McAllen City Commission candidates showcase platforms at forum

McALLEN — A forum was held Thursday at Rio Bank where candidates vying for seats on the city commission were allowed a platform to discuss a variety of prominent topics in front of a small pool of voters.

The McAllen Citizens League hosted this event with the goal of educating voters before they step up to the polls.

In the 2025 election, McAllen City Commissioner District 1 Tony Aguirre is vying to keep his seat, challenged by Tim Wilkins. In the District 3 race, current seat holder Omar Quintanilla is facing off against Rolando “Rolly” Rios.

Among the voters and candidates, members of the league’s board of directors were in attendance, as well as former McAllen Mayor Jim Darling and City Commissioner Victor “Sebby” Haddad.

THE MODERATOR

Judge Ernest Aliseda introduced Dan K. Worthington, an attorney, as the forum’s moderator. Worthington has practiced law in McAllen since 1992, according to Aliseda. He is also a former president of the McAllen South Rotary and actively participates with the American Legion after serving as a captain in the U.S. Army prior to attending law school at the University of Houston.

Worthington emphasized the impact city commissioners’ decisions make on the daily lives of residents.

THE CANDIDATES

Aguirre worked for the McAllen PUB for 27 years before he was elected to the commission in 2021. He has served on numerous community boards. His priorities include ensuring public safety, sparking economic growth, protecting parks and healthcare access, and supporting the arts.

Wilkins is a longtime resident of McAllen, and also attended the school district growing up. Today, his children are students at the McAllen Independent School District. Wilkins manages a $2 million real estate business.

He ran in the 2021 election race as well. He’s running again this year, aiming to bring “practical experience” to the commission, with a focus on smarter growth and better traffic flow. He said he values transparency and accountability.

Incumbent in the District 3 race, Quintanilla was voted onto the commission in May 2017. He has volunteered on numerous civic boards. He is the senior vice president of Frost Bank and the president of Amigos Del Valle. He said he prioritizes drainage, safety and small business growth.

His challenger, Rios, is a real estate agent and McAllen native. He has 33 years of experience in education, including 30 at La Joya ISD. He has completed leadership training at the University of Virginia. Currently, his focus is on student success, good budgeting and community engagement.

THE RULES

Each candidate was allowed a minute-and-a-half opening to introduce themselves and their platform. From there, they were presented questions to answer with their individual perspective.

OPENINGS

In Aguirre’s opening, he emphasized the importance of courage and commitment when serving on the city commission. He spoke about the need to research and discuss every issue faced by the commission thoroughly to properly envision a solution and execute it as well.

His challenger, Wilkins, shared his belief that for any organization to function properly, they must be in a constant state of positive pressure to grow, adapt and stay sharp. He shared his affinity for bold and constructive conversations and relentless determination.

Quintanilla shared that his focus for the last 25 years has been serving McAllen and how his multitude of civic service experiences taught him much about the city and its many departments. He spoke about his past achievements, including working with residents to improve quality of life and enhancing drainage, parks, and mobility, and says that he feels he can “do more.” He also added that all of these achievements were accomplished by the commission while simultaneously reducing property taxes.

Rios used his time to illustrate how his experience in education taught him many skills he plans to utilize as a commissioner, including managing big budgets, teams and departments, productive collaboration, and active listening with the goal of overcoming challenges. He shared his desire to partner with community leaders, business owners, and the school district to bring change to McAllen.

PRIORITIES

The first question Worthington presented to the candidates regarded their priorities for the city.

Aguirre shared that he prioritizes the school district, as well as continued growth for commercial, medical and industrial industries to drive up revenue in the city.

Wilkins spoke about deficient areas he’s witnessed across the city that he believes should have already been corrected, including declining facilities. He pitched the idea of rebuilding McAllen High School through a public partnership.

Quintanilla reiterated the importance of improving drainage, taking into consideration pockets of concern he feels needs to be addressed. He added that he believes more can be done to improve and add amenities like athletic fields and parks. The last priority he shared was partnering with Palm Valley Animal Society and to better address stray populations.

Rios said the public education system needs to be saved, with an emphasis on special needs and gifted students. He also said that he believes in constructing additional infrastructure to attract more businesses to the area to retain residents.

GROWTH

Worthington asked the candidates how they see the city managing growth in the future.

Aguirre said that there is a strong desire throughout the Rio Grande Valley and Texas to move to McAllen. He spoke about the need to grow industrially, residentially and commercially. He said that McAllen should be proud of all it has accomplished, but should continue to plan for sustainment through planning and hard work to maintain livable conditions.

Wilkins compared McAllen to the center of a doughnut, with all the other surrounding areas developing while it remains stagnant. He said that he believes the city needs to have conversations with the citizens to hear their wishes, and added that bigger isn’t always better. He stressed the importance of having sufficient emergency response capability to accommodate potential growth.

Quintanilla said that overall city growth is being seen on both the north and south side. He highlighted recent retail developments throughout the city, and advocated for further growth to increase the property tax base and attract more people to the area.

Rios said that growth “always starts with a vision and planning.” He emphasized taking into consideration the older communities when discussing growth and discussed distributing budget funds in a way that incentives small businesses.

At the end of the forum, each candidate thanked the Citizens League for organizing the event, as well as the voters for attending. The forum in its entirety is available on the league’s Facebook.

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