We wrote the other day about the number of items being posted on the city council agendas without backup material.
The situation has continued with last week’s agenda.
City council’s rules used to require that all backup material be posted at the same time as the agenda item. If not, council was required to take a special vote to allow the exception before considering the item on the agenda.
Cato wrote about this in Testing the newbies back in June of 2013.
In Sneak attack back in December of 2012 we pointed out how council was breaking it’s own rules by not requiring the vote. We pointed out that:
Section 2.92.050 (G) of ordinance 017112 makes that an ethics violation which is punishable under 2.92.150 (A). “The failure of any officer or employee to comply with this chapter or the violation of one or more of the standards of conduct set forth in this article, which apply to him or her, shall constitute grounds for expulsion, reprimand, removal from office or discharge.”
The city parliamentarian, who is also the city attorney, should have stopped this but she chose not to. More on that in another post.
From the record it looks like city staff found the old ordinance to require too much public disclosure so they decided to get their new council to change the rules.
The result
Secrecy.
Council relaxed the rules. Now city staff posts items without backup material so that the voters do not have time to exercise their rights to address council before damage is done.
We should go back to the old rules. Agenda items should not be posted without backup material.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Yeah, but this is all part and parcel of what this, and the previous Council, have made perfectly clear to the citizens of El Paso. They, just like national representatives do not care what we think, feel, want, or believe. As long as we remain silent (mostly by staying away from the polls on election day), they can continue to take our money, and pay for unnecessary things like ballparks and Childrens Hospitals, and soon, a downtown sports arena. Their rich owners get richer, they get re-elected, and we get the miners’ reward.
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Looks like the City Council is again considering a Sports Arena downtown (of all places). . . and will have to borrow $160 million and after overruns. . . $200-$300 million and with interest cost $500 million.
Oh my. . . my street still needs repair after 35 years.
Driving on my street. . . sounds like the background noise on the bridge of the Enterprise.
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We need a “like” button around here. We need a small sports arena around here like we need cancer.
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John,
I’m working on the “like” button. I just have to find out how to do it.
Brutus
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It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. :- )
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City reps Robinson and Noe said today that they are concerned about the proposed wage theft ordinance intended to protect workers employed by city contractors. Their concerns are that penalties under the ordinance could cause contractors to have to close their business and lay off workers or might cause completion of city projects to be delayed.
That sounds like it is okay to defraud and steal from employees if that’s what you need to do to stay in business and if someone has to be screwed in order for us to get a swimming pool finished on time. By Robinson’s logic, he wants to protect jobs that people can’t get paid for doing. They act like a sub-minimum wage worker has the knowledge and money to hire a lawyer.
The city talks a lot about increasing wages in El Paso. Maybe we first need to make sure that people will get paid. Or maybe we no longer care about people making minimum wage or less.
Si se puede!
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Busted up shoes in dire need of repairs and shine with a brand new Armani suit. That’s what El Paso has become.
We haven’t even begun to pay for the stadium and these idiots want an arena downtown? How about we finish the plaza to nowhere?
For all the spin, there has been no real increase in business downtown. And they want to move a school system into the downtown ? Who is developing these plans? What a mixture ! Now we know why they are so desperate to destroy the county jail and condemn buildings as fast as possible. Arena and a school system. A Hispanic center that features only Mexicans. The Cubans, Spanish, Puerto Ricans, Central and South Americans don’t exist. And even better only Mexicans built this city.
The stupidity stems from stupidity electing stupidity. So blame belongs to all of us.
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