Mesquite Makes History Electing First Hispanic Mayor – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

The growing suburb of Mesquite, east of Dallas, made history on Election Night.

The voters elected the parish’s first Hispanic mayor.

Daniel Aleman defeated Ron Ward with 59% of the vote. Ward would also have made history as the city’s first black mayor.

The city is preparing to usher in a new era on November 15th.

“I’m actually the first Latino mayor of our city of Mesquite,” said Aleman. “Third generation Mexican-Americans. My grandparents came from Zacatecas, Mexico. “

The longtime pastor and current councilor will soon lead the city, where, although more than 60% of the school district’s students are Hispanic, the Latino representative office has long lagged behind.

“I’m all about relationship building and that’s what I want to do. I want to do it across the board. I want to do it with our businesses, our government, our schools, our neighborhoods. I want to learn more about our Hispanic culture with our city government, ”he said. “For anyone who speaks Spanish, you know that ‘Pastor’ means shepherd, ‘Aleman’ means German, all together that means ‘German Shepherd’. But I tell people not to bite. “

However, Aleman promises to be aggressive in economic development in order to increase the city’s tax revenue.

He wants to further expand the business parks near the city’s metro airport.

The city currently has 12 housing projects that will bring 10,000 homes to the area in the coming years.

“We have 635, Highway 80, Interstate 20, Interstate 30, which is great for our metroplex, so we’re open for business,” he said. “We want people to look at our city and bring their business to our city.”

There was a focus on public safety on the Aleman platform. The mayoral candidate received support from the police and fire brigade. He supports the recruitment of more police officers and the establishment of a new fire station in the south-east of the city.

“I want to continue to aggressively recruit, train, take officers on the streets and make sure we keep up with our growing population. We are now a city of 150,000 people, ”he said.

Depending on an upcoming runoff election, Mesquite City Council could be represented entirely by white leaders.

The city’s 27th mayor is hoping for more minorities.

“We keep saying: Hey, join in, come and be part of one of the boards, one of the commissions,” Aleman said.

The husband, father, and grandfather promise to become a mayor strong in their faith and ready to serve all.

“I have a catchphrase that I’ve used quite a lot, that we’re better together for a better mesquite,” Aleman said.

He says he will keep his full-time pastor and points out that the mayor makes $ 100 a month. City council members receive $ 50 per month.

The elected mayor will be sworn in on November 15th in the town hall.

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