscarriage of justice in the county that I can think of in a very long time. Its a social justice issue, there's a racial component, a socio-economic element, fairness and equality element, and equal access to education element. The fact that the state delegation does nothing about this is an embarrassment. Luckily, the voters can do something about it. Turns out that three members of the Clint ISD Board of Trustees are up for reelection in the November election. There members of the board are up for reelection. Jim Pendell - Clint Janice Armstrong - Clint Bobby Lara - Clint As you can see, all of these incumbents. They run on an at-large basis so the incumbents end up with a huge advantage. If there were single member districts there would be equal or at least proportional representation of all the communitie...

Just noticed something interesting. Two prominent westside Democrats have a birthday today. Congressman O'Rourke and Sergio Coronado. Beto turns 42 today and Sergio turns 55 years old today. Congratulations gents. Take some time off from campaigning today to do some celebrating. Well the Congressman doesn't really need to take time off. He has a Libertarian opponent. So he basically doesn't have an opponent. Oh yeah, the Republicans put someone up again too. Like I said, he basically doesn't have an opponent.

PARENTS CAN PROCEED WITH LAWSUIT ALLEGING VIOLATIONS  OF TEXAS CONSTITUTION  FOR FUNDING DISPARITIES   EL PASO, TX, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 – Today, the El Paso Eighth Court of Appeals announced a precedent-setting decision involving intra-school district funding in Texas. In overturning the previous dismissal of the lawsuit in El Paso state district court, the Court found that complaints by parents in the Clint Independent School District of unequal and unequitable funding for certain schools within the district are constitutional by nature.  Therefore, the parents did not have to go through school district’s administrative process first in addressing these complaints. Texas Civil Rights Project cooperating pro bono attorney Ralph Miller, of Weil, Gotshal and Manges handled the parents’ successful appeal before the Court.   The decision will allow parents of Clint ISD students to proceed with their lawsuit, which will show how the Clint ISD’s disparate funding unfai...

Mayor Maya Sanchez (I should say the newly married Mayor Sanchez) of the City of San Elizario, Texas sent out the following announcement about a Community Visioning Workshop coming up this weekend.  Read more for details. If you have friends or family that live in San Elizario, please let them know about this important meeting.  Here are the details: The City of San Elizario is on the move! What changes would YOU want to see in our community? What would YOU prefer to keep the same? Let us know!  Please join us for the City of San Elizario’s first  Community Visioning Workshop  on  Saturday, Sept. 27 .  This exciting, highly participatory event will be held at “Maya’s Garden,” 12339 Socorro Rd. in San Eli, starting promptly at  9:00 a.m.   The workshop will run until approximately  1:30 p.m. and will include a complimentary lunch and break-time snacks. In this  LIVELY, DYNAMIC SESSION  we hope to work out the foundation of San E...