By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Mayor Al Arreola, Del Rio City Council members and Interim City Manager Manuel Chavez bid farewell to Mayor Pro-tem Steve Webb during a special city council meeting on June 25.
Webb, a retired police department officer, was defeated in his re-election bid to the Councilperson At-Large, Place A, seat he held on the council.
After canvassing the results of a runoff election at which Webb’s successor, Carmen Gutierrez, was elected, the council formally recognized Webb and his years of service to the community.
Arreola began the tribute by saying, “I really want to thank Mr. Webb for stepping up and serving as the mayor pro-tem for my two years (on the council). You did an awesome job, sir. To me, you really stepped up to the plate on a lot of things when I couldn’t be there. You went around the city to all the events that I couldn’t go to, so I really appreciate your service. Thank you very much and may God bless you in the next adventure that you’re going to.”
Webb replied, “You’re welcome. It was a pleasure.”
Chavez then asked Webb to join him on the floor of the council chambers in front of the council dais.
Chavez said, “Mayor Pro-tem Webb, thank you again for your service as City Councilperson At-Large, Place A. I know that you were very active in the community, always speaking with anyone that required your attention and you always came back and provided us with any concerns from the citizens, so, for that, I do thank you.”
Chavez then presented Webb with several parting gifts.
First was a frame containing Webb’s mayor pro-tem nameplate, Webb’s business card and council portrait and all of the city pins that were used during his tenure on the council.
Chavez also presented Webb with a framed copy of the oath of office he took when he joined the city council.
Finally, Chavez presented Webb with a large gift basket containing a variety of Del Rio-themed gifts.
The mayor and council members joined Chavez and Webb for a final photo.
Webb then stood at the podium and thanked Chavez for the parting gifts.
“I’ve had some time to think about what I wanted to say, and you know me, I’m a man of few words. I’m the type of person who’s going to tell you the truth,” Webb said.
“When I came on the council, one of the trainings they sent us to was ‘know your role.’ Well, apparently some people still haven’t learned after a couple of years, what their role is. Multiple violations of charter based on the roles and regulations.
“We each have a job. My job is to go to the city manager, tell him a problem and get it resolved. My job is not to go to a particular entity of the city and say, hey, I need this or I need that and get it done or (to say) you’re doing it wrong and anything like that.
“I go to the city manager because that’s the rule, and if you’re not following the rules, you sometimes get to the place where you think you can do anything you want and tell anybody whatever you want and they’re going to listen. That’s not how it works, folks,” Webb said.
“You new (council members), Randy, Carmen, you’re coming into a situation where you’re going to have to make decisions; not look at your friends, not look at your family, but look at the community. It’s all about the community, not how can I beat this rule or that rule, who can I make mad, who do I fire tomorrow?
“The only person who can hire and fire is the city manager. The only people that tell the city manager – or ask, I always asked – is council. The mayor’s a figurehead. He goes out here and represents our community wherever he’s needed, and his job is to take pictures, kiss babies, whatever his wife will let him do,” Webb said.
“But others seem to think that’s their job too, and when you have people on council circumventing the rules, that’s no good. We talk about teamwork, and we haven’t had teamwork in the last few years. Teams work together to resolve problems. We’re split. I’m going to be honest. We’re split. One group wants this, one group want that. This is the way they want it, this is the way we want it, and it depends on who’s got the votes, wins. That’s democracy. No problem.
“But the problem is, when you formulate a little group that over and over (is) fighting the system and not making it better; that’s not a team. Communication is the biggest part of working as a team, and there’s no communication.
“Randy over here, bless his heart, ever since he’s been on, for the last four meetings, he’s got more questions than I do, and I have a lot of questions, and I appreciate all those questions because those questions will give you knowledge, and the knowledge will give you the ability to decide what’s right and what’s wrong.
“It’s up to you to make that final vote. Don’t worry about what anybody else tells you to do or how to vote or what you should do. Use your own mind to make a decision. Some people just seem to follow the group, do whatever, and that’s wrong,” Webb continued.
“As you know, I didn’t approve everything. I fought different things. I argued about several different things and we didn’t always agree, and I fought the best I could with the knowledge I had, and I worried about the COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) for the city. I worried about the city going broke, and right now, we just have to look at things as they come because you’ve got to find a way to administer what’s right for our employees so far as pay raises or whatever, but when you’ve got certain groups that get left behind, and there’s two right now that are going into negotiations over their contracts, those contracts are not going to be cheap.
“They’re public service. They’re not going to be cheap. And I worried about that when I fought over the COLA, and it got switched and now we may pay for it. I don’t like that. That’s not good business. And I hope that anything I did has worked out,” he said.
“I know the big project I had was the drainage in San Felipe. We do have everything in the works on that, and trying to get the bids and everything done. That project, I’ve been fighting for, for four years, asking when, when, when? It’s going to be a reality, just not during my time.
“But that’s the kind of fighter I am. I recruit all kinds of projects that we’ve wanted to do to make the quality of life better. Our parks have tremendously improved. We’re now a ‘beautiful city,’ according to the award that we got, but that’s not due just to the employees of the city, that’s due to the people of the city maintaining their properties in such a way that’s acceptable.
“We’ve seen some beautiful roads get done, Nicholson (Street). We’ve changed our downtown. Main Street, a one-way. I think, as a former police officer, that makes traffic go smoother. Is it a little inconvenient? I’m sorry. I would rather have safety before convenience.
“I hope I’ve done right by the city. It’s not about me. I don’t get my picture taken very often because it’s not about me. I’m not an ego person at all. There are other projects I won’t mention that I’m in the background on. I love the economic development program. We’ve come a long way on that. The businesses we’re getting, the new businesses we’re going to get, it all comes from the economic development people, ideas that they share and do their homework on and try to figure out how to make it better,” Webb said.
“Our community is going to grow, folks. It’s got no choice. We’ve got too many things coming, the I27 corridor, the new bridge, we’ve got a lot of things going on. We’re on the map, there’s no doubt, and I go back to the time when Mayor (Bruno) Lozano was here, because he’s actually the one who went to Washington and everything, with all the other dignitaries from here and pushed and pushed and pushed because of the people under the bridge. He put Del Rio on the map.
“That’s the kind of attitude our mayor needs to be out there displaying, and that’s what he does, he represents our community, and he needs to do a little bit more in that area. Sorry, mayor, but you do. It’s not about local. It’s about outside as well.
“The big thing is know your role. Know what you’re supposed to do. Quit breaking the rules. When you break the rules, they’re going to come back to haunt you. I can tell you that now, and there’s a few of you that should have, well. . .
“I want to thank the entire (city) staff I’ve worked with. . . This is a city manager-run community, folks. That’s who runs the city. You leave it up to him to make the decisions that he thinks are best for this community, and he makes them based on the information that he gets.
“I want to thank Councilman Jim DeReus and Councilman J.P. Sanchez. They’ve been there anytime I had something I wanted to discuss, and they shared their thoughts, their ideas, which made me formulate what I needed to do or what kind of fight I needed to do. They’ve always been there. That was my team, the people I could rely on for integrity, to give me the proper answers.
“Again, as I said, I hope things go well. I hope the new people on board will be a benefit, think for themselves and not let it be about ego. I hope they ask themselves, what are you doing for the city? What are you doing to make Del Rio better? Because if you’re not thinking that way, you’re really not thinking about what you’re in that position for.
Webb thanked former City Manager John Sheedy, Interim City Manager Manuel Chavez and other city staffers for their help and support and promised, “like former Councilwoman Alexandra Calderon, I’m going to be around, you can bank on it.”
He said he would continue driving around the city “to find out what the problems are” and bring them to city administration as a citizen.
“You don’t have to be on the dais to get things done,” Webb said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
