Join The Transient, The Texas Tribune’s day by day publication that retains readers up to the mark on essentially the most important Texas information.
McALLEN –– As election officers throughout Texas work to retain voter confidence in how their elections are managed, one South Texas city is giving residents the choice to wrestle management of elections from the town amid allegations of bias.
Rio Grande Metropolis has added a constitution election scheduled for Tuesday that may permit voters to resolve whether or not to have an out of doors company run future elections as a substitute of the town secretary. A second proposition would set time period limits for elected officers, permitting them to serve solely two four-year phrases.
The proposed amendments got here from the town’s latest elected officers, together with Mayor Gilberto Falcon. He and two metropolis commissioners had been elected in Could and after clashes with the town’s administration throughout the marketing campaign, Falcon believes their elections ought to be dealt with by an unbiased physique.
“There were a lot of challenges that we had to overcome during the election that should have not been in place,” Falcon mentioned. “We should have been able to feel assured that there was going to be an election run with integrity.”
Positioned roughly 40 miles west of McAllen, Rio Grande Metropolis’s current elections have triggered allegations of corruption by challengers towards incumbents.
Falcon and the 2 new commissioners made comparable allegations throughout the marketing campaign — however this time, their allegations reached the courts. Falcon, an legal professional, represented one in every of his working mates, Ediel Barrera, in a lawsuit towards the town over a trove of public data requests submitted to the town secretary. Barrera accused officers of delaying the discharge of the data he sought to show his opponent was corrupt.
Assist unbiased Texas information
Our newsroom is celebrating 15 years of innovation. Your present as we speak is doubled because of a $5,000 match for our fifteenth birthday.
Select an quantity or be taught extra about membership.
Then-Deputy Metropolis Supervisor Noe Castillo, who can also be the police chief, assured the general public that the town secretary’s workplace was complying with state regulation.
The secretary’s workplace has confronted heavy scrutiny during the last 5 years. In January 2020, Metropolis Secretary Lyzette Peña was arrested on allegations she illegally recorded different metropolis staff. The fees had been later dropped.
Her substitute, Melissa Garza, was arrested in 2022 on cash laundering costs associated to a drug-trafficking ring that federal prosecutors declare was led by her husband, Ignacio “Nacho” Garza. The couple pleaded not responsible to the fees.
An important Texas information,
despatched weekday mornings.
After Falcon, Barrera and a 3rd candidate, Eudolio Barrera, took workplace in June, the town fee made sweeping adjustments to the town administration, hiring a brand new municipal choose, a brand new metropolis legal professional and a brand new metropolis supervisor.
The commissioners eliminated Castillo as deputy metropolis legal professional however stored him on as police chief. The town secretary who oversaw the town’s Could election resigned final month. The town is at the moment accepting functions for the place.
In the meantime, the Starr County Elections Division is working the town’s constitution election, the primary time the town has ever contracted the county for elections. Texas regulation permits cities, college districts, and different political subdivisions to request that the county run their elections.
Armandina Martinez, director of the Starr County Elections Division, mentioned she hopes that combining the town and county election websites on Election Day will assist increase turnout. Smaller metropolis elections usually see decrease participation.
“Hopefully, on Election Day, since [the charter elections are] going to be at our precinct, they’ll get a better outcome of people voting,” Martinez mentioned.
If the proposition is permitted by voters, Falcon mentioned the town would proceed to contract with the county for future elections as nicely however the metropolis would retain management of the places.
“It’s just a way to assure the community that whoever wants to run in the future, they’re going to get a fair shot,” he mentioned.
Reporting within the Rio Grande Valley is supported partly by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
