Hide the pea

September 14, 2014

Now that we have been told that the move of city hall is complete, a look at the city’s website let’s us see what did not get done in the move.

This is what they presented:

ceolocation

Note that contrary to what our former chief financial officer told us the city still wants us to think that the office is in the Wells Fargo bank building.

The city tax office is in the same bank building.  If you go down there to pay your taxes don’t expect to run into any of the city council members–they are all safely tucked away in another building.

According to the chart the parks department has been moved out of the public recreation center and into the less than convenient to get to building at 801 N Texas.  I don’t recall reading anything about this in the Times.

Although there was talk about moving the fire department out of the rental space they currently occupy and into the Luther/Mulligan building, that has not happened.

I won’t be surprised to learn in a year or two that the city has determined that the decentralization experiment has failed and that they need to build a new city hall where all city departments are in one building, you know–for the convenience of the public and to provide more efficiency.

We deserve better

Brutus

2 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Dwindling Times

September 13, 2014

Talking with M. T. Cicero the other day we discussed a view about what some of the Times’ problem is.

With the ready availability of national and international news on an instant basis through electronic sources, local newspapers have lost part of what made them desirable to their readers.  By the time the daily newspaper comes out many of us have already heard about the out of town issues.

That leaves the Times with the ability to publish local content in a more in-depth manner than the television and radio stations, thus offering their readers something that they cannot get elsewhere.

Unfortunately the Times has chosen to literally sell itself to our local governments and the power group behind the scenes.  No wonder they have nothing to fill their newspaper.

All we get is coverage of publicity pieces prepared by their masters with little to no investigative reporting.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

Successful opening season

September 12, 2014

Our first season of AAA baseball season is over and it was a grand success.

This part of the result is pleasing.  We have a wonderful award winning ball park, the public is supporting the team with attendance, and we will get to host a AAA national championship game in the fall of 2015.

The disgrace of tearing down city hall and the costs of replacing it are another story.

We should be happy that the season has been successful.  Otherwise it would have cost us more money.

Team management is telling us that the problems of finishing construction and getting into operation understandably occupied most of their time this first season.  They tell us that they plan to do more promotion and development for the next season and we should see even greater attendance numbers.

Good for us.

Well, not actually.  As I wrote in Porking, “I mentioned earlier that the city will get 50% of the parking fees, kind of.  Actually there will be a revenue cap and the city will only be able to collect up to $655,000 per year “from the aggregate of the Ticket Fees, the Parking Fees and the Split Revenues” in the first five calendar years.”

Let’s hope for continued success.  It’s a shame we won’t benefit financially.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

4 Comments | Ball park, City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Simple suggestion

September 11, 2014

In this day of electronic communications and with the city claiming that they want to be transparent, I have a suggestion.

The city could post a question and answer section on it’s web site.  Citizens could ask a question and the city would provide an answer for all to see.

We deserve better

Brutus

2 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Please be careful

September 10, 2014

Tomorrow is September 11, 2014, the anniversary of an infamous attack on our country and our way of life.

I write this to ask that each of us be cautious.  Stay away from crowds, get out of traffic jams, be aware of your surroundings, don’t place yourself in harm’s way.

Much has been said lately about terrorist groups being in Juarez in preparation for attacks on Fort Bliss.  I don’t know whether those reports are accurate or not.

We do know that Fort Bliss is in a heightened state of security.  Their officials tell us that the increased security is part of a normal evaluation of the procedures.  Once again I don’t know anyone that will tell us the real story at this point.

Something may happen soon, or maybe not.

Let’s see to it that we are not chance victims.

Maybe we can find a way to deal with these terrorists effectively.

We deserve better

Brutus

8 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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