Mayor Garza’s Message: Empowering Today, Envisioning Tomorrow

Photo above: The Edinburg City Council at last night’s State of the City Address, from left, Johnny Garcia, Councilmember Place 3; Jason De Leon, Councilmember Place 2; Ramiro Garza Jr., Mayor; David White, Mayor Pro Tem; and Daniel ‘Dan’ Diaz, Councilmember Place 1.

Edinburg TX, March 10, 2023

“Edinburg is about excellence, economic development, empowerment, enhancement, entertainment and envisioning the future. Edinburg has something to offer everyone!” That was Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr’s message to a packed crowd at the Edinburg State of the City address.

“In the last year, our city, our county, our state and our nation have faced challenges at every level, from economic and political to an unprecedented global pandemic whose impacts are still felt today,” Garza said.

“However, one constant has remained. The goals we have established continue to move our community in the right direction to benefit our residents. You heard it from our 2040 committee. We are building tomorrow’s future, TODAY!”

In his hour-long presentation, Garza focused on nine critical areas: ethics, Edinburg 2040, engagement (public safety), economic development, enhancement (infrastructure), entertainment, economics (sales taxes revenues), education and envisioning (expansion).

While the Mayor took the podium in front of the crowd of residents, business leaders, elected officials and city staff, Edinburg City Council members were featured in video clips throughout the presentation where they focused on different topics in the Mayor’s speech.

Garza pointed out the city’s dramatic growth in the last two decades. He noted that the city grew from 50,000 in 2000 to 102,483 in 2023. Garza added that Edinburg is the fastest growing city in South Texas, the 5th fastest in the state and 12th in the country for cities with a population over 100,000.

Ethics

“In Edinburg, ethics takes center stage and we are all about inclusiveness, engagement and accountability,” Garza said. “Transparency is important to this leadership, and we included a conflict of interest disclosure for our council meetings and also approved a code of ethics ordinance.”

Garza also touted how residents can access the city’s Capital Improvement Project Dashboard where all city projects are listed and include all the information for each project, including budget, a start date and a completion date.

Edinburg 2040

Garza also pointed to the Edinburg 2040 program the city launched in February 2022, a community-driven, strategic planning initiative. Through a series of town hall meetings as well as a household survey conducted by UTRGV, the city engaged with more than 2,000 residents to develop a long-range vision for Edinburg. 

As a result, the city now has close to 100 residents on eight different 2040 committees. 

“You spoke, we listened,” Garza stated, a theme he would return to throughout the presentation. 

Engagement (public safety)

Garza pointed to a 5% drop in crime from 2021 to 2022. The Mayor credited the work of the city’s police department and the 16 additional police officers added to the department. He also thanked the Edinburg Fire Department for their continued work to improve service to area residents.

Economic development

“Our economic forecast looks brighter every day,” Garza said. “It’s almost hard to grasp how many projects are underway in our city and the growth in 2022 was phenomenal. I can tell you that because the numbers don’t lie.”

The Mayor highlighted a few economic milestones:

• total capital investment of $264.8 million which resulted in a total economic impact of $730.5 million. 
• created 2,018 new jobs in our city
• issued more than 9,000 building permits that resulted in $301 million in construction activity
• more than 60 new subdivisions, and over 2,500 lots, and
• currently 79 subdivisions are in the process of being developed which adds more than 4,000 lots and more than 1000 acres being developed
• Garza also highlighted the city’s influx of medical services, including South Texas Health System’s new five-story, patient tower, a $100 million investment. He also pointed to a new eight-level, freestanding Driscoll Children’s Hospital to be located in Edinburg on the campus of DHR Health, a $110 million investment.

Enhancement (infrastructure)

“To keep up with our city’s growth, we are currently investing $98 million in improvements throughout Edinburg. That’s a combination of street improvements, park and trail upgrades, public facilities and drainage improvements,” the Mayor shared. “Let me go back to our guiding principle, you spoke, we listened, and we took action.”

In the 2040 survey, the number one concern residents brought up was streets. As a response, the city devoted $20 million in street work. Schunior, Alberta and Lull subdivision were a top priority for residents. Those have been completed. A $3 million residential street improvement program repaved about 30 streets residents had identified as need repair.

Garza also pointed to significant drainage improvement projects totaling more than $29 million.

Entertainment

Garza noted that construction is also underway on the future Edinburg Arts, Culture, and Events Center better known as the Edinburg ACE building. The 36,000 square foot facility will serve as a downtown venue to host local conferences, cultural art exhibits, live performances, and community events. 

The intent of this $14 million project is to feature local artists, host family-friendly events, and to attract more visitors to the city by creating a downtown entertainment area devoted to the arts.

The ACE building is being constructed on a downtown block newly dubbed “Promenade Park” along the City’s McIntyre Promenade.

It features an outdoor amphitheater and also has an interactive water garden and other green space amenities.

Promenade Park will be the centerpiece of Edinburg, hosting large festivals and events, and providing an urban oasis rivaling those of much larger cities.

The City recently broke ground on De Zavala which will feature a walking trail, a basketball court, two soccer fields and shaded structures. It will also have a splash pad, water dumping bucket and multiple water features.

The Vanguard Academy Beethoven City Park will cater to individuals with disabilities by including all-inclusive equipment such as the “We-Go” swing, which can accommodate wheelchairs, a first in the entire state of Texas.

The El Tule – Jose Nieto and Consuelo Alfaro Robledo Recreation Center is nearly complete. The 27,000 square foot building will have 3 full-sized gyms and incorporates a walking trail and a dog park. Not only will this facility be used for kids, but adult and elderly programs will also be held at this new facility.

We are also expanding our Hike and Bike Trails. In 2022, we opened the Chapin Road Hike and Bike Trail. It’s a one-mile loop with solar lights and benches that doubles as a detention pond and flood mitigation system. 

We also opened the Doolittle Nature Trail! This trail is approximately 3 miles long and is popular with hikers and cyclists. It’s another great trail in our city that also serves as the site of the annual Dirty Duathlon.

The Wisconsin Trail was also built between Jackson and Sugar Road, approximately half a mile long, and it connects to the trail that runs along Jackson from Wisconsin to Chapin Street. In the spirit of collaboration and thanks to a joint effort with our friends in the City of McAllen- we’ll be connecting this trail to the 2nd street trail in McAllen, in phase two. 

Families can go out to all these trails, have fun, and more importantly stay active.

This access to family and cultural activities simply takes the quality of life in Edinburg to another level.  

Economics

“When I say the state of our city is strong, we mean it,” Garza declared. “And again, you spoke and we listened. For the first time since 1996, we lowered the property tax rate. We went from 68-cents to 64-cents. We are helping our citizens where it matters most, in their pocketbook.”

Garza noted that the unemployment rate dipped to 5.1% in 2022, down from 6.4% the prior year. Last year, Edinburg generated 34.6 million in sales tax activity – that’s the highest in the city’s history. Annual sales tax collection was up 13% from the previous year.

Education

In education, Garza noted the tremendous impact The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is having on the city. This includes the medical school and the new football program.

“UTRGV empowers successful futures, and helps our region shine as a global innovator in higher education,” Garza said. He also credited the Edinburg CISD, the South Texas ISD and the Vanguard Academy for providing a wide variety of educational opportunities for Edinburg families.

“Our goal is always to engage our youth,” Garza said, “and this past year we also launched the first ever Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council. We have 12 high school juniors who are exploring the field of public service and learning about our city government.”

Envisioning Expansion

“So how is 2023 shaping up and how do we envision our future,” Garza asked. “I honestly don’t think you are going to recognize Edinburg five years from now.”

“Our growth is explosive and when you look at what’s coming– Division 1 collegiate football, the ACE building, state of the art medical facilities, Edinburg is THE educational, cultural, and healthcare hub of the Valley.?

“We have all the key ingredients – solid infrastructure, better roads and drainage, booming growth– and open land to grow.”

“And we will maintain our commitment to improving our streets, and drainage systems. We’ll continue to push for economic growth, while still consistently maintaining high quality city services.”

“We also have untapped potential at our Airport in Edinburg. We have some innovative ideas and as Councilman Diaz mentioned, we are planning to expand our airport in the future.”

“We’re looking forward to working with our regional partners to push for the completion of the Hidalgo County Loop, including the International Bridge Trade Corridor to connect international bridges to our airport and Interstate-69.”

“I will continue pushing for the Rio Grande Valley to come together as one region to market our area globally for economic development. Remember, we are stronger together!”

“We are the fastest growing large city in the Valley and we are living up to that reputation, and with all this growth we are seeing, it’s vital that as the county seat, we continue to be fiscally responsible. We have a reserve fund that is healthy and we continue to build that fund as we grow.”

In closing his address, Garza said, “you heard that the E in Edinburg is for excellence, enhancement, engagement, economic development and education— to name a few. And to me the E is for Everyone! Edinburg IS for everyone—and moving forward into 2023, we will continue empowering our community— and envisioning a better future.