Retired Del Rio firefighter Vargas seeks council seat on public-safety record

Jorge George Vargas is asking Del Rio voters to judge him on the same terms firefighters and EMTs are judged every day: whether he can stay calm, keep services moving and respond when something cannot wait. The City of Del Rio lists Vargas as the current fire chief for Val Verde County, a role that follows 21 years with the City of Del Rio Fire Department and about 15 years as an Advanced EMT with Val Verde County Regional Medical Center EMS.

Vargas was born and raised in Del Rio and now lives in District 1, the same district he is seeking to represent on the Del Rio City Council. That race is set for the May 2 municipal election, alongside contests for mayor, District 2 and At-Large Place C. The filing period ran from January 14 through February 13, and the District 1 seat is currently held by Jesus Lopez Jr., whose term expires in 2026. Ballotpedia lists Vargas and Elsa Reyes as the candidates in the District 1 general election.

His campaign profile leans heavily on public safety, but the broader appeal is practical. Del Rio residents often feel city government through response times, street conditions and how well officials communicate in a crisis. Vargas is presenting himself as someone who has spent years seeing those problems from the street level, not from inside council chambers.

That experience carries weight in Val Verde County, where first responders are stretched across a large service area. Val Verde Regional Medical Center EMS says it responds to more than 500 calls a month and travels more than 12,000 miles in a county that covers more than 3,000 square miles. The county’s fire department profile lists Vargas as fire chief and says the department has about 50 volunteers, a reminder that local emergency response depends on staffing, coordination and budget decisions as much as on individual heroes.

Vargas’s path also ties emergency service to civic life beyond the station. The city bio says he volunteers with a nonprofit that awards more than $50,000 in scholarships each year, and that he previously worked in customer service for an import-export company. Those details broaden his profile beyond a single job title and suggest a candidate trying to connect operational knowledge with community trust.

For District 1 voters, the question is whether Vargas’s record in fire and EMS translates into the kind of council leadership that can keep city services dependable when Del Rio faces its next urgent call.