Betty Flores
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Garcia Flores, better known as Betty Flores (born December 28, 1944), is a business
woman who was the first female mayor
of Laredo
, Texas
. She served a brief unexpired mayoral term followed by two four-year terms from 1998-2006. She is best known as the driving force behind the building of the Laredo Entertainment Center, renamed Laredo Energy Arena, the home of the Laredo Bucks
hockey
team. Though she is a Democrat
, she displayed a picture of herself with U.S. President George W. Bush
, who visited Laredo two weeks before Flores left office. She was succeeded by Raul G. Salinas
, another Democrat who was elected on June 17, 2006. All Texas mayors and city council members are elected on nonpartisan
ballots though most have party preferences or have declared party allegiance by voting in a primary or a runoff election.
board of trustees and a philanthropist
who gave generously to the institution. Eloy Garcia gave Betty her first dollar when she was a little girl and her first campaign check when she decided to run for mayor. Garcia barely lived long enough to see his daughter elected.
Betty Garcia married Antonio "Toño" Flores in 1962. They have two children, Cristina and Tony. In 2001, Cristina and her former husband, Juan Guevara, gave the Floreses their first grandchild, Antonio Guevara.
Flores did not graduate from high school
but obtained a G.E.D.. She worked for the Laredo National Bank
(since Compass Bank). She started as a secretary and moved up eventually to become the first woman senior vice president. She was affiliated with the bank for twenty-eight years. "I've worked with men all my life. I was always the only woman in the room. I never focused on that when I was campaigning," she said in a farewell interview with Julie Daffern of her hometown newspaper
, the Laredo Morning Times
.
in Washington, D.C.
Flores won the special election runoff in the winter of 1998. Then she ran for a full term in May 1998. She defeated an outgoing councilman, Alfonso I. "Poncho" Casso. In 2002, she was easily reelected to a second full term when she defeated a former city councilman, Felipe Cardenas, who had been recalled from office several years earlier.
Flores was term-limited by the Laredo city charter, which was drafted during the administration of one of her predecessors, Aldo Tatangelo
. She was succeeded by Raul Salinas, but she and six of the sitting eight council members endorsed Salinas' opponent, outgoing city council member John Clifford Galo (born 1958).
As mayor, Flores gained national recognition of her city. She was the chairman of the "Cities and Border Task Force" of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. She once ran for the presidency of the conference but was defeated by another woman.
She was also in office when unemployment in the border city began to drop significantly after years of double-digit jobless figures. Laredo gained a reputation as a mecca for entrepreneurs and small businesses and grew rapidly in population. "Laredo is now a city that has had the resilency to work with new investment and to understand new growth," Flores said.
Loop, "the house that Laredo built." Ray Keck, president of Texas A&M International University
in Laredo, said that the LEC clearly tops the list of Flores' accomplishments because she was "the driving force behind that." Keck also noted that Flores worked to keep the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra together. Then City Manager Lazaro "Larry" Dovalina (born 1947) said that when the LEC opened, "people looked at Laredo in a different light."
Flores recalled how the Bucks came to Laredo to take advantage of the new ice center. "I got that now infamous phone call from Glenn Hart and met Julian "Kiki" DeAyala
. It took me just a little bit longer to realize how great this LEC would be for Laredo. These two men and their partners will forever hold a special place in my heart." She also lauded the achievements of the Bucks' coach Terry Ruskowski
, who in 2007 was given a "lifetime" contract but resigned in 2011 after several disappointing seasons.
, then of the Cable News Network, that virtually all of several dozen Laredoans, who have gone missing in populous and violent-prone Nuevo Laredo
, across the river in Mexico
, were linked in some way with the illegal drug
traffic. Her accusation outraged the families of those who have missing loved ones. The missing Americans were highlighted in several 2006 episodes of Fox's America's Most Wanted, hosted by John Walsh
, to highlight the problems of the Americans missing in Mexico. Flores, meanwhile, has defended her allegation of drug connections because she claims to have seen the proof in the victims' records. Nevertheless, Flores said she understood that the families are grieving and need assistance.
Flores also angered some taxpayers who believed that municipal taxes increased too sharply during her administration. Many questioned the city having paid for liquor and "entertainment" for certain high-level municipal employees who took city business trips to Washington, D.C. Others have questioned the high salaries of certain appointed city officials. Flores herself received a salary of only $18,000 annually, as the mayoralty is parttime. The salary doubled when Salinas became mayor, but the position is still parttime.
Flores argues that the United States Border Patrol
should not be required to pick up illegal aliens for deportation unless those individuals are carrying guns, drugs or involved in any known crime. "I think they should just give them a bottle of water and send them on their way," she said. "Let's face it, they are coming here to work and take jobs that no one else wants anyway." Still others objected when Flores, despite her emphasis on border security, said that the Minutemen
volunteers, which seek to prevent illegal crossings by referring aliens to the Border Patrol, were "not welcome" in Laredo. Salinas also criticized the Minutemen.
Though she was prominently featured, usually in a positive light, in the Laredo Morning Times, she once disputed two articles in the paper and withheld two city advertisements to make her point to newspaper executives. The LMT still named her "Laredoan of the Year".
Nevertheless, Flores' accomplishments, say her admirers, speak for themselves. She has also won many awards, including "Texas Woman of the Century" from the Woman's Chamber of Commerce
of Texas. Because of her emphasis on economic development, Highbeam.com dubbed her the "Margaret Thatcher
of Laredo," a reference to the former British prime minister who attempted during the 1980s to turn around her country's sagging economy.
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
woman who was the first female mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Laredo
Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. She served a brief unexpired mayoral term followed by two four-year terms from 1998-2006. She is best known as the driving force behind the building of the Laredo Entertainment Center, renamed Laredo Energy Arena, the home of the Laredo Bucks
Laredo Bucks
The Laredo Bucks are an ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League. They play in Laredo, Texas, USA at the Laredo Energy Arena.-History:Arena Ventures, made up of six businessmen, teamed up with the City of Laredo to build a state-of-the-art facility for the Laredo area and South Texas...
hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
team. Though she is a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, she displayed a picture of herself with U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, who visited Laredo two weeks before Flores left office. She was succeeded by Raul G. Salinas
Raul G. Salinas
Raúl González Salinas is a private security consultant, a businessman, and a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who was first elected mayor of Laredo, Texas, on June 17, 2006...
, another Democrat who was elected on June 17, 2006. All Texas mayors and city council members are elected on nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
ballots though most have party preferences or have declared party allegiance by voting in a primary or a runoff election.
Early years
Mrs. Flores was born in Laredo to Eloy Garcia, Sr. (1923–1998), and the former Bonnie Lopez. She grew up in the shaded "Heights" neighborhood of south Laredo. One of her neighbors was Mayor J.C. "Pepe" Martin, Jr. (1913–1998), who served from 1954–1978, whom she says taught her loyalty from a young age. Her businessman father was a member of the Laredo Community CollegeLaredo Community College
The Laredo Community College, or LCC, was established as Laredo Junior College on September 28, 1947, by the Laredo Independent School District in Laredo, the seat of Webb County in south Texas...
board of trustees and a philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
who gave generously to the institution. Eloy Garcia gave Betty her first dollar when she was a little girl and her first campaign check when she decided to run for mayor. Garcia barely lived long enough to see his daughter elected.
Betty Garcia married Antonio "Toño" Flores in 1962. They have two children, Cristina and Tony. In 2001, Cristina and her former husband, Juan Guevara, gave the Floreses their first grandchild, Antonio Guevara.
Flores did not graduate from high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
but obtained a G.E.D.. She worked for the Laredo National Bank
Laredo National Bank
The Laredo National Bank was a Texas bank founded in 1892 headquartered in Laredo, Texas which was bought by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria. LNB had been a component in the development of business and industry along the United States-Mexico border and South Texas...
(since Compass Bank). She started as a secretary and moved up eventually to become the first woman senior vice president. She was affiliated with the bank for twenty-eight years. "I've worked with men all my life. I was always the only woman in the room. I never focused on that when I was campaigning," she said in a farewell interview with Julie Daffern of her hometown newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, the Laredo Morning Times
Laredo Morning Times
The Laredo Morning Times is a daily newspaper publication based in Laredo, Texas, USA. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation.The Laredo Morning Times was founded on June 14, 1881 as "the Laredo Weekly," a four-page newspaper published by James Saunders Penn. Two years later, the paper became a...
.
Running for mayor
Flores announced that she would run for mayor in the fall of 1997, after the incumbent, Saul N. Ramirez, Jr., resigned to become assistant to then Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew CuomoAndrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo is the 56th and current Governor of New York, having assumed office on January 1, 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 64th New York State Attorney General, and was the 11th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Flores won the special election runoff in the winter of 1998. Then she ran for a full term in May 1998. She defeated an outgoing councilman, Alfonso I. "Poncho" Casso. In 2002, she was easily reelected to a second full term when she defeated a former city councilman, Felipe Cardenas, who had been recalled from office several years earlier.
Flores was term-limited by the Laredo city charter, which was drafted during the administration of one of her predecessors, Aldo Tatangelo
Aldo Tatangelo
Aldo J. Tatangelo, Sr. , was the reform mayor of Laredo, Texas, who served from 1978 to 1990. Tatangelo is often credited with having obtained the paving of the "streets of Laredo"...
. She was succeeded by Raul Salinas, but she and six of the sitting eight council members endorsed Salinas' opponent, outgoing city council member John Clifford Galo (born 1958).
As mayor, Flores gained national recognition of her city. She was the chairman of the "Cities and Border Task Force" of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. She once ran for the presidency of the conference but was defeated by another woman.
She was also in office when unemployment in the border city began to drop significantly after years of double-digit jobless figures. Laredo gained a reputation as a mecca for entrepreneurs and small businesses and grew rapidly in population. "Laredo is now a city that has had the resilency to work with new investment and to understand new growth," Flores said.
Laredo Energy Arena
Flores affectionately calls the LEA, located off the Bob BullockBob Bullock
Robert Douglas Bullock, known as Bob Bullock , was a Democratic politician from Texas, whose career spanned four decades. His service culminated in his term as Lieutenant Governor of Texas from January 15, 1991–January 19, 1999 during the terms of Governors Ann Richards and George W...
Loop, "the house that Laredo built." Ray Keck, president of Texas A&M International University
Texas A&M International University
Texas A&M International University, often referred to as TAMIU, is a public, co-educational, state-supported university located in Laredo, Texas...
in Laredo, said that the LEC clearly tops the list of Flores' accomplishments because she was "the driving force behind that." Keck also noted that Flores worked to keep the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra together. Then City Manager Lazaro "Larry" Dovalina (born 1947) said that when the LEC opened, "people looked at Laredo in a different light."
Flores recalled how the Bucks came to Laredo to take advantage of the new ice center. "I got that now infamous phone call from Glenn Hart and met Julian "Kiki" DeAyala
Kiki DeAyala
Julian Lewis DeAyala is a former American football linebacker in the United States Football League and the National Football League. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the 1983 NFL Draft, but first played for the USFL's Houston Gamblers. He played college football for...
. It took me just a little bit longer to realize how great this LEC would be for Laredo. These two men and their partners will forever hold a special place in my heart." She also lauded the achievements of the Bucks' coach Terry Ruskowski
Terry Ruskowski
Terry W. "Rosco" Ruskowski is a former National Hockey League centre, who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Minnesota North Stars....
, who in 2007 was given a "lifetime" contract but resigned in 2011 after several disappointing seasons.
Flores' legacy
As she left the office of mayor, Flores said, "I gave some of my best years to this city. It's been a wonderful, wonderful ride. The only thing you can't take away is my love of Laredo." In addition to the entertainment complex and the improved border economy, Flores outlined a dozen accomplishments from her tenure:- Initiated major airport improvements, mostly from $68 million in grants from the Federal Aviation AdministrationFederal Aviation AdministrationThe Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
- Inaugurated a new Laredo police headquarters, opened 16 police substations, and a new municipal court building adjacent to the police
- Started the secondary water source project, improved the water infrastructure, and began the city's water conservation endeavor
- Initiated the airport "noise abatement program"
- Reopened the downtown Hamilton Hotel as an affordable housing complex for the low-income elderly
- Worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin greenbeltGreen beltA green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
restoration and preservation - Filed the application process for a fifth international bridge atop the Rio Grande
- Started the International Fire and Law Enforcement Training Center
- Broke ground for El Portal, a downtown revitalization project
- Increased the number of parks and recreation facility, including bike trails, soccer fields, basketball courts, skateboard courts, and a year-round swimming pool
- Fought to remove truck inspections away from the international bridges to relieve traffic congestion
- Established a smoke-free Laredo, with all restaurants to enforce non-smoking policies.
Discontent with Flores' last two years as mayor
Despite these accomplishments, Flores left office in a downturn of her personal popularity. In 2005, she told Lou DobbsLou Dobbs
Louis Carl "Lou" Dobbs is an American journalist, radio host, television host on the Fox Business Network, and author. He anchored CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight until November 2009 when he announced on the air that he would leave the 24-hour cable news television network.He was born in Texas and lived...
, then of the Cable News Network, that virtually all of several dozen Laredoans, who have gone missing in populous and violent-prone Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo is a city located in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Río Grande, across from the United States city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo...
, across the river in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, were linked in some way with the illegal drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
traffic. Her accusation outraged the families of those who have missing loved ones. The missing Americans were highlighted in several 2006 episodes of Fox's America's Most Wanted, hosted by John Walsh
John Walsh
John Edward Walsh is an American television personality, criminal investigator, human and victim rights advocate and formerly the host, as well as creator, of America's Most Wanted...
, to highlight the problems of the Americans missing in Mexico. Flores, meanwhile, has defended her allegation of drug connections because she claims to have seen the proof in the victims' records. Nevertheless, Flores said she understood that the families are grieving and need assistance.
Flores also angered some taxpayers who believed that municipal taxes increased too sharply during her administration. Many questioned the city having paid for liquor and "entertainment" for certain high-level municipal employees who took city business trips to Washington, D.C. Others have questioned the high salaries of certain appointed city officials. Flores herself received a salary of only $18,000 annually, as the mayoralty is parttime. The salary doubled when Salinas became mayor, but the position is still parttime.
Flores argues that the United States Border Patrol
United States Border Patrol
The United States Border Patrol is a federal law enforcement agency within U.S. Customs and Border Protection , a component of the Department of Homeland Security . It is an agency in the Department of Homeland Security that enforces laws and regulations for the admission of foreign-born persons to...
should not be required to pick up illegal aliens for deportation unless those individuals are carrying guns, drugs or involved in any known crime. "I think they should just give them a bottle of water and send them on their way," she said. "Let's face it, they are coming here to work and take jobs that no one else wants anyway." Still others objected when Flores, despite her emphasis on border security, said that the Minutemen
Minutemen
Minutemen were members of teams of select men from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to war threats, hence the name.The minutemen were among the first...
volunteers, which seek to prevent illegal crossings by referring aliens to the Border Patrol, were "not welcome" in Laredo. Salinas also criticized the Minutemen.
Though she was prominently featured, usually in a positive light, in the Laredo Morning Times, she once disputed two articles in the paper and withheld two city advertisements to make her point to newspaper executives. The LMT still named her "Laredoan of the Year".
Nevertheless, Flores' accomplishments, say her admirers, speak for themselves. She has also won many awards, including "Texas Woman of the Century" from the Woman's Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
of Texas. Because of her emphasis on economic development, Highbeam.com dubbed her the "Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
of Laredo," a reference to the former British prime minister who attempted during the 1980s to turn around her country's sagging economy.