Our chamber of commerce published this recently:
Isn’t it a shame that according to the chamber our top industries are: home health care services, temporary help services, offices of physicians, and supermarkets?
Yet our city council continues to grant tax abatements for retail and entertainment ventures. If they have to give our money away couldn’t they give it to companies that create jobs that send goods or services?
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Geeeee, High School + Other . . .TOTAL is about 50% that are High School or dropped out.
( HALF of the population is High School or less. . . )
There you go . . . . . That says it all.
And once they are out of High School (or less) they speak Spanish at home and at work so their English and business skills (reading online or at the library) starts to diminish.
In most all countries English is the language of business and certainly International business and trade.
Seems like . . . Most of the employed are working at some kind of Government Job/ tax payer paid jobs, either Federal or local.
What I see/ get / from the poster above. . . .”Nurses, Doctors Offices, Hospitals on every corner now, Nurses taking care of sick nurses and sick doctors and sick people at home and well, we all have to go to the Supermarket to get food for all these sick people.”
LikeLike
I do not understand Oracle’s comment. How does he arrive at his conclusion that half of El Paso’s population is either high school education level, or less? And, how does he know that those people only speak Spanish at home and work, or that English reading skills “start[s] to diminish?” And, because a major employer is in the health care area, that means “Nurses taking care of sick nurses and sick doctors and sick people at home and well, we all have to go to the Supermarket to get food for all these sick people.”
I totally get it that our elected representatives continue to lie to us, and I think this graphic proves it very well, but I think Oracle needs to clean his crystal ball or something, so he can see what it says.
LikeLike
48% are high school or less, according to the figures above. Oracle was pretty close. Are you picking on his 2% discrepancy?
LikeLike
These are the Politicians, Public Officials that are ELECTED in El Tax. THEY do nothing to HELP the PEOPLE. The tax abatements for the MILLONAIRES, BILLIONAIRES, out of town carpetbaggers is solely to fill their OWN pockets, bank accounts for their NEXT political campaign, position. It’s a New Year. Anybody want to bet that Margo, City Council, Commissioners are already conspiring with Central Appraisal to INCREASE , inflate, fabricate Property “Values”, so that THEY can INCREASE OUR TAXES?? Maybe JOBS are looking up. Saw a van unload 5 people the other day at Fred Wilson, the Gateway, with those candy jars. And of course there are more intersections , street corners, parking lots with MORE people looking for that buck$$$. “Quality of Life” in El Taxo, only refers to how good the “Pickings” are for the local POLITICIANS, the “Idle rich”, out of town Carpetbaggers. NOTHING ever gets better for the rest of US “Stupid, ignorant peons”.
LikeLike
What do you expect our “politlicians” to do? There is no reason for any major employer to locate here with our unskilled work force. No political leader can change that. If we had more high school and college graduates, perhaps an employer would move their business here and help out our tax base. Our high taxes are the fault of our unmotivated populace.
LikeLike
A large chunk of the populace will remain unmotivated because they know the rest of us will have to pick up the tab for the services they use.
LikeLike
As long as It’s All Good, our elected, appointed, and self-anointed “leaders” don’t have to fix it.
LikeLike
“high school only-24%” Now THAT is a hell of a note. Tells me that the majority of parents are obviously NOT concerned about their children’s education. Why, I wonder? Could it be genetic? Could it just be a case of ‘don’t give a damn’? Could it be ‘I never finished high school and look at me what got Government housing, food stamps, Medi-care. Don’t need no stinking High School.
LikeLike
It says that 21% have a four year degree or better, an improvement over the 2000 census that, I think, had it at 15%. This isn’t Seattle or Austin, but it is improving. As for manufacturing jobs, they’re in China for which we can thank 30 years of globalization.
LikeLike
I’ve worked with the Borderplex Alliance and City Econ Dev staff. The term I’ve heard used is “putting on lipstick on a pig” when referencing El Paso’s economic development future. They promote tax-paid “quality of life projects” and that we are an enormous “manufacturinflg hub,” referencing the maquiladoras in Juarez. I’m not sure these are good selling points. Rents are too damn high and the folks in Juarez need at least 3 maquiladoras salaries plus Infonavit and credit in Coppel to make ends meet.
LikeLike