Sepulveda: Harlingen supports RioPlex

MCALLEN, Texas – The CEO Group held a meeting with mayors and city managers at the McAllen Country Club on Dec. 3. 

The purpose of the meeting was to inform cities across the Rio Grande Valley about the importance of the RioPlex project. 

RioPlex is a branding exercise designed to help market South Texas and North Tamaulipas across the world. 

One of the city leaders at the meeting was Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda. In an interview after the meeting ended, Sepulveda expressed his support for the concept of RioPlex. 

“So, the goal here is for all of the communities throughout the region to be able to be represented in a new branding, if you will, as RioPlex. So, that way, if there are projects that are coming to our region, we have an opportunity to really sell ourselves with all of our assets and not just working in silos,” Sepulveda said.

Sepulveda first pledged her support for RioPlex when she hosted the CEO Group at a public meeting at Harlingen Conference Center in July of this year. Asked if she learned anything new at the meeting at the country club, Sepulveda said:

“Yes, there’s more of a strategic plan of how to implement Rio Plex. There are some things that are still getting worked out, but I think that it is advancing, and we are seeing that this is something that really can come to fruition.”

The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service also asked Sepulveda if her city had formulated its agenda for the upcoming legislative session. She responded:

“Absolutely, we have been working tirelessly on this next session, and so we have been working with our delegation. We’re working internally. We have a committee within the city, and we’re also working with stakeholders throughout the City of Harlingen to ensure that we’re ready to go,” Sepulveda said.

The mayor confirmed there will be a City of Harlingen Day at the state Capitol during the legislative session.

“We have lots of asks, and so we are excited about this next session,” Sepulveda said, confirming that water is the No. 1 agenda issue.

“Obviously, I think this is a an issue throughout the region, and so we want to ensure that we are still working hand in hand with the Texas Water Development Board in terms of issues that we are having with water and wastewater, but also the scarcity of water,” Sepulveda said.

“I think that is on the top of everyone’s mind within the region, and that is something that we are unified on, that we need to ensure… in order to grow we need to make sure that our resources are available to us.”

Here is a video recording of the interview:

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