By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Questions about the city’s debt, street and drainage projects and a perceived lack of
interaction between the city council and constituents were among the topics discussed
during a town hall meeting hosted by Mayor Pro-tem Jim DeReus on Thursday.
DeReus, who is the Councilperson District II representative on the city council, held the
town hall meeting in the Cottonwood Room at the Del Rio Civic Center.
DeReus welcomed members of the public attending the event and thanked the two city
staffers attending, Municipal Judge Kassandra Flores and Communications Director Peter
Ojeda.
DeReus told the group, “I have these town hall meetings just to hear what’s going on.
What I tell people is, I don’t know what I don’t know.”
He pointed to Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new series of solar-powered
lights on Plaza Avenue in south Del Rio, noting that community members alerted staff,
who then brought the concerns forward to city administrators and city council so it could
be resolved.
“That’s what I want these meetings for,” DeReus said.
He invited Del Rioan Alberto Chapa to speak. Chapa said he had
hosted by Mayor Pro-tem Jim DeReus on Thursday. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
only recently begun
paying attention to local events and said he was aware that the city had recently passed its
Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget.
“Is that available to all of us?” Chapa asked.
“I don’t know if the final version of the budget we passed is on the city’s web site yet, but
it should be. It will be posted, and you can find the previous ones,” DeReus replied.
Chapa also had questions about the city’s debt and investments and enterprise fund
transfers, and he and DeReus discussed those issues for some time.
DeReus told Chapa how he could see several financial reports made available to city
council by accessing them on the city’s web site.
DeReus next took questions and listened to comments from
Arturo Talamantez, who
lives in south Del Rio outside of DeReus’ District II. Talamantez
meeting on Thursday. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
said he has already
spoken with District III Councilman Randy Quiñones about his concerns, but wanted to
also voice them to DeReus.
“I have a concern about the water pipes that are underground that are (made of) asbestos
cement. I want to know when those are going to be, or when are we are going to ask our
government, the state, to help us pull those pipes out, because asbestos is pretty
dangerous,” Talamantez said.
DeReus said he was unaware of any asbestos pipes being used by the city, but assured
Talamantez he would look into the claims.
Talamantez said he is also concerned about “outrageous” city spending, overgrown lots,
junked cars, “bad” streets, lack of lighting, drainage issues and lack of enforcement of
city ordinances.
“Our neighborhoods in San Felipe are in dire need of help. . . We’re not second-class
citizens. . . I’d like to see the city do more for us,” Talamantez said.
He complained the city council seemed more concerned with renovating the Paul Poag
Theatre and improving the golf course than addressing the concerns of the San Felipe
neighborhood.
“It seems like we don’t have our priorities straight,” Talamantez said.
He complimented DeReus “for asking a lot of questions” during council meetings.
hosted by Mayor Pro-tem Jim DeReus and held in the Cottonwood Room at the civic
center. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
Del Rio George Solis also asked DeReus questions about the city’s debt and the principle
and interest on the amounts the city has borrowed.
DeReus again discussed an issue he had raised in council meetings about the city
borrowing money then leaving in a bank without using it.
Solis told DeReus he would like city officials, especially its elected leadership, to interact
more with constituents.
“How hard would it be for the city council to have a town hall meeting?” Solis asked.
He added the three minutes given to citizen for public comments during city council
meetings is not enough for citizens to fully make their points and ask questions about
issues of concern.
Solis said he would like, more than anything, for city elected leaders to simply listen
more frequently to the citizens’ concerns.
Solis used ongoing discussions about a proposed second international bridge as an
example of an issue on which the city and area residents who have raised concerns are
probably closer together than either side believes.
Solis’ comment on the bridge raised more complaints from Talamantez, who said, in his
opinion, the city officials should site the second bridge to cross the Rio Grande south of
Del Rio.
Talamantez also accused several city administrators and elected officials of “having an
agenda.”
“I can see right through them, and I know who they are,” Talamantez said.
Solis also recounted an encounter he witnessed between Del Rio police officers and a
man in distress because of an argument.
“The cops were on their knees, helping this guy, trying to stop him from hurting himself.
. . Those guys did a damn good job. I’ve never seen cops act like that towards somebody
in distress that really needed the help. We don’t hear it enough, but they did a damn good
job,” Solis said, adding he sent emails to the mayor, city manager and police chief
praising the police officers’ actions.
Solis also expressed his concern about the company putting up power lines around Del
Rio who, he said, “are destroying sidewalks.”
He wondered aloud about “who is going to be on the hook” for fixing the sidewalks.
DeReus was also asked about enforcement of the city’s Stage 2 water restrictions, and he
replied the city first has to do a better job of educating the city’s water customers about
the restrictions.
Chapa observed the city posts more frequently about animals up for adoption than it does
about Stage 2 water restrictions, and Solis said the city must “practice what you preach”
when it comes to water conservation.
Talamantez then offered a number of complaints about the city’s 830Go app.
He said he downloaded the app when it first became available and used it to report
problems, but claimed the city never addressed his concerns, then deleted his complaints.
“They said your problem has been taken care of, but then you drive by there and the
problem is still there,” Talamantez said.
At the end of the meeting, DeReus handed out business cards and asked those attending
to call or email him if they had any more concerns or questions.
Reach the writer at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
