Edinburg will adopt a code of ethics

Edinburg’s new mayor and former city manager, Ramiro Garza, Jr., says he wants to restore trust in local government by making the city as transparent as possible.

Garza was sworn into office Monday afternoon. “I would also like to see Edinburg’s

“I would also like to see Edinburg’s city council adopt a code of ethics,” Garza said. “Then, before each meeting, each member of the council will make a public disclosure of any conflicts they may have, especially with upcoming business as it relates to the city.” Currently, council members, in

Currently, council members, including the mayor, have to fill out a conflict-disclosure form if they’re tied to a job or purchase order that will be city funded. Also, they have to abstain from voting on the matter.

Garza said he wants to get the city out in front of this.

Long before the bid is opened and presented to the council, for example, the city’s new mayor said he and the council members should be making full disclosure of any relationships, even though the planned job, purchases may still be in the planning stage.

“That’s why I’d like to see the city council do it at the start of every meeting,” he said.

Garza beat incumbent mayor Richard Molina in a runoff election last week, Dec. 14th by a 467-vote margin, 4,898 votes to 4,431.

“I just think there’s this big disconnect between city government and the voters,” Garza said. “We have to get more people engaged, which we’ll try to do with more town hall meetings, and I’d like to open up our meetings more. We’re going to go back to recording our executive sessions.”

Garza said he would also like to start the city working on a 2040 Vision Plan. Eighteen years out, what will Edinburg look like then?

Edinburg’s new mayor said there is no time like the present to start working on the project.

“We’re going to focus on improving the city,” Garza said, “with as much transparency as possible, along with a code of ethics.” This election wasn’t

This election wasn’t cheap for either candidate. Garza reportedly spent more than $280,000, beginning last January (2021), while Richard Molina spent approximately $263,000 during the same time period.

In addition to Ramiro Garza’s victory, Dan Diaz beat incumbent “Smiley” Martinez for Place 1; and Jason De Leon defeated his opponent, “Bubba” Palacios, for the Place 2 council seat.

The last six years (approximately) has been fodder for some negative news publicity for Edinburg. Almost once a month it seemed like there was some negative news to report, or a spat between politicians, since part of the old guard was still fighting the new guard.

Question now is: can Garza restore some peace and tranquility to the city council?

Asked what the council makeup looks like now with the runoff elections over, he said, “I don’t really know.”

For the past six years, that’s the way one has kept score with Edinburg. How is the council now split, since at different points in time, some council members flipped from one side to the other, and then back again. Like a tennis open without a scorekeeper, it was hard to keep track of which political faction was out in front. “We have to restore trust

“We have to restore trust in our local government,” Garza said.