Over the years I have been developing an online data set of the various scandals that have plagued El Paso for decades. Much of it is corruption related. As I have written previously, the impetus for my blog is Bob Moore’s unethical practices, which happens to be the most important reason that corruption exists in… Read More El Paso Scandals
Last Wednesday, February 2, 2016, the County released a document to me that they had withheld from an open records request that I had filed back on October of 2015. The document is a summary of the 407(f) Deferred Compensation Plan Agreement for Jim Valenti, that the county’s attorney had prepared. It was marked “Privileged… Read More County Releases Withheld Document to Me
As some of you might remember, late last year I submitted an open records request to the County asking for information about how the County arrived at selecting the board members they nominated for the reconstituted Children’s Hospital. In my article, “The Nominating Process for El Paso Children’s Board Appointments” I shared with you the… Read More Texas Attorney Rules in Favor of the County
On November 30, 2015, the University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC) issued a press release where it stated that UMC had nominated four individuals to the reconstituted children’s hospital board. They are: Ronald Acton, Miguel Fernandez, Patrick Gordon and Ted Houghton. Additionally, the press release listed: Jaime Barceleau, Gilberto Moreno, Jr., and Lynn Coyle… Read More The Nominating Process for El Paso Children’s Board Appointments
In addition to the Steve Norwood open records request, I also submitted an open records request asking for documents pertaining to Jim Valenti’s retirement as the UMC chief. As you likely know, Jim Valenti effectively tendered his resignation on October 5, 2015 by announcing that he will not be seeking an extension to his current… Read More Jim Valenti Open Records Request Detail Two Million Payment
As you probably know, on October 5, 2015, Jim Valenti tendered his resignation as the CEO of the University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC.) The news media has insinuated that Valenti’s resignation was the result of a pending agreement between UMC and the El Paso Children’s Hospital to end children’s bankruptcy. Although I had… Read More Looks Like Jim Valenti Wants His Job Back
As I have been writing, from the moment it was finally proved that the El Paso Children’s Hospital is financially unfeasible, it will be your taxes that will keep it operational. In 2007, Veronica Escobar and her supporters promised you that the children’s hospital would never be a burden to the taxpayers. She, along with… Read More Taxes Will Pay for the Children’s Hospital
Reading some of the depositions in the El Paso Children’s Hospital debacle, I came across some testimony that seems to indicate that Jim Valenti will be leaving the University Medical Center (UMC) next year. On July 2, 2015, Jim Valenti was deposed in the bankruptcy case. According to that deposition, Jim Valenti has two types… Read More Is Jim Valenti Out?
One thing that has puzzled me for some time now is why does Veronica Escobar continue to protect Jim Valenti. Yes, I am aware that Veronica Escobar was “infuriated” with Jim Valenti about his $120,000 bonus last year, in spite of the layoffs he implemented. However, as critical as she has been of Valenti, Escobar… Read More Why Is Veronica Escobar Protecting Jim Valenti
On July 29, 2015, James N. Valenti, the CEO of the University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC) made public comments about some of his former employees that prove that not only is he a liar but that he is also a serious liability to the taxpayers of the county. Because bloggers are routinely accused… Read More Can You Really Trust Jim Valenti
As you know, yesterday the University Medical Center (UMC) gave County Commissioners a preliminary budget of $587 million. UMC makes these types of presentations to Commissioners Court each year because the County Commissioners must approve UMC’s budget each year. I have been trying, through various blog posts, to explain to you why I believe UMC… Read More The UMC Fraud
On Wednesday, I discussed the issue of Sam Legate and conflict of interest. Yesterday I delved into Jim Valenti‘s part in this mess. Today, I want to delve a little into another individual intimately involved in the El Paso Children’s Hospital debacle – Rosemary Castillo. Before I get into that, I want to comment on… Read More Rosemary Castillo and Inconvenient Questions
There is a concept of conflict of interest when making decisions. Unless you have been involved in making business decisions, most individuals do not have to worry about conflicts of interest. The more money we have oversight over the greater our responsibility to conflict of interest is. In its simplest terms, conflict of interest becomes an… Read More Sam Legate and Conflicts of Interest
As expected, Veronica Escobar and cohorts have embarked on a disinformation campaign in an attempt to frame the El Paso Children’s Hospital bankruptcy, as other than it is – the poignant example of Veronica Escobar’s utter incompetence. Remember, the truth is only an obstacle to her public agenda policy. As a result, I want to take… Read More The Incompetence of Veronica Escobar
When the El Paso Children’s Hospital debacle first surfaced, I wrote a blog post letting you know that the end result would be higher taxes for you. Even though I already knew a tax hike was being secretly planned by Veronica Escobar and cohorts the fact is that I did not know the full extent,… Read More The UMC Tax Hike Conspiracy
As you are probably aware by now the local community hospital better known as the University Medical Center was recently assessed Medicare penalties for allowing patients to get sick while under their care. The local paper, as usual, did not give you the necessary context to go along with the announcement. Under the Affordable Care… Read More UMC Medicare Penalties
Some of you may have noticed that the El Paso, Inc. ran a Whispers column yesterday where it was disclosed that the El Paso Children’s Hospital has a new chair. She is Rosemary Castillo, founder of Bienvivir Senior Health Services. She replaced Sam Legate as board chair. As most of you know, I like to… Read More El Paso Children’s Hospital Appoints New Chair
I thought it would be important to keep you updated on the UMC-El Paso Children’s debacle by sharing with you a timeline of the events that I have documented so far. One of the tools that politicians use to thwart community activism is to use as much time as possible and to delay information release in… Read More The Latest Timeline of the El Paso Children’s Hospital and UMC Debacle
On March 13, 2007, the Thomason Hospital Board of Managers voted six to one to ask County Commissioners Court to hold a special meeting to put a $120 million hospital district bond on the November 6, 2007 ballot. Dr. Jesus Arturo Castro Sandoval cast the sole vote against the bond proposal. Veronica Escobar told the… Read More The Children’s Hospital Timeline of How We Got Here
Because I had previously written about the Children’s Hospital fiasco and that the rhetoric was a nothing more than a prelude to a county tax increase, notwithstanding the pontificating politicians, it was no surprise to learn that the taxpayer funded hospital was laying off employees. Nothing get’s the attention of the community better then layoffs… Read More The UMC Shell Game
