It’s official. Rep. Claudia Lizette Rodriguez has betrayed her supporters who worked to get her elected to office in the first place and joined the Oligarchy Caucus.
I reported how on the August 30 agenda she indicated a campaign donation of $2,500 from Steve Ortega. That was a major red flag.
But on the current agenda she cites donations from Dee and Adair Margo ($1,000), Woody and Gale Hunt ($3,500), and Paul Foster ($2,500). She obviously held an Oligarch fundraiser and raked in more than $20,000.
The first worrying sign came on August 24, 2021, when she voted for a property tax increase in violation of her campaign promise.
Things went downhill from there. She then voted to extend the contract of City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, and then she voted to eliminate the Mayor’s veto power and tie-breaking authority.
The bombshell was her recent interview with Desirae Manazanares of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, when she declared “An Arena, whether we like it or not, is gonna happen because it’s been decided,” and then exclaimed, “We need to execute. Whatever it is needs to happen already.”
And now the megabucks are pouring in from the Margos and their billionaire developer friends, all of whom live in the Upper Valley or Coronado, far from District 6.
And so there it is, as plain as day.
Rep. Rodriguez has gone to the dark side of the Force and joined the Oligarchy Caucus on City Council: Peter Svarzbein, Cassandra Hernandez, Isabel Salcido, Henry Rivera, and Cissy Lizarraga.
We shall see whether her challenger Art Fierro will be able to unseat her on November 8.
