The below email remains unanswered after 36 hours and my last email to Mr. Maven remains unanswered after 5 or 6 days? Perhaps they no longer want to play IF we are going to use REAL FACTS and document them!

Dear Editor: I appreciated allowing my response to Mr. Maven but was concerned that it was edited and that Mr. Maven was allowed to respond right below without waiting for the next issue as I did. Since that time, you are aware of my response, another from him, and a final response from me; none of which made the new edition starting out the new year? While I accepted your theory that "it was just a column", I have now viewed enough of your on-line newsletter to recognize that Mr. Maven is basically a staff writer who covers City Council weekly. Given that fact, It would probably be best to not publish the continuing communications between myself and Mr. Maven lest your "dear readers" wonder about the level of "expertise" Mr. Maven has to critique City Council actions. Specifically, I speak of his horrendous "faux pas" in stating:

"With respect to Mr. Landry's qualifications, here's a fact: The City of El Paso accepts resumes in lieu of applications; Landry submitted an extensive resume and that is a matter of public record. If you were not aware of these facts, then you based much of your claims regarding Mr. Landry's lack of qualification on false assumptions. If you did know this, then you have continued to deliberately distort the record. Either way, is this appropriate conduct for a Civil Service Commissioner? (By the way, I responded to your post-script, but my response, too, was edited by NPT editor and publisher.)" (emphasis mine)

In actuality, I already knew the City of El Paso DOES NOT accept resumes in lieu of applications for the classified service and that fact is clearly defined on pages 3 and 4 of the City Application and by virtue of all past precedence, i.e., no person who left pages 3 and 4 blank and was subsequently disqualified has ever prevailed on appeal to the Civil Service Commission! So it is no wonder you left out my postscript offering to provide a copy of Alan Landry's job application; that you also edited your staff writers response is hilarious! Feel free to share that response with me and your dear readers? In essence, Mr. Maven doesn't understand the City Charter or the Rules of the Civil Service Commission sufficiently to critique anyone! As I don't expect you to print this letter in it's entirety, I have addressed the issue on my own web page; feel free to review it at htpp://home.elp.rr.com/elpasoexpress/index.html ! Be sure to click on the Landry Application so that both you and Mr. Maven will know what true "preferential treatment" is all about (you obviously don't have interest in the report with exhibits) Perhaps Mr. Maven needs to stick to Chinese checkers and fishing, facts are really not his forte! And no need to thank this "dude" again; gag me with a spoon, homey! Hang in there and always have a nice day! Lance E. Ruck - Civil Service Commissioner - District #8

YEP, I can now remove the NewspaperTree from my "favorites" list because If I want to read fiction, I'll read "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" or perhaps "Moby Dick"; in any event, I guess a lack of response could be considered . . .  ah . . .

Silence from the Shams?