Three Veteran CDC Board Members Ousted

by Tony Vindell/LFN

Getting into the political arena has its consequences and it’s often unpredictable.

That is what happened during Tuesday’s meeting of Los Fresnos City Council as a simple item on the agenda called for the appointment or reappointment of four members on the Community Development Corp. Board of Directors.

But to the surprise of many of the 40 people who attended the meeting, including two board members who have served on the board for more than 10 years, three of the four were ousted by three of five council members attending the meeting.

The ousted CDC members are Donald Henderson, Irene Romero and Robert Lopez and were replaced by three others.

An attendee even said two of the new members have never been seen at a CDC meeting, yet they were appointed to serve on an organization that has put more than $2 million back into the community since it was created in 2004.

The new members are Tom Jones, a self-employed salesman who served on the council years ago and who once ran unsuccessfully for city mayor, William “Bill” Ludden,” a retired farmer from Missouri, and Jose “Andy” Gonzalez who voiced a complaint before the council following the June 2018 flood.

Jones has been an outspoken person and is well known in local circles but some of those who attended the meeting said they had no idea who the others are.

The three new board members were named by councilmen Juan Muñoz, James Herrera and Andres Lopez.

The appointment of the new members was approved despite objection from Mayor Polo Narvaez who said he saw no reason in having new people on board during a time the CDC is having its best record.

“I am in total disagreement,” he said, “and extremely disappointed.”