Reprint from the Progress Times - March 23, 2007
©Progress Times 2007 - All Rights Reserved

Line-ups Completed For City, School Elections

Early voting on some hotly contested Mission and Mission area school and city elections will get underway on April 30 and continue through May 8.

Requests for mail ballots began on March 13, with a May 4 deadline for mail-ins.

Following are line-ups for the various city and school elections:

City of Mission

The re-election bid of three-term Mayor Beto Salinas is being challenged by Place 3 Councilman Dr. Armando O'cana Sr.

The race between the two is expected to heat up as the election date nears.

Salinas, who also has served as a Hidalgo County commissioner, was honored recently at an appreciation dinner attended by approximately 500 persons.

Stressed during the event was progress Mission has enjoyed during the mayor's tenure.

O'cana, a math teacher, counselor and principal in the La Joya School District, is heading the "Mission Is Our Vision" ticket which also includes City Council Place 1 hopeful Ruben Sanchez, a building contractor, and David Vela, vice-president of Zapata International LTD, Oil Drilling Fluids Co., which serves both U.S. and Mexico.

Opposing Sanchez is incumbent Celestino Ramirez, a retired school administrator and Vietnam War veteran, while Vela is facing former Mission Consolidated Independent School District Trustee Norie Gonzalez, owner of a real estate investment company in Mission.

Early voting will begin on April 30 and continue through May 8 at Mission City Hall. Hours will be 8 a.m. through 5 p.m. through May 6 and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on May 7 and 8.

Mission CISD Board

Mission businessman Raymond R. Longoria apparently is a shoo-in for a second term as Place 1 trustee for the Mission Consolidated Independent School District.

While both of the other seats on the May 14 ballot are contested, Longoria, one of the three trustees whose terms are expiring, failed to draw an opponent in May 14 election.

However, the same isn't true for incumbent J.D. Villarreal, who will be seeking his third term as Place 2 trustee. He is being opposed by Sonia Trevino.

Villarreal is a former school administrator and a former Mission Man of the Year, while his opponent is a Mission chiropractor.

Two newcomers will be vying for the Place 3 seat formerly held by Norie Garza, who decided to seek a spot on the Mission City Council this year.

They are Ramon M. Rodriguez, a former Mission teacher and counselor, and Moises "Moy" Iglesias, who spent more than 30 years serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Polling places for the early vote will be Veterans Memorial High School and Alton Elementary School.

Sharyland ISD

Four candidates - only one of them an incumbent - are seeking three seats on the Sharyland Independent School District Board of Trustees in the May 14 election.

The only incumbent is Guillermo Reyna, a Certified Public Accountant. Not seeking new terms are Dr. Henry Smith and Robbie Hymel.

The voting will be at large, with the top three vote-getters earning seats on the board.

The other three candidates are:

- La Sara Independent School District Superintendent Roland Pena, with 38 years of experience in the field of education.

- Jesus M. (Jesse) Guerra, a former trustee, and currently a human resource specialist with the La Joya ISD.

- Dr. Noe Garza, a dentist.

The early vote will be at the Sharyland Fire Station.

La Joya ISD

Team USA, which has already captured three seats on the La Joya Independent School District board of trustees, will be trying to add another in the May 14 election.

Esperanza (Espie) Ochoa, a long-time teacher and reading specialist, will be running under the Team USA banner for Place 5. She will be trying to unseat long-time Incumbent Elma Garza, who has been a board member for past 10 years.

Garza, a former board president, currently is a librarian at the La Grulla Middle School in the Rio Grande City Independent School District. She previously had taught language arts in the La Joya district.

In the other school board contest, Place 4 incumbent Arturo Gonzalez, a trustee for seven years and also a former board president, is being challenged by Domingo Villarreal, who served on the board from 1994 to 2000.

Villarreal currently is administrative assistant and coordinator for Hidalgo County Precinct 3.

City of La Joya

After a sweeping victory in last year's La Joya School Board election, Team USA is going after the incumbent mayor and two aldermen in the City of La Joya election.

Billy Leo, who is seeking his fifth term as mayor, will be opposed by Team USA's Rodolfo (Fito) Farias, a former mayor and retired educator.

Also to be elected are three aldermen, two of them from a field of four candidates, incumbent Angie Garza, a retired school secretary; Leroy Alaniz, a businessman, Eluterio (Tello) Morales, a retired school district employee, and Dalila Ruiz, a dispatcher for the school district.

Morales and Ruiz are the Team USA candidates.

A one-year alderman term will be decided in a race between Maria M. (Tillie) Salinas, a computer service technician, and Team USA's Mary Salinas, who is retired.

Also on the ballot will be a vote on extending terms of aldermen from two to four years.

Early voting will be at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church Pavilion.

City of Palmhurst

Two of the three aldermen whose terms are expiring have drawn opponents in the May 12 election.

Place 2 incumbent Jaime Aranda, a businessman, faces a challenge from Jackie Field, a retired businessman.

Ruben De Leon, a parts manager for Weaks Martin, is unopposed for Place 1 as is incumbent Rosario Enrique in Place 5.

Early voting will be at Faith Baptist Church.

Sullivan City

Mayor Gumaro Flores will be going for his fifth term in the May 12 city election in Sullivan City.

He is being opposed by Nidia Benavides, owner of a Sullivan City convenience store.

Four candidates have filed for the two aldermen seats. Voting on them will be at large rather than by place.

The candidates, all school district employees, are Reynaldo Ruiz, Ginger Villarreal, Rosendo (Cheno) Benavides and Oscar Salinas.

Early voting site will be Sullivan City Hall.

No Elections

Voters in Palmview and Granjeno will not be having city elections on May 12 since terms of none of their office-holders expire this year.