By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
County commissioners court members have suspended a move to rename to the Val Verde County Community Center after County Commissioner Pct. 3 Gustavo “Gus” Flores.
Members of the court during their regular meeting on
services to county residents. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
Wednesday tabled an agenda item placed on the agenda by County Commissioner Pct. 1 Martin Wardlaw to rename the county community center, located at 1690 Cienegas Road, after his colleague, County Commissioner Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus” Flores.
The agenda item was titled “discussion and possible action to name the Precinct 4 Community Center ‘Gustavo Flores Community Center’.”
Before even reaching that item on the agenda, the proposed name change drew comment from county resident Lori Reyes, who addressed it during the citizen comments portion at the start of the court’s meeting.
Reyes, along with her husband Lionel, has frequently spoken to the court over the past two years, usually regarding the city of Del Rio’s proposal for a second international bridge and the routes linking that planned bridge to area highways.
On Wednesday, Reyes walked to the podium and told the court, “I’m actually here to speak on something different for a change: (Agenda) Item 19, ‘discussion and possible action to name the Precinct 4 Community Center ‘Gustavo Flores Community Center.’ I would like to make an alternate suggestion, (to rename the center) in honor of U.S. Customs Inspector James Wallen and U.S. Customs Inspector Richard Mack Latham.
“These gentlemen were both killed in the line of duty. They were a grandfather and a grandson from this community. It would be an honor to name (the center) after both of them or one or the other. Thank you,” Reyes finished.
A 2017 article published on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website about a ceremony at Del Rio’s Westlawn Cemetery to dedicate a memorial marker at the gravesites of the two inspectors detailed the incidents that resulted in their deaths.
The article noted, “On March 6, 1923, at around 11 p.m., James A. Wallen, a 45-year-old U.S. Customs inspector, was shot in the chest as he investigated a suspicious vehicle parked near the Del Rio Port of Entry after closing the port of entry for the night. The suspicious vehicle was loaded with rum that had been smuggled into the United States.”
Almost 61 years later, Wallen’s grandson, Richard Mack Latham, was murdered after he was abducted while working as a Customs inspector at the port of entry here.
According to the article on the CBP website, “On Jan. 27, 1984, 50-year-old Customs inspector Richard Mack Latham was kidnapped at the Del Rio Port of Entry by four men who had robbed a jewelry store in neighboring Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. His body was found the next day about 200 yards off U.S. Highway 90 near Eagle Pass, Texas. He was wearing his Customs-issued uniform and restrained with his service-issued handcuffs. He had been shot twice in the back with his own service weapon. An eight-day, multi-agency law enforcement manhunt brought all four kidnappers/killers to justice. There was nothing to suggest that Latham put up a fight or did anything to instigate his death.”
When County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. reached the item on the agenda Wednesday, he said, “Item 19, do I have a motion to table?”
County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez made the motion to table the item, and Wardlaw gave the second.
The court then voted unanimously to approve Vazquez’s motion to table without comment, and Owens moved on to the next item on the court’s agenda.
A motion to table typically means the governmental entity suspends action on the item in question, but means the item could be reconsidered during a future meeting.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
