By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
One new member of the city council and one returning member were sworn in after city council members Tuesday canvassed the results of the May 7 city election.
Ernestina “Tina” Martinez was sworn in and seated as the new At-Large, Place C, member of the Del Rio City Council, and Jim DeReus was sworn in as the returning District II representative on the council during Tuesday’s special meeting.
The statements of officers and oaths of office were administered by City Secretary Mari Acosta after the city council canvassed the results of the May 7 election.
Martinez received an official total of 1,333 votes, and her opponent, former city councilwoman Elizabeth “Liz” Elizalde, received an official total of 994 votes.
DeReus received an official total of 635 votes, and his opponent, Arturo Rodriguez, received an official total of 359 votes.
Council members approved an ordinance canvassing the returns and declaring the results official and declaring Martinez and DeReus as duly elected on a motion by Mayor Bruno “Ralphy” Lozano and a second from Councilman Steven Webb. The motion passed on a 6-0-1 vote, with DeReus abstaining.
Following the canvass, Lozano invited Martinez, who was joined in the council chambers by a number of family members, campaign workers and friends, to come forward and be sworn in.
Acosta administered the statement of officer and oath of office, and Martinez took her seat on the council dais.
Acosta next administered the statement of officer and oath of office to DeReus, who afterward returned to his seat on the dais.
Afterward, Lozano welcomed Martinez and yielded the floor for her to make a statement.
“Thank you very much. A special thanks to my campaign staff, Andrew Scarbo, my campaign manager; Al Fernandez, there’s so many to name. They’re all here, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Musquiz, Linda Torre, Julie Buentello, Mary Mota, Stella Scarbo, and my cousin, Dahlia Garcia, and of course my two sons – I have three sons, but two of them are here – Jesse and Daniel. Thank you to everybody, and Olivia Castro. Angel Ramirez, thank you. This is just a few of the people that helped me in this election,” Martinez said.
“I thank all of you, and I’ll be here in case anybody needs any help. I have an open door policy, so again, thank you to everybody. Mr. and Mrs. Luna, thank you. Like I said, there’s so many of them, I couldn’t name all of them ’cause I know I’d make a mistake and leave somebody out, but they know who they are, and I thank them for their donations and all the hard work that they did, because I could not have done it by myself,” she said.
“Like I always say, where there is unity, there is victory. Thank you,” Martinez ended.
Lozano then invited DeReus to speak.
“Briefly, I’d first like to thank my wife Sheran for being willing to let me do this for another four years, and I would also like to say I’m honored and humbled to get another four years, so I’d like to thank everyone who expressed that confidence, and I’ll do my best. Thank you,” DeReus said.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
