Visiting Alice

August 1, 2015

Helen Marshall sent this in:

After reading the Times for the past few days I must conclude that I have fallen down the rabbit hole into Wonderland.

Ms. Niland tells us that the citizenry doesn’t need to vote on returning to a strong-mayor system because the city manager arrangement has been very successful. (And the Charter Advisory Committee agrees, with the guidance of former city manger Joyce Wilson, appointed by Ms. Niland, and former mayor Joe Wardy, who came up with the city manager idea).

City Manager Gonzalez then briefed Council on his work in completely overhauling the city administration and eliminating waste and inefficiency.  In Parks and Recreation, for example, irrigation repair jobs that used to take 24 hours now are done in less than rwo hours.  

Unless my memory has completely failed, the first and only previous city manager had responsibility for running the city effectively and without waste for ten years, concluding in mid-2014.  If the city-manager system was so successful, how is it that the successor has to conduct a massive overhaul of city business?  

The reporting about city finances hails the ratings from Standard and Poor’s and Fitch that reaffirmed the city’s AA rating (which is NOT the top rating).  Buried deep in the report is this: Fitch “pointed out several areas to watch, including inadequate reserves, elevated debt and plans for major capital projects. … Fitch believes the city will be challenged to balance ongoing capital needs against an already above-average debt service tax rate, slower tax base growth in the near term, and below-average socio-economic characteristics.”

Couple that with the remark in a report on UMC tax proposals that El PAso County is in a unique situation compared with other counties in Texas; “in El Paso the property tax base is declining and as a result the effective tax rate is going up.”

Mayor Leeser assures us that “with City Council’s guidance we will continue to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and ensure that we provide the best for the citizens of El Paso.”  And what’s more, it ain’t true that City Council is “dysfunctional” and its members don’t get along.

And so we must follow the White Queen and believe six impossible things before breakfast.

15 Comments | City government, County Government, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Would this work?

July 31, 2015

Most of us recall that the voters approved the sale of $120 million of bonds to build our children’s hospital.

Somehow the county hospital got in the act and is charging the children’s hospital $10 million a year for rent.  It looks like the county hospital thinks it got a free building from the taxpayers and the right to charge rent.  Talk about taking candy from babies.

Now the children’s hospital has declared bankruptcy.

What would be wrong with us offering free rent of the $120 million building to a hospital organization that would operate here in El Paso?  Would the Shriners or St. Jude or some other organization be able to make a go of the hospital if they did not have rent expense?

We deserve better

Brutus

14 Comments | County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Challenge to the Times

July 29, 2015

The Times seems to have difficulty understanding reality.

They suggest that employers should pay higher wages.

Okay fine.  Go right ahead Times.

Please raise your wages so that you can attract experienced talent that knows how to, has the time to, and is allowed to write pieces that expose the waste fraud and abuse that permeate our local governments.

The Times might argue that they cannot do that because they are in an industry that is declining.  They don’t have enough money they might say.

Would they understand this reality that many of us live with or would they somehow excuse themselves since they seem to think that they are so special?

Would the Times dare to publish their existing wage scale and then bravely increase it in an act of economic leadership that would help our community?

We deserve better

Brutus

2 Comments | City government, County Government, El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Times, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Forced confessions

July 26, 2015

Texas house bill number 1378 has been signed by the governor and is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2016.

The bill requires local governments to be much more open about their debt.  The governments will be required to disclose their total debts but also each individual one.  From the law:

(D)  the combined principal and interest required to pay all outstanding debt obligations on time and in full;

(E)  the combined principal and interest required to pay each outstanding debt obligation on time and in full;

Unfortunately:

 The requirements to compile and report information under Section 140.008, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a fiscal year ending on or after the effective date of this Act.  That puts us into 2017 or 2018.

The local governments could voluntarily publish the information before the end of their next fiscal year but I doubt any of us expect them to.

We’ll be on the lookout.

We deserve better

Brutus

1 Comment | City government, County Government, El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Worth a thousand words

July 17, 2015

We have Mock El Paso Times to thank for capturing the original photograph that ran with the Times story about our county hospital cancelling surgeries.

Valenti1

Later versions of the Times use this picture:

Valenti2

Who says nobody buys the Times?

We deserve better

Brutus

4 Comments | County Government, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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