City Officials Say Group Illegally Put Up Signs On Its Property

A political group made up of influential El Pasoans, who support an EPISD tax-hike, have put up campaigns signs illegally.

The I-team has uncovered the political action committee, El Paso for Educational Excellence put up signs endorsing the tax-hike on land that belongs to the Public Service Board, which is a city department.

The PSB was created by the city of El Paso to manage water and wastewater. It’s supervised by a board of trustees that includes the mayor. City code prohibits campaign signs on any city property, with the exception of a parkway, which is the strip of land between a sidewalk and a street. These signs were not posted on the parkway.

The political advertisements were posted on a fence surrounding a stormwater drain located next to the intersection of Ojo de Agua and Westwind, in west El Paso.

Christina Montoya, a spokeswoman for the Public Service Board, said they were approached by the PAC and asked for permission to put up the signs. She said the PSB agreed, thinking it was legal, according to the State Election Code.

The ABC-7 I-team went through the Election Code, but could not find anything that stipulated the legality of the signs.

After the initial phone-call, in which Montoya said the signs were in a legal place, we called the city of El Paso and checked the criteria for political signs on city property.

Montoya then called and said the PSB’s legal team looked into the issue further, and also uncovered that it was illegal to have the signs on city property, so they would then ask the PAC to remove the signage.

The political action committee’s spokeswoman said no one was available for an on-camera interview, but sent us the following statement:

“The sign locations that we chose are locations that are often used for political campaign signs and are therefore considered public forums. We checked with the Texas Ethics Commission before we placed the signs and learned that placing the signs in a public forum is permissible under the Election Code.”

The PAC’s treasurer is Russell Vanderburg, president and CEO of TVO North America, a real estate investment and management firm.

Other co-chairs include Josh Hunt, Vice President of the Hunt Development Group; Rick Hernandez, a nationwide insurance agent; and Susan Melendez, president of Jefferson High School’s Parent-Teacher-student Association.

An EPISD watchdog and critic, Martin Silva, who also owns the Silva Supermarket in South El Paso said this is unacceptable, “I feel that any signs on city property are an unfair advantage and sign pollution to the citizens of El Paso.”

He added that letting a PAC put signs up is a double standard, “If I wanted to put up a sign against the bond issue, then I have no doubt the city would be at my door that same day, writing me a citation for the sign.”

The PSB said that they do not endorse the tax-hike, and would have allowed an opposing group to put up signs, had it been legal.

EPISD wants an extra $36-million. About half would come from local property-owners. The rest would come from the state.

If approved, the hike would mean that a homeowner with a home valued at one-hundred thousand dollars would pay more than a hundred extra dollars per year. The district would use the money to increase salaries, and improve buildings and academic programs.//