Joyce Wilson, who served as El Paso’s first City Manager from 2004 until 2014, has been bombarding our local newspapers with opinion letters attacking our current City leadership while repeatedly accusing Max Grossman, a citizen journalist and government watchdog, of interfering in local politics.
In her latest screed, published this morning in the El Paso Times, she describes Mayor Leeser and his allies on City Council as “thin-skinned politicians whose behavior shows a disdain for anyone who doesn’t agree with them, and a complete lack of regard for community volunteers.” She went so far as to call them “pea brains” in a recent email.
Excuse us, Joyce.
Aren’t you the one who supported blowing up City Hall and the Insights Museum, which were valued at $14.8 million, and then relocating the City offices to multiple locations, costing the taxpayers tens of millions of dollars?
Aren’t you the one who helped negotiate the deal to build a Ballpark without voter authorization, which is kept afloat with a $4.2 million annual subsidy from the 17.5% Hotel Occupancy Tax, one of the ten highest in the nation?
Aren’t you the one who oversaw the rollout of the arena, which would have cost well over double its price tag and which sparked more than six years of litigation? And wasn’t it you who advised the CEO of the Paso del Norte Group to “focus on how to neutralize and engage the losers?”
Aren’t you the one who grossly underfunded all the signature Quality of Life bond projects, by tens of millions of dollars?
Aren’t you the one who deferred replacing police cars for so long that the next City manager was forced to spend $20 million to finance the purchase of 300 new vehicles?
Aren’t you the same City Manager that was caught using City resources to advocate politically, and on City time?
And aren’t you also the one who spent the City into such a deep financial hole that there were only nine days of reserve operating funds remaining when you left office (whereas currently there are 82)?
What did they teach you at Harvard Kennedy School? To find a medium-sized City and milk its taxpayers dry for the benefit of a handful of wealthy families?
Anyone who can read an Excel spreadsheet understands that you placed our City in financial peril, yet you wag your finger at this Mayor and City Council, who are focused on restraining wasteful spending and preventing further tax increases.
The more you complain about our City’s new commitment to sound financial management, the more we will tell the truth about you and your record.
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtney Schoenemann, KFOX14.