Arreola seeks second term, touts stability, public safety, infrastructure progress

Del Rio Mayor Alvaro “Al” Arreola is asking voters to keep him in office by judging the last four years on a simple set of local tests: safer streets, sturdier utilities, steadier finances and whether trust in City Hall has improved.

Arreola is on the ballot for the May 2 general election, and the race has drawn six candidates for mayor, including former city council member and former Val Verde County Judge Efrain V. Valdez, current council member Jim DeReus, retired U.S. Customs agent Arturo Rodriguez, parks superintendent Lazaro “Laz” Castro Jr. and Ryan Horning, who lists law enforcement as his occupation. The filing period for city offices ran from Jan. 14 to Feb. 13 under Ordinance 2025-108, which the Del Rio City Council adopted Dec. 16, 2025.

The incumbent’s pitch rests on a long local résumé. The City of Del Rio says Arreola was born in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, moved to the United States in 1967 with his mother and graduated from Del Rio High School in 1977. He then went to work at the local Zales Jewelry Store, where he spent 46 years and rose from sales associate to store manager. Arreola has used that career path to frame himself as a steady hand rather than a short-term political figure.

His public service record reaches across several of the institutions that shape daily life in Val Verde County. The city says Arreola served on the San Felipe Del Rio C.I.S.D. Board of Trustees from 1997 to 2003, on the Del Rio City Council from 2010 to 2014, on the Del Rio Economic Development Corporation from 2018 to 2021 and on the Val Verde Regional Medical Center Board from 2018 to 2022. He currently serves on the Middle Rio Grande Workforce Finance Committee.

In the profile, Arreola said Del Rio needed stability, stronger leadership and attention to basics when he took office. He said his administration has worked to restore trust, strengthen public safety and invest in infrastructure and community spaces. He also said police and fire funding would remain a priority if he wins another term.

The bigger question for voters is whether those promises show up where people can see them: on neighborhood streets, in the city’s growth, in the water and sewer system, and in the monthly bills that arrive at home. Arreola’s campaign says upgrades are needed to avoid costly federal fines and protect public health, while keeping the burden on ratepayers manageable. He is also pointing to commercial growth as a way to add jobs and broaden the tax base in a border city still shaped by the immigration crisis that defined much of the last four years.