The Ochoa Effect ... Part 1
It is just over one year since Joe Ochoa became Mayor of Edinburg and since then we have seen that his rhetoric is mere image over substance. Let me extrapolate.
What has Joe done to make the quality of life in Edinburg easier?
As stated in the May 15, 2007 “Gas and food prices keep climbing” article in the American Public Media website, “Average gas prices hit a record $3.10 a gallon this week and that's not all … It's not just the price at the pump that's hurting consumers.” They go on to say that “Wholesale prices have gone up more than retail [and] food prices are going up as well.”
I bet you’re asking what Joe has to do with this. He is just the Mayor, not the President! Well, let’s look at what Joe did aggravate the situation … Joe raised our taxes. First, there was the “Edinburg tax increase” followed by the “Edinburg tax freeze” which, respectively, raised the property taxes then froze the taxes for the disabled and elderly thereby shifting that burden to the rest of citizens of Edinburg.
Gas prices are up. Food prices are up. Wholesale prices are up. Property taxes are up. Disabled and Elderly taxes are shifted, which means more taxes. And what are the positive things he has done? Joe spends Edinburg tax dollars to praise his own son and he spends more Edinburg taxes to hold a prayer breakfast at his buddy’s business.
What has Joe not done to make the quality of life in Edinburg easier?
He still has not even begun to work on the Edinburg Police Department nor has he implemented his “$3.5 million plan within the next 30-60 days” of his September 19, 2006 Action 4 News appearance claiming a solution to the sewage problem to the Freddy/Sugar intersection.
Stalled city hall. Stalled Police Department. Stalled repairs on the sewage problems. Stalled construction on the new mall in Edinburg. Still no action on the building right next to the new city hall, which was supposed to be the city hall. (Yes, Joe paid David Negrete hundreds of thousands of dollars for that one!)
So my thanks to Joe, because of you I work harder to get less. Maybe I should be your friend, and then you would throw Edinburg tax dollars at me.
*** UPDATE ***
On May 21, 2007, (two days after my post ... suspicious) Team 4 News report "Gas prices kill the budget," states, "The average $3.09 at the gas pump that we've been seeing has been killing the pocket book!! But for some,the high gas prices means much more." Furthermore, "We can count on price increases on everything from flowers to airlines tickets."
Thanks again Joe ... want to raise my taxes again ... maybe your son needs a new suit for work!
What has Joe done to make the quality of life in Edinburg easier?
As stated in the May 15, 2007 “Gas and food prices keep climbing” article in the American Public Media website, “Average gas prices hit a record $3.10 a gallon this week and that's not all … It's not just the price at the pump that's hurting consumers.” They go on to say that “Wholesale prices have gone up more than retail [and] food prices are going up as well.”I bet you’re asking what Joe has to do with this. He is just the Mayor, not the President! Well, let’s look at what Joe did aggravate the situation … Joe raised our taxes. First, there was the “Edinburg tax increase” followed by the “Edinburg tax freeze” which, respectively, raised the property taxes then froze the taxes for the disabled and elderly thereby shifting that burden to the rest of citizens of Edinburg.
Gas prices are up. Food prices are up. Wholesale prices are up. Property taxes are up. Disabled and Elderly taxes are shifted, which means more taxes. And what are the positive things he has done? Joe spends Edinburg tax dollars to praise his own son and he spends more Edinburg taxes to hold a prayer breakfast at his buddy’s business.
What has Joe not done to make the quality of life in Edinburg easier?
He still has not even begun to work on the Edinburg Police Department nor has he implemented his “$3.5 million plan within the next 30-60 days” of his September 19, 2006 Action 4 News appearance claiming a solution to the sewage problem to the Freddy/Sugar intersection.
Stalled city hall. Stalled Police Department. Stalled repairs on the sewage problems. Stalled construction on the new mall in Edinburg. Still no action on the building right next to the new city hall, which was supposed to be the city hall. (Yes, Joe paid David Negrete hundreds of thousands of dollars for that one!)
So my thanks to Joe, because of you I work harder to get less. Maybe I should be your friend, and then you would throw Edinburg tax dollars at me.
On May 21, 2007, (two days after my post ... suspicious) Team 4 News report "Gas prices kill the budget," states, "The average $3.09 at the gas pump that we've been seeing has been killing the pocket book!! But for some,the high gas prices means much more." Furthermore, "We can count on price increases on everything from flowers to airlines tickets."
Thanks again Joe ... want to raise my taxes again ... maybe your son needs a new suit for work!
24 comments:
Slow day, huh. You had stayed quite on Joe O. for so long, I was wondering when you'd come back to it. The horse will never sufficiently be beat will it....wow.
You can't put gas prices on Joe Ochoa. Your blog is going down, down and down
What? Do you even read? Or do you not understand?
I never said the gas prices were Ochoa's fault. I said the tax hike was.
More money on taxes means less money for rising gas prices.
More money for a tax increase which Joe finds fit to spend on publicly praising his son and spending on his buddy's business.
Why can't Joe be like the rest of the folks in Edinburg, who are proud of thier children. Throw them a party and invite people.
See, its not that Omar is not worthy of recognition. What he did was great and I applaud him. But what Joe did was use his position to spend my tax dollars for something Joe should have done from his own pocket.
That's what I call misuse of public funds.
Edinburg News is posting a story from the Rio Grande Guardian. The RGG is a pay-to-read site.
Funny thing is that according to its Terms of Use policy, the "information appearing on RGG is the copyright of RGG and must not be reproduced in any medium without license."
Further, any "users must not republish any part of the data either on another Web site, or in any other medium, print, electronic or otherwise, or as part of any commercial service without the prior written permission of the Rio Grande Guardian."
In addition, the "users are permitted to copy some material for their personal use as private individuals only."
I wonder who is paying to get this information. Any takers ... another Edinburg News Rat?
That building next to the new City Hall was purchased before Joe became mayor. It was never going to be City Hall. I normally support many of the things you say, but this one I can't. It never could be City Hall-not ADA accessible. Not to mention, it is in terrible condition and could not support the City staff growth. Architect determined it was not economically feasible to incorporate into the master plan. It is going to be demolished. The City was just waiting to have the next issuance of Certificates of Obligation approved by the Council. The building needs to abated for asbestos and then demolished. Nothing but the facts here...
edinburg news comes out on burnt orange report. Looks like Edinburg news is state wide now.
Edinburg News which we know is nothing but lies and deceit to begin with has suprised me yet again. You know, I thought I had seen everything and they couldn't sink any lower, but they managed to prove me right again. They are classless, worthless, pieces of shit that will sink to new lows just to spread thier lies. They write:
"So how would you keep Ciro from jumping around and in the meantime have the majority on the school board? Edinburg News has learned that they will name a building after his son that recently passed away"
Not only is this a huge tasteless lie, but it's sick that they would even sink to the level of using Ciro's recently deceased son to spread their lies, hate and dirty politics. Jaime, Greg and Robert, you pretend to be his friend but it's obvious now that you will stop at nothing to put your politics in front of decency. Is is that important to have the majority so you can continue to promote your friends, relatives and coaches to positions that they dont belong. To the rest of the no class rats at edinburg news, I believe you owe Mr. Trevino an apology for your sick lack of respect. You are by far, the biggest scumbags this city has ever seen. I am going to l
ove every second of it when your sad little world comes crashing down.
Earn, David Diaz is the guy that is a member of Rio Grande Guardian which uses the information to post on E-news. If you don't believe me, ask David for yourself.
Good Job Aaron, i don't care what those idiots say about you at E-news, you're doing an awesome job, see below....
Rio Grande Valley to get Drug Treatment Center
May 19, 2007 05:18 PM
Austin - Negotiations over the state's biennial budget has yielded a drug treatment center to be located in Edinburg. The proposed $3 million facility was approved by the House and Senate conference committee on HB 1.
State Representative Aaron Peña continued to work with the negotiators in the last few weeks to ensure that the drug treatment center stayed in the budget after adding a rider to the bill during debate in the Texas House.
"The realization of this drug treatment center in Edinburg fulfills one of my primary goals in becoming a state legislator," said Representative Peña "Treatment and rehabilitation are important strategies in combating the terrible effects that illegal drugs have in our community."
The treatment center is part of a broader state-wide strategy to address substance abuse and rehabilitation issues in our communities before they become issues in the criminal justice system. The state budget includes more funding for substance abuse treatment and diversion programs for low level, non-violent offenders at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
It adds treatment and capacity dollars at the local level to give judges and the parole board an alternative to sentencing offenders and considering probation and parole options.
The exact location, size and capacity of the center have yet to be formalized. The drug treatment facility would compliment the existing Mental Health and Mental Retardation operations in Edinburg.
"There needs to be a three prong approach to combating the devastating effects of substance abuse in our communities," said Representative Peña.
"We have to keep educating children and adults about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. This session we've allocated more funding for law enforcement to stem the flow of drugs through our borders and we are now investing more in treatment and rehabilitation."
The Texas Legislature has allocated over $100 million for border security.
The House and Senate are currently negotiating to finalize the exact details of the border security bill. The negotiations on the budget bill needs to be agreed upon by the House and Senate before being sent to the Governor.
"The entire Rio Grande Valley legislative delegation needs to be applauded for working together to get these important programs for South Texas," said Representative Peña. "Representative Guillen fought hard on the conference committee to keep this drug treatment center funded. Senators Hinojosa and Lucio were instrumental in taking care of business over in the Senate."
Peña is the Chairman of the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence and is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means. He is serving his third tem in the Texas House.
Finally after all these years. Thank you rep. on behalf of so many people. This is great news. Where can I get more information about working at the center? Earn can you help?
When is Edinburg Scool buildings gonna be finished
Come Edinburg Come On ECISD...when are you all gonna get on the ball and fix your stuff get things moving.......you all get things things fixed like the way turtles walk......To everyone here who thinks that edinburg Is moving to slow on fixing and repairing things but expect money from its public take a good look at how your School Taxes have made this lovely building grow.................come on Quit the Tax raise and fix with what you have now.......check out this Slideshow to see what I am talking about http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/hitman911/?action=view¤t=1179717587.pbw
But, you see Earn, while you are absolutely correct on the fact that Joe O. is not responsible for the gas hike, I see why 12:45 would make that comment. Actually, I figured someone would make that comment.
It can be misleading to those who just skim through when they see the title of the post and a picture of a guy pumping gas. I know what you are saying is that the citizens of Edinburg or already burdened by all the Joe O. taxes and these federal gas increases couldn't have come at a worse time for the overtaxed citizens of Edinburg. But say that instead of spinning it your way and playing off peoples emotions. Because gas prices are a hot emotional issue right now, and leave it to you to try and capitalize on that issue.
I'm sure you can also find some inadvertent way that Joe O. is also influencing the war in Iraq and is somehow tied to global warming as well. Your gas statements were worthless and on their own are not strong enough to be justified being used in your argument.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm not a Joe O fan, but I sure as hell hate the way you present things to the people sometimes.
Actually, the article is based not on gas prices but the cost of living. Not on the war on Iraq, which has taken it toll on Edinburg, but the fact that Edinburg does not exist in a vacuum.
We are a global society, not the sleeply city of the 60's. The worlds actions have very real consequences in our town. So when Joe thinks that spending our hard earned tax dollars on his petty projects is great, it is upsetting that he is not using those tax dollars to make our lives a little easier.
I have hundreds of ideas on how to save money, on how to streamline or city government and on how to other projects. But I will not waste my time telling Joe. That would be like throwing pearls to the swine.
So when you read my articles, ask yourself, "what is earn trying to tell me?" there is usually a bigger picture or a story behind the story. Know that the post in just the starting point in a debate that could go on for days.
There, now that response made much more sense and three paragraphs of it were not taken up by the gas topic. Yes, Edinburg is not cut off from the rest of the world (although sometimes I think the entire valley is) and thank you for using the key word there: golbal society. This I think would facilitate more dicsussion that is on topic rather than the orignal post.
THIS HAS TO BE THE BIGGEST EXAMPLE OF MISDIRECTION EVER NICE TRY...
eARN...HOW CAN YOU put the higher taxes on Ochoa..Remember...5 voting councilmen....remember 3 are from your compadre Garcia...so put it on them...
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