Javier Villalobos -City of McAllen Mayor

Javier Villalobos

MCALLEN’S NEW MAYOR Serving the community

By Dr. Kimberly Selber

As a child growing up in the 1960s in Crystal City, Texas, Javier Villalobos lived in the barrio. Crystal City was relatively small with fewer than 10,000 residents but had the distinction of being the Spinach Capital of the World.

His inspiration to be a public servant came early, and it came on the baseball field. His older brother had a coach who was a lawyer and an elected official. “I thought that was the best thing ever,” Villalobos recalled. “He planted the seeds of going to college and of being an elected official in my community. My older brother went to law school— the first in our family to graduate from high school and go to college—and I followed in his footsteps.” Both of these men, with true servant hearts, inspired Villalobos to go to law school and serve his community.

Villalobos graduated from Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) University in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in accounting. He worked as an auditor for the Texas Railroad Commission before attending the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston. That was over 20 years ago. “I was just done with living in Houston. One of my classmates was from McAllen and invited me to join him in his new law practice. I had just taken the bar and was waiting on my results. I got here, and there was no new law practice to join. So, I got my bar results and opened my own law firm and have been practicing law here in McAllen ever since.”

For the past 20 years, Villalobos has made good on his promise to serve his community. He served as a member of the McAllen City Commission, the Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board (appointed by Gov. Abbott), McAllenHidalgo International Bridge Board, Anzaldúas International Bridge Board, Border Trade Alliance, and the Texas Border Coalition. With all that experience under his belt, it was time for the next step; to run for mayor of his beloved McAllen.

In June 2021, Javier Villalobos was elected mayor of one of the fasted growing cities in America. With more than 20 years of public service experience and a platform of fiscal conservatism, Villalobos is excited about what’s to come for McAllen.

“I want to focus on the beautification of our community,” Villalobos said. “We do so much behind the scenes – underground, streets, drainage, etc. Things that are critical but are not that visible. I want to focus on showcasing our beautiful community.”

His ideas include changing the way visitors first ‘see’ McAllen. “For example, the land between I-2 and Bicentennial. I think that area could really change the way people visiting McAllen, who have just flown in, view our city.” Another area of focus for Villalobos is how land/space is used. “I’d also like to focus on mixed-use space and creating walking communities. I envision building up – not single-family homes, but townhomes for a younger population. I also hope to aggressively move forward with revitalizing the downtown area, creating a strong architectural plan, a place that our younger families want to be. I want, ‘Change you can see.’”

But change comes at a cost, and Villalobos is watching the funding very closely. “I have always been fiscally conservative. Growing up in the barrio makes you ‘hungry’ to work hard, to put food on the table. In our executive sessions, I’m always asking if there is another way to do this or that that will save us money, but always focusing on doing it right. People want to make sure we don’t misspend their money. The commissioners and staff have done an amazing job; but we can always do better.”

In terms of being elected mayor of McAllen, Villalobos recalled lessons learned.

“I’ve always been told, don’t forget where you came from. I live by that, and I think it helps me get along with everyone. It is an honor to serve the people of McAllen.”

Javier Villalobos has been married to Annette for 19 years, has four beautiful children, and five furbabies and continues to be a huge Astros fan.

Photography by Cliff Ranson