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Friday, November 23, 2018
INSIDE
City of Palmview Updates
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City of Mission and Mission Crime Stoppers distribute Thanksgiving meals
By Jamie Treviño
The city and Mission Crime Stoppers gathered outside of the Parks and Recreation building last Fri-
day morning, offering full Thanksgiving meals including turkey, bread, canned vegetables, potatoes and pasta to families in need. The efforts were paid for
by several community business sponsors, and cars lined up around the corner waiting to be served. Mayor Armando O’caña thanked the sponsors and
Dave Hendricks has more updates on the ongoing trial where a former police dispatcher from the city was accused of murder, as well as a piece on their transition from the interim city manager to the newly hired city manager.
See Pg. 5
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Your Hometown Newspaper, Bringing Communities Together.
City officials and members of the Mission Crime Stoppers hold food items, ready to distribute Thanksgiving meals to families in need. Progress Times pho-
city staff who organized the event, saying that the Crime Stoppers have created a program that has become a city-wide tradition for many years. In total, they distributed over 200 meals. “We are estimating that about 1200 of our citizens will benefit from today’s event,” O’caña said. Police Chief Robert Dominguez said that the families were selected by different organizations in the city such as the Mission Consolidated Independent School District, the Mission
See THANKSGIVING MEALS Pg. 14
to by Jamie Treviño.
Special Olympics
‘Final respects’ - Community gathers for burial of unaccompanied veteran
By Jose De Leon III
A recent bowling tournament held at Incredibowl was held, including over 100 students from the La Joya, Sharyland and Mission school districts. Bryan Ramos has the story on how the annual bowling competition went, inside.
See Pg. 7
Even though his family could not be found, nearly 100 people showed up to ensure he would not be alone at his funeral. Private First Class Ronald Barker was buried on Monday, Nov. 19 at the Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery in Mission. As his next of kin could not be found, the public was invited to attend his burial to ensure the veteran was not left behind. Barker, 83, was born on
See FINAL RESPECTS Pg. 5
SPORTS
Football playoffs continue, and our sports section this week has updates on the latest from Mission Veterans Memorials High School Patriots and the Sharyland High School Rattlers.
See Pg. 9 & 10
INDEX Entertainment...... pg. 2 Lifestyle................... pg. 3 Sports....................... pg. 9 Obituaries............pg. 11 Classifieds..............pg.12
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Nov. 27 Residents gather to pay their respects to Private First Class Ronald Barker during his military burial Monday, Nov. 19, 2016. Progress Times photo by Luciano Guerra.
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Mission Chamber of Commerce welcomes new CEO By Jamie Treviño Brenda Enriquez is excited to get started, and is already meeting with members of the chamber. The Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce recently appointed their new Chief Executive Officer and President, Brenda Enriquez. An event welcoming her to the area was held last Friday at the 5x5 Brewing Company in the Mission Center for Education and Economic Development (CEED) Building. Enriquez has 13 years of experience working with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley as Director of Development for the UTRGV College of Engineering and Computer Science, as well as Special Events Manager of Advancement Special Events at UTRGV and Coordinator of Recruitment and Orientation including the Visitors Center at the university. She is also a graduate of the RGV Partnership Leadership program and is a member of the Organization of Women Executives of the Rio Grande Valley. Enriquez became involved with the area through Robert Rosell, former CEO and president of the chamber. They are both alumni of the MPA program at UTRGV. “When he took over, I started feeding off of his highlights on the city of Mission,” Enriquez said. “And I was very impressed. Mission is blooming, it’s growing. I saw an opportunity to do more and positively impact the community.” During the event, Enriquez said she hopes to help Mission continue growing, and sees a lot of economic activity and potential already being utilized in the city. “I want to be very strategic with our planning and our efforts, and how we complement the community, the city, the area,” Enriquez said. “We are keeping a
The new Palmview city council with the new Police Chief Gilberto Zamora (center) flanked by councilmembers Jose Luis Perez, Joel Garcia, Linda Sarabia, Ricardo Villarreal, Javier Ramirez and Anthony Uresti. Progress Times photo by Jose De Leon III.
Palmview swears in new members, appoints new officials By Jose De Leon III
Brenda Enriquez (Photo courtesy of the Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce)
growth mindset on the organization, because technology is now in place.” She said that how the chamber was operated fifty years ago was different in that businesses looked to the chamber to meet other business leaders and stay up to speed on local happenings. “It was the organization to be a part of, because that’s how you’re integrated into the community,” Enriquez said. “Now, as technology has been evolving, that’s when it gets tough, because you have to make that transition, too.” According to Enriquez, the top two leading economic sectors in Mission have been health care and the retail food industry. “That’s what we have going for us,” Enriquez said. “At the same time, I think it’s important for us to take a look through the lens of identifying what the quality
of life for residents in Mission is.” “If we need health care, we have it here, you don’t have to go anywhere for it,” Enriquez added. “The food industry - we have a lot of wonderful places to eat. Top-end restaurants, maybe that’s an area we can continue building on.” Enriquez began her position on Nov. 1, and already has a few plans for the chamber and what they can offer their members, as well as the existing workforce in Mission. “I love Mission, I love the community, the businesses are fantastic,” Enriquez said. “But I also think we need to look at other factors that make a person’s life very valuable.” Access to education should be one of the main
See MISSION CHAMBER Pg. 5
After swearing in their two new members and mayor elect, the Palmview city council made changes to their current administration Tuesday by appointing a new police chief, city attorney and city manager. Tuesday’s city council meeting saw the swearing in of the city Mayor-elect, Ricardo “Ricky” Villarreal and the new council members Anthony Uresti and Jose Luis Perez. Uresti and Perez were both elected to the council during the Nov. 6 general election where they received 50 and 53 percent of the votes, respectively. Following their swearing in, the city council held a regular meeting where they approved the hiring of the new City Attorney, Eric Flores, City Manager Michael Leo and police Chief Gilberto Zamora. Zamora had been serving as the interim police chief since April. “This is a big day for Palmview with all the new appointments happening today,” interim City Manager Leo Olivares said during the meeting. Olivares, who has been serving as interim city manager since April of last year, reminded the council that his position was always temporary. He was appointed interim city manager following the suspension of his predecessor, Ramon Segovia, who was eventually fired from his position in June 2017. Since his appointment, Olivares has overseen two annexations and ensured that the city has complied with
the city charter as well as handled the city’s budget and reports for the council. His successor, Leo, will take over as city manager January 1 and Olivares will assist him in the transition until then. “I’ve been having conversation with the council since October about having someone in this position who would be in a permanent role, it’s important to the community,” Olivares said. “I look forward to work with you in what will be a transition period. Leo serves as the director of economic development for Hidalgo County and on the board with the Palmview Municipal Development District. He said he is familiar with the city through the PMDD board and his role for the county has prepared him to be the city’s next city manager. “Economic development stretches farther than just job creation and attracting business, infrastructure, road developments, public safety, it’s all tied to it,” Leo said. “As a Palmview resident, it’s inspiring to be part of the local government and have an impact that will improve the lives of residents.” The city’s new police chief, Gilberto Zamora, has been with the city for 15 non-consecutive years. He has also served on the police force for the La Joya school district and the city of Peñitas. Zamora was named interim police chief last April after his predecessor, Chris Barrera, was fired due to mismanagement issues that
ultimately led the U.S. Department of Justice to suspend the city from a federal asset forfeiture program. As police chief, Zamora will oversee the department staffed with 23 peace officers and eight dispatchers at a $2 million budget. “This is where I started, it makes sense for me to be here,” Zamora said Tuesday. “We’re working on getting our budget straightened out and are hoping to be reinstated with the Department of Justice by the end of the year. Once we get that settled the department will focus on community partnerships to be out there with our citizens.” The city also appointed Palmview native Eric Flores to as the new city attorney. He replaces Gus Acevedo, who tendered his resignation to the city after serving as city attorney for almost a year, Olivares said. Acevedo was present for the swearing in of the council members but left shortly before the city council meeting began. He was not immediately available for a comment. Flores graduated from the Houston-based Thurgood Marshall School of Law on December 2017 and has a law office with his wife, Veronica, in Mission. He served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. “I was born and raised here, and now I have the chance to serve my community with the same dedication I’ve served my country,” Flores said.