STALLED PROJECTS AGAIN?!!!
The following is a story from the Monitor:
City hall completion pushed back again
June 8, 2008 - 4:39PM
Jackie Leatherman
EDINBURG - Nails jut out of the latte-colored walls in City Manager J.J. Rodriguez's office, tucked in the back of City Hall.
Rodriguez took the pictures off of his office walls weeks ago. He has boxes everywhere.
Everyone in Edinburg City Hall has boxes everywhere, he said.
Staff is packed, ready to go - with no place to go.
City officials are growing restless with the continuous delays in their new City Hall's construction.
Rodriguez said they are "getting very, very pushy with the contractor," but the city council has approved two construction deadline extensions.
Enriquez Enterprises was supposed to have had the building ready to occupy in December, according to the original contract approved in April 2006.
Then the council approved an extension in August that pushed the deadline back to February of this year.
It approved an additional extension in May that stamped June 20 as the date the majority of construction should be finished.
Rodriguez uses phrases like "expressed serious concerns" and "somewhat of a little uncomfortable" and "getting really impatient" when he talks about recent conversations he's had with the contractor overseeing the new City Hall's construction just one block away from the current one.
Rodriguez said the contractor is having "a little bit of trouble" with subcontractors over the "decorative end of the process."
Enriquez Enterprises Vice President Gilbert Enriquez said changes to the project have continuously pushed back the final move-in date. He said there are more changes waiting for council approval that would push the date past June 20.
In fact, Enriquez said the building may not be ready to occupy until July's end.
Heres my question:
If Ochoa and Gus were suppose to get "STALLED PROJECTS" Completed, whats with the City Hall and Police Station buildings? The former mayor and councilmember were voted OUT 2 years ago, whats the hold up now? CAN YOU SAY "BULLSHIT CAMPAIGN SLOGANS?"
The aforementioned two are no more real than silicone implants.
The "O" gots to GO!
City hall completion pushed back again
June 8, 2008 - 4:39PM
Jackie Leatherman
EDINBURG - Nails jut out of the latte-colored walls in City Manager J.J. Rodriguez's office, tucked in the back of City Hall.
Rodriguez took the pictures off of his office walls weeks ago. He has boxes everywhere.
Everyone in Edinburg City Hall has boxes everywhere, he said.
Staff is packed, ready to go - with no place to go.
City officials are growing restless with the continuous delays in their new City Hall's construction.
Rodriguez said they are "getting very, very pushy with the contractor," but the city council has approved two construction deadline extensions.
Enriquez Enterprises was supposed to have had the building ready to occupy in December, according to the original contract approved in April 2006.
Then the council approved an extension in August that pushed the deadline back to February of this year.
It approved an additional extension in May that stamped June 20 as the date the majority of construction should be finished.
Rodriguez uses phrases like "expressed serious concerns" and "somewhat of a little uncomfortable" and "getting really impatient" when he talks about recent conversations he's had with the contractor overseeing the new City Hall's construction just one block away from the current one.
Rodriguez said the contractor is having "a little bit of trouble" with subcontractors over the "decorative end of the process."
Enriquez Enterprises Vice President Gilbert Enriquez said changes to the project have continuously pushed back the final move-in date. He said there are more changes waiting for council approval that would push the date past June 20.
In fact, Enriquez said the building may not be ready to occupy until July's end.
Heres my question:
If Ochoa and Gus were suppose to get "STALLED PROJECTS" Completed, whats with the City Hall and Police Station buildings? The former mayor and councilmember were voted OUT 2 years ago, whats the hold up now? CAN YOU SAY "BULLSHIT CAMPAIGN SLOGANS?"
The aforementioned two are no more real than silicone implants.
The "O" gots to GO!
posted by THE POLITICAL RING | 8:39 PM
12 Comments:
Hey PR, I follow what you are saying and it makes complete sense but what about the other Councilmembers? Should they not also carry blame? If so, who would these stalled projects negatively impact more, Joe? Gus? or Noe? I'm curious to know your response.
What about city management? Who in the hell is overseeing this?
Did the other council members make promises to hammer home those stalled projects in exchange for a vote?
Hello, Political Ring,
Well, the city hall project will probably be Exhibit No. 1 in the upcoming battle between Joe Ochoa and Richard Garcia, and whoever (if anyone) challenges Gus Garcia, Jr. and Noe Garza.
Let's see. The city hall was approved under the Richard Garcia administration a couple of years ago. That crafty contractor himself, Gilbert Enriquez, pulled off the low bid, and since then, there have been cost overruns (they call them 'change orders' so the citizens don't realize they got screwed) for everything from knocking down the old school administration building to buying a power generator. Everyone on the city council, including Mayor Ochoa, have voted for the cost overruns (I'm sorry, I meant 'change orders'.)
So, who is to blame? Who lied about the original figures? And where are they finding all this money? That's what the Monitor should be looking at, not this nonsense of the city hall opening being delayed. I mean, its not a raspa stand they are opening, so everything has to be on the up-and-up.
The city does have a projects manager, and they have received regular updates from Enriquez and company during the past few months.
Why don't you have someone request the copies of the minutes from those work sessions from city hall and publish them on your website?
I am not defending the cost overruns or delays on this project, but let's be fair. As far as I can tell, the city council has been pretty open about the good, the bad, and the ugly about the city hall project.
Also, I think the city hall was needed, and will help develop that area into a nice showcase. But with such an expensive project comes the inevitable screw-ups, and with it, political fire.
Look for the stupid "Tower" on top of new city hall to be a big campaign issue next May. It turns out (and this was televised on the city propaganda channel) that when the architect drew up the plan for the tower, it was to allow the public to view the city (big deal).
Then, after the spend God knows how much money, they find out the Americans with Disabilities Act requires them to build an elevator to the tower otherwise it discriminates against the disabled, and that's a big no-no.
So, as a result, NO ONE gets to go up to get the awe-inspiring view of the Hidalgo County Courthouse from the Tower to Nowhere.
The Tower to Nowhere really showed the lack of sensitivity, and disdain for the elderly and disabled that some of these people in power have.
What do you, think, PR? The Tower to Nowhere? How about that for your next posting?
The tower matches the same "hanging tower" concept out in front of the police department. What's the point? The city cheaped on the new PD and its design is a disaster.
Taj Mahal offices for the COP's, Traffic Division, Terry Palacios and his staff. Really, how much time does Terry spend at the station?
The jail is a design failure.
There is dead space abound, from extra wide hallways, oversized offices, and in some cases, too few offices for the divisions that need them.
Future expansion, by way of adding a second floor is out of the question. The original plans called for the foundation and wall structures to be built for that contingency, but the city went cheap and cut it out. Way to go! Now you have a building that is already outgrown and the only place to expand is into the moat that surrounds the place.
Edinburg News lost all their races. All thats left is to bitch. Looks like they are pissing their pants that Pena was elected by the Clinton team to be at the national convention. Really bad losers.
thats great. put another notch in the belt against saenz and ochoa.
PR's silence is very telling.
"PR's silence is very telling.
6:53 AM"
Telling of what? That I got a life and I'm not always glued to a computer?
So what's your response on the stalled projects issue regarding who's more to blame?
"So what's your response on the stalled projects issue regarding who's more to blame?
1:40 PM"
PROJECTS being stalled signifies SOMEONE AINT GETTING THEIR FAIR SHARE. You know not getting paid right, hence all the changed orders. Stalled Projects and Street Paving are Political angles some of these politicians take when re-election is up. Or they simple do the paving of roads to win popularity points with the not so fortunate. SHAME ON THEM!
My take on the whole thing:
People elect the politician they deserve...Ochoa won, AND WHAT HAS THE DECREPIT MAYOR BROUGHT TO EDINBURG? My point Exactly! NOT A DAMN THING! Chill out PR you say right? But hey its kinda hard to take it in stride when these morons are forever going to be in office because they pay off all the politiqueras and have their loyal family with some type of blind loyalty hinching people who dont conform to their ideals.
I love the term change order. Why doesn't anyone ask about the limestone that the contractor forgot to include in his original proposal (keep in mind it was not a bid, but a proposal-difference being that the City can negotiate on a proposal, as opposed to a bid). There was a little over $600 grand left off of the original proposal. This was discovered AFTER the contract was signed. Under normal circumstances a contractor would have to eat this. The City Manager, under order of the mayor, allowed the contractor to propose alternatives that were supposed to be cheaper for the City. That being said, how was it cheaper when it was never in the original proposal? This is one of the many problems with that project when Joe Ochoa took office.
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