City government privately owned?

January 31, 2015

The Times recently published a piece about traffic volumes at our international bridges.  It included this:

Paul Stresow, city international bridges director, said “We have seen a significant increase in cross-border traffic at our ports of entry during the past year, overall a 5.45 percent increase in southbound traffic during the calendar year 2014 over 2013.”

“Certainly, the public-private partnership with CBP at our Paso Del Norte and Ysleta (Zaragoza) bridges, where the city pays CBP to keep additional lanes open during peak travel times and during holidays to reduce wait times is one of many factors that have contributed to the growth in travel and trade,” Stresow said.

Wrong, wrong, wrong

There is no public-private partnership here.  The city government of El Paso Texas is paying the feral government of the United States.

Our feral government has chosen to assume the right to control our bridges.  Our constitution leaves that as a Texas state responsibility.

What we have here is a situation where they are not allocating enough money to operate the bridges.  As a result El Paso suffers economically.  Our city council has decided to step in and make up the budgetary shortfall.

Our local congressman seems to approve of this.  One would think that he would fight to get the funding needed so that local tax payers do not have to make up the difference.

When city council decided to do this we were told that crossing times would be under thirty minutes.  According to the article “The wait times are under an hour and sometimes under 45 minutes.”

What’s next?  Will we have to ante up to pay for other federal departments?

Then again

On the other hand maybe our bridge director was telling us  that our city government is privately owned.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

3 Comments | City government, El Paso Times, Federal Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

EPISD planetarium closing?

January 30, 2015

Our El Paso Independent School District has an impressive planetarium located in its current central office facility.

The district recently awarded a contract to have a new central office designed.

Unfortunately the contract does not include the design of a new planetarium.

Will we have a planetarium after the city kicks the district out of its current central office?

The district offers this link.  Ask the Superintendent.

I hope that you will take the time to get involved here.

We deserve better

Brutus

9 Comments | City government, El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

San Jacinto completion today

January 29, 2015

Take a look at this December 1, 2014 presentation to city council.  Presentation.

Among other things they tell council that the café building is scheduled to be complete January 29, 2015.

That’s today.  You can take a look at the building through the city’s web camera.  Camera.

Helen Marshall posted a comment the other day telling us that completion is now being forecast for late April, 2015.

How can city staff make a presentation to city council that is so obviously wrong?

We deserve better

Brutus

13 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Permit me

January 28, 2015

Looking at the city’s report of general fund revenues, we learn that they get money from  us through taxes, fees, revenues, reimbursements, forfeits, fines, licenses, penalties, revenues, and permits.

Some of us rail at the thought of being permitted to do something by our governments, so I thought I would look into what we can pay money to be permitted to do.

Permits:

Building permits

Demolition Permits

Electrical Permits

Grading Permits

Mechanical Permits

Mobile Home Placement Permits

Plumbing Permits

Roofing Permits

Sidewalk and Driveway Permits

Signs Permits

Other Permits

Charitable Solicitation Permits

Parade Permits

Paving Cut Permits

Subdivision Permits

Taxi Cab Operating Permits

Amplification Permits

Animal Permits

Hazardous Chemical Permits

Storm Drain Permits

Special Privilege Permits

Residential Building Permits

We are not permitted to know what is going on because they hide in executive session.

Permit me to point out that we have an election coming up.

We deserve better

Brutus

11 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Job openings for CEO’s and owners

January 27, 2015

The publicly funded workforce commission that serves El Paso recently changed it’s name to Workforce Solutions Borderplex.

This is the agency that is now run by our former city manager.

I guess that I need to eat some crow publicly here.  Some of my friends have held that the whole ball park/city hall issue was tied to the Borderplex group.  I have preferred to think that the former city manager was acting as a monocrat and that while the Borderplex benefitted from the situation  they were not driving the issue.

I guess that I was wrong.

I’ve often thought that the former city manager played fast and loose with the rules.  I decided to look up the state enabling legislation that allowed the commission to be formed.  This part caught my attention:

Sec. 2308.256. BOARD MEMBERSHIP. (a) A board is composed as follows:

(1) representatives of the private sector, who:

(A) constitute a majority of the membership of the board; and

(B) are owners of business concerns, chief executives or chief operating officers of nongovernmental employers, or other private sector executives who have substantial management or policy responsibilities;

Maybe they are qualified, but

If the majority of the board members must be owners or chief executives or chief operating officers of nongovernmental employers, or failing in that at least be other private sector executives who have substantial management or policy responsibilities, then maybe our local board is made up of a bunch of heavy hitters that know how to run an organization.

The commission’s web page lists 23 board members.  Twelve would make a majority.

Looking them each up through google, of the ones that work in the private sector I found:

A public affairs officer at a local hospital

A restaurant owner

A web services manager for a local company

An investment manager

Two practicing  attorneys

A Certified Public Accountant

A property manager

A disbursements manager

A (sales?) director of a local medical supply company

and the former CEO of our electric utility

There were two people I could not identify.

By my reckoning the former CEO and the restaurant owner fit the state requirements.

Stacking the board this way is a common technique.  Hired management that is supposed to be guided by the board ends up running the show.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

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