Why all at once?

May 4, 2015

Is it a surprise to any of us that our chamber of commerce has come out in support of the Ysleta Independent School District $451 million bond issue?

The chamber represents businesses.  Architects, engineers, construction companies, building material suppliers are members of the chamber and will benefit from the spending.

YISD tells us that they are facing declining enrollment.  They also have a lot of maintenance issues that they have not been addressing on a year to year basis.

It makes sense that schools need to modernize to educate students in this 21st century.

What does not make sense to me is that all of this needs to be undertaken as a single $451 million investment.  As we have seen at the city they will have a hard time managing all of this at once.

Why not break this down into smaller segments so that they can show us that they can handle projects effectively?  Why ask for all of the money up front?  I’m afraid we all know why.

Voters in the Ysleta district should pay particular attention to this statement found on the district’s web site:

All dollar amounts are preliminary estimates and such estimates and the projects themselves are subject to change. Inclusion of a specific project in the Facilities Master Plan is the Board’s current intention to implement such project but actual use of any voter-approved bond funds will be determined by subsequent action of the Board of Trustees.

Trust me, I’m with the government.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

5 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Inaccessible officials

May 3, 2015

I’m troubled by what we are hearing and reading about our public officials declining to meet with citizens.

Yes we understand that the officials have work to do and that some members of the public can take up more time than is needed.

What we are seeing now is that some of our officials are refusing to answer correspondence and are delegating subordinates to meet with concerned citizens.

In times past some of our local officials would set aside  a specific day of the week at a specific time where they would meet with members of the public that had concerns.

That is not too much to ask of the current group.

We deserve better

Brutus

14 Comments | City government, County Government, El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Questions for council candidates #5 (QOL)

May 2, 2015

Helen Marshall sent these questions:


The previous city manager and staff seriously underestimated the costs for the 3 signature projects in the Quality of Life bonds.

Do we start over again?  Decide that we can do all three even though they will be inadequate or cheaply done?  Decide what is most pressing and do that first?  Reconsider the need for, say, the multipurpose entertainment center?

8 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Invitation to Community Forum for School Board Candidates

May 1, 2015

This from Xavier Miranda:

Invitation to Community Forum for School Board Candidates
Dear Xavier,
Event:       Forum for EPISD School Board Candidates
Date:         Saturday, May 2, 2015
Time:        9 AM to 12 noon (meet and greet the 1st hour)
Place:       Cafe Mayapan  (2000 Texas Avenue)
I would like to invite all folks to our community-generated forum. These candidates will be our voice in bringing equitable reform to our education system.
Students, parents, teachers, custodians, office personnel, administrators—all have been disregarded  or treated as a disposable commodity. Our ideas, our strengths, our experience have been ignored in favor of unproven consumer models. It is no wonder a very small percentage of our kids go on to attain a 4-year degree.
Below is the flyer distributed in the housing projects facing school closures and consolidations. These are the folks whose children must plan on rising earlier, bused to a different school, and likely face larger class sizes.
I ask that you support the children and educators of our community on Saturday by your presence.
Best Regards,
Xavier Miranda
El Paso Grassroots

1 Comment | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Questions for council candidates #4 (debt)

April 30, 2015

Today’s suggested question for city council candidates is:

What limits, if any, would you vote to put on city debt?

We deserve better

Brutus

5 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »