Two long-time mayors gone
By Gregg Wendorf
Advance News Journal
The Weslaco mayor, in office for 10 years, is gone, courtesy of last week’s election, and so is Alamo’s mayor, who has held that office since 2011, 12 years.
They weren’t small losses either. In Weslaco, 55.4 percent vs. 44.6; and in Alamo, 60 percent vs. 40 percent.
What’s going on? David Suarez gone in Weslaco, and Diana Martinez defeated in Alamo.
One guy who didn’t want his name mentioned said that maybe it’s just the way it is these days. You serve in office so long, and people want somebody else, no matter what kind of job you’re doing.
Maybe. Actually, in Alamo, things have been quieter than in recent years past. Less drama at city hall and at the PD —fewer lawsuits. Still, a new mayor has been named — Mayor Pro Tem J.R. Garza who also served as Alamo EDC president.
In Weslaco, the development news has been good, but to what degree did the recent testimony and convictions in federal court in a case related to upgrading the city’s water treatment facilities, with the over-inflated prices, play a part? How many people blamed the incumbent for loss of tax dollars while smarting at the negative news for the city.
Ironically, the incumbent mayor, David Suarez, came into office in 2013, with a platform that said in part, something is off with the water plant.
At the time, the man who just beat Suarez last week, Adrian Gonzalez, was on the Weslaco City Commission and had voted along with the board majority in favor of some of the high-dollar contracts related to the water work.
This election cycle, Suarez tried to raise that issue publicly more than once, but did that work against him in the end? He lost by approximately 20 percentage points. In some of his campaign speeches, he also mentioned former Hidalgo County Precinct 1 County Commissioner A.C. Cuellar Jr., who was sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison after being convicted of, as the U.S. DOJ described it, playing part in “a conspiracy to pay bribes to two city commissioners in Weslaco in exchange for (his) actions in connection with city contracts worth tens of millions of dollars.”
Cuellar claimed innocence but lost in a jury trial, and then got handed a 20-year sentence by U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez, which the former county commissioner’s attorney described as “a terrible mistake.” At the time of his sentencing, Cuellar was 69.
Whether or not that water story was a good campaign strategy on the part of Suarez is up for debate. For a lot of people around the Mid-Valley area, impossible to really quantify, A.C. is still the guy who did a lot of good for a lot of people (poor people in need of this, in need of that, help with emergency expenses). And he did that, his supporters say, long before he ever ran for public office. Him and his large family, which included an uncle who became one of the first practicing Hispanic physicians in Weslaco. Dr. Armando Cuellar, known for his free medical care when a patient had no money.
Last but not least, the Donna mayor who keeps on ticking, election after election, Rick Morales, is in a runoff with his former slate mate, David Moreno, who beat Morales 43 to 36 percent.
Politiqueras, crank those Caddie engines.