City of McAllen Holiday Closings

City of McAllen Offices

City of McAllen offices will be closed on Friday, December 23, in observance of Christmas Eve and on Monday, December 26, in observance of Christmas Day. City offices will re-open at normal business hours on Tuesday December 27.

City of McAllen Tax Office

The City of McAllen tax office will be closed in observance of New Year's Day on Monday, January 2, 2012. Payments made at the tax office (at 311 N. 15th Street) on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 will be honored as a December payment.

You can also pay your taxes online on the City website: www.mcallen.net

Plans Unveiled for McAllen’s Downtown New Year’s Eve Bash

McAllen, TX—The City of McAllen will usher in 2012 with live music, a laser light show, confetti canons, and fireworks at its downtown New Year’s Eve bash, officials announced Wednesday.

McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez, who’s also chairman of the New Year’s Eve Bash Committee, said four live bands will perform outside the downtown parking garage, at 15th and Beaumont, from 7 pm to midnight. The performers include salsa/merengue group ACHE, country music artists Marshall Law, rock music favorites In and Out, and latin rock headliner Del Castillo.

The concert is free and a free park and ride shuttle service on Metro McAllen public transit buses will be provided to and from the McAllen Convention Center (Ware Road and Expressway 83) and the McAllen Civic Center (10th Street and Expressway 83) beginning at 6 pm December 31, 2011 to 4 am January 1, 2012.

Buses departing continuously from the McAllen Convention Center will drop off passengers on Business 83, between Broadway and 15th Street. Metro McAllen buses departing continuously from the McAllen Civic Center will drop off passengers on Bicentennial Boulevard, between Beaumont and Chicago. Passengers wanting to return to their vehicles can re-board the buses at their respective drop off locations. Routes and hours of operation of the park and ride services are being posted on city websites. Metro McAllen representatives can provide additional information about the New Year’s Eve free park and ride service at (956) 681-3510.

The New Year’s Eve Bash event zone is inside the boundaries of Business Highway 83 and Dallas Avenue and Bicentennial Boulevard and Broadway Avenue. Several parking and street closures are planned days and hours before the event. The City of McAllen will post a map of scheduled parking and street closures on its city websites. Vehicles illegally parked will be towed.

Concessions and novelty booths will be available on 16th Street, between Chicago Avenue and Austin Avenue. Vendor spaces may be reserved, while available, by calling Heart of the City at (956) 686-4357.

ExploreMcAllen.com is the official city website for the New Year’s Eve Bash. Continuous updates will be posted prior to event. The City of McAllen’s Public Information office also plans to provide live coverage of the New Year’s Eve bash on the City of McAllen’s Time Warner Cable digital channel (MCN) 17.12. The channel streams live on mcallen.net. Additional updates and photos will also be posted on the City of McAllen social media sites, Facebook/McAllenTX, Twitter/City of McAllen, Facebook/ExploreMcAllen and Twitter/ExploreMcAllen. Social media followers can use hash tag #RGVNYE.

Media representatives planning live coverage of the New Year’s Eve Bash will be directed to an assigned media parking area, on 15th Street, just north of Beaumont. Please submit requests for credentials before Thursday, December 29, 2011.

Keep Our Economy Growing

We have great news to report concerning our economy and our nation's unemployment rate. New statistics provided by the U.S. Labor Department shows that our unemployment rate dropped to 8.6%. Reports also show that 72,000 jobs were created in the months of September and October of 2011.

A few weeks ago the largest Job Fair ever held in the Rio Grande Valley attracted over 4,000 people who were either jobless or under employed. There were 100 employers with close to 3,000 jobs available. My staff and I worked along with Workforce Solutions Hidalgo and Workforce Solutions Cameron and others to help match prospective employees with employers. We have a very capable work force in the Rio Grande Valley and they are people who are willing to work hard. There are already many examples of how one effort to help people find jobs actually works. A call center reports they have hired 36 new employees through the Job Fair and many other companies are also reporting filling in their job openings with Job Fair participants.

Creating jobs and putting more people to work is one part of getting our economy on track. The other is to make certain that those workers are protected and that our economy doesn’t fall backward but that it keeps moving forward. That is why Congress must work together on the American Jobs Act.

The American Jobs Act is an important piece of legislation that can and will work to benefit our nation's economy and in turn will also benefit the pocket books of Americans. I am supporting essential legislation in order to keep our economy growing and to prevent more economic burdens on our working class and our seniors.

Congress must ensure passage of three pieces of essential legislation in the American Jobs Act prior to the end of the year:

Extension of Unemployment Insurance for those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
Extension of a sustainable growth rate (SGR) fix to ensure that millions of seniors do not lose access to their Medicare physicians.
Extension and expansion of the Payroll Tax holiday that would ensure that virtually every working American receives a tax cut.
The extension and expansion of the Payroll Tax cut will help our hard working middle-class Americans save money.

If the payroll tax cut is not extended, our individual taxes would increase. To see what this would mean to you, the Payroll Tax Cut Calculator, introduced by the White House can be found here.

There is no doubt that Congress must and should pass this important legislation for the year 2012. It is a major priority. I remain hopeful that we can take a bipartisan action to extend these important provisions and also keep the government functioning through 2012.

Democrats have already voiced their commitment to vote to keep our economy growing strong and at the same time, we will not vote for anything that will jeopardize the American worker. We owe that to the American people.

In this time, when Republicans and the T.E.A. Party want policies to prohibit taxing the richest Americans, we must not allow more of the burden to fall on the backs of our middle class and low-income families. It is time to be realistic and it is time to be dedicated to really helping our citizens, not just the richest. These urgent needs must be addressed in time to ensure that the needs of Americans are met. I plan to vote to support our economy and to support the American people.

###

Sincerely,

Ruben Hinojosa

Registration Underway for McAllen P.D.’s Christmas for Kids December 5-14

Registration is currently underway now through December 14 for the McAllen Police Department’s Christmas for Kids toy giveaway. The event, now in its 10th year, provides toys, candy and snacks for children 12 and under, on December 17, 2011, at McAllen Municipal Park, beginning at 9 am.

To register for the Christmas for Kids toy giveaway, parents must sign-up their children in person at the McAllen Police Department, at 1601 N. Bicentennial. Registration is from 12 pm to 6pm, Monday, December 5 to Friday, December 9 and again from Monday, December 12 to Wednesday, December 14, from 12pm to 6pm. Proof of the child’s age is required at the time of registration. Children must be present on the day of the giveaway to receive the gifts.

An estimated 50,000 children have benefited from the annual giveaway organized by McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez, McAllen police officers, volunteers and generous community sponsors such as Walgreens, Hygeia, Doctors Hospital at Renaissance and the Hermes Music Foundation.

Each year, the event kicks with a parade and is followed by live music at McAllen Municipal Park.

“The biggest reward in doing this is seeing the smiles on each child’s face as they come to get their toys, candy bags and snacks,” said McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez. “This is the 10th anniversary of Christmas for Kids and we are especially grateful to our community sponsors for making this event possible, year after year.”

For more information about registration for Christmas for Kids, call the McAllen Police Department’s Office of Community Affairs at (956) 681-2120.

Registration Schedule

Dates: December 5th-9th (Mon-Fri)

December 12-14th (Mon-Wed)

Time: 12:00 pm-6:00 pm

Registration Requirements

Children must be 12 years old and under

Provide proof of child's age

Child must be present to receive toy on date of event

GONZALES WILL NOT SEEK 5TH TERM IN TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Dear Friends,

 

Serving the constituents of District 41 for the past seven years has been a tremendous honor and privilege for me.  That is why it is with a heavy heart that I have decided not to seek re-election to the Texas House of Representatives at the end of this term.  This decision did not come easy, but I believe that it is the right one for me at this time in my life and one which will allow me to focus more attention on my law practice and personal life. 

 

It is no secret that this past session was especially difficult with the draconian budget cuts and the redistricting battle that has lingered on for months and has recently resulted in the redrawing of a map by three federal judges.  The Republican-drawn map passed by the Legislature had completely altered the boundaries of District 41 and had left the district with less than 2% of its original constituents.  My home and office were moved out of District 41 and into a neighboring district in which I began a campaign.  During session, I fought against the map and offered alternative amendments.  After session ended, I participated in the court case, giving a deposition on how the map had adversely impacted District 41 and had failed to create a new district in the Rio Grande Valley.  I also worked with the Department of Justice to challenge the map in the D.C. Court. While the battle in the Texas House was lost, the war was won with the Court.  The panel of federal judges - two Republicans and one Democrat - unanimously agreed that the South Texas map violated the Voting Rights Act.  They restored  District 41 to its original lines, moved my house back into my district and gave us an additional representative seat.  With that battle behind us, I felt I could retire knowing that the cities comprising District 41 had been put back together. 

 

During the past seven years, I have had the privilege of meeting and working with and for countless individuals and groups, both in my District and throughout the entire Rio Grande Valley.  My appointment to the Texas Lyceum allowed me to work with leaders from all over the state to study issues impacting Texans and gather ideas for legislation.  I was honored to be appointed to the Aspen Institute where I was able to share ideas with lawmakers from all over the United States on how we can better govern our nation.  I will always value the many friendships I made with members in those organizations as well as the close friendships I have shared with members in the Texas House and Senate.  I give a special thanks to my constituents who placed their faith in me and elected me four times in a district that was split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans.  I made a commitment when first elected in 2004 to work tirelessly to promote the best interests of the Rio Grande Valley and to do so with integrity and professionalism and I believe I have kept that commitment.  The legislation I passed was diverse, but was always done with a goal of improving life for border residents and I am confident that the work I have started will continue.  None of this work would have been possible without a great and loyal staff and to each of them I say thank you for standing by my side and working many late nights and weekends both in and out of session.  I also want to give a special thanks to my law partners who were patient and made it possible for me to dedicate years to public service.    

 

My work for District 41 and for the Rio Grande Valley is not over.  Aside from staying active in the community, in my last year of public service, I will be holding hearings as the Chairwoman of the Border & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee to study how we can improve security while maintaining economic development along our border.  Because we suffer the highest levels of uninsured in the State, the committee will also identify health disparities in counties along the Texas-Mexico border and consider strategies to expand preventive care.  My findings will be submitted in a report to the Legislature before session begins in 2013. 

 

The people of the Rio Grande Valley have been extremely kind to me and I leave this position with tremendous gratitude and faith that the next representative of District 41 will make this an even greater place to live. 

 

With gratitude,

 

Veronica Gonzales

District 41