UMC too busy to provide medical services

January 31, 2015

If you are used to reading one post a day from this blog, please be aware that today we are posting two.

We thank Helen Marshall for caring about the community and invite others to send posts for publication.

Brutus

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This from Helen Marshall:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/News/ci_27410944

So Mr. Valenti says that UMC cannot consider bidding for the provision of medical services to county jail inmates,  at $8 million bucks, as UMC is too busy fighting with Children’s Hospital about its debt.

BRILLIANT!!!!  Increase his bonus!!!!


(IF I were an advocate for prisoners, I’d be very leery of allowing UMC to treat them, given the attitude of the ER doctors to authority – took a million dollar lawsuit to get them to understand that running anal and vaginal and other explorations on a woman’s body for hours, just because the CBP told them to, was not medical treatment…and speaking of that, it would reduce the UMC debt a bit if they didn’t have to pay out on such a lawsuit…)

I think maybe it’s time to stop reading the paper.

2 Comments | County Government, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

City government privately owned?

January 31, 2015

The Times recently published a piece about traffic volumes at our international bridges.  It included this:

Paul Stresow, city international bridges director, said “We have seen a significant increase in cross-border traffic at our ports of entry during the past year, overall a 5.45 percent increase in southbound traffic during the calendar year 2014 over 2013.”

“Certainly, the public-private partnership with CBP at our Paso Del Norte and Ysleta (Zaragoza) bridges, where the city pays CBP to keep additional lanes open during peak travel times and during holidays to reduce wait times is one of many factors that have contributed to the growth in travel and trade,” Stresow said.

Wrong, wrong, wrong

There is no public-private partnership here.  The city government of El Paso Texas is paying the feral government of the United States.

Our feral government has chosen to assume the right to control our bridges.  Our constitution leaves that as a Texas state responsibility.

What we have here is a situation where they are not allocating enough money to operate the bridges.  As a result El Paso suffers economically.  Our city council has decided to step in and make up the budgetary shortfall.

Our local congressman seems to approve of this.  One would think that he would fight to get the funding needed so that local tax payers do not have to make up the difference.

When city council decided to do this we were told that crossing times would be under thirty minutes.  According to the article “The wait times are under an hour and sometimes under 45 minutes.”

What’s next?  Will we have to ante up to pay for other federal departments?

Then again

On the other hand maybe our bridge director was telling us  that our city government is privately owned.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

3 Comments | City government, El Paso Times, Federal Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

EPISD planetarium closing?

January 30, 2015

Our El Paso Independent School District has an impressive planetarium located in its current central office facility.

The district recently awarded a contract to have a new central office designed.

Unfortunately the contract does not include the design of a new planetarium.

Will we have a planetarium after the city kicks the district out of its current central office?

The district offers this link.  Ask the Superintendent.

I hope that you will take the time to get involved here.

We deserve better

Brutus

9 Comments | City government, El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

San Jacinto completion today

January 29, 2015

Take a look at this December 1, 2014 presentation to city council.  Presentation.

Among other things they tell council that the café building is scheduled to be complete January 29, 2015.

That’s today.  You can take a look at the building through the city’s web camera.  Camera.

Helen Marshall posted a comment the other day telling us that completion is now being forecast for late April, 2015.

How can city staff make a presentation to city council that is so obviously wrong?

We deserve better

Brutus

13 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Permit me

January 28, 2015

Looking at the city’s report of general fund revenues, we learn that they get money from  us through taxes, fees, revenues, reimbursements, forfeits, fines, licenses, penalties, revenues, and permits.

Some of us rail at the thought of being permitted to do something by our governments, so I thought I would look into what we can pay money to be permitted to do.

Permits:

Building permits

Demolition Permits

Electrical Permits

Grading Permits

Mechanical Permits

Mobile Home Placement Permits

Plumbing Permits

Roofing Permits

Sidewalk and Driveway Permits

Signs Permits

Other Permits

Charitable Solicitation Permits

Parade Permits

Paving Cut Permits

Subdivision Permits

Taxi Cab Operating Permits

Amplification Permits

Animal Permits

Hazardous Chemical Permits

Storm Drain Permits

Special Privilege Permits

Residential Building Permits

We are not permitted to know what is going on because they hide in executive session.

Permit me to point out that we have an election coming up.

We deserve better

Brutus

11 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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