District IV City Council incumbent Alberto Torres, Jr. faces community activist Esmeralda “Mellie” Herford in the November 3 General Election.
Both have lived in the district for many years, Torres for all of his 28 years, Hereford for four decades. The similarities end there.
The stories below offer contrasts on which to base an informed choice.
(The order of story placement follows the order of the candidate’s positions on the ballot.)
Incumbent Torres seeks another term for City Council District IV
He’s confident voters will see district-wide improvements
Alberto Torres Jr. exudes confidence.
He believes the implementation of a Neighborhood Empowerment Zone in District IV will be remembered as a viable tool for sustainable redevelopment.
Torres counts among his first term accomplishments $1.5 million in street and sidewalk improvements, half of which he said were at no cost to the taxpayers. He said the six parks of District IV have undergone improvements, as did Fire Station No. 5 on Bartlett, the station with the highest call volume in the City.
He also counts among his accomplishments improved public safety through better lighting, speed bumps, and electronic signs that read speed on Malinche and Bustmante.
Torres said he voted against hikes in property tax rates and water utility services. “And I voted against the proposed street maintenance fee,” he said.
He also counts among his accomplishments the drafting of the City’s Animal Neglect Ordinance, the first of its kind in Texas.
Torres characterized his initial days in office as “hitting the ground running to meet with the City manager and department heads to begin formulating a master plan for District IV.”
The plan addressed walkability and the need for more sidewalks for getting to school, to bus stops, and to work. He said the landlocked district sees little new development and therefore faces the challenge of having to address issues like sidewalks without the economic stimulus of growth.
Torres said a small piece of land at Saunders and Loop 20 offers “enough space to develop a subdivision of about 30 homes.”
He said the corridor of Saunders to Arkansas, the entrance to the City from U.S. Hwy. 59, is in need of “an upgrade for the storefronts of mom and pop businesses, car lots, and restaurants. It can be done with tax incentives and federal grants.”
Torres said that some of the homes in the older neighborhoods along Clark Blvd. have held on to their appraised value and character. Property owners, he said, are rehabilitating their properties and leaning to mixed use — doctors’ offices, insurance offices, pet groomers, and retail. Some, he said, are taking advantage of the NEZ initiatives.
“After the parrot mural at McClelland, however, socio-economic factors change the landscape. There are many homes and rental properties in need of coming into code and getting a facelift. The NEZ offers incentives for this. New development is evident at the small strip centers and placitas on Springfield and Arkansas,” he noted.
All six parks in District IV, he said, have undergone improvements since he took office, including the largest, of the parks, the Arturo Benavides Memorial Park, which has seen the major improvements of shaded areas, barbecue pits, and a soccer field. The park also includes a basketball court, baseball field, a sand court for volleyball, walking trails, a family gazebo, and a skating area.
“The Dr. Martha E. Villarreal Park (Sanchez-Ochoa) adds a lot of value to the community. It is well used, as is the Inner City Park west of Springfield and east of Canal, which has a pool, a rock-climbing wall, and a small library that is also available for classes and wellness activities,” Torres continued.
Of his tenure in office, the incumbent said, “I have brought significant improvements to District IV. I have open communication with the constituents. I return phone calls, and before COVID-19, I made home visits. I work for the residents of my district and for the entire city. I am ready to continue as a fulltime Council member.”
Regarding facing a challenger on Nov. 3, Torres said, “I’ve always welcomed opposition. Elections are part of a democracy. Everyone has a right to run. I’m ready. I run a clean campaign and play by the rules. I don’t run a negative campaign. I run on facts. That is my nature.”
Of campaigning in pandemic times, he said, “This is a tough time that will see us working differently. The pandemic shouldn’t keep anyone from voting, especially since there are three weeks of early voting, voting by mail, and curbside voting. It is our right, duty, and obligation to vote.”
Torres and his wife Berlyn Vasquez Torres, are raising their son, Santiago Milan, in the heart of District IV at 2106 Okane.
Torres holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Masters of Public Administration, both earned at Texas A&M International University. He completed post-graduate coursework for certification in non-profit leadership and management.
His community activities include support for the annual Angel of Hope Christmas event and the Laredo Boys and Girls Club. He is the Laredo representative for Cocker Spaniel Rescue.
He is a parishioner of San Luis Rey Church, for which he acts in an advisory capacity and as a Eucharistic minister.
He was named Mayor Pro Tem in 2020, the youngest City Council member named to the position.
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Challenger Mellie Hereford: “I don’t play ball; Albert Torres Jr. does.”
City business: “You can’t leave your moral compass at the door.”
“It is said that being a good public servant is doing the work of the Lord in the devil’s playground,” said Esmeralda “Mellie” Hereford, District IV candidate for City Council.
Hereford has lived in District IV for 40 years. It is where she and her husband of 44 years, rancher Henry Hereford, raised three sons.
Hereford is no stranger to City governance. She’s been a keen observer of Council dynamics and is a regular at the podium of public comment during Council meetings, speaking as a taxpayer and often as the conscience of elected officials whom she says are known to have left their moral compass at the door.
She doesn’t spare Council members her opinions, speaking at time with emotion, but never with vitriol.
“Those are our meetings, too. This Council makes decisions for how to spend our money. We pay their salaries, their office stipends, their travel, and their half-million dollar district priority funds. And yet, they have had the arrogance to discount public input with eye-rolling exasperation, leaving their seats while we speak, and trying on more than one occasion to silence our First Amendment right to speak by moving public comments to the end of their meetings,” she said.
Hereford continued, “The Council member from District II who was arrested and sentenced — and never censured by the entire Council for removal from his position — tried to move the date of City elections to benefit his political future. The move would have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. This is the same man who has worked so hard to change the City Charter to reward himself with a third term in office. He won’t be remembered as an honorable public servant. He will be remembered as the sentenced Council member who illegally accessed the protected, sealed juvenile records of his political opponent, and he will be remembered for the transparency of his shameless efforts to keep himself in office longer.” Hereford added, “This City Council will be remembered for giving him a free pass.”
She said that many of the bad fiscal decisions this Council has made with public money reflect the agendas of the handful of members who have calculated how they will work together. “It’s not a mystery that much of what they vote on has been decided in advance. They do not police themselves or censure a fellow Council member for an illegal act. Those allegiances to each other keep them from effecting positive change. I don’t have those allegiances, and I don’t have special interests. I have the public’s interests at heart. I will always stand up for what is right,” said the outspoken community activist.
Hereford said the three Council members who strive to hold honest dialogue and make ethical decisions — Vielma, Altgelt, and the Mayor — are outgunned by the balance of the Council, the “gang of five.”
“Wouldn’t it be a great thing to upset that balance and see a Council that listened to its constituents before undertaking something as important as amending the City Charter?” asked Hereford, a former educator who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry and a Masters in psychology and education.
“We asked that the Charter Revision Commission be an independent, quasi judicial body whose members are not appointed by Council members. This Council did not consider citizen input when they recently came up with a list of Charter amendments. They did the opposite, acting with impunity to water down the Charter and tailor it to benefit themselves,” she said.
Hereford said that while some of their names may end up on parks and public buildings, their legacy will actually be one of disregard for the First Amendment freedom of speech, a lack of ethics, and reckless, wasteful spending.
“International trade has been and continues to be a blessing to our city, but the new normal of life in the pandemic has spelled a $5.6 million drop in bridge revenues, a $2.3 million drop in sales tax, a $1 million loss at the Max Municipal Golf Course, as well as the losses of bus fees and parking meter fees. We have no rainy day contingency funds. Property tax rates have not gone up, but appraisals have. These very serious fiscal realities under the weight of the pandemic beg the question: are the happy spenders on this City Council the right people to safeguard our now dwindling revenues?” Hereford asked.
She said it is important to remember that Laredo became the largest inland port in the nation by default when Detroit went bankrupt.
“These are hard times, and about to get harder,” she said, citing 2018 U.S Census data that per capita income in Laredo is about $17,600. She added that the City of Laredo is the nation’s second largest user of Food Stamps, and that 30% of the City’s population lives below the federal poverty line.
Hereford said that at a time in which the pandemic has had so great an economic impact on City revenues, that the half-million dollars each Council member and the Mayor receive for a district priority fund — which was once more aptly called a “discretionary fund” — could have better paid for the $4.3 million dollars the City will owe TxDOT for connecting trade link infrastructure from International Blvd. to U.S. Hwy 59 as part of the I-69 Corridor plan.
She said that for some Council members their district priority funds are a means to thank those who helped them get elected. “The naming of the small affordable housing project across from City Hall is a pretty good example of such a gratuitous gesture,” she said.
“I know there is a perception that I am negative, but I participate in public comments because the voice of the taxpayer is a vital part of the democratic process, especially in an environment that has so little value for that voice,” she said.
Hereford turned her focus to District IV and its current Council representative, incumbent Albert Torres Jr.
“I met with Council member Torres just two hours after he took office,” said Hereford.
“He seemed articulate, qualified, educated, and enthusiastic, but very quickly it became apparent that he, like some of the other Council members, work for special interests. He squandered those attributes,” she said, adding, “It was very disappointing to watch.”
She said the most blighted parts of District IV are in need of a plan and funding for sustainable re-development. “You see a little bit of development before Clark meets Loop 20 and some on Springfield, but many parts of the district look resigned to decay rather than prosperity,” she said. “Yes, we have seen park improvements and fire station improvements, but the District has needs in addition to those two areas,” she continued.
“I think the incumbent’s abandonment of the core ethics of a public servant is the most egregious of his flaws, and one of the most glaring examples of that is that he, like some of his cohorts, were not interested in an independent ethics commission or changes to the City Charter that would deal with the removal of a Council member who broke the law and was subsequently arrested and sentenced,” she said.
She asked, “Can it be said enough times — the majority of this Council, including Albert Torres, want Charter amendments that protect them.”
The City Charter, she said, protecting it and strengthening it, will be a priority for her if elected.
Hereford said voters in the upcoming General Election need to consider which of the City Council incumbents voted to let Council member Vidal Rodriguez keep his seat because he plays (political) ball with them and is useful to their agenda. I don’t play ball. Albert Torres Jr. does.”
