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Pick a side FINAL THOUGHTS: THE SAN JUAN RACE

By G. Romero Wendorf

 

This year, five candidates are vying for two seats on the San Juan City Commission, Place 4 and Place 5. Because its two previous occupants, Armando Garza Jr., Place 4, and “Eddie Suarez, Place 5, have chosen to not run for reelection, the seats are up for grabs. Campaigning hard, the five candidates took time out this week to answer questions for those voters who didn’t take the opportunity to cast their vote during the early voting process, but still plan to do so Saturday, May 9th. We asked them for their views on the election, the city, and what sort of challenges the city is now facing. Sort of a free-flowing affair. Give us their thoughts. In alphabetical order: Place 4 Dolores Salinas-Barrientes: “I got into this race because I wanted to make a difference. If I had been on the city commission for the past three years, and we had the majority, I don’t think the streets would be in the shape they’re in now. “I think if we were to all work together on the city commission, we would have a better San Juan. Bringing unity to the city commission is one of the challenges I want to take. “I believe very strongly in working together. I don’t like the bickering. Because I have worked with so many people all through my lifetime, I believe if I get on the commission, we can all become united and start working on the other challenges, which is the streets for one. And a bigger vision I have as well is a bigger police station, a bigger fire station. But the thing I’d like to start working on is a united city commission. But in San Juan, it’s been like this all the time, divided. “We have all these expensive car dealerships, but if we could have some nice motels, some nice restaurants and businesses, we could attract more people to the city. Those would provide additional revenues to the city.” Pedro Contreras: “Our city needs stability. And to do that, we need to unite the city. I think I’m the best candidate to do that based on my experience, knowledge of the position, and proven leadership based on past and current positions. “If I had been on the city commission for the past three years, not having a full-time city manager for one year is unacceptable. We must have afinance director. And more than anything, find a way to agree to disagree and unite our city by working with others. “The biggest challenge for the city going forward – patience. We need to be patient because the positive changes that are coming are going to take some time, but they will get done. Winning, we’ll get to work. But the positive things will not happen from one day to the next. But if we have some patience, they will get done.” Raudel “Raudy” Maldonado: “I’ve always been a San Juan resident. (My family’s) always been in politics, I’ve always been the guy behind the scenes, but I thought it was just time to do it. What’s going on right now, this side against this side, if they can’t work together, nothing is ever going to get done. So where is the light at the end of the tunnel? “Shay and I aren’t running as politicians. We’re just running as concerned citizens. We want to unite the commission. Again, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to try. We do have a lot of support, and it’s been great. “Once we get in, we’ll get a good chance to assess things. We’re not always going to agree on everything. But there’s that respect. Agree to disagree. That’s the way the world works. We want to unite the commission. The mayor as well. If we can work together, I think we can make miracles happen. “The roads are probably number one on everyone’s agenda, but beautification of the city. The town of San Juan, it’s not an attractive town. And again, something different, yes, there have to be ways to go out and get more money. I don’t think our commission has done that. Go out and find money to beautify the city. Find some state money. I think if we do that, fix the roads, we’re going to start attracting new businesses. But again, if I was there the last three years, I would have worked harder at finding money to help beautify the city. I don’t know what other towns are doing, but I’m not bashful about going out and asking for money.” Place 5 Pete Garcia: “I think one of my greatest strengths is the fact that I listen to what the needs are of every single taxpayer. “If I had been on the city commission for the past three years, I would have even set goals for five years. The streets wouldn’t have so many pot holes. The city would be cleaner than it is. “Moving forward, we have big challenges with streets and neighborhood flooding. “When I walk the streets, mainly lately, the thing I hear is that the city commission needs to address the streets and the trash. And people weren’t happy when they took one garbage collection and left one. That was like a 50-percent increase because they used to pick up garbage twice ( aweek). The city never prepares for mosquitoes. We’re always fighting mosquitoes. There are a lot of weedy lots that create those mosquitoes. “And so what a lot of people are saying is, hey, we just wanta cleaner city. And that’s just the city commission organizing in a better manner and see how we can do a better production on seeing how we can better maintain our city.” Shay Cantu: “I believe what I can bring to the table is the ability to unite. I’ve taken a leadership role all my life. And I think I can help unite the commission. Yes, we have problems with the streets and perhaps lack of parks, and maybe the light isn’t that great in some of the neighborhoods, and we hear complaints from people about the trash left out front. But I believe strongly that the mostimportant thing is unity. If you’re going to disagree, at least disagree with respect so we can move forward. “I think more than anything it’s a team attitude and a team energy that you want to implement. Being in sports all my life, I know that if you can get the team to push one way, then you’re definitely going to scoremore points. That’s just common sense. If we can get that unity, I think that we’re on the right path and can start showing some positive results around the city. “I’m not here to point fingers at anyone. But you have to make a conscious effort to be a team player. You can talk to new businesses as a team. With a united front, there’s nothing you can’t do. “Streets are a big issue. I think what Raudy and I can bring to the table is this attitude of let’s serve the people. Raudy and I aren’t politicians. I think the last thing San Juan needs right now is a politician.”

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