An election about elections: A South Texas town asks itself who should run voting operations

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McALLEN –– As election officials across Texas work to retain voter confidence in how their elections are managed, one South Texas town is giving residents the option to wrestle control of elections from the city amid allegations of bias.

Rio Grande City has added a charter election scheduled for Tuesday that will allow voters to decide whether to have an outside agency run future elections instead of the city secretary. A second proposition would set term limits for elected officials, allowing them to serve only two four-year terms.

The proposed amendments came from the city's newest elected officials, including Mayor Gilberto Falcon. He and two city commissioners were elected in May and after clashes with the city’s administration during the campaign, Falcon believes their elections should be handled by an independent body.

"There were a lot of challenges that we had to overcome during the election that should have not been in place," Falcon said. "We should have been able to feel assured that there was going to be an election run with integrity."

Located approximately 40 miles west of McAllen, Rio Grande City’s recent elections have triggered allegations of corruption by challengers against incumbents.

Falcon and the two new commissioners made similar allegations during the campaign — but this time, their allegations reached the courts. Falcon, an attorney, represented one of his running mates, Ediel Barrera, in a lawsuit against the city over a trove of public records requests submitted to the city secretary. Barrera accused officials of delaying the release of the records he sought to prove his opponent was corrupt.

Then-Deputy City Manager Noe Castillo, who is also the police chief, assured the public that the city secretary’s office was complying with state law.

The secretary’s office has faced heavy scrutiny over the last five years. In January 2020, City Secretary Lyzette Peña was arrested on allegations she illegally recorded other city employees. The charges were later dropped.

Her replacement, Melissa Garza, was arrested in 2022 on money laundering charges related to a drug-trafficking ring that federal prosecutors claim was led by her husband, Ignacio “Nacho” Garza. In March, Ignacio Garza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Melissa Garza pleaded not guilty.

After Falcon, Barrera and a third candidate, Eudolio Barrera, took office in June, the city commission made sweeping changes to the city administration, hiring a new municipal judge, a new city attorney and a new city manager.

The commissioners removed Castillo as deputy city attorney but kept him on as police chief. The city secretary who oversaw the city's May election resigned last month. The city is currently accepting applications for the position.

Meanwhile, the Starr County Elections Department is running the city’s charter election, the first time the city has ever contracted the county for elections. Texas law allows cities, school districts, and other political subdivisions to request that the county run their elections.

Armandina Martinez, director of the Starr County Elections Department, said she hopes that combining the city and county election sites on Election Day will help boost turnout. Smaller city elections typically see lower participation.

“Hopefully, on Election Day, since [the charter elections are] going to be at our precinct, they'll get a better outcome of people voting,” Martinez said.

If the proposition is approved by voters, Falcon said the city would continue to contract with the county for future elections as well but the city would retain control of the locations.

"It's just a way to assure the community that whoever wants to run in the future, they're going to get a fair shot," he said.

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.