DeReus cites military leadership, efficiency, budget fixes in Del Rio mayor bid

James DeReus is asking Del Rio voters to believe the habits of a military career can steady a city government facing a projected $6.65 million budget shortfall. In his April 16 candidate profile, the mayor pro tem and District 2 councilman cast himself as a manager who has spent a lifetime making hard calls, building teams and working through disagreements.

DeReus said his approach traces back more than 35 years, to the start of basic training at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he said the mission is to develop leaders of character. He retired from active duty in 2014 at the rank of lieutenant colonel after more than 20 years in uniform, and his city biography says he later returned to Del Rio in 2010 after assignments elsewhere in the United States. He now instructs in the T-6 simulator.

His pitch to voters is built around three priorities: working with the city council and city manager to make city government more effective and efficient, making the difficult decisions needed to move the budget onto a sustainable path and creating a climate that welcomes new businesses and economic development. The message is less about symbolism than operations, with DeReus presenting the mayor’s office as a place for execution, discipline and long-term stability.

That emphasis lands in a city still wrestling with hard numbers. The City of Del Rio adopted its FY 2025-2026 budget on Sept. 29, 2025, after a summer in which City Manager Shawna Burkhart warned the council that the city was about $6.65 million short. The presentation included a proposed reduction in force of 24 full-time employees and four part-time employees, underscoring the scale of the fiscal strain DeReus is promising to address.

The race itself is crowded. The city says the May 2 municipal election was called by Ordinance 2025-108 on Dec. 16, 2025, and filing ran from Jan. 14 to Feb. 13. DeReus is running against incumbent Mayor Alvaro Arreola, Lazaro Castro, Ryan Horning and Efrain V. Valdez.

His case also leans on Del Rio’s military identity. Laughlin Air Force Base, established in 1941 near the city and home to the 47th Flying Training Wing, contributed an estimated $1.731 billion to the Texas economy in 2023 and supported 7,533 direct and indirect jobs, according to the Texas Comptroller. In a city of 34,673 people, per the 2020 Census, the next mayor will need more than chain-of-command instincts. Del Rio’s budget crunch, economic base and city hall politics will demand coalition-building as much as command.