Well, they’re doing it again.
It is time to start the budgeting process for the city’s next year.
Instead of holding their budget meetings in the regular city council meeting place they have chosen to have a series of meetings in a much smaller room. They could have the meetings in their regular place but evidently holding them in the smaller room will help to keep the public out.
They will hold such meetings July 9, 10, 11 and 12.
There is no backup material posted with the agenda item so you will just have to wait until they send you a tax bill.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Hide, lie, deny, deceive, cover up, continue to lie. That’s all WE can expect from THEM. THEY only “Represent’ themselves and whatever THEY can TAKE from US. It is ALWAYS THEM against US.
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All budget sessions will be broadcast live on City TV (U-Verse 99, Spectrum 1300, over the air 13.4, and at EPConnect.Today/watch) and will be re-broadcast at 6:00 p.m. The meetings are also streamed live on the City’s website at elpasotexas.gov.”
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That is good. Some people might want to spend the time to watch the whole process.
The city could also post the preliminary budget online so that those who choose not to spend days watching the proceedings can learn what is being proposed.
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Brutus, there is no conspiracy going on here. This is the same procedure the city has used in the past. It’s simply part of the city’s yearly budget development process, and certainly not something people should be ‘shitting their pants’ over. If citizens are interested in the detail, please encourage them to take time to attend some of these budget meetings.
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How do Citizens, TAXPAYERS attend a budget meeting, when they are hidden, concealed in a SECRET meeting, a hotel room some where.? Their baseball field, their Arena, etc,etc These people hide, lie, deny what THEY do to US. Inherent Public Corruption in El Taxo.
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Anonymous, call your city representative. Shit, I’ve known about the rough time schedule for a week.
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All budget sessions will be broadcast live on City TV (U-Verse 99, Spectrum 1300, over the air 13.4, and at EPConnect.Today/watch) and will be re-broadcast at 6:00 p.m. The meetings are also streamed live on the City’s website at elpasotexas.gov.”
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These meetings are held when most taxpayers have to be at work!
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On the other hand they could post their presentations on their web site so that citizens could see what is being presented without having to miss work to attend a meeting.
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All budget sessions will be broadcast live on City TV (U-Verse 99, Spectrum 1300, over the air 13.4, and at EPConnect.Today/watch) and will be re-broadcast at 6:00 p.m. The meetings are also streamed live on the City’s website at elpasotexas.gov.”
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A year after Joyce Wilson was hired presentations were posted and I read through a few. One focused on the city reorganization that created consistent job classifications. Apparently, pre-City manager every department head created their own job classification system and this resulted in wide differences in pay. It gave me a very favorable opinion of the change to a City Manager. My opinions changed with the ballpark deal, but the reality is that if the City is managed competently sharing detailed presentation information on improvements helps citizens appreciate those efforts.
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If this will help, here’s the schedule that was listed in City Representative Hernandez’s weekly newsletter. The schedule was also listed in City Representative Noe’s weekly newsletter.
“Dear District 3 Residents:
Thank you for the opportunity to represent you. I am committed to advocating on your behalf and moving forward the needs of District 3. Please find below our newsletter regarding the latest city news and updates for our district.
FY2019 Budget Sessions
The City of El Paso will begin the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget sessions on Monday, July 9, in the second floor Main Conference Room of City Hall located at 300 N. Campbell.
The meetings will be held:
Monday, July 9 – 9:00 a.m.
Goal Team Budget Presentations*
Tuesday, July 10 – 12:00 p.m.
Goal Team Budget Presentations*
Wednesday, July 11 – 9:00 a.m.
Goal Team Budget Presentations*
Thursday, July 12 – 9:00 a.m. (only if needed)
Goal Team Budget Presentations*
Monday, July 30 – 9:00 a.m.
Special City Council meeting to review Certified Valuations and introduce FY 2019 Tax Rate
Tuesday, August 7 – 9:00 a.m.
Regular City Council Meeting – 1st Public Hearing on Tax Rate
Tuesday, August 14 – 9:00 a.m.
Regular City Council Meeting – 2nd Public Hearing on Tax Rate
Tuesday, August 21 – 9:00 a.m.
Regular City Council Meeting – Council adopts FY 2019 budget and tax rate
*Goal Presentations
Goal #1 Economic Development, Airport, International Bridges, and Destination El Paso
Goal #3 Planning and Inspections
Goal #2 Fire, Municipal Court, and Police
Goal #4 Library, Museums & Cultural Affairs, Parks & Recreation, and Zoo
Goal #5 Information Technology
Goal #6 City Attorney, City Manager, Human Resources, Mayor & Council,
Municipal Clerk, Non-departmental, Comptroller, Purchasing, and Tax Office
Goal #7 Capital Improvements, Sun Metro, and Streets & Maintenance
Goal #8 Animal Services, Community Development, Environmental Services, and
Public Health
All budget sessions will be broadcast live on City TV (U-Verse 99, Spectrum 1300, over the air 13.4, and at EPConnect.Today/watch) and will be re-broadcast at 6:00 p.m. The meetings are also streamed live on the City’s website at elpasotexas.gov.”
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Transparency has become an overused, feel good word among El Paso government entities and politicians. There’s an old saying that when someone says “trust me,” they really mean “f*** you.” When politicians and government constantly tell you how “transparent” they are and how hard they are working to be transparent, you know they are hiding things. If you’re not hiding stuff or manipulating information, you don’t have to work to be transparent.
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Old Fart makes a point. Its great if you got Rep. Hernandez’s weekly newsletter. The real question should be why isn’t that posted either in the backup material Brutus highlighted or in the announcement itself? Our city government’s number one goal should be to make this info easy to find for the average citizen. It doesn’t cost anymore to have a longer announcement on the web or in the backup material. That single change would be a great improvement. Another good one would be to have a banner or some other very visible component on the web home page that advises citizens what channels carry public meetings (and even better an up-to-date schedule of those meetings). Make it easy for citizens to watch their government in action.
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Why isn’t this info more readily available?
For the same reason that your credit card company, cell phone company, cable TV provider, pharmaceutical company, online service providers like Facebook and Google, and everyone else trying to take advantage of you bury all the bad s*** and legalese in tiny mice type that you can’t read, much less understand.
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