by Legislative Media | Nov 10, 2015 | Politics
Featured: Arnold De La Paz, Founder and President, The DLP Group, Inc., Corpus Christi; Gloria Pérez, President, Asiel Enterprises, Inc., Corpus Christi; Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; and Roland Barrera, Owner, Roland Barrera Insurance, Corpus Christi, and Past Chair of Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce, during the 39th Annual Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce State Convention on Saturday, August 2, 2014, at the former Embassy Suites by Hilton Hotel in McAllen.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
The state’s public universities, especially the flagship campuses of The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University at College Station, must continue to increase the enrollment of Hispanic and other racial and ethnic minorities in order to best prepare all Texans for a bright future, says Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg. “Texas, which is the best state in the nation, has seen the Hispanic population become almost as large as the Anglo population, but we do not see Hispanics and other minority groups properly represented in the classrooms at UT-Austin and Texas A&M-College Station, which are among wealthiest public universities in the world,” said Canales. “We still have a ways to go, but we are moving in the right direction.” As part of his efforts to open more doors to all Texans at the mammoth UT and Texas A&M campuses, Canales has become one of 53 state lawmakers who have signed a legal document, known as an amicus brief, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to support efforts that allow UT to consider race and ethnicity, among other factors, in order to promote diversity in its student population. In the Fall of 2014, 19.2 percent of the student enrollment at UT-Austin was Hispanic, while at Texas A&M during the same semester, 21.9 percent of the student enrollment was Hispanic. By comparison, the Hispanic population in 2014, as estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau, is 38.6 percent of the state’s almost 27 million residents. That figure approaches the number of Anglos in Texas, who make up almost 44 percent of the state’s population. African Americans represent the third largest population group in the state, totaling 12.5 percent of all Texans. Canales said since UT-Austin and Texas A&M-College Station were created by the Texas Legislature to serve all of Texas, it is incumbent upon the Legislature to improve what he called “dismal” student enrollment rates at those two campuses of Hispanic and other minority groups. Although the amicus brief focuses on increasing the number of racial and ethnic minorities at UT-Austin, Canales said first and foremost he remains focused on ongoing efforts to transform The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley into the next UT-Austin and Texas A&M-College Station. “Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. The students, faculty, and administrators at UT-Austin, Texas A&M-College Station, or anywhere else are not better or more intelligent than at UT Rio Grande Valley,” Canales emphasized. “What they do have, that we don’t, are more opportunities and more resources than the rest of the state’s public universities, and those are some of the reasons I support increasing minority student enrollments at those two rich campuses.” Canales said constituents ask him what his vision is for UTRGV, and the state lawmaker said he shares the hopes and dreams of all South Texans. “It’s no secret. We in South Texas will not rest, we will not be discouraged, we will not be stopped in our monumental effort to transform UTRGV into a world-class institution,” Canales said. “We are going to have a law school and other professional schools, just like UT and Texas A&M, we are going to expand our School of Medicine in Edinburg and throughout the Valley, and much more. Just look how far we have come in just the past few years.”
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by Legislative Media | Nov 9, 2015 | Politics
Featured: Mayor Pro Tem Homer Jasso, Jr., left, reviews strategies with City Manager Ramiro Garza, Jr., on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at Edinburg City Hall. On Tuesday, November 10, 2015, the Mayor and Edinburg City Council are scheduled to meet to discuss and possibly appoint a successor to Garza, who on Tuesday, September 8, 2015, announced he would be leaving his position effective January 1, 2016, to pursue new endeavors.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
Actions on the possible selection of a new city manager is set for Tuesday, November 10, when the Edinburg City Council, which includes the mayor, is scheduled to hold an executive session, beginning at 3 p.m. at Edinburg City Hall, which is located at 415 W. University Drive. City Manager Ramiro Garza, Jr., on Tuesday, September 8, 2015, announced he would be leaving his position effective January 1, 2016, to pursue new endeavors. Any decision made by the mayor and city council would have to be made in the open, following the executive session. The meeting follows a previous gathering, held on Monday, November 2, 2015, when the city council went behind closed doors (executive session) – as allowed by state law – to conduct interviews for the soon-to-be vacant city manager position. No decision was finalized following the November 3, 2015 city council session, nor was their any public announcement of the candidates interviewed to take over as the city government’s top administrative leader. Garza, 41, has been responsible for more than 700 employees overseeing a $100 million operational budget. He has also continued to work closely with the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation having collaborated in recruiting new economic development projects that will boost the city’s economy by more than $1.2 billion. The EEDC, of which Agustín García, Jr., is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg City Council. The EEDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mark Iglesias as President, Harvey Rodríguez as Vice President, Ellie M. Torres as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Richard García and Richard Ruppert as Members. Garza served as Executive Director for the EEDC for nine years and three months before he was selected by the Edinburg City Council in November 2009 to serve as city manager. According to the City Council agenda posting, the following items will be deliberated in executive (closed) session regarding: Proposed amendment to current agreement for professional services and employment as city manager to provide for extension of term; Appointment of city manager position; and Proposed agreement for professional services and employment for newly appointed city manager.
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by Legislative Media | Nov 5, 2015 | Politics
Featured: City Councilmember Richard Molina, left, and City Manager Ramiro Garza, Jr. review key economic achievements and goals for Edinburg following the State of the City Address, delivered by Mayor Richard García on Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at the Edinburg City Auditorium. In the background are Irma Garza, Director of Public Information for the City of Edinburg, and Edinburg Councilmember David Torres.
Photograph By RONNIE LARRALDE
Edinburg’s retail economy from January through September 2015 is more than seven percent ahead of the same period last year, a figure that is better than the statewide average of all Texas cities, which came in with a 4.1 percent improvement when comparing the same nine-month periods, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. The EEDC, of which Agustín García, Jr. is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The EEDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mark Iglesias as President, Harvey Rodríguez as Vice President, Ellie M. Torres as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Richard García and Richard Ruppert as Members. For the month of September 2015, the city’s retail economy registered a 10.98 percent rate of improvement over the same month last year, the EEDC added, according to data released on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Among its many duties, the Texas Comptroller’s office is the state’s chief tax collector, accountant, revenue estimator and treasurer. The 10.98 percent increase over the same month last year was the best showing among the Valley’s larger economies. During the first nine months of 2015, Edinburg’s retail economy produced $18,676,992.00 in local sales taxes, compared with $17,433,497.27 for January through September 2014, resulting in the improvement of 7.13 percent. During September 2015, the city’s retail economy generated $1,864,640.98 in local sales taxes, compared with $1,680,118.10 for September 2014, representing the improvement of almost 11 percent, also according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The local sales tax is used in Edinburg to help pay for many city services, while the EEDC uses its one-half cent local sales tax to help generate economic development in the city. The amount of local sales taxes collected also helps reflect the strength of an economy, along with construction activities, per capita income, education, historical performances, and related trends. The sales tax, formally known as the State Sales and Use Tax, is imposed on all retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods, as well as taxable services. Texas cities, counties, transit authorities and special purpose districts have the option of imposing an additional local sales tax for a combined total of state and local taxes of 8 1/4% (.0825). In another development that benefits the Edinburg economy – the upcoming Fall 2016 opening of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine – area leaders on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 announced that the Edinburg-based medical school will join leading medical schools throughout the country in determining best practices for the future of medical education. The School of Medicine has been accepted into the American Medical Association Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium and received a three-year, $75,000 grant to implement a program to help its first cohort of students develop strong communication skills. “Acceptance into this prestigious consortium is evidence of the important role the UTRGV School of Medicine will play in promoting change through innovation in medical and health education,” said Dr. Francisco Fernández, inaugural Dean of the School of Medicine. “Drs. Arden Dingle and Valerie Terry have taken a large step forward with this project, which promotes and improves the communicative skills of students showing the usefulness of an early-offered intervention on patient-physician communication within our medical curriculum. We look forward to seeing the results of their work and congratulate them on their participation in the consortium,” he said. The grant project, “Using Technology to Enhance the Pedagogy of Interpersonal Communication in Medicine,” involves having medical students use computer tablets to log patients’ oral histories, record group interactions and document other interpersonal interactions in a variety of activities, including some of the School of Medicine’s interprofessional initiatives.
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by Legislative Media | Nov 3, 2015 | Politics
Featured: Martin Baylor, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, holds up a plaque recognizing UTRGV for its Tree Campus USA designation, during a ceremony on Thursday, October 22, 2015, at the Chapel Lawn on the Edinburg Campus. The cities of Edinburg and McAllen each recognized UTRGV with a proclamation.
Photograph By PAUL CHOUY
Soon after local leaders helped celebrate the designation of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg Campus, home to nearly 2,000 trees, as a Tree Campus USA, the attention of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation will be focused in Austin for the Wednesday, November 4, and Thursday, November 5, public meeting of The University of Texas System Board of Regents. On those two days, the regents will take action on dozens of measures impacting the UT System statewide, including at least two items of particular importance the UTRGV Edinburg Campus – a discussion and appropriate action regarding proposed provisional Mission Statement, to be presented by UTRGV President Guy Bailey – and the proposed purchase of an existing, privately-owned facility and lot at 1615 South Closner Boulevard for office and research lab use. The UT System Board of Regents meeting will be held on the ninth floor of Ashbel Smith Hall, 201 W. 7th Street in Austin, with the agenda book and links to the live webcast for the meeting posted online at
https://www.utsystem.edu/news/2015/10/30/ut-system-regents-meet-nov-4-5. The EEDC, of which Agustín García, Jr. is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The EEDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mark Iglesias as President, Harvey Rodríguez as Vice President, Ellie M. Torres as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Richard García and Richard Ruppert as Members. Richard García and Agustín García, Jr. are not related. “In partnership with the Edinburg City Council, the EEDC and its Board of Directors work closely with the UTRGV and UT System leadership, along with the state legislative delegation, to support measures that benefit UTRGV’s Edinburg Campus and its soon-to-open UTRGV School of Medicine campus,” said Mayor García. “This has been a long-standing practice that continues to lead to major advances, both in facilities and academic programs, here at home, but which also benefits the entire Rio Grande Valley.” EEDC Board President Iglesias noted that just since August 2015 at the UTRGV Edinburg Campus, there have been major activities that have generated positive attention on the city, its quality-of-life, and continued economic growth. “From the approval by the UT System Board of Regents on August 21 of a $478 million budget for UTRGV’s 2016 fiscal year, to the October 5 groundbreaking of the $70 million UTRGV Science Research Building at the Edinburg Campus, the EEDC Board of Directors, Mayor and City Council remain key figures in this tremendous and documented progress,” said Iglesias. EEDC Executive Director Agustín García, Jr., noted that as a result of the city’s and EEDC’s legislative lobbying efforts, the Texas Legislature last spring approved a financing plan that will soon lead the construction of $37.6 million Interdisciplinary Engineering and Academic Studies Building at the Edinburg Campus. That facility will include a 250-seat lecture auditorium, two 150-seat lecture halls, five 60-seat classrooms, and offices. The project also will include an outdoor pavilion for use as a gathering or study space. The UT System Board of Regents meeting on November 4 and November 5 will continue the momentum, according to summaries of those anticipate actions that are included in the regents’ agenda book.
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