The appalling condition of our city streets claimed another victim the other day.
A pot hole on El Puente was so large that driving through it at night destroyed two tires.
The unfortunate driver had the pot hole reported to the city’s 311 number. A week later the pot hole has not been patched.
We deserve better
Brutus
8 Comments | 
City government | 
Permalink
Posted by Brutus
It looks like our city government continues to deteriorate even after we got rid of the old crew.
The latest evidence is found in the auditor’s presentation to city council at their Tuesday, November 17, 2015 council meeting.
Take a look at this:
It appears that 90% of the reports the airport was required to submit under a grant agreement were not filed when they were due.
We’ve been told that many of the problems at the city are because of the stupidity of the voters when they approved the quality of life bonds. We should have known that the city could not handle the extra work–at least that’s what they’re telling us now.
The workload at the airport should not be affected by the quality of life bonds.
Should it bother us that the airport director is now in charge of the city’s entire capital improvement department?
We deserve better
Brutus
5 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
The explanation that we have gotten from Sun Metro as to why ridership is down is that with gasoline prices falling more people are opting to use their cars instead of our buses.
Some economists tell us that gasoline prices have fallen because of the newer oil production facilities in the United States. Other oil producing countries have evidently responded by increasing their production thus making the newer U.S. techniques less economically viable.
The oil industry in the United States is cutting back because of the economic pressure yet oil and gasoline prices continue to head lower. At some point we might see the other nations cut back on their production thus driving prices higher.
Our oil is not going anywhere. When and if the other nations cut back and prices rise it will once again be economically viable for our newer techniques to be brought online, thus increasing supply and lowering prices.
In short gasoline prices should remain low for years unless we have government intervention.
Why then are we continuing to spend money expanding a bus system that is suffering from decreasing ridership?
We deserve better
Brutus
6 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
The voters in Texas just approved a $10,000 increase in the homestead exemption.
Homeowners will see their property taxes go down until the school districts can react and raise their tax rates. They will either need to cut spending or raise their rates. Much of what the districts spend money on is mandated by feral and state rules.
The long term effect of the increase in the homestead exemption will be to shift more of the tax burden away from homeowners to people who rent their living quarters. Apartments and rental houses do not qualify for the homestead exemption.
We already exempt homeowners over the age of 64 from increases in their school taxes. Now the young people in our community who don’t have the resources or are just not ready to buy a house will end up paying more of the costs to operate our schools.
Senior citizens tend to vote more regularly than younger ones do. With their school district taxes frozen they are in a situation where voting for a tax increase costs them nothing.
We deserve better
Brutus
9 Comments | El Paso Independent School District, Federal Government, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Deputy Dawg made a good point the other day when commenting about the declining student enrollment at the El Paso Independent School District.
The problem is that families are moving out of older neighborhoods into new ones leaving some schools underutilized.
New developments get new roads, parks and other amenities. These are paid for by the developers with money the new homeowners pay for their houses.
Older neighborhoods see disintegrating streets and neglected parks.
Deputy Dawg made the point that our city government does little to make these older neighborhoods attractive, thus influencing people to move.
Our continued sprawl increases the costs of providing city services. We now see that it also costs us money as we build new schools. City council should pay more attention to the part of our city that already exists.
We deserve better
Brutus
4 Comments | City government, El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
elpasospeak 
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