“More than 600 people turned out on Sunday to hear more than 30 city and school board candidates speak at a joint forum put on by the El Paso Inter-religious Sponsoring Organization (EPISO) and Border Interfaith.”

City Council candidates were challenged to invest in workforce development program Project ARRIBA, and complete quality of life and neighborhood infrastructure projects within the already established 7-year time frame.  Because El Paso public schools mandate standardized testing at least once (and sometimes twice) per week, school board candidates were challenged to reduce the number of standardized tests by 50%.  Candidates were also asked to commit to a more equitable way of funding the arts than simply asking parents of participating students to shoulder the cost.

This assembly followed concerns expressed by EPISO, and echoed by the El Paso Times editorial board regarding the current Board's failure to enact reforms supporting representative democracy.

[Photo Credit: Mark Lambie/El Paso Times]

Early Voting Starts Today in El Paso, El Paso Times [pdf]

[Excerpt from El Paso Times editorial:]

"Clint Independent School District trustees, presented with an easy opportunity to expand representative democracy, punted. They had no good explanation for failing to make an easy decision, just mutterings about needing more time to study….”The El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization has been the leader in the movement to reform Clint ISD’s voting patterns.

‘I think it’s an exercise of great arrogance, and it demonstrates a lack of respect of representative government,’ said the Rev. Ed Roden-Lucero, EPISO’s co-chair….

Roden-Lucero is absolutely correct."

Trustees Stall: Clint Just Protecting Power, El Paso Times