Does anyone know how our city bike share program is doing?
We could file an open records request but would rather find out before all of the bikes rust into the ground.
We deserve better
Brutus
Belated Happy Birthday
March 4, 2016One of our readers sent this in:
Notice Texas Independence was not even mentioned in ELPASO, TX but we will celebrate 5 de Mayo. Wonder why the rest of the state ignores us.
Happy Birthday, Texas
Texas Independence Day: Happy 180th Birthday, Texas!
On this day in 1836, Texas became a republic. On March 1, delegates from the seventeen Mexican municipalities of Texas and the settlement of Pecan Point met at Washington-on-the-Brazos to consider independence from Mexico. George C. Childress presented a resolution calling for independence, and the chairman of the convention appointed Childress to head a committee of five to draft a declaration of independence. The committee consisted of: George C. Childress, James Gaines, Edward Conrad, Collin McKinney, and Bailey Hardeman. Childress was named chairman, and it is generally conceded that he wrote the instrument with little help from the other members. In fact, there is some evidence that he brought to the convention a proposed declaration that was adopted with little change by the committee and the convention This view is substantiated by the fact that the committee was appointed on March 1, and the declaration was presented to the convention on March 2. The Texas edict, like the United States Declaration of Independence, contains a statement on the nature of government, a list of grievances, and a final declaration of independence. The separation from Mexico was justified by a brief philosophical argument and by a list of grievances. The declaration charged that the government of Mexico had ceased to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people; that it had been changed from a restricted federal republic to a consolidated, central, military despotism; that the people of Texas had remonstrated against the misdeeds of the government only to have their agents thrown into dungeons and armies sent forth to enforce the decrees of the new government at the point of the bayonet; that the welfare of Texas had been sacrificed to that of Coahuila; that the government had failed to provide a system of public education, trial by jury, freedom of religion, and other essentials of good government; and that the Indians had been incited to massacre the settlers. According to the declaration, the Mexican government had invaded Texas to lay waste to the territory and had a large mercenary army advancing to carry on a war of extermination. The final grievance, listed in justification of revolution, charged that the Mexican government had been “the contemptible sport and victim of successive military revolutions and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of a weak, corrupt, and tyrannical government.” After the signing of the original declaration by fifty-nine delegates, five copies of the document were dispatched to the designated Texas towns of Bexar, Goliad, Nacogdoches, Brazoria, and San Felipe. The printer at San Felipe was also instructed to make 1,000 copies in handbill form. The original was deposited with the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C., and was not returned to Texas until some time after June, 1896. We hope that you enjoy this insight into the lives of the early days of Texas. Own a piece of Texas history, and share the spirit of the Legacy of Texas!
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Posted by Brutus
Finger pointing
March 3, 2016Various past and present city officials are telling vastly different stories about how we got stuck with the $27 million bill because they failed to sell the ball park bonds when they could have.
People are lying.
Under the circumstances it seems to me that it would be appropriate for the city to subpoena them all for questioning.
We deserve better
Brutus
4 Comments | Ball park, City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Quit stalling
March 2, 2016Just when it looks like the local politicos have run out of fingers to point we learn that our former city manager’s attorney is in a dust up with the investigator that the city hired.
The investigator evidently wrote “Ms. Wilson’s legal counsel indicated that she was advising Ms. Wilson not to cooperate with this investigation any further” in his report to the city.
Now according to the Times the former city manager’s attorney has written “I am demanding that you immediately correct your false and malicious statement regarding Ms. Wilson’s position” in a letter to the investigator.
In Pitiful we saw that on November 15, 2015 Ms. Wilson said that she did not purposely delay the sale of the ball park bonds until after the city election.
KVIA exposed her on November 23, 2015 by showing an August 26, 2013 email from her to our city attorney where she outlined the process that led her to delay the sale.
It is hard to believe anything that she says at this point. The news reports indicate that she says she is not refusing to cooperate with the investigation. Instead she needs more time.
I don’t know how much time it will take for her to come up with the names of the people who were involved with the delay of the sale of the bonds. Her August 26, 2013 email already has shown that the former mayor and mayor-pro-tempore “concurred” with the delay.
It seems that she should be able to tell us soon, real soon.
“After that I expect the city to move on”, Wilson said according to the Times article.
Many of us might have said “After that I hope that the city will move on” but in her case she seems to think that she can tell us what to do.
We deserve better
Brutus
10 Comments | Ball park, City government, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Widen the net
March 1, 2016Noticeably absent from the Times coverage the other day of the various messes at the city was any mention of our former chief financial officer.
In Who had the power to sell the ballpark bonds? we saw that any one of three people could have sold the bonds including the former CFO.
One might argue that under the old city manager no one would dare to disagree with her. In fact at least one deputy city manager did and lost her job faster than you can say redo San Jacinto Plaza. Now that I think of it almost anything could be done faster than the San Jacinto Plaza project so lets say faster than the baby sitter’s boyfriend when your car pulls up.
Of course that was much of the problem and still is today. The city manager’s job has become so powerful that city staff cannot respectfully disagree.
Our former chief financial officer had a duty to the public to sound the alarm. Maybe she was in favor of the delay and shares responsibility for the $27 million that we lost. She of all people should have known better.
We deserve better
Brutus
3 Comments | Ball park, City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
elpasospeak 
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