Refuse the Juice

Your Voters Are Smarter Than That

If I lived in El Paso and was paid a pittance to live in Austin and drink beer for about 140 days last year... and tried to slip a stranger into a an open seat... I'd be pretty damned:

• Embarrassed - Both for losing and for trying to pull the wool over your neighbor's eyes.  Oh, and for putting Ms. Tamayo through that.
• Sorry - Both for losing and for trying to pull the wool over your neighbor's eyes. Oh, and for putting Ms. Tamayo through that. 
• Angry - at myself for thinking I was way smarter than I actually was.  Oh, and for putting Ms. Tamayo through that. 

If I was a member of the delegation, I'd be making sure my last bit of campaign cash was used to flood Claudia's doorstep with flowers, chocolate and those giant Teddy Bears they sell outside the Haskin's center during graduation week.  You might include some handwritten, heartfelt letters saying you are sorry as well (I prefer the card selection at Walgreens to other vendors).  

What the delegation did was wrong - not just to her, but to the voters of that district.  The delegation came together and decided that YOU would be too stupid to catch them sneaking in a person from Austin to run in a seat so they can control them.  And in that they took an innocent young woman with a bright future ahead of her and threw her into an ugly situation.  Ms. Tamayo did not deserve to be put in a position that any intelligent person could see was going to end badly for her.  So while you're sending cards and flowers and gifts - put Ms. Tamayo on the list.  And don't forget to make sure you get her a good job in Austin to replace the one she had.   You owe that much to her.  Losing an election hurts.  (Ms. Tamayo, if they don't help you out, email me and I'll help you.)

Some of you may be asking why the delegation should be so conciliatory toward Claudia... Good question. 

First of all, Claudia is no slouch.  She has a background with the state legislature and with a congressional office in DC.  She knows the game and how to play it.  

Second, she's well liked by people... the 'right' kind of people in Austin. She will immediately be seen as an asset for any committee no matter what the partisan line is.   She'll be in the room where most of the El Paso delegation is never invited.  If you want in that room, you better get on her good side.

Third, it's the right thing to do given she has never been nasty with any of you.  Those idiotic, frivolous ethics complaints were shameful. It's okay to pick a team to get behind, but to cheat, lie and steal to win is dishonorable and below the offices you each hold.  

I don't have a fourth, but I'll reiterate - she's going to be a force in Austin and you need her help. She does not need yours.  Each member of the delegation's reputation is sullied and don't think your colleagues in Austin don't know what you did. As the great Phil Collins once said:

"Well I was there and I saw what you did, I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies"

The delegation was too clever by half thinking the voters wouldn't notice.  I've got news for you - when you have a candidate who has previously won with 70 percent of vote on the ballot, do not bring a stranger in to challenge them.  The math is never going to work out for you.  And by God if you're going to poke the enemy with a stick, make sure they aren't carrying a sword.  

I think today about how a smarter delegation could have simply just called up Claudia and had a conversation.  Who knows, they may have made a friend for life.  

Also - all those other bloggers and former media figures/staffers who bought into this game - shame on you too.  You can't scream and cry about corruption on your email lists and blogs and then support a backroom deal to bring in a person from another city to represent you.  You're the original hypocrite just hungry for power when you get caught saying one thing and clearly supporting its inverse. 

Poor Max - Nobody Believed Him

As Claudia sails to a win... which was easy to guess given the districts voting history... and Vince goes to a runoff easy win... Where is Max Grossman and all of his anger?  Only getting angrier.  

More analysis tomorrow.  

I'll be back - Soon

Sorry folks, but I have been knee deep in other projects and real jobs.  I was planning on taking a break until the primary is over anyhow, so it all kind of worked out.  We'll talk after the primary and I'll have lots of content.  

Texas will not join El Paso any time soon

In the days leading up to the special election held on Tuesday of this week regional and national media were happy to suggest that the State House District 28 seat would be a bellwether election.  The seat would flip from R to D thus proving it wasn't just Beto in 2018, but a "blue wave" that has been in the making since Gov. Richards left office.  

The pundits were pretty adamant that it was curtains for the Republicans and this race was just the beginning of what would be an electoral nightmare come November.  Some suggested that Democrats might not only win the Texas House, but have a supermajority!  Beto was not the cause of, but in fact the result of, a growing blue wave ready to take Texas back. 

By about 9:00 PM Tuesday night nobody wanted to talk about the District 28 race.  Which was funny because literally millions of dollars had been dropped into that race by left leaning entities to benefit the Democrat.  Even Beto made a second home there knocking on doors and helping get folks to the polls.  It went from the biggest news story in Texas to something that didn't happen and you won't hear anymore about it. 

The truth is that any impartial consumer of data related to that district would see it's strongly Republican and likely to remain that way for decades.  Others who impartially assess campaigns would understand that Beto's run was all about Beto and not about some bigger shift of political allegiance.   The love of Democrats took a backseat to the love of Beto, which is why it can't be replicated.  

Now that straight ticket voting is gone, Democrats are going to be in a major hurt down the ballot.  Voters who have simply pulled the lever once for the last 30 years aren't readily going to read a ten page ballot and hunt down all the Democrats.  They'll cast a vote at the top of the ballot and walk away.  Democratic strategies have long relied on pushing people to the polls in large groups with instructions to do one thing.   Their network of operatives aren't experienced with down ballot strategies and it might be an election cycle or two before they even get somewhat good at it.  

I'm sorry, but the blue wave will remain a ripple in Texas.

I'll try to post more often...

I'm busy and rather uninspired these days....

It was nice to Grossman lose in court.  Maybe he can start paying you guys back for his frivolous lawsuits.  He's spent $2 million of yours to protect ego... I mean the nonexistent Duranguito.  

It's odd that Tamayo is rolling around with Republicans like Grossman.  You can tell she's not from here by the company she keeps.  

Everybody likes to file ethics complaints right before we head to the polls.  It's a chickenshit thing to do and the city needs to figure out how to punish people who file frivolous ethics complaints. 

Some people need to understand that you can't post an item to your campaign finance report until you've actually paid the bill.  Don't go after a candidate if the print house failed to send them a bill before the latest report was due.  

The reemergence of some old "players" in the city council game have started handing out cash again.  We might be heading back to the old days of all out war at each city council meeting.  

Annello to be challenged... I think

You might remember that Rep. Annello rode into office on the back of Susie Byrd who basically browbeat people to the polls while lying about Jim Tolbert being sought by an armed posse of Texas Rangers.  You might remember the El Paso Times has never apologized to anyone for falsely claiming people were under investigation when they were clearly not under any investigation at all.  Hell, they've never apologized for Jew-shaming Dori.  

Anywho... 

Annello has done two things since taking office:

1. Ignore her constituents completely or referring them to Byrd for answers.  She absolutely runs every single thing by Byrd first, second and last.  She has not made a single vote without having Byrd's direction on exactly how to vote.
2. She's got this weird thing where she's trying to prove Dee Margo is a Republican... as if him being a Republican state representative wasn't evidence enough. She has told people that her main focus on council is to expose Margo as a Republican.  I guess no one has told her that he took care of that a long time ago in a very public manner by putting his name on a ballot with an R next to it. 

She has been nothing but a disaster as a representative.  Before she arrived they were actually paving streets in her district and cleaning up alleyways.  Since then... pretty much nothing.  Constituents complain she never acknowledges them and after complaining too loudly about being ignored, Byrd's political muscle will reach out to shut them up.

So it was no surprise when beloved Judy of the D2 office quit and said she'd run against Annello.  Judy is the rockstar of the district for years now.  Everybody knows that it doesn't matter which person holds that office, Judy is there to help everyone.   I'm not sure "beloved" covers how the folks of D2 feel about her. 

Now, I don't have for sure, for sure, for sure confirmation on this yet.  It's just rumor.  However, if she's in, I know there's a ton of people fed up in D2 willing to help her out.  I'd like to see how Byrd goes about punching this wonderful woman into submission during the election.  Maybe the real nastiness of these political players will be exposed.   

Svarz Remains Bizarre

I awoke today to the news that Rep. Peter Svarzbein was hired as Bloomberg's deputy state director for his campaign operations in Texas.  Really?  That's who Svarz is going with?  Or did he just need the paycheck?  Let's examine.

First off, I can't decide if Bloomberg should skip Texas or put all of his money into Texas.  On the one hand you have a situation where Texans generally don't like rich yankees - as seen in the low numbers for Trump.  On the other hand Texas has a lot of delegates to provide for a Democratic candidate.  A win in Texas could really change the race.

Texas is Super Tuesday primary (click HERE).  So, there's a lot at stake for that one date (March 3) and a candidate can get stretched pretty thin trying to win them all. Remember, California is also on Super Tuesday.  A good showing in TX and CA could rocket a candidate to the top.  

I'm not sure Texas Democrats are going to be into Bloomberg's mostly Republican leanings.  He's only Democrat because he wants to take your guns.  I think it's kind of unfair that Beto got blasted for saying he wants to take guns, but Bloomberg gets a complete pass.  Bloomberg has spent tens of millions of his own money trying to confiscate your guns for decades and nobody seems to be talking about it in the same way they did with Beto.  It's odd to say the least.

And with that said... Svarz's personal politics are somewhere left of Bernie, so it's bizarre he'd get on the Bloomberg train.  Svarz's land stealing buddies are all Bernie fans.  I wonder how they are going to feel about him working for the anti-gun Republican running in the Democratic primary?  

And... what was Bloomberg's staff thinking hiring a city council guy in El Paso who takes really great photos for a living?  Don't get me wrong - you don't want to get Svarz in a run-off.  He'll win every time and nobody can explain it.  It's like campaign magic, but instead of pulling a rabbit out of hat, he's pulling votes out of thin air.  Maybe his legendary run-off performances made it all the way to the ears of Bloomberg's top advisors.   

I can't wait to see the high energy version of Svarz that will be required of him for this new role! 

Max's logic is lost again

If you get Grossman's emails you'll see he's been on a tirade against Claudia Ordaz.  Apparently Ordaz spent money communicating with people who were to be impacted by a literal toxic dump opening on top of them.  I guess, communicating with voters these days is big no-no?  Like that time The El Paso Times tried to convince you that slowing traffic down around schools was not only a bad idea, but illegal?!?!?

I mean, what kind of person demands transparency of his government by screaming at them constantly and then bitches when one of those government people engages in transparency?  Has Grossman finally lost his mind?

And he's pissed off about the $6,000 Ordaz spent being transparent while he's cost the city more than $2,000,000 in legal fees over his ego in Duranguito? Give me a break.  If he's worried about the money, he ought to give up the fight he's going to lose and start trying to figure out how he is going pay all of you back for those fees.  

What nobody is talking about is how Tamayo never even knew they were going to put a toxic dump in the district and thus had no inclination to warn anyone or fight it.  Of course, she lived in Austin when this was going down.  She's just figuring out what's where in the her district, so you can cut her some slack - she's new.

And speaking of transparency - the lack of it... How come no one mentions Tamayo's candidacy was hatched in dark room between elected officials in Austin in attempt to take away representation of the good people of District 76?  Shouldn't Max be a little upset that a backroom deal was cut to essentially make Tamayo the puppet of other local house members?  What kind of sick person tells a whole district they don't get have a person represent them at the state legislature?  

In closing... You have one person running who is transparent and communicates with the taxpayers and you have another person from Austin assigned to area by the other local electeds... The choice has to be easy here, folks. 

Who are you voting for District 6?

Click HERE to see the ballot.

I don't know any of the people.  However, one of them will eventually vote repeatedly to raise your taxes while you blame the guy who vetoed such tax raises.  It's important you pick someone whose legislative actions you feel comfortable ignoring. 

You might also consider which person you'd like to sit in complete service to the nutty white males from the westside who see Eastsiders and Valley residents as financiers of their own personal projects like parks and 950 unit historical districts. 

Please let me know below who you will be ignoring in the new year.

Let's catch up...

Had a little break there. Between hunting and National Eating Day, I was booked.   So what happened while I was gone?

Looks like your congressperson wants the city to buy El Paso Electric... The same city that has to grab certificates of obligation (COs) in order to try and maintain the aging infrastructure that previous elected officials failed to take care of.  I can't imagine how they'd run a utility like the electric company.  And that's assuming we just forget about cost - because you don't have enough money to buy it... You can't let your grid go all to hell because you elect people afraid to spend money to fix it.  Your electricity shouldn't share time with yahoos complaining about nonexistent historic districts at city council meetings.  

Then again... maybe it would be fun to have rolling blackouts because council can't get along?!?!!?  "Why is the power off honey?"   "Well, District 5 rep interrupted city staff on a presentation about the Trolley losing money so District 3 rep got mad and left the meeting and then the mayor turned everyone's mics off and two others left and that means they lost a quorum."

And this idea of putting in more solar... are you kidding me?  I'm only in if you turn Lost Dog into a solar field.  That 1,000 acres might generate enough solar power to run the scoreboard at the arena you don't need.  

I'm not saying you're wrong to have an opinion on this, but the city buying the utility is not an option you can afford.  

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I don't know if the lovely Ms. Tamayo had National Eating Day in Austin folks, so stop asking.  I did get her email saying she was letting her volunteers skip Saturday blockwalking so they could be with family.   This just shows how disconnected she is.  By Saturday after National Eating Day people are dying to find ways to get away from family.  A nice walk around the block bothering people about voting for your gal is great idea.  

Maybe she was out of town and that was an excuse?  I don't know.  

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Yes Ordaz's logo looks like the Taco Bell logo.  I get it, ha ha, so funny!  The problem is that the universal sign for a traditional Spanish mission is the bell framed into the stucco there in front of the building.  Ordaz was looking to honor the area's history (which is real and documented unlike other parts of town that just suddenly become "historic" at the whim of He Who Shall Not Be Named).  Taco Bell kind of screwed anyone wanting a mission themed anything.  

I was hoping that Commissioner Perez would film a commercial from the roof of a mission where at the end a drone films him on the roof from afar and he says "I'm a man on a mission!"  

And that, my friends, is why I get kicked out of a lot of campaign meetings. (Not Vince's meetings - he hasn't given me the invite yet. Maybe that commercial idea will inspire him.)

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I thought for sure someone was going to run for State Senate and it's not happening.  If I was Leeser I'd throw my name over in that hat and go do a fun job versus the unfun job of mayor.  Easy win for him with not much time investment - a few months every two years?  Great deal.  Plus he's an auto dealer and those guys have major clout in Austin - he'd be riding in as a connected guy from day one.