Chasing Business: McAllen's Mayor Back In Mexico...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Mayor Javier Villalobos is really into his new job. Here and in neighboring Mexico. Fresh off a business-mining trip to coastal Tampico, Villalobos is just back from Guadalupe, a growing community located east of financial power Monterrey.

The mayor, a self-described Republican (shown with wife Annette in photo above), is not wallowing on a host of crime and corruption characterizations of Mexico shared by others in his party; he's out looking for business to help his city's economy.

He said this today about the trip in a Facebook post: [ Seventeen industrial parks and growing. We are working with Mayor Cristina Diaz of Guadalupe, promoting economic development in our region.  When I say region, I mean the whole RGV, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas.  

I was fortunate to visit with some parents, kids, and other residents of Guadalupe. I even had a chance to throw a baseball for a bit. ]

The economic relationship between the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico is historical. Shoppers from south of the border flood McAllen's popular La Plaza Mall daily. The revenue is good for The City of Palms.

Villalobos is going after it.

We have not heard of other RGV mayors, especially of Harlingen and Brownville, undertaking such ventures. Perhaps they will. The rewards seem to be there. Mexicans coming to McAllen - or entertaining business relationships - seems to be profitable for the Valley.

The 53-year-old Villalobos was elected earlier this year.

He has exuded nothing but positiveness and his desire to expand the city's economy is something he campaigned on. Earlier, he served as a city commissioner.

It wouldn't surprise us - or anyone in town - to hear Villalobos is planning additional trips that way. He's going places in more ways than the obvious. Perhaps he has higher political ambitions.

Could very well be, yes...

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