How can we get the city to pay attention to the road and park disruptions that they are in charge of?
Many El Paso streets have been under construction for months stretching into years. Country Club road and Fiesta drive are just two examples.
San Jacinto Square is not only an example of the incredibly slow pace that the city allows but it also will eventually show us again the dangers of making purchases from buy boards. Good contractors were hurt in favor of a city favorite. The cost overruns will be paid by the taxpayer. No consideration will be given to getting rid of the people who wrote the bad specifications, or if the specifications were good then holding the contractor responsible.
On the other hand we have seen how quickly the city can move on some projects for some people.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
When a city’s infrastructure is neglected for many years (as is apparent across the nation) the people who know how to repair, replace, or construct new streets, roads, bridges, etc. tend to disappear, as they have had to seek other ways to make a living. That may be part of what is happening here. Beyond that, while I can see that some of these major renovations are taking an inordinate amount of time, I still want to know why so many of our city streets are in such dire need of being repaved, and I see no sign of anybody working on them.
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Things are so bad that the City is having to borrow Christmas decorations from the County. Hundreds of millions for some things. No money for others. Who needs TV when we can watch the drama, comedy, and dysfunction of our city government reality show?
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It just seems to me that projects are done in the this city and state wide to drive more money toward those projects. I thought it was part of policy a budget is set for each project and the contractors have to stick to it. TXDOT and a myriad of government agencies who contract, appear, and I don’t have proof right now, let the continual need for more money for projects due to some misc. complication or underestimate it in the budget. Does anyone have the documents that show that?
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San Jacinto Plaza will be the City’s, county sports park. If I recall correctly you defended the award of the contract to this outfit that was close to 2 mil below the second and third priced contractors. I have heard every excuse being used for the delay of this project; cant have too much manpower because they will work on top of each other, weather, and existing infrastructure problems. Is it that the other contractors realized these factors and accounted for them. The contractor performing this work is using less than qualified subcontractors to perform work, to save a buck on their end. Who pays, we do in the long run. The PM for the city publishes a blog about progress of the project, biggest PR push by the city to try to save face for their decision to award to this contractor. Just look at the pictures they post, its a ghost town. http://buildingsanjacintoplaza.wordpress.com/
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Michael if you are referring to me defending the San Jacinto Plaza bid process you are mistaken.
Several posts have talked about the problem. You can use the search facility on the right hand side of the page.
Thank you for caring about our city.
Brutus
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I’m simply relieved to know that the city was able to convince the county to loan us the county’s damaged Christmas decorations for use downtown in Cleveland Plaza. I’ve been spending many sleepless nights worrying about the fact that San Jacinto will not be ready for the holidays.
That’s just what we need — we get to spend thousands of dollars to repair the decorations that county staff spent $180,000 to buy and then stored improperly, resulting in considerable damage. Then once San Jacinto is completed, the city staff will submit a new request for hundreds of thousands of dollars of new decorations for the newly remodeled plaza.
El Paso tax increases and city management wastefulness are the gifts that keep on giving. Happy Holidays.
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The City Council is more concerned about where they sit than speeding any project ahead and are Pro green Grass at Ft Bliss.
Summary of actions to date!
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In the last 3 + years, can anyone name for me something of significance or quasi-significance that our leadership hasn’t screwed up? lf l didn’t have such a fetish for train wrecks, l would have moved eons ago.
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Speaking of contractors and vendors and screwing things up, the County commissioners are once again considering legal action against everyone involved in the Sportspark, including the bonding company. The City is currently mired in various litigation, some resulting from its disregard for vendor agreements and intellectual property laws. The City is also quick to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees to avoid sharing information with taxpayers and the media.
What does this propensity for litigation and legal battles say about our local government and those who are entrusted to manage these entities? What does it say about local government’s contracting practices and vendor management practices? Legal battles are often symptomatic of incompetency, dishonesty, bullying, arrogance, and an unwillingness to live up to one’s commitments and legal obligations, among other things.
Maybe Brutus will weigh in on this.
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