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Galligan named interim city attorney

Bob Galligan of Jones, Galligan, Keys and Lozano, with headquarters in Weslaco, was named the City of Mission’s interim city attorney in a special meeting of the Mission City Council held Monday.

The action came after the resignation of City Attorney David Guerra, who had been serving the city for more than 29 years.

City of Mission logoAccording to Galligan, he will serve around 60 days while the city solicits bids for two in-house attorneys to manage city business. Galligan has done work for the city for a number of years. He worked as attorney for Mission Economic Development Authority before it was dissolved. He has also represented the city in a number of other litigations.

When asked if he was interested in the position of city attorney, Galligan replied, “I am not interested in the position because I already have many obligations in my current practice. I will simply be helping the city on a temporary basis until it transitions into the two in-house attorneys it desires.”

Galligan said one of the two attorneys, to be named lead attorney, would be in charge of matters needing prosecution. The other attorney, to be named assistant attorney, would be in charge of contractual obligations for the city. Galligan said that when the first attorney was not involved in prosecution, he or she would also be working at city hall.

City Manager Martin Garza said Galligan currently earns $175 an hour for the work he does for the city. That fee during the transition period will remain the same.

In other action, Edward Belmarez asked the council to solicit bids for irrigation improvements at Bannworth, Jaycee and Nell Toll parks. Belmarez said the improvements would provide irrigation for ball fields and land outside the fields. The estimated cost is $45,000.

Outside the council chambers the Community Development Block Grant program had a display set up informing citizens about the work done through the program over the past 30 years. Jo Anne Longoria said since 1990, when emphasis started being put on housing for residents, about 350 new homes had been built through the program and another 150 rehabilitations of existing residences had been done.

The reconstruction assistance program offers a new brick veneer energy efficient home to eligible owners. Houses range from two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath homes to three-bedroom, two-bath homes equipped with central air and heat.

Rehabilitation assistance provides major repairs to existing homes in dire need of assistance. Repairs are done to meet standards codes of electrical, plumbing roof and other areas that need to be addressed.

There were displays of the work being done by the department and information available to be given to citizens who come in to see the display that will be in the lobby of City Hall through today. Longoria invited anyone interested in learning more about the program to come by City Hall and see their display and talk to staff about the program.

According to Longoria, more than 75 percent of the CDBG money goes into the housing program to help residents have good quality housing.

“April is National Fair Housing Month,” added Longoria “The motto for the Fair Housing movement is “Fair housing is your right… use it.”

The city of Mission is dedication to helping residents have the type of housing they deserve,” she added.

In addition to funding housing, CDBG funds are used to fund Amigos Del Valle, Area Agency on Aging, Children’s Advocacy, Dentists Who Care, Easter Seal of RGV and Silver Ribbon.

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