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“Transparency in government should be a hallmark of the City of Edinburg” with new public information software, announces Omar Ochoa

Featured, from left: Juan Guerra, Edinburg City Manager; Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortéz; Omar Ochoa, Edinburg City Attorney; and Carla M. Rodríguez, Edinburg Assistant City Manager, in the City Council Chamber at Edinburg City Hall following a news conference on Friday, April 5, 2019.

Featured, from left: Juan Guerra, Edinburg City Manager; Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortéz; Omar Ochoa, Edinburg City Attorney; and Carla M. Rodríguez, Edinburg Assistant City Manager, in the City Council Chamber at Edinburg City Hall following a news conference on Friday, April 5, 2019.

Photograph By ANA ÁVILA

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Bringing new businesses, helping existing businesses, creating more jobs next to Bert Ogden Arena and H-E-B Park are top goals of successful legislation by Rep. Canales and Sen. Hinojosa

Bringing new businesses, helping existing businesses, creating more jobs next to Bert Ogden Arena and H-E-B Park are top goals of successful legislation by Rep. Canales and Sen. Hinojosa - Titans of the Texas Legislature

Featured: The $88.3 million, 190,000 square foot Bert Ogden Arena, owned by the City of Edinburg, a first-class indoor multi-purpose center located at the corner of Interstate Highway 69-Central and Alberta Road in east Edinburg.

Photograph Courtesy BERT OGDEN ARENA

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Edinburg Councilmember Enríquez uses state public comment law to contend that he was “removed” from Edinburg EDC Board of Directors

Edinburg Councilmember Enríquez uses state public comment law to contend that he was “removed” from Edinburg EDC Board of Directors - Titans of the Texas Legislature

Featured: Edinburg City Councilmember Gilbert Enríquez, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, February 22, 2019, for the 21-acre Janet Ogden Vackar Sports Complex, created through a partnership between the City of Edinburg and the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District.

Photograph Courtesy CITY OF EDINBURG

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“City of Edinburg Public Affairs Liaison” set to receive $105,000 from Edinburg EDC during noon meeting on Tuesday, December 18, at City Hall

“City of Edinburg Public Affairs Liaison” set to receive $105,000 from Edinburg EDC during noon meeting on Tuesday, December 18, at City Hall - Titans of the Texas Legislature

Featured: Fall 2018 graduates Ricardo Rendón and Samantha Muñoz rang the bell at the end of the ceremonies to ring in the success of all graduates. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley continued with Fall 2018 Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, December 15, at the McAllen Convention Center where close to 2,000 earned their bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

Photograph By PAUL CHOUY

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Edinburg retail economy continues to prosper, posting 6.21 percent improvement midway through 2015 compared with first half of 2014

the newest member of the Board of Directors for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation

Featured, from left: Dalia Molina and husband, City Councilmember Richard Molina, and Councilmember David Torres and wife Ellie M. Torres, the newest member of the Board of Directors for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, at Edinburg City Hall on Wednesday, May 13, 2o15. The EEDC is the jobs-creation arm of the Mayor and Edinburg City Council.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR

Edinburg’s retail economy from January through June 2015 continues to prosper, with a 6.21 percent rate of improvement over the first half of 2014, 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 Rupert as Members. For the month of June 2015, the city’s retail economy registered a 6.32 percent rate of improvement over the same month last year, the EEDC added, according to data released on Wednesday, August 12, by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. For the first six months of 2015, Edinburg’s retail economy has produced $13,591,448.24 in local sales taxes, compared with $12,795,992.32 for January through June 2014. During June 2015, the city’s retail economy generated $1,843,334.30 in local sales taxes, compared with $1,733,714.45 for June 2014, also according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. EEDC Board President Iglesias noted that Edinburg’s retail economy continues to perform favorably when compared with statewide figures. “Year-to-date, the city economy’s 6.21 percent rate of improvement is ahead of the average for all cities in Texas, which is 5.1 percent for the period of January through June 2015, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts,” said Iglesias. The amount of local sales taxes collected helps reflect the strength of an economy, along with construction activities, per capita income, education, historical performances, and related trends, said Mayor García. “The city’s retail economy also will benefit in the coming months from the impact of four planned different housing developments, representing a combined value of $110.4 million, which will bring 448 apartment units and a 150-home subdivision to Edinburg,” the mayor reported. On Wednesday, August 5, the Mayor and City Council approved the $110.4 million in new residential complexes for Edinburg. That action follows previous city approvals for other developers to build 594 apartment units – three of those residential complexes located along the city’s medical corridor, and the fourth residential complex coming up on Sugar Road near the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. “The housing demand has increased in Edinburg since the announcement in May 2013 that UT-Pan American will be transformed into The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, beginning with the Fall 2015 semester,” Mayor García explained. “Very important, for this first time, as a result of the creation of UT-RGV, higher education in the Valley now has access to the multi-billion dollar Permanent University Fund.” On June 30, 2015 the market value and book value of the PUF was $17.8 billion and $14.9 billion, respectively, exclusive of land acreage. “Along with the creation of The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, the School of Medicine is set to open by the Fall of 2016, with a major component in Edinburg,” added Mayor García. “People are looking to move closer to the campus, and for the financial and job opportunities within the medical industry expected to materialize once the UT medical school is complete.” The Permanent University Fund (PUF) is a public endowment contributing to the support of institutions of The University of Texas System (UT System) and the Texas A&M University System (A&M System). The Constitution of 1876 established the PUF through the appropriation of land grants previously given to The University of Texas plus one million acres. Additional land grants to the PUF were completed in 1883 with the contribution of another one million acres. Today the PUF contains 2.1 million acres located in 24 counties primarily in West Texas. “We find ourselves in the same situation San Antonio experienced when they got their medical school (UT Health Science Center at San Antonio), and look at their size now. Mark my words, the population in Edinburg will very soon be more than 100,000,” Mayor García predicted. “Our location as the gateway to Hidalgo County, which the U.S. Census Bureau estimates had more than 830,000 people as of 2014, and the fact that there is room to grow in all directions in Edinburg also is attracting entrepreneurs looking for a location proven to be successful.”

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