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

Damned with faint praise

November 6, 2015

As of Sunday, November 1, 2015 the signature count at www.vivavalenti.com was all the way up to 59.

For those of you who are not familiar with the site, it is an effort to get our county hospital administrator another contract.

One has to wonder if the first few entries of the 59 weren’t “test1”, “test2” and “test3”.

You might also think that he would have more than 59 supporters in his base of employees.

Maybe their silence tells us something.

We deserve better

Brutus

5 Comments | County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

I’ll work on it when I’m good and ready

November 5, 2015

Helen Marshall sent this note in for us to see:

I heard today that a large part of the city government will not be working on Wednesday.  Veterans Day is not a city holiday but council passed a resolution allowing departments to decide that they will observe such holidays (without taking personal vacation time).  Cute, eh?

Too much at one time

According to the city’s director of the capital improvement department the city is currently working on about 160 projects.

We know that many of the projects are stalled or delayed, some for years.  Have they created gridlock with such a large number of projects?

Now we have city department managers declaring holidays that are not part of the city’s holiday list.

We have to assume that there is not much of a sense of urgency when they work on the 160 projects.

Maybe we would all be better off if they took the next 160 days off so that they can rest up before they deliver their next round of excuses to us.

We deserve better

Brutus

8 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

I’d rather be lost

November 3, 2015

Our temporary county judge has been in the news lately claiming that she saved the children’s hospital.

She did, did she?

It seems to me that the county taxpayers did the saving,  or at least are going to pay for it.

This person sold the voters on the need for a bond to pay for the hospital, watched as the county hospital profiteered on the deal by charging rent for something the voters voted to give to the children’s hospital, sat by as the financial situation turned tragic, and now claims that she has saved us.

Horsefeathers!

Depending upon with version of which story from the county hospital or the county judge that you want to believe the children’s hospital owes us either  $50 million or $100 million.

As another person with my same name said many years ago “Forget not, Zeus, the author of these ills”.

We deserve better

Brutus

7 Comments | County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Another way to hide the pea

November 2, 2015

Two other proposed changes to our city charter will be on the November 3, 2015 ballot.

The first would give city council and the mayor pay raises to $39,000 and $55,000 respectively.

The second would allow council to meet every other week instead of every week.

Some council meetings are ridiculously long now.  If they decide to meet every other week look for them to take contentious issues into special city council meetings where it will be more inconvenient for the public to attend.

At this point I find it hard to trust the people who come up with these proposed charter amendments.

We deserve better

Brutus

8 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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