Today at 12:00pm, District 2 candidate Veronica Carbajal was hosted by Desirae Manzanares of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for a Facebook live. Max Grossman posed three questions for Carbajal, who responded at length:
QUESTION 1 (13:08 mark)
“While on the UMC Board of Managers, you voted for a $400 million CO and then expressed anger when the meeting was legally recorded and your vote became public. In your campaign, you have stated your opposition to COs and insisted that you stand for fiscal discipline. How is that possible when you voted for the largest non-voter-approved debt issuance in El Paso history rather than supporting a general obligation bond, which would have required a ballot proposition?“
Carbajal responded by stating that she is “fiscally responsible” and that she supported the $400 million certificate of obligation because UMC, unlike the City, provides life-saving services and because the investment would have provided full-time jobs. Thus, she knows the voters’ needs better than they do and believes that when it comes to funding our public hospital, the voters cannot be trusted to make good decisions.
QUESTION 2 (16:50 mark)
“Proposition K was overwhelming defeated by the voters, and you have blamed special interests for this outcome. Many are wondering why you publicly supported Proposition K, which would have penalized numerous local businesses. Is there any aspect of Proposition K which you did not support or do you feel that it would have been 100% excellent for our community?“
Carbajal responded, “There will always be hiccups. Nothing is perfect.” She again blamed the opposition rather than the deeply flawed text of Proposition K and even added, “Honestly I don’t think Prop K went far enough.” (23:44). Again, she knows better than the voters at large how our hard-earned tax dollars should be spent.
QUESTION 3 (25:09 mark)
“Only 12 days after the terrorist slaughter in Israel, you shared a post on your official campaign Instagram page that stated “Hey, if you pay taxes, your money is funding the genocide happening in Gaza right now. It’s time to offset that sh*t. Donate to emergency aid for Palestine.” Many in the Jewish community were deeply offended by your post. Do you now regret it?“
Carbajal Instagram post, 10/19/23
Carbajal responded by accusing Grossman of irresponsibly slandering her and placing her in danger because he shared her post with the public, which she had posted publicly. He did so without attacking her personally or suggesting that anyone confront her. She claimed she “received death threats” after her post but blamed Grossman, who is Jewish and took exception to her use of the term “genocide.” She stated that her only regret is that Grossman did not think about the consequences of exposing her and her team to danger when he shared her public post, publicly.
During the interview, Manzanares treated Carbajal as if she were Queen Elizabeth, with obsequiousness bordering on servility. You may watch the entire video here, if you have the stomach for it: https://www.facebook.com/ephcc/videos/230756810001763/