Edinburg Watch

New Hampshire Primary

2008-01-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

So, it is official, Hillary Clinton and John McCain have won the New Hampshire Primary. I like Hilary but I'm not crazy about McCain. The last time he won, he was very vocal against the religious right. Then he realized he wouldn't get elected for president as a Republican without some of their support. He then gave a commencement speech at the Jerry Falwell University. That is too far right. I still haven't given up hope for Guiliani. I hope he doesn't give up.

When is Enough Enough?

2008-01-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

So with the campaign in full swing, I've been trying to keep with local and national politics. I didn't think the Iowa Caucus would end the way it did, but oh well. What I can tell you is that I'm glad I don't live in Iowa. That is a weird way to vote. I saw Obama with Diane Sawyer on GMA and he criticized the Clinton campaign for being negative. I actually laughed because I thought ... "if the shoe were on the other foot?" I've heard him be negative. I'm still riding the fence. I'm not sure what side I'm on just yet. In the end, maybe I won't even vote Democratic. I've always liked Guiliani. I know that every one says he is still riding on his leadership during 9/11, but think about it. He did awesomely. I guess when it comes to national politics, I'll play the wait and see. On the local front, it is pretty interesting as well. I think that the state rep race is going to be a hum dinger. It is obvious what side I have chosen. I've kept up with state politics because I was curious to see if we would have a democratic speaker of the house. We didn't and it was super obvious that anyone who went against the speaker of the house would have trouble. Aaron has vision. He chose to help his district instead of hurt it. I'm not impressed with what Rep. Moreno has said about Pena. It's easy to criticize. I only have one question. Has anyone been to El Paso lately? It's stagnant. Our area is growing. Granted the delta area needs help, but the problems that are there are much bigger then anything that a state rep can do, unless you have the expectations that some of the other bloggers have of the rep. Their standard is impossible to reach. They are just looking for reasons to write negative things about people who are trying to make a change in this area. I would rather have local people clean up our area then the feds. However, I'm not sure that other people want it that way. Everybody wants status quo, the problem is that we can no longer operate that way. We will become as stagnant as El Paso. Rep. Moreno could afford to speak badly of Craddick and Pena because he probably knew that his area wouldn't get anything anyway. He lacks vision. At some point, you need to think about growth of the area. The economy will only get worse and Aaron has positioned himself to make sure we continue to get help. Believe me we are going to need it. This all leads me to my title...When is enough, enough? When will we accept that things are going to change and we need to decide if we get left behind like El Paso or do we continue to grow. We not only need to get out the vote but we need to make sure our friends and family vote and we need to vote for people like Aaron Pena.

Take Politics Seriously

2008-01-03T22:40:00.000-08:00

So I went to my first Democratic Party Kick Off here in the Valley. I can't say that I'm totally a democrat but I tend to lean that way. I really liked what Aaron Pena had to say. I was really dissappointed to see that Eddie Saenz wasn't there. I was dissappointed in his wife's speech. She copied some things that some other people said. She stated that Saenz had prior commitments and that he was taking care of his father. Now, I hear that he was at a basketball game today. This is sad. It seems that he wants to win, but not work at it. It should just happen because he wants it to be so. I hope that it won't happen here. I've seen dirty politics happen in different places and I know that it doesn't happen only in the movies. The thing is that the rest of the country operates differently. We need to bring our area to a higher standard. I'm not saying that other places are perfect and that corruption doesn't happen only here. Change seems to be the buzz word this campaign season. It seems that the word change scares a lot of people in this area. It isn't always bad and sometimes some of the people affected really a not doing a good job. Change needs to happen here in the valley, not necessarily the people but the attitude. It is the only way we are going to grow. I think that Aaron Pena seems to bring some good things to the table and seems to have the right attitude. There are other people who seem interesting. I'm going to start looking into what they are about.

What is the deal with Edinburg Politics

2007-12-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

I think that the people who write the Edinburg Politics blog on Blogger are either ignorant or the just don't care. I watched the school board public hearing on tv. I had wanted to go, but my kids didn't give me time to go. Instead, I watched it on tv. I heard what they said and it didn't seem that bad. It actually made sense. I understood why they had to make the change. Either way it doesn't seem like such a big deal because we are supposed to trust the people we elected. It just seems tht the people from the Edinburg Politics blog are looking for things to complain about. The other thing I want to state is that even if those ladies were related to Mrs. Gonzalez, at least they bothered to show up. No one else did.

Corruption in Edinburg

2007-11-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I went on a rant about how pathetic some bloggers were because they were so filled with hate. Today I still feel the same way. Maybe it's a trend. JK. So corruption is the rant for today. Edinburg smacks of it. The thing is it has become a way of life for some people. I guess there are some idiots who believe that if there are people trying to change it, they are corrupt. I want to set the record straight. People like Carmen Gonzalez are not corrupt. She is a good person who genuinely likes and wants to help the school district. She worked very hard as an employee of the school district and she still wanted to contribute. It is ridiculous that people would think that she is corrupt because she wants to change things so that they operate better and without special interest. People try to make us be like the rest of Texas and the United States and the people trying to make changes are corrupt. I hate to break to the idiots out there but the people you are supporting are corrupt. When they got you your cushy job, that was political and corrupt. When you got city contracts, it was unethical and corrupt. When you use intimidation to manipulate outcomes, that is corrupt. When you follow the law and try to make things better for us, it is the right thing to do.

Pathetic Posts

2007-11-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

I originally started posting in response to another post. I would read the "other blog" and get totally disgusted with their lies and manipulation. I felt that I needed to speak for the other side from an outside prospective. Then I got tired. Alittle while ago, I checked out the other blog and saw how full of hate these people are. I actually felt sorry for them. I had the opportunity to meet Aaron Pena recently. He seems like a nice guy. Actually, he is a nice guy. I think he has been doing a great job and should continue to do so. I don't think he is mired in the republican party as people say. I think he is trying to make the best out of a bad situation. Something that most of the representatives in this area have done. The wheels of time are changing and hopefully the democratic party will be back in power in Texas. I have my fingers crossed and hope that Aaron Pena will be there to help transition the power change. I just hope that the evil bloggers find a way to be happy. It doesn't seem possible. The funny thing is that even if Aaron doesn't continue to represent us, it will be our loss not Aaron's. The job of a representative not easy and it is not high paying, so I hope that the people of the Edinburg area stay smart and vote for Aaron. Also, pray for the evil bloggers that they find peace.

Hidalgo County Leadership?

2007-08-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

So I was watching the news the other day and my curiosity was piqued. The news caster was reporting that the Hidalgo County Commissioners had finally gotten tired of trying to get the federal government to come in an work on our levees. Understanding the concerns since Hurricane Katrina, I was given hope again that maybe there were more then a hand full of elected officials that were doing things in the best interest of the people that elected them. Then the reporter went on... I'm not a infrastructure specialist by any means nor do I claim to know how the county works. That being said, the county commissioners decided to start working on the levees in December, too late to do anything this hurricane season but we can't expect miracles so excusable. What amazed me was that they decided to start in Mission! Like I said there may be more to it, like the need to protect some rich people's property first or something, but it just seems more logical to me to start on the East side of the county because it is closer to the coast. If the levees don't hold in Cameron County and we reinforced our levees on the east of the county, we could save the whole county. If we only get to reinforce the west side first think of all the lives and property that will be lost. Maybe someone in the commissioner's court has been speaking to God and this is what he wants them to do. I guess we should start to be worried when someone on the west side of the county starts building an arc.

Edinburg Schools Abuse the System

2007-08-11T19:43:00.001-07:00

I recently moved to the Edinburg School District with my two children who attend Edinburg schools. I was impressed by the activity of the community in the school district, but I became disappointed because it seems that instead of activity of the community for the students, it is political activity in the interest of a few.
More specifically, I watched and asked questions when the school board made the bold move to “reassign” the Athletic Director. I figured it was because none of our teams had a winning season in a long while. I was horrified when someone vandalized a business owned by a school board member by pouring gasoline and leaving a note referring to the “reassignment”! I was starting to feel as if I had moved into a filming of Scarface: Don’t Mess with My Football Coach. In this blockbuster, Robert Alaniz is Tony Montana and the football coaches are his highly paid thugs. Before the school board was brave enough to move Mr. Alaniz and make fiscal changes, coaches were allowed to have more than two stipends. They are also paid a daily rate for extra days. In most school districts coaches are paid a fixed rate. J. M. Salinas is one of the highest paid coaches at Edinburg High School. Salinas received his regular salary plus an additional $7,200.00 as the Bobcat’s defensive coordinator. Apparently, the football season had an additional 20 days so he received an extra $5,862.00. He also received $1,900 as the intramurals coach and $2,300.00 as the off season coordinator. His stipends totaled $17,262. $72,476 total salary to be exact! Not to be outdone, J. R. Salinas at Economedes High School received four stipends totaling $21,521.00. At Edinburg North High School, Jose Gaspar received $17,163 in stipends. Harwell Middle School coach Rafael De Leon had three stipends and extra day pay totaling $11,022.00. Diana Romero of B.L. Garza Middle School (also Alaniz’ niece) had 4 stipends and extra day pay of $7,100.00. B.L. Garza Middle School coach Javier Garza had four stipends and extra day pay totaling$14,699.00.
Game playing belongs on the field not in coaches’ offices and especially not in public offices. Athletics play an important role in our community and good coaches should be well paid. However, this policy of overpayment and extra stipends is an abuse. Stop prostituting our system, our kids and our monies. By the way, stay away from my doors…I don’t really like the smell of gasoline.

Aaron Pena is a Democrat

2007-08-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

It never seems to amaze me how people like to twist things. I've been reading the Edinburg News and I had always thought I would just read and complain but I finally had to vent in a public forum. Just because Aaron Pena voted for Tom Craddick does not make him a Republican. He did what he was elected to do, represent our area. Tom Craddick was up for the Speaker of the House again. The only other person up for the position was another republican. It doesn't seem like it was much of a choice. Vote for a republican that doesn't stand a chance and put yourself in a bad position with the person who will be making all the committee appointments or vote for the republican that is going to win and get your district some help that it needs, be appointed to some really important committees and show that you have your district's needs at the forefront of your decisions. It sounds like a no-brainer to me. Aaron Pena did the right thing and because he has the experience in Austin make intelligent decisions, he will end up helping the Edinburg/Delta Area.

Edinburg News: Carmen Gonzalez Is Trying To Change Policy

2007-08-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Edinburg News: Carmen Gonzalez Is Trying To Change Policy

I think this is clearly a case of not thinking before blogging. It is hard to believe that any intellgent person would think that Carmen Gonzalez has the power to arbitrarily make a change like lengthening the school board terms. If this were the case we would need to send her to Washington so she can effectively run another government, help clean up the corruption of our country and maybe end the war. I guess the key word is that an intelligent person would know that it takes someone like Rodney Ellis a Senator from Houston to pass legislation at the state level. Also, Carmen Gonzalez has twenty five years of experience with the school district. Again, someone with a mediocre education level could put two and two together to see that she was already working for the school district when this incident happen. The school district and the school board still found her the most experienced and gave her positions like Assistant Deputy Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent and then the biggest test of a true leader and trust of the school board, they appointed her Interim Superintendent until they could find someone to take this responsibility on. She lead our school district well and gladly handed it over when they found a replacement. Then she stayed on and served as an Assistant to the Superintedent, by this time she was ready to retire. If you want to judge her on something, judge her on her record. The legacy she created within the Edinburg School District and the one she is creating as a School Board Member. What happened in her private life is just that...private. I don't think she's hiding anything, she shouldn't have to speak about it. Do we really want to start digging up dirty secrets? I'm sure others have more to hide. The sad thing is that you can only attack her personally because she is an outstanding professional and as far as most are concerned a pillar of the community. Maybe if you paid attention you could truly understand the writing on the wall!