NPT Capitol: Getting started on El Paso Days

El Paso Days, which officially starts tomorrow, already is getting under way. El Paso lobbyists are walking the halls and visiting legislators, and El Paso boosters — including the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce and volunteers from state Rep. Norma Chavez’s office, among others (including Northeast city Rep. candidate Luis Ruiz) — are getting the party started.

Tomorrow evening, following a full day of intensive lobbying by teams of El Pasoans pitching legislative priorities, El Paso will party with the Lege. Every state legislator is receiving a margarita glass invite — the finishing touches were being put on the gift/invites this afternoon.

Ruiz and other volunteers putting the margarita glass invitations together

NPT Capitol: Marquez’s gesture to Moreno: Any takers?

Last week, State Rep. Marissa Marquez, D-El Paso filed a concurrent resolution (HCR) honoring former state Rep. Paul Moreno. An HCR is different from a simple House resolution (HR), which usually pass quickly without much bother. Instead HCRs must pass in both the House and the Senate. You can read the resolution here

Marquez’s resolution comes less than a year after her bitter fight with Moreno, a 40 year veteran state Rep. for the Democratic nomination in HD 77. The resolution is obviously intended as an olive branch to both Moreno and his supporters who could exact revenge next year by running a primary candidate against Marquez.

The question regarding Marquez’s resolution is: who else in on board?

Take a look at the press release for example. It doesn’t quote Moreno (was he asked about the HCR before Marquez filed it?), nor any other member of the El Paso delegation (were they asked to co-sponsor?), nor indeed anyone apart from Marquez.

While Moreno’s absence from the press release is the most conspicuous, the former state Reps city and statewide status surely demands the comments of, say, the Mexican American Legislative Caucasus or El Paso Senator Eliot Shapleigh.

Speaking of Shapleigh, he would be the obvious sponsor of the resolution in the Senate. However, he is yet to file one and it would be strange if it ended up being filed by someone else. (Surely Shapleigh would end up voting for it anyway.)

Attempts to reach Moreno were unsuccessful and a family member told NPT they had nothing to say on the matter. No El Paso lawmaker has yet publicly commented on the resolution.

For the meantime, the silence remains deafening….

NPT City: Medina: Employees wanted to collect stormwater signatures

Larry Medina, the former City Council member, county commissioner and HACEP board member, is actively working against his former friend and political ally, Mayor John Cook. You can read about some of the reasons here.

One of the major issues in the coming election is the PSB control of the stormwater utility. You can read multiple editorials for and against the utility, and background articles, by clicking here.

Medina, who is working with the anti-PSB folks, said assertions that he paid employee Mike Garcia a bonus to collect anti-PSB signatures were untrue. He asked employees if they were interested in the issue, he said, “just like I would ask friends to volunteer.” He said Garcia worked on his own time, as did his niece, who also is an employee.