In his first state of the city address as mayor, Javier Villalobos touted McAllen’s rebound from the struggles caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as the city reported an increase in sales, travel and growth in 2021.
Villalobos, who took office in June, made his grand entrance to the annual state of the city luncheon in a much more subdued manner than his predecessor, former Mayor Jim Darling, who danced, biked and even rapelled his way onto the stage for his state of the city addresses.
The new mayor simply strolled up the stage with his wife, Annette Torres-Villalobos, before taking the podium to make his speech.
During his remarks, which included pre-recorded video messages from the city commissioners, touched on everything that the city had to offer.
“2021 was a difficult year — an uncertain global economy, immigration issues and a race to safeguard our region from a pandemic,” Villalobos said. “Yet in the face of adversity, I know a place that took adversity and created opportunity, a place united in purpose when lives hung in the balance.”
“I know a place that made good on a promise to create new possibilities for a new generation,” he said. “That place is McAllen.”
Villalobos began by talking about retail and how the city saw an uptick in sales tax revenue this year following a dip caused by the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020-21 fiscal year. During the last quarter of 2021, Villalobos said sales tax revenue increased by nearly 23% and increased about 35% in January.
“Out of the top 15 cities (in the state) in total sales tax, McAllen ranked number two in total sales per capita,” Villalobos said. “This means that we were almost double the amount generated by cities like Dallas, San Antonio and Austin.”
He noted the city accomplished this even though the international bridges were closed to non-essential traffic for the majority of the year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bridges reopened to non-essential travel in November 2021.
In a video, District 2 City Commissioner Joaquin “J.J.” Zamora touted the performance of the McAllen International Airport which had more passengers in 2021 than it did in 2019, which had already been a record year.
Zamora also spoke on economic projects the city is currenly working on.
“The McAllen Economic Development Corporation currently has five industrial parks under development,” he said. “In total, these projects are expected to involve well over $100 million of investment and create more than 1,200 jobs.”
The city also made strides in public safety, reporting the lowest crime rate in 37, according to FBI statistics.
“I know a place where crime is at an all-time low,” Villalobos said, adding praise for the police department.
He noted the city signed two multi-year collective bargaining agreements with the police department and the fire department in 2021.
The mayor also highlighted a state-of-the-art training facility for the fire department.
“This facility will serve as the heart of the McAllen Fire Department training division and ensure that our 180 certified firefighters stay current on their educational requirements,” Villalobos said.
District 6 City Commissioner Pepe Cabeza de Vaca reiterated the city’s public safety efforts as well as vaccination efforts both locally and in Mexico.
“We recently hosted another such clinic and will continue to hold future vaccine clinics for as long as we need to help us all stay safe and healthy,” Cabeza de Vaca said.
In partnership with the county and international partners, the city vaccinated 50,000 maquila workers in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.
Villalobos also praised the city’s response to the large number of migrant arrivals last year. The city, in partnership with Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, tested the individuals for COVID-19 and isolated them at the Anzalduas Park if they tested positive.
“I know a place that took swift action to keep our residents safe and to ensure that everyone entering our city was met with human decency,” he said. “This past year, together with our community partners, McAllen saw that more than 141,000 immigrants COVID tested.”
He reported that the city accessed more than $20 million in federal funds for those testing efforts, which he said covered more than 99.5% of expenses related to immigration issues.
In his video message, District 5 City Commissioner Victor “Seby” Haddad focused on quality of life goals, touching on the reopening of the McAllen Performing Arts Center, festivals, and the return of the in-person McAllen Holiday Parade.
District 4 City Commissioner Tania Ramirez reviewed how the city had made improvements to recreational facilities to make them more inclusive to individuals with disabilities.
Some of those enhancements included improvements to parks to make facilites there compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design.
Ramirez added the city began providing English closed captioning for broadcasts of city commisisoner meetings and workshops and would begin offering them in Spanish next month.
“This year, the city of McAllen also created a disability advisory board to provide recommendations to the city commission on how to better improve access and experiences for residents and visitors,” Ramirez said.
Distrcit 3 City Commissioner Omar Quintanilla addressed the city’s plans for drainage improvements.
Because of a $22 million bond approved by voters in 2018, 14.6 million in drainage fees, and $24.8 million in FEMA grants, Quintanilla said the city was able to complete 24 of 56 planned drainage projects. Another 32 are currently in the works, he added.
“While unprecedented rainfall has exasperated the problem, updating the drainage infrastructure to meet the fast-paced development of McAllen is an absolute priority to prevent future flooding for McAllen residents,” Quintanilla said.
Rounding out the commissioner messages, District 1 City Commissioner Tony Aguirre went over the city’s work to improve traffic mobility with more than $64 million in investment toward those efforts.
Those improvements included the expansion of Bicentennial Boulevard which was completed in 2021. Bicentennial now stretches from State Highway 107 all the way down to the airport.
Aguirre also said the city was moving forward with improvements to traffic signals, a project that had been delayed because of the pandemic.
The McAllen Public Utility Board also provided their own video message during the address, reporting future plans to expand their utility network to meet growing water demands as the city continues to grow.
Additionally, Villalobos also announced a new partnership between the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and MD Anderson Cancer Center for a cancer research facility in McAllen. The university, however, clarified Wednesday that this is not a partnership and is happy to be acting in an advisory capacity.
He also pointed to statistics of the city’s growth with more than 1,700 residential building permits issued for a total of $225 million in new construction value.
There were also more than 800 new commercial building permits issued which were valued at more than $130 million.
“That is a combined total new construction value in McAllen of more than $350 million in 2021,” Villalobos said.
The mayor also called attention to the city’s financial health, noting the city appropriated $528 million including more than $179 million for capital improvement projects.
“Our sound financial position and commitment to continued capital improvements means that I know a place that will continue to grow and thrive like never before,” he said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include new information UTRGV provided.
