elpasospeak

Now we are learning that the city is so loose with our money that they have failed to collect over $21 million from the state.  The state wants to pay us but the city has to do some paperwork.

According to this article in the Times:

The city of El Paso is in danger of losing millions of dollars in transportation project reimbursements after failing to submit the required paperwork to receive payment, according to Texas Department of Transportation officials.

TxDOT says the city has $21.3 million in pending reimbursements, but city officials disagreed, saying it’s closer to $9 million.

Difference

Based upon the city’s recent financial errors I know who I would tend to believe in this situation.

Even if the city is right why haven’t they moved immediately to collect the $9 million?  Do they have so much of our money that they don’t care?

More debt is an option

I have been impressed with the way our new city manager and chief financial officer have been trying to fix the mess that their predecessors left us with.

This quote from the Times really makes me wonder though:

In the worst-case scenario, Sutter said, city staff could go before the City Council to request additional certificates of obligations, which are backed by property taxes but don’t require voter approval.

We can only hope that the quote was taken out of context and that our chief financial officer was talking about something other than collecting our $21.3 million.

We deserve better

Brutus

Our west side city representative for the last ten years is no longer on city council.  Unfortunately we still do not know what happened to the investigation relating to her alleged threatening of a city employee.

If I have my facts straight the Times reported back in October of 2013 that the city representative was being investigated to see if she threatened a city employee who had been instructed to trim a tree on her property.  The tree was evidently obstructing a traffic sign.

We don’t know what the city representative did or did not do, but a serious crime may have been committed.  From the Texas penal code:

Sec. 22.01.  ASSAULT.  (a)  A person commits an offense if the person::

(2) intentionally or knowingly threatens another with imminent bodily injury, including the person’s spouse; or

(3) intentionally or knowingly causes physical contact with another when the person knows or should reasonably believe that the other will regard the contact as offensive or provocative.

(b) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the offense is committed against:

(1) a person the actor knows is a public servant while the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or performance of an official duty as a public servant;

We wrote in Do you know who I am? that:

City Manager Joyce Wilson said all council members have to go through standard investigative procedures when allegations are raised against them.

“They are treated the same as any other citizen.  An investigation takes place and the outcome is referred to the District Attorney,” she said in an email.

The case has been handed over to the Special Investigation Group, a police unit formed to investigate allegations made against public officials.

We learned that her statement was just plain hooey to put it politely.

Then in Two strikes and you’re out as part of the discussion over the firing of a deputy city manager we heard of rumors that the same city representative wanted the employee to be fired.

Charter violation? discussed the possibility that the city representative might have also violated the city charter.  We wrote:

Our city charter says:

Section 5.5 INTERFERENCE WITH PERSONNEL OR ADMINISTRATION.

Except for the purposes of investigations under Section 3.8 and inquiries, the members of the Council shall deal with City employees who are subject to the direction and supervision of the City Manager solely through the City Manager, and neither the Council nor any of its members shall give orders to any such employee, either publicly or privately. Neither the Council nor any of its members shall in any manner control or demand the appointment or removal of any City employee whom the City Manager is empowered to appoint, but the Council may express its views and fully and freely discuss with the City Manager anything pertaining to appointment and removal of such employees.

In other words a city representative does not have the right to give orders to a city employee “either publicly or privately”.  According to the charter:

“The failure of any officer or employee to comply with this chapter or the violation of one or more of the standards of conduct set forth in this article, which apply to him or her, shall constitute grounds for expulsion, reprimand, removal from office or discharge.”

Then in Private club we pointed out that both the district attorney and mayor appear to have responsibilities here.

We deserve better

Brutus