By RAY QUIROGA
publisheer@sbnewspaper.com
For the third time, Cameron County voters nixed a plan that would have allowed what is commonly known as hotel/motel tax dollars to be used on a proposed entertainment venue.
As a result of the Saturday, May 3 General and Special Elections, 9,769 (60.90%) ballots cast were against Proposition “A” which would have allowed the County to use those monies for a venue with an estimated cost of construction well within the $200M range. An unofficial, 6,272 voters (39.10%) voted in favor of Prop. “A”. This represents the largest margin of defeat for the proposition in three attempts.
Proposition “A,” would have authorized 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” would have also authorized 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 authorized 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” would have also imposed 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 have been 17% 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 last Tuesday, with the highest number of voters [67] arriving at the polls on Tuesday. In Los Indios, 22 early votes were cast.
On the ballot for San Benito voters was the Port Isabel-San Benito Navigation District [PISBND] Election, in which the four Resaca City candidates on the ballot were swept for losses. 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.
Of the 36,043 eligible voters for the SBPIND, which included voters from San Benito, Rio Hondo, and Los Fresnos, 930 participated, 27 of those by mail, 587 by way of early vote and another 316 ballots were cast on Election Day.
For Commissioner, Pl. 1, Alejandro Guadalupe Leal came behind Janie G. Silva, and Duvie Alcozer Woods who captured the spot with 758 votes (81.51%). Leal garnered 74 votes (7.95%) to Silva’s 90 (9.68%).
For Place 2, Joe Martinez bested Victor Eloy Rosas, 793 (85.27%) votes to 117 (12.58%).
Leal, Silva, and Rosas stem from San Benito, while Woods and Martinez are from the Laguna Madre area.
Neighboring Rio Hondo held City and School Board Trustee Elections. Up for Pl. 1 Commissioner was Arnulfo “Kitter” Huerta who fell to Juan D. Garza who garnered 150 votes (55.35%) to Huerta’s 121 (44.65%).
For Pl. 3 Commissioner, Diana Jean Bustamante’s 208 votes (80.31%) bested Pedro G. Serna’s 51 votes representing 19.69% of the vote.
No stranger to City politics, Rick Tello’s 116 votes for 43.77% fell short of Jose “Peps” Cavazos’ 149 for 56.23% of the vote for Pl. 5 on the commission.
The City of Rio Hondo also conducted a referendum on a .25% sales tax for street upgrades and maintenance, which was on the same ballot. That referendum garnered 141 votes (55.29%) in favor while 114 votes (44.71%) were against.
For school board, Jose Luis Lopez, Jr., Gina Marie Palacios, and Ruben Canales, Jr., who ran unchallenged, all came out on top of their races.
Unofficially, 16,852 voters cast their ballots countywide with 16,744 voting in person and 108 voters filing their ballots by mail. According to the Cameron County Elections Administration Office, the County has 232,671 registered voters; 7.24% of those registered voters took part in this election cycle.
Election results are unofficial until canvassed.
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