On July 29, 2015, James N. Valenti, the CEO of the University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC) made public comments about some of his former employees that prove that not only is he a liar but that he is also a serious liability to the taxpayers of the county.
Because bloggers are routinely accused of lying or taking comments out of context, I am including a three-minute video so that you can listen to his actual words.
As you listen to the video, listen to what he has to say about the UMC employees he laid off on July 25, 2014, a little over a year before his latest comments.
With mock tears of despair, Jim Valenti held a press conference announcing the layoffs on July 25, 2014. He told you, the taxpayer, that he laid off the 56 former employees because of “mounting budgetary pressures.” He blamed the budgetary pressures on the El Paso Children’s Hospital.
In the letter Jim Valenti sent to the news media, he stated that the layoffs were not a reflection of the work of the employees affected. He wrote, “Please know that this action is in no way a reflection” of the employees’ work. I am including a copy of the letter for you to review.
When asked recently if he would be re-hiring his former employees he stated that no, because almost a third of them were disciplinary problems.
As a business owner, I understand that employees with disciplinary problems should be removed from the workplace as efficiently as possible. It is not easy to let go of problem employees. The one rule you always follow is that you never let it be known that a former employee was a disciplinary problem if you want to avoid being sued.
In the case of Jim Valenti’s comments, if he was trying to avoid litigation problems by making the statement that the layoffs were not a “reflection” of the employees work, he immediately ruined that by stating that a third of them were employee problems in a public forum.
Now, all of the fifty-six employees that he laid off carry the stigma that they may be one of the 18-19 problem employees that he fired for disciplinary problems. The problem is that we do not know which ones.
In other words, Jim Valenti is the liar he proves himself to be, or he is extremely incompetent or worse, he is both.
Regardless, can you really continue to trust anything Jim Valenti has to say?
Truth be told, not him nor any other official can be trusted. They say one thing in public and do another behind the scenes or executive sessions, the favorite tactic. There’s no honor among their own pack just as soon as one gets caught, the finger pointing and chorus starts.
I don’t know what to think of the disparaging of former employees. Not a smart move at all. The former employees are stigmatized. Not a surprised if the law suits start. The job market is tough and he just made it tougher for them. It’s a case of sure money for the fired/layed off.
Is he the only one with blame? Let’s not forget the ones that fierceriously supported the fiasco. They all saw it as an opportunity to enhance political futures and legacy. It blew up in their faces and so now he is thrown under the bus. I can recall the enthusiasm and certainty when the rest of El Paso kept telling them it was a bad idea. But we don’t know any better so they did what’s “best” for us.
Their best interest is going to cost the taxpayers a whole lot of interest for the failure and stupidity. I bet they are already salivating about the predicted gas prices drop. An opportunity for them to raise taxes and more reckless spending. We’ll get some cheap gimmick to placate the masses and have them forget.
The smart thing to do is leave the taxes alone and allow people to pay bills or spend money to stimulate the economy. That would generate taxes. And stop giving the Juarez folks tax breaks. If they are spending as much as the El Paso officials claim, that’s a lot tax revenue. Tax revenue that could be used for infrastructure. After all there is a claim that Juarrez folks are coming to shop in droves so why not have them help with repairs.
Can we trust any of them? We were led to believe we were the safest city year after year. And what is discovered, that regardless of which organization does the study/evaluation, we haven’t made the top ten safest city list in the last two years. Can we trust any of them ? NO !
Their solution, have the Times state we are the best in whatever title is available. Was it a coincidence that after the lie was exposed suddenly we have the. “Happiest city” title. Believe that one and you are a bigger fool. We are happy but not the Happiest. What’s next the “Most Mexicans” in a cities over 200,000. How about “Most Officials Doing Time”. We already have the highest Texas taxes rates. Strange the Times doesn’t headline that.
Want to see Human Drones? Wait till election season, we will see the prearranged voting by the Drones. Then stand by for the nonvoters to stand on the edge of the Plaza and complain. I’m sure the Plaza will still be under construction so can’t set up any soap boxes in there.