Proposition 2 of the Proposed City Charter Amendments Deserves a "Against" Vote

Proposition 2 of the Proposed City Charter Amendments Deserves a "Against" Vote
From giving the Fad Five Control of Who Sits on Boards and Commission to Allowing 5 City Reps at a Time to Travel on the City's Dime to Restricting Public Notice, Prop. 2 is Bad News

Proposition 2

SHALL SECTIONS 3.5 A AND D, 3.7, 3.9 B AND C, 3.14, 3.18 AND 4.1 B OF THE CITY CHARTER BE AMENDED, RELATING TO CITY COUNCIL PROCESSES, PROCEDURES, AND APPOINTMENTS: TO ALLOW FOR THE CANCELATION OF NOT MORE THAN SEVEN REGULAR COUNCIL MEETINGS ANNUALLY AND NOT MORE THAN TWO IN A ROW; TO ALLOW THE COUNCIL TO AUTHORIZE LEASES OF PUBLIC PROPERTY AND TEMPORARY USES OF STREETS AND RIGHTS-OF-WAY BY RESOLUTION; TO PROVIDE THAT ORDINANCES AND THE CITY CODE BE MADE AVAILABLE BY CONTEMPORARY MEANS SUCH AS THE INTERNET; TO PROVIDE THAT THE CITY ATTORNEY IS APPOINTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL SOLELY ON THE BASIS OF LEGAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS; AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE MAYOR AND REPRESENTATIVES EACH UNIFORMLY HAVE THE ABILITY TO SUBMIT NOMINATIONS FOR THE APPOINTMENTS TO THE CITY'S BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS?

Don't let the words in capitals scare you.

INTENT:


Clearly an intent to further dilute the power of the mayor and rest in the hands of City Manager Joyce Wilson. This amendment assures the cabal of continued control in the event someone from their faction does not win the mayoral position or any of the city representative slots. As long as they have majority (Noe, Niland, Lilly and whoever can replace Sucia and/or Silly Socks), they can continue to impose their agenda.

What this amendment does:

1. Allows City Council to approve leases of city property by resolution rather than ordinance. This in effect removes the 2 (or 3 ?) week public notice and hearing requirement. This was a nuisance to City Manager Joyce Wilson when she wanted to push through the property lease quickly for the Downtown stadium and could not because it had to be done by ordinance. It's away of circumventing the public by use of short (i.e 72 hour) notice.

 

Remember city council has council meetings other than on Tuesdays where they are voting on stuff.

2. Currently, each city council rep can appoint a of his or her choice to boards and commission. This is not ideal as we have noted (Hispanics Not Wanted on City of El Paso Boards and Commissions), most appointment are White, live north of the freeway or on the Westside, and furthermore, don't live in the district the representative represents.

 

This amendment makes it even worse.

 

Appointments to city boards and commissions by entire council circumvents single-member district representation.

 

The charter allows each rep to appoint to boards which is then approved on the consent agenda. If the rep is respectful of representative government then they appoint residents from their district. Anyway that is the current intent and purpose of single-member district so you don't have boards comprised of only Kern residents making decisions on recommendations for everyone else.

This amendment purposely introduces ambiguity and essentially allows a voting block to control who gets to sit on boards like the CPC and Civil Service Commission.

It is about control of representation. Some think they deserve more than others.

3. This amendment lets City Council cancel up to 7 meetings because the council has had trouble making quorum. Apparently, they want to travel on the taxpayers dime 5 at time so they cannot always make a quorum for a council meetings. Also they want to be able to cancel the council meetings during the summer when they have budget meetings. In other words -- these people do not want to work full time -- not one of them puts in close to 40 hours as it is.  

Is Steve Ortega a Bigot hiding behind Gay Rights?

Is Steve Ortega a Bigot hiding behind Gay Rights?

 

By Ike

 

 

“A community that doesn't fight against discrimination tolerates it, and I never want El Paso to be in that category." – Steve Ortega

But wait -- Is Steve Ortega’s legacy to El Paso the legitimization of openly bigoted, hateful, divisive discrimination against El Pasoans whom he finds undesirable?

 

In 2005 City Council approved 2 contracts one for $250,000 and another for $50,000 of CDBG i.e. federal money to help fund the Paso Del Norte Group downtown plan. The contract specifically forbid subjecting anyone to discrimination. One of the “work products” of the plan was an immersion audit called Glass Beach. It was presented at a public meeting. Here is a slide from the immersion presentation. See http://www.newspapertree.com/culture/1071-downtown-diary-those-who-live-on-glass-beaches

 

So why did Steve Ortega not “fight” against subjecting the man in the image to blatant public discrimination?

Steve Ortega’s response

“The question that I was never asked during the interview was whether the juxtaposition of the adjectives lazy and dirty with the photo of the old Mexican was offensive” (See response to Burton, Jenni. “Those Who Live in Grass Beaches,” The Newspaper Tree, posted October 2, 2006).

Does this sound like the response of anyone opposed to discrimination or with even a limited understanding of Civil Rights much less discrimination?

Instead Steve Ortega seems to provide tacit approval of invidious discrimination against those El Pasoans he considers undesirable.

 

“I’d rather be associated with – you know, if I’m talking about a city – Salma Hayek than with my grandfather, you know what I’m saying? I mean who are you trying to attract? From a business perspective, from an investment perspective you want the Salma Hayeks, the Antonio Banderas, the Ricky Martins, that’s what people like. That’s what people find attractive, sexy, cool.” – Steve Ortega

 

 

 

Clue 4 Steve Ortega- Strong Moral Character and Public Trust Matter

Clue 4 Steve Ortega- Strong Moral Character and Public Trust Matter

Cathedral Debate Survey in a Nutshell

Guest Post by Ike K Wayvose
Voters at the Cathedral Mayoral debate named Strong Moral Character as the most important candidate quality.

Growth and Public Trust were identified as the 2 most important issues in this election.

Oscar Leeser gained 9.1% points and was declared the winner of the debate

Robert Cormell gained 7.2% points and placed 2^nd after Oscar Leeser who won with a narrow lead of 0.8% points.

Steve Ortega lost 6.3% points and dropped from favored candidate before the debate to 3^rd place once he opened his mouth.

There may be hope for El Paso yet.

City and State Takeover of School District

City and State Takeover of School District

 

The dilemma of El Paso Independent School District is great.

 

How does one measure the harm done to students in the cheating scandal to city and state takeover of school districts robbing people of color of their right to elect or reject incumbents and candidates?

The Usual Sanders-Foster Zombies

More important, is it really about the children? Is there an alternative motive to district takeover and why are the “usual suspects” like Joyce Wilson, Rep. Susie Byrd, Veronica Escobar and other Sanders-Foster zombies involved? Chucoleaks has posted an email between Joyce Wilson and Rep. Ann Morgan Lily where she coaches Lily what to say at a board meeting.

 

 

www.chucoleaks.org

 

Right to Vote Representation

Others issues involved here are the right to vote: Distinctly the right to vote in and the right to vote out duly elected officials.

This especially comes into play in looking at the historical segregation and discrimination. It has only been a mere 29 years since people of color have had representation on the EPISD Board of Trustees. Before that, trustees were voted in at-large, and you can guess it how in using at-large voting what side of town the trustees lived and what color was their skin.

Almost 30 years later, two White politicians are leading the charge to take over the school board. Both of these politicians are in the pockets of the Bill Sanders/Paul Foster machine. Open government opponent and city council member Suzy Byrd and Elliot Shapleigh have posted themselves up as the White saviors and have even received the backing of many white liberals in El Paso. In addition to Shapleigh‘s wannabe Mexican dichos which verge on the edge of insulting and racist.

Furthermore, when looking at it from a racial standpoint, many White advocates don’t want to let voters (for the most part people of color in EPISD) vote trustees out. It is this common White missionary complex and “we are here to help you and we know brown people can’t make the decision to vote someone out or into office on your own so we’ll do it for you.”

But the question remains, what is the rational for this proposed takeover. It is much more than caring for children?

 

The Board of Managers

 The Texas Education Agency commissioner removed the trustees and created a Board of Managers. One of the appointments is Carmen Arrieta Candelaria who became famous for telling City Council it would take 300 years to pay off the city’s debt. The commissioner also appointed former state representative Dee Margo, just after his electoral loss in November 2012. Margo voted against more school funding while serving in the legislature.

Although Bowie High School is at the center of this scandal, the commissioner appointed no one from South El Paso. Where is the representation? Sure someone went to Bowie 40 years ago and that’s suppose to be worth something – but it isn’t.

The board of trustees has appealed the commissioner’s decision. Recently, their appeal was denied. Now it need clearance from the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.

There were many questions why the commissioner would remove the board six month before the election.

Why not let the voters decide? Instead, you have a cadre of white liberals calling for removal.

But again, sure they care about Bowie students, but what else do they care about?

Underpinning Interests of El Paso’s Elite

We asked around and for Shapleigh and Byrd, one needs to think Sanders, Woody Hunt, Paul Foster.

One response we got was, “You need to think about real estate when you think about school districts.”

Most school district elections have voter low turnout and aside from the one in a million “I care about the kids” candidate, school boards have been used by developers, construction companies as a cash cows.

Two rational have been put forth:

1.       The Sanders/Foster/Hunt machine wants valuable property near the airport, property that the school district owns. How better to get a hold of this then to put Suzy Byrd on the board and take it over. Last year (2012), there was a vote in El Paso City Council to on where to put some city services after city hall would be demolished and city services spread across El Paso’s Downtown. A building a block away from Suzy Byrd’s parent’s publishing house was voted upon. We are not 100% sure, but we think Byrd brought forward the motion to buy this building. Her parents were selling their publishing house building for $600,000. The publishing house is a block down from the Galeria San Isidro, the building the city wanted to buy. The Byrd parents shared the same real estate agent who was hired by the city to find suitable properties to relocate city hall services.

 

This connect the links diagram floated around during the Stadium Scandel

 

2.       Jefferson High School and Silvia Magnet sits on some of the most valuable property now. A neighborhood that is quickly gentrifying, the Sanders/Foster/Hunt machine may have their eyes on the EPISD property. The question is how to get around one of the most active alumni associations in El Paso. How can we get this public property into the hands of private individuals.

 

More to come….

Deep Inside the El Paso City Charter Amendments: Amendment 1

Deep Inside the El Paso City Charter Amendments: Amendment 1

City Charter Amendment 1 has to do with elections. The city wants to move city elections to November.

Motive: More people vote in November, so prospective candidates will have to get a larger % of signatures to be on the ballot.

Amendment 1 would also leave the sole discretion of increasing the number of district representatives from 8 to ten as such times as the population reaches one million.

Motive: Reaching 1 million may take a long time and they know this. Many wanted to create more districts sooner rather than later because each representative currently represents 80,000 people with District 7 not having a real representative that last few years.

“…conform to State law” means the greater of 25 qualified voters or .5% of the total vote. If elections are moved to November, it would be a larger .5%.

Repercussions: It will be more expensive to run for office. November elections are more expensive. Printers and other businesses that profit from election generally charge more for November elections than May elections.

More City of El Paso Deception: The Missing Search Link

More City of El Paso Deception:
The Missing Search Link

Courtesy of KG

Maybe one of you know someone honest in the media that will hold the City accountable for unnecessarily keeping the public from searching the City website?

Oh well if nothing else at least you can search the city website until they jack the link.

You can search the City website by using the full link:

http://www.elpasotexas.gov/search/

The City removed the search function from their website on 1/11/2013 claiming it was due to the updating of the new website and the search function was not yet integrated.

If that were true ask yourself – How is the City functioning without a records search? They can’t.

Apparently the link was simply removed so only the public could not search the public records.

When you type in the old web address www.elpasotexas.gov it redirects you to the new website home.elpasotexas.gov leaving the impression that the old website is non-existent.

Not true. The search function is still there and fully functional.

 

 

Please see the following screen shots:

 

 

 

1. The 3/7/13 time stamped screen shot of the City’s new website explaining the missing search function.

 

 

 2. The 3/7/13 time stamped screen shot of the City’s old website search page.

 

 

3. The 3/7/13 time stamped screen shot of a search for “Pink Foxes” and the return of 3 links to the 2/11/2013 agenda. One full month after they claimed no search available until they "integrate" the search function

You can access and search the City website by using the full link below

http://www.elpasotexas.gov/search/

 

City Council Wishes to Restrict What Is Public Information

City Council Wishes to Restrict What Is Public Information
Ordinance Would Exempt Communications Written to the Paso Del Norte Group from Disclosure

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The Townsend Allala Open Records Requests

In 2012, Stephanie Townsand Allala submitted a huge open records request that shed sunshine on many of shenanigans occurring at City Hall. Along with the hundreds of documents requested was also proof that the city representatives had not taken the required Open Government training offered by the Texas Attorney General's office. None of them had taken it!

What started as an innocent open records request, it shed light on wrongdoings from the City's dealings with Dame La Mano, the City Manager politicking, shenanigans with the Three Legged Monkey and much more.

Getting Around the Open Records and Meetings Act

What also appeared were many instances of city representatives, especially Steve Ortega, Cortney Niland, Dr. Noe and Susie Byrd using their personal email addresses to conduct city business. Byrd later denied that she ever used her personal email for city business, but this was refuted by many emails in which she discussed city business via her personal email. All this reminds me of the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show in which Boris Badenov tries to bribe the eastern European official who responds, “How dare you come into my office and offer me a bribe...let go into the alley.” Here the official government email is the “office” and the representatives personal email -- is the “ally.”

Currently being investigated is the occurrence of walking quorums which the city representatives appear to have been involved.

City Tries to Get the Texas Attorney General to Side With Them

Learning that business was being conducted via these representatives personal emails, Allala requested any emails in which government business is discussed using the representatives personal emails. The city refused and requested a Texas Attorney General's opinion. In December, the Texas AG ruled the city needed to turn over those emails, effectively ruling against the City of El Paso. The City of El Paso then hired a law firm to sue the Texas AG and this case currently before the court.

Suzie Byrd: We can use our personal emails to get around open records requirements

The main issues here is whether city representatives will be able to circumvent the Texas Open Records Act and the Texas Public Information Act by using their personal emails to conduct government business. You see their government emails are well known to be open records. So it may have lit a light bulb in the heads of Suzie Byrd and Steve Ortega to get around this by using their personal email addresses respectively.

The Current Ploy

Now the City of El Paso seeks to redefine what is public information. In an ordinance to be submitted Tuesday, the council seeks to define “communication that constitute the transaction of official business of the City of El Paso....” Read the ordinance for yourself.

In the first clause of their ordinance, they cite “home rule” as if El Paso, being under “home rule,” is exempt from the TOMA and TPIA.

Next they dissect the definition of “public information” within the TPIA Section 552.002 stressing as they have done in court that if the City does not have access to the information, it is not “public information.”

Further down the ordinances states that “the transaction of official business” which is used in the TPIA and the Texas Local Government Records Act “is not defined by Texas law...” The ordinance states that the Texas definition is “ambiguous, can cause confusion as to the duties of the City representatives and alternative definitions may result in the illegal intrusion into individual privacy rights of all city employees, volunteers, and/or officials; that such conflict can interfere with and impede city business by raising question regarding the authenticity and the authority of City representatives' communicators; thereby, shaking the faith in official city communications...”

The Guise of Privacy

Well, God only knows that some of these City Representatives don't need our help in “shaking the faith.” But what is interesting about this clause is the City is acting as if it is protecting the City employees, when the real rational behind this ordinance is to protect one employee – City Manager Joyce Wilson -- and the City Representatives. Then the ordinance plays on the protection of privacy rights. However, the Texas AG as well as the courts have spoken to this point stating you cannot use privacy as a shield to hide your unlawful conduct.

Further down on #2 c., the ordinance defines “transaction of official business.” This is where it gets interesting.

It is basically says that “transaction of official business” are “only those communications” conducted while the person is “performing part of” the person's duties to the City of El Paso and another party.

So in effect, this would make it difficult to prove that Joyce Wilson was “performing part of” her duties to the city and another party. We already know she performs duties for other parties, but in effect, she can “transact” “official business,” but if it is not while she is “performing part of: her duties to the city, it would not be “transaction of official business.” Ooo, get those mojitos chillen.

Next, in #2 c.i.1., it states that “political communications by an employee...or elected/appointed office holder,” are not transactions of official business." 

For instance, Wilson has been found politicking for Beto O'Roarke, Steve Ortega, and for the Downtown baseball stadium, all which is outside her duties as City Manager and prohibited by city employees. This would basically make her politicking legal.

As for the City Representatives, the vague and open wording of “political communications” make it that this can cover just about anything.

Protecting the Paso Del Norte Group

If you ever saw an unnamed group written into an ordinance, this is it.

Other items that would not be “transactions of official business” would be “communications by an employee, volunteer, or elected/appointed official, had on behalf of another organization or entity while or in connection with transacting business on that organization's behalf, whether the business is a for-profit, non-profit, or other government or quasi-government entity...” A few names come to mind:

• El Paso Chamber of Commerce (nonprofit)
• El Paso Coalition for the Homeless
• Paso del Norte Group (nonprofit)
• Redco
• Downtown Development Corporation
• REIT
• Project Arriba (non profit)
• Salvation Army

We then get to the gold of the ordinance:

Personal communication made in the individual's personal capacity that are not communications made in the official capacity held by the person engaged in communication.

This basically put all communication made via city representative's personal email accounts under the vague “not communication made in the official capacity held by the person engaged in communication.”

Leak Prevention, Whistleblower Retaliation, and 1st Amendment Intimidation

In 3), 4) and 5) we basically requires any employee who comes access local government records needs to “deliver such record to the City within a reasonable time....” 

Would this be even if the records point to wrong doing?

Second, in 4), it takes an aim at private citizens in “possession of a Local Government Record...where that possession is not authorized by law, is...ordered and shall immediately return and/or surrender any...record.”

I see some First Amendment issues brewing here.

What if reporters come across records in which the city did not not give authorization to be released?

What if you have evidence of wrongdoing and want to post them on the Internet?

5) basically says the City can go into District Court “for a determination as to whether the purported Local Government Record is the property of the City.”

In 6) and 7), these involved the Public Information Officer and I'm still wondering why. More on this later.

8) basically makes that if the city does not have access to it and it is in the possession of a private person, it is not “information accessible to the City” until you go to court and make it so.

This paints a disturbing picture of darkness over our city government. With all the criticism toward the El Paso Independent School Districts lack of sunshine, some fingers deserved to be pointed the other way. One would expect the City to make is easier to get public information, but instead, it tries to pass this ordinance to make it much more difficult. Furthermore, such blatent efforts to protect communication regarding the likes of the Paso del Norte Group are disturbing.

Moved Downtown Stadium Scam Timeline

We have moved our

Downtown Stadium Scam Timeline to: http://eptstadiumscamtimeline.blogspot.com/

Ortega's Comments Re Austin High School Reveals Elitism in Want-to-Be Mayor

Above, Stevie Antoinette

City Rep. Ortega's Comments Re Austin High School Reveals Elitism in Want-to-Be Mayor
Not New News to Many

Last spring, at Eastwood High School, Representative Steve Ortega was almost booed off the stage at a meeting concerning on the Eastside regarding a round-about at Wedgewood and Montwood.

Most likely due to his elitist demeanor, this happened again at his town hall meeting regarding the baseball stadium that he hosted in August 2012.

Rep. Suzie Byrd

His recent spat of elitism and even down-right “prickliness” is found in an email dated August 20, 2012.

In records received via the Texas Open Records Act and available at www.chucoleaks.org, Ortega received a message from Rep. Susie Byrd who writes Ortega surprised to learn that Cd. Juarez is also building a baseball stadium:

“Bill and Steve: did you see this info about the Juarez ballpark? Have we looked at this will be competitive with what we are doing? Do you know what level of play it will be?”

Steve Ortega responds:

  “It is the difference between academics at Austin H.S. vs. Coronado H.S.”

Steve Ortega is a person who has already said to various people that it is no doubt he will be the next mayor of El Paso.

In reading the various emails posted at www.chucoleaks.com, it appears with definition that he is a pansy for City Manager Joyce Wilson.

 

 

However, taking a racial view of this email, Ortega is always happy to throw out Martin Luther King, Jr.'s “I have a dream” speech to promote color blindness when protecting Whites, especially El Paso's White elite from accusations of racism by people of color in El Paso.

 

Email in question can be found at www.chucoleaks.org

The legacies of segregation last a long time and although Austin H.S. was a mostly-white school up into the late 1950s, by the 1960s, the demographics of Austin H.S. had begun to flip.

 

More Mexican families were moving into the area, and this disturbed many Whites.

If you see the archives at UTEP Special Collections regarding the case Alvarado, et. al. vs. El Paso Independent School District (EPISD), it was not unusual for White parents to request their child be transferred upon realizing “there are too many Mexicans at this school.”

More usual, was EPISD granting these requests.

In fact, as the Alvarado case would find, the El Paso Independent School district had manipulated the high school boundaries.

 

EPISD did this to keep Austin H.S. a “Mexican School” while steering most White families who lived on Ft. Bliss to Burgess High School which was running a “tipping point” of around 33% (this means, EPISD deliberately drew the boundaries so that the percentage of Chicanos at Burgess remained below 33%).

EPISD Board of Trusties manipulated high school boundries to keep Coronado H.S. a mostly-White school

 

Although its hard to imagein with the many Chicanada that are at Coronado H.S. today, the same thing was happening at Coronado H.S. on the Westside where EPISD manipulated the boundaries so that Coronado remained a “white school.”

For example, neighborhoods like Buena Vista, Smeltertown and Pacific Park which had high concentration of Chicano(a)s had to send their kids more than eight (8) miles away to El Paso High School when their neighborhoods were less than three (3) miles from Coronado H.S.

On the other hand, mostly-white high school age children who lived just above El Paso High School on Rim Road and Kern Place went to Coronado H.S. Kern Place and Rim Road is less than a mile from El Paso H.S., EPISD had drawn the boundaries so that these children could go to Coronado.

Keep in mind this was the 70s and 60s and the Westside and Kern had not Chicanadad.

In Alvarado v. El Paso Independent School District, the Board of Trusties was found to have manipulated high school boundries as Austin High School turned from a mostly-White school to a majority-Mexican school. Boundries were draw to steer Whites toward Burgess H.S.

Of course, the Alvarado case found that EPISD poured money into the “White” high schools, and diverted funds away from the “Mexican high schools,” so Coronado received the positive blessing of segregation that last until this day (although when Coronado started the “tip” and the building of Franklin H.S. is also an interesting story).

From what we hear, Ortega's comments may have been a jab at Susie Byrd, who although lives within the Austin's boundaries, sends her children to Coronado.

From what was explained to us, Byrd's husband works at Coronado so this is allowed.

Nevertheless, Ortega is one politician who never read about segregation in El Paso and probably never read the rest of Martin Luther King, Jr's “I Have a Dream Speech,” much less any other of King's writings.

This is something that he needs to read up on so that he can understand why one high school may have a better academic legacy then another.

However, this is something that escapes him.