EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Village of Vinton, with a population of 2,865, has a choice in this election between three mayoral candidates who each have lived in Vinton for several decades.
Rachel Quintana is the current mayor, Juvencia Rios Ontiveros is a former mayor, and Samuel Monrreal is also a former mayor.
They have something else in common. They all agree that infrastructure is the greatest challenge in their small community. They want new roads, extended water lines, and sewage lines. They want grants to cover the costs of these. What they don’t agree on is more complicated.
Quintana says, “We’ve been working on the budget very hard, there’s no extra spending, no travel, you know, just as little as possible, only what’s really necessary at this time.”
Rios Ontiveros disagrees, “A lot of our money coming in is going to salaries for the office staff.”
Monrreal adds that “The challenge is that everybody’s treated fair and equal, especially the people that are low income.”
There is talk of nepotism, sort of.
“I don’t want to say nepotism. I know that the mayor has a brother and a brother-in-law that’s in there. That’s something that has bothered me,” Monrreal said.
Rios Ontiveros says, “I mean to start getting that cut-off, and let’s have the government with the people because it’s for the people.”
Quintana says, “To me, it’s not a competition to me. I think we all bring good things to the table. I know that we have all been in Vinton for a very long time. So, I imagine they would want the best for Vinton.”
Another concern is how much free time each candidate has to accomplish the mayor’s work. Quintana has a full-time job, Monrreal has a part-time job, and Rios Ontiveros is retired.
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