Edinburg Politics: Former mayor attacks outgoing one via social media
For the people voting for Edinburg mayoral candidate Richard Molina this election, does it matter that their property taxes were raised during his administration (2017 thru 2021) to pay for capital improvement projects that could have been paid for without raising taxes?
Molina is currently attacking incumbent Mayor Ramiro Garza, Jr., on his social media page, insinuating something nefarious is going on inside city hall.
To the contrary, says Garza. What happened to the city while Molina was mayor (2017 to 2021) is the real question that needs to be addressed.
Such as, why were property taxes raised when there was no need to have done so?
Local politics. Never dull.
As mentioned last week, Garza chose not to run for a second term for health reasons. He’s doing fine, but needed some time and space to heal, which is often in short supply during a heated political campaign. Especially in a high-profile election like that of Edinburg, the county seat.
Molina Claims City Smells
On his Facebook page last week, former Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina included a turd emoji and these words about current Mayor Ramiro Garza, Jr., his administration, and the 2025 campaign of Omar Ochoa:
“Why would anyone spend $2 million for a nonpaid position as mayor? And why would all the former mayors line up to endorse the same candidate?”
Just a quick aside — if Molina could raise the $2 million, or had it, bets are, he’d spend it.
While it’s true that current Mayor Ramiro Garza, Jr. and past mayors Richard Garcia and Joe Ochoa, are indeed supporting Ochoa, one has to ask, why?
Presumably it’s because they consider Omar Ochoa to be a better candidate than either Molina or the two other candidates in this race -- Johnny Garcia and Jonathan Salinas.
The former mayor, Richard Molina, wasn’t through when he posted on FB last week, bringing up the issue of an unpleasant odor and questions about Garza and the current city council:
“What are they hiding? What has really been going on behind closed doors these last four years? The city smells like poop (the turd emoji was included here on his FB post) and there is trash (trash can emoji was inserted here) all over the city.”
Molina also wrote that he would be the one to set the city straight.
“I am not afraid to ask the tough questions, and maybe that is exactly what they are afraid of. Because when I get back in, we are going to open the books and show the people of Edinburg the truth.”
Truth is, that’s not a great thing to write about the current mayor and city council, because when he came into office in 2021, city hall was a mess under Molina’s tenure, says Garza.
Four, maybe it was five, city managers in as many years, ongoing drama inside city hall, and a mayor, Richard Molina, who had been indicted by an Hidalgo County grand jury for election fraud in 2019, tied to his 2017 win, which unseated Richard Garcia.
Once Ramiro Garza, Jr., was sworn in as Edinburg mayor in 2021, the drama evaporated.
Garza Responds: The Truth
After reading what Molina posted last week about Ramiro Garza, Jr., it was only fair to give Garza a chance to respond.
What’s this business about the city smelling like human excrement?
And why is Molina insinuating that anything untoward is going on behind closed doors?
“What are they hiding?” Molina wrote on FB, referring to the current mayor and city council.
Full disclosure, as already mentioned, Ramiro Garza, Jr., is supporting Omar Ochoa this mayoral election, but in terms of what shape the city was in under the tenure of Richard Molina (2017 to 2021) when Garza arrived as its new mayor in the fall of 2021, well, let him tell the story:
“Well, first of all, it’s the first day of early voting (this Monday), and so it’s campaign season. I haven’t seen him (Molina) at all the last three-and-a-half years, and all of a sudden he’s running for office and obviously bringing up things that (are tied to politics).” Garza says that because the city is expanding its wastewater treatment plant, occasionally there will be an odor tied to it, which the city is trying to address.
“But that’s part of the growing pains we’re going through. But it is something being addressed at this time. I’m not sure about the trash all over the city (Molina’s claim), but I can tell you that our code enforcement’s out there. I think a lot of it’s just political rhetoric. Unfortunately, it’s during campaign season, and it is unfortunate, but it is what it is. It’s part of the campaign season.”
Garza then discussed how the Molina administration had stopped work on capital improvement projects – Schunior road construction, a Canton Rd. drainage project, and a few others.
“We came in and got right to work.” Garza, with the vote of the city council, also adopted a new city ordinance that implemented a code of ethics, that held elected officials’ feet fast to a stated set of honest principles.
“We also brought back benefits to our employees that had been taken away. For years, Edinburg had prided itself on having some benefits for our employees so that we can retain them. One of the things that was done is if you work for the city for 20 years, and you’re eligible to retire, the city would keep you on its health insurance (plan) until you’re 65 and Medicare kicks in.”
The city also restored benefits that had been stripped from its volunteer firefighters while Molina was mayor, says Garza.
“That administration also took some benefits away from our volunteer firefighters that allowed them to get reimbursed for tending to fires in the city. We have a largely paid fire department now, but we still have volunteer fire departments.”
All told, according to Garza, Jr., during the past four years while he has served as mayor, Edinburg has completed approximately 30 capital projects that represent about $60 million in infrastructure.
“Buildings, drainage, parks, and quality-of-life projects. And that includes about over $3.5 million in street improvements; over 90 streets throughout the city.”
Taxes Increased
Ramiro Garza, Jr., says that part of the reason he ran for mayor in 2021 was because under Molina’s four -year term as mayor, the city raised property taxes from 63.5 cents per $100 property valuation to 68 cents.
“I didn’t see any need to increase taxes because the growth of the city, especially in 2018 and 2019, would have paid for the drainage projects.”
Garza says that when Edinburg voters voted to approve the drainage projects (bonds issued), they had no clue that it would mean an increase in their property taxes.
That was never part of the discussion, nor included on the ballot, Garza says.
After he was elected, during his tenure, with the help of the city council, Garza was able to lower property taxes down to 63 cents.
“That’s the lowest it’s been since 1991.”
Garza says better lines of communication between city hall and city neighborhoods were also implemented.
“The other thing we did is open lines of communication with the community. We started having public meetings in neighborhoods outside of city hall, and we made sure we had our regular meetings in the evening. Back when the previous administration (was in place), they were holding all these special meetings, and it’s all facts. Anyone can look at our agendas, all these special meetings at noon, and we changed all that. We don’t allow for even any advisory board to meet at noon unless it’s absolutely required and necessary. And we’ve had neighborhood meetings throughout the city.”
The work accomplished by the current city council over the past four years has paid dividends, Garza, Jr., says:
“We’ve had over $1 billion invested by the private sector — and that’s all building permits, residential, commercial — in the last three and a half years, and everything’s going on the right track. And to kind of top that off, that’s why we were named an All-America City for the fourth time in our city’s history in 2024. I mean, those things just don’t happen by themselves. You have to build an environment.”
Garza says he’s leaving office proud of what the city has accomplished during his four years as the city’s top elected official.
“I think mainly when I ran, we wanted to restore integrity, an environment that was conducive for people (in which) to invest. One of the things that I really wanted to work on was to bring back respect, honor, and trust to our city. And I believe we’ve done that.”