Anyone who has followed the McAllen mayoral elections knows that Dr. Shahid Rashid is not a politician. It is a fact he proudly points out whenever he has a chance to address voters.
“I’m not part of the administration but all of the remaining candidates there, are,” Rashid said, referring to himself as an outsider among the field of candidates.
“What makes me different and stand out and why my candidacy makes a difference is that I’m the only candidate who is a physician and a public health expert and also a businessman and a philanthropist and a family man,” Rashid said. “And I have been involved in my community for over 23 years and been connected at the grassroots level with my community.”
Rashid, a physician who specializes in pain management, is one of five candidates currently running for mayor in the city’s general elections for which early voting is already underway.
He owns South Texas Clinic for Pain Management which has four locations throughout the Rio Grande Valley, located in Hidalgo and Cameron County. His decision to enter the race, he said, was prompted by a sense of responsibility he felt given that he believed he had a lot to offer.
“The turning point was that I feel that this is my moral, ethical and professional responsibility,” Rashid said. “When I have the knowledge, when I have the experience, when I have the education and training to help my fellow beings, then I must do that.”
The mayoral hopeful expressed a vision for the city in which it could be like the major cities in the state if it tapped into its existing resources.
As it is now, he said the city was losing its wealth and its youth because of a lack of opportunities.
“What I am focusing on is we need to create our own local economy so that our money stays right here in the Valley, our talent stays right here in the Valley,” Rashid said. He pointed to cities like Houston and Dallas which have their own industries.
“We can do that too, we can make our own Silicon Valley here, we can make our own medical manufacturing industries,” he said. “We don’t have any reason not to be a mega city, one of the mega cities of our country.”
Early voting runs through April 27 and election day is on May 1.
