They could do it if they wanted to

November 22, 2015

The other day the Times published an article about a prominent local family that has ended up in court to try to settle differing financial claims between family members.

The coverage looked  thorough, complete, and well thought out.  It told us about the different sides of the disagreement and seemed to be balanced.  Details that were disclosed showed real investigation on the part of the reporter.

The article is proof that the Times can look into an issue and report on it.

If there was ever any doubt in anyone’s mind about the lack of objective coverage of local government issues from the Times, we now know for certain.

The Times must have had a reason for its coverage.  This was a private issue and of absolutely no importance to the average citizen.  Yet they ran an extensive article.  One can only wonder who pulled that string.

The Times has chosen to act as a public relations outlet for our local  governments.  Time and time again we have seen the Times help them at the expense of the citizens of El Paso.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

EPISD review needed

November 7, 2015

The El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) is losing students at an accelerated rate.  According to an article in the Times 2,491 fewer students have enrolled this year than last.

With the state contributing about $6,600 per student, EPISD is facing a revenue drop of about $16 million dollars.

It’s time for some serious cost management.

Realizing that our readers are apt to laugh at this suggestion, we will put it forward anyway.

The district needs an independent review of their operations.  No, please don’t hire some outside consulting company.  Instead find some competent, non political residents to analyze what can be done better and to make recommendations to the board.

Don’t stack the group with the same group of clowns that have been “leading” El Paso deeper into debt.  Find some experienced people that are willing to spend some serious time finding out what is going on and making suggestions about how to do it better.

There are some very good people working at the central office.  As with most organizations there are some others that need to go.

Yes, I understand that we need trained educators to be part of the process.  That does not mean that many business principles cannot be successfully applied.

We deserve better

Brutus

4 Comments | El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Editorial policy changes?

October 28, 2015

Can someone explain why it seems that the Times has started to take on the city recently–at least on some things?

Most of their recent criticism has been about people not results, but at least they have stopped their cheerleading.

Have the new owners decided to change the editorial policy?

Are they going to let their people try to be reporters instead of mouthpieces for the city?

We deserve better

Brutus

 

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

Times changes their story

October 20, 2015

The Tuesday, October 13, 2015 agenda of the Mass Transit Department Board (aka Sun Metro) includes this item:

  1. Presentation and discussion on the following items:

          9A.   Sun Metro Fixed Route Indicators for FY15 4TH QTR for period ending August 31, 2015

We saw a 15% drop in ridership for the first three quarters of 2015 ending May 31 compared to the same period last year.  That is even after the super expensive Brio system came online.

Will the fourth quarter numbers be even worse?

The Times recently ran an article where they published the fourth quarter numbers.

It is difficult to believe what we read in the Times.  In Total eclipse of the Sun we wrote about how the Times printed in their article that “Sun Metro averages 1,800-2,000 riders each day”.

Looking on the Times website now the article has been changed to read “Sun Metro averages 42,000-43,000 riders each day”.

They changed the article without noting their earlier mistake.  That is just plain dishonest behavior for a newspaper.

We deserve better

Brutus

4 Comments | El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

One-sided

September 29, 2015

I’m not siding with either our county hospital or the children’s hospital on this debt situation.

Both have performed miserably and have let the taxpayers down.

We did get a glimpse of the one-sided nature of the discussions the other day.

Evidently the folks at our county hospital made their “final” offer Thursday afternoon.  They gave the children’s hospital until 5 p.m. that same afternoon to respond.  That was generous of them.

Someone must have squawked because that deadline was extended to 10 a.m. the next morning.  That still gave the people at children’s less than 24 hours to make a decision.

Children’s evidently made a counteroffer Friday.

The Times reported that the county then decided to take a few days to think about the situation:

Citing progress, County Judge Veronica Escobar said county officials and the UMC board are going to take until Monday morning to consider the most recent draft of the agreement.

Children’s was told that it needed to respond within a few hours.  Our county officials got a few days.

This lends credence to children’s argument that they have historically received demands from the county hospital with no time to react differently.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

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