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| Photo downloaded from Facebook |
Tania Chozet’s Platform
is Pure Fantasy and Fiction
Editorial
District
7 Needs Intelligent Decisions in
this post-Steve Ortega District 7 era.
Ask
any private sector employer if they hire people who make intelligent decisions
or “tough decisions”.
Hands
down, they will pick intelligent
decision makers because informed and thoughtful decisions are successful.
After
a review of Tania Chozet’s campaign mailers for District 7 City Representative,
it is painfully obvious she either has
no clue what a City Representative does or she is hoping the District 7
voters do not.
District
7 has suffered through 8 years of Steve Ortega who only represented and
defended special interests while ignoring and harming the people he was
supposed to represent.
Tania
Chozet will continue to represent the same special interests as Ortega and not
the interests of the people in District 7.
How do we know? --- Look
at her record on County Commissioners Court
Chozet’s voting
record
as a County Commissioner shows she was nothing more than a rubberstamp vote and part of a 3-person
majority voting bloc for the County Judge.
So What Does Chozet
Claim?
Better Transparency
and More Accountability
1. Chozet claims “She
knows transparency in government means more than being informed after the fact.
She believes the best decisions are made when the public has a chance to be
heard first. She will make sure every voice is heard. She will make sure the
bureaucrats at city hall are held accountable for every dollar they spend. She
will keep all our taxpayer money from going towards administration and salaries”
Bull!
Without holding a
single meeting
in the district, she was appointed to represent to get input, feedback, or to hear all those voices before her vote:
- Chozet rubberstamped County Judge Veronica Escobar’s raise;
- Chozet voted for 110 million in Certificates of Obligation, non-voter approved debt;
- Chozet voted to raise the county tax rate 14.67%. The maximum allowed
by Texas
law that would not require voter approval. Anything above would have had
to gone to voters –
- 40% of the increase was for - you
guessed it – an increase in
salaries of elected officials and employees -- 40% of the increase
was to pay off the 110 million in
non-voter approved debt she voted for.
- 20% was to reduce the County’s
reliance on debt which means she shifted
an increase to property taxes instead. Not exactly a watchdog for the taxpayer or a way to help local
businesses thrive.
Chozet
rubberstamped money in the County
Capital Improvement Plan for $16,000
printers, $2000 trash cans, and a $1500 chair for the County Judge
without question! Not exactly a
watchdog for the taxpayer.
2. Chozet claims “In
just a short time as Commissioner she was able to improve the QOL for families
and make government more accountable to the people. She’ll do the same as
District 7 Representative.”
Chozet
never once initiated or hosted a
community meeting!
How
did Chozet make government accountable and transparent to the people when she did not hold herself accountable to
those she was supposed to represent?
She never met with
constituents
to ask what their needs were much less initiate or fund any projects.
How
did Chozet improve Quality of Life when she accomplished nothing?
More Jobs
3. Chozet claims “She
will use her experience working with Fortune 500 companies to highlight our
positive points and create new opportunities for companies to visit El Paso.”
Is
Chozet inflating her resume? Is she exaggerating her experience?
According
to her resume, as a new psychology graduate, she was employed by The
GAP, a Fortune 500 company. She worked for a Fortune 500 company not exactly “with Fortune 500’s.”
That statement is beyond misleading!
4. Chozet claims “She
has a 3 point job plan to identify companies looking for expansion or new
headquarters, promote El Paso
as a relocation option, and work with existing companies to expand and bring
better jobs.”
If
Chozet has the skills, experience, and contacts to accomplish this then why is she a 37 year old unemployed lawyer living at home with her parents?
Chozet’s
3-point job “plan” is not exactly a plan and not a function of a City Representative.
Even
the El Paso Times stated creating jobs is not within the realm of
possibilities as a valid platform point for a City Representative.
Job
creation and promoting the city are primarily a private sector and somewhat a Mayoral
function.
Makes
one wonder why the Times endorsed her.
The
job of a City Representative is to work
with and for the residents in the District they were elected to
represent to improve quality of life in neighborhoods which in turn improves
the city as a whole.
5. Chozet says “she’s
going to partner with State and Federal governments for jobs.”
Seriously????
Did
she sleep through both the State and Federal Legislative sessions? Or is she
simply out of touch with reality?
Both
the State and Federal government are
furloughing and reducing their work force.
There
is no money!
And
if there were money, an entire City Council much less a City Representative has
ZERO influence on how that money is
spent.
El Paso already has too many
government jobs and not enough private sector jobs.
Taxpayers
pay the salaries of government employees and these jobs do not generate revenue and are not sustainable.
6. Chozet has stated
she supports Downtown.
There
are 630 properties in the Downtown district.
Half
the properties are publically owned and not on the tax roles.
The
taxable value of the all the property in
Downtown was $282 million in 2009 and $285 million in 2012.
After
the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in forced taxpayer investment,
subsidies, and 10 year tax rebates all the Downtown properties combined only increased by $3 million dollars
since 2009!
And
Chozet wants to continue robbing revenue
from the taxpayers for the benefit of a few ?????
“Tough decision” - too bad it’s not an Intelligent or Informed one.
District
7 needs an honest and legitimate
Representative and clearly Chozet’s
record and “platform” proves she is neither.
