06-12-26
Top photo: file photo by Michael Robinson
News reports submitted by Diana Olvedo-Karau
Two residents also asked the city for help with long-standing flooding on their properties in the 800 block of North Camp Street, near the Uvalde CISD practice fields.
The council discussed potential City Charter changes. City Manager Joe Cardenas presented issues raised over the past year, including council terms, term limits, officer compensation, insurance, boards and committees, and city manager residency requirements. Any changes would require voter approval.
Cardenas also reviewed issues from the June 3 public workshop, which was a result of the request by EMC Strategy Group to add lobbying services to their contract. The concerns mirrored those residents have raised for years, with street improvements topping the list. “Obviously the City has many needs; with needs comes ways of financing some of those items,” Cardenas said, noting similar studies completed 20 to 30 years ago. “I go back and there are several studies that we’ve done that go back to the late 90’s and early 2000’s and if we compare what was discussed then, what was discussed this past week, they pretty much mimic one another.”
Editorial Remarks:
The reality is clear: Uvalde does not have the resources to tackle major street repairs without either taking on debt or aggressively pursuing state and federal grant funding. Adding lobbying services to EMC’s contract would give the city a stronger path to turn identified needs into actual funding opportunities, especially when paired with the agreement’s grant-writing component. EMC has already met with city departments to assess priorities and with TxDOT to explore future funding. Now the council needs to quit treating this issue as political theater, act in residents’ best interests, and remember that three council seats will be on the ballot this year.
