Yesterday, the El Paso Times once again inserted itself into politics to “correct” the record for one of its protected politicos at the behest of the El Paso cabal who have plans for El Paso’s future. The paper ran a full-length story about how a video by the Club for Growth, a Conservative SuperPAC, was… Read More The Beto Plan for President
During the controversy over the El Paso ballpark there were many rumors about impropriety. Many were true and others were wrong. One of the longest running controversies involved the improper election interference benefiting Steve Ortega’s run for mayor. Ortega lost. However, the election subterfuge with the bond monies for the ballpark cost the taxpayers of… Read More It’s the Emails Dummy
Today is the start of early voting for the El Paso municipal elections. This cycle’s special interest is the destruction of the Duranguito neighborhood to make way for an arena. Many of you reading today’s post are going to be angry at me, but it needs to be said. The destruction of Duranguito is going… Read More You Can’t Change El Paso If You Aren’t Serious
(This is part 2 of a 5-part series) Plain and simple, the ballpark fiasco was never properly vetted by the community. It was rushed under the notion that if the City did not act immediately they would lose the opportunity to bring the Chihuahuas to the city. Throughout the process, certain information trickled out that… Read More Peeling the Onion – The Ballpark Bonds
The City released a copy of Tommy Gonzalez’ answers to the questions asked of him by the investigator looking into how Gonzalez and Larry Romero handled the financial advisor and other issues. In the case of the financial advisor debacle, there are two major issues that need to be addressed. The first is whether Larry… Read More Tommy Gonzalez Answers and the El Paso Times $20 million Bias
When an FBI investigation dubbed Poisoned Pawns was launched it was focused on one individual and his scheme to defraud the federal government of federal dollars. By the time the dust settled, over 25 public officials went to jail or admitted guilt to public corruption. The avalanche started because one individual, Travis Ketner, panicked and… Read More Veronica Escobar is at the Center of El Paso Scandals
There has been some recent commentary on the blogosphere in regards to the financial services contract debacle at the city. The commentary centers on the fact that Tommy Gonzalez stopped the process before the contract with First Southwest was cancelled. The notion is that no crime was committed because Gonzalez canceled the process before anyone… Read More The Financial Services Debacle is Actionable
As most of you know, late last year, the El Paso city council contracted Ross Fischer to report on the various issues surrounding the aborted attempt to replace the financial advisors for the city. You also likely know that city council discussed Tommy Gonzalez in executive session yesterday. With all of the controversies surrounding Larry… Read More Outside Investigator Ross Fischer Looking Into Joyce Wilson
When Poisoned Pawns was finalized and Bob Jones and other public officials went to jail, some of the city’s officials proclaimed that corruption had ended in El Paso. But did corruption really end? Let’s look back at 2015 and see what corruption looks like in a corrupt city. January 1. The University Medical Center of… Read More The 25 El Paso Corruption Scandals Of 2015
In the last two days I have demonstrated to you how a cover up is underway to protect certain individuals. A cover up requires an outlet to distract you by focusing your attention on one of the issues to keep you from asking the important questions. As you know, the El Paso Times has been… Read More Another Cover Up Example – Open Records Hypocrisy
As I wrote yesterday, if you are not looking closely you might be missing the ongoing cover up being perpetuated against you by some city officials. The most important scandal, the $22 million, is cleverly being hidden behind the “Luther Jonesing” of Larry Romero and of Tommy Gonzalez. “Luther Jonesing,” as I am using it… Read More The 2015 Cover Up
As many of you know, city council is set to vote tomorrow on whether to authorize an outside investigator to investigate how the attempt to terminate First Southwest’s contract came about. The city also released three reports last week. The first one, the Norton Rose Fulbright report was released on December 2, 2015. On December… Read More City to Vote on Outside Investigation and the Release of the Reports
[This article was edited on December 3, 2015 at 08:37ET to correct typographical error in the amount of the loss] Thanks to KVIA’s reporting we now know that the city taxpayers have been saddled with a $22 million loss on the sales of the bonds to pay for the ballpark. Yes, I am aware that… Read More The $28 Million Question
Many of you know that yesterday, KVIA’s Maria Garcia reported on an email she uncovered via an open records request about the delay of the sale of the ballpark bonds. KVIA has also reported that the delay in the sales of the ballpark bonds has cost you, the taxpayer, about $22 million in additional fees… Read More Taxpayers Paying $22 million for Political Favors
Many of you are aware that the El Paso Times and KVIA reported on the higher than expected costs the City has paid for the ballpark. According to Maria Garcia’s report on KVIA on November 17, 2015, the city lost $22 million it expected to add to the City’s general fund. This information is more… Read More Did You Notice the Pattern?
As I have been showing you for a number of years, there are two classes of people in El Paso. You have the well-connected individuals that receive special treatment from law enforcement and the judiciary and the rest of the citizens. Ann Morgan Lilly is an example of the special class of citizen. As you… Read More The Miguel Fernandez DWI Arrest
In 2004, an FBI agent started to investigate public corruption in El Paso. It started as an investigation into the activities of Bob Jones and it snowballed into the indictments and jailing of various public officials. Many have proclaimed that Poisoned Pawns curtailed public corruption in El Paso. But has it? In the last couple… Read More Corruption In El Paso
Note: This concludes the four-part series. If you like, you can download the entire essay as an Ebook by scrolling to the bottom of this page. It started out as a case of two men kissing at the Chico’s Tacos restaurant on June 29, 2009 that mushroomed into a citywide debate about gay rights. By… Read More Ostracizing Michael Rodriguez Part 4
I have written numerous times how there permeates a culture of corruption within El Paso. Most of you are familiar with the numerous government officials that plead guilty or were convicted under the Poisoned Pawns operation by the FBI. I have also tried to explain that corruption is not simply exchanging money for favoritism. Corruption… Read More The Culture of Corruption: Dana Pittard
Guess who is getting the Conquistador Award tomorrow? If you guessed Ann Morgan Lilly, you are absolutely correct. The dubious award will be given to her during the city council’s “recognitions” portion of the agenda. Normally receiving an award is a time of celebration, especially for a long-serving outgoing politician. An award is usually an… Read More Guess Who is Getting the Conquistador Award
Anyone that has any basic understanding of dealing with the personal issues of drug addiction, alcohol abuse or dealing with weight or health problems because of over eating, understands that the first step in the recovery process is acknowledging that there is a problem. Acknowledging that a problem exists requires verbalizing the problem in order… Read More The El Paso Culture of Hiding Dirty Laundry
Those that have followed El Paso elections for any amount of time knows that the results for Saturday’s election has already been determined. No, it is not because someone manipulated the election results but rather because El Paso elections are generally determined during the early voting period. At about 7:00 pm on Saturday, when the… Read More The F Factor
I do not know if I have the worst luck or that I’m just the target of the city’s attempt to keep me from receiving information via the Texas Public Information Act. I have shared with you numerous examples of where the information given to me is either contradictory via two sets of open records… Read More City Releases Public Information That They Denied Me Back in November 2014
All those that argued that Stephanie Townsend Allala’s quest for government transparency was wrong owe her an apology. This is especially true of the El Paso Times masquerading as a newspaper who did not understand that allowing the Steve Ortega’s of the world to hide government records through legal subterfuge goes against the very fabric… Read More Stephanie Townsend Allala is Owed an Apology
“There is something in the air.” A conspiracy was created in 2000 to drive El Paso into bankruptcy. It is the public policy agenda that is driving El Paso into bankruptcy. As promised earlier this year I am going to start making more use of other multimedia materials. As such, today I bring you the… Read More The It’s All Good El Paso Conspiracy
Politicians are known for contorting themselves into so many positions on a political issue that in no time they are so twisted out of shape that a pretzel looks straight compared to them. Last Tuesday, city council in their continued pandering for public attention once again took up the San Jacinto bathroom issue. As is… Read More The San Jacinto Bathroom
The problem with holding government accountable is the games government plays to delay or impede accountability. Constituents can ask questions or demand accountability but the politicians game the system in order to keep the shenanigans in play. The understanding is that government is accountable and transparent while the reality is another thing altogether. This is… Read More Holding Government Accountable Is Impossible
The recent public debacle between city council and the city attorney’s office led me to file open records requests asking for information for amounts paid to outside law firms for legal work for the city. As expected, the largest expenditure paid by the taxpayers to outside law firms involves the issue regarding emails and open… Read More City Payments to Outside Law Firms
I realize that for many of you this blog post is going to sound like one giant crazy conspiracy theory. I guess that is why I’m labeled one of the “crazies” by certain political operatives. My theory is based on my observations over almost fifteen years of El Paso politics. I offer it as a… Read More My Theory on What is Happening with Rising Fees
As you probably already know, the recent questions about Sylvia Firth-Borunda’s employee evaluation is nothing more than a power struggle between Oscar Leeser and some members of city council. However, it is important to note that this is speculation at this point. We are forced to speculate because the city is notorious for keeping relevant… Read More City Attorney Caught in Power Struggle
I know what you are thinking, not Cortney Niland again! Some of you are about to freak out once again because I’m writing yet another piece about your favorite person. Oh, and if you make it to the end you will know why I feel like she’s haunting me now. First, let me clear up… Read More Oh No, Not Cortney Niland Again!
An Austin reader pointed me to this El Paso connection in the Austin mayoral race and I thought I would share it with you. The November 4, 2014 city elections for Austin’s mayor has seven, possibly eight candidates contending for the office. According to The Austin Chronicle, seven candidates are confirmed on the ballot with… Read More Austin Mayoral Race and an El Paso Connection
Every day I get three to four emails with leads about political issues at the city that readers want me to address on my blog. Some of the leads provide detailed information and some give me just the basics. Each are welcome and each requests gets my attention. Sometimes I do not write a blog… Read More Limon and Robinson Throw a Party
Although there has been much rumormongering about the problems that have resulted in the musical chairs between city representatives what has been absent in the discussion is the seriousness of the whole issue. The fact is that we do not have any facts as to what caused the whole problem to explode as it has.… Read More The Dangerous Problem at City Hall
This City of El Paso issued a press release about an Appeals Court ruling on the pending case by Stephanie Townsend Allala in regards to emails that have not been released. Below is the press release. I have posted the court documents for your review. The links follow the press release. Press Release August 4,… Read More City Issues Press Release About Townsend-Allala Appeal
There is a saying in Spanish that epitomizes the reason why politicians cannot be held accountable. Lavándose las manos, basically means washing my hands of things that I don’t want to deal with. That is the case with the State of Texas. The Texas legislature has deemed it illegal to accept corporate campaign contributions yet… Read More Lavandose Las Manos: Why You Can’t Hold Politicians Accountable
As you all know, the State of Texas makes it a crime to knowingly accept a campaign donation from a corporation. Texas Title 15, Chapter 253 prohibits corporations from making contributions to political candidates. The state statue states that violating this prohibition “is a felony of the third degree”. In reviewing Claudia Ordaz’ campaign disclosure… Read More Did Claudia Ordaz Violate Election Law?
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Bill Clinton (D) appointee, told reporter Greg Stohr for Bloomberg on an August 26, 2013 report that one of the questions she is asked most often about the US political system is “why should elections be determined by how much a candidate can spend” on their election. Ginsburg… Read More State Sanctioned Corruption
My blog post; “What is it with Steve Ortega and Bain Construction?” on June 5 generated a couple of emails and a comment basically asking me why I had not filed a complaint against Ortega. As I thought about this, two issues arouse for me that necessitated some soul searching on my part. The first… Read More Steve Ortega Criminal Complaint Filed
Many of you have been following the saga between the City of El Paso and Stephanie Townsend Allala for some time now. As much as the city continues to insist that it has met the burden of releasing the requested public records the fact remains that the city has paid Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal,… Read More Is the City Going to Spend another $100k to Keep Secrets?