Leno Hernandez Jr. sworn in to Del Rio City Council District 2 seat

District 2 now has a council member who spent 28 years inside City Hall, a shift that could shape Del Rio’s next decisions on budgeting, staffing and neighborhood services. Leno Hernandez Jr. took the oath Tuesday during a special Del Rio City Council meeting, formally moving from city employee to elected policymaker after defeating David Scarbo in the May 2 general election.

Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. administered the oath as Hernandez’s wife, Sobie, held the Bible. Mary Sue and Lino Hernandez, along with other family members, watched as Mayor Al Arreola later presented Hernandez with a certificate recognizing that he had been duly elected to the council. After the photographs and congratulations, Hernandez took his seat on the dais between Councilman Randy Quinones and Councilwoman Elsa Reyes.

Hernandez’s path to the council took longer than the rest of the post-election transition because he had to give two weeks’ notice before retiring in good standing from the City of Del Rio. Interim City Manager Manuel Chavez said that city policy required the notice period, which is why Hernandez did not join the two other new council members immediately after the election. The council had said he would take office May 26.

Official results showed Hernandez with 832 votes to Scarbo’s 416. The Val Verde County canvass on May 12 formally declared Hernandez the winner, closing the District 2 race after Jim DeReus, who had held the seat since being elected in 2018, reached the end of his term and remained in office until the handoff.

Hernandez’s move completes another piece of Del Rio’s post-election turnover. The May 2 election also put LeRoy Briones in At-Large Place C and Elsa Reyes in District 1, while the mayor’s race sent Efrain V. Valdez and Al Arreola to a June 13 runoff. With Hernandez now seated, the city’s current council lineup includes Arreola, Carmen Gutierrez, J.P. Sanchez, Briones, Reyes, Randy Quinones and Hernandez, giving District 2 a representative who knows the machinery of city government from the inside as Del Rio’s next round of decisions begins.