New councilman takes oath of office

By TONY VINDELL / LFN

Saying he is glad to be part of the group, the city’s newest councilman took the oath of office and sat in a seat that has been empty since last November.

Ramon Ortiz, a Los Fresnos native whose presence is everywhere in this city of some 7,000 residents, took the oath office from Justice of the Peace Sallie Gonzalez during Tuesday’s, Feb. 11 meeting of the Los Fresnos City Council.

Ortiz took the seat left by Joe Collinsworth, who resigned unexpectedly last November.

The new councilman was the only candidate who filed for the vacant seat and, since there was not another candidate, he was declared the winner without having an election.

Ortiz, who has served with a number of organizations, including the local chamber of commerce and the planning and zoning commission, said he is going to do the best he can for Los Fresnos.

“I know that as a public servant, you can’t please all the people all the time,” he said, “but I will try to please most of the people most of the time.”

Before taking the oath of office, the 78-year-old Ortiz introduced Gonzalez by saying he has known her for more than 40 years.

“She is serving her eight term as Justice of the Peace with Precinct 1 in Harlingen,” he said, “and she is going after a ninth term.”

After Gonzalez administered the oath of office, she said thanks and left the chamber room.

In other business, the council approved a new amount of time allowed for visitors to speak during the public forum.

The time allowed was increased from three minutes to five and it was based on City Manager Mark Milum’s recommendation.

The council also approved paying more than $12,000 to an engineering company – Hansen Professional Services Inc. – for additional work on the city’s street improvement program.