City Beat

Gracias

Today is my last day covering the City Hall beat for the El Paso Times. Starting on Monday I take on a new and exciting beat covering growth issues. I get a lot of tilted heads whenever I tell people that growth and mobility is my new beat. Let me 'splain.

El Paso is growing, and fast. Of course, we have hard all about tens of thousands of troops and their families are moving into town because of the expansion of Fort Bliss. But there's also some "natural" growth of population happening here. This means that in the next decade, El Paso is going to be experiencing some growing pains: roads, schools, mass transit, etc.

I will be here to write about it and try to make sense of it. That will mean that I will be doing a little bit of everything. I will cover some issues concerning Fort Bliss, some dealing with the school districts, others with the county. And, yes, every once in a while I will be showing up at City Hall. Not every week, though.

So this is my last blog as author of City Beat. The new City Hall reporter is David Burge, an experienced journalist who has worked throughout California and New Mexico. For the last five years or so he has been a business reporter for the El Paso Times. Starting on Tuesday, he will be the guy you'll see sitting at the weekly City Council meetings.

Robinson's basketball past

Carl Robinson, the Vietnam vet who is trying to unseat Northeast city Rep. Melina Castro in next month's runoff election, had a rough time with a previous elected office he won last year.

Members of the Texas Association of Sports Officials, a University Interscholastic League sanctioned group, elected him president of the El Paso chapter last year. The group mainly consists of men and women who officiate basketball games in different leagues throughout El Paso.

Robinson proceeded not show up for meetings and other functions. The board of directors for the association eventually voted him out of office, and selected a new president.

Robinson in a phone interview today confirmed that he was elected and that he didn't finish his term as president.

"There were internal things going on that happened and that led me to step away from the group ... issues with a couple of people," he said. "But I can't speak bad about the organization. I don't want to comment on what happened because it would reflect negatively on the organization and I don't think that's right."

Robinson said he is still a "member in good standing" with the association, which he described as "a group that I very much respect."

No love lost

The City Council on Tuesday had a lengthy discussion on the shared services proposal that County Commissioner Veronica Escobar has been shopping around the different taxing entities in the region. Basically, she wants to find a way share some of the common services the county, the city and the school districts provide so that the taxpayer can save some money.

The council on Tuesday was talking about a preliminary list of services that can be included in the list of shared services. The list included some issues that could be addressed when it comes to city and county law enforcement. Things like consolidated recruiting, academies, crime scene labs and 911 services were mentioned.

One item, though, caused a stir inside Council Chambers: a VERY preliminary plan that could study the creation of a metropolitan police force. In other words, consolidate the El Paso Police Department and El Paso County Sheriff's Office.

Bobby Holguin, the president of the police officers union, was quick to address the issue and he used his time to bash former Police Chief (and current Sheriff) Richard Wiles. His concern is that a consolidated police force would mean that Wiles would once again oversee the officers he represents.

"Wiles has been gone for about a year and a half and the officers are ecstatic about that. We don't want Wiles in any way, shape or form," Holguin said.

Eastridge/Mid-Valley city Rep. Steve Ortega and Mayor John Cook quickly interrupted Holguin, and, quite forcefully, demanded that he refrained from personal attacks during the meeting.

Holguin was upset, and asked "this is my time of the meeting, isn't it?" He was told that he couldn't make any attacks, so he cut his speech short, noting that most of his prepared remarks focused on Wiles.

In the end, the council decided to delete any mention of a consolidated police force from their shared services conversations.

It should be noted, though, that while council meetings are open to the public, they are not meetings FOR the public. The council has rules and regulations. One of those rules is: Don't bad-mouth people during public comment.

Melina to Carl: Let's debate the issues

Northeast city Rep. Melina Castro today sent out a press release congratulating Carl Robinson, her opponent in the June 6 runoff election, for receiving the endorsement of the four other people who ran for the City Council this weekend.

That was nice.

She also, very cordially, invited Robinson to debate the issues. Castro said she wants to face Robinson in front of the "informed" voters in the Northeast before the election.

Below is the e-mail Castro sent out to the media (using her personal e-mail, in case anyone is wondering):

Press Statement

The media has informed me that unsuccessful candidates that had wanted to represent our district in the general election are endorsing my opponent, Mr. Carl Robinson. I extend my warm congratulations on this achievement and look forward to debating the issues with him between now and the run-off election.

Message to Northeast Voters
The Northeast voter has a great deal of pride, knows the issues and demands solid and ethical representation.

It is up to Northeast voters and taxpayers to decide whether they want me to continue to represent fiscally conservative values or whether they will unleash a Council majority that favors unstoppable spending of tax dollars without voter approval.

I will continue to represent a responsible stewardship of your tax dollars.

This is Rep. Melina Castro and I ask for your vote on June 6th

Juárez mayor to Cook: ¡Felicidades!

Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz put out a press release this week congratulating his counterpart in El Paso, John Cook, for his re-election on Saturday.

"This morning I sought him out to congratulate him on his re-election in what was a clear decision by the population of El Paso to his favor," Reyes Ferriz said.

The Juarez mayor said he has a good working relationship with Cook, which will now be allowed to continue.

"We respect (Cook) for his leadership in El Paso, but also for the friendship he has had toward Juárez. We must remember that in our most difficult times, when the U.S. government put out alerts against traveling to Juárez, the mayor made it it a point to come to events here without guards and show that Juárez is a safe city for foreigners," Reyes Ferriz said.

There was one mistake in the press release Reyes Ferriz's office put out, though. The statement said Cook was re-elected for a second two-year term. Under new city rules adopted in 2005, El Paso mayors and city council reps now serve four-year terms. er

Those are not your tax bills you just got in the mail.

The Central Appraisal District began mailing out property valuations to home and business owners last week. You may have seen yours already. The mailouts include an estimate on how much in property taxes you're going to pay this year.

The city today sent out their annual reminder regarding the valuations from CAD. The city's tax office reminds people that these are NOT tax bills, just estimated tax calculations.

Of course, school districts, the city, the county, the community college and the hospital district are yet to set their tax rate. It won't be until they all adopt new tax rate this summer that each home and business owner will know exactly how much in property taxes they will pay.

Here's the city's press release:

Download TAXpresser

Bring your laptop to the City Council meeting

If you're a member of the media and you cover the City Council meetings you know how frustrating it is to try and get a wireless signal at council chambers, the second-floor meeting space at City Hall. When I started covering the meetings more than a year ago I had made plans to bring my laptop and write quick updates for www.elpasotimes.com on the decisions the council made.

But getting a signal was tough, so I gave up on the idea. Instead, I use my Sidekick phone to type up my short updates and e-mail them to my editors at the paper. The process is fairly quick. But writing a story on a phone is hard when the phone keys are small and your fingers are ... well, as fat as you are.

Good news came into my inbox this morning, though, when South-West city Rep. Beto O'Rourke -- a bit of a tech guy himself -- informed me that the wireless connections at council chambers have been fixed and are now operational. Woo hoo!

The free Wi-Fi at the city is part of the Digital El Paso project that provides free wireless Internet for most of Downtown. But, according to an e-mail from the city's chief tech guy, the connection at City Hall is being managed by the city instead of the county, which manages the rest of Downtown.

Either way, feel free to bring your wireless-ready lap top to City Hall and connect to the Internet. I know I will.

Now, if only reporters could have a table to work on during the meetings ...

Castro: "I will pay the money on Tuesday."

Northeast city Rep. Melina Castro says she will end any confusion on whether she can take office if she wins Saturday's elections on Tuesday. She is going to pay the $40,000 in legal that a judge asked her to reimburse to the city after she sued City Attorney McNabb four years ago when he denied her copies of sensitive documents.

The public, the media and even high-ranking officials at City Hall had wondered for months whether Castro could take office if she won, given a rule in the city charter that says that anyone with outstanding debts to the city is barred from elected office. McNabb has been quiet about the matter until last week, when Cook -- who saw a story in the El Paso Times in which Castro said she was qualified to take office -- asked the city attorney for an official position.

In a memo that falls under the attorney-client rule, but which Cook released to the El Paso Times, McNabb said Castro would not be allowed to be sworn in unless she paid the money and that a second election for Northeast city representative would be needed.

Castro labeled Cook's leak of the document to the media as political payback for a letter she had sent to voters earlier in the year criticizing the mayor's tenure. She said Cook was trying to influence votes to vote for any of her five challengers.

To make things clear: Castro says she's still appealing the judgment asking her to pay back the money. She's just going to pay it now to avoid any confusion.

Read Castro's letter to the voters below. For fun, she included an e-mail that she claims Cook sent her in February quoting Silvester Stallone as Rambo, in which he promises to attack her politically.

Download CastroLetter

Campaign finance reports: Mayor

Here's a rundown on how much money each candidate in the upcoming City Council elections has raised. This is from the report candidates must file eight days before the election.

Alfrank Catucci
Total contributions: $870.
Contributions of $100 or more:

• Reynaldo and Sallie Elizondo, $250.
• Paul and Suzanna Dipp, $500.

John Cook
Total contributions: $42,065.
Contributions of $100 or more:

• Amanda Abrams, $1,000.
• John Abrams, $1,000.
• Ralph Adame, $1,000.
• Richard Amstater, $500.
• Yolanda Arriola, $500.
• Phillip Bowen, $250.
• James and Diana Brundage, $250.
• Andre and Mary Bullitt, $100.
• J.F. Cardenas, $250.
• CH2M Hill Texas PAC, $500.
• Elma Carreto, $3,000.
• Richard Castro, $500.
• Irene Chavez, $500.
• Paul Dipp, $500.
• Jim Darnell, $250
• Nick and Lupe Delgado, $250.
• Mike Dipp, $400.
• EP Assoc of Firefighters, $5,000.
• EP Building Trades PAC, $100.
• EP Municipal Police Officers Assoc, $5,000.
• EP Sheriffs Officers Assoc, $2,500.
• John and Ruth Foster, $250.
• Joe Gomez, $100.
• Hector and Debbie Gutierrez, $500.
• Richard Henley, $250.
• Marc and Ana Maria Houde, $250.
• Joshua and Martha Hunt, $250
• Paco Jordan, $500.
• Randy and Margo Kuydendall, $1,000.
• James and Debra Kelly, $250.
• Kemp Smith LLP, $500.
• Deborah King, $100.
• Ike Monty, $500.
• Enrique Moreno, $500.
• Evelina Ortega, $100.
• Amy Estelle Parker, $100.
• Les Parker, $500.
• Rosa Richardson, $500.
• James Rogers, $250.
• Rancho del Cielo LLP, $200.
• James and Judtih Rogers III, $100.
• Louis and Miriam Rosenbaum, $100.
• Noel Rosenbaum, $150.
• Phillip Rothstein, $500.
• David and Ann Scapanski, $100.
• James Scherr, $2,000.
• Ralph Seitsinger, $100.
• Donald Shapiero, $100.
• Lisa Sigmund, $100.
• Maria Teran, $500.
• April and Bill Terrell, $1,000.
• Brian and Jennifer Temple, $100. 
• Albert and Barbara Teran, $500.
• Texas Assoc of Realtors PAC, $5,000.
• Villalobos-Jimenez, $100.
• David Vellos, $100.
• Oscar Venegas, $200.
• James Volk, $250.
• Wayne Windell, $250.
• Windle, Hood, Alley, Norton, Brittain and Jay LLP, $250.

Lee Mendez
Didn't submit a report to the Municipal Clerk's office.

David Henderson
Didn't submit a report to the Municipal Clerk's office.

Carlos Rivera
Total contributions: $1,236.
Contributions of $100 or more:

• Thomas Telles, $100.
• Raymond Rivera, $200.
• Diane and Rey Rivera, $300.
• George Ibarra, $100.
• Diane and Rey Rivera, $100.
• Teresita Gonzales, $100.
• Henry Ocegueda, $100.
• Arthur Peralta, $300.
• Carmen Rodriguez, $250.
• Gustavo Martinez, $650 in kind.

Gus Haddad
Total contributions: $40,075.
Contributions of $100 or more:

• Austin Allen, $850.
• Elias Azar, $500.
• Randal Boggs, $300.
• Bouck Family Trust, $500.
• Bruce Bradford, $250.
• Irene Casner, $100.
• D.W. Chambliss, $500.
• Marsha Chanoux, $500.
• Victor Chemal, $200
• Victor Chemal, $250.
• Anthony Chica, $1,000.
• George Doolittle, $200.
• EP Apartment Assoc Better Govt Fund, $750.
• Estela Esquivel, $1,000.
• Christopher Ferris, $600.
• Richard Feuille, $200.
• Lawrence Francis, $250.
• Ronald Freeman, $100.
• Melhem Ghaleb, $500.
• Joyce Haddad, $250.
• Russell Hansen, $500.
• Kenneth John, $100.
• Gil Kimmelman, $250.
• James Little, $500.
• Belinda Luna, $250.
• Susan Lyon, $100.
• Gina Maldonado, $1,000.
• Hector Maldonado, $1,000.
• Raul Martinez, $1,000.
• RDM Management, $13,500.
• Jason Roberts, $1,000.
• Jonathan Rogers Jr., $2,000.
• James Roof, $100.
• Joe A. Rosales, $3,000.
• Stuart Schwartz, $100.
• Samuel Shallenberger, $500.
• Thomas Taylor, $100.
• David Tokoph, $1,000.
• David Tokoph Jr., $1,000.
• Linda Troncoso, $200.
• Able Wolf, $4,000.

Campaign finance reports: District 2

Here's a rundown on how much money each candidate in the upcoming City Council elections has raised. This is from the report candidates must file eight days before the election.

Yamil Chaheine
Total contributions: $4,135.
Contributions of $100 or more:

• Theresa Caballero, $500.
• Martha Mendez, $100.
• Sylvia Sandoval and Daniel Rojas, $150.
• Melanie and George Wayne, $100
• D.W. Chambliss, $500.
• Darnelle and James Little, $500.
• Steven and Renee Bouck, $2,000.
• Denise May, $100.

Howard Barton
Total contributions: $1,100.
Contributions of $100 or more:

• Marvin Rosenbaum, $500.
• Jerry Rosenbaum, $500.
• Noel Rosenbaum, $100.

Susie Byrd
Total contributions: $6,200.
Contributions of $100 or more:

• Judith Ackerman, $100.
• Sandra and Robert Almanzan, $100.
• Jon and Sharon Amastee, $100
• Robert and Celeste Ayoub, $100.
• Julius and Rebeca Bates, $100.
• David Branch and Patricia Holland Branch, $100.
• David and Joni Carpenter, $100.
• Frederic Dalbin, $125.
• EP Building Trades PAC, $100.
• EPIC, $500.
• Richard and Yvonne Fleager, $250.
• Frederick Francis, $500.
• Michael Gibson and Pauline Dow, $500.
• Sergio and Rosa Guerrero, $100.
• Hector and Debbie Gutierrez, $250.
• Gary and Leanne Hedrick, $250.
• Robert Hoy Jr, $350.
• Meyer and Melinda Marcus, $250.
• Rocky and Sarah Miracle, $100.
• Gary and Amy Sanders, $100.
• Lee Shapleigh, $250.
• Jane Sprague, $100.
• David Stevens, $250.
• John Telles, $100.
• Texas Assoc of Realtors PAC, $1,000.
• Robert Warach, $100.
• Scott Wilson, $100.