DeLuna, Garza win Willacy runoff

RAYMONDVILLE — County Commissioner Oscar DeLuna clinched his second term while interim County Clerk Susana Garza took over for longtime mentor Terry Flores in Tuesday’s runoff, which drew scant early voter turnout.

DeLuna received 357 votes to defeat former Commissioner Noe Loya, who finished with 293 votes.

The race was a rematch of the 2014 election that swept DeLuna into office.

“I feel great after a rough campaign to get back in there and continue my work to finish projects that I need to tend to,” DeLuna said yesterday.

DeLuna vowed to work with commissioners on county projects.

“It’s not a one-man deal, you know,” DeLuna, the former longtime San Perlita mayor, said. “We’re still working together as a commission. That’s how I like it.”

DeLuna said commissioners are working with Management & Training Corp. to seek a contract to house inmates at the former site of the Willacy County Correctional Center.

“We’re trying to get that prison back there,” he said.

Meanwhile, MTC has repaired the former tent-city prison that inmates destroyed during a February 2015 riot.

“They’ve invested quite a bit of money in there,” DeLuna said.

The minimum-security prison’s closure slashed a third out of the county’s general fund budget, leading to 400 prison layoffs while plunging the area into financial crisis.

As a result, commissioners made budget cuts while focusing on new revenue streams such as expanding wind farm operations. Seething over Russia probe, Trump tears into ‘spygate’4 DeLuna said he was also working to revamp Fred Stone Park in Port Mansfield.

The county is seeking a Texas Parks and Wildlife Grant to replace the park’s aging fishing pier at a cost of as much as $400,000, DeLuna said.

“The fishing pier is completely outdated and needs to be replaced completely,” DeLuna said.

He said the county plans to overhaul the park that remained a popular attraction for generations.

“It’s completely deteriorated,” DeLuna said of the park’s restrooms and picnic tables. “That’s my goal — to rebuild that park.”

The county is also seeking a state grant to improve the so-called Raymondville Drain, a critical area drainage system that is part of a multimillion-dollar project to develop a regional floodway.

In the race for county clerk, Garza received 826 votes to defeat Jacob Quilantan, the county’s assistant treasurer, who drew 477 votes.

“I’m happy and relieved — it was a long six months,” Garza said. “My concern was a runoff wouldn’t pull in a lot of vote. But I believe the voters came out. I received a lot of help from family, friends and supporters.”

Garza, who served as chief deputy clerk for about 20 years after taking a job in the office in 1982, replaces Flores, who retired in January after serving as county clerk since 1981.

Based on Flores’ recommendation, commissioners appointed Garza to the serve as interim clerk.

“I’m continuing what Mrs. Flores set up — the running of the office and records preservation,” Garza said.

Since 2011, the office has worked to input the county’s original records into computer data bases.