Opening government

April 21, 2013

El Diario de El Paso has done it again.  In an article the other day they wrote about item 27 on the commissioner’s court agenda for April 22, 2013.

The backup material for the item reads:

Discuss and take appropriate action on prohibiting the use of private/personal cellular phones for texting, instant messaging and the use of private electronic communication devices during open meeting by a Court member.

Hallelujah!

An elected official wants to respect the Texas open meetings act.  I thank him.

In the past other elected officials have contended that they have a personal right to receive private communications from family and other people during public meetings.  Maybe they do.  If it becomes necessary for them to communicate with their family during a meeting, they should excuse themselves from the meeting and do it in private.

We have seen through what we commonly call open records requests that elected officials communicate between themselves and staff during public meetings.  How can that be public?  The public is supposed to be able to see and hear all communications relating to the business of the meeting.

I look forward to how the court will handle this matter.

More progress

Also item 14 on the April 23, 2013 city council agenda  would direct the city attorney (hopefully without Scrivener’s help) to draft an ordinance similar to the one in Austin Texas that would make electronic communications with elected city officials and city staff through city owned facilities public property.  I think they already are, but this would be a nice step in the right direction.  I don’t see a proposed ban on the practice council members texting about city business during council meetings.

I note that I did not see a mention of these issues in The El Paso Times, I hope that I just missed it.

We deserve better

Brutus

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El Diario

April 20, 2013

With the El Paso Times conveniently evading the presentation of El Paso City Council shenanigans, the source of information about their doings today is the Juarez Diario Paper.

If you recall, Brutus in Train Wreck April 5, 2013, delineated the “make up” deal the City was forced into because some genius forgot that we didn’t own “all” the land required for the already $120 million invested or committed, Ball Park.  It seems the Railroad owns 8,680 square feet of the proposed location. What businessman would let this happen?  Works with other people’s money, and long employment contracts and a bunch of “d____ies”.   Is this news, Mr El Paso Times Editor Sportswriter?

Well to the rescue, our courageous Council approached the Railroad on bended knee to clear up this miscue.  Traded equivalent of 2 city lots at $27.50 a sq.ft from RR. for 2 adjacent acres for $11.10 a sq.ft.. to RR.  Not bad when u are on 1 bended knee.  Then the kicker: Pow!! Close nine Railroad crossings throughout the city.  On your Hands and knees!  This got pushed through Council in consecutive two weeks with little or no discussion.  No contract, you say . Leave it up to the Miscuer Manager.  We do as she tells us!  Consult with citizens?  Involved property owners?  Worry about School kids?  School Districts?

( Hey, we know better.  We are the progressives.  Please re-elect us).

Did you read about it in the El Paso Times?  Where was our clever Sportswriter Editor?  Isn’t this news.?

The Ysleta Independent School District (YSID) got wind of the Street closures from the El Paso Journal investigating their impact. The YSID Board had an emergency meeting. They knew nothing of the street closures which would cause severe difficulty School Buses with getting kiddos to school among other things. (Take them out to the Ballgame instead, you idiot! Buy them some peanuts and….).

The Water District found out they wouldn’t be able to distribute water to now isolated houses. (Dig them Wells).  Were they consulted?  informed?  Is this news Mr. Joe?

I learned about this in the April 18th, 2013, Juarez Diario News. (from Ms S Ayalla’s facebook page)

Still nothing in the Times.  They ignore the Emergency meeting but today they did report yesterday’s meeting about maintenance problems.  Great stuff.  Two big columns.

I think by now we all know that the El Paso Times which is shrinking in size, circulation and information,  is careful about what they say about the City Council.  Why, I wonder?  In the meantime,  look at Diario.

M. T. Cicero

7 Comments | City government, El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by M.T. Cicero

No one will notice

April 16, 2013

This article in The El Paso Times failed to tell us what is really happening.

The reporter tells us that the bond rating organization named Fitch Ratings gave an A plus rating to the $51.4 million of city bonds being issued to finance the ball park.

You will remember that the city approved “a contract of about $40 million for the construction manager at-risk, the general contractor that will subcontract and oversee all the trade companies that will work on the Triple-A minor league baseball stadium. The remaining $10 million of the ballpark’s cost is for architects, consultants and other work to be performed before the ballpark is built” according to the Times.

40 + 10 = 51.4

What? The Times failed to explain the increase from the $50 million the city keeps claiming the ball park will cost.

The city formed the City of El Paso Downtown Development Corporation to organize the financial matters relating to the ball park. Earlier reporting in the Times quoted the chief financial officer of the city as saying “forming the corporation — a recommendation from the Texas Attorney General’s office, which reviews and approves bond issues — allows it to issue bonds without having to have a coverage ratio or a debt reserve fund, which in turn allows it to borrow at lower interest rates than the city could.”

Does the corporation have the authority to issue more than the $50 million we voted on? Here is the ballot language that the voters passed:

VENUE PROJECT AND HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX PROPOSITION

“AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF EL PASO, TEXAS, TO DESIGNATE THE MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL STADIUM PROJECT AS A SPORTS AND COMMUNITY VENUE PROJECT WITHIN THE CITY IN ACCORDANCE WITH
APPLICABLE LAW AND TO IMPOSE A TAX ON THE OCCUPANCY OF A ROOM IN A HOTEL LOCATED WITHIN THE CITY, AT THE MAXIMUM RATE OF TWO PERCENT (2%) OF THE PRICE PAID FOR SUCH ROOM, FOR THE
PURPOSE OF FINANCING SUCH VENUE PROJECT.”

What’s missing?

A dollar limit for starters. We agreed to raise the tax by 2%. We did not limit the amount of money that can be spent on the ball park. We did not vote to spend a certain amount. We voted to raise a tax. How much council spends is up to them.

A + is a two step downgrade.

Municipal bond ratings go from AAA (the best) down to AA+, AA, AA-, A+. A, and even lower.

Fitch rates El Paso municipal bonds as AA. These special ball park bonds have been rated two steps lower (riskier). A lower rating means a higher (more expensive) interest rate. Our chief financial officer told us that the new development corporation would allow us to borrow at lower interest rates than the city.

That does not look like it is true.

It does not look like the Times is watching out for our interests either.

Muckraker

Leave a Comment » | Ball park, City government, El Paso Times | Permalink
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Congratulations El Paso Times

April 10, 2013

I see in this article that the El Paso Times and its reporters got some much deserved recognition recently.

They recently received awards from no less than the Associated Press Managing Editors.

A former Times reporter who is now with the Denver Post was commended for her articles about the problems over at the El Paso Independent School District:

“Bravo to reporting that seems to have used a combination of digging for records and good-old-fashioned source work to unearth a scandal that had real, quantifiable harm. Investigative journalism at its finest,” the judge wrote.

The Times itself was awarded first place in the community service category for stories and editorials about the cheating.  The judge wrote:

“Exceptional use of reporting and public records laws reveal the depth of corruption and malfeasance in a public school system,” the judge wrote. “Outstanding, tough editorials call for action. The El Paso Times staff performed an immense public service by calling attention to the problem and demanding a solution that would benefit the community’s children, parents and taxpayers. This is exciting, satisfying work.”

I have noticed a marked improvement in the Times since the return of the executive editor.

The Times also “won second place in Texas APME’s best newspaper category for mid-size papers.”  Now I don’t mean to be funny or cruel here, but second place?  I can only wonder about the quality of other newspapers.  Maybe the economic situation that the newspapers find themselves in has changed the standards.

I applaud the Times and its staff and will try to be a bit more gentle with my comments in the future.

In the meantime could we get some coverage of the other problems we have with local governments now that the parade is over?  I’d like to see them win some more awards.

Muckraker

Leave a Comment » | City government, County Government, El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Times, Open Government, Purchasing, State Government | Permalink
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Got the lead out?

April 9, 2013

This writing by the Times columnist (maybe satarist is a better term) poked fun at the people concerned about the health risks involved in felling the Asarco stacks. I guess that he has no responsibilities regarding reporting. His efforts seem to be more oriented toward influencing public opinion than toward reporting. Maybe that is his job. I haven’t figured that out.

On the other hand this article by a Times reporter seems to try to present facts about the precautions that are being taken with the city hall demolition. This quote was attributed to the city engineer: “He added that there are minimal levels of lead in the building, but that the amount is safe and legal for disposal”.

I guess the word “minimal” here has to be interpreted in light of the way the city engineer speaks. In There They Go Again we learned about how the city engineer recommended that city council award a contract for “minor work” and then three months later used that same contract to perform $694,000 of work on the same city hall that will soon be torn down. The post even provides a link to a video showing the city engineer assuring council that the contract would only be used for minor work. When asked about the term “minor” he openly muses about the wonderful ambiguity of the term. If it is unfair to call him a liar we should at least know how he likes to equivocate.

Is it safe?

I am writing strictly from memory here and have not found any documents to susbstantiate my recollections. I might be mistaken.

When they built the Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments | City government, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Muckraker

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