By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Steven T. Webb is seeking re-election to the Councilperson-at-Large, Place A, seat on the Del Rio City Council.
Webb was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
“I come from a military family and have lived many places while growing up, such as Oklahoma, Texas, Maryland and even spent time in Germany in the cities of Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Berlin before the wall came down,” Webb said.
“I graduated from Irvin High School in El Paso, Texas, in 1970. I received a Congressional nomination to two military academies but elected not to accept the nominations and chose instead to join the United States Air Force. I did my initial training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and upon graduation went to Rapid City, South Dakota. I was later sent to Thailand and Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, ending my service obligation at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas.
“It was while stationed at Dyess that I first visited Del Rio in 1973. I found the people here very friendly and family-oriented, and I knew immediately this was the town I wanted to live in and raise a family. I was looking for stability for my family. I met and married a young lady from Del Rio in Abilene and after getting out of the service, we moved to Del Rio, and I have been here ever since,” Webb said.
Webb has two sons, Christopher and Benjamin, and three stepdaughters, Angelyn, Jessica and Salyna.
Webb is married to Linda Guanajuato Webb, who is currently an elected member of the public school district’s board of trustees.
After moving to Del Rio, Webb worked in a number of different fields, including air conditioning, glass repair, finance and automotive.
In December 1981, he joined the Del Rio Police Department, where he stayed for 34 years, retiring in June 2015.
“It was a great pleasure protecting the citizens of Del Rio and our community. Through my service with the police department, my love for the city and its people only increased. Del Rio has become my home, and I want what is best for my home and the citizens of the community,” Webb said.
Asked why he decided to seek re-election to the Councilperson-at-Large, Place A, seat on the city council, Webb told the 830 Times, “I’ve been involved in several projects that I’ve been very adamant about over the last three-and-a-half years. I actually lost six months because of the COVID pandemic, so in the last three-and-a-half years, the main project I’ve been looking at is flooding in San Felipe, and I have pushed for drainage improvement projects over on East Bowie Street, Hernandez Street, Rodriguez Street, because I’ve seen water from flooding go into people’s homes.
“I pushed and pushed, and we finally were able to have a discussion on it and agreed on it, and we got the funding for it. As a matter of fact, we allocated $9 million for drainage projects throughout Del Rio, not just the San Felipe area projects, and the project now is out for bids. I’ve been very adamant that people shouldn’t have to live like that, so I’ve pushed it, and I want to see it through,” Webb added.
He said he has also been involved in park improvements and “quality of life” projects, like the construction of new splash pads, a new skate park and the development of walking trails throughout the city.
“I want to see all these projects get done, and by being re-elected, I think I can,” he said.
Among Webb’s other priorities, he listed progress and economic development.
“If you’ve noticed over the last few years, when we hired Jorge Ramon (as the city’s economic development director), I was very impressed with the man’s background. The first thing he started looking at when he came on board was what can we do to make Del Rio more prosperous? What can we do to bring in more jobs? I would meet with him constantly and make suggestions, because the community reaches out and they ask for things, and obviously we can’t get everything we would love to have, but I felt that, yes, the only way we were going to grow was to have businesses and opportunity here, so I’ve been working with him, making suggestions.
“I kept telling him about McAlister’s Deli. I kept telling him about Arby’s, and now they’re a reality. Discount Tire, people used to go to Eagle Pass or San Antonio to shop at Discount Tire, and we have our own now. New motels are going up. Motels encourage tourism, and tourism helps the town grow, and it also provides jobs.
“Jobs are the main thing that everybody seems to leave town for, and we should be able to keep our people here. Look at the new Texas Roadhouse restaurant. Beautiful place. It hired a lot of individuals. They had a lot of applicants and, they probably had the most applicants of any business in town that I’ve ever seen, but yet they also hired a lot of people. I think they hired 150 people, and they had 500 applicants, so I think that’s great,” Webb said.
“In order for our town to continue to grow, we’ve got to have things here that attract people. We’ve got the Whitehead Museum. We’ve got the winery. We’ve got the lake, and we’ve also got Seminole Canyon. All this can bring more people here,” Webb said, noting he was recently involved in a major fishing tournament at Lake Amistad.
Webb said he expects the area will also see more growth as Val Verde County works on and completes its portion of the I-27/Ports-to-Plains corridor.
“There’s just so much that can happen here. When I came here, the Ramada Inn was the edge of town. It was a small, friendly community. Everywhere I went, I would meet people, and they were just so friendly, and that’s still what I hear from people who visit our town now,” Webb said.
But as focused as he is on growth, Webb said the city also has a responsibility to maintaining its public safety services and infrastructure.
“Since I was a police officer for 34 years, public safety is one of my biggest priorities; safety for the community. If our community is safe, people will feel comfortable to move here. They won’t have to worry about the crime that they have in San Antonio and places like that. Even the fire department; I’ve worked with those guys on many calls and assisted when I could. I used to be a volunteer fireman years ago. . . Public service has always been in my nature,” Webb said.
Asked why Del Rio voters should cast their ballots for him, Webb replied, “I really can’t tell you why the other candidates are running. I’m sure they all have good ideas, and if I’m re-elected, I definitely want to share some of those ideas because maybe there’s something I’ve missed. But everybody is entitled to run; it’s the democratic way.
“I’m doing what I do. I will run a clean race. I don’t dig up garbage or play games. I have been very committed to my work on the council. People will tell you I’m everywhere. I don’t look at it as a job. I enjoy what I do because of the people I get to meet.
“I will have a fight, with three opponents, but honesty is my policy. That’s the way I do it. I’m committed to what I do. Commitment is my number one priority. Anybody who knows me knows I put 110 percent into everything I do. I don’t believe in failure, so I will continue to strive to help Del Rio grow, work on our quality of life issues in our 33 parks.
“I make no promises. I know sometimes when people make promises, but they get broken, and I’m not here to disappoint, I’ve here to improve. I will look into anything and everything that I’m notified about. If someone calls me about a problem, I get in my vehicle and go out and look at the problem. I take pictures and get addresses, and I visit with the city manager, and he does whatever it takes to get the problem resolved. I think people know that I’m out there looking. . . People are glad to see that somebody cares,” Webb said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
