Max Powers

Peter Svarzbein: Too Smart For His Own Good?

City Council Candidate for District 1, Peter Svarzbein, is not the first or the last of his type to run for office in El Paso.

He kinda reminds of the Hector Lopezes, Jimmy Suerkens and that one guy with PhD or at the very least it he was working on it.

The common theme is that "We are from El Paso (sorta or tried to get here as fast we can), left it to better ourselves, and now we our back to better you."

It sounds all really noble, and somewhat condescending. 

But that truth is that they are not really back to make you better.  They are back because where ever they were was way too expensive and it was harder to make a name for themselves as the newbie in town.  So why not come back to some place cheaper, and where it is easier to make a name for yourself?  That and it is probably easier to win a city council seat than it is to get a job in management at Western Refining.  Something tells me Western Refining does not need a lot of video artists, hell, neither does El Paso, so hence a government job.

I bring all this up because Svarzbein had post on facebook page about Buffalo.

The post shows a rather obvious photo-shopped solar panel factory. 

The picture is shown because Buffalo is going to get a solar panel factory that according to Svarzbein "will employ thousands".  But all I see is a rather automated photo-shopped factory and not a single soul. 

Way to sell your point.

I get it.  It is cool to see Buffalo "comeback".  For all crap that El Paso gets, El Paso never experienced what Buffalo did - economic collapse and half of its population gone.  So Buffalo really has nowhere to go, but up.

The weirder thing yet he is making this pitch to of all people....Westsiders.

These are the folks that gave El Paso Ann Morgan Lilly. 

They do not want to hear your Five-Year Plan.

 

 

Commissioner Ted Houghton: Always Desperate to Impress

"Rocky Road!!?!?" - not-Ted Houghton

Texas Transportation Commissioner Chair, Ted Houghton, has hitched his political fortunes to former Governor Rick Perry...again.  Houghton is the only notable El Pasoan to be named to Perry's political action committee's - aptly named Rick PAC - advisory board.  Perry of course trying to position himself for a White House run.

In a Houghton dream, Perry would be president, and Houghton would be the only guy from El Paso to say, "Mr. President, when Woody and Paul thought it was dumb to back you so early in your second run for president, well, I was still dumb enough to do it.  But now everyone in El Paso has to kiss your and MY ass for a change.  Well, I'll still be kissing your ass as I have always done, but this time a lot more people are gonna have their lips puckered up on mine."

Houghton has a chip on his shoulder. 

He's rich, but he is not Paul Foster or Woody Hunt rich. 

Hell, he is probably not Bobby Bowling or even Maria Teran rich. 

Houghton has made his "fortune" from trying to manage richer people's money.  He just skims whatever he can off the top.  From those few nickels he gets, he has squeezed himself in the political donor class in El Paso, which is kinda small.  So it would be hard to NOT notice Houghton.  In a Dallas or Houston though, Houghton would be Triple-A and no one would care (no offense to the Chihuahuas).

Sometimes Houghton will go above and beyond just donating money to impress people.  Like that one time long ago when then-U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison visited El Paso and Houghton bullied the sitting Senator for even thinking about running against then-Governor Rick Perry.

Then there is Houghton himself as a person.  He likes to hear his own voice, interrupts people, thinks everyone around him is a dummy...which goes back to the chip on his shoulder.

Now Rick PAC presents Houghton the opportunity to step out-of-the-shadows of Paul Foster and Woody Hunt assuming Perry runs for president and wins. 

On one hand, I don't blame Houghton.  Now that Perry is no longer governor, Houghton has probably worn out his welcome in Austin.  So he has to make a gamble for DC.

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My apologies to Sloth.

 

There's Something About Mary's Office

Earlier this week, an intern (or staffer) for State Rep. Mary Gonzalez, Justin Atkinson, wrote a piece for the Burnt Orange Report explaining why working for Mary is so awesome.

I know what you are thinking.

It's a lot worse than you think.

Justin on office space:

7. Symbolic Gestures Interrupt Power Dynamics. Oftentimes when people come to visit Rep. Mary González, they ask why she doesn’t work in the largest office. This is purposeful. It is both about space (we have a lot of staff) and the intentional interruption of a power structure that is common in Capitol offices. We have three full time staff members, five graduate fellows and eight part-time interns. Not only does this ensure that everyone has a desk, it also reinforces our commitment to operating in a non-hierarchal system where everyone’s voices can be heard. (emphasis added)

No. 

No. 

Nobody asks Mary Gonzalez why her office is not big.  Everybody knows why her office is small, and it is because she is a sophomore legislator.  She has to wait for everybody with more seniority to pick their offices before she can pick hers.

This non-sense about operating in a non-hierarchical system...I am sure when Che Guevara went around trying to sell folks on the virtues of communism he sold them that line.

Justin on love:

The foundation of social justice is love, and love is something that is sometimes forgotten in the Texas Legislature. I’m lucky to work with a team where love informs their policy in every day ways.

WTF, mates.

Love informing policy? 

Bush league psycho-out stuff.

Either Justin is really phucking naive or he is phucking someone in the office. 

 

 

The Dan Longoria Tehran Connection?

Doesn't this guy:

District 1 Candidate Dan Longoria

Remind you of this guy:

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Dan-EE, iz my COO-zine!!!

Marisa Marquez: Budget-Writer

Texas House Committee assignments were announced.

What to say?

State Rep. Marisa Marquez is the only member of the El Paso Delegation to be assigned to a budget-writing committee: House Committee on Appropriations.   I don't get why some people spew venomous hate towards her.  She really is the only one in the Delegation who knows how to maneuver in Austin.

Yea, State Rep. Joe Pickett will Chair the House Committee on Transportation, but I really do not care about that.  Pickett is just a Robert Moses wannabe.

Joe Moody will serve on the Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence...again.   Seriously,  Moody needs to run for DA.  Otherwise he will eventually become Committee member emeritus of that committee.

Cesar Blanco? He's a freshman.  Nobody cares what he does or where he is.

And yes, Mary Gonzalez.  She is still on the Committee on Heefers & Shit-kickin'.  Oh, she is also on Public Education committee.  Don't expect her to do much other than advocate increasing teacher wages to $100,000 annually.

The Peter Svarzbein Havana Connection?

Doesn't this guy:

District  1 Candidate Peter Svarzbein

Remind you of this guy:

Fidel Castro: "Pedro, soy tu papi."

 

Who Max Likes For EP City Council - District 1

Might as well get this out-of-the-way.

I like Rick Bonart for District 1.

For some of you that may come as a shock because I am supposed to be Rick Armendariz or someone at the Forma Group...the guy consulting Dan Longoria.

Look, I am a bit of a hippie tree-hugger.  And yes, I am aware of the lack of trees in a desert environment at certain elevations.

Just as I am aware of the lack of trees in a desert environment, I am also aware of the lack of water. 

A reliable water supply and open spaces are all things I am "for". 

Hence, Bonart.

El Paso could use someone that is not on any particular developer's side...unless we are talking in-fill, which I am all "for".

As far as Longoria...all I know marriage to a woman is hard, which is why I don't want to do it.  Marriage is putting up with a woman's farts and toe nail clippings.  Just as marriage is hard, so is parenting.  One day you show a picture of your kids mother to your child, and the next day you get arrested on child porn charges.  But I am rambling now.

Then there's Peter Svarzbein...the overweight hipster.  I hear he is a "visual artist."  When I hear that term I think of Knox Harrington, the video artist.  Bonart might be the "old guy" in the race, but I bet Bonart could smoke Peter in mountain bike race.  Hell, not just a mountain bike race, shit, a race to the end of the block. 

 

 

Mary Gonzalez and Hueco Tanks

I often bash State Rep. Mary Gonzalez because she lied to people to raise campaign cash.

But I am also a sucker for our park systems, be it national or state. 

To quote Ron Swanson, "The National Park Service is probably the only branch of government worth a damn."

Same applies with the state park system and state government.

So when Gonzalez filed legislation to create a visitors center at Hueco Tanks, I thought "Aw-shucks."

Likelihood of it passing?  Not likely. 

Because Mary is to the left of the late Hugo Chavez, she does not have much pull in a Republican-controlled Legislature. 

But not everything has to be a legislative effort.  During the legislative off-season, if Mary were to be so inclined, given her know-how to raise cash, why not start a campaign drive to raise money to build a visitors center?  

I know it is instinct for legislators, especially Democratic ones, to cure our ills with legislation, but that sort of thing really limits your options, and more often than not leads to failure.   Not everything requires a bill, especially when what you really need is money.  

So what say you, Mary?

 

 

Cesar Blanco and TRBs

Last week, State Rep. Cesar Blanco was gushing over State Sen. Jose Rodriguez while talking about his own bill that would allow the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in El Paso to issue tuition revenue bonds (TRBs)

So what exactly is a TRB?

Per the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board:

TRB’s are bonds that have their debt serviced by the revenue of the project for which it was issued and pledge a revenue stream provided by income from tuition charges levied against students or institutions specified in the bond covenants.

So in other words, TRBs are bonds a university issues that are more or less guaranteed by the income it charges from tuition.

Who is charged this tuition?

Students. 

And how do students pay for their tuition?  Debt.  Either in a form of loan, or credit card, or indirectly in a form of loan or credit card from a relative.

Debt is being used to finance debt. 

That's right. 

Basically using one credit card to payoff another.  In this case, it is someone else's credit card.

At one time that sort of thing was mocked, but times have changed, and now we call this a "balance transfer".

The shitty thing about this balance transfer is that these universities pay next to nothing on interest, while you on the other hand may pay 20 percent or more if you are using a credit card to pay tuition.  Never mind the decades long financial trap that is the education loan.

I do not mean to single out Cesar Blanco because he is not the only legislator that wants to pass legislation that allows universities to issue more debt.   Many, if not all, legislators love TRBs.  To a legislator a TRB is not seen as a tax increase, and anything that allows to universities to build more pretty buildings feels good. 

I cannot fault a legislator for being short-sighted.  It's the game. 

But then who is to blame?

Your Diana Natalicios of the world.  These people do not care about the financial well-being of their students once they graduate.  All they care about is the tuition that their students paid which allows the Natalicios of the world to build MOAR.