By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com
Recently elected San Benito Mayor Pedro “Pete” A. Galvan served as the special guest speaker at a meeting of the San Benito chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) on Saturday evening.
Galvan, who was elected mayor in May, provided those in attendance with an overview of his life, vision for the city, and goals as the city’s elected leader.
“I’m the youngest mayor for the City of San Benito and, at this time, probably the youngest mayor in the county,” Galvan, who’s a pharmacist by trade, explained to the attendees.
Born, raised, and educated in San Benito, Galvan went on to attend the University of Texas – Austin, where he was ultimately accepted into pharmacy school and graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree.
However, it was not all smooth sailing. Life began tragically for Galvan, who lost his mother during childbirth, leaving his father to raise the family, which included his twin brother.
Galvan, who’s now married with children of his own, was overcome with emotion as he discussed how his father has beaten cancer twice, adding that doctors dubbed his father Superman for beating the odds and bouncing back strong.
“Most people my age are trying to feed their families and working two jobs, but I haven’t grown up with a silver spoon in my mouth, as most people would think,” the mayor remarked.
Galvan, who was a city commissioner before running for mayor, expressed enthusiasm upon learning that the application window for city manager applicants closed at the end of the day Friday.
He noted that nearly 20 candidates, including one woman, applied for the position vacated by Fred Sandoval shortly after the May election. He also marveled at how several candidates expressed interest in San Benito, the county’s third-largest community, behind Brownsville and Harlingen.
Galvan expressed interest in making at least part of the selection process open to the public, either by livestreaming the interviews or by opening the interviews to the public.
He also said he’d prefer the roles of city manager and the city’s economic development corporation director to be separate positions held by two individuals. Sandoval held both titles.
Addressing concerns over the controversial cost of last year’s events, highlighted by the Summer Concert Series, a detailed forensic audit of the entity may not be feasible due to cost; however, the entity undergoes a yearly audit.
Galvan concluded by saying that among his goals as mayor are to continue growing the city’s commercial and private sectors and to improve infrastructure and city departments.