El Paso Politics

In what will no doubt include a kindergarten class size field of candidates, the race for district 1 city rep has its first candidate out of the gate. Sources say artist and activist Peter Svarzbein has all but formally announced his candidacy. He is likely going to do so formally next month. Given the time frame you can expect a lot of candidates to start announcing their bids soon as well. Svarzbein is best known politically for his work with the downtown trolley concept. Its always to a candidate's advantage to be out of the gate early as long as there is an actual ground-game taking place. So if he is implementing that strategy then he can use the time to position himself as the candidate to beat. But time is always of the essence and if someone else gets in and starts campaigning then there isn't an advantage. I stole this from his Vimeo account so you have some context relating to who he is. Interview with Maria Garcia 5.16.2012 from peter svarzbein on Vimeo .

In what its probably the worst public relations disaster this side of Gary Larcenaire or the Council of Judges, UMC CEO Jim Valenti doubled-down on the bonus this weekend. In an interview in the El Paso Times about the bonuses he and other top officers received, Valenti said if he had to do it again, he would and he would give more. Is he trying to channel his inner Marie Antoinette? Qu'ils mangent de la brioche! Seriously??? This is how you know it was a bad decision. When it first became public no one from UMC wanted a microphone in their face. No one wanted to talk. Everyone was "unavailable".  That is a sign that it was a bad move but they didn't have a plan to deal with the fall-out. Huge mistake when it comes to information. You need to be captain of your own ship and determine your own destiny.  Then UMC people get tracked down and the quotes get worse and worse. Its like watching the Keystone Cops.  So UMC decides to hunker down and get a plan together of sor...

El Paso Democratic Party Chairman Glenn "Butch" Maya has been hospitalized at Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo, Texas. The Chairman was returning from TDP meetings in Austin, Texas with State Democratic Executive Committeeman and woman Don Williams and Becky Bustamante. A source indicates that he started feeling ill in Sonora, Texas during the return drive to El Paso. He was then rushed by ambulance to San Angelo. "He is okay, but he did have a mild stroke. He is staying for a couple of days to run more tests." Said the source. More details later...

City Rep District 1 is one of the seats that will be up for election in the next cycle that is coming up pretty quickly. I've heard rumors of a few candidates including one that I believe is currently under indictment. Surprisingly that candidate is rumored to actually have support (for now). I just need to dot a couple i's and cross a few t's but tomorrow I should have at least one name of a confirmed candidate for that post. Stay tuned....

If you haven't seen the interview on KVIA between Darren Hunt and Jim Valenti regarding his bonus, you should. Valenti comes across as a real villain. He was asked directly if he will return the bonus and Valenti flat-out said no. Darren Hunt confronted Valenti yesterday about bonus and if he should give it back after having to track him down: http://www.kvia.com/news/valenti-responds-to-abc7-about-120000-bonus/29809836 Watch the video because it's not often that you see a guy instantly signal the end of his career on video. I think in the eyes of the public he has just become the next Gary Larcenaire. Valenti comes across as ambivalent about the employees that were let go and almost defiant towards the community about the bonus. This is when his career meets up with public opinion and frayed relationships with commissioners. Mark my words, this will ultimately be the beginning of the end for Valenti. The part that is really gonna reverberate in the community is the fact that h...

When I'm wrong, I'm usually the first one to point it out and this is one of those times. Yesterday I wrote that if the Public Works Director was to be ousted at the County that it would be the third major loss of a department head. My bad. The body count is actually higher. Twice the amount I actually said if you count Piti Vasquez from purchasing. I forgot Jim Fashing from the Domestic Relations Office and Peter Cooper from the IT department. Clara Hernandez recently retired from the Public Defenders Office as well. She was replaced by Jaime Gandara and with the exception of Gandara, all the new hires for the positions have one thing in common. They are all from out of town. Certainly as tax payers we deserve to have the very best talent available and we shouldn't feel bad about wanting the best talent we can get our hands on. Its the best use of tax-payer dollars. But it is difficult to believe that we don't have local talent that can't be harvested as well. The ...

UMC Jim Valenti's Comments at a Recent Press Conference So the Hospital District Board has given a big fat bonus to Jim Valenti to the tune of $100,000. Incredibly this is a bones based on his performance! This is the exact kind of action that undermines the confidence of the public in government. Before I continue with my rant, let me make sure you all understand something very important. This is NOT the fault of Commissioner's Court. Those of you that are running around saying that should pay more attention because you sound silly. The Court appoints the members of the Hospital Board but once they are on the Board they basically do what they want and there really isn't anything the Court can do about it. The Hospital District Board gave him the bonus. Commissioners Court doesn't have the ability to give a bonus even if they wanted to. If you want someone to blame, here is a link to the Board Members of the Hospital District . Lets put this in context. This bonus is mo...