Mission holds inaugural State of the City address

With one year as mayor under Norie Gonzalez Garza’s belt, the City of Mission felt it was time to implement a tradition long practiced in many other municipalities— a State of the City address. 

A State of the City address is a presentation where city leaders have the opportunity to inform residents of happenings within the community. 

“So basically it’s an overall summarized report of the city and what to expect in the future,” City Manager Randy Perez said. “But it’s a good way of communication and transparency. We have an opportunity to highlight achievements, priorities and have the community engaged in what we currently are doing in the city.” 

In a recent Progress Times interview, Mayor Gonzalez Garza reflected on the highlights from her first year as city leader, which included increasing transparency, securing more funding for drainage projects and solidifying partnerships with other organizations and municipalities. 

In the same interview, Gonzalez Garza stated one of her main goals for the coming year is to increase the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone to promote city growth and development. 

“I feel we’ve done a lot in a year with staff and council working together towards the same goals,” the mayor said. “I think we’ve been able to accomplish a lot and we’re looking forward to many more projects. The work has not stopped and we have plenty to do for the next three years.” 

The State of the City address is Oct. 18 at 11:30 a.m. at the Mission Event Center. However, it is a sponsored-only event, meaning sponsors pay anywhere from $1,500 to $7,500 for a table to attend. But the city manager said he encourages residents to watch the broadcast, which will be available on the city website, Facebook page, Spectrum channel 1300 and Channel 5. 

Perez said the city has not finalized the list of event sponsors and, therefore, has not finalized the amount of money raised for the address. But he ensured that the city did not use taxpayer dollars for the event, and any money collected would cover all expenditures. 

Mission hired longtime financier Edna De Saro of De Saro Public Relations to handle all marketing for the address. She worked at Lone Star National Bank for 19 years, ultimately earning the title of executive vice president and director of marketing. 

Although Mission did not seek out other public relations firms for the role, Perez said these types of services are exempt from competitive bidding, per city policy. De Saro’s contract for the State of the City address is $62,000, which Mission will pay with the money collected from the event sponsorships. 

“Hosting State of the City takes a lot of teamwork and effort. And so, this is not their first one that [De Saro Public Relations] organized,” the Mission city manager said. “So we felt it was necessary to ensure that it was a successful and professionally executed event. And they offered the services that were needed for this event.” 

Depending on the success of the State of the City presentation, Perez said Mission would like to continue the tradition in the future to promote transparency and community engagement.