Dear Friends and Media,
In her public remarks to her District 3 constituents four days ago, City Rep. Cassandra Hernandez criticized the proposal to modify the City Charter so as to compel the City Auditor to report directly to City Council.
She claimed this change would give City Council too much power over city finances and somehow open the door to corruption, and she asked “Who will watch the crooked politicians?”
By “crooked politicians” does she mean her colleagues on City Council who feel they should have the power to thoroughly review City finances?
Hernandez posted her video on her professional Facebook page but then edited out her “crooked politicians” comment. Since yesterday, the post was deleted altogether.
Hernandez pretends to be fiscally responsible, just like the other two remaining members of the Oligarchy Caucus, yet she voted to raise our property tax for six years in a row, every August since assuming office. She has also authorized every single CO issuance since 2017, adding more than a half-billion dollars to the City’s debt without voter approval. She has voted for every insolvent municipal project without exception, including TIRZes and 380 agreements for her developer friends, the Great Wolf Lodge land swap, and the City’s odious arena project.
To help pay for all this, she suggested that the Central Appraisal District appraise El Paso properties even higher so that the City can enjoy more tax revenue!
And now she implies that her colleagues are “crooked politicians” for demanding more financial oversight?
Amazing.
HERNANDEZ ATTACKS KENNEDY
On another note, Hernandez recently welcomed Rep. Brian Kennedy to City Council by providing an “affidavit” to Dora Oaxaca, the wife of City Rep. Henry Rivera, attesting that she heard Kennedy say he still works for the El Paso Sports Commission. The “affidavit” was weaponized by Oaxaca during last Friday’s Ethics Review Commission discussion of her conflict-of-interest complaints against Kennedy, which were summarily dismissed because they are utterly baseless.
When Hernandez terms out on January 7, 2025, her political career will be over.