By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Mayor Pro-tem Jim DeReus began his most recent town hall meeting with a short course
on the differences between city and county governments in Texas.
DeReus held his town hall meeting at the Del Rio Civic Center on Thursday.
DeReus told the constituents who attended the meeting, “When I speak to various groups,
I talk to them about the way that Del Rio city government works as compared to how
county government works, the roles and responsibilities.”
He began by noting the seven members of the Del Rio City Council are not full-time
employees of the city.
DeReus said, “We are not full-time. The mayor is not full-time. How much money do
city council members and the mayor get paid? It’s $100 for a regular meeting if you are
there at role call. So if you’re five minutes late, you’re not supposed to get paid, and
there’s no (payment) for special meetings during tax season or if you’re the city council
representative on a board or commission; you don’t get paid for that.”
Del Rio resident Carole Cooper asked if the mayor and council members are paid for any
special meetings, and DeReus replied they did not.
“The twice-a-month regular meetings are the only meetings you get paid for. One
hundred dollars, if you’re there at roll call, and it’s a combination of charter and
ordinances,” DeReus said.
He also spoke about the role of the mayor, saying that when many citizens think of a
mayor, they think of the mayors of large cities like San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago or
New York.
DeReus said, “(You think of) massive authority, they can veto whatever they want, set
policy at the stroke of a pen. Most towns in Texas are not like that because most of them
are small, and we don’t go through the party primary system, which is sometimes good,
sometimes bad. Most towns don’t, and in most towns, the mayor is the figurehead who
has only a fraction more authority than council members do.
“The mayor is one of seven votes and has no veto power. About the only power he has
that council members don’t is he can issue emergency proclamations, but the council has
to ratify those within seven days, and if we don’t ratify it or if he issues it and the next
day we vote against it, it’s gone,” DeReus said.
He then spoke about the governing body of Val Verde County, the Val Verde County
Commissioners Court.
“This is versus the county judge and the county commissioners. They’re full-time, with a
full-time salary. They have actual work crews,” DeReus said.
He added, “I can really only tell four employees of the city – per the charter – what to do.
Now, if I go to Leno here at the civic center and say, ‘Hey, I need you to do this,’ he’ll
probably do it, but I’m actually exceeding my charter authority by directing him to do
something.
“So those are the differences, and a lot of people don’t realize that. Most people, like I
said, kind of conflate county commissioners and city council as far as (when I tell them),
‘I’ve got to ask the city manager about that,’ and they say, ‘Well, why can’t you just get
it done?’ Because I don’t have anyone that actually works for me,” DeReus said.
“I’ve also been asked, multiple times, some of the stuff on the city council agendas seems
kind of nit noi (small), like, why are you wasting time on that? Because there’s seven of
us, and we all have votes, and I go to the city manager and say, ‘I need you to pave this
street,’ and five minutes later, (another council member) goes in and says, ‘Don’t pave
that street; pave this street.’
“So the city manager needs that actual vote to get direction sometimes on stuff that seems
like it’s wasting time on the council agenda, so that’s why sometimes she’s (the manager)
is torn because two (council) people say one thing, two (council) people say something
else, and the item is on the agenda to give her formal direction,” DeReus said.
He said he didn’t realize a lot about the ins and outs of city until he actually joined the
council.
“It’s kind of like Dorothy peeking behind the curtain to see what’s really going on,
because you have all these ideas about what’s going on and what should be happening,
and then you find out some of your ideas probably weren’t going to work,” he added.
DeReus spent the remaining time at the town hall listening to constituents’ concerns,
complaints, comments and suggestions. (See separate story.)
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
