Election set for Saturday

NEWS Staff Report

Local voters who did not cast their ballots during early voting can still head to the polls on Election Day, Saturday, May 3, for General and Special Elections.

On the ballot for San Benito voters is the Port Isabel-San Benito Navigation District [PISBND] Election.
Running for Commissioner Place 1 are Alejandro Guadalupe Leal, Janie G. Silva, and Duvie Alcozer Woods. For Place 2, the candidates are Joe Martinez and Victor Eloy Rosas.

In a controversial measure, the PISBND board voted to conduct the election in-house, citing cost, thus limiting the voting locale to the PISBND headquarters in Port Isabel.

Leal, Silva, and Rosas stem from San Benito, while Woods and Martinez are from the Laguna Madre area.
The entity’s offices are located at 250 Industrial Drive in Port Isabel. Election Day voting begins at 7 a.m. and will run through 7 p.m. For more information about the PISBND election, call (956) 943-7826.

Cameron County voters can also vote for or against Proposition “A,” which authorizes the renovation, planning, acquisition, development, construction, equipment, and expansion of a multipurpose arena and any related infrastructure.

According to the Cameron County website, Prop “A” also authorizes the use of the existing hotel occupancy tax at the rate of two percent of the price paid for a room in a hotel located in Cameron County, and authorizes the use of the existing short term motor vehicle rental tax at a rate of five percent on the gross rental receipts from the rental of motor vehicles in Cameron County.

Prop “A” also imposes an admissions tax at a rate not to exceed ten percent on the price of each ticket sold as admission to an event held at the Cameron County Arena Development Project. If approved, the maximum hotel occupancy tax rate imposed from all sources in Cameron County would be 17 percent of the price paid for a room in a hotel.

According to data provided by the Cameron County Elections Administration Office, unofficial numbers show that 268 San Benito voters cast their ballots for the County referendum as of the end Early Voting Tuesday, with the highest number of voters [67] arriving at the polls on Tuesday. In Los Indios, 22 early votes were cast.

Neighboring Rio Hondo is holding City and School Board Trustee Elections. Up for Pl. 1 Commissioner is Arnulfo “Kitter” Huerta who is vying for the seat against Juan D. Garza.

For Pl. 3 Commissioner is Diana Jean Bustamante versus Pedro G. Serna, and Rick Tello is facing Jose Pepe Cavazos for Pl. 5 on the commission. The City of Rio Hondo is also conducting a referendum on .25% sales tax for street upgrades and maintenance, which is all on the same ballot.

For school board, Maria Mayte L. Chapa is facing Fernando Rocha, Jr. for Pl. 1. Jose Luis Lopez, Jr. is up against Jennifer Alfaro for Pl. 2, and there’s a three-way race for Pl. 3 between Gina Marie Palacios, Monica Gallegos, and Celina Y. Lara. Rounding out the school board election is Ruben Canales Jr. who’s running unopposed.

The polls are open on Election Day from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. For more information and other specific precinct and voting locales, visit the Cameron County Election Administration website at https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/elections.