City Approves Additional Sponsorship for Rodeo

Rodeo Committee to Build Four Skyboxes with Additional Support from City

by Tony Vindell/LFN

Four new “out of the weather and above the crowd” sky box sitting areas will soon be built in the Los Fresnos rodeo arena for new and existing sponsors and the city wasted no time grabbing one of the sections.

The city council approved the additional sponsorship on Tuesday as it held its first meeting of 2018.

The action will provide 10 more seats during each of the three days of the rodeo scheduled to take place a little more than a month from now.

The rodeo committee decided to build four sky box sitting areas that will be added on the back of the north bleachers and each section will have 10 seats for new and old sponsors.

One of the reasons behind the new sky box areas is to give sponsors a chance to get additional seats as some said they did not have enough seats during previous rodeos. By doing this the rodeo will get more money as it comes with an additional cost.

Five of the six members of the council voted yes while Juan Munoz of Place 5 voted no.

Munoz said he does not believe in spending money on sponsorships because he likes to safeguard the taxpayers’ interests.

The rodeo will be from February 16th through the 18th at the arena on the east side of town.

Cowboys and cowgirls will compete for prizes in a number of categories including bronco and bull, steer roping and barrel racing.

The rodeo, now in its 29th year, is sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, which has become the highest paying such organization in the world.

In other business, the council met in executive session to evaluate the job of City Manager Mark Milum and took no action after the meeting was over about an hour later.

Asked if they had any comments after Mayor Polo Narvaez made a motion to adjourn, council members said “No” in unison.

Asked again if they were happy with Milum, who has been administering the city for 13 years, they all said, “Yes.”

The council heard a report for the last quarter of 2017 of Los Fresnos Chamber of Commerce.

The report included chamber-sponsored events such the Halloween and Christmas festivals and parade.

On the financial front, the chamber ended 2017 with a cash flow of more than $4,000.