Archive for September 2009
Sergio Lewis announces run for county commissioner
At 10 a.m. today, Sergio Lewis of Sergio Lewis Body Shop announced that he will run for county commissioner for precinct 2. Click here for video. “After a lot of thought with my family, friends and members of the community, I decided to go ahead and put my name out as a candidate for this commissioners race coming up in March 2, 2010 primary election,” he said.
Lewis referenced his years in the El Paso Independent School District school board, during which he served two years as president. “We have a growing community, we have a growing military community. In the 90s when I was board president, I was part of the preparation for BRAC, as we know it today,” he said. He served from 1993-1997 and 2005-2009 in the EPISD school board, with his presidency running from 1995-1997.
He also listed as priorities health care, preparation for BRAC, and increased support for law enforcement, veterans and the elderly.
“I want to be able to work with our federal and state officials in order to generate the type of funding that El Paso county deserves,” he said. “I feel we as a community can address our state in bigger ways to provide funding for all of those mandates that we have in this county.”
County commissioner Veronica Escobar has not announced if she will run for re-election.
– Elizabeth Ruiz
Mercado Mayapan puts out call for Tuesday City Council meeting, other actions
From the NPT Inbox:
Friends,
The next critical step in keeping the Mercado Mayapan open is the approval of the EZ funding recommendation by the Empowerment Zone Advisory Board scheduled for discussion and action next Tuesday, September 22nd at the City Council meeting. Please mark your calendars and JOIN US in showing your support for the women workers!!
Attached you will find a call to attend the City Council meeting, as well as, “Hidden Casualties: Trade, Employment Loss and Women Workers”, an informative report on the devastating impacts of free trade on women manufacturing workers and the government programs that have failed to transition them back into the workforce. Additionally, you will find a script in English and Spanish you can send to your friends to get them involved and a letter to send to the Obama Administration and the Department of Treasury to request that the pending NADBank funding request be expedited.
In order to raise awareness of this struggle a Women Workers Rally will be held at UTEP at 10 a.m., tomorrow, Thursday, September 17, 2009 at the corner of Oregon and University Avenue. We ask that you attend and distribute the attached press advisory.
Please circulate this call widely and remember:
* Invite your family, friends, and out-of-town guests to eat and shop at Mercado Mayapan. The price of cooked food, fruits, vegetables, meats, groceries and souvenirs is comparable to the markets in Cd. Juárez.
* Have your meetings at Mercado Mayapan and purchase food, natural juices, and snacks.
* Send a tax-deductible contribution that’s within your budget to the La Mujer Obrera Emergency Fund to support the women who were laid off and are not eligible for unemployment benefits. Checks can be made out to: LMO -Women Forging Our Future and send to 2000 Texas, El Paso, Texas 79901.
* Ask relatives, neighbors, church members, co-workers, and fellow students to support the workers of Mercado Mayapan in whatever way they can.
The Time to Act is Now!! Thank you for all of your support!!
Marisa Marquez fund-raiser
State Rep. Marisa Marquez had a fund-raiser at Pot au Feu in Downtown El Paso on Monday. Familiar faces were there — Dee Margo, Rick Francis, Harold Hahn and other regular political donors. It’s an irony in El Paso that Democrats often get funding from Republicans, who have very few elected officials here (and among those, the Haggerty clan has dominated, and has not always been on board with the big donor Republicans). State Rep. Norma Chavez, for example, has received donations from many of the same figures.
Marquez distanced herself from the event when asked who organized it: “This isn’t my fund raiser. We didn’t organize it, the business community did, and there’s a big difference.”
Women supporting women; a pitch for Mayapan
From the NPT Inbox:
Women Supporting Women!
The spirit of sisterhood is greater than any barriers that attempt to divide us. Our grandmothers taught us to form strong bonds as women and help each other in times of need.
Mercado Mayapan is a self-help initiative by women who refuse to be pushed into poverty. The crisis that emerged at the beginning of September and forced the layoff of 106 workers was the result of ongoing problems with local and federal governments whose bureaucratic decisions take months and years while dire community needs remain in crisis.
Sergio Lewis is in the race for County Commission
Just in, Sergio Lewis will announce his candidacy for County Commissioner, Precinct 2, at a news conference tomorrow at 1400 Montana.
El Paso at the Washington, D.C. Tea Party
El Pasoan Mary Francis Keisling was featured in the Washington Post coverage over the weekend. Click here to see more.
