Long Island Village in Port Is
By JACQI LEYVA-HILL
Special to the PRESS
Questions concerning voting eligibility, infrastructure costs and representation have emerged ahead of the Nov. 3 Laguna Madre Water District (LMWD) Board of Directors election, following differing statements from two candidates seeking Place 5.
Incumbent Dr. Adam LaLonde faces challengers Dr. Glenn Young, general manager of Long Island Village (LIV), and Faridy Gonzalez.
According to the Oct. 23 South Padre Island Golf Club (SPIGC) homeowners association meeting transcript, LaLonde, who serves as HOA president, discussed individual residential water connections at Long Island Village.
“My understanding is that each of those homes has a vote,” LaLonde stated, referring to water district elections. He estimated the project at approximately $10 million and indicated he would seek clarification if his understanding was incorrect.
Because LaLonde already serves on the Water District board, his statement raises questions about the distinction between utility connections and voter eligibility. The remarks leave unclear what district records, if any, supported his understanding or whether he subsequently verified the information.
In subsequent email correspondence, Young disputed the connection between individual meters and voting rights.
“Having a water meter does not equal having a vote,” Young wrote.
According to Young, the approximately $23 million project is replacing privately maintained water and sewer infrastructure while transitioning residences from shared master meters to individual connections.
District records document a $20.8 million bond authorization for the Long Island Village Defined Area in 2022. The difference between Young’s $23 million figure and the bond authorization remains unreconciled and may reflect costs beyond the bond principal. LaLonde’s $10 million estimate also remains unverified against the overall project scope.
Voting eligibility depends on residency and voter qualifications, not individual water connections.
Residents within Port Isabel city limits may vote in municipal elections if qualified and registered. Long Island Village residents living outside city limits cannot vote in Port Isabel municipal elections solely because their property lies within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ).
For LMWD elections, qualified voters must be registered and reside within the territory covered by the Nov. 3 election. Individual water meters neither create nor eliminate voting rights.
The district’s election order, legal boundaries and voter-eligibility documentation are necessary to determine which LIV residents qualify to vote Nov. 3.
The discussion follows Port Isabel’s Sept. 9–10 industrial-district designation of portions of Long Island.
City Manager Jared Hockema described the designation as tourism-related, maintaining that existing land uses would remain unchanged.
Texas Local Government Code Sections 42.101 and 42.151 exclude designated industrial districts from statutory petition and election procedures otherwise available for seeking release from an ETJ. The designation did not itself remove existing voting rights.
Julie Minds, a local homeowner and public-records requester, attended the September meeting and pursued public records concerning tourism advertising expenditures. She also attended the October SPIGC HOA meeting and provided a transcript documenting LaLonde’s remarks.
The unresolved questions concerning voter eligibility and project costs remain relevant to the upcoming Water District election.