Well... pretty sure the "people have spoken" and they said they want higher taxes. I can't wait for the folks who claimed the Lost Dog vote was approved by the majority of voters to start crying about how the bond issues were approved by less than seven percent of registered voters. In either case there was nowhere near a mandate if you're talking about the whole universe of voters. You can't have it both ways.
What's odd to me is that the off-year elections usually only attract the angry crowd. You know, the crowd that is angry about taxes and general government bureaucracy and potholes and strangers parking in front of their house and bizarre art along the freeway. So it's weird to me that the people who showed up yesterday were the type of people happy to pay more in taxes.
I have a bigger theory about Americans today and their ideas about who pays for what. The Democratic primary is full of expensive promises and folks seem to believe that those candidates have some kind of plan to finance all those promises without hitting the average American's pocket book. Some pesky voters have actually had the audacity to ask exactly who is going to pay for all the goodies and most of the candidates aren't answering that question.
And that brings me to my own variation on the old saying "if you can't figure out who the dumbest person in the room is, then it's probably you." As this goes - if they won't tell you who is paying for it, then it's probably you. I'm not sure the people voting for these tax increases understand they have to pay for them, not some mythical set of rich people. A smart guy in the Swamp (DC) once told me "the bulk of the taxes are paid by the people with the bulk of the money - and that's the middle class." You see, the only reliable taxpayer out there is the middle class. They reliably make a set amount of money every year, aren't rich enough to dodge taxes or move away from them. They are a captive audience, you could say.
I know what you are saying "but who is going to fight against money for schools and first responders??" Nobody. No matter how good your argument is, you look like an asshole saying no to school bond issues. Doesn't matter if the kids or teachers won't see a dime of that money - you're still an asshole. And don't get me started on police and fire.
Knowing you guys, you'll blame the mayor even though he didn't vote for any of this nor has he voted for a single budget you're so mad about. It's like cursing the refrigerator because you burnt the turkey. One of these days you might figure it out.
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Friday I'll fill you in on some Lost Dog litigation action that may happen. I'll also let you in on some info about conservation easements I just learned.
What districts voted for the city bond?
Posted by: JerryK | November 07, 2019 at 08:04 AM
You can look at the precinct by precinct breakdown to find out where the votes came from. County of EP Elections Page. There are several sort functions on the page.
Posted by: Who Cares | November 07, 2019 at 01:41 PM
JerryK,
Here is a link to the map.
10 out of 191 precincts voted against the City bond.
https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/TX/El_Paso/98643/web/#/detail/0009
Posted by: Mary | November 07, 2019 at 03:13 PM