DONNA, RGV – Donna Mayor Irene Muñoz says it breaks her heart to see Donna receive so much bad publicity, but, she says, there are a lot of positive things happening.
Muñoz said the city commission is working on important quality of issues.
“Donna it is a great city. It has been through so much turmoil that it breaks your heart. But I never lose hope that it will break free from all of the oppression,” Muñoz said.
Muñoz’s comments, in an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian, coincided with news that several members of the Donna school board had been found guilty in federal court of political retaliation.
A jury found Alberto Sandoval, Eloy Infante, Nick Castillo, Elpidio Yanez Jr. retaliated against district employees who did not support them politically. They were ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages.
Muñoz was keen to stress that she does not comment on the politics surrounding Donna ISD.
Muñoz said: “Donna has been going since 1904 but in recent years, in fact the last few decades, it has struggled to develop. I feel like it has been in a state of bondage for many years. We have not moved forward like other cities in the Valley. I feel the city has been in bondage, in some form of oppression. We have had rough and bumpy roads. We have not made the significant improvements we needed to. Progress has been slow.”
However, Muñoz said she is “very optimistic” that Donna will bounce back and recapture its glory years. She pointed out that sales tax revenues have risen about 30 percent over the past year.
“More and more small businesses have been moving into the city, despite all the negative publicity. We have had many ribbon-cuttings and groundbreakings over the past year, almost one a month,” Muñoz said. “We are taking decisions in preparation and anticipation of future economic growth. We want to improve infrastructure on the north side, to prepare for new businesses coming in.”
A top priority, Muñoz said, is making major improvements to the city’s baseball and recreation parks.
“We will be investing about $250,000 to make those improvements. We have received a grant from Texas Parks & Wildlife for about $53,000 to make improvements at the baseball parks. We plan to use some urban county money, about $70,000, to make improvements at our Donna recreation center,” Muñoz said.
“We want to improve some of the bathrooms in the parks and to put shade canopies above the bleachers. There are different needs in different parks. We want our kids to enjoy our parks, enjoy being kids, and for them to invest their energy in positive activities.”
There will also be improvements to street lights, the mayor predicted. “We will be investing $130,000 to improve street lights around the city. That is about 80 to 90 new street lights. It is a great feeling to know these improvements are coming.”
Muñoz said Marga Lopez, executive director of Donna Economic Development Corporation, has been asked to look for land to build a new city park.
“One of the biggest requests we get from citizens is providing more parks and better parks. We are working towards that. We know our existing parks need a lot of attention. Hopefully, the existing parks will be improved by October. Overall, the city is moving forward and we are excited about the projects that will be taking place this year.”
Muñoz said the City of Donna has also purchased new radios and laptop computers for its police department. “Safety is a top priority. We are going to invest some monies upgrading our technology,” she said.
Muñoz said a major reason to be optimistic is the development of the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge. Although taxpayers were saddled with tax increases to pay for the bridge, Muñoz said, the rewards will come when commercial trucks are allowed to utilize the bridge.
“Our bridge will finally pay off, once we get commercial traffic. It is not that far away. We know that businesses will come because of the bridge. It is going to be a great asset for the city.”
