HARLINGEN — They were boots on the ground, so to speak, the moment COVID-19 hit Cameron County.
Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. was a regular presence on the airwaves urging residents to follow safety guidelines.
County commissioners worked tirelessly on many levels to address new challenges that continually presented themselves as a result of the pandemic.
Their efforts were recognized Monday night by the Valley Baptist Health System and the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce.
“They have been on constant and consistent calls for over two years,” said Manny Vela, CEO of Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen.
Treviño appreciated the gesture for the hard work everyone had put in during pandemic.
“It was extremely humbling that the Harlingen Chamber and the leadership in Harlingen took the time out to recognize the efforts of the Cameron County Commissioners Court and myself, all of our team, emergency management, the health department, all of the first responders,” he said. “It was extremely humbling, and I’m very thankful that they put this together for us.”
Vela recognized Cameron County Commissioners Sofia Benavides, Joey Lopez, David Garza and Gus Ruiz. He also commended leaders from the Cameron County Health and Emergency Management Department.
“The reason that we wanted to honor them was because it dawned on me that, from the very beginning of the COVID crisis, the county had served as a catalyst to create a partnership throughout the County to help address COVID,” he said. “I had not seen anybody recognizing their efforts.”
For this reason Vela approached the Chamber about three months ago about cohosting the event. And those efforts materialized Monday at the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce at 311 E. Tyler Ave.
“The reality is the county has been acting as the glue throughout this entire COVID pandemic,” Vela said. “So in short I just wanted to make sure that the leadership of Cameron County knew how appreciative we were.”
Combating the pandemic required the efforts of all county leaders, Treviño said.
“Everything that I did was as a result of the actions and cooperation of the commissioner’s court,” he said. “I didn’t act in a vacuum.”
