By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Arturo Rodriguez is seeking election to the District II seat on the Del Rio City Council.
Rodriguez was born and raised in Del Rio and attended local schools. He graduated from Del Rio High School in 1986. After high school, Rodriguez attended a year of college in Uvalde, studying business management at Southwest Texas Junior College.
Rodriguez said after a year, he decided to go to work, returned to Del Rio and worked for a local air conditioning business.
“One of my older brothers was already working for the Texas Department of Corrections, and he lived in Houston, so I moved up there with him, and in 1989, I applied for a job with the Department of Corrections, and I got hired in 1990, as a corrections officer,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez was promoted to the position of lieutenant during his time with the state corrections agency. He was initially assigned to the TDC’s Southern Region out of Houston. When TDC expanded in 1992-1993, he spent two years at the department’s new unit in Dilley, then transferred to the Torres Unit in Hondo.
Rodriguez left the state corrections agency when he went to work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a move he said he made to better care for his family.
He worked for CBP from 1999 until 2016 and spent his career in Customs at the Del Rio Port of Entry. Contrary to rumor, he was not fired from Customs.
“They forced me out and through arbitration, I negotiated a retirement deal that paid me off. I have a pension and everything,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez earned his real estate license in April 2021.
Rodriguez ran for the local public school district’s board of trustees four years ago.
He said he decided to run for elected office to become involved and because he wasn’t happy.
“People get sick and tired, and I refuse to be a armchair quarterback or a Monday morning quarterback and instead of wasting my opinions and my complaints, I figured, hey, put your money where your mouth is, so I ran for school board and of course I didn’t win,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also ran for Del Rio mayor four years ago, but his application for a place on the ballot was disqualified.
Rodriguez didn’t let the setbacks deter him from running again.
“I’m not a quitter,” he said.
In the 2022 election cycle, Rodriguez applied for and was elected the Val Verde County Republican Party nominee for county judge.
“It’s crazy, because I’m just your little old humble quiet person that got tired of being sick and tired. I tell people I’m not running against Lewis Owens. I’m just running,” he said.
Rodriguez has also filed to run for the District II seat on the Del Rio City Council. Questions about his eligibility to run immediately arose because he had at that time already announced his candidacy for the county judge seat. In the end, though, it was the Secretary of State’s opinion that he could be on the city council ballot in May.
Rodriguez said if he wins both the council seat and the county judge seat, he intends to resign the council seat.
“Because I’m going to take $130,000 (a year) over $200 a month,” Rodriguez said.
At issue is the “resign to run” statute in the Texas Constitution.
Rodriguez said the state constitution does not address his specific situation. He said the Secretary of State, Texas Ethics Commission and Texas Municipal League address that “if an elected official announces and/or becomes a candidate, they must resign.”
“If I win I will not have announced any candidacy or become a candidate. The two scenarios are specific and do not apply to me,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said he is unhappy with the current District II representative, Councilman Jim DeReus.
“DeReus, he claims to be conservative, but in the first month, he completely failed,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez claimed the city hired an administrator who was ineligible to be considered for the position.
“I would tell people the story of (the city) hiring an ineligible candidate, and I would say Mr. DeReus has generated and produced nothing for the community during his tenure in the past four years. Nothing has been generated. Nothing productive has been done,” Rodriguez said.
“I will be involved. I’m retired. I’ve got nothing to do, and I practice leading by example,” Rodriguez added.
Rodriguez said he would like to concentrate on the community as a whole.
He said he has issues with the way the city is caring for its parks along the creek. He said he also has an issue with the median on North Main Street and its high curb. Rodriguez said he prefers to see the city use the median for a turn lane.
“I would also like to concentrate on the Del Rio Police Department and professional conduct and create a citizen review board or committee to address misconduct. Policing ones’ own is like having the coyote guard the hen house,” Rodriguez said.
“I’m not going to say that I was born and raised in Del Rio, that the reason I’m running is because I love my community, and I want to do the best for it, blah, blah, blah. I want change. I want progress. Period. It’s very simple. You either vote for me or you don’t. I’m not going to butter you up. I’m just not like that,” Rodriguez said.
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Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
