Picking a spot for the arena

February 7, 2017

Today city council is going to consider giving a $250,000 contract to yet another out of town company.

Arena

The contract would require the company to recommend a site for the proposed arena.

There are evidently economic advantages to us if the new arena is located within 1,000 feet of the current convention center.

The convention center is a pretty good sized piece of property.  The graphic below shows an area with a radius of 1,000 feet from the red arrow.  The arrow could be moved along the perimeter of the convention center if they need to move the circle.

1000feet

For a lot less than $250,000 we could write a report for the city.  In case they want to do what they did with the old city hall they might want to consider the following for destruction:

The ball park

The building the Times is located in

Plaza theater

Mills Building

Union Plaza Parking Garage

The art museum

Hotel Paso Del Norte

Plaza Hotel

Museum of History

Masonic Temple

Paisano Drive

Loop 375

Circles are not complicated.

We deserve better

Brutus

9 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Crumbling roads

February 3, 2017

Has anyone asked city council what they intend to do about the atrocious condition of our neighborhood streets?

Aren’t the streets more of a necessity than the arena?

The city’s pavement condition index is available here:  pavement condition index

Unfortunately it does not work.

We deserve better

Brutus

12 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Getting to know your Texas Rangers

February 1, 2017

There has been some discussion on the blog about the Texas Rangers’ involvement in the public corruption and open meetings issues we have been having in El Paso.

Many of us were under the impression that the Rangers operated out of Austin and that our access to them would thus be limited.

As it turns out El Paso is home to Texas Rangers Company E which you can read about here.

According to the Texas Rangers web site one of their responsibilities is:

  • Public Corruption Unit: The 81st Texas Legislature created a Public Corruption Unit within the Texas Department of Public Safety under the Texas Ranger Division. The Texas Rangers are tasked with investigating public corruption among public officials, law enforcement officers, and others holding positions of public trust.

The telephone number for Company E is (915) 834-7664.

We deserve better

Brutus

3 Comments | City government, County Government, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Please help get more involvement

January 31, 2017

We will be having a city election in May of this year.

We would like to encourage our readers to promote awareness in the community.

There is a lot at stake.

We deserve better

Brutus

11 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Texas Rangers

January 30, 2017

The Texas Rangers investigating the situation with some of our city council members have their hands tied in some ways.

Based on the text messages and videos relating to the incidents,  it appears that some of our city council members both violated the Texas Open Meetings Act and intended to.  Unless other evidence surfaces, it will be hard to conclude anything else.

Conspiring to circumvent the act is a crime.

Meeting in violation of the act is another crime.

Respecting standards

If the rangers find no violation of the law they will be encouraging elected officials statewide to do what our local people have done.

That would be a giant step backward in our efforts to shine light on governmental actions.

Wheels of justice

It would appear that it will take time for the rangers to investigate and make their recommendations.  If prosecution is recommended it will be several months before trials occur.  Some of the city council members will no longer be in office.

We might expect to see some resignations in exchange for being let go.

We might also see some citizen led recall efforts.

If nothing else we should expect this to be a major issue in the upcoming election.

We deserve better

Brutus

3 Comments | City government, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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