El Paso Politics

I'm going to be honest with you. My family suffered a loss on the morning of Election Day, and I needed to step back and be present for what mattered most - family. But what happened at El Paso City Council last night pulled me back to the keyboard, because some things cannot go without being said. So here we are. Let's Get the Lies Out of the Way First The five council members who voted with Meta - and yes, I'm calling them the Feckless Five , because the shoe fits - have been running around spreading misinformation about what the agenda item would have actually done. Let me be clear, because apparently clarity is in short supply at City Hall. The agenda item would not have triggered immediate litigation from Meta. It would not have terminated the existing contract. What it would have done is bring Meta back to the negotiating table so that El Paso - the community, the people, the ones who actually live here - could get a better deal. That's it. That's all...

An El Paso mother has come forward with deeply troubling allegations against Joseph Dominic Saenz, the son of embattled Justice of the Peace Lucila Najera, including claims of alleged sexual abuse against two children spanning nearly a decade. The case has resulted in a court-issued protective order while an investigation is ongoing, and it adds another layer of scrutiny to a judge who has faced mounting questions about her conduct in office. Heidi Rodriguez, who shares a biological child with Saenz, voluntarily came forward to share her account. The alleged abuse involves two children: Rodriguez's eldest daughter, who is not Saenz's biological child, and the couple's now-12-year-old daughter, who is Saenz's biological child and Judge Najera's first grandchild. According to Rodriguez, the alleged abuse of the eldest daughter occurred while Saenz was serving as her stepfather. Rodriguez states that those allegations were investigated and referred to then-District A...

Justice of the Peace Lucila Najera appears to have YET ANOTHER issue with complying with the law, rules, and regulations as a judge.  At issue is a campaign mailer sent out by the Najera campaign that featured the logo of the County of El Paso.  At first pass it appears to be a blatant violation of the El Paso County Code of Ethics because Section 11.2 specifically says, “County public servants shall not utilize county equipment or supplies of any kind for political purposes.” The county seal/logo is unambiguously county property - it was created by, belongs to, and represents the governmental authority of El Paso County. It is funded by taxpayer dollars and exists solely as an instrument of official county government. Using it on a political mailer constitutes utilizing a county resource for a political purpose, which falls squarely within this prohibition. Texas Election Code § 255.003 independently prohibits an officer of a political subdivision from using public fu...

We have all seen the latest video of police violence. This time it was a restrained woman - already in handcuffs - who was punched multiple times in the face by a cop. The person in custody spat on the cop - and the cop was clearly responding from emotion, not an actual threat, but from emotion.  It was also a disproportionate response to what happened.  This is following another incident of police violence captured on video of a woman with two male police officers on top of her and was punched in the face.  Its time for Mayor Renard Johnson to spearhead the creation of a civilian police oversight board.  There is plenty of precedence across the country for this kind of thing - but I’ll point no further than the fact that our military - far more armed than our police forces - have civilian oversight. It has long been a tradition in our country to have civilian oversight.  This would be no different.  Over the weekend I had a conversation with some ...