Preferential treatment, an El Paso tradition

June 25, 2015

I was disappointed to read the article in the Times the other day about our former commanding general of Fort Bliss being accused of wrong-doing in a purchasing process.

We do not know what he did or did not do.  We do know that the Times, through reference to a Washington Post article, told us:

Pittard was not accused of financial gain but was reprimanded by the Army for his “excessive involvement” in awarding the $492,000 contract and for “creating a perception of preferential treatment,” the Post reports.

Further from the Times article:

An Army review board is also considering whether to strip Pittard of his rank as a two-star general before he is allowed to retire later this year, according to the story posted online Sunday.

Perception

We should compare that to what is going on in El Paso.  We have seen time and time again that not only is there a perception of preferential treatment, there is in fact preferential treatment.

The difference is that here in El Paso we tolerate it and whenever someone raises an objection the various local government officials circle the wagons to protect the culprits.  Vendors that file open records requests are considered to be the enemy.  Major contracts are cancelled and awarded to cronies.  The public loses.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

Wrong if you do it, but not if I do

June 11, 2015

Our county judge has been complaining publicly about the fact that the children’s hospital is using an out of town law firm to handle their bankruptcy.

She fails to point out that the county and the county hospital both use an out of town firm to handle their bonds.  The same lawyer seems to be at the bottom of some of El Paso’s most controversial issues.  He is now with the law firm of Norton Rose Fulbright out of their Dallas office.

Searching the web you will find that the firm has a few local clients:

  • The City of El Paso (evidently including the ball park)
  • The County of El Paso (evidently including the clinics and the children’s hospital)
  • El Paso Independent School District (evidently including the corporation that wants to issue the bonds for the new central office)
  • El Paso County 911 District

They may be involved with other local governments, time will tell.

This graphic comes from a presentation that the county hospital was using to sell us on the children’s hospital bond issue:

epchteamofexperts

At the time the lawyer was with his own firm.  He evidently later joined Norton Rose Fulbright.

The county judge is certainly being disingenuous when she complains about the children’s hospital while she is doing the same thing.

We deserve better

Brutus

6 Comments | Ball park, City government, County Government, El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Are we really business friendly?

June 5, 2015

The last two days we have seen that El Paso is the eighth poorest major city in the nation and that we have the fifth highest homeowner property tax rate among the nation’s 50 largest cities.

U. S. News and World Report  has listed us as the city with the 5th lowest real income (with the lowest median incomes relative to their respective costs of living).

What can we do?

Some will say that we need to attract industry.  Better jobs will make the difference.

Well, take a look at this:

2014topindustrial

Yes, El Paso has the third highest taxes on industrial property among our largest 50 cities.

Maybe we can attract some industries that don’t worry about money.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

“Never have so many been manipulated so much by so few.” — Aldous Huxley

June 4, 2015

CBS news has a post on their web site dated February 18, 2015.

They tell us that El Paso is the 8th poorest major city in the nation.  The article says:

  • Percentage of incomes under $25,000: 30.7%
  • Percentage of population with bachelor’s degree: 22.7%
  • Percentage of incomes over $150,000: 5.2% (#28, tied with Indianapolis)
  • Total population: 660,795

Education and low wages are two of the biggest economic issues in this border city. The U.S. Census Bureau notes only 74 percent of El Paso residents ages 25 and older have a high school degree or the equivalent, compared to the national average of 85 percent. And lower levels of education often equal lower earning power. According to a recent Forbes survey of 100 metropolitan areas where people earn the biggest and smallest paychecks, El Paso was ranked 97, with median starting salaries of $39,600 and an overall median salary of just under $47,000.

Making this even more unfortunate is the fact that El Paso is now ranked as having the fifth highest property tax of the fifty largest cities in the United States in the “50 State Property Tax Comparison Study” published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence.

Highest taxes, lowest incomes

Not quite but close.  We have the fifth highest taxes and the eighth lowest incomes.

Stay tuned.  Tomorrow we will look at the study in more detail.

We deserve better

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

5th highest taxes

June 3, 2015

Here is the listing of the 50 cities with the highest homeowner property tax in 2014:

2014top50cities

We are ranked 5th highest.  Last year we were ranked 7th, but our local spending is beginning to kick in and we can expect to climb closer to number one next year.

Looking ahead

The majority of the $400 million we voted to spend for quality of life projects has not been borrowed yet and thus is not in our tax bills.  It’s anyone’s guess what the final bill will be with the anticipated cost overruns included.

Our two major school districts are telling us that they will need a combined one billion dollars for school construction and maintenance.

Our city streets are crumbling.  The bill there will be in the hundreds of millions.

The children’s hospital is in bankruptcy and our county hospital operated with a $12 million dollar loss last year without even considering any amount the children’s hospital owes them.

The city intends to build the Alameda Brio line starting soon at a projected cost of $35.5 million.  The money for this will not come from federal grants but will be local money.

The county is talking about tearing down the downtown jail and building a new one.  They have told us that it will take over $30 million to fix the existing building.

The property tax study does not include the franchise fees that the city is charging us through the water utility.

Could be 3rd highest

Our taxes would only have to go up $135 per year on a $150,000 dollar house for us to have been the third highest city last year.  I can just hear it now, “that’s less than the cost of a soft drink per day”.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

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