Three races are up for Mission residents to decide in the city’s May elections.
Among those races is the election for Mission councilmember Place 3 which will decide who will replace current Councilmember Norie Gonzalez Garza.
There are three candidates running for the position — Abiel Flores, the former Mission city attorney, Javier “Javy” Ramon, a retired Mission police officer, and Joe Vargas, co-owner of TLC Pharmacy and Medical Equipment.
Flores, 41, said he enjoyed his time working with the city and various departments when he was city attorney and said he was running for the Place 3 office for the opportunity to give back to the community.
If elected, his main priorities would be examining the city budget and reviewing the city’s spending. A goal, he said, that would be aided by his degree in finance.
“I feel that there’s ways that we could be more fiscally responsible in the way we’re spending at our city,” Flores said.
Public safety, he said, would be another top priority which would entail making sure that police officers and firefighters have the tools and equipment they need.
“I truly believe that a safe community is one that attracts residents,” Flores said, “and when you attract residents, you attract businesses and when you attract businesses, you generate more tax revenue for the city and therefore more tax revenue allows for better services.”
As the former city attorney, he said he is already knowledgeable about how the city functions and therefore ready to take on the role of a city council member.
“The fact that I’ve been in there, I’ve seen the day-to-day, I’m very familiar with it — there’s not going to be much time that we have to kind of wait for me to learn the process,” Flores said. “I’m already familiar with it, and so it will be a smooth transition … a smooth transition with a fresh perspective because it’s going to be my view on the way that the money is being spent and on the services that we’re providing.”
Ramon, 48, worked for the Mission police department for 28 years until a severe case of COVID-19 prompted his retirement.
He contracted COVID in 2020 and spent 173 days in the hospital where he “coded,” or went into cardiac arrest, for about seven minutes until health care workers brought him back.
“It made me think back and reflect that I’m here for a reason,” Ramon said. “And I think I could do a lot for the community in being elected as a city official.”
Ramon added that he feels he owes a debt to the people that prayed for him and helped him through the process.
“I just want to be able to repay the community back with as much as I could possibly do for them,” he said.
If elected, he’d want to focus on three things — infrastructure, the police and fire departments, and the city’s economic growth.
“And really helping the people, not only the citizens but our employees,” he added. “Our employees are probably our biggest resource. If we don’t take care of our people, our people aren’t going to want to work.”
He described himself as a person of the people who knows what the community needs.
“I know where our vulnerabilities are in regards to things like that so I can see it,” Ramon said as to why people should vote for him. “I want to be a part of the solutions to the issues that we have here within our city.”
Vargas, 45, is running as a write-in candidate for Place 3 following issues that center on when the change of address on his voter registration became effective.
Vargas, who is currently the chair-elect for the Mission Chamber of Commerce and also sits on the board for the Mission Economic Development Corporation, said he was prompted to run because he saw a lot of things that could be improved in the city government.
His primary goals, if elected, include drainage improvements to address flooding issues that the city has experienced over the last few years.
“Our residents should feel safe and know that their homes and their dwellings are not at risk every time we have a little bit of rain,” Vargas said, “and so I would really like to see us investing in the infrastructure of better drainage in our city.”
His second priority would be to implement better training for the city’s police officers, specifically mental health training.
“One of the biggest concerns for me is, as a police officer, when you’re responding to a call, how do you distinguish a situation that is a mental situation from a true criminal situation?” Vargas asked. “And I believe our police officers don’t have the proper training to distinguish those two.”
His third priority would be for the city to continue investing into its in-house EMS service, a service the city green-lit last year but which remains secondary to the service provided by outside contractor MedCare EMS.
As to why Mission citizens should vote for him, Vargas said he is not a career politician and intends to put the office to the use of the public instead of being self-serving.
“I’m a candidate that is open to hearing what the people have to say,” Vargas said. “Not only hearing, but carrying that voice to city council and making sure that they have an active voice on the council.”
Voters will be able to begin making their choice between the three candidates on Monday which is the first day of early voting. Election day is May 7.
