Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 2, 1974 Page: 1 of 32
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RIO GRANDE
1
Serving over 5000 readers over 55 years TPA Award Winning Newspaper Ten Cents
Vol. XXXI No. 28 Thursday, May 2, W/4"4 Rio Grande City, Texas
an editorial....
A MAN OF PROGRESS
Dr. Mario E. Ramirez should be re-elected county judge of Starr
County. He is truly a man of progress. Without him at the helm,
Starr County will suffer irreparable damage and probably sink into
the financial mire of the past. There is no other choice - it is a
matter of going up or going down.
The Herald bases this endorsement on the excellent work he has
done since he first became county judge in 1969 and the marvelous
transformation he has done in many phases of governmental
operation. It's in the record and the record does not lie.
The county was deeply in debt - almost broke - when Dr.
Ramirez took office. By implementing sound fiscal practices, he
has managed to bring the county from the red into the black. An
accounting firm was hired to help establish a modern system of
bookkeeping and irresponsible spending was greatly reduced. He
met the monthly commitments without having to issue script.
Taxes have not been raised and our tax rate persists as one of the
lowest in the nation. Check that against the record of prior County
Judges. It's in the record.
In his role as presiding judge of the county court, he has reduced
the number of pending cases from over 500 in 1969 to an all-time low
of less than 50 at the beginning of 1974. He has always been of the
belief that jus tire delayed is justice denied. Pending cases were
once used as a political weapon against the people as a form of
blackmail. But that's a thing of the past - it's in the record.
In the field of public works, the county has made much progress
during his term of office. The courthouse roof was repaired and
partly renovated, a county airport was built, the bandstand on
Britton Plaza was repaired, Britton Plaza was beautified, and the
county took an integral part in acquiring federal funds for the
rebuilding of the high school auditorium. Ail this is there - you can
see it!
The Starr-Roma bridge was sandblasted and painted for the first
time in ten years and needed repairs were made. In 1971 an elec-
tronic toll collecting and monitoring system was installed at a cost
of $12,426.99. The total bridge revenue since then is as follows: 1969
-$174,383.93; 1970- $180,428 H3; 1971 - $182,478.13; 1972 - $203,459.68;
and 1973 - $210,976.32. This represents $36,592.39 more this past year
than the year the equipment was installed and a total of almost
$80,000 more in the four years since the installation. In short, the
system has paid for itself six times over. These added revenues is
also a matter of record.
After much talk and no action by former administrations, the
people of Rio Grande City and the surrounding area are being
protected from flooding in I)r. Ramirez' term of office. The
Olmitos-Gareia Creek Channel was built and the Ramirez
watershed project was completed. The county is preparing a flood
prevention plan for Roma and an office has been opened to plan for
flood control works at the l s Olmos Creek Area. In this case. Dr.
Ramirez implemented action in place of the empty promises of the
past.
. More people are being serviced in the food commodity program
with over 9,000 receiving aid. Recently an orderly transfer to a fr >d
stamp program has been accomplished and the people are
benefitting greatly under the new plan.
Construction of 64 low rental houses are scheduled to begin within
a few weeks. Many low income families will be able to live in better
homes when this project is completed.
..Under Dr. Ramirez' administration, the streets of Rio Grande
City have begun to Ik- repaired. His hopes are that eventually all
the streets will be repaired and paved here.
A recreation area is planned for land adjacent to Falcon Dam
under the federal "Park Legacy" program. Such a program will
help bring in tourist dollars to our country.
Through an application to the National Health Service Corps, Dr.
David Woodburn was assigned to our county as a dentist and the
government and the county worked jointly to procure the office
space and the completely modern-equipped dental facility now in
operation.
But perhaps the most important achievement in recent years has
been the county hospital that will soon be completed. At no cost to
the county, despite erroneous reports from other sources, the
hospital grounds were acquired and the construction of ap-
proximately two million dollars of buildings began last year with
the federal government bearing 90 per cent of the funding - the
only project in the nation to receive such a high amount. This
hospital will be one of the most modern and beautiful in the state -
and one badly needed by Starr County residents.
In short, Dr. Ramirez, in his relative brief time as the chief
executive of our county, has done more for our community than
perhaps was done in the past hundred years. He has at all times
acted honestly, wisely, judiciously, and impartially in all matters
that pertained to his office. And since he is not, and has never been
a politician, his main source of support are the people of Starr
County who have known him since his childhood, and the thousands
who have been his patients, and all those who admire and respect
him. It is those people that Dr. Ramirez has an affinity to and it is
these people that he has a friendship for. It is simply a case of
mutual dignity and of mutual respect.
It is these people who will re-elect Dr. Mario E. Ramirez for the
office of Starr County Judge for the next four years, - and with his
election, the continued progress of Starr County will be assured -
and it is the people who will win.
West Grammar School
mortgaged to Groos
A tract of land which includes
the Roque Guerra Jr Grammar
School, better known as the
West Grammar School, is
mortgaged to the Groos
National Bank of San Antonio
by Clinton Manges, Duval
couritv rancher-banker.
In a deed, Instrument No. 83104
filled May 17, 1973 in the Starr
County Clerk's office, among
several tracts of acreage listed
in the mortgage deed, is Tract
No. 10 of Porcion 79, Camargo
Jurisdiction, which includes the
land in which the West
Grammar School is located.
Also in this tract are several
residences including the Isauro
Zarate home. Zarate was
reportedly consulting with an
attorney about this matter this
week
It has been reported that the
Rio Grande City Consolidated
Independent School District has
already given notice to the
Groos National Bank of this
matter.
Another tract that is included
in the mortgage deed that is
being questioned is Tract No.
70, a tract listed as having
105 80 acres, also in Porcion 79,
Camargo Jurisdiction The
tract is the Demetrio Garcia
ranch. Demetrio Garcia Jr.
reportedly has also consulted
with an attorney on this matter.
The sum borrowed by Manges
according to the mortgage deed
is $575,000.00 bearing 8'2 per
cent interest and payable in
one year, May 17, 1974.
Acreage listed from each
Porcion on the mortgage deed is
as follows: Porcion 67 (Mier),
166.(SO; Porcion 69 (Mier),
182.58: Porcion 70,71,72 (Mier),
11.45; Porcion 70 (Camargo),
6,3.69; Porcion 71 (Camargo),
.07; Porcion 79 (Camargo),
213.18; Porcion 66 (Mier),
1.455.52.
Dividing the total acreage
mortgaged, 2,120.73 into the
amount borrowed, $575,000.00,
gives $271.13 as the amount
loaned by the bank on each
acre; and using the 60 percent
of the market value reportedly
used by banks in lending
money, the market value of this
property is about $450.00 per
acre..
The average market value of
ranch land in Starr County,
according to a Herald survey,
was given at around $150.00 an
acre.
This loan was made to
Manges about two months after
had taken over control of the
Groos National Bank. The of-
ficers of that bank at the time
were listed as Robert Rich-
mond, of Rio Grande City; and
H.P. Guerra III, formerly of
Rio Grande Cilty, was listed as
the president. Jack Skaggs of
Harlingen, Cameron County
Democratic Chairman, was
listed as one of the directors.
Sheerin says
land is available
Prominent Starr County
farmer Larry Sheerin, angered
over accusations of kick-back to
Starr County Judge Mario E.
Ramirez and mis-statements
about land given the county for
the construction of a county
hospital, issued a statement
denying the mis-interpreted
statements.
"I want the record perfectly
clear about the manner in
which we have made this gift to
the county," Sheerin told the
Herald late Tuesday evening.
"First of all we did not sell the
land to the county, we offered
the land for sale at first and
when we were asked to donate
the property we gladly did so,
because both Boone LaGrange
and I knew perfectly well that
this was and is for the benefit of
the entire county," Sheerin
said. "Because of our tax
situation we gave the money to
see SHEERIN page 3
4
I
LAND IS AVAILABLE - Pictured above at the new county hospital site Starr County
Farmers Larry Sheerin and Boone La Grange discuss a tract of land tentatively agreed for
purchase by Dr. Ramiro Narro. Also shown with the three is Mrs. Raymond Rochester,
vice-chairman of the committee in charge of purchasing hospital equipment. Sheerin called
the meeting out at the hospital site to put to rest accusations by another publication that
land was not available to other doctors other than Dr. Mario E. Ramirez. The site had
become controversial after another publication stated the county had bought the land for
over $3,000 per acre. Sheerin said that he and Boone LaGrange had given the county the
money with which to purchase the land from LaGuna Ranch. "It did not cost the county one
penny for this land and I hate the tarnish that lias been given the gift that will surely benefit
the entire county," Sheerin said. (Herald photo by RauITrejo)
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Trejo, Raul. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 2, 1974, newspaper, May 2, 1974; Rio Grande City, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth194457/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.