When Art Fierro first ran for City Council in 2022, he took no money from the Oligarchs and promised us he wouldn’t, so we felt comfortable supporting his candidacy.
After his victory he voted, as expected, to cancel building an arena in Union Plaza and to fire City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. He began to seem like a fiscal conservative.
But then we saw a contribution from Woody Hunt on the October 10, 2023 City Council agenda and knew he had flipped.
His refusal to support Brian Kennedy for mayor was another huge red flag.
Fierro has accepted an additional $7,500 from Hunt since August, including a $2,500 contribution appearing on the current City Council agenda.
He has also taken money from Margo, Houghton, and all the rest of them.
As expected, Fierro is now all about the Debt Plaza, Meta, and tax incentives and abatements for the developers, and he voted for two property tax increases in a row.
He faces no serious opponent in the current election and will hold on to his seat. We then expect him to run again for state office and win easily.
In El Paso, loyalty to the Oligarchs is always rewarded and the voters are too ignorant to support their own interests. This is especially true of the eastern part of the city, where low voter turnout is a perpetual embarrassment.
As long as the voters do not care, there will always be more Art Fierros in local government.