Our county was created in 1850, and honestly, it hasn’t changed much since then. We’re using 19th-century tools to deal with 21st-century problems.

Vincent Perez, the county commissioner of El Paso, Texas, which is home to dozens of <i>colonias</i> -- makeshift subdivisions of predominantly poor people that lack basic services like safe drinking water. In the latest state budget, Texas cut funding for an ombudsman program that helped <i>colonia</i> residents figure out what public programs are available to them.