EDINBURG — The leadership of the city of Edinburg looked vastly different Monday after newly elected officials were sworn in, taking their place on the city council.
Ramiro Garza Jr. took the oath of office as the city’s new mayor while Daniel “Dan” Diaz and Jason De Leon were also sworn in as councilmen for Place 1 and Place 2, respectively.
The three were the winners of their respective races that concluded during the city’s runoff elections last week and during an outdoors swearing-in ceremony attended by local, state and federal officials, they thanked their supporters and reiterated their commitment to the residents of Edinburg.
“I ran this race as an independent candidate and to be a good choice for someone that wants to build bridges,” Diaz said, adding that he wanted to work in conjunction with other entities such as the school district and the county.
“We can do so much together for the citizens of Edinburg,” he said. “We can all collaborate and I want to make sure that we do that.”
De Leon delivered an emotional speech, thanking voters for trusting him to be the next Place 2 councilman.
Garza, the last to speak, thanked now-former Mayor Richard Molina and former Place 2 Councilman Gilbert Enriquez, both of whom ran against him for mayor in the general election. Garza also acknowledged now-former Place 1 Councilman Jorge Salinas who did not seek reelection.
He also repeated his campaign vow of working hard for the community, whether they voted for him or not.
“By electing me, you decided you would like a fresh start and I have every intention to ensure that we bring back trust to our city government and that we do away with politics as usual,” Garza said. “I will lead integrity and the highest ethical values.”
The adoption of an ethics policy was part of his campaign platform and he reaffirmed his commitment to that in comments he made to media after the ceremony.
He noted that during a city council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, the council was set to discuss disclosures of conflicts of interest and was set to consider an ordinance that would require the executive session portion of the meetings to be recorded.
“You’re going to see a lot more openness, how we conduct our meetings, and a lot more information will be made available,” he said. “My whole idea is just to earn that trust back.”
Before they officially took office, the previous iteration of the council had to certify the results of the election.
In the mayoral race, Garza received 4,899 votes while Molina received 4,434 votes.
Diaz was elected city councilman for Place 1 with 4,480 votes while his opponent, Ismael “Smiley” Martinez, received 4,420 votes.
In the race for city council Place 2, De Leon received 4,723 votes while Ruben “Bubba” Palacios received 4,296 votes.
