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

10 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

Chasing a wild goose

October 14, 2018

There is talk in some circles about impeaching our new supreme court justice.

Our constitution allows him to hold office “during good behavior”.

In our nation’s history we have never had a case where a supreme court justice was brought up on impeachment charges for behavior allegedly committed before taking office.

The question of whether a justice can be impeached and convicted for actions committed before taking office is thus an open one.

In a practical sense however the chances of removing a justice for past acts has little chance of success.

Firstly a majority of the members of the house of representatives would have to vote to impeach.

Then a trial would occur in the senate and would require 60 out of 100 votes in order to convict.

Then, because the process could be challenged, our supreme court might vote to hear the case.

Would the sitting justices allow themselves or future justices to be exposed to politically motivated removal?  I doubt it.

Judicial independence from political movements is a cornerstone of our system.

We deserve better

Brutus

19 Comments | Federal Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Just pass it–we can change it later

October 13, 2018

Looking further into the issue of what they are now calling the “Mexican American Cultural Center” we had to go back to the August 14, 2012 city council meeting documents and video.

Attached to agenda item 13A (which proposed the ordinance ordering the bond election) we see this in the backup material:

The language that council voted to place on the ballot turned out to be:

They were talking about a “Hispanic Cultural Center” but told the voters that they would build a “Cultural Heritage Center”.

Now six years later we see:

Yes, it is now a “Mexican American Cultural Center”.

According to the U. S. Census Bureau web page  “OMB defines “Hispanic or Latino” as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.”

Back in 2012 city council was not honest with the voters.  City council is not being honest today either.

We deserve better

Brutus

5 Comments | City government, Federal Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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