Flores reflects on time with city council
Abiel Flores is in his last few days as a City of Mission council member. After a year and a half in the Place 3 seat, the Missionite resigned from the position to run for Hidalgo County District Court Judge in March 2024.
Abiel Flores (Courtesy image)
But with the special election for his replacement complete (with a runoff still undetermined), and Flores’s time on the council coming to an end, he said he feels at ease as he moves into the next phase of his life.
“I made the decision [to resign] as a career move and so I’m in the middle of that currently,” the attorney said. “I feel like my time on the council, although short, I felt like I made a contribution to our community by being transparent, by asking questions. So I feel good, I feel fulfilled.”
When Flores ran for a seat on the council in the May 2022 election, he said he wanted to do more for his community and be part of the positive changes within Mission. And as the former city attorney, he felt he could be an asset to the council because of his familiarity with the process.
Flores was a vocal member of the Mission council — inquiring further about a topic and pressing staff for details when necessary. When he voted on matters, he often took the time to explain his reasoning to the public — a trait constituents appreciated.
“I saw you in action! I heard you in action! Sometimes the lone dissenting vote on certain issues that you dissected,” Missionite Irma Flores Lopez said in a Facebook comment when Flores announced his resignation. “You will be missed on the Mission City Council!”
And as Flores looks back on his term, he said he believes his greatest contribution was that he never hesitated to ask questions.
“I think a lot of it has to do with questioning why it is that we’re doing certain things. And I think in that sense, you bring things to light. And by bringing things to light, I feel like we’re all more informed,” he explained. “So whether it’s through my questioning, whether it’s through other council members questioning, I think we all, as a collective body, made an effort together to try and do that…as best we could. Obviously, some things we made decisions on thinking we had full information and maybe we didn’t. But at least I felt like we all tried. And as citizens of a community, that’s all we can ask for from our council and our leadership.”
Flores said he will miss being part of the decision-making process within the community he calls home. Moving forward, he plans to be involved in Mission happenings as much as possible. Before becoming a council member, the attorney served on the planning and zoning committee; he said he would like to serve the city in a similar capacity in the future.
Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza said she and the council still plan to call on him for his professional opinion after he vacates the seat.
“I really appreciated his time on the council,” the mayor said. “He was an excellent, outstanding member. I hated to see him leave, but I know that he has a passion for his career and I totally understand his decision to pursue that. We’re still going to reach out to him. I’ve already told him that, because he is a community member, and he is OK with that. I wish him well, I wish that he attains his goals and I know that he is going to continue to serve the community in another capacity. I know he’ll be a great judge.
