All of you who have been following the San Jacinto Park debacle have been made to believe that the contractor on the project is at fault for the delays in the opening of the park. The city has been creating this notion going so far as to state that the contractor is being assessed a daily fine. I have been pointing out for months that there is more to the story then what the city has been telling everyone. (link to articles)
On Tuesday, city council discussed the naming of the proposed café at the San Jacinto Park in agenda item number 15.1. Although the agenda item was about the contract for the café, the discussion focused on the naming of the café. It was clear that Cortney Niland is upset about the delays on the park. She used the naming of the café to disclose to the community the fact that San Jacinto has not been completed because of the city’s negligence.
That is right, Cortney Niland pointed out that the city’s incompetence is the reason San Jacinto has not been completed. See it for yourself.
Before you blame Niland for this latest city fiasco, it is important to note that she is the one who finally let us know that it is the city’s fault. You may have noticed Oscar Leeser tried his best to keep the lie in place by reminding Niland that she was disclosing executive session information.
For many months, I have been trying to find out the exact reasons for the delays. There are many rumors but very little facts. There is a reason for this. The city has been using executive session as a way to keep its secrets. I believe this has been improper. You may have noticed that San Jacinto has been an executive session agenda item for months now, although executive session is supposed to be to discuss very narrow legal and personnel issues.
Public policy is supposed to be discussed in public.
Cortney Niland should be applauded for finally peeling a little bit of the misuse of executive session and letting the taxpayers get a glimpse of who is really at fault with the San Jacinto debacle.
Now consider the following; back in May, the city told you that the San Jacinto contractor is being assessed a $1,000 daily penalty. From May 1 through the city council meeting of October 6, there were 158 days.
If you believe what the city has told you, then the contractor now owes the city $158,000 in fines.
Thanks to Niland, we now know that the park may not open until next year.
Do you really believe that the contractor will continue to accept the daily fines? Do you really believe that the city is fining the contractor daily? Or, is this just another one of those famous El Paso “wink-wink” deals?
Corruption includes incompetently doing the job and covering it up with lies. This is especially true when it comes to using taxpayer funds. This is just one more example of city corruption.
There must be a way to get copies of minutes taken during Executive sessions. Then if there is an indication of abuse or misuse, we can decide a course of action.
I’m sure there is a lot of information being with held from the public. The county files should also be reviewed.
Is it the water, environment, just a cultural thing. Other cities and cvounte said have problems. But, this is incredible, the amount off shenigans and corruption. Even the wanton uperhanded conduct. A lot of the conduct is so overt, that it implies they don’t give a damn if anyone knows. For that matter, even when exposed they don’t care.
Is it arrogance or no fear of consequences, no concern about the 1 per cent voters? Examples: city/county special justice, board members committing fraud, county hiring or associating with people of questionable character/ill repute, staff members engaging in dirty works, officials conspiring against one another. This is a partial list.
I’m not sure why Niland decided to spill the beans, who knows. Maybe it was remembering the savage back stabbing. I’m glad she did, at least it’s confirmation of what people have suspected. One thing for sure, we would have better luck finding gold on Mesa st than finding an honest politician in El Paso. Chicago has nothing on El Paso.
Welcome to the land of Mushrooms.
The use of executive session in this manner is used as a non transparent, adversarial, secretive manner in which the rats can naw at the cheese. We the tax payers need to stop talking about and ignoring their inability to run this city and county! At what point do the people stop the bleeding and take action?
She not being noble, just trying to get constituents off her back by pointing fingers at City mistakes. But I agree this is a misuse of executive session and one more reason that Tommy really didn’t deserve that raise. But wait, didn’t she just praise his efforts to justify that raise? I suspect there is a story behind this outburst that involves more than plaza delays.
The main reason for going into executive session now is that the facts might embarrass someone.
Forgive me if I have trouble believing Niland’s motives are pure. Maybe she owes Basic IDIQ a favor and is taking heat off of them.