November 2, 2007
Short one this week. So read the whole damn thing. It's very interesting. Here we go …
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Heard: At the City Council meeting Oct. 30, two elders sitting in the back of the room listening to city Rep. Eddie Holguin speak about tax-and-spenders:
Elder 1: "#$%&%$ moron."
Elder 2: "He's my representative. Sometimes he's brilliant, but sometimes …"
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Heard Part 2: Answering machine at South-West city Rep. Beto O'Rourke's office, which states that a caller has reached the office of the mayor pro-tem. Don't let East-Central city Rep. and current Mayor Pro-tem Alexandro Lozano hear that ...
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Interesting list of mobile voting locations for the Children's Hospital election. Three of them are part of the Sierra-Providence network. One of them is Texas Tech. None of them are at Thomason. Sierra-Providence and Thomason aren't playing well together these days. The Election is Nov. 6.
Elections registrar Helen Jamison said the hospitals typically have mobile voting, Thomason declined a location, and that the mobile voting at Texas Tech Oct. 23 pulled in 400 voters. At Providence, she said, 300 people showed up Nov. 1.
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Last week the Inner Loop told you who was at County Commissioner Miguel Teran's Oct. 24 fund-raiser (see last week's Inner Loop). It didn't even occur to note a fund-raiser absent an announcement for re-election, until fellow Commissioner Luis Sarinana took a break from the County Commission meeting Oct. 29 to step outside and announce that he was running for re-election. So belatedly, here's Teran's letter announcing he is a candidate. [link]
In the letter, which focuses mainly on his achievements, he addresses briefly what must be assumed to be issues raised by the FBI public corruption investigation: "My integrity for the first time is being challenged. Where others may allow these types of challenges to discourage them, I am now more than ever determined to continue … Whatever the motive, I am confident I will prevail."
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Sarinana has an opponent, Assistant County Attorney Ana Perez.
Now, so does Teran.
Frank Lopez, executive director of the Nonprofit Enterprise Center, is going to run for the office. Stay tuned …
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Speaking of fund-raisers, this recent story about Northeast city Rep. Melina Castro could explain this Inner Loop item (fifth one down).
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More speaking of fund-raisers, put on your best dress and go see presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Monday, Nov. 12. Since this is a short Inner Loop, click here for the location and a list of the familiar names.
Looks like the race in El Paso is a Giuliani-Bill Richardson matchup. Remember, Richardson is pulling in big money from El Paso.
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Everyone (well, ok, everyone who cares about the Asarco issue) is wondering how Gov. Rick Perry's appointment of Bryan Shaw to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will impact the Asarco permit renewal decision. At least it might get it on the schedule.
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Finally, a shout out to Paul Strelzin, who will be selling the El Paso Times newspaper (guh) from 8-10 a.m. Sunday at the corner of N. Mesa and Resler Drive. "Proceeds will go to the LULAC Project Amistad, Inc. which helps the elderly, persons with disabilities, and persons-at-risk," he writes. Go see him, and say Owen sent you …
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Help us keep you informed. Keep the tips flowing by contacting Owen at owen@epmediagroup.com, or send them to npt@epmediagroup.com and we'll pass them along.
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Previous Inner Loops
-- 10.26.07: Dannenbaum, Madla, and Shapleigh. Quintana and Karlsruher. Olivo and Smith. Ruiz, Marquez and Moreno. Teran and friends. Wilson, Castro, Ortega and O'Rourke. And two Texas Senators. The Inner Loop, bringing people together since 2007.
-- 10.15.07: El Paso GOP: Elephant or mouse? Meanwhile, Democrats are busy raising money, and we know where that comes from. Plus, Asarco, EPISD and Montoya, HACEP, the Children's Hospital and Castro's fund-raiser. This week's Inner Loop, delayed and stopping just short of completion.
-- 10.5.07: Money, and lots of it. Noriega, Watts, Cornyn, Shapleigh, Pickett, Hahn, Brown, Kennedy, Huerta and a cast of about 1,000 members of the El Paso "hot core" of political animals and political prey. And who was at Rick Perry's fund-raiser? The Inner Loop keeps circling.
-- 9.28.07: Regional Congressional politics, but where's the big guy? Meanwhile, we see and hear Kennedy, O'Rourke, Elizondo, HACEP, a handful of judges, and a crowded house in the sheriff's race, with a new entry ready to announce. The Inner Loop, where the rubber hits the road to the best of all possible El Pasos.
-- 9.21.07: This week, we take you inside the tinfoil hat, featuring a cast of thousands: Lee Trevino, The Strelz, Asarco and Quintana, a Shapleigh sitdown, Reyes, Leon, Wiles, fundraisers and more. The Inner Loop avoids traffic by circling around the urban gridlock of El Paso politics.
-- 9.14.07: Getting loopy this week with Richardson, Esparza, Shapleigh, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Tenet, Parra, Aguilar and Moreno, just to name a few. Is there a voter rollback in Ysleta? How about candidates for district courts? Read on for questions, answers and mass confusion.
-- 9.7.07: Theresa Caballero and Jaime Esparza, plus other campaign contributions. Margo and Haggerty, Tilghman and Reyes, Rosenbaum and Quintana, Samaniego, Cobos, Perez, Friends of the El Paso School District, Hunt, Hicks and Pickett, Marquez and Moreno, and so on. To paraphrase a comic genius, El Paso, we have met the enemy, and they is us.
-- 8.24.07: Pushing the polls has begun, the city is facing "one tough lawyer" (but not that one) in the Elizondo case, a city appointment dilemma (hint: Holguin wins on one, but will the mayor get his Jobe?), and Shapleigh, Chavez, the Republicans and more. By the way, where'd Ann Lilly get off to?
-- 8.17.07: It's election season, and here are a few dates to keep. Also, some fund-raiser updates, a TIRZ tidbit, some FBI fallout, a lawsuit over construction at the UTEP Garden Inn, Glass Beach and more.
-- 8.10.07: Moreno’s challengers emerging, and a few other answers about candidates for Chavez’s judge seat and Teran’s county seat. Also, an intriguing City Council board appointment, a high-level Hunt resignation, a major Margo move, and more morsels for you political junkies.
-- 8.3.07: Notes and quotes about Reyes, Perez, Teran, Moreno, Lozano and more. Plus tidbits about CF Jordan, the Children’s Hospital, and finance reports. A new NPT feature.