Refuse the Juice
I tuned into today to see the year's first city council meeting. I wanted to see if anyone had made a New Year's resolution to be less of a jackass and more an actual public servant. Newsflash same shit, different year. really got me to thinking was that council deleted on item that was a construction bid and delayed another. These actions have become the norm since the new council and mayor took office. It hasn't just been my parent's firm who has seen things re bid or recalled, it's a lot of firms. It seems like almost every construction contract award suffers some kind of setback or odd interrogation by council members. To be honest, every construction contract vote is starting to look at lot like how things went down in the pre Escobar days of El Paso County Commissioner Court you know, the corruption days of years past.
Being an insider, I can tell you that while most of the folks at the county went to jail for non construction related corruption, the real game was in construction and engineering contracts. The games being played with these contracts were easy to spot, but hard to prove. Before everyone was arrested and Escobar ran the purchasing director off, any bid that didn't work out the way it was supposed to either disappeared completely or was subject to the quorum game during the Monday meeting (that little thing where commissioners would leave the room during certain items so they didn't have a quorum and the item couldn't be voted on). If they did manage to stay and discuss a contract award, the questions from the commissioners always pointed to them trying to angle for another contractor who was likely paying them under the table to divert the contract their way. It was one huge illegal mess that took place for years.
Ever since the new council was sworn in it seems that construction contract awards are being gamed just like they used to be gamed at the county level. Just today one award was "deleted" and another was postponed. That was two out of three contract awards that were either canceled or pushed back. That never used to happen. Even when they contracts aren't being deleted from the agenda, rebid or postponed, the questions from certain council members sound like they are coming straight out of the mouths of the construction company heads who didn't win the bid. And when it's not the construction company interfering, it seems as if personal vendettas from both staff and council are playing a part in jamming up the process. hate to say it, but it feels like something illegal or unethical may be taking place here. In the previous decade at council none of these games were ever played. All http://www.cowboysnflofficialauthentic.com/authentic-devin-street-jersey.html of a sudden it seems that even when you win a low bid contract you only have a small chance it will actually be awarded to you.
Mind you my parent's firm has only been in one of these scrapes and we agreed that the low bidder (not us) should have gotten the contract. Instead, they rebid it and neither my parent's firm nor the original low bidder got the contract. The original low bidder didn't even participate in the re bid. construction firms have had several of these scrapes including a couple firms who were up for award today.
The one bid with Basic IDIQ Inc. being awarded the San Jancinto Plaza construction was deleted by engineering. If you watched council the engineering department representative tried to claim it was a misprint or something like that. Wrong. Basic IDIQ was at $4.5 million while the other two bidder were at $7.5 million plus. This bid was the talk of the contractor world when it became apparent that the city wasn't going to disqualify Basic IDIQ for totally screwing up their number.
I know what you are saying "but, but, but David K! If we can save $3 million why not do it?" Because the project can't be completed for $3 million and the taxpayers will have to pay another $7 million just to fix what they don't complete. James and Venegas Engineering MGMT and Construction, are good constructions companies who serve taxpayers well. They are direct competitors of my parent's firm and while we would always like to beat them, we know they'll produce a great product when they win. Their numbers are close to what it costs to do the project. You can trust these guys. They are both in business and successful because they never underbid a project just to get some money in the door. real reason the item was jerked was because the contractor community has some real qualms with this Basic IDIQ group. Not only is their bid irresponsible, there's question on whether or not they have experience doing the type of construction work required in this contract. There's also another little hiccup in their record with the city.
When Basic IDIQ was doing the El Paso Times building remodel for the city it became apparent to the contracting community that they were NOT complying with the apprenticeship program laws set forth by the federal government. A group of local contractors approached the city to point this out (they were initially pissed at Basic IDIQ's no bid contract where they performed the work for as much as twice the cost it would have been if it had been competitively bid). Guess what not only was Basic IDIQ not punished for their infraction (a serious infraction that usually gets you blacklisted for life), but the contractors who brought the situation up to city officials had their business with the city (both present and past) audited down to the fifteenth decimal point and otherwise harassed. Yes, you read that right the people who pointed out where taxpayers got screwed were then harassed for their concern. have to wonder with Basic IDIQ's documented past indiscretions, lack of experience in this kind of construction work and extremely irresponsible bid why they even made it to the agenda today. You also have to wonder why a cover up excuse was used for pulling it when it's well known that the mayor and others have been badgered about awarding the contract.
The second bid they screwed with was what amounts to a construction "on call" contract. Every few years this same contract is awarded to a company. Construction companies give unit prices for certain specified work that will need to be done curb, gutter, sidewalks, paving (asphalt and concrete) etc. et al. The city uses previous years' "on call" type of work to estimate the contract size and then puts that to council. There's no guarantee that the construction company will see all of the money in the contract in this case it's $4.2 million. These contracts are very dangerous because they are 760 days long and the price of asphalt or concrete could spike during that period and the contractor still has to provide their services at those original prices. members had a problem with the contract and their questions were quite silly. Watching them question it was a little uncomfortable. You got the feeling that city staff wasn't doing their best to answer their questions, but you wouldn't expect they'd have to. It's a simple concept. I could only assume there were unseen forces behind the move to delay the award of this contract. I had seen this before and it was just down the street in that all glass building next to the jail. There was no reason for this to happen unless the elected officials were told by someone that the wrong company was slated to be awarded the contract. heart sank watching that go down. It's still in my stomach as I write this. There's just been too much of this tinkering with contract awards to ignore. What's the real situation here? Have they moved the county shenanigans of the past to city council of today? God I hope not. I had heard something like this existed, but wasn't sure it was what it was purported to be. Well, it was all that and more.
You'll have to suspend your belief that "appalling" exchanges between city council members and city staff are filled with f bombs and "tu madres" etc et al. It's a little tamer than that at city hall. However, the exchange is pretty nasty and extremely unprofessional even without the name calling. It apparently drew a not so private reprimand from the mayor to Rep. Limon. was going to lay it all out for you before I linked to the email, but those of you who hate Joyce Wilson aren't going to change your mind even if you are given solid reasoning and hard facts to do so. That's the key to being stupid you can't be talked out of it. the bottom email first and then the top.
Download Limon wilson http://www.cowboysnflofficialauthentic.com/authentic-anthony-hitchens-jersey.html
Here are the problems/thoughts I have here:
1. Limon claims that she is Fermin Acosta's supervisor. Not true. All of the support staff answers to the city manager. That's how the whole thing has always been setup. Everybody knows this. Well, Limon doesn't and that's why she's under the impression she can pay Fermin $100,000 plus a year to tell constituents that Mayor Leeser is to blame for their problems.
2. Limon is using city resources for non city business. Having her staff demand that the city supply an impromptu protest with audio visual equipment and beverages is out of line. There's a very clear process for how these things work. Often a city council member will provide money for the logistics out of their discretionary fund. 100 people outside the front door of an occupied building requires some organization and security. At the least you're going to inconvenience people who have business inside the building. In a worst case scenario you're blocking a primary exit in case of a fire or other emergency. Promising a group of people the run of city hall requires some planning. No single city council member has the power to start unilaterally granting access to the building for large groups. If you provide audio visual equipment and beverages to one private group to protest at city hall, you have to provide it for all groups. Obviously Fermin Acosta is starting a lot of shit at city hall. He seems to be the root of a lot of problems and it's now costing taxpayer money to keep up with all of it. did some digging around and I hear that Wilson only got involved after Acosta started bullying the PIO and others. One staffer used the word "terrorizing" to describe how Acosta went about demanding the outlay of city resources.
Remember, Limon has already demanded that the city pay Enrique Moreno to represent Fermin Acosta in a wage dispute. A dispute where Limon is demanding that Acosta be paid three times as much as any other person doing his job for the city. let's not also forget that Limon refuses to meet with certain council members without her attorney (Enrique Moreno) present.
5. Copying the Anthony Hitchens Jersey mayor and others on this email was highly unprofessional. Blind copying in whoever Juliet Lozano is was a direct breach of professional ethics. This would get you fired in corporate America. out the original email here and remember that ORR don hide Bccs. Download Wilson limon 2
6. I thought Wilson handled this better than 99 percent of us would have. Given that everything Limon claimed Devin Street Jersey was a lie, I would have taken a much different tone. Oh, and I would have fired Acosta before a reply was ever sent back. I think it's odd that Limon thinks she can personally hand out city resources to anyone without much warning or without any real reason. She really thinks she was crowned instead of elected, huh
8. Couple this hostile email with Holguin's outright lies about the city manager and the Shawver park debacle and you can see where the problem really is when it comes to decorum at the city. It ain't Wilson!
Anson Mills takes El Paso Speak to task for their coverage of city council vote to hire urban planners to three separate projects under one contract. Anson also points out that a county commissioner candidate is due a piece of the contract and that poses potential conflicts for the candidate as a candidate and the candidate as an advocate for lower taxes.
I think everyone here has to remember that voters voted on these projects. If they feeling a little unsure now it too late. You can un promise money to bureaucrats. Once you say yes they will set to wasting that money faster than you can keep track.
The arena is the dumbest idea I ever heard of and I pretty sure it going to become quite famous as a large iconic symbol of government waste. Brian Kennedy does a hell of a job with the County Coliseum they should have him a few million for expansion and repairs and watched him turn that investment into pure gold.
I do know that they put a push poll in El Paso where they mistakenly claim that Ness Garcia was a member of the city council. Several people have contacted me with complaints about the little slip in factual history. not uncommon to hear such garbage in a push poll. That the entire point of them. The truth is stretched in the hopes the person who picked up the phone will pass on the misinformation to other voters. The key is to shit on your opponent and then make all kinds of outlandish claims about your opponent. For example, if I was running against Max Powers
"Did you know that Max Powers great grandfather invented cancer or that Max Powers is Washington Redskins season ticket holder?"
"Did you know that David K ancestors let Joseph and Mary stay at their hotel for free 2013 years ago?"