The city council agenda for the Tuesday, May 19, 2015 meeting includes an item that would authorize the city to announce that they want to issue $62 million of certificates of obligation.
They evidently want the money to allow them to pay for a whole laundry list of public works projects.
This part of the list caught my attention:
“… renovating, improving and equipping City Hall and other City administrative facilities…”
Details of how much is to be spent on each project are evidently none of our business.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
First, and obvious: Can they actually do this? What has happened to all those stalled quality of life projects? Why aren’t our streets being repaved? What City Hall are they talking about? This is just too much.
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Well, well, well… we can now look back and see that a Vote for Oscar was more of a non-vote for Steve and look where it got us… I guess many people forgot that he was a car salesman! He looked at the market, broke down the demographics, calculated the odds and saw that if nothing else he would have one more thing to add to his resume! Maybe next time the people will DEMAND a debate or two… oh, wait… did I say that? I forgot it turned into a popularity AND spending contest!
Even before the runoff Oscar had kissed Queen Joyce’s ring, changed tunes and started saying the baseball park was a done deal BUT watch out establishment… nothing like that would happen on his watch. But, remember, Oscar is STILL a businessman… and short of him selling off his business before departing office, he will remain a businessman after leaving office.
And WHAT will people remember two years from now? Buyers of low cost automobiles will remember he is a good boy AND Mayor, so who better to purchase from?
Voters may remember that he spoke out about the ballpark but deep pocket donaters (aka progressives, construction magnates and developers, oil refinery operators (who move their HQ’s and operations out of state WHILE being reappointed on Texas State Boards) will remember that Oscar was a good boy and supported the status quo. Oh and NEVER spoke of transparency again!
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Why bother to say anything ? People have bought into the idea that’s it all “free” money, get in deeper debt to get out of debt and let’s build replica of other cities!
This is like being attacked by a gorilla in a cage. After getting out, you return the next day and climb back into the cage. All the time KNOWING what’s going to happen again. Yet keep complaining of how much you hate what the gorilla does to you.
Of course city council doesn’t get it, like the oversexed gorilla, it sees you climb back into the cage it figures you liked it. So it resumes the attacks.
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didnt our taxes already pay for the renovation of the Luther bldg or the old slimes bldg. we need to all be at city hall on tuesday to see what this is all about
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Can the mayor prevent council members from putting the $62 million CO’s on a meeting agenda? I agree with Oscar that the previous council, mayor, and city manager had done their dastardly deed of voting in the baseball stadium, and razing City Hall and the Children’s Science Museum. He can’t turn the wheels of destruction backwards. He has had the unenviable task of trying to “turn lemons into lemonade.” He has no choice. Additionally, he is dealing with many members of that previous council. I don’t see the mayor as our enemy. We know that Courtney Niland will be back to push her progressive agenda with the backing of her deep pocket donors, contractors, and oil magnates. To blame Mayor Leeser for the indiscretions of our previous leaders is being unfair. Even though President Obama seems to be espousing autocracy as our nation’s new form of federal government, Mayor Leeser is still running a democratic form of city government. It is still up to the voters to give us a city council that is fiscally responsible to the our citizens.
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Actually there were steps he could’ve taken yet after he was pretty much assured of defeating Steve Ortega (based on his TV resume and NOT being Steve!) he pretty much let us know we were getting the status quo… has anything changed?
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I wonder what the basis for the certificates of obligation is? I mean, $62M is a substantial for renovating, improving and equipping… beyond the renovations (obviously it’s been 2 years and if we want more Walmarts we’ve got to be able to impress their corporate staffs) but what improvements? What equipping? We can make all the excuses we want for Oscar but with our current revenue shortfall how does this reflect fiscal responsibility?
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