We don’t really mean 60%

July 24, 2019

In Getting officers out on the street we presented a slide where our police department told us that they plan to get 60% of their officers out in the field.

Later in the presentation they show this slide:

Five years into the program they plan to have 751 officers in the patrol divisions and 702 non-patrol officers.

No intention

That comes to 1,453 officers, which means they want to have 51.6% of their officers out in the field, not the 60% that they want us to believe they will achieve if we give them the $286 million that they want.

We deserve better

Brutus

4 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Property owners stretched to the limit

July 23, 2019

The note below was a letter to the editor in the El Paso Times recently:

Property owners stretched to the limit

Why are property owners in El Paso constantly being asked to cough up more money?

Paving streets and operating within allotted budgets seems would be a priority. Costly ballpark, a demolished City Hall, the trolley car debacle, missing millions, new bus terminals and empty buses, and tax abatements for new businesses for years. Guess who is shouldering this cost?

Combine that with our dysfunctional school system, with their bond money, that would choke a donkey. Wages here aren’t in line with our progress. My quality of life doesn’t allow me to water my lawn anymore.

As a taxpayer, wouldn’t it be nice if you could have a bond election every time your checkbook was short?

Greg Allen

West El Paso

********************************************

Well said Mr. Allen.

We deserve better

Brutus

27 Comments | Ball park, City government, El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Lost Dog beware!

July 22, 2019

Item 22.1 on the Tuesday, July 23, 2019 city council agenda bears our attention:

Discussion and action on preservation costs and optimal funding sources for the permanent preservation of the approximate 1,000 acres of land owned by the City of El Paso, including Lost Dog Trail, to consist of at least three courses of action with pros and cons for each as directed by City Council on May 14, 2019.

The agenda item requires at least three courses of action to be considered.

There is no backup material posted with the item.

Does that mean that they are going to try to pull a fast one?

We deserve better

Brutus

7 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

A student who seems to care

July 21, 2019

Johnathan Michael Muniz Becerra, aTerry Scholar at UTEP sent us an email that contained this:

Furthermore, I’m currently conducting a quality of life study for the city of El Paso to see what worthwhile investments are needed to really improve the quality of life within the city. I’m investigating various industries within the city from healthcare to education.
In my honest opinion, I believe El Paso suffers from the following:
    • Brain drain
    • Low wages
    • Questionable municipal management
    • Poor investments that do little to enhance the quality of life and continuously bring low-skill, low-wage jobs (e.g. the subsidized ball park, enormous incentives to bring the Great Wolf Lodge)
From the observations I’ve been able to make, it seems El Paso leaders and investors take advantage of citizen’s ignorance regarding city management and the impact the decisions of El Paso leaders will have on them.

Link to survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RX3XL8N

 

A request from Brutus

Please keep your comments respectful.  We could help him by pointing out other deficiencies.

We deserve better

Brutus

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

Saturday’s open comments

July 20, 2019

Saturday is the day that we open up the blog to topics that the readers choose.

We deserve better

Brutus

20 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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