EDINBURG, Texas - Edinburg City Council Member Dan Diaz has spoken about all the growth happening in his city.
He referenced all the new homes being built, Zoho Corporation’s expansion, the impact of having a football program at UT-Rio Grande Valley, and the new Hidalgo County Courthouse.
The Rio Grande Guardian met up with Diaz to talk about Edinburg scooping all the awards in the recent Readers’ Choice Awards held by The Monitor newspaper.
At an event held at the Edinburg Culture, Arts & Events Center, Edinburg won:
* Favorite City – City of Edinburg
* Favorite Elected Official – Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr.
* Favorite Fire Department – Edinburg Fire Department
* Favorite Law Enforcement Agency – Edinburg Police Department
* Favorite Parks & Recreation – Edinburg Parks & Recreation
* Favorite Birding Center – Edinburg World Birding Center
* Favorite Golf Course – Los Lagos Golf Course
“Award after award after award. It just goes to show you that something very positive is happening in our city,” Diaz told the Guardian. “It's because our residents are involved. It's because of the positivity at City Hall and everyone coming together to secure a great quality of life in the city of Edinburg.”
Diaz said he cannot remember his city of any city sweeping up every award on offer. The Guardian joked that perhaps most of The Monitor’s readers must live in Edinburg.
“There's just a lot of trajectory going on in the city, with UTRGV football, with the growth of Zoho, all our sales, all our metrics,” Diaz responded. “Everything has been putting us on the state and national map. And I think the fact that all that synergy is happening at the same time had an effect on who people voted for.”
Asked if he could reel off some of the numbers that speak to the growth, Diaz said:
“As we speak, today, the population of Edinburg is now at 109,000. We have nearly 6,000 homes that will be built in the city of Edinburg, with 4,500 of those currently in the permit process. There are over 130 neighborhoods also being planned.”
Diaz then spoke with pride about tech giant Zoho coming to Edinburg.
“As we know, Zoho is an international IT company that's in nine different countries. It will be based in the city of Edinburg. They also purchased over one thousand acres north of Edinburg for a large manufacturing plant,” he said.
The new football program at UTRGV is also having an impact, Diaz said.
“It (the football) has an estimated $197 million economic impact to our area,” he explained. “I could go on and on.”
Asked about the new Hidalgo County Courthouse, Diaz said: “The county courthouse, we know that's been in the plans for a long time. It's finally open. We're also going to do a parking garage. It's going to be catty-corner to the courthouse. It's not going to solve all the parking issues, but is going to alleviate about 270 parking spots, taking those vehicles away from the town square.”
The Guardian also asked Diaz about the healthcare industry, one of the biggest employers in Edinburg.
“Access to care is a huge thing in the City of Edinburg. Everybody knows that in the city we have major hospital systems. South Texas Health System just opened, a few months back, a $100 million tower. We have the brand new Driscoll Children's Hospital. We have DHR Health, with its upgrading of ECMO, the lung cancer technology. There is so much to be thankful for here in the city. It employs a lot of people, that whole healthcare sector that we have here.”
Diaz concluded the interview by praising the work of Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, for whom he used to be a board member.
“There are so many businesses that are coming to Edinburg. And there are going to be many more announcements coming. One of our programs that we have to help small businesses is called FLIP. We won a national award. We helped 40 businesses annually with a $10,000 grant. We have so much to be proud of here in the city.”
Editor's Note: Here is a video recording of the interview with Diaz:
