Max Powers

Poking the Bear

Thanksgiving did not stop El Paso Time's Bob Moore from throwing everything he can at City Representative Larry Romero.

Which hey, Romero is an elected official.  Part of the job of being an elected official means getting shit on from time to time, although it seems like with Romero it is ALL the time.

But you know who does not have "being shit on" in their job description?  The folks at Hinojosa Estrada. 

Bob Moore may fancy himself a journalist, but what he really is one employee of thousands that works for a multi-billion dollar publicly traded company.

The folks at Hinojosa Estrada?  Sure they fancy themselves as investment bankers, but among them are attorneys. 

What do attorneys do when you put them in the corner? 

They do not issue press releases or write op/eds.

 

Things and Stuff

I know you all think  I am AWOL, but besides the day job, I have been working on some complaints that have been filed and some that will be filed. 

But how about some quick hits:

• Lina Ortega: Lina Ortega is the favored candidate in the house race for District 77.  But that being said, this whole re-hash of the ballpark bond issue does not bode well for her.  She had nothing to do with it, but it all comes to name association.  Yes, we can say then-City Rep. Steve Ortega was out-of-town when all that ballpark stuff happened, but then it looks like he really was interested in holding down the fort.
• Veronica Escobar:  Escobar has to be enjoying the fact that Romero is being crucified by the El Paso Times, but she might become collateral damage in City Rep. Claudia Ordaz's orchestrated effort to bash certain city council members.  In Ordaz's effort, El Paso has taken a trip down memory lane which has brought back the ballpark to the forefront, and where the ballpark is involved, Steve Ortega is involved.  Where Ortega is involved Susie Byrd, Veronica Escobar and so on are involved.  Or at least perceived to be, and in politics, for better or worse, perception is everything. 
• Susie Byrd: Susie Byrd is upset with Romero because he has done more for his district than she ever did.  All Byrd did while on council was look forward to happy hour with Escobar.  Byrd can say "Well, there's a process that we need to follow."  The only reason she followed that process was because she did not want to out-do other fellow council members who had higher aspirations.
• Jaime Abeytia: He is more upset at the fact that I am more Chicano than him.
• Argentina: If you thought El Paso was political basket case, well, there's Argentina.  But even Argentina took a turn for the better this week, and elected the right person into the presidency. 
• YISD: If you think what Romero did was bad....

YISD and Ethics

While my friend and part-time lover, Jaime Abeytia, is blogging about shoes and events on the social calendar, Max has been doing other things.

Recently, yours truly file complaint against a YISD Trustee regarding the use public money for political purposes.

Check it:

Where this goes, only the Ethics Commission knows.

 

What's Lina Ortega Running for Again?

Lina Ortega should be a shoe-in for the House District 77 seat, but El Paso being El Paso crazier things have happened and will happen.

All Ortega should be doing is introducing herself and talk about how she's so Democrat and stuff. 

But no.

She wants to talk about downtown revitalization.

Never mind the fact that state legislators have little to nothing to do with revitalizing downtowns. 

And never mind the fact whoever wrote that platform piece for her is an worser righter then me.

And what's with the Martha Stewart thing..."and that's a good thing?" That's gotta be a joke.

Anyways.

Rarely is there a vote in Austin that has to do with downtown El Paso unless it involves carving out something in statute for Jim Scherr.  Which with Scherr, you never know. 

If Lina really wants to do something about downtown, run for City Council or ask to be appointed to the City Plan Commission.

Just whatever you do, assuming you want to win this STATE legislative seat, do not run for Steve Ortega's lost term.

 

Veronica Escobar: Damaged Goods?

County Judge Veronica Escobar is not the kind of person to shy away from a political campaign.  Whether it is a city council race or a bond issue, you will find Escobar somewhere in the middle of things pushing for something or someone.

Which is why it is interesting that Escobar is keeping quiet in the House District 77 race. 

Her day job aside, Escobar is a constituent in District 77.  That if anything gives her all the more reason to shout from her rooftop who she supports.

But for whatever reason, House District 77 candidate, Lina Ortega, makes no mention of Escobar at all on her website, while other friends of Escobar are mentioned:

Where's Vero?

This is not some oversight. 

You cannot say, "Oh, we forgot Escobar, but somehow remembered Susie Byrd." 

So either Lina Ortega and her camp view Escobar's endorsement as an albatross, or Escobar herself, thinks she is an albatross.  

That or Escobar is hedging her bets in the event Ortega loses.  Escobar can privately help Ortega, but in the event she loses she can tell the winner, "I stayed out of the race." 

 

 

 

 

The King is Dead

To think there was a time when you mentioned "Reyes" in El Paso it meant something. 

Yea, you could say the Reyes clan lost everything back on a November evening a few years ago and have had no desire to get back in the game at all.

There is some low-hanging fruit out there if they wanted to take it.  That low-hanging fruit you ask? The Texas House District 77 race.

In one corner, you have an attorney, Adolfo something or other.

In the other corner, you have an attorney, Lina Ortega. The same Lina Ortega that went out of her way to host a fundraiser for then-congressional challenger, Beto O'Rourke.

It is not like a lot of money will be dropped in this race.  So anybody who wants to run and can still run. 

But I guess not the Reyes.  Maybe they have forgiven Ortega and are now backing her.  May Marty and Chuy will be over Lina's house licking envelopes or something. 

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. 

Oh, well. 

 

What Jim Tolbert Gets Wrong: Parte Dos

Jim Tolbert had a post last week - HERE! - where he tries to conflate the proposed El Paso Electric rate increase on residential solar installations with energy security. 

I say he tries.

Because he knows better.

If for whatever reason the grid is shutdown, guess what?

If you have an on-grid solar installation on your home your installation will also be shut down. 

Having an on-grid solar installation does not improve grid security.

In the event of a grid shutdown, the inverter used in on-grid solar installations will automatically shut-off.  The reason it shuts off is for safety.  You do not want the guys are who trying to get the grid up and running again to fry.

But hey, Tolbert will not tell you that.

Tolbert would rather be self-righteous than right.