Unfortunate answer

October 21, 2018

I think our local candidate for the United States senate could do with some better advisers.

When he was recently asked about his nickname he told the audience that in our community if you are named Robert or Albert or Gilbert or Umberto the community calls you Beto.

His statement is not true.

If he had told us that he uses the nickname because his mother, father, other relative, childhood buddies or someone else called him that I don’t think that most of us would give it a second thought.

Instead he misrepresented our community.

We deserve better

Brutus

15 Comments | Federal Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Automatic pay raises for city council

October 20, 2018

One of the ballot items on the upcoming election asks if we want to change our city charter.

From the ordinance that puts the issue on the ballot:

Prior to September 1, 2019, the annual base salary of the District Representatives shall be set at twenty-nine
thousand dollars, and the annual base salary of the Mayor shall be set at forty-five thousand dollars.

Commencing on September 1, 2019, the annual base salary of the District Representatives shall be set at
the amount equal to the 2017 El Paso County area median household income as established by the United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development or successor agency ($45,300), and the annual
base salary of the Mayor shall be set at one and one-half this amount ($67,950). Thereafter, on September
1, the base salaries will be revised annually and be set according to the above formula based on the prior
fiscal year median income for El Paso County.

Ballot language

What the voter will see on the ballot is:

Should Section 3.2 of the City Charter, relating to the salaries of the Mayor and District Representatives,
be amended to provide that beginning September 1, 2019, the annual salary of the District
Representatives shall be set each year at the amount equal to the El Paso County area median household
income as established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development or successor
agency for the prior fiscal year, and the annual salary of the Mayor shall be set each year at one and onehalf
that amount?
YES ( )
NO ( )

Too much trouble

They evidently think it is too much trouble to ask the voters for a pay raise when they want one.

A 56% pay raise would be nice for you, wouldn’t it?

We deserve better

Brutus

9 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Out of our control

October 19, 2018

We have a city council election coming up in a couple of weeks.

City council representatives are elected to four year terms.  The can serve a maximum of ten years during their lifetime which effectively limits them to two elected terms.

One problem with this is that the current incumbents know that this is their last election.  They have no need to do what the public wants during their second term if we give them one.  They cannot be re-elected.  Recalling them is very difficult and has not been successfully in modern times.

Voting for an incumbent is something you should think about.

We deserve better

Brutus

7 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

You pick the topic

October 18, 2018

I have no idea where this will lead but let’s open the comments to what the readers want to talk about today.

Remember please don’t get personal and don’t use profanity.

Brutus

17 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

EPISD telling stories

October 17, 2018

It seems that someone over at EPISD is having problems with arithmetic again.

The Times published this article back in June, 2018.  In it they listed elementary schools that the district was considering for closure.

Rivera elementary was shown to have 360 students putting it at 51 percent of capacity.

Then again

Back in March of 2015 the district published the Jacobs study (994 pages) of EPISD facilities.

In the study Jacobs tells us that Rivera has a permanent capacity (no portable classrooms) of 388 students.

That means that the school was at 93 percent of its capacity when the Times ran the article.

According to a October 10, 2018 report to the board the school has 331 students today (85%).

Even more concerning is that Polk elementary (eight tenths of a mile away from Rivera) has 700 students today in a school with a permanent capacity of 615.

They could transfer students from Polk to Rivera and Rivera would be at 100% of its capacity.

Then again it looks like the district just wants to close Rivera and is willing to publish inaccurate statistics to justify their plans.

We deserve better

Brutus

11 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

No parking

October 16, 2018

As part of the introduction of our street cars the city is proposing an amendment to the existing vehicle and traffic ordinance that would make parking at any place along the street car routes illegal unless the area has been specifically marked to allow parking.

From the proposed ordinance amendment:

“Except as provided in 12.90.50 below … no person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle on any side of a street within the Streetcar Route.”

The penalty?

“a fine not to exceed 500 dollars”

Be warned.

We deserve better

Brutus

22 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Not knowing about the candidates

October 15, 2018

Early voting starts a week from today, Monday, October 22, 2018.

Won’t you please do your homework now and decide who to vote for?

That way you can go to the polling place and have your vote represent how you feel.

We deserve better

Brutus

5 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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