Del Rio to Hire New City Planner, EDC Director, and Other Essential Staff in Preparation for Projected Population Growth and Emergency Infrastructure Projects

The near future will bring significant economic development and population growth to the City of Del Rio. In an exclusive interview with Connect Del Rio, Mayor Alvaro Arreola revealed predictions and hopes for the coming years. Arreola said “consistency in leadership” is crucial as the city moves forward and builds up their executive team. His mayoral mission is to “put everything into perspective and focus on the needs of the community, not the luxuries… what the citizens want for the city and quality of life.”

In preparation for projected population growth and emergency infrastructure projects, the City of Del Rio is staffing up. Under new city manager, Shawna Burkhart’s administration Arreola says, “things are changing, now people are empowered,” referring to the city staff and council. He said, “Burkhart stays on top of things” and he wants to continue the momentum. Del Rio is in the process of hiring a new City Planner, EDC Director, and other essential staff. Arreola said, “we cannot go without filling the openings for long, we need to fill up these boards and get the right qualified people in place.”

Job application reviews have begun. The next step is for city administration to seek recommendations from city council on which candidates to pursue. Application reviews with City Council began this past Tuesday 2/25/2025 at City Hall. Arreola shared that “the EDC Director has 12 applicants and is on this week’s agenda. The City Planner position has one applicant, actually now it’s two, but the City Planner is not on this week’s agenda.”

“Council, myself, and Administration review the ins and outs of each candidate,” said Arreola but the final decision will be made by Administration. “Council doesn’t have anything to do with that [hiring process]. They make recommendations, but [for Executive hires] the City Manager and Administration handle the whole interview process,” said Arreola.

When asked if the city would consider rehiring previous staff, Arreola responded, “I can’t speak for the past I can only speak for the future… if you are qualified and re-hirable, you are welcomed back to the city.” He went on to say, “it would be great to have someone that already knows Del Rio, already knows the plats.” Mayor Arreola affirmed that “one person cannot delay the projects, the whole team has to move and shake, administration needs to be poked to do what needs to be done.”

The current Assistant City Planner is covering for the City Planner in the interim. Arreola says, “she’s good, but she’s learning… she has one year experience. The last planner we had, they were fired, and the Assistant City Planner has been temporarily holding the position since then.” Arreola thinks that filling this position will help push projects forward, “so we can process everything a little faster… right now, we are using outside sources, she has to get help.”

These essential positions have been open for a while. “The City Planner job was posted 6 months ago, I think it’s still open, last week when I checked the website, it was still open,” said Arreola. When further investigated online, however, the City Planner job listing was no longer active on the City of Del Rio Jobs Posts List. Other significant listings were still live, including but not limited to: Finance Director, Chief Building Official, Operators for Wastewater, Streets & Drainage, Zoning & Planning.

“Planning & Zoning and the EDC Board are very important for growth of business, economic development, and exploring national branches to come to Del Rio,” said Arreola. He expressed a “focus on the future” and wants the city to complete its half-finished projects before moving onto new things. Arreola said, “we keep borrowing money and not finishing the projects that we borrowed for,” he wants to “first finish what we got.” Adding that his greatest reward as Mayor is “seeing the faces of the community when a project is finished.”

Arreola provided an extensive list of outside forces that will stimulate “the growth that Del Rio is going to have in the next 2.5 years.” Several large infrastructure projects will all come to fruition within that timeframe. Arreola confirmed the Amistad Dam restoration is expected to wrap in two years and that the Del Rio Airport is gaining traction. He said, “the Air Force is injecting $45 Million into the base, the Gas Pipeline is coming down soon, the Hospital is expanding, as well as the School District.”

He then referenced the continued economic development of our sister city Ciudad Acuna that drives business across the border, potential improvements to the 1st International Bridge that will increase capacity, and other various housing and hoteling developments that are currently under construction. Once funding is secured, the water and wastewater treatment are expected to finish upgrades in 24 months, completed just in time to support the city’s foreseen growth.

Arreola says, “oftentimes you see Del Rio’s growth compared to Eagle Pass.” Sales tax studies show that more money is being spent in Del Rio than Eagle Pass, despite what public opinion might otherwise suggest. Arreola said, “Eagle Pass is expanding all over the place, but if you look business to business, our community is still doing a little better than they are, if you look at sales tax collections, the City of Del Rio is collecting more sales taxes. “If you want to come put a $1 to work in Del Rio, come, we don’t want to turn anyone away,” said Arreola.