Commissioner At-Large “A” Candidates

Susan Ruvalcaba

Hometown: Brownsville

Other political office held: None

Education:  Studied nursing at the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College

Occupation: Registered nurse and owner of the restaurant, Mi Torito

Family: Married 

What qualifies you for the position?

“I am a small-business owner here. I am a registered nurse and graduated from [the University of Texas at Brownsville]. I have been in the community as [an] advocate for the people for several years. Specifically, recently, in regards to the [Public Utilities Board and] Tenaska. As far as my qualifications, I am an auditor by nature. I have experience in balancing budgets. I have experience in federal and local and state contracts, and the compliance of those contracts. I have experience in negotiating contracts as well. Transparency and accountability is a huge thing with the federal government, as you can imagine. And I’ve been in that industry for over 30 years now.”

Goals if elected: “I have about five priorities that I want to focus on in Brownsville. One of them is bridging the gap of communication between the leadership and the people. I feel like there has been a huge disconnect and the citizens haven’t been privy to information that they should be prior to agenda items being voted on. The other big priority for me is transparency and accountability, and that goes more to the point of explaining things prior to voting rather than after the fact so that everybody has the ability to speak their voice before the agenda item. Obviously, beautifying Brownsville. We need to clean up Brownsville and make sure that Brownsville is a place where tourists want to visit so that we can bring in more revenue. And then, of course, the same as most other candidates, you’re going to look at infrastructure and you’re going to look at economic development and redevelopment.”

Brownsville Public Utilities Board and Tenaska: “As soon as that audit was released, I became a very vocal resident in regards to what had happened with Tenaska. I intend on, once I get into office, making sure that the money that is available to come back to us, which we have pushed it to include the $29 million, plus the interest earned. And that will be a little over $30 million that will come back to the residents and commercial payers, ratepayers … that [it] was taken from. I also intend on doing a full investigation on the $79 million that they say they used for subsidies. And I also want to make sure and do another forensic investigation on the vendors that were paid over $30 million to make sure that their invoices are, you know, checks and balances, to make sure it was done correctly. I was a big advocate for the charter, the proposed charters, the amendments that are coming out on the ballot this next month, making sure that we have more oversight over [the Public Utilities Board], making sure that we are able to see their budget prior to being implemented and making sure that we have control over the board. And those kind of things, I think, will bridge that communication gap and that oversight gap between us and PUB.”

SpaceX: “So, SpaceX, it has been a great addition to Brownsville as far as the revenue and tourist revenue that we are able to bring in. And just having the space shuttle and SpaceX, there is kind of a really neat thing to be able to have that addition to our city. However … I have a few issues with it and some of those issues are our environmental protection, our wildlife protection. And then, of course, the closing of the Boca Chica Beach, which is something that our citizens should have access to. So, I think what we need to do is we need to assertively take a position with SpaceX and make sure that there is a balance that we can have both. We can have the SpaceX and all that SpaceX will bring us, but we also need to deal with what’s going on with our wildlife and on our beaches. And I think that that’s just the way we can approach it. I think that there can be some funds set aside from SpaceX since they were able to donate $10 million and $20 million to the school and $10 million downtown. I think that if they have that kind of cash flowing around that they can give some cash in order to help us protect the wildlife and the Boca Chica Beach. Obviously, we need some sort of access to that beach if it be another roadway or avenue for us to get in and out and then to be able to continue what they’re doing. So there’s some real issues. There’s some cracks that need to be filled within that whole topic.”

Downtown renovations: “So, you know, the downtown revitalization projects that have been going on, again, another great thing for Brownsville. My problem with the downtown revitalization is the prioritization of that over the public’s basic needs. I feel like any special project that’s going on in the city, and that would include downtown revitalization, that those need to be lower on the totem pole. You know, our infrastructure issues, our potholes, our streets, the general filth within the city and the cleanup of the city. Those basic needs, our bus stop shelters, those kind of things need to be prioritized over this kind of special needs. We have a small portion of the population that goes downtown, that stays downtown, that has businesses downtown. And I don’t want them completely shut off or affected by that. But I do think there was a lack of prioritization within, again, the citizens’ basic needs.”

Road capital improvements: “So, obviously, there’s a big issue with that in Brownsville. And I think that’s an issue that comes up in every election year. And I’m not sure if it’s a lack of funds or if it’s a lack of communication with the upper state area to get more grants and help with that. Regardless, we need to tackle it pretty aggressively. Our roads are horrible. Cars are being damaged with the type of roads that we have. And then, of course, every time it rains, all of that poorly repaired areas … it just messes everything up. So, what I propose, that I think would be a little better as [an] approach, is that we have a problem with collaborating with the entities in Brownsville, and I would like to strengthen that collaboration with [the Brownsville Independent School District], the county, the port. Who else knows the streets better than the bus drivers? And I think that we should be collaborating with BISD and finding out what student areas are difficult for the bus drivers to get in and out of. No. 1, because of our drainage and No. 2, because of our streets. And those are the streets that we need to prioritize first. We seem to be focusing a lot on the northern area because that’s where the northern growth, I mean, we’re obviously, we’re growing towards the north area because that’s where we have to, right? We can’t really grow too much the other areas, but we need to maintain them. And so, even though we’re growing over here, we actually need to maintain our other sites in Brownsville. And we’ve forgotten about that. And, so, we need to look at that budget again as far as streets, streets repairs, we need to make sure that what we’re doing is efficient, the mechanisms that we’re using are efficient. And then, we need to start calling up, come up to the State of Texas and say, ‘Hey, we need some more money down in this area.’ We need to collaborate. We need our roads fixed and take it from there.”

William Garza

Hometown: Brownsville

Other political office held: City commissioner at-large

Education: Attended the University of Texas-Pan American and received an associate’s degree from Texas Southmost College

Occupation: Hospitality at La Quinta Inn & Suites

Family: Married, with a son

What qualifies you for the position? “Well, I’m a former city commissioner, for one.”

Goals if elected: “My platform is to increase tourism, make it easier for the permitting process for our business community, identify the infrastructure issues and tend to them. Also facilitate all the sports, including chess, and the parks and recreation facilities for their needs. What is it that they need? Because I hear a lot of complaints from them. And, also, a better communication with the government, the county, the port of Brownsville, [the Brownsville Independent School District], [Texas Southmost College], UTRGV and, especially, the people of this government.”

Brownsville Public Utilities Board and Tenaska: “My two opponents are fighting each other because one is accusing the other of being there and he never did nothing about it. I’m not going to get involved in that fight. Let them fight it out. But, if you were there, you should have done something about it. You know, if it looked like it was never going to happen, why did we continue to, like, today, we’re still paying the money that they increase our rates because of that Tenaska thing. It’s supposed to be $30 million left. What happened to the $175 million … collected during this time? I guess it’s all been invested or spent some other way. But that $30 million they say is left, well, give it back to the ratepayers, you know, or find some way to credit them because that’s not fair what they did. … This project was closed a long time ago. … But we need to make sure we appoint qualified people to the board.”

SpaceX: “I think it’s a good thing for Brownsville. We had that launch that recently happened. We had a gentleman staying at our hotel that came from Canada. Canada, just to see the launch. He said, ‘I came from Canada,’ and there was a person right behind him. ‘Well, you know what? I came from Germany just to see the launch.’ … So, it is attracting more and more. People want to get started. They’re still testing a lot of things with SpaceX, but, eventually, you’re going to have flights out of here. I got to tell my wife about a ticket to go to Mars and I said, ‘I want to go now.’ No, but eventually it’ll succeed and have manned flights. I’m for SpaceX.”

Downtown renovations: “We did revitalize a downtown area when I was here with those street lights that are there, the sidewalks, the benches, the landscaping. We did that during our time, you know. We as a group did that. That was with our bond issue.”

Road capital improvements: “The extra revenue that I want to bring to the city through tourism, I want to apply to the infrastructure. You know, we still have very bad streets. We still have drainage problems. And I would like to apply the extra revenues to that.”

Tino Villarreal

Hometown: Brownsville

Other political office held: None

Education: Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College

Occupation: Athletic director at Saint Joseph Academy

Family: Single

What qualifies you for the position? “I have been involved in my community for the past 25 years, and what I mean by that is I run the local youth leadership organization called the National Hispanic Institute at Temple, Texas. And in training youth for leadership positions, we’re always looking at community issues and how they affect the future. That has led me to always be very involved within Brownsville. Everything from being part of our Chamber of Commerce. I was chairman of the Brownsville Community Improvement Corp. I was vice chairman of the Brownsville Public Utilities Board. I have been part of representing Brownsville at the state capital for youth sports and youth mentorship programs. So, I think those qualities. I sit on the national board of a Hispanic organization. I’m a trustee. I have been a trustee in that organization for over 12 years. I think that all of those things qualify me. But really, you don’t need qualifications anymore. Anyone can run. You just need a voice right? But I think that I have [a] unique perspective. I used to be a business owner. I used to own 12 restaurants here in Brownsville. And, so, all of those things, I think that they qualify me because I’m in tune with the challenges, opportunities and have a lot of knowledge as far as how politics works, budgets, city versus county versus state versus federal issues. And I think that those kinds of things ultimately make me a qualified candidate.”

Goals if elected: “The most important goal is cohesiveness. Anyone can talk about issues and plans for economic development or tourism, beautifying Brownsville, the Tenaska fiasco. But, ultimately, I’ve learned throughout this campaign that there are a lot of groups of people that pocket themselves into little smaller groups, and they have personal vendettas, problems within each other. And they’re usually very petty. But those little petty issues, I think, get in the way of people holding leadership positions who can actually make smart decisions. Working together, putting the citizens of Brownsville first instead of their own little personal petty issues, or who they took the photo with, or who they know or who they didn’t know, or who they said hi to, kind of those things. … Our community’s better than that. So, trying to try to build that cohesion within the commission, with the mayor. I think I’ve done a really good job in my lifetime at teamwork, and everything I’ve done has been successful because of it. … I’m independent. I don’t have anything really linked. I’m an athletic director. I have nothing to gain. I’m not a local business owner. I used to be. I’m not anymore. I don’t have anything where I can potentially gain or I’m not using this as a steppingstone to run for a bigger office. I’m really in it to build a better Brownsville for you guys, for youth, for the future of our community. I mean, that’s what I dedicated 25 years of my life to. Some people just can’t understand that. They think that we’re going to gain something from it because, ultimately, there’s just the satisfaction of helping people. I don’t know. I don’t know. That’s sometimes hard for people to grasp. That’s what I feel. That is my calling. God put me on Earth to help other human beings as best as I can. I don’t have all the answers, but I sleep good at night knowing that I did at least one good deed every day. And I’ve lived my life that way. That’s why I coach, and I hope to be able to bring that kind of cohesion so that we can actually do real things instead of picking personal projects or attacking other people because of personal vendettas. I think our community needs to come first.”

Brownsville Public Utilities Board and Tenaska: “Tenaska is definitely the hot topic, and my opponents have really highlighted their campaign over it. I have not, because it is a good project that went bad. … Some people say it’s $29 million that should be given back to the ratepayers. Some people fall somewhere in the middle of that. My opponent, Susan, wants to say that it’s that plus the $11 [million] that they gave the city, plus the interest, plus land that they own. Ultimately, it’s just something that we, as a future commissioner and the current commission, we’re going to need to re-establish trust between our utilities board and the people. We are going to 100% give people as much money back as possible without having to increase taxes or hurt the city’s budget. But ultimately, unfortunately, I don’t believe that will ever be good enough. And I don’t think, sadly, that we’re ever going to see 100% of Brownsville citizens happy. So we have a massive challenge ahead of us, at how we restructure [the] city’s trust, the Public Utilities Board, and, ultimately, the trust between politicians and the citizens of Brownsville.”

SpaceX: “I like to keep things kind of in line, meaning there are environmental issues, unfortunately, for the city of Brownsville. There’s very little that we can have oversight over the environmental issues. OK. Those are federally regulated, state regulated and county regulated. So SpaceX and Starbase does not fall in the city limits of Brownsville. OK. So a lot of people complain about road closures. Well, that’s a county decision, not a city. What we can do is capitalize over the amount of people that SpaceX brings that are looking to build homes, and, hopefully, we can bring that revenue and generate more local businesses and increase the per capita income of Brownsville instead of [detouring] them to South Padre Island and Los Fresnos and Laguna Vista and Harlingen. But I think SpaceX is a great thing. But I also do believe that as a city, when people talk to me about environmental issues that SpaceX brings, I do believe that we’re the largest city with the biggest city dump, but no recycling centers. So, like, before we even talk about SpaceX, we have to kind of fix our own environmental issues as a community before we even begin to tackle county, state and federal issues. But we’re definitely a voice for our citizens with our county, state and federal government.”

Downtown renovations: “A lot of focus has been put on downtown, and even Elon Musk has given money to downtown. I think that the beautification of Brownsville should not only include downtown, but it should include the city of Brownsville. I love the downtown community. I think it’s prospering. And I do believe that we need to get more private businesses to pump dollars into downtown, because I think that Brownsville has done a great job from a city standpoint, putting tax dollars into downtown, but we have other parts of Brownsville that also need beautification and attention.”

Road capital improvements: “Ultimately, I think that’s the most important topic that you brought up because city government was meant to provide transportation, infrastructure, which is streets and drainage, safety and security. And, sometimes, we forget that those are the really four most important things that [the] city government can do for us. And, we are definitely a city that needs to pay attention to that infrastructure, which is our streets and drainage. There are so many issues that … take our attention and our focus. But ultimately, it’s like a house. If your foundation isn’t right, the whole house can fall. And we need to put some serious dollars and attention to just our streets and drainage. And it should occupy our main attention whenever talking about city budgets.”

–Compiled by The Rider Editor-in-Chief Verilu Infante

–Rider Reporter Brigitte Ortiz contributed to this report