We recently learned that the city is planning to outsource some engineering responsibilities to two big firms that have setup local offices in El Paso within the last few years.
We don’t need to worry about them being outsiders. One of the firms made campaign contributions (through their political action committee) to at least two of the current city council members in this last election.
That’s not to say that anything is wrong here. It is remarkable that the city can rush through another contract when it really wants to.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Not only can they rush through any contract, they can apparently rush through any large building project to completion if they want to. Get your Grrrr on!
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Meanwhile, the City Engineering Department is being gutted, since – obviously – they will now be superfluous. Maybe Gonzalez should go ahead and shut down the Street Department while he’s at it, since nobody is doing anything to maintain, repair, or repave our deteriorating streets.
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It seems that the local engineering firms will cease to exist. These two firms will send the work to their main offices in other cities to be completed with a lot of the CAD stuff being completed in India.
If you get a Civil Engineering degree from UTEP, you’ll have to move to another city to use it. That’s pretty sad.
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DavidK, why cant the Engineering work be outsourced but be on a bid basis ?
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It’s actually illegal for engineers to “bid” work. Once these big firms are hired, they don’t hand work to locals.
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Your second point is right on the money.
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Yes. Note India, not Mexico. Being 3rd world doesn’t mean you also have to be dumb. Unless you’re Mexico.
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Freese and Nichols, which did loads of work for Irving while Gonzalez was there, just coincidentally opened an office here last year and is now doing work for the city of El Paso. They will likely be one of the beneficiaries of the expanded outsourcing.
The irony here is that the city talks a good game about job creation and elimination of brain drain and says we are spending money on things like the ballpark to support job creation, all while cutting jobs and hiring people like the city manager and chief performance officer from out of town at big salaries.
In the latest ruckus about the city manager’s outsized raise, it’s been overlooked that just four months after starting the job, he also got city council to pay him an extra $16,000 in relocation expenses that were not part of his original agreement. That was also on top of a generous housing allowance. Agreements apparently mean nothing.
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I’m a fan of outsourcing government work and doubly so in this case where the engineering department has proven itself incompetent. Do you seriously want to let those dolts run the QOL projects? The brains to do this kind of work are not in City Hall and probably not in El Paso.
IT should be the next candidate for outsourcing.
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Jerry, I agree, the majority of City employees are worthless, but if the engineering department is gone i would wonder how much the city spent on the department and compare it at the end of the year to outsourcing. If it cost more then its not a good thing.
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Outsourcing is as much about getting the work done. It will cost more. Really, Tommy should close engineering and have them reapply for their jobs with the new company. They will choose the good ones and their skills will be upgraded too, making a big difference in their careers. The rest can find work at the county:)
IT next.
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The majority are not worthless, but two departments are.
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DavidK, why cant the Engineering work be outsourced but be on a bid basis ?
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names, please
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