I think the Tiguas investing in the Diablos is a very bad idea for the tribe. Not as bad as the whole Abramoff, but a much clearer self-inflicted wound. That team has never made a dime in the past and there's nothing to show it will do so in the future.
Nobody is ever going to go watch baseball in this town. I take that back... if the tickets and beer were free, you'd have a crowd. If they're not, you'd have what you have now - empty stands.
When this crashes and burns I'm sure the Tiguas will have plenty of others to blame. They have a history of pushing the cart over the cliff and then crying when breaks into a million pieces at the bottom as if they didn't know that was going to happen.
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I heard they swore in the new members of City Council the other day. The big news - the new people hired from the outside for their assistants. This will hopefully make the day to day operations on the 10th floor a little less political in nature. If you will remember there was quite a contingent of politically connected/aspirant people on the 10th floor in the past - I'm hopeful that mess has been cleaned up.
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City Council finally outsmarted past Tom Brown and just went on with life ignoring him and his wishes. I suspect since there's no way to recall anyone at this point that the issue will die soon.
Oh wait...
The county is now jumping into that fight... It will be interesting to see who comes down where on this issue on commissioner's court. Some people on the court have something to hide and their vote will be the key to whether or not a certain group exposes them. A real tussle between what you represent yourself as and what you do in life will take place during this battle.
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I've been reading a little in the paper about all the thoughts on smart growth/smart code (they are different things, by the way). It looks like somebody dropped the ball and now no one on any side of the issue likes the restrictions.
One person told me that there's a group of odd bedfellows calling for the whole thing to be burned down and started over with a better concept of an end product.
I have no doubt that another out of town planning firm will bank yet another million bucks telling El Pasoans what kind of house they should live in and how far apart they should be. Another study would be our tenth study on the issue too many.
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Anything else? Ask me questions - I'm out of the loop for the most part.
Ambitious local pols were hoping you were really going to go away so they would have a clear path in 2012 and 2013 to rape and pillage the voting public. Bet they are not happy you posted something local. Keep it up if you can.
Posted by: blog fan | June 28, 2011 at 03:58 PM
I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts. I especially love your last piece on smart growth and smart code. I guess the folks with nice degrees and ivory tower backgrounds might have a bit of a disconnect with the "working folk" who have to actually implement, build, and unfortunately buy the finished product. When you have builders who implement smart code, it adds roughly 5-10% to the finished product. And, is it any smarter? Looks to me like all you have to do is follow the money and you find the answers to the questions. Smart code is the reason why we have urban sprawl. If it costs 5-10% less to build without smart code in the unincorporated areas of El Paso and surrounding area, even a 5th grader knows that it makes sense to move outside the city limits. But that's just me and i'm just an insurance guy....and don't even get me started on the 50k bond....maybe we can all go to city hall on Friday and talk some sense in to these people!!!....but wait, they have the day off. Hmmmm
Posted by: Abe Peinado | June 28, 2011 at 07:15 PM
If those imbecilic Tigues run the Diablos just as stupidly as they ran their casino, it's bye bye Diablos. Out of the many casinos that I've been to, the Tigues made sure that their casino contained the least amount of fun.
Posted by: (:-p) | June 29, 2011 at 01:14 AM
As the old Mexican ballad goes, "estas que te vas, y te vas, y te vas y te vas... y no te has ido!
For anti-Mexican, I mean immigrant, pro-pure America crowd, that means, you're saying you're leaving, and leaving and leaving, but you're not gone!
Posted by: Moi | June 29, 2011 at 03:33 AM
Moi - so quit reading. It's DavidK's blog - he can do whatever he wants - he pays for it.
Posted by: blog fan | June 29, 2011 at 10:35 AM
Quinnipiac Law Review
25 Quinnipiac L. Rev. 147
ARTICLE: THE LAW OF SPRAWL: A ROAD MAP
Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Township of Mt. Laurel, 336 A.2d 713 (N.J.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 808 (Mt. Laurel I) (holding that such "large lot" zoning violated New Jersey Constitution because policies enacted in order to exclude lower-income persons and were thus not supported by any legitimate state interest); Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Township of Mt. Laurel, 456 A.2d 390 (N.J.) (Mt. Laurel II) (implementing and reaffirming Mt. Laurel I). However, the Mt. Laurel cases have had little effect, for two reasons. First, most state courts have not adopted the Mt. Laurel court's view. See Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer & Thomas E. Roberts, Land Use Planning and Development Regulation Law, 6.6 (2d ed. 2003) (only "[a] few other state courts" have joined New Jersey in limiting large-lot exclusionary zoning). Second, even courts following Mt. Laurel have required fairly modest zoning reforms, thus ensuring that development remains low-density and thus auto-oriented.
Posted by: Carl Starr | June 29, 2011 at 04:43 PM
@ blog fan: no shit?
Posted by: Moi | June 29, 2011 at 11:06 PM
If those imbecilic Tigues run the Diablos just as stupidly as they ran their casino, it's bye bye Diablos.
What an 'effing idiot. I suppose that Texas state politics and the forced closure of the real casino operations, compounded by thieving GOP operatives like Abramoff had nothing whatsoever to do with the failure of the casino?
David's readership should step outside of the echo chamber every so often.
Posted by: Mike | July 01, 2011 at 08:34 PM
Dave K, glad you touch base on the EP issues, while I may not always agree, I have fun disagreeing. Unlike other bloggers who leave only to state two weeks later that millions (outside of his family...yeah right) begged that blogger to come back, you have the cajones to come back because you WANT to...no need to lie.
As for the County following the City lead on insurance benefits, that's not surprising, they after all share a partnership as well...you cannot share ITD services and people and then NOT share the same dreams.
My only concern was what Haggerty's position would be, and just like good old Haggerty "in your face" comments...he was clear, he doesn't care, condone or have an opinion...the facts are the County does not HAVE the money..."
This is true our County Insurance went up due to catastrophic Insurance Claims on people (dependents) who should not have been insured (they fired the HR ins personnel responsible for that because it benefited them...oppps that was a secret)...we have another furlough on Monday and the County was clear...no more furloughs but alas no future raises (means four years now) so how the H...E...double toothpicks, can they possibly want to discuss same sex benefits now....why it's politics...you scratch and support my back County and when you need me I will scratch and support yours...it's not about the issues it will always be about the FAVORS...and that is a fact.
Posted by: Maria | July 02, 2011 at 04:20 PM
Mike,
Read up on the tigua casino debacle before you chastise commentors who obviously know much more about the issue than you do.
Posted by: david k | July 05, 2011 at 12:31 AM
Abe, you lost. Get over it.
David, glad you are back.
Posted by: Diana | July 06, 2011 at 08:45 PM