Mission mayoral candidates list plans, defend decisions in forum

Having emerged as the two top vote-getters in the Mission mayoral election earlier this month, current Mayor Armando O’Cana and former City Councilmember Norie Gonzalez Garza took part in a candidate forum Tuesday in the lead up to the runoff election next month.

The two candidates shared their views for the city’s future, responded to questions about their previous decisions as members of the city council, and talked about their qualifications for the job as mayor as part of the forum which was held by Futuro RGV.

O’Cana and Gonzalez Garza first talked about what they saw as the city’s biggest asset aside from the community and what they saw as its biggest concern.

O’Cana said the city’s biggest asset is the city staff, saying they play a vital role in ensuring the city’s operations run smoothly while the biggest concern is lack of funding. He said he’d address that by continuing to apply for available grants and work with the Mission Economic Development Corporation to promote economic development.

Gonzalez Garza said the city’s greatest asset was its potential, noting its abundance of vacant land that is available to be developed, and she agreed with O’Cana that funding was the greatest concern.

After O’Cana took office in 2018, the city raised the property tax rate for the first time in several years. His predecessor, Norberto “Beto” Salinas, had built a reputation for lowering the tax rate and keeping it low.

O’Cana explained that the raise in taxes was because the city didn’t have a balance in the general fund which is why the city raised taxes twice during his first two years as mayor. He noted, though, that they maintained the tax rate the same the next two years.

He did not commit to lowering taxes or keeping them the same because he said that was dependent on what the city budget needs in the future.

“The needs of the city are going to drive what the balance of the budget is going to be,” he said. “We’re opening another fire station, we’re hiring more staff and so forth so I’m going to run on the balance of the budget.”

Gonzalez Garza said she does not foresee a property tax increase in the immediate future, especially because of the federal COVID-19 relief funds the city received over the last two years. Also, she said the increase in property values had brought in enough revenue that the city wouldn’t have to raise the property tax rate.

Over the last several months, the city of Mission has been clouded by a federal investigation tied to an energy savings company, Performance Services Inc., and an alleged kickback scheme that one of its employees participated in.

The investigation has already led to a handful of officials from western Hidalgo County to plead guilty to federal charges.

The problem for Mission is that the city council, by a three to two vote, agreed to enter into a contract with PSI for a project to install smart water meters, against the recommendation of their city manager.

During Tuesday’s forum, the candidates were asked what factors they take into consideration when going against a staff recommendation.

Gonzalez Garza noted that regarding the PSI contract, she went with staff recommendation and voted against the contract because she felt it was a very big project that should have gone out for bids.

“When we’re talking about $17 million and there’s an ability to save some money, I think we should do our due diligence and save the money for our community,” she said.

She added that she did her own research by looking at neighboring entities that embarked on a similar project to install smart water meters which led her to believe the city could have saved close to $6 million on the project.

O’Cana said his mayoral campaign in 2018 included a pledge to incorporate technology to make the city “more efficient, more effective and more productive” and the concept of smart water meters was part of fulfilling that.

“The reason I went against the city manager at the time is because the city manager was inexperienced, he had just come to the job, and he had very little knowledge based on smart meters,” O’Cana said, “as well as the water systems in the city because he was basically a financial person.”

The mayor added that for the smart water meter project, the city had an independent third-party administrator that conducted a study during the procurement process and said the procurement process was approved by the state.

When it comes to preventing corruption or preventing outside undue influence from affecting the city, O’Cana said corrupt actions were the responsibility of individuals.

“I don’t think that the city of Mission would be responsible for an action,” he said. “If there’s a corruptive action that is taken, the individual has to face up to it and come forth with it and pay the consequences that are necessary that come with it.”

Gonzalez Garza said she would implement a code of ethics, similar to one that was recently adopted by the city of Edinburg. She said the code of ethics would include training for city council members and committee members on those ethics.

The city has taken steps toward establishing an ambulance service based out of their fire department. However, current plans are to have their fire-based EMS but secondary to Med-Care EMS, the private company that the city is currently contracted with for emergency ambulance calls.

Asked if they were in favor of having the city’s own EMS service be the primary provider, both candidates said the city was not ready for that yet.

Gonzalez Garza said having their fire-based EMS be the primary provider is a move that could be phased in but would take at least four or five years.

O’Cana agreed that the city is not there yet but said he does share the vision that it could happen one day.

“I get accused of not being in favor of fire-based ambulance but it’s not that I’m not in favor it, it’s that it’s not the right time,” O’Cana said, “and we don’t have the right equipment, we don’t have the right personnel to cover 100% of the calls that we do.”

He added that EMS providers currently report about a 50% bill collection rate which he said is not feasible for the city.

“We cannot afford a 50% non-payment (rate) on the budget,” he said.

As for what sets each candidate apart from one another, both highlighted their experience in different fields.

Gonzalez Garza noted her 24 years in public service, nine on the Mission school board and 15 on the city council, and she pointed out her more than 40 years in business including 30 years with her real estate company.

O’Cana said the number one thing that sets them apart is his experience from a variety of fields.

“I have served in many, many categories like police officer or firefighter,” he said. “I was an educator for 43 years.”

He also touted his Ph.D. in educational administration with an emphasis in curriculum instruction.

“I bring a more comprehensive approach to city government than a very specific approach,” he said.

Citizens of Mission will be able to choose between the two candidates when they face off against each other in the runoff election slated for next month.

Early voting will run from May 31 through June 7. Election day is on June 11.

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