El Paso Politics

Daaaaammnnn Daniel! Daniel Villegas appears to have endorsed Jaime in the runoff election. Not Esparza. Jaime Barceleau. Thats right, looks like Villegas was pushing for Barceleau in his bid to become a precinct chair on the eastside against Isela Castoñon-Williams. Villegas was also in the Nor'Easter Parade recently. Not surprising when you consider that it was sponsored by Mimbela Construction. Only in El Paso does Villegas become a mini celebrity but that is a whole other conversation. Anywho, back to the endorsement. Jaime Barceleau apparently has the backing of Villegas which is funny because I'm not sure it does anything but lose him votes. So why the most well-known political plus-one in town would want to get an endorsement from Villegas is something of a head-scratcher. But then again, why a guy who is only invited places because he's dating Norma Favela is even running for a precinct chair in the Democratic Party is a mystery in the first place. I mean we all know...

I've already taken the EPSOA to task for being a union and having the nerve to endorse a Republican. But so far I've only heard Mr. Buchino speak in his videos, that is until recently when I actually had a chance to hear him speak in person and read some of his lit. Let me tell you that after doing so, I understand the move by the EPSOA even less. I wrote about this on my Facebook page when I found out the Border Patrol union endorsed Donald Trump and the ridiculous responses I got from people that I thought were otherwise pretty smart blew my mind. I'm not talking about my Republican friends, they responded exactly how I knew they would. But it was from others who somehow managed to turn this into some weird argument about straight ticket voting, which had zero to do with my point. Love me or hate me, I have a set of political values I hold true to and for some reason it confuses people why as liberal as I am that I have friends that are Republicans, or worse, Libertarians...

Only the City of El Paso would release information about the long-awaited re-opening of the plazita on April Fool's Day. Seriously, no on thought that one out? Come on you guys, this is starting to look like a Three Stooges episode, only far less funny. So much for the 10 days they promised last month. Thats okay City of El Paso, we wouldn't have believed it if you hadn't released the info on April Fool's Day anyway. Even Hillary Clinton is slightly more trustworthy than the City of El Paso, if you can believe that. Here's a link to the story about the plazita finally (allegedly) reopening soon. This ineptitude in getting a project done is exceeded only by the County that started the damn sports park renovations somewhere near the start of the Obama administration. No, that is not an exaggeration.

Certainly not an event for the average El Pasoan, but many upper-crusters among El Paso's elite will have a chance to attend.

I was thinking about the stupid electronic communications ban that was a poorly planned reactionary public policy enacted by city council recently. And there's a big fat hole in the policy that needs to be addressed. Wearable technology. Smart watches for those of you that don't know what I'm talking about. Smart watches let you view your calendar, read your email, or even send and receive text messages. Right now council members have to turn in their cell phones to Richarda's easter box during the meeting. But your cell phone only has to be in range of your watch for you to send and receive messages. Most smart watches have an option set up for default replies. You can basically set it up to give you the option for just about any reply to a text message you want in addition to the default replies that already exist like "yes""no""brb"on my way""talk later" etc. So you could customize just about anything like this for example...

Let me tell you, there is no group of elected officials in this town that hate being questioned about anything more than judges. Anytime someone questions what they do one of two things happens, their heads explode in rage or they run and hide saying they are not available for comment. Thats bullshit, they work for us. Too many of them have forgotten that they work for us. What happened with Judge Mike Herrera, and the subsequent approval by Judge Patrick Garcia of public funds to be used to file motions on Herrera's behalf - essentially defending his actions - was found to be improper. Here is coverage from KVIA on that issue. Improper my ass, its complete and total bullshit. There was no reason that public funds should have ever been used to pay for an attorney to file motions on Herrera's behalf. Herrera can afford his own lawyer and should have paid for the attorney himself. He should pay that money back to the public. Frankly Judge Patrick Garcia should be held accountabl...

As expected the field of candidates for the District 2 race is now the size of a small kindergarten class. Prior to yesterday I think Tolbert was going to walk away without a run-off election because there weren't really any formidable opposition nor anyone that has any field experience. In fact, had one particular candidate not filed, it would probably still be the same scenario although having a lot of candidates in the race inherently makes it more difficult to win without a run-off, though not impossible. Cemelli De Aztlán joins Jim Tolbert as the real credible candidates in the race. She's raza, younger, and more liberal than Tolbert. The other candidates are basically one-issue candidates that don't really have a base, campaign money, or a grassroots infrastructure to be real competitive. Ultimately this comes down to Tolbert Vs. De Aztlán. If Cemelli can raise money, and I think the developers might look at her as a viable alternative to Tolbert, then this could get ...