Three seats on the Mercedes city commission will be up for grabs this May, and the field of candidates is full of largely familiar faces.
Voters will choose the city’s next mayor, as well as the commissioners for Place 1 and 3.
All three men currently serving in those positions — Oscar Montoya, Jacob Howell and Joe Martinez — are seeking reelection to their second terms in office.
Howell has already been assured of that second term as he is running unopposed for Place 1. However, Montoya and Martinez have both drawn two challengers each.
Seeking to unseat Montoya as mayor is former Commissioner Cristela “Cris” De Leon Hernandez and newcomer Joaquin Hernandez Sr.
Meanwhile, former commissioners Leonel Benavidez and Leandro Villarreal will try to unseat Martinez at Place 3.
“I can say — with being well informed — that things can be better,” Benavidez said as to why he threw his hat in the election ring.
Benavidez, who lost his bid for reelection to Place 2 in 2022 after serving a single term, said he still has work to do. His focus is on parks, streets and the Queen City’s downtown.
“Our downtown businesses, which have paid taxes for 20-some years, and for us to be giving these high-dollar incentives to these new businesses? … Those were the big motivators,” Benavidez said.
The Mercedes city commission is composed entirely of at-large positions, meaning each official represents the city as a whole. As such, it is up to the candidates themselves to choose which seat in particular they hope to win.
Asked why he chose to run for Place 3 rather than Place 1, Benavidez said it’s because he and Howell have an established history of trying to compromise on disagreements.
“With Commissioner Howell, when we disagreed on something, we came together and had a discussion — last year on Facebook Live,” Benavidez said.
Benavidez added that he feels Place 3 “needs the most improvement.”
Martinez is choosing to focus on the good work he and the current members of the city commission have accomplished thus far.
“We have a united board. We have now a more united community,” he said, adding that the commission has “steered away” from the caustic discussions that once plagued it.
Montoya echoed that message of unity.
“I’m excited by the energy that’s been created by the teamwork in the city,” the mayor said.
Over the last year, the city has experienced a wave of economic growth by attracting the likes of Starbucks, Sonic and Wendy’s.
But it’s not just restaurants. A new truck travel center is in the works. And Montoya’s phone regularly rings with calls from developers looking to invest in Mercedes, he said.
The city has also made strides in improving public infrastructure, including drainage projects and in rebuilding elasticity in its borrowing capacity, Montoya said.
“We’re in a pretty good position now, and I’d like to see that through,” Montoya said.
For De Leon Hernandez, who also served a single term in office, which was slightly longer than normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, being an advocate for Mercedes city employees is her top concern.
“That’s where I come from. That’s where I’m passionate. I want to look out for the employees. I want them to have a voice,” De Leon Hernandez said.
The former commissioner points to her own family’s history as city employees as the reason behind her advocacy.
Both her father and two brothers spent their careers working for the city’s public works department.
“My dad worked for 35 years, retired at $5.15 an hour. … Then my brothers retired — for 35 years working for the city — leaving at $12, $13 an hour,” De Leon Hernandez said.
Among some of her proudest achievements during her single term in office was a 6% pay raise for the employees of the very department where her family had spent their career, as well as pay increases for the police, fire and EMS departments.
She hopes to continue advocating for the city’s workers if she is elected mayor, but also hopes to keep the staff and outside vendors fiscally accountable, she said.
The other candidate seeking to unseat the mayor is political newcomer Joaquin Hernandez Sr.
Joaquin Hernandez Sr. is the father of former Mercedes Public Works Director Joaquin Hernandez Jr., who was terminated by the city last fall.
Joaquin Hernandez Jr. has since filed a lawsuit.
The younger Hernandez claims Mercedes officials violated his First Amendment rights by allegedly firing him in retaliation for public comments he made as a private citizen — not in his capacity as a public employee — during a city commission meeting.
Since then, his father, Joaquin Hernandez Sr., has been a fixture at commission meetings himself, often making public comments of his own.
He did not respond to a request seeking comment for this story.
