Karla Nieman - In Over Her Head?

Say what you will about last City attorney, it at least appeared she kept things more or less under control.

This one that Mayor Dee Margo wanted - against better judgement - seems like she is way in over her head.

There are some people that I know that think attorneys are their bosses.  I will not mention names. 

An attorney is someone skilled in the legal world, and tells you how to navigate in it.  

Just as I want a pilot to fly a plane, I want an attorney to counsel me on legal matters, but just as you are not asking your pilot to handle your finances, you do not outsource your policy-making and common sense to an attorney. 

Not that all attorneys do not have common sense, but a lot of them look at everything through a straw.

Case in point...Karla Nieman. 

"The Law", whatever that means, as interpreted by Karla, said the Council had to fire City Representative Cassandra Hernandez-Not Brown's ass.  

But "The Law" as interpreted by Karla, also said Hernandez-Not Brown could run for her seat back despite being canned. 

If Karla were a good lawyer, she would have said, "This is what the law says, we may need to seek outside legal counsel, however, common sense says that if she can legally run for a seat again, there is no point in firing her and incur a cost of a special election.  That and Mr. Mayor you will have a pissed off two-ton frau back on council."

But Karla is not a good lawyer.

Yes, "legally" maybe everything was done by the book with Hernandez-Not Brown, but then it all looks a bit off when compared to the situation with City Representative Sam Morgan. 

"But muh law!"

Then there is the whole EPE sale bullshit going on. 

Again, if Karla had any sense she would have shut that thing down and let the sale go through. 

Now anybody wanting to invest in El Paso is gonna get cold feet.  

You think any large firm wants to kiss the ass of any of the felons - plural -  you have on City Council?

Nope.

Things are a mess at City Council.

Some of that is on the voters on who they send to City Hall.

But a lot of it is also on Dee and hires he has made, and especially on his choice of City Attorney.

 

Comments

[Andre]

Nope, Sorry Max. You can't have it both ways. I live in NM so I have no dog in this fight.

Whether or not Ms. Nieman is a good or bad lawyer is subjective. Ask for feedback from any of her clients. The question is 'How effective is she in her current position?' And how do you gauge that effectiveness? If I remember correctly her predecessor was not very effective in my opinion. It seems he avoided any opportunity to take on any hint of corruption or case that hinted of potential scandal. Everything he did seemed to be referred to outside counsel.

If that is the case then do away with the position and associate the El Paso Attorney's office and have someone else in another county take over from their location.

With Ms. Hernandez-Brown the State law is pretty clear; once you declare for an other office you are out of your current office if it is outside the designated exception window. There is no PROCESS. I think the structuring of that amendment is pretty clear. It either is or it isn't. I believe that it is designed for this tech-centered culture. There are no 'take-backs'. Otherwise EVERYONE will use that as a tactic to gauge the public response before they 'decide' to wait out the mandated timeline before they can announce without losing their currently held position.

The whole '...seeking of outside counsel...' argument just smacks of running out a clock to where Ms. Hernandez-Brown would miss any deadline to file in order to run. (see my comments above). This will affect ALL equally, regardless of political stripes and I like it.

As an aside, at the Federal level, if President Trump is impeached there is nothing, that I know of, that prevents him from running again. He just cannot exceed eight years (cumulative) as President.

With Rep Morgan, well, there is a PROCESS that has to be followed. Innocent until proven guilty.

[Voter]

Dee Margo didn’t personally select Karla for city attorney. There was a selection process, she was the top candidate selected and the entire city council voted on her appointment. I wish bloggers would understand the process. The mayor never gets to cast a vote unless there is a tie. So, blame council 100% for every decision you don’t like. Karla has tried to steer council away from the idea of purchasing EPE. It’s Peter that keeps coming up with dumb motions to delay the decision hoping to keep his enviro crazies at bay. Karla doesn’t shy away from a challenge. Her predecessor Sylvia never wanted to take on anything that would cause a scene at city council. She would bury it in the department and it never came back. Remember that city council ultimately makes the decisions. They can choose to completely ignore legal advice or follow it.

[Max Powers]

Voter,

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the Mayor, not the Council, who hires the City Attorney?

Love,

Max

[Voter]

Nope. The Charter was changed about 3 years ago or whenever the last Charter election was. The City attorney, like the city manager, is hired and managed by the entire city council.

[Facts]

Voter, you are wrong. The city attorney is 100% the Mayor's choice.

[Voter is a LIAR]

As I understand it, all of the committees that were formed DID NOT recommend Karla Neiman to be appointed City Attorney. The Mayor bullied and berated everyone to make Karla the attorney, knowing full well she had no real leadership experience. So as much as Voter loves writing fiction, we can't afford your fantasy story.

[City employee]

Karla is a long line of poor hires for Dee. His COS is probably the most hated employee in City Hall, who believes gossip is a form of competence. Instead of solving problems, she creates them. I am starting to see the same pattern with Karla. I think these two ladies should realize they work for the taxpayer and not Almighty Margo.

[Voter]

Well LIAR - I disagree. Previous mayor over-rode all the applicants and picked Sylvia Firth. So - it happens. Get over it. The last city attorney that had leadership skills left in the early 90's and no it wasn't Charlie McNabb.

City employee sounds like the typical city employee - pissed at management. Previous COS for all the previous mayors were always disliked. City Hall thrives on gossip and spreads it like wildfire.

[Maya]

Whether hired by council or mayor, voter you are VERY wrong in your claim that, "the entire city council voted on her appointment." According to the El Paso Times, "City Reps. Sam Morgan, Michiel Noe, Claudia Ordaz Perez and Cissy Lizarraga voted yes and Reps. Peter Svarzbein, Alexsandra Annello, Cassandra Hernandez and Henry Rivera voted no."

[Westside Randy]

Anything is better than the corrupt SYLVIA FIRTH. How the FBI did not catch her red handed is a shame. Blatant abuse of power. Insider information given to her husband who was bidding on Downtown properties held in bankruptcy.

Karla Nieman is in over her head because she had no idea how corrupt City Hall is especially under Margo.

How she is handling the spokesman/ceo for the sale and purchase of El Paso Electric will be interesting to watch. The spokesman looks and talks like a mob boss. And that stinky proposition looks nasty for the taxpayers, citizens, residents, and businesses in El Paso.

[Voter]

Maya: I did not say the vote was unanimous. I said the entire council votes on the appointment. Big difference. Either way - a majority voted to appoint her city attorney. Done. Move on.

If I had $1000 for every time someone commented on a blog that City Hall is corrupt I would be a millionaire. If that's true Westside Randy, then I suggest you call the FBI.

[Westside Randy]

Voter I don't have to call them.

[Jerry Kurtyka]

Corruption and cronyism aren't always the same thing. City Hall - the whole elected public sector here - is rife with cronyism and always has been. It's not illegal to make generous campaign contributions to politicians and then expect them to act on your behalf. Recent examples include the massive ($20MM?) subsidies to Hunt for his new DTEP building and the impending trade of some 2000+ city acres in NE to Foster in exchange for a few acres on I-10 for the Wolf resort, that will effectively be a giveaway to Great Wolf or Wet Wolf or whatever it's called.

The trickle-up economy is for real as El Paso continues to liquidate its Commons and give it away to an elite donor/investor class. Really, a campaign contribution in El Paso is one of the best investments a crony can make with a potential return of thousands of percent!

[It's over]

Why all the interest? She will be gone next November. Dee has made too many missteps and cannot seem to find any grounding. His tenure has been riddled with in fighting, poor hiring choices, tax increases and broken promises. I am not saying Leeser but it won't be an old white man come November 2020, so Karla isn't even worth debating IMHO.

[Voter]

Unless she resigns in November 2020 she wont be gone. The entire council must vote to fire her or negotiate a deal for her leave. Read her contract. It will cost taxpayers money.

[Voter too]

I will vote for her to be gone. She has cost the city money with her gross incompetence.