By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Elizabeth “Liz” Elizalde is seeking election to the At-Large, Place C, seat on the Del Rio City Council.
Elizalde was born and raised in Del Rio.
“In fact, I was born and raised in the (council) district I represented from 2012 to 2020,” Elizalde said.
She graduated from Del Rio High School in 1986.
Elizalde said she knew after high school she wanted to go to college because when she was 11 years old, she joined her family as they migrated to Iowa during the summers to work in the fields.
“My parents would wait for school to be out and the next weekend we were off to Iowa, my parents and five of us siblings. We knew if we worked in the fields that would be money for school clothes or extra things. This was every summer up to the summer after my senior year,” Elizalde said.
“I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do after high school, career-wise, but I knew I wanted to go to college because I did know I never wanted to go back to the fields,” she added.
Through a college assistance program for migrants, Elizalde won a scholarship to attend St. Edward’s University in Austin, where she earned a degree in criminal justice, with an eye on pursuing a career as a youth probation officer.
“Working in the fields gave me the opportunity to go to college,” she said.
After college, Elizalde returned to Del Rio and worked as a pre-college advisor for St. Edward’s, assisting students that were “first generation college-bound.”
Elizalde is currently the executive director of Val Verde Nursing and Rehabilitation in Del Rio. She has been with Val Verde Nursing and Rehabilitation since 2012.
She began working there as the facility’s admissions coordinator, then was given the opportunity to be an administrator-in-training, taking courses to earn her master’s certification. It took her three years to earn her administrator’s license, and because there was no administrator spot open at the time, the company offered her the position of regional business development director.
She left the company briefly, then returned as the assistant administrator to the facility here in 2016. The following year, she was offered the position of executive director/administrator.
Elizalde was elected to the city council for the first time in 2012. She was re-elected to the seat in 2016.
Elizalde said she ran for public office because she loves her community.
“I always wanted to be part of the leadership that helped Del Rio go to the next level, to move forward. You can’t do it alone. We don’t have a magic wand, but I wanted to be part of the team that helped Del Rio, that helped our community,” Elizalde said.
Highlights of her previous eight years on the city council include helping bring commercial air service to Del Rio and working to establish an animal advocacy board. She was also part of the team that laid the groundwork for the construction of a second international bridge, even giving a presentation on the project in McAllen in 2020 and traveling to Mexico City with Mayor Bruno “Ralphy” Lozano to speak about the project.
The council of which Elizalde was part also worked to establish a city economic development corporation, an annual street paving plan and streamlining its code compliance department.
Elizalde says she believes the council needs to concentrate on city infrastructure like streets paving and maintenance.
Elizalde said she decided to run for the council again “because I still believe in Del Rio.”
“I still believe that we can take Del Rio to another level. So I continue to believe in my hometown. We sometimes compare ourselves to Eagle Pass, but Eagle Pass is Eagle Pass and Del Rio is Del Rio. I still believe that our quality of life can be improved. Economic development, the infrastructure and public safety. Right now, that’s a big thing, especially with the immigrants,” she said.
“I still want to make a difference,” she added.
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Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
