San
Freer, TX, Government Relations Newsletter,
Volume 1/ Issue 11, April 5, 2017
City Leadership:
Mayor Arnold Cantu
Mayor Pro-Tem Fernando Carballeira
Alderman Place 1 Carlos Salinas
Alderman Place 2 Debbie Martinez
Alderman Place 3 Martin Martinez, Jr.
Alderman Place 5 Lando Hinojosa
City Manager Ana A. Garcia
TAKING ACTION
▪ Freer Capitol Days
▪ Municipal Court Recognized
▪ April Business Workshop
▪ Freer Defends City Ordinance
▪ Freer Supports Relief Bill
▪ Rep. Guillen and Public Safety
Freer Holds Capitol Days
Mayor Arnold Cantu, City Manager Ana Garcia
and Judge Rachel De Los Santos with Senator Judith Zaffirini
(Austin, TX – March 7 & 8, 2017) – In an awesome display of regional
leadership, the Cities of Freer and San Diego joined forces on March 7 &
8, 2017 for the first Freer & San Diego Capitol Days. City leadership
representing both cities presented their respective legislative priorities to
the State Legislature during the visit to the Capitol. Freer’s priorities
include: infrastructure, business & economic development, public safety
and quality of life. Each city had a delegation of three representatives and
were led by their mayors. The Freer Delegation included Mayor Arnold
Cantu, Municipal Judge Rachel De Los Santos and City Manager Ana
Garcia.
Cities and Counties have been working aggressively since the start of the
85th Legislative Session to push forward their political and legislative
priorities. The session began on January 10, 2017 and Freer has been
represented in Austin since day one.
Freer’s delegation was recognized in the chambers of the House of
Representatives and the Senate by Senator Judith Zaffirini and State
Representative Ryan Guillen.
EMC Strategy Group organized the two-day trip, which included a
legislative day briefing and meetings with twelve legislative offices. The
delegation met with the chairmen and vice-chairs of the committees on:
Business & Industry, Calendars, Small Business, Homeland Security &
Public Safety, Finance and Ways and Means.
“I’m glad that Freer is making our priorities known to our state officials,”
said Mayor Arnold Cantu.
“Senators Judith Zaffirini and State
Representative Ryan Guillen gave us a great welcoming at the Capitol and
we know that we can count on their support for our local projects,” added
Mayor Cantu.
Freer, TX, Government Relations Newsletter, Volume 1/ Issue 11, April 5, 2017, page 2
Freer Capitol Days
Chairman Todd Hunter
Freer Municiapal Court Recognized
(Austin, TX – March 22, 2017) The City of
Freer Municipal Court was recently
selected to receive a statewide award by
the Texas Municipal Courts Education
Center’s (TMCEC) 2017 Traffic Safety
Awards. Freer’s Municipal Court was
among ten courts serving similar size
Texas communities and chosen because
of its outstanding contribution to traffic safety and preventing impaired
driving in its jurisdiction.
TMCEC provides training and support to municipal courts throughout
the state for improved traffic safety. Judge Rachel De Los Santos has
presided over Freer’s Municipal Court since August 26, 2015.
Chairman J.M. Lozano
Judge De Los Santos will be recognized and receive the TMCE Traffic
Safety Award on behalf of the Freer Municipal Court at the Municipal
Traffic Safety Initiatives Conference on March 27-29, 2017 in Austin, TX.
April Business Workshop
(Freer, TX – April 5, 2017) The City of Freer will hold a free Business
Development Workshop on April 10, 2017, 6 p.m., at the Freer ISD Board
Room. The workshop is being hosted by LiftFund and the U.S. Small
Business Administration (SBA).
Chairman Hubert Vo
The City of Freer entered into a partnership with the SBA last fall in an
effort to provide local business owners with training opportunities,
technical assistance and funding resources aimed at growing existing and
new business start-ups.
LiftFund, is a SBA approved micro-lender, that provides guaranteed lowinterest rate loans to small businesses, which typically struggle to get
traditional loans from local banks. Business owners can get access to
funds that can help with purchasing equipment, supplies, training,
certifications, property and hiring additional personnel.
Land Commissioner George P. Bush
Chairman Armando Martinez
Nationally, 80% of local businesses are small businesses. The percentage
in Duval County is over 90%. For more information about the workshop,
please visit www.freertx.org for the flyer.
City of
Freer1/Teams
Up
with
USDA
Freer, TX, Government Relations Newsletter,
Volume
Issue 11,
April
5, 2017
page 3
City Bag Ordinance Challenged
Ernie Gonzalez before Senate Committee
Freer Joins Jim Wells County and Alice in
support of Relief Bill
(Austin, TX – March 15, 2017) City Attorney Gilbert Saenz and EMC’s
Ernie Gonzalez presented testimony before the Senate Committee on
Business & Economic Development in support of the city’s bag ban
ordinance and opposition of SB 103. Freer joined the Cities of
Brownsville, South Padre Island and Laredo, all of which have similar
bag ban ordinances in opposing the bill. SB 103 would strip cities of
enacting ordinances banning bags. Supporters of the Senate Bill have
stated that bag bans hurt local business. Senator Judith Zaffirini stood
with the City of Freer and stated that local communities should have
the right to approve local ordinances. The city’s ordinance has
reduced bag pollution and has helped protect local livestock. Stripping
a city’s right to enact municipal ordinances can lead to further State
control, reduced local control and impose expensive unfunded
mandates to the city. The city’s testimony was noted and recorded in
the official Senate Record.
Freer Supports Relief Bill
Ernie Gonzalez, Jr., testifies of need for
State Assistace to cities in Eagle Ford
Janice Gonzalez, testifies in support of
Business & Economic Development in
Eagle Ford Shale
Janice
M.
Gonzalez
Before Small Business &
Economic Development
Committe
(Austin, TX - March 30, 2017) EMC’s Janice M. Gonzalez and Ernie
Gonzalez, Jr., testified before the Small Business & Economic
Development Committee on March 30, 2017 on behalf of the City of
Freer in support of the “Energy Corridor Relief Bill.” The bill would
provide much needed stimulus to communities impacted by the
downturn of the Eagle Ford Shale. State Representative J.M. Lozano
filed this bill earlier this session. The City of Freer could be eligible for
up to $100,000 in grants that could be used locally for city operational
costs if the bill becomes law. Mayor Arnold Cantu expressed strong
support for this bill during the Freer Capitol Days earlier this month.
The bill has bi-partisan support from all members of the committee.
Freer, TX, Government Relations Newsletter, Volume 1/ Issue 11, April 5, 2017, page 4
Representative Guillen Stands with Freer
CALENDAR
April 10 – City Council Mtg., 6:30 p.m.
April 10 – Business Workshop, 7 p.m.
April 28-29 – Rattlesnake Roundup
(Austin, TX – April 4, 2017) Chief John Spillers joined the Police Chiefs
of Falfurrias and San Diego last September and provided important
CITY LEADERSHIP
City Manager - Ana A. Garcia,
361.394.6612
[email protected]
testimony before the House Committee on Public Safety & Homeland
Security. During his testimony, Chief Spillers asked the committee for
greater support from the State Legislature to create targeted funding
to help small community police departments with additional
Police Chief John Spillers
[email protected]
911 (emergency only)
361.394.6002 (non-emergency)
361.394.7031 (emergency alternate)
personnel, vehicles and equipment. The chiefs followed up with their
Fire Department
911 (emergency only)
361.394.6553 (non-emergency)
partisan support for increased funding for the smaller police
Street Supervisor – David Guajardo
[email protected]
361.394.6612
testimony by participating in the first Tri-City Public Safety Legislative
Day at the State Capitol in November. The chiefs met with all members
of the Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee and received bidepartments.
At the request of EMC, State Representative Ryan
Guillen and his staff, quickly stepped in to help the City of Freer with
the legislative process and developed a two-step strategy to achieve
the funding objective. The first option included drafting a bill that
would establish targeted grants for smaller departments. This process
Contact Us
can be challenging and requires majority support of both the House
EMC Strategy Group, LLC
210.960.4340, ext. 101
[email protected]
www.emcstrategygroup.com
and the Senate. After careful consideration, Representative Guillen
made a strategic move to better ensure the success of achieving the
ultimate goal by submitting a “Rider” and amendment to Article 1 of
the house appropriations bill.
EMC’s Ernie Gonzalez met with all
members of the House Article 1 Committee on April 4, 2017, two days
before the deadline, to promote the “Rider” and its importance to the
City of Freer. Representative Guillen’s Rider has bi-partisan support
and has already been included in the house appropriations bill. The
bill must now go through the “Conference Committee” process, which
begins later this month. EMC will continue to monitor the Rider’s
progress and conduct aggressive lobbying efforts throughout the rest
of the legislative session in support of Freer’s legislative priorities.