Refuse the Juice

Oops Announcement - Foreshadowing a Campaign

I'm kind of wondering how anyone saw a Facebook page that was up for a grand total of nine minutes.  If that's the true story of how Rep.  Hernandez-not-Brown outed her mayoral ambitions, I think it's weird people were stalking her like that.  Then again she dates a guy that all the other "political consultants" hate, so maybe that stalking is driven by fear, anxiety and the general mental instability local "political consultants" seem to all have.  I'm a weirdo too, but I simply don't have the time to camp out on Facebook waiting for an oops like this.

Besides, her running for mayor was the worst kept secret in town.  Roughly two minutes after she was sworn in as a council member I was hearing she was running for mayor (I've exaggerated that time frame by at least a week).   Like anyone else who runs for anything I get emails long beforehand that read "Don't tell anyone, but (input person's name running here -----------) is going to run for (input office here)."  That's really smart - you don't want anyone to know something, so you tell a gossip blogger the secret... Good thing I don't care about breaking news. I keep all their secrets until someone else outs them.  And because I keep secrets, people tend to tell me things. 

If Hernandez-not-Brown had a little cash and a chance at winning, I would have told her to fight this in the courts.  I think a fair judge would decide that prepping to run and getting outed is a little different than declaring.  If she had money she could tie it up long enough in the courts to stay in office for a long while.  However, she has no money and really no shot at being elected... so I wrote all that for nothing. (Kind of like when my wife tells me about a conversation she had with her sister about any subject.)

What gets me is that other bloggers are making hay with this and they know probably a dozen other people who are basically running a campaign at the edge of illegal without having announced.  I would hate to see them get egg on their face if one of their buddies gets busted doing everything a campaign does without having announced officially. 

Hernandez-not-Brown was in hot water on another issue from what I understand, so council wasn't going to be all that sympathetic in the end.  The entire code of conduct thing is rumored to have come about because of her and Svarzbein alone.  If she decides to actually run I know for a fact that a whole bunch of "stuff" is going to be put out there.  I'm hoping for her sake she'll realize all the money is dried up in that race and it's purely a current versus former race.   There's literally no money person in town that hasn't already claimed a candidate. 

The real crime here is that Hernandez-not-Brown could have served out her term having figured out along the way that it was not her time to run for mayor.  She could have made a name for herself with good works and judged her next move from there.  I hate to see a local politician not get a chance to really fit into the job.  

Oh, and I almost forgot the foreshadowing part of this.  If your campaign stumbles that hard, that early - it's not going to be a very good campaign.  I hate to offend anyone, and I know accidents happen... but you can't have that kind of accident at that time.  I've done this long enough to know that if you see that - what comes next is no better.  It's like when my son picks up a stick... I know for a fact we're only minutes away from him chasing his sister with it.  Some things you just know from experience. 

I'm not laughing here... just a little sad for someone who I think was trying hard to do what they thought was right.  I'm never the guy to tell someone they aren't "good enough to run."  You are all good enough and I encourage you to do so.  Just make sure you're really ready when you take the gun off safety, if you know what I mean. 

Council members benefit from errant pointed fingers

Max Grossman was ranting (as usual) to his email list about how the mayor is the sole person responsible for tax increases.  He did this right after the mayor vetoed the budget citing tax increases.  I'm trying to figure out how to appease Grossman here... the guy (mayor) does precisely what you want him to do and then you blame him for the actions of eight others (council) who did exactly what you didn't want them to do.  If I didn't know any better I'd think I was reading the musing of a crazy person. 

We know Grossman didn't get his way so he hates the mayor. He, along with others, are so mad at the mayor they forgot how city government works.  In their minds the mayor is the supreme ruler with orders coming in from God and God only.  It's the kind of blind hatred that leads people to do really dumb things... like secure land with an ordinance than can be deleted on a whim. 

Anywho...

The council members are one part of the total problem and nobody seems to be faulting them.  If you're mad about your taxes going up, your first stop is your city rep's office.  The mayor doesn't even get a vote on this issue.  He gets to veto it and then get overridden by your city reps... reps you ought to be furious with.  Lock the mayor in a closet and throw away the key - your taxes will still go up.  He's not the problem.  (Please do not lock the mayor in a closet - I'm making a point, not trying to inspire a felony.)

The other part is that the voters voted and they voted to raise their own taxes.  That's just something you're going to have to accept.  I was out there telling everyone to vote against these bond issues and nobody listened to me.  Now you guys attack me for not attacking the mayor who has no other choice but to honor the vote of the people.  First you accuse of him acting like a dictator and then in the next breath, you want him to act like an actual dictator (defying the vote of the people on bond issues).   Which is it?    I forgot... "the will of the people" is actually "what Bonart and Grossman want." 

You folks have given them the power to speak for everyone and I guarantee it's not going to end up lowering your taxes.  They're not really mad about the money being spent - their mad that it's no being spent on their projects/needs/personal parks.  

Meanwhile - half your city council would make Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez blush with their leftist handout ideals and nobody says a thing.  I remember a day when you'd forget who was mayor because everyone had a bone to pick each respective council member.  The former mayor simply handed out Conquistador™ awards to felons and then faded back into the background... not on purpose, but because you guy used to hold your own member of council accountable.  Nowadays they could throw rocks at kids in wheelchairs and you'd say it's the mayor's fault that rocks exist. 

Bottom line is that if you incorrectly identify the cause of your problems - you'll never solve them.  You can put air in your tires all day long, but if the battery is dead, the car is going nowhere.

I'm back

Took a little hiatus and was going to shut everything down because work, kids, life, wife etc. takes a lot of time and I was not managing it well.  I think I have figured out how to be able to be a good dad and bad blogger at the same time.  

I have thoughts on oops announcements, blaming the wrong person for your problems and other El Paso hilarity.  Stay tuned. 

Sorry if the design is awful - I'm still messing with it. 

Another unneeded opinion on the act of terror

I didn't want to say anything about this at all.  I especially didn't want to say anything in the immediate hours and days after a terrorist gunned down innocent people in an act of cowardice driven by idiotic racist beliefs.  However, everybody keeps asking me what I think, so I'll share.

In an awful coincidence I grew up in Allen, Texas until I was 13 years old.  My parents had moved to Dallas after my dad came back from Vietnam, finished his commitment to the Army and raced through engineering school at UTEP on the G.I. Bill.  There weren't a lot of jobs in El Paso at the time so my parents left their entire families and went to seek their fortune in Dallas.  They found Allen, a small bedroom community miles from downtown, and decided to put down roots there.  For both of my parents it was the first time they had ever lived in a predominately white town.  They saw few things that gave them pause but generally the people were working class folks who loved taking their kids to soccer games and attending Friday night football games.   The place really was kind of like Mayberry back then.  After we left in 1991 the place became a part of the natural expansion of the Dallas suburbs and higher priced houses were built, big box stores established and a generally different culture took hold.  I don't know why I told you that, but maybe it just makes me feel better that the town I knew wouldn't have a person like this in it.  The community wouldn't stand for it back then.  

I think the most awful aspect of this act of terror is the loss of that feeling of security that so many Latinos in El Paso have had for decades.  I always felt that you could be brown in El Paso and be anything you wanted to be without fear.  There is no "their side of town" - it's a city that is Latino in every part.  Nobody would look at you funny because you're different - because you weren't different. In El Paso you're the norm.  El Paso is not only a safe community for Latinos from the standpoint of violence, but it is also where a brown person can be a CEO, State Senator, artist, cop - etc... The men and women who lead the community are Latinos and every Latino kid should feel that they could achieve those life goals without the threat of racism.  I feel that security has now been shattered.  I'm angry that the one place in America I could guarantee that being brown was okay, is no longer that.  

I know I've made fun of the idea of building a Mexican American Cultural museum before.  And I stick with the idea that it's funny that somehow you could do a better job showcasing Mexican American culture than just letting someone walk the streets of El Paso.  To think the significance of Mexican Americans to this city would fit in one building is laughable.  You live in city that shows you everything you could ever try to know about this wonderful culture and it's alive around you. 

What I haven't liked is the national media's portrayal of El Pasoans as mainly "immigrants."  That's simply not true.  Most people in El Paso have been here for generations.  Many El Pasoans can't remember who in their family ever lived in Mexico because they've been in Texas for so long.  It's no secret that Latinos were here strong when Texas got its independence on through when it became a state.  It's wrong to give people the impression that El Pasoans are somehow new to being American. They've been here as long as anyone else has and they are the most patriotic people you'll meet.  But yes, there are people new to this country in El Paso, but by far the majority of Latinos are of many generations of American citizens.  The settling of Texas doesn't happen without the ancestors of the Latinos who live in El Paso now.  

(Side note:  This was not a "tragedy."  A tragedy is an accident - a train derailing or an avalanche that hurts someone.  This was terror. This was murder.  This was not an accident or a matter of bad luck or coincidence.  It was evil.  Let's not confuse the seriousness of what happened here by mislabeling it a "tragedy.")

As for the violence... Throw all the rhetoric about politics and guns around and you won't ever figure out the real problem .  You'll feed agendas and egos and that's about it.  The problem in every community in the world is angry young men.  It doesn't matter where you go or what race or religion they are, young men are almost always the ones committing these terrible acts.  Why?

Male brains of this age lack the maturity to deal with certain realities of life.  Without guidance from a strong community these young men will go astray if they are confronted with adversity.  You see these men who haven't found success, haven't developed a relationship with the opposite sex, haven't experienced what they see as fulfillment.    Instead of doing like most people would do - which is to figure out how to get where you need to go in life and apply hard work and dedication to the problem - they blame others.  White Supremacists blame black people and Latinos for their problems even though they live near neither and there's zero evidence to support that blame.  It's easier to point a finger at another group and blame them for your own lack of success than it is to look at yourself and identify the problems you have created for yourself.   Once they've decided their sorry position in life is some other group's fault, their immature brain steers them to violence because they see no other way to "fix the problem."  Remember - they've already proved they are too lazy or stupid to figure out their problems, so it's not a huge leap for their feeble minds to think violence is the answer... I mean how many young men out there are going to start punching people at a bar this weekend?  It's not women or old men pulling this crap. 

The only solution I know is for every person to become a mentor and talk to every young man about what life's realities are.  Fathers, uncles, mothers, friends need to be engaging these shut-ins.  We have to disrupt their echo chamber of hate.  Once they become convinced of their own idiotic theories they risk becoming obsessed to the point of action.  For many of these shooters the only energy they ever put into anything was the final act of violence. 

We must be tapping people on the shoulder and asking them what's going on.  People have to pull these idiots out of the basement and set them straight.  Society as it is today - living on top of each other - must commit to getting in each other's business in order to guarantee the safety of our society.  I hate to think that this shooter's dad sat there as his loser son devolved right before his eyes and never said anything.  In every case the violent outburst is not an unexpected act - people knew... but they said nothing.... 

That's all I have to say about this.

Proof Grossman Can Steal Your Property With Historic Designation

Guys like Grossman and Bonart aren't telling people the truth.  Bonart claimed Lost Dog would cost nothing - We'll be for sure north of $20 million when it's all said and done.... and your taxes are still going up in the meantime.  Grossman claimed historical survey doesn't mean anything and now we have proof it's a complete lie.

Please read HERE.

A property owner in Denver wanted nothing to do with a historical designation and fought tooth and nail to keep it off his property.  Now he wants to sell and retire - having worked decades to have this moment to retire nicely on his hard work.  But he can't do that.  Why?  Because his building was put in a survey as "historic."  He never went after the designation to get his "plaque" making it official.  Now as he tries to sell his building, Denver's version of Grossman is quite literally confiscating this man's property without compensation.  

These surveys are the thing activists use to take property from the owners.  Your local government should have no hand in stripping people of their property rights because hysterical societies guys decide it's "historic."

Nobody wants to listen to me, and that's fine.  I sleep well at night knowing I said something... I warned someone... 

And what's worse - the 9 million properties downtown Grossman wants control over aren't owned by wealthy people who can take the hit.  It's regular folks who may want to one day cash in and bug out for retirement.  It's someone like YOU that gets screwed.  

Anyone who wants to organize needs to contact me. For free I'll help you fight for your rights.  I'll give you the entire plan.  

Busy week - Subjects to Come

Sorry so silent - lots of stuff going on.

I see none of you know how to react to straight ticket voting going away.  I would expect at least one of you to suggest the candidate with most patient voters should do well down ballot. 

Lost Dog... conservation easement, huh?  Somebody didn't do their homework!  There's about nine different ways Bonart screwed himself on this one.  Besides, the city is under no obligation to continue to bow to their commands. 

It's going to be a bond bonanza in El Paso soon.  I hear every entity that can ask for one - will.  Some estimates have upwards of $3.5 BILLION slated to hit ballots over the next couple of years. 

I read the newspaper is still asking why nobody rides the trolley. Can someone go tell them that a bus from nowhere to nowhere isn't ever going to work?

A school superintendent head-butted another school superintendent drunk at a Whataburger?  Isn't that what you're supposed to do at a Whataburger when you're drunk?  Or are we supposed to skateboard like Beto? 

What happened to Bob Moore's politburo megaphone?  I told you to give him money so he can provide me with content.  God knows Susie needs a friend as the El Paso Times is only on her side occasionally. 

Max Grossman is still throwing punches at everyone in the room and is going to wonder why he has no friends later.  Even if Grossman gets Leeser elected, all Leeser is going to do is cancel the arena and sell Duranguito to the highest bidder - who will then bulldoze it and put in a strip mall. Grossman is going to lose in court - now it's just a matter of what gets built on the bulldozed remains of the neighborhood. 

Raise your hand if you're NOT running for DA... It's easier to count that way. 

Did I miss anything?