Political gamesmanship

May 9, 2014

At Tuesday’s virtually behind the doors closed meeting of the board of managers of the El Paso Independent School District we saw something of the character of our city’s chief financial officer.

The board wanted to take some steps that would dramatically affect teachers and their employment with the district.  The board chose to have a special meeting at 2 P.M.   Obviously teachers and members of the public would have difficulty attending the meeting at that hour.  Many of the items were on the consent agenda.  Their placement there limited public discussion and facilitated a quick vote without board discussion.

The president of the board did move two of the most significant items off of the agenda and postponed their consideration until the next meeting which I believe is scheduled for May 24.

Ducking the controversy

Our chief financial officer did not attend the meeting.  Maybe she will claim that she was busy with city business.  That of course brings up the conflict of interest that she has when representing both organizations.  This was an important vote but she evidently chose to duck it.

By not voting she really voted yes.  If she had objections to the way the board was going to change the rules with the teachers she should have made the time to be at the meeting and vote no.

Did her behavior assist her efforts to become city manager?  To me the answer is no.  What she showed is that she acts in her own political best interest even though she has a responsibility to the district.  Would she behave the same way as city manager?

You decide.  The teachers probably have already.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

Necessities first

May 8, 2014

Our city council showed some leadership in it’s April 24, 2014 meeting.

Items 14.3 and 14.4 were items that contemplated trading money with the state of Texas for various projects.

City staff told us that the state wanted to make aesthetic improvements to bridges that cross over I-10 near downtown El Paso.    The improvements contemplated did not improve  pedestrian access,  the state funds that they wanted to use were not eligible for that purpose, the state funds needed to be spent for pedestrian access and wayfinding.

In a typically convoluted formula the city was to give money to the state that the state would use to dress up the bridges.   In return the state would contribute funds to the city to be used for pedestrian wayfinding and city median and parkway landscaping and improving projects.

Necessities

Thankfully a city represented stepped in and expressed his view that there were public safety issues in his district that were more important than making some bridges look better.  He complained that there are significant arterial roads in his district that do not have lighting and that public safety is being ignored.  The deputy city manager making the presentation told council that the funds being discussed could be designated to resolve the deficiency he was speaking of.

Other city representatives then agreed and stated that there were public safety issues in their districts that could be addressed with roadway median lighting.

Confusion

The discussion was a long one.  City representatives asked some questions that could not be answered with a simple yes or no.  The deputy city manager failed to explain the various complexities of the issues.  She gave what appeared to be different answers depending upon how a question was phrased.  My take on the discussion is that she did not anticipate council wanting to get to the heart of the manner and as a result gave the simplistic and often misleading answers that city staff often gives in an effort to quiet council.

Yes or no

At one point a city representative asked if the proposed wayfinding expenditures were associated with the ball park.  It was a simple yes or no question.  The answer was yes.

The city manager and another city representative entered the conversation and told us that the expenditures were not related to the ball park.  They had been planned long before the ball park was started.  Yes the project concerned areas physically adjacent to the ball park but those changes were going to be made even if the ball park was not built on the new city hall site.

No one explained how the project could possibly benefit anyone if the new ball park was not built.

Frustration

Council clearly expressed it’s frustration and outrage at the way city staff has been manhandling them over the years.  Questions about funding were not clearly answered.

Notably the city’s chief financial officer and candidate for the job of city manager was no where to be seen.

Council ultimately agreed to the swap of money with the condition that the projects that the city will manage will be brought before council for decisions about how and where the money will be spent.

In this case council did not bow to city management.

Something got better

Brutus

 

5 Comments | Ball park, City government, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

How many times?

May 7, 2014

How many times are we going to see the Times shamelessly using it’s power to tell half truths in order to try to sway public opinion?

Their editorial the other day lamented the slim pickings that have been provided to us with the four finalists for the city manager position.

They wrote about the candidate from out of town that appears to have had “ethical lapses” (to use the Times’ term).

They also wrote about one of our deputy city managers who bungled the police payroll issue a couple of years ago to the tune of a couple of million dollars.

Not one word

They did not write one word about our current chief financial officer who has appeared before council time and again providing wildly inaccurate financial data.

Could that be because she is the chosen one?

Hypocrites!

We deserve better

Brutus

11 Comments | City government, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Dirty trick

May 6, 2014

Our non-elected board of managers of the El Paso Independent School District is playing a dirty trick.

They have scheduled a special meeting of the board for today (May 6, 2014) at 2 PM.

On the agenda are numerous changes to personnel policies that will, among other things,  give our not qualified superintendent the right to pick which teachers to fire.

Having the meeting at 2 PM will make it hard for teachers and members of the public to show up and voice their thoughts.

Cowardly

Yes some difficult decisions will need to be taken at the district in order to get the budget in balance.  Leaving the teachers out of the dialogue is not fair.  On this same agenda they are proposing millions of dollars worth of unnecessary construction.

Scheduling the meeting when the teachers are working is a dirty trick.

Normally I would not advocate people shirking their jobs.  In this case I hope that the teachers get the blue flu and attend the board meeting.

The chief financial officer of the city is on the district’s board of managers.  She wants to be the city manager.  Is this how she plans to conduct business at the city?

Shame on them

We deserve better

Brutus

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

Should we start over?

May 5, 2014

I for one would prefer that we not promote one of the two city employees that are in the running for the position of city manager.

We need a new approach at the city, one that is open and respects the citizens.   The Times referred to our current city manager’s “sharp elbows”.  We need more cooperation from our city manager and less arrogance.

Calling the citizens “crazies” showed how disconnected our city manager is.

The chief financial officer of the city is one of the candidates.  The numbers she has been providing to city council have been wildly wrong.  Does she provide them out of ignorance or does she do it at the request of the city manager?   Either way her behavior is unacceptable and clearly not the best thing for the citizens.

I don’t know much about the other city candidate.  His biography page on the city web site indicates that he has a finance background.  The two million dollar error in the police payroll happened during his watch and under his department.  He certainly did not use his finance background  to save us from the horrible over-spending that we have observed under this city manager.  Will we get a “more of the same” city administration from him?  Does he have experience running a large organization?

Crossing the current city manager can be disastrous for your career.  If he agreed with what has been going on then I don’t want him.  If he has disagreed then at what point did he have a duty to represent the citizens?

The two other candidates are from out of town.

It is pretty safe to assume that one was eliminated by the Times article.  Whether the stories are true or not, El Paso should not have to deal with the doubt.

I sure hope that the other out of town guy is worthy of the job.

The mayor should be upset with the search team.  Should he demand our money back?

We deserve better

Brutus

 

9 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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