Hello and welcome to the political forum for the position of council member for district 5. This political forum is brought to you in conjunction with Laredo TV, the public access channel, and the city of Laredo Public Information Office. This political forum presents an opportunity for the viewing public to get to know the candidates who are running for office fairly and objectively. I'm Laura Negron. I'm the public information manager for the city of Laredo and I have the honor of being the moderator for tonight's political forum that focuses on the candidates who are seeking to be the next council member for district 5. For this forum, all candidates received an email from the City of Laredo Public Information Office outlining the forum rules. One of the key requirements was attendance at a mandatory meeting or pre-forum meeting which took place on September 30th. Only candidates who attended this meeting were eligible to participate in tonight's forum. And now, let me introduce to you to the candidates this evening. We have um uh Mr. Jose Oando. We have Mr. Jesse uh Perez and also Council Member Ruben Gutierrez Jr. So, thank you all for being with us today. The speaking order is based on a drawing conducted at the mandatory orientation meeting for the candidates that were held previous to this forum. Now, at this time, I would like to go quickly over the ground rules so that those who are watching can be aware of our format. Our panelists and I will ask a total of four questions to each candidate. There will be one question asked per round. So we will have a total of four rounds for this political forum. Now each candidate will have two minutes to answer each question. If you ignore the time constraints then you will be notified that your time is up and at that point the candidates's microphone will be muted. Um or we will allow you to actually you know finish your thoughts. you will hear um a bell as well and you will have the time um also there um with the person that we have in front of the seats. Now each candidate will have um like we mentioned two minutes to answer the questions um and then uh this will allow of course for minimal interruptions. Now, during the course of our political forum, candidates might want to shed some light or offer an explanation um to a previous comment or a previous question. Since we do not allow additional time for rebuttals, candidates can choose to use their time to address the previous comments stated with the time allotted. For this reason, we ask you to be mindful of your time constraints. Now, the time will begin as soon as the candidate starts speaking after hearing each question. If a candidate forgets the question that you can ask to have the question repeated at any time. Participating in the political forum are members of the media who will be our panelist. Allow me to introduce our panelists for this evening, reporter from Laredo Morning Times, Jose Dear Rosa. Reporter from Univision and Fox Laredo, Miriam Salinas. And we also have a treat tonight. We have representing our Laredo Youth Council, Charlene Ooa. Thank you all for being with us tonight. Now I should also mention that some of the members of the media are bilingual and candidates may be asked a question in Spanish. Now the candidates can choose whether to reply in English or also in Spanish. Now each candidate will have two minutes from an opening and also two minutes for the closing statements. Now with that said we are ready to proceed with our opening statements beginning with candidate Jose Oando. >> You can sit. You don't have to stand. >> Uh good evening. My name is Jos Ovando and first I'd like to thank everybody for that's here tonight being part of this democratic process and to miss uh Negro for organizing this and to the panelists for being here. Um again to start my name is Jose Vando. >> Do I have it? >> We just want to make sure that you have the mic closer to you. >> Again my name is Jose Vando. Um let me talk about myself. I've been married for over 20 years to my incredible wife who's right here and we've raised three amazing children also right here. I'm a family man and everything I do is with family at heart. And like many of you here, my wife and I worked very hard to bring a brighter future for our children and our community. And as a proud member of this community, I have served my career in law enforcement. I have had the opportunity to serve and protect as a border patrol agent. And as a border patrol agent, I had the opportunity to go to school. And just a caveat right here, I'm not being endorsed by any agency or border patrol or anyone. I'm here as as a person only. It just so happens that I work in Border Patrol. And I was fortunate enough that they helped me pay for my bachelor's degree and my jurist doctorate degree. And I think that education is is something that elevates not only ourselves and our community. I'd like to emphasize that our community to me is very important and I have a commitment to give back to my community. And hopefully tonight you will make the right choice. You will decide who is the best candidate for this position. And if you honor me with your vote, I assure you that I'm going to work diligently for a brighter future for our citizens. Thank you. >> Thank you so much to candidate Jose Vando. [applause] Next on the list for opening statements is candidate Jesse Perez. You have two minutes. >> Well, um hello, good afternoon everybody. Thank you for making the time to be here. with us on this beautiful evening of Friday. So, let's go ahead and start. My name is Jesse Perez. I don't have the privilege of saying that I was born and raised in Laredo Teas. I wasn't. I was actually born in Austin. I grew up in the valley and I chose Laredo to be my permanent home. Why? Actually, I fell in love with the culture that Laredo offers, right? uh the uh friendly living pace that we also have here and u more than anything I fell in love with the beautiful sunset views believe it or not. So my uh state infrastructure career started in the Texas Department of Transportation when I was only 19 years old. I'm now 32. Well, uh I actually transitioned into a state consultant where I now uh meet up with state agencies and I help them uh manage and uh master plan state and federal liver projects all over the state of Texas. What I learned uh text dot what what Texas DOT trained me to do is uh overcome any challenge and bring solutions to the table no matter what. No exceptions. Um all while getting nothing in return, not even recognition. That's how the state pretty much trains us. Um so um yes and I pretty much what I what now it's it's a time that uh we can come all together and you know share this with y'all right uh how what we can do with Laredo Laredo um you know we we are trained to to to master plan and move Texas you know forward and and and I believe that we can do much for Laredo now and uh again it's all for you and I want to thank you all for for allowing me to be the candidate for district 5 and again thank you very much gracias. >> [applause] >> Thank you so much to candidate Jesse Perez. Council member Ruben Gutierrez Jr. Your opening statements please. Two minutes. >> Thank you so much. First off, I want to say thank you all for being here. It's very important to be here in this democratic process and us being here speaks volumes because we know the community is involved. That's very very important. Um let me go back. I'm council member Rubetes. I'm also your mayor promp at this time for the city of Red will be until November of this year. Um, one thing I want to get across is public safety. That's very important to our city. It's very important to our people, very important to our children more than anything else. Public safety. Just yesterday, we announced again the Wallet Hub study came out and we are the safest city in the entire state of Texas. That speaks volumes for the collaboration that we have with law enforcement. The collaboration that we have federal, state, and local level officials does wonders for us. Governor Abbott made us the ninth city in the state of Texas to have a tag unit, Texas anti-gang unit, which is where the federal agencies, state agencies, and local agencies get together and they work together to be sure that our city is safe. To be the number one port in the entire Western Hemisphere and being the safest city in in in in Texas speaks volumes, speaks plenty. One thing that I want to mention is our water. We're under this crisis right now and I do want to address this right away because this is one thing I want the people right to know that it was not our staff that is causing this problem. The water coming out of the plant, the plants, both plants, B1 Jefferson plant are clean. This water is high quality water coming out of there. We had an interruption. Somebody connected to one of our lines and the truck that connected to our lines made us get infected with E.coli. I want to make that perfectly clear because I know the public has a lot of questions and we need to be sure and clear that up right away. So that's one thing I certainly want to address. And of course guys, I want you all to know we're addressing that secondary water source because I think it's vital to our community to keep our community growing as it has been doing so. And we need to keep up with keep up with the security of course and we need to keep up with getting that secondary source. >> Thank you so much to all of our candidates. Um now let's get ready to move on with our first round of questions. The first round of questions uh comes from Miriam Salina. She's a reporter from Onision and Fox Laredo to candidate first Jose Vando. >> Thank you Nida. Um my question is if elected what projects do you have in mind for this district? >> Immediately I'm going to tell you the water of course because this is an issue that didn't happen yesterday. This is an issue that's been happening long long ago and since I can you know since I can remember we've been having this issue and we've been hammering about this issue about the water and it seems that nobody's responding to it. That is going to be one of my f my first priorities. I had an idea of safety, of economic development, of infrastructure, but it's obvious that we need to replace this situation that we have with the water. And I'm not a I'm not a public speaker. I'm not a great orator. I'm a doer. I do things. I get things done. And if it's necessary for me to be down in a ditch up to my knees in mud to get clean water to my children right here, that is what I'm going to do, ma'am. and that is one of my first priorities. Thank you. >> Thank you so much to candidate uh Jose Ovando. Then same question goes to candidate Jesse Perez. >> Well, thank you for the question. That's actually a very good question. So district 5 poses a very important district in the whole. It's it's part of the crossroads, right? So u of course you know I do concur with Mr. Joseando. The water infrastructure has to be you know attacked at at this bare moment. uh another one that you know we oversee in the future right as a state consultant we we're supposed to master plan and live 10 years ahead that's what I'm trained for uh blue 20 is a very important project that where nobody's taking care of you know we have five overpasses you know that are pretty much managed by textile right now uh if if we pretty much oversee into detail you know we're about to lose loop 20 here with the bridge 45 coming into effect uh you know u that uh permit you know coming into effect uh will you know pretty much invite all the commerce trucks into loop 20, you know, where we be having access. So, it's I don't think it's fair that we should share that traffic. So, there's a project, Laro Loop, that has been preliminary designs by the Texas DOT since 2020. That project is to pretty much uh reroute all the uh commerce traffic from Rio Braavo to mom 24. And what does that mean? Uh we we shouldn't share our traffic uh that goes to school, emergency responders, students, workers with loop 20. So it should, you know, pretty much bring down the the percent of traffic 25% and we reroute that. All we need to do is hold Texas accountable and get those funds by Austin. What do we need? ADT. ADT once we hit that bridge 45, we can attack it and say we need funds from Austin. We don't get anything from the city of Larredo. It's all funded by the state. Laredo out of loop and loop 20 we get it back. Mike Fearson is another one that we should attack. We only have one point A point B. South and north is loop 20. We're losing it. I think it's out. We're out growing Luke 20 and that's not fair. We have to attack McFerson. McFersonson has to be connected from north to south. That way we can have more than one options, but infrastructure uh it's one of the most vital in Laredo and we need to connect textile with the city of Laredo and I have the right context for that. Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much to candidate uh Jesse Perez. The same question goes to council member Ruben Gutierrez Jr. >> Thank you. As uh as you all will know, I've been sitting here for almost four years now, and the question was, what would we do if we were to get elected? I need to continue with this expansion and this securing the secondary water source. It's vital to our community. It's absolutely necessary to do so and it's very important. In 2022, we invested 120 $22 million in 2022. That's what the city invested as far as utilities is concerned to help with our water infrastructure, to help with utilities there. And that's plenty of money. In 2024, we allocated $93 million. So, there are things being done as far as infrastructure is concerned. We just need that secondary source. That secondary source is vital to be sure that city of Laredo continues to grow, continues to flourish like it has been, and that's something that we need to address. Second, of course, is that security. We need to be sure the cartel do not spill over here to Larredo. That's one thing that is extremely important for us to have the cartels right across the river from us and not affecting us like they do other other cities in the state of Texas just tells you how what law enforcement is doing what they're doing to prevent it from border patrol from border patrol CBP customs uh Laredo PD constable's office sheriff's department all working together making sure that our city is safe and it's going to continue to do so. So keeping that number one safest city in Texas is extremely vital to us. In district 5, we are the entertainment district in the city of Raido. I always call it that. The reason I call it that because we have Unit Trade Stadium. We have the Saints auto arena. We have teams coming here playing all the time. We have venues coming in here. We have different events coming in here. So, it's important to bring economic development to that area as well to be sure we have the restaurants, be sure we have the hotels that are here for everybody that's coming into the city of Laredo because believe it or not, we are getting popular. The sports complex that's coming very, very soon in the next couple of months is going to be vital to South Laredo as well. So, we need to continue working together, not just District 5, but the entire city council so we can make sure the city is growing at the correct pace, at the right pace, safely, and to be sure we can supply them with water and safety as well. >> Thank you to all the candidates for their answers. Question number two comes from Jose de la Rosa, reporter from Laredo Morning Times to first candidate Jesse Perez. >> Good evening, gentlemen. Um, I know you guys touched a little bit on it, but uh I did want to uh ask um regarding last night's water boil notice, um what specific preventative measures would you advocate for to avoid similar occurrences of water contamination in the future? And additionally, how do you intend to ensure transparency and accountability in your actions as a city council member to regain public trust? >> Thank you uh for the question. And I think everybody's aware, fairly aware of what's going on with the water. Uh and again, I will start off with uh it's it's quite disappointing, right? Uh that our local businesses are suffering because of of these, you know, uh uh actions that were, you know, we're that we're that's occurring, right? uh then pinpointing and attacking and you know pointing fingers isn't the the solution here and I don't think it's the right solution right I think we have to be a little bit more proactive than reactive u and again how can we you know pretty much fix this is uh you know first of all is is is at this point we're questioning you know who's directing these operations so as a city council I believe uh uh we do have I'm sorry council does have the standing you know as policy makers right to sit down with the city manager and uh disclose this disclose this information to the public but We need to know what kind of testings are doing and we have to make these public at the right point and at the present time of doing it. So at this point I think we need to either get uh proactive leaders to to to to get these uh testings correct or or either bring in consultants uh but get this u matter you know off of the table. But this is not fair for our homes, our children and our businesses. So either bring in leaders or bring in consultants but we got to get the job done. Thank you very much. Thank you so much to candidate Jesse Perez for the answer. The same question now goes to candidate council member Ruben Gutierrez Jr. >> Thank you for the question. It's a very important one. Um again I need to reiterate this was not our infrastructure. This is not our people having an issue with something at the plant. The plant is producing extremely high quality water. That's what we're pushing out there. And the state can come over here and tell you that over and over again. Fact of the matter is an exterior source came in to our one of our fire hydrants connected to it didn't have a blackfall pre therefore causing their water and their bacteria to come into our lines. That's exactly what happened. We are producing extremely high quality water. We've worked on it since I've been here. People have worked on it for 20 years. As far as the infrastructure itself, it's aging. It should have been changed out and replaced about 20 years ago. Just there were there were not monies. We are allocating monies for this infrastructure to be done and we are working on this. As far as an independent consultant, we are having a consultant coming in on the 21st of October to address exactly this issue because this cannot continue happening. We need to know what is going on. Every single council meeting, every single week, our water's being tested by our people at utilities every single week to be sure we don't have any issues. That's a problem. Weekly basis is good, but it's not good enough. We need to be sure that we're doing this on a daily basis. And the report comes to us every two weeks. Every two weeks, it comes to us. We have good qu we have good quality water. Good quality water. We just need to be sure that we continue sustaining that. How this person or this company got into this line of ours and infected our line. I don't know. Preliminary investigation is showing that. But we are definitely going to get to the bottom of this. And we will repair this. We need to repair this. We will continue to allocate money to our infrastructure as far as serving water to our community because we need to do so. It's something that is extremely vital to us. We'll continue working on that. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. The same question goes to candidate Joseando. >> I have a lot of concerns in regards to this because we didn't have a boil notice just yesterday or the day before. They've been happening continuously and nothing's been done. What do they call that when you do the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome? What do they call that? How can we expect to have the same things over and over again and expect a different outcome? And you there's this thing called responsibility, Mika, and I I don't mean to embarrass her, but that's what dads do, right, Mika? There's this thing called accountability. You take accountability for things and say, you know what, I made a mistake and I'm going to correct it. The fact of the matter is that none of us here up in this podium are professionals in this area. What I can tell you in my jury's doctorate degree, what I've been taught is how to ask questions and to bring in professionals and ask questions and ask more questions and ask more questions to get to a solution. But what I do know right now is that we can't keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. That is not going to happen. Thank you. Thank you so much to all the candidates for those answers. Now we're moving on to question number three. And this time this question comes from our youth council member um and is Cheryl Ooa. Charlene Ooa my I'm so [laughter] sorry. Charlene Ooa will be asking this question to candidate council member Ruben Gutierrez Jr. first. >> Okay. Thank you and good afternoon gentlemen. So my question for you today is what specific policies or initiatives do you plan to introduce or support or to improve the quality of our life in our community? And how will you ensure that these changes are inclusive of all residents regardless of income, age, and background? >> That's that's a great question. Thank you so much. Um I will mention this because that is something that's mentioned here in the city of Laredo all the time. We don't have things to do here. What do we do here as far as entertainment is concerned? So I was the first council member to bring family night under the stars. It happens at Hovete out on a yearly basis. We brought it in the first year. This will be the fifth year that we have it, God willing, uh this coming year or gentlemen, if you get elected, I I I I ask that you continue that. It's a really good event. It's a family event. Um so I I'd ask you to continue that. It's something that's very very important to us. Um I created the uh Vietnam Veterans Plaza right on McFerson right next to the Laredo Public Library, the Joanna Library. We just built that last year. We got phase one done. We're in phase two. We're about to open up, this is the first time ever that we have food trucks in a city park. The first time ever. So, I I brought that to Larredo as well. We're opening up the first nine-hole miniature golf there at that park. It's never happened before. We've never had a miniature golf course here in the city of Laredo in a city park. So, those are things that I'm bringing to the city of Laredo because things that I see when I travel outside of Larredo and I think they're entertaining for families and it's very important to put that there. We're working still on phase four coming on. It's coming on very soon as well. It's going to continue with the uh the veterans plaques that are going to be going up there. Every veteran that we lost in Vietnam will be put up there. We'll be we're going to ensure that and uh that way it's educational but at the same time it's entertaining for families and that's something that's very important to us. If you like the outdoors, I guarantee you you're going to have a great time here on the radio because we have a lot of activities to do outdoors. Plenty of activities to do outdoor. If you're indoor, well, we're kind of limited, but we still have plenty of things to do here. I guarantee you that. Thank you for the question. >> Thank you so much. The same question goes to candidate Jose Oando. >> Could you uh repeat the question again? >> Yes sir. So my uh my question was what specific policies or initiatives do you plan to introduce or support to improve the quality of our life in our community and how will you ensure that these changes are inclusive of all residents regardless of income, age or background? >> You know the quality of life is one of the most important things that any human being can have and one of those rights is to have water. obviously. But not only that, I a lot of people believe that our district is just the north side, but that's not true. We also have a certain part of the of the south side that are economic economically or financially struggling and we have to account for that. And I've heard I've been walking some of those streets and one of the things that I've heard is that we don't have good jobs. There aren't any good jobs. I was speaking with a lady and she was telling me about the train that's going to be coming from uh Mexico City down to no and she asked me is the city doing anything about that or are they just arguing about their salary and I said no I think they're only arguing about their salary right now and if they get a pension and how much more money they're going to make that's not economic development for our cit for our citizens and we can talk at nium about we're going to do this and we're going to do that but I want to see action I'm I'm not about words. I'm about action. I want to see things done. And the reality is that we don't have good paying jobs. Most of our children have to leave the city just to find a good paying job. In fact, I've have friends who have left because there's not an economic development for a good job here. And you know what? Loredo is positioned geographically in such a unique place because we're right in the middle between the most advanced or the most industrious city in Mexico which is Montter and the richest city in Mexico and the biggest hub in the United States which is Dallas and we don't take advantage of that. Why? Why are we not taking advant Loredo should be a logistical hub? We should have those high-paying jobs here, not in Dallas. So, one of my priorities would be to bring highpaying jobs to to Loredo that our children don't have to leave the city to find a good job. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Obando. The same question goes to candidate Jesse Perez. >> Thank you very much. Actually, that's a very good question. I fully support that. Uh so um I think this question and answer doesn't only you know go for district 5. I think it goes for all of them. You know I think we have to work together but uh quality of life is uh teamwork. It starts with teamwork. So uh again I do repeat myself. I'm not from Laredo actually. I'm from Austin. I grew up in the valley. I've lived in Sugarland Houston. So I'm used to many different options right. Uh and I continue to choose Laredo every single day. You know absolutely I'm here as as we speak right. Uh uh I do I do think that we can work together to to bring more you know entertainment and investments you know work with them invite them uh and we tend to say there is no space in that we're running out of space will we make space with the Larredo water out loop that uh I am proposing to work with text dot uh it's going to allow us to grow to the insert districts meaning uh we're going to get to see a Larredo that doesn't exist yet and that's what I do as a consultant so uh Laredo tends to stop at a certain point in the eastern district but with this project we we'll see a lot more that doesn't exist where we make space. Um, another uh another item that that also, you know, fulfills this answer is downtown. You know, again, this is not our district, but you know, this is about teamwork and and and I do, you know, put myself into getting out of our jurisdiction, but district 8 uh needs our help. you know, downtown. I think we're losing it and we need to work together to bring it back to life and we have to start doing something, you know, either with with with food vendor permits or or bring something to where we can regain it. It's not about uh you know, dying. It's about, you know, people don't want to invest because we don't have the the people there. Well, we bring them. So, I think this goes beyond district 5. I think this is this goes from district one to eight and this has to be working together. So, um, thank you for the question. Actually, uh, we we do want to to fully bring Laredo, you know, to life and and I commit myself to that. Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much to all the candidates for those answers. And now we're ready for the final round of questionings. Now, the final round of question comes from uh member one one of the members of our community. They had submitted some questions for our uh candidates this evening. The question is, what resources will you give the animal shelter to combat the stray issue in Laredo? And that question goes first to candidate Joseando. >> I know that the animal shelter a few uh a few time back had a lot of issues because of the person that was directing it and it seems that there was some favoritism or that's what the thing was that what levied back and forth about it and I think we need to stop with that compadras. We need to stop with having those things that, oh, it's my friend and I'm going to give them a job or it's so and so and let me give that person a job. That needs to stop. So, one of my my first priorities would be to make sure that we have the the right people at the right places, not because they're your friend or your compadre. I believe that we should have the person that knows what they're doing there, one that has the education to be there, that knows what they're doing there, and that we're providing the resources that they need. My children have two little dogs and I've seen sometimes where they post that a dog has been lost and and it pains me to see that a little kid might be suffering because of that. And I know of a friend that went to pick up his dog and the dog had never made it to to the shelter. And and it saddens me that the lady there told them we just don't have the resources. And I think we're failing not only that department, we're failing a lot of departments where we're not providing them with the tools they need to perform their job. So what I your your question the question that was asked is that I would provide make sure that we are there providing the resources that they they need to do their job. We can't expect them to do their job if we're not giving them the resources that they have that they need. Thank you. >> Thank you so much to candidate Jose Alando for your response. The same question goes to candidate Jesse Pettis. >> Another way another great question here. So uh yes I do fully concur with Joseando. You know, once again, uh we have to question ourselves and question them. Do we have the right people leading these operations, right? Our our our animals, our pets deserve much respect as much as we do. So, uh again, we have to really, you know, target the points where uh do we have the the the necessary funds to to allow them to operate, right? Uh and maybe, you know, we we are simply just uh mis uh leading our funds or misorganizing our funds. You know, I think we need to track back a little bit more how we're using our funds or are we using them, you know, incorrectly. Uh, I think we can fully go back and, you know, ask the state for for local a contracts where we can, you know, save a little bit of funds on on our paving operations, traffic, lighting, designs, and we can save all on all those consultants fees and really use them to what really, you know, needs help. Uh, so, uh, that's, uh, pretty much what I have and, you know, end of statement. uh just that we need to work a little bit more on our budgeting um organizing. So that's what I have. >> Thank you so much. Candidate Jesse Perez. The same question goes to Canada Council member Ruben Gutierrez Jr. >> Thank you for the question. Great question. Um fact of the matter is the animal department is funded very well. The problem with our community is people don't spay and neuter their pets. We are the voice of those four-legged our four-legged friends. We are we're the only voice that they have that they will ever have. But we need to educate our public to spay and do to their pets. If that was taken care of from the beginning, we wouldn't have this issue. Kittens running all over the place, dogs running all over the place, people not keeping their pets on leashes. That that's the issue. And it's just educating our public. Mind you, we have vouchers that go out every single month to work on spaying and neutering our pets. Some people just simply don't take advantage of it. And yes, we've had issues there before. We've had him for years and years. Minister Neb has been here just over a year now. Our new city manager now. He's moving a lot of people around, a lot of directors around. He gave him a year to see what they were doing in those certain departments and he asked us for a year. Some people left sooner than than than later and some I agree with, some I don't. But at the end of the day, he's a city manager. He makes the decisions. Who sits there? Who takes care of those those jobs? who are the the directors of these departments and it's something that he did. He had to move people around. He's still moving people around. Expect plenty more changes over the next next year because some people are simply not doing their jobs and we need to hold them accountable for it. And Mr. Nev is doing that. The city manager is doing that. We speak on a daily basis, him and I, and there are things that are happening in the city that just need to be done. They may not be something that we like to talk about, something we don't agree with, but at the end of the day, he's the person in charge of the city bur. That's his job and that's very, very important to be sure that we're there behind him making sure that he's going to be okay because we certainly don't want to go through another city manager in the course of 9 years, 8 years, 11 years, whatever it might be now. We need stability here in the city of Laredo and that's what we're hoping to continue have happen. Thank you so much for all of the answers and all of the questions from our panelists this evening. Um, it is now time for closing statements. And we'll begin with candidate council member Ruben Gutierrez Jr. You have two minutes. >> I really didn't want to be the first one for this one, but here we go again. I want to say thank you for being here, all of you. This is the democratic process. This is for you to get to know us, what we've done, what we're going to do, what we continue to do, and what the candidates are wanting to do. Whoever comes out on top after this race, I hope we become friends and I hope that we can discuss things that we can do differently in the city of whether it's Mr. Whether it's Mr. Pettis, whether it's myself and I am asking for your vote, by the way. Sorry guys, but I am asking for your support because we have done wonders in district 5. We have spent millions and millions of dollars in paving, millions of dollars with sidewalks, just continuing over and over again expanding our parks, making sure our parks are adequate, making sure they have shade structures, making sure they have playcapes for our children, making sure that there's things to do here in the city of Laredo. And that's one thing we need to we need to keep on working on. And we've done it over and over again. The security of our of our city is vital to be sure that citizens and people from outside of the city of Laredo look at it and say, "Hey, this is a nice place to live at. This is a great place to live at because I feel safe here." Mr. Pettis, thank you for making your home here. I appreciate it because we appreciate you here and your family to us. So, we need to continue that and continue that process over and over again. Economic development is very very important, but we need to be sure that we're growing in a smart way to be sure that we have enough water to supply everybody that's coming to the city of Laredo. It's it's extremely important. It's vital. We can't continue to just keep on developing land over and over again and not knowing how on earth we're going to be supplying them with natural resources, water. That is so important to us to be sure that we have the secondary source secured. And we will get this secured. We will get this secured. I guarantee you that. We have done so much for district 5 as far as turning lanes is concerned. We have completed the turning lane on McFersonson and Fenwick, McFersonson and Delmare, Ga N Springfield, and we'll continue to do that to be sure it's safe for our kids to be able to cross these roads that they have to cross through because they go to school there and we have to make sure it's safer and safer for them and safer for our motoring public. Thank you so much. [applause] >> Thank you so much to Canada Council Member Ruben Gutierrez Jr. Next is candidate Jesse Pettis. Your closing statements, please. You have two minutes. >> Well, thank you very much. Uh that was actually a very good uh statement there. Can I just copy paste? [laughter] I'm just playing. No, I actually want to thank everybody for making the time to get to meet with us. It was quite a pleasure getting to, you know, speak with uh you know, everybody here in the room and whoever's, you know, watching us. I want to close it out. I really didn't, you know, gather up information on this, but I want to, you know, remind everybody the importance of, you know, voicing voicing yourself and uh going out and vote, whether it's national, state, or uh even local elections. Uh they they all matter. Remember, I I I I [clears throat] plead to believe that we the people still have the power, and I'm one of those true believers that democracy still exists. So, please um you know, come together to to to pretty much, you know, guide our city. I want to remind everybody that this is our country. This is our state, but most importantly, this is our city. Let's take control of it. Uh we put one of ours in that office. Just imagine what can happen. We are here for you. We're not here for ourselves. We're not here for anybody else. Uh again, I want to remind everybody that I was trained by the state to bring solutions and not bring problems. So again, thank you much. Thank you very much everybody for, you know, getting to know us. It was and again, you know, thank you very much for being it was an honor being a candidate for district 5. Uh, and I wish to to get your full support. Thank you very much. Gracias Monita. [applause] >> Thank you so much to candidate Jesse Perez. Our last closing statement for tonight comes from candidate Joseando. You have two minutes, sir. I want to thank everybody for being here tonight and I want to leave you with one one last parting thought and that is that the future of Loredo is in your hands and you have the power to change it. How amazing is that? You have the power to change it. What other country can you do that and say that we have the power to change this if you're not happy with what's going on? My wife and I, we've worked very hard to bring a brighter future to our kids. And we know what the struggles and and the hopes are to building a city, building a a family in this city. And this city has given me so much concretes and I'm very thankful. And that is the reason that I am committed to giving back to my community. And I'm going to give back to my community. If one thing I have learned in the Border Patrol is integrity, is honor. These are not just punch words for me. These are words that I have lived for over 20 years with. And I'm not here looking for a salary. I'm not going to be arguing over getting another salary. I already have a job. And I'm not going to be here looking for a pension. I already have a pension. If I want one, I can go tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock in the morning at my job and ask for my pension. That's it. I'm not here for that. I'm here because I want a better future for Loredo, for my children, for the citizens. And it is up to us to make those changes. I have a vision for Loredo. And I'm here and I'm going to ask you only for two things. I want your trust and your vote. And if you give me those two things, I can assure you I am going to work really, really hard to build a city that we're all going to be proud of. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you so much to all of the candidates for um tonight and this evening. It has been very informational. This concludes our political forum for the office of city council member for district 5. This is a public service to the citizens of Laredo and it's brought to you by the city of Laredo, the Laredo TV, the public access channel, and also the city public information office. Please make sure you cast your vote on election day, which is Tuesday, November 5th. Remember, early voting starts on Monday, October 21st, and goes through uh Friday, November 1st. If you would like any information on this election, please contact the Web County Elections Office at 956-523450 or you can also find all of the information there at the city of Laredo website, which is the city of loredo.com. Once again, thank you for watching this very important political forum. Thank you so much. [applause] [music] >> [snorts]