El Paso Politics

As you know, so many people are really excited about the trollies coming back to El Paso. Not really, most people are just annoyed at all the construction that is bogging the downtown area. I'm trying really hard to care about this project, and I want to think its gonna be a great thing for El Paso, but the more I think about it, the more it annoys me. Its an incredibly expensive project that will transport relatively few people. Its another hipster feel-good project, but when you look at who really uses public transit on a regular basis you'd understand why I'm annoyed. There is no practical reason that the BRIO was done on the westside before other parts of town but we all know why it was done first. Alameda should've been the priority because the valley has more public transit users than other part of town, but this town routinely ignores this part of town. And so why many of you may genuinely be excited about the trolly, I get annoyed because I go down Alameda every...

I'm a Bernie Sanders supporter and what I am about to write is going to bother a lot of my Bernie brethren but it needs to be said. We lost and the stakes in this election are too high to play Bernie or bust. For full disclosure, I don't support an assault weapons ban. I don't think it solves the problem. But I acknowledge, like basically anyone else in the country with two brain cells to rub together, that the number of mass shootings, and crimes committed with guns, is a national problem that needs to be addressed. The fact that the GOP won't even take up a vote underscores the importance of ensuring we have a balance of power in Washington. There are a few other important reasons why Bernie or bust is counterproductive, but let me address the elephant in the room. I'm not a fan of Hillary Clinton. If you follow me on social media then you know that. She's all the things people say about her, dishonest, untrustworthy, entitled, only committed to the values of ...

(NOTE: This is a repost of a blog I wrote a few years go for Father's Day) Whifff, snap! Whenever I hear those sounds I think of my dad. Its the sound of playing catch with him when I was a kid. My dad lived for baseball the way I do for boxing. And he was damn good too. He'd always threw the ball too hard for me. I was terrified. The whiifff sound was the noise the ball made as it cut through the air on its way towards my head. Snap was the sound when it hit my glove, usually followed by some grunt of pain from under my breath. I hated playing catch with my dad when I was little. But I learned from it. I learned that life wasn't ever going to take it easy on you and that if you didn't learn how to catch life's problems, even if it hurts a little bit, its better than letting it hit you right between the eyes. Whiff, snap! As I got older, I learned even more. I learned that once you catch that ball, turn around and fire back as hard as you can. I can still remember t...

I apologize for the lateness of my decision to run for this position, especially to our new County Chair, in week i have tremendous faith and confidence in and I am not running because I have any issue with her or her ability to help guide our state's selection of great DNC members. She's the first person I told that I would run and she didn't even offer to discourage me and I appreciate that. I simply believe that, since she already has a great way to influence and lead our party in the right direction, we can afford to grant someone else this opportunity to stand for principles like the following and support those DNC at-large candidates that do as well. 1. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, no matter her intentions, has not led the DNC forward and should be replaced at the earliest moment when a transition won't harm our chances of winning in November. 2. The DNC should create a special speakers bureau to help local parties raise money. Imagine how much more successful our an...

Since Bernie Sanders lost I really didn't see a need for me to attend the convention, but once I remembered the SDEC races were going in, I immediately regretted it. For those of you there, this is a post for you. The Party's wanna be power couple Othon Medina and Dr Anna Perez are both running for SDEC.  You should vote against both of them and I'll tell you why. Both of them are Tea-janos and are more concerned with what they believe is a little bit of power with titles rather than actually doing anything for the Party. And frankly for far too long the Party has been run by people who essentially just show up to club meetings but don't do anything else. I don't recall the last Party leader other than Mike Apodaca, that actually did campaign work for the Party. I don't even think Medina and Perez can even login to VAN and I don't ever recall seeing them knock on a door or pick up a phone and engage a voter. Sure they go to Teajano meetings, but that's b...

Shame on me for not noticing this sooner, but its funny and I can't let it go without comment. If you recall, Tom Buchino is a candidate for sheriff and I posted his cheesy internet video where he fires off a few rounds from his pistol to demonstrate how he's a "straight shooter". Doesn't actually show if he is a straight shooter or not, but I guess that is beside the point. So lets talk about being a straight shooter shall we? I've seen a few of his signs around town and if you see a white pick-up with the logo all over it, that is the EPSOA Union Boss Sgt Horstman. Looks good on his truck to be honest. But if you look at his logo: What do you notice? Well its not what is there. Its what is NOT there. Mr. Straight Shooter forgets to mention his party affiliation. Buchino is a Republican but he doesn't include it on his signs. Frankly, its pretty smart. In a general election in which Donald Trump is going to ensure that there is an increase in turnout beca...

City Rep Emma Acosta and the City of El Paso are finalists for the prestigious Golden Padlock Award, a national award given by Investigative Reporters & Editors, Inc. That is a non-profit entity dedicated to the improvement of investigative reporting. They give an annual award called the Golden Padlock Award celebrating "the most secretive government agency or individual in the United States". Turns out the City of El Paso and Rep Acosta made the final cut and the winner will be announced June 18th.  Who knows, maybe Acosta will bring home the hardware for the City of El Paso. But Rep Noe and his Cold War era redaction of open records should get a modest share of that award.  Follow this link to not only check up on who else she's up against, ( http://www.ire.org/blog/ire-news/2016/06/13/finalists-announced-2016-golden-padlock-award/?utm_content=buffercb644&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer )  but a little refresher of why she an...