Edinburg Councilman Jorge Salinas is the city’s new mayor pro-tem, having been appointed to the role during a special meeting Thursday.
The council named Salinas the new mayor pro-tem following the resignation of council member Gilbert Enriquez last week.
Salinas is currently serving his first term in office. He was elected to the Place 1 position in November 2017.
He describes himself as an educator by profession for 16 years with the Edinburg school district.
By taking the role, he replaces Enriquez who was also newly elected to the council in 2017, and who in February announced his bid for mayor.
In stepping down from the council last week, Enriquez cited the city’s hiring of one of his family members.
Enriquez said in a statement that he was not aware that his nephew had applied for a position with the city’s fire department until after he was already hired and said those who were part of the hiring process were not aware of the familial connection.
Still, Enriquez said he wanted to hold himself accountable and thus decided to resign. He still intends to run for mayor in the city’s general election in November, when Salinas is also up for reelection.
The council can appoint a replacement to fill Enriquez’s Place 2 seat for the rest of the term, but it is unclear how the council will move forward or when they will do so.
