City stops posting interim financial statements

February 17, 2019

Would you like to know what the city’s interim financial statements look like?

Good luck

This is what the city’s website presented when I tried to look up a current statement the other day:

While they used to post a report each month it looks like they have not done so for almost a year.

We deserve better

Brutus

Leave a Comment » | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Open line Saturday

February 16, 2019

Dare we open the blog to discussion about our national situation today?

Please keep your comments clean and don’t get personal.

Can we discuss the issues without getting partisan?

Let’s try.

We deserve better

Brutus

15 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

EPISD compared to the others

February 15, 2019

This slide came from a recent EPISD meeting:

Yep, the city is getting in our pocket books.

EPISD has been holding the line and I thank them.

Next year, however, will be another story.  They will have to raise their interest and sinking funds rate to make up for the 10 cents the voters gave them in the penny swap election.

The chart shows the increases.  What it fails to point out is that half of your property tax bill goes to the district.

We deserve better

Brutus

8 Comments | City government, County Government, El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Traffic suggestions

February 14, 2019

This came in from Xavier Miranda:

Brutus,

A couple of suggestions to alleviate the congestion expected during the exit closures:
City and Sun Metro officials should consider establishing temporary HOV lanes on Mesa, wherein buses and carpool vehicles are given priority during the rush hours. Dedicated lanes would result in Brio/buses running on 20-30 minute intervals.  Perhaps, if fares would be reduced during this period, ridership would also be encouraged.
EPPD should monitor Mesa, and switch the direction of high density lanes in order to encourage flow during peak hours.
Just my two cents.
Thanks,
Xavier Miranda
El  Paso Grassroots

10 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

EPISD election deadline nearing

February 13, 2019

Dan Wever sent this in:

They like to make it a way before the election hoping nobody will run against the people now in office.  It works most of the time.

About the Board / May 4, 2019 Board of Trustees Election

*******************************************

Candidates have until Friday, February 15 to file for election.  The election will be held Saturday, May 9, 2019.

It would be nice is people would step forward and run.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

Executive session participants

February 12, 2019

Rich Wright over at elchuqueno.com wrote the other day about the city’s continuing use of executive session.

I don’t attend many city council meetings so I don’t know who goes into the executive sessions.

For those of you who do attend be on the lookout for who goes in.

Texas law only gives city council members the right to attend executive sessions.  The city attorney must also be present.

Note that the city council members have the right to attend and cannot be kept out unless the issue is about them.

On the other hand city council has the right to request the presence of any of the city officers or employees as long as their presence “is necessary to the matter under consideration”.

In other words the city officers and employees should only be in the meeting as long as it takes to discuss the particular subject that they are involved with.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

2 Comments | City government, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Traffic question

February 11, 2019

Helen Marshall sent this in:

Driving around lately I have noticed that ambulances and fire trucks and even work convoy trucks carrying orange barrels have signs on the back saying “Keep Back 500 Feet.”  That’s close to two football fields….In order to read and act on said sign you would of course have to violate it.
Trying to picture the traffic maintaining 500 feet of separation with any such vehicle.  What is the fine for non-compliance?
Is there any sense to this whatsoever?  Do they just mean “stay out of the way, sudden stops likely”?
We deserve better
Brutus

4 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

« Previous Entries
%d bloggers like this: