SWEEP OUT BAD POLITICS

Alamo Citizens was formed to address the injustice of elected officials who take care of themselves and their friends rather than do what is best for the citizens of Alamo. We now have the opportunity to make a real change for the better. For years, three Commissioners have controlled the outcome of all the decisions that are made, because three is a majority, and these three vote as a block. Two of these three Commissioners are up for re-election: Mayor Pro-Tem Eleazar Escobedo, Place 1 and Commissioner Robert De La Garza, Place 3. They are opposed by two political newcomers, Molly Gallegos, Place 1 & Nora Barboza, Place 3, who pledge for vote on the behalf of what citizens want and need, rather than what their friends and compadres want.

Alamo Citizens urges you to vote to sweep out the "good old boys" and their bad politics by voting for MOLLY GALLEGOS, Place 1 & NORA BARBOZA, Place 3.
Early voting ends tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 1). Click here for a Early Voting places and times. http://co.hidalgo.tx.us/DocumentCenter/View/17379 Or vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Make sure you know who you are voting for and what your representatives stand for. Commissioners Eleazar Escobedo & Robert De La Garza DO NOT have your best interests at heart! 

You may not be aware of some of the things that the two current commissioners have done and voted for, so here are some examples of what Eleazar and Robert stand for:

·         Are against Alamo citizens’ request to replace missing Alamo Road signs.

·         Are against Alamo citizens’ request to remove Rudy Villarreal Road signs.

·         Voted to terminate the City Attorney without cause.

·         Voted to spend $139,650 on a stage, instead of other, much needed city projects that would benefit citizens.

·         Commissioners Eleazar & Trino VOTED to name a city park after their friend Robert De La Garza, also a commissioner, without consideration of more deserving citizens.

·         Voted to keep Pro-Medic a poor performing ambulance service provider who has multiple state fines. No concern for citizens’ BEST INTEREST and SAFETY.

·         Are against citizens’ request to get a BETTER ambulance service provider.

·         Regarding additional pay raises to “a select few” city employees after a decision had already been made to give all city employees a one-time bonus. Find out more on city records.

·         For travels to Las Vegas several times on TAXPAYER money with NO positive benefit for the city. Find out more on city records.

·         Do you want a City representative who’s been arrested or incarcerated? Read about Eleazar Escobedo’s DWI in the Advance newspaper Oct. 23, 2013  front page “City Election.”

Would You Vote for a Sub-Standard Ambulance Provider? Our Commissioners Have!

What does it say about city officials who put their own interests above those of the people they were elected to represent? We have three city commissioners who seem to be doing just that. Case in point: These three commissioners, Eleazar Escobedo, Robert de la Garza, and Trino Medina, continue to push to continue the city's contract with an ambulance provider that citizens have said we don't want. If it were up to them, the contract would have been renewed, as is, with no recourse for termination if the company, Pro-Medic EMS, fails to provide reliable, safe service to the citizens of Alamo.

L-R: Mayor Pro-Tem Eleazar Escobedo, PL 2; Robert de la Garza, PL 3; and Trino Medina, PL 2

"It's time we take back our city, clean up city government with a clean sweep of bad rubbish and SHOW UP at meetings until we can replace these three amigos with elected representatives that have no hidden or personal agendas."

I urge you to come to the next City Commissioners meeting on Tuesday (October 15) to show our commissioners that we are watching what they do and taking note of each and every time their votes seem to be in their own interest, rather in what is best for our community. This worked, to some extent, when we showed up in force last May and demanded that they revoke their decision to re-name our City's namesake street Alamo Road to Rudy Villarreal Road. So, it seems to me, that in order to keep them honest is to be present to supervise what they do. Now, I don't know for sure if the Pro-Medic contract will be on the agenda on Tuesday. It was tabled from the last meeting on the recommendation of our city attorney, who wanted to make sure there is language that allows the city to terminate the contract if Pro-Medic doesn't perform.

My question to our City Manager, Mayor and the Commissioners is why is Pro-Medic the only provider being considered? Why wasn't a request for proposals issued to allow other providers a chance to bid on the project? Maybe we could get a provider with a good record of providing reliable, safe and FAST service to the communities they serve. Instead, the only provider being considered is one that:

• has several citations for violations
• has been terminated from other cities because of poor performance
• and that has several complaints and concerns that our own Fire Chief presented to the commissioners months ago!

It's time we take back our city, clean up city government with a clean sweep of bad rubbish and SHOW UP at meetings until we can replace these three amigos with elected representatives that have no hidden or personal agendas. Please join me and other concerned citizens at Tuesday's meeting and have your voice heard!

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments and, especially, any issues you have had with our city's ambulance service.

Alamo Citizens on Alert

Do you know what's happening in our city? For years, the Alamo City Commission has acted without fear of being held accountable for their actions because many of us have allowed them to operate without oversight. This spring, many of us felt that enough was enough and we are not just dealing with egos and old boy favoritism, but with issues that have directly impacted our welfare. So we formed Alamo Citizens, a community organization open to any resident of the City of Alamo or any Alamo business owner. This blog, our corresponding Facebook page, and Twitter is dedicated to communicating important alerts and information about our fair city. We welcome and encourage feedback from our citizens.

From time to time, there may be pressing issues that you may want to voice your opinion on or even attend a commission meeting to hear the facts and see how our elected representatives are voting. You can stay informed by going to www.AlamoCitizens.org. To ensure you don't miss important information, please sign up to receive our alerts by contacting us here: http://alamocitizens.org/get-involved.html

For years many of us have allowed our mayor and commissioners to act without fear of repercussion. But that changed when many of us were surprised to discover that the commission had voted to change the name of our City's namesake road to the name of our former mayor. So Alamo Road became Rudy Villarreal Road. While we don't really have a strong objection to the former mayor's interest in leaving a legacy by having things named for him, we did object to the choice of the street that was renamed.

Commissioners were put on notice when more than 200 residents filled their chambers and demanded that they act on petitions to change back the name to Alamo Road. On Tuesday, May 7, the Alamo Board of Commissioners signed our resolution to rescind/nullify the renaming of “Alamo Road” to “Rudy Villarreal Road.” But our work is not done. We must wait until the 2015 state legislative session for a resolution that will make it official.

Once we became aware of the favoritism and good-old-boy, backroom negotiations that have often been the basis for contracts, rather than basing decisions on what is best for the City of Alamo, its businesses and its residents, we realized that we must remain vigilant in order to hold them accountable for their actions. And, if they continue to act on their own behalf, rather than on what's best for our community, perhaps it's time we elect new commissioners.

Another issue that directly impacts our health and welfare is the contract that commissioners approved for our city's ambulance and EMS service. Fire Chief Rolando Espinoza presented the commissioners presented a list of complaints and concerns about the ambulance service, Pro-Medic EMS, and information that other cities had canceled contracts with this company because of similar issues. But instead of canceling the service, our commission voted to keep it – even though it takes 1 hour to get an ambulance in Alamo, when it should take only 10 minutes!

 

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