JAMES NO BOND

2016 EPISD bond multi-media campaign (to get out the No Vote)

Scroll down to view ads, videos, newspaper columns.  Anything and everything within my ability to get the message across.  VOTE NO on the EPISD bond El Paso!

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

It started with this guest column I wrote for the El Paso Times and a supporting graphic I designed for it.  The more I thought about how this bond did nothing to deal with the real issues facing El Paso’s unique population of border students, in particular the ones in poor schools and with remedial english skills, the more I steeled myself up to take on EPISD and their unfocused bond.

EPISD Bond fails the priority test

JAMES NO BOND FaceBook ad campaign

In order of appearance.  A slew of ads I designed to build awareness and establish an online presence for James No Bond.  Most ads were accompanied by explanatory text.  Included where used.

This is not an issue of comfort — refrigerated AC, cushy football turf, bigger cafeterias and classrooms, an iPad in every backpack, and the best student theater in the district. Generations past did absolutely fine without these things.

If we are to deal with the REAL ISSUES of education facing El Paso, we need a new, more affordable bond that is focused on the relevance, effectiveness and quality of the education El Paso’s unique student population is attaining.

It needs to be about the freedom and compensation their teachers are receiving to accomplish that goal.

It needs to be about dealing with language issues that compromise a child’s ability to learn and build the confidence that will see them through their public school years and into universities.

What happens when you take the E out of EPISD?  You get PISD!  I made a button out of this graphic and wore it for my live debate with Dori Fenenbock on ABC7 Xtra.   The blood drained from her face when she saw it on me.

EPISD’s $669,000,000 BITE OUT OF EL PASO
How does EPISD break down $669,000,000 of our hard-earned taxpayer dollars for the bond?

Well, $373,000,000 will go to construction, repairs and renovation. 
Subtract $73,000,000 for Coronado which is but one school out of 85 in the district and we’re left with $300,000,000 to be divided between 84 other schools. Big construction corporations who sub everything out and mark up every little thing are the clear winners here.

Coronado High and it’s well-heeled, highly vocal, and demanding parent corps have won the EPISD lottery, having bagged the biggest chunk of the astronomical bond (if it passes). It’s not enough that this high school already has some of the biggest educational perks in town i.e. cavernous theatre with moviehouse seating. Burges High has for many years presented the best, award-winning theatre plays and managed to accomplish that in a shoebox theatre with metal folding chairs for the audience.

$238,000,000 will go to abandoning schools and modifying existing buildings to accommodate students from the closed schools. Years of corruption, bond fiascos and declining quality of education are taking their toll within the district and there is declining enrollment.
$32,000,000 will go to athletic must-haves like cushy football turf, cushy tennis court substrate, lighting and whatnot.

$16,600,000 goes to an I-pad in every backpack. 
Let’s see how long those last when you hand them out for free like they were candy. You have to wonder if there is a plan for replacing these when they break, disappear, get stolen or pawned...I have a feeling it’s going to be tough nuts.

$8,500,000 for bus replacement. 
This is El Paso, we duct tape our vehicles till they won’t run anymore. Just because they get replaced every 15 years in Grapevine, Texas doesn’t mean we have to do likewise. Hire a team of full-time mechanics whose sole purpose is to keep these buses healthy and on the road.

$750,000 for safety and security. 
Terrorism prevention, smoke alarm replacement?

So what’s missing?

Not a penny devoted to improving the quality of the lackluster education El Paso’s students receive. Texas, ranked #43 in America for educational quality and opportunity is a bottom-feeder and El Paso is getting the scraps of what little our state invests in our children.

Yes, I’ve heard it said that monies for educational improvement and teacher compensation come from the Texas legislature who determine what cities and what neighborhoods get what.

Fact is, they aren’t providing near enough the need to get it done and that is why Texas sucks when it comes to education, and unfortunately, El Paso by default.

We, the taxpayers, should have a say where and how much of our money goes to what ends. If we aren’t getting enough money from Texas, then let’s turn this bond upside down, cut the fat and put the money where our children’s minds are and where their educators talents and abilities reside.

Education first, buildings later.

Another version of “EPISD’s $669,000,000 BITE OUT OF EL PASO”

THE CON GAME EPISD PLAYS by James No Bond

Planet EPISD has taken a page from Slippin’ Jimmy, the used car salesman that knows how to play a con on unsuspecting tax-payers.
Whenever bond time comes around, EPISD puts the Slippin’ Jimmy plan into action.

First they contract out to a large firm whose expertise lies within evaluating school districts and their buildings along with physical infrastructure.

Never mind these firms look at all buildings the same whether they are in Seattle, Des Moines, El Paso, or Fort Lauderdale. No distinction as to the peculiarities of unusual communities...like say El Paso which is a struggling border city with an 80% Latino population.

They study, evaluate and forward their results to EPISD of what it will take to “fix our schools and bring them up to competitive quality”—a mind-bending tax-payer price tag of 1.2 billion dollars.

EPISD knows that tax-paying voters will reject this number out-of-hand while trying not to laugh themselves into a choking fit.
But this number serves an important purpose. An insidiously manipulative purpose.

EPISD then comes back with another atmospheric price tag that has been reduced to $669,000,000, knowing all too well that it will be voted down on Nov. 8.

This is where the Slippin’ Jimmy con comes into play.

EPISD has their actual target of say $300,000,000 which is still over the top considering what they are going to spend it on. Nevertheless that is what they believe they will get passed when the bond goes to a second vote.

The $669,000,000 figure was just a phony number whose sole purpose is to make the $300,000,000 revision look good.

Here is where El Pasoans fall for the con.

We feel like we've beaten EPISD when the first bond vote fails, but like I've said, that was never EPISD's goal. Passing the $300,000,000 bond is their goal.

When this bond fails on November, our job is just starting.

We need to mobilize and make sure El Paso doesn't let Slippin’ Jimmy put one over on us. We need to force EPISD to see things the way most of El Paso sees them when it comes to how our children are educated...not how they are telling us some clueless firm has said it needs to be done.

EPISD works for us.

Let's send them a clear message on November 8.

And let's send them a clearer message when this bond comes back as a $300,000,000 dollar bond.

VOTE NO! Both times!

EPISD pushes “deplorable conditions” in schools WHILE SITTING ON $20,000,000 ON UNSPENT 2007 BOND TAXPAYER DOLLARS

People have accused me of being thin on facts and heavy on drama.

The fact is, this unspent bond money is collecting dust in a vault while Cabrera and Fenenbock are repeatedly griping about the “deplorable” conditions our schools are in and how we need millions of dollars to fix them...NOW or the safety of our students is at risk.

There are issues that need to be dealt with immediately. We all know that as welll as EPISD.

So why on earth do they not tap into that mile-high pile of money just waiting to be put to good use on behalf of our students and their educators?

This isn’t drama.

This is a valid question I’ve asked Dori Fenenbock directly on TV, and she couldn’t give me a viable answer. She has her talking points down pat and will not deviate from them.

My question caught her off guard and she was as lost as Jimmy Hoffa.

I may not have the exact dollar figure to the cent... the exact location of where the money is kept... the particular needs of every high school that this money can address... or just how the EPISD bureacracy keeps the money useless when it is needed immediately.

But El Pasoans are smart and we know when EPISD leaves 20 million in 2007 taxpayer dollars on the table while claiming schools need immediate repairs for the safety of our students...then someone somewhere on planet EPISD IS NOT DOING THEIR JOB.

VOTE NO on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

EL PASO RISING? KIDS FIRST? I call BS.

PAC $ all about politicians, contracting corporations, and powerful locals who want to influence education.
SHARE! Vote No EPISD bond Nov. 8. SHARE!

Here’s a quick glimpse of the players behind the EPISD PAC money:

El Paso Rising PAC (Political Action Committee)

$387,700.00 Raised, spent and in the bank
Spent $185,000 promoting EPISD bond in October

Sample Contributors — 
25,000 – Transtelco
25,000 – Associated General Contractors of El Paso PAC
12,500 – First Finacial Capital Corporation
10,000 – Southwest Land Development Services
10,000 – Patriot Mortgage Company
7,500 – Houston-based Norton Rose Fulbright

Kids First PAC

$75,000 raised, spent, in the bank

Sample Contributors –
10,000 – WestStar Bank board chairman L. Frederick Francis
2,500 – Venegas Engineering Management and Construction
There are also several powerful local individuals who are contributing.

NOTE — Dori Fenenbock has family ties to the Meyers Group which is the corporation that is building the 22-story condo/apartment building on the westside.

Don’t be fooled by these PAC names. They have zero to do with El Paso rising or kids first.

This bond is all about the money.

Poorly educated students and their poorly paid, overworked educators are an afterthought.

VOTE NO on the EPISD bond.

Join the James No Bond coalition because there will be a Second Coming of the EPISD bond assuming this bond goes down in flames on November 8. As it should.

How does the biggest EPISD BOND ever at $669,000,000 pass when it has nothing to do with the real issues facing El Paso’s unique border students, in particular those living in poverty, and their overworked and underpaid educators?

I'll tell you how...

Bankroll it with half a million dollars coming from individuals with ulterior motives and corporations looking for easy money.

Disguise it as “for the children” when it doesn't contribute one penny to actually addressing a #43 and dropping ranked Texas education.

Manipulate Coronado and Burges High students to go house to house in school jerseys asking people to vote for the bond.

Make EPISD employees and teachers feel threatened with retaliation if they disagree with the bond.

FENENBUCKS and CABRERAS FUNNY MONEY Campaign

Accusations of anti-Semitism by popular ex-city rep Susie Byrd in an effort to keep me from releasing this particular printed campaign.  She contacted local blogger Jaime Abeytia (Lion Star Blog) and had him post a story about it, not to mention he called me in an effort to have me withdraw my Fenenbucks campaign.   Didn't work, in fact I expanded my campaign to include the EPISD superintendent: Juan Cabrera.

Here is Abeytia’s blogpost – Anti-bond Ad Draws Criticism

Famed local blogger Rich Wright (El Chuqueño) also jumped into the fray with this very well-written blogpost – The Fenenbucks Controversy

Explanatory diagram making it easy for readers to see just how much of our tax dollars go into feeding the EPISD machine.

TV appearances

Based on my efforts as James No Bond, I was given an invitation to “debate” Dori Fenenbock, EPISD Board of Trustees president on live TV.  I had never done anything like this but was confident because I knew my material and the points I wanted to call Mrs. Fenenbock out on.   She went through her usual mechanical talking points so nothing surprised me there.  I, on the other hand, slapped on an “I’m PISD” button just before the cameras started rolling.  

I was interviewed by Genevieve Curtis, Chief Investigative reporter for KFOX 14 News on November 3, 2016.

She put together a great segment about the big money that PAC’s with special interests were bank-rolling the EPISD bond with, close to half a million dollars.

Watch it here –  KFOX14 Investigates: The business of the EPISD $668.7 million bond
 

The EPISD bond passes — Post bond material

NEVER HAS MORE MONEY BEEN EXTRACTED from El Paso taxpayers ($1.2 billion with interest when paid) with nothing being invested in the actual #43 in the nation education of El Paso’s students and nothing going towards supporting their underpaid and overworked teachers.

Oh, EPISD will provide new turf that will be replaced in 10 years, refrigerated AC that will make students so comfortable they'll want to sleep, new buses that replace buses that have several years of life left in them, laptops that won't help students if they aren't getting a proper education in the first place, and a brand new Coronado for the children of El Paso’s elite and powerful parents while southside schools get the crumbs.

How does the biggest EPISD BOND ever at $669,000,000 pass when it has nothing to do with the real issues facing El Paso’s unique border students, in particular those living in poverty, and their overworked and underpaid educators?

I'll tell you how...

Bankroll it with half a million dollars coming from individuals with ulterior motives and corporations looking for easy money.

Disguise it as “for the children” when it doesn't contribute one penny to actually addressing a #43 and dropping ranked Texas education.

Manipulate Coronado and Burges High students to go house to house in school jerseys asking people to vote for the bond.

Make EPISD employees and teachers feel threatened with retaliation if they disagree with the bond.

EPISD Bond Election Losers

EPISD Bond Election Winners

EPISD Bond Election Winners – Series of 5

JAMES NO BOND VIDEOS

A Time to Kill the EPISD bond video

Video created out of various James Bond trailers and music.  

A mashup of James Bond, Jaws and a damn smelly skunk.  An original video that exposes the EPISD bond for what it really is.

Dump the Propaganda EPISD bond video

Don't let them tell you “it’s for the kids” or “it’s the right thing to do.”  It's for spending hard-earned tax dollars on buildings.  It’s for enriching big, corporate contractors that make huge profits from a $670,000,000 payday bond. 

2016 EPISD bond: Unfair and Unequal video

Vote NO! Jud Burgess addresses the issue of the unfair way the bond is allocated to richer schools with well-heeled parents while schools in poor neighborhoods go without once again.

2016 EPISD bond: Vote No! “Fenebucks” guerrilla blitz

Join the James No Bond team and help us hand them out wherever people gather in El Paso! 

My response to Dori Fenenbock’s El Paso Times EPISD bond column.  Oct. 30, 2016

I go over Dori Fenenbock's guest EPISD bond column point by point. It's not pretty. It's an attempt by her and EPISD to confuse, obfuscate and pass an extremely unpopular bond that again hits El Paso taxpayers below the belt. Ignores students and their teachers and the issues of quality education on the border.