How long will it be before the attorney the city hired to look into the financial advisor situation publishes his report?
We deserve better
Brutus
Request for information
January 20, 2016This message is for the members of city council that read this blog.
Would you please give us a status report about the project at San Jacinto Plaza?
We deserve better
Brutus
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City government | 
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Posted by Brutus
Why spend money for another cover up?
January 19, 2016I wanted to read the two reports that city staff was asked to produce relating to the financial advisor mess.
The city’s web site offers them on this page:
Following either link I got this result:
Now the city has hired an out of town lawyer to look into the matter. Will the lawyer report impartially?
Consider the fact that the city hired the same attorney to oppose the open records requests relating to the ball park correspondence between members of city council.
We deserve better
Brutus
1 Comment | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
More trouble coming
January 13, 2016Are there any people left at the city that are qualified to act as senior managers, department heads, or deputy city managers?
Our prior city manager ran off people who dared to disagree with her. She surrounded herself with sycophants. The results were financially and organizationally disastrous.
Our new city manager got rid of most of the prior city manager’s people and brought in his own team. That team includes a part time second in command (who we are told does not even live in El Paso) and also an employee of a vendor.
Word on the street is that the many rank and file employees live in fear for their jobs and are marching lock-step with whatever our new city manager decrees.
It’s hard to believe but transparency under this new regime is even worse than under the tear-down-city-hall crowd.
The Times is calling for the new guy’s head. What will happen if city council gets rid of him? Who do we have that can run the city?
There are people in town that could do it but why would they volunteer to walk into the cesspool that we now know as city council?
The mayor has limited powers but seems to be our only hope of getting a competent local to step up to the plate.
We are in a mess.
We deserve better
Brutus
3 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Got us again
January 12, 2016Will we ever learn not to trust the people down at the city?
In our last election we approved a charter change that would require city council to meet at least every other week.
In an October 3, 2015 article El Paso, Inc. quoted our former city manager thusly:
The City Charter now requires the council to meet every week and allows only three cancelations a year. The proposition, if approved, would require City Council meetings at least every other week.
Wilson said the current requirement creates problems around major holidays and prevents the council from traveling, say, to special events in Austin or Washington and participating in events as a group locally.
“Most cities have a requirement to meet at least twice monthly and to cancel meetings when necessary,” she said. “It also comes up during the budget process. This would allow the council to cancel a Tuesday meeting and have a budget session instead.”
In other words “give us a little flexibility” so that we can skip a Tuesday meeting once in a while.
Once we voted for the change council passed a resolution to only meet every other week.
We deserve better
Brutus
4 Comments | City government, El Paso Inc. | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
elpasospeak 
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