rosa
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Post by rosa on Apr 16, 2009 3:40:02 GMT -7
Norma Chavez recently wrote and read a response to some strong criticism by a local radio show host who recently quit his show (before the entire English talk format was pulled from that particular station), and when she did, she was the recipient of some pretty strong criticism.
One of the responses that was just posted on NPT is a brief look at her participation on committees she's been assigned to:www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist76/chavez.php There are 5 different committees that Rep. Chavez sits on during the 81st session. The minutes reflect the roll call for each committee meeting this is what I have gathered as her track record. House Appropriations Committee Present - 6 Late - 7 Absent - 3 House Committee on Appropriations S/C on Business and Economic Development Present - 4 Late - 8 Absent - 1 House Committee on Appropriations S/C on stimulus Present - 2 Late - 2 Absent - 0 House Committee on Calendars Present -3 Late - 0 Absent - 2 House Committee on Defense & Veteran's Affairs Present - 0 Late - 0 ABSENT - absent for all meetings Are you paying attention El Paso? Is it just me, or is anyone else a little surprised she's missed so much this session?
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Post by Tim Collins on Apr 16, 2009 3:44:30 GMT -7
I am working on a detailed look at her schedule - what did she miss at each meeting of the appropriations committee, etc.
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Post by Tim Collins on Apr 16, 2009 13:35:03 GMT -7
I disagree. An ethical person couldn't raise the money required to run. Lots of shoe leather ad a whole bunch of $5.00 donations
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rosa
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Post by rosa on Apr 16, 2009 15:46:50 GMT -7
and one heck of a lot of determination, but that's a place to start
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rosa
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Post by rosa on Apr 23, 2009 4:38:14 GMT -7
NPT wrote on the latest in the kitty cat fight. The last comment was kind of interesting
Newspaper Tree - El Paso's Original News Source Ethics bill concerns: Chavez says she's ready, Marquez says process "disrespected." by Ben Wright
“We’re going to be providing Rep. Marquez, (County Commissioner) Anna Perez, (County Attorney) Jose Rodriquez and Sen. Shapleigh some recommendations. We really scrubbed the bill, looking at it and talking to different people about it.” -- State Rep. Norma Chavez.
Posted on April 21, 2009 State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, sure has been doing her homework on the El Paso County ethics bill. On Friday Chavez sent a memo to the El Paso delegation saying she would be presenting “specific language concerns” by “early next week.”
Tuesday morning, Chavez showed NPT a thick folder containing work her office had compiled on the ethics bill, which she would soon be sharing with other El Paso officials including the bills author, state Rep. Marisa Marquez, D-El Paso.
“We’re going to be providing Rep. Marquez, (County Commissioner) Anna Perez, (County Attorney) Jose Rodriquez and Sen. Shapleigh some recommendations,” Chavez said. “We really scrubbed the bill, looking at it and talking to different people about it.”
But could Chavez give NPT a sneak peak of her concerns?
“No, because we are categorizing them into what we think are major issues and issues that we can live with,” Chavez said. When asked to elaborate, Chavez said there were around 30 issues with the bill but that figure would likely go down to around 15.
Chavez was originally asked to carry the bill by the county at the beginning of the session. She declined, citing an already full plate. The county then approached Marquez, who obliged. After several rounds of Commissioners Court, and public hearings in Austin, the bill seemed to be moving through the political process smoothly.
However, Chavez raised some concerns just before the bill was reported favorably out of committee (most bills die in committee). This led to an angry exchange between Chavez and County Commissioner Veronica Escobar. Escobar asserted that Chavez was being was using delay tactics and working behind the scenes to kill the bill while Chavez argued that the bill was being rushed and had serious issues.
Though Chavez has yet to publicize her concerns with the bill, or make specific recommendations, she maintains that no foul play is involved.
“There is ample time… I don’t think the bill is in any danger,” Chavez said. “With some changes I’m going to be fine with it. I was just very annoyed with the knee jerk reaction my questioning of a bill that I had not even had a chance to look at other than briefly.”
Chavez praised County Commissioner Perez for being “the most stateswomanly of all of them” during the process. “I still challenge Commissioner Escobar to bring me one member of the legislature who can say that I asked them to vote against the bill. It never happened.”
Marquez said she would welcome Chavez’s comments “just like I would any other representative” but questioned the appropriateness of Chavez bringing “a stack of changes” to the table.
“Why is she going and researching them when we already have the background on the bill?” Marquez asked. “We’ll do everything to help her address her concerns (but) we certainly could have taken the burden on that.
“I think there has been a disrespect for the legislative process. If I have an issue with someones bill, I should go to the author and address those issues. I shouldn’t circumvent, I shouldn’t involve the county, I shouldn’t try and involve every other member of the world,” Marquez said.
Chavez disagrees.
“I really do believe the process is working,” she said. “It’s not like Commissioners Court where they go and make an agreement and they pass it one week to the next week. We’re here for 140 days and we have to look at legislation carefully.”
Currently there are two versions of the bill working their way through the process. Marquez’s version has just been sent to the Calendars Committee, which Chavez sits on. On the Senate side, Shapleigh is sponsoring the legislation. His version passed out of the Senate with little fuss and has been handed over to the House where it has been referred to the county Affairs Committee, which Marquez sits on. The county has also been working on a few supplemental recommendations for the legislation, regarding the committee makeup and some procedural issues.
Either bill could take on board the changes, Shapleigh’s in the County Affairs Committee or Marquez’s on the House floor once the bill goes through Calendars.
Chavez said she didn’t mind which. Marquez said the two bills were now significantly different and so a conference committee would be necessary.
from the comments:
Mirian April 23, 2009“I think there has been a disrespect for the legislative process. If I have an issue with someone's bill, I should go to the author and addreThis is an interesting quote from Rep. Marquez because if my memory serves me correctly, in the April 3, 2009 article, the county was working hard to do all it could to get the bill passed. I don't understand why this is so strange, especially since it is their bill.
Just like the Tiguas have been consulted regarding their bills, it would only make sense to approach them, especially since it seemed that in the April 3, 2009 article Commissioner Escobar had requested that Rep. Chavez approach themss those issues. I shouldn’t circumvent, I shouldn’t involve the county, I shouldn’t try and involve every other member of the world,” Marquez said.
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“I also have expectations of our state legislators, that when Commissioners Court votes unanimously to support something that they will at the very least contact us if they have questions," Escobar said. "I have never gotten a call, never had an appearance from a staff member from the delegation in front of us at Commissioners Court to raise concerns."
Also, Rep. Marquez, you had requested that if Rep. Chavez had issues with the bill that she should approach you with them, or at least that was your stance in the April 3rd column.
“I think it is very unfortunate that a member of my delegation has not come to me with specific concerns to make this bill better. It is not just the author’s responsibility to make something great,” said Marquez, adding that she was moving forward on the bill with or without Chavez’s support.
Now...Marquez said she would welcome Chavez’s comments “just like I would any other representative” but questioned the appropriateness of Chavez bringing “a stack of changes” to the table.
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rosa
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Post by rosa on May 29, 2009 15:29:26 GMT -7
Today's paper has another commentary on Norma Chavez...What I think is amusing is the way she is interchangeably a darling and/or a joke...she's not behaving any differently than she always has, but she sure is being packaged differently now
It's embarrassing: Norma Chávez's actions make us laughingstock El Paso Times Staff Posted: 05/29/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT Norma Chávez's snippy-sniffy little tiff involving a fellow El Paso state representative makes us all look bad. Our lawmaker delegation must be a laughingstock at the nearly concluded 81st session of the Texas Legislature. Since state lawmakers went to Austin in January, the veteran Chávez, seemingly step by step, has been trying to make life in Austin difficult for first-termer Marisa Marquez. It had been surmised that the two would team to help El Paso causes, but soon after last year's election, Marquez made it clear she was her own person, not a Chávez follower. The rift was seen early. Marquez was chided by Chávez for introducing legislation that had to do with Chávez's district. And it came to Chávez picking at a Marquez bill calling for a stronger ethics board to oversee county officials and employees. We need an ethics code with teeth. There's a major FBI investigation into public corruption going on here. After the bill passed, Chávez called it "the witch hunt ethics bill." Before it passed, Chávez had demanded dozens of changes in its wording. Proponents of the bill charged her with trying to kill legislation that would benefit her own county. And it peaked recently when Chávez took time from the Legislature to receive a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin. However, she told Marquez not to show up at her post-graduation reception, and sent back a gift and card Marquez had sent. A text message to Marquez read: "Plz do not go to my noon reception. Or I will ask you u to leave." Chávez says Marquez "never, never treated me with any kind of respect at all" -- even after she helped Marquez in her successful campaign to unseat long-time state Rep. Paul Moreno. Clearly, Chávez wanted a lackey in Austin. History has shown she has had tumultuous relationships with other members of our delegate and is considered a loner. Clearly, Marquez went to Austin as her own women, not a rookie sidekick. Clearly, Chávez seems ticked about that. Clearly, Chávez is acting the snippy-sniffy schoolgirl, not the new college graduate -- and certainly not the adult we expect to take our causes to the state Capitol. Chávez, by her actions before and during the legislative session, has been an embarrassment for the delegation and the city.
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Post by Tim Collins on Jun 16, 2009 5:48:09 GMT -7
And the beat goes on....elpasotimes.typepad.com/capitol/2009/06/marisa-marquez-norma-chavez-on-the-fox-jukebox.htmlMarisa Marquez, Norma Chavez on the Fox Jukebox NOTE: The following is a guest post from El Paso Times assignments editor Jay Koester. Those listening to the much-loved Fox Jukebox show yesterday were treated to yet another strange moment in the Marisa Marquez-Norma Chavez saga. (I refuse to call it a feud when it seems only one side is looking to fight.) The host of the Jukebox, Mike Guerrero, was pleasing fans of the oldies as always on Sunday when El Paso state Rep. Marisa Marquez called in to make a dedication. Marquez made a quick dedication to her father and some other relatives and was on the air for only about 30 seconds. But that must have been 30 seconds too long for one listener, because guess who quickly showed up at the studio? That's right, El Paso state Rep. Norma Chavez. Chavez stuck around for about 30 minutes, making a few dedications and chatting with Guerrero. She didn’t say anything negative about Marquez, but certainly listeners noticed the timing of her visit. I spoke with Guerrero today and he certainly noticed the odd timing of Chavez’s visit, though he was quick to add that it was cool. He said he’s received call-in dedications in the past from both Marquez and Chavez. “I like them both,” Guerrero said, perhaps practicing for a career in politics himself. Of the dedications Chavez made during her visit to the studio, perhaps the one that raised the most eyebrows was the one she sent out to “(State Senator) Eliot Shapleigh and all the other men at the Capitol:” “You Don’t Own Me,” by Leslie Gore. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmOrWG2FTbg
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