By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
James A. “Jim” DeReus is seeking re-election to the District II seat he currently holds on the Del Rio City Council.
DeReus was born in Iowa, but has also lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He graduated from West Iron County High School in Iron River, Mich., in 1988. After high school, DeReus attended Western Michigan University for two years, then transferred to the United States Air Force Academy, where he graduated in 1994 with a bachelor of science degree in biology.
In December 1994, DeReus entered undergraduate pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base and called the following year “the single toughest of my life.”
“But it’s so worth it afterward, the things you’re able to do, the places you’re able to go, the people you’re able to meet,” he added.
DeReus graduated from pilot training in December 1995 and stayed at Laughlin as a first assignment instructor pilot.
DeReus and his wife left Laughlin in 1999 for Charleston, S.C., where he flew C17s and stayed there until 2002. He was then assigned to Altus, Okla., where he stayed until 2006. From 2006 until 2010, DeReus returned to the Air Force Academy as a staff member. In 2010, he moved back to Laughlin AFB and retired from the Air Force here at the end of 2014.
After his retirement, DeReus went to work at the base as a simulator instructor in January 2015, a position he has held ever since.
DeReus was elected to his first term on the city council in 2018 after friends encouraged him to run.
DeReus said the council must continue to focus on maintaining and upgrading the city’s infrastructure, like roads and its water and wastewater systems. He said if he is elected to a second term he will also continue to prioritize three issues he believes are of critical importance to every Del Rioan – fiscal accountability and transparency, Laughlin Air Force Base and economic development.
“The first issue is fiscal transparency and accountability. You’ve heard me ask the questions for the past four years: What about these transfers from the enterprise funds? How do you come up with that number? We have to be able to, when people ask, ‘Why is that $800,000, why isn’t it $600,000? Why isn’t it $1 million?’ And we need to be able to explain how we came up with that number,” DeReus said.
“Overall, I want to see financial transparency: This is what the city is spending money on, and this is why we think it’s good to spend money on it, because every dollar we spend should have some sort of public purpose, and if it doesn’t have a public purpose, one, I shouldn’t do it, but two, it’s really hard to explain to a taxpayer why we spent money on that,” DeReus said.
“The second thing, we have to continue to support Laughlin because it’s a huge economic engine. They’re a huge part of the city’s economy. The people that work there live in the city, and even if they don’t live in the city, they spend money in the city,” he said.
“The last, third thing, is economic development, and I think over the past year has been better than the first two-and-a-half years as far as more businesses coming to town, the Economic Development Corporation doing more, and I really want to keep working on that,” he said.
DeReus said he believes he is the best candidate for the seat.
“I think I’m the right guy. I would hope that over the past four years, almost three-and-a-half, I’ve shown that I can be rational. Too many times, I think, whether it’s local or national politics, people get too emotional, and there have been times when I haven’t liked what’s been going on in the city council, and I voted against them. A lot of times we all vote together, but if we’re voting together all of the time, we’re not doing our jobs, not asking the critical questions, and I hope that I’ve shown that I’m open to new ideas,” DeReus said.
“I hope the people of District II will allow me to keep working on the things I’m trying to work on. Hopefully, I’ve proven myself and I get another shot at four more years,” DeReus added.
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Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
