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The are only two candidates for Mayor who matter: Rep. Brian Kennedy and Renard Johnson.
Cassandra Hernandez, who increased our property tax six times, voted to issue hundreds of millions in CO debt, and was reprimanded for abusing her City privileges, would be lucky if she could carry her own district.
We would rather vote for a used aluminum ashtray.
The remaining candidates may be well-intentioned but have not demonstrated they have the requisite qualifications to be Mayor or that they can raise the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to disseminate their message.
BRIAN KENNEDY
Kennedy began his term on City Council only 19 months ago but has already established a reputation for restraining spending, holding the line on taxation, and uprooting corruption.
He supported killing the downtown arena, voted to fire Tommy Gonzalez, and moved to terminate money-losers like Transportation Reinvestment Zone 2 and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 10A. As Chair of the Financial Oversight and Audit Committee (FOAC), he has conducted audits of the City gas cards and P-cards as well as the City’s 380 agreements with developers.
Most importantly, he led the effort to prevent a City tax increase or debt issuance for two years in a row, which is without precedent in modern times.
We just learned from KVIA that he is returning to the City $50,000 in unspent discretionary funds earmarked for District 1 rather than using them to provide free turkeys at Thanksgiving or children’s costumes for Halloween. Asked by Lesley Engle about whether this might be seen as a political move since he is running for Mayor, Kennedy replied, “I don’t think it is ever the wrong time to act on good fiscal policies and help save the taxpayers money.”
RENARD JOHNSON
By contrast, Renard Johnson, whose brother and former business partner was indicted for a $3 million Ponzi scheme, stands for increased deficit-spending and higher taxation.
As of June 30, he raised nearly $300,000, mostly from elite business leaders and their bankers and attorneys. He is supported by the same people who foisted upon us Joyce Wilson and Tommy Gonzalez, gained control of our City and County governments, and rammed down our throats an insolvent Ballpark, trolleys, waterparks, TIRZes in open space, scores of upside-down 380 and 381 agreements, and a downtown multipurpose arena, while our streets degraded to third-world levels.
Johnson is also backed by Congresswoman Escobar, County Judge Samaniego, and other progressive leaders who, for their own selfish reasons, want to see our City bond more capital improvement projects and dole out more corporate welfare.
Yesterday, Johnson sent out an email and produced a video attacking the current process for hiring a new City Manager and demanding the decision be postponed until after the November 5 election because, according to him, there has been a lack of transparency.
You see, the local powerbrokers want to be able to control the future City Manager, just as they controlled Wilson and Gonzalez, and they can’t bear the idea that he/she would report directly to City Council without their interference.
The good news is that Johnson cannot win because (1) there are only 73 days until early voting and very few El Pasoans know who he is, (2) his messaging is hollow and dishonest, and (3) Kennedy is much better known, generally admired, and several times more qualified.
Voting for Kennedy is the biggest no-brainer since the invention of chile con queso!
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