Widow, School Board Member Urges Del Rio Council to Boost Officer Pay

Linda Guanajuato-Webb, a member of the SFDR-CISD school board and the widow of Del Rio police Officer Steve Webb, addressed the Del Rio City Council during its first regular meeting of 2026 and urged elected officials to increase pay for local police officers. She framed higher compensation as a necessary step to stem a chronic staffing shortage that she said is hindering the city’s ability to recruit and retain officers.

Guanajuato-Webb spoke to a longstanding local debate over public safety resources and municipal budget priorities. Her appearance brought the issue to the center of the council’s agenda as Del Rio officials begin the new year and face decisions that will shape staffing levels for patrol, investigations, and school safety partnerships.

Low pay for municipal officers has been cited by residents and some city stakeholders as a key factor in vacancies and turnover. City departments with persistent vacancies can see reduced patrol coverage, heavier workloads for remaining officers, and increased reliance on overtime or temporary assignments. Those operational strains cascade into neighborhood concerns over response times and the city’s ability to maintain routine community policing and school-safety programs.

Raising officer compensation will require council members to weigh competing fiscal priorities. Municipal pay adjustments affect the city’s general fund and often appear amid broader budget conversations about infrastructure, public works, and education partnerships. Any move to boost pay will prompt questions about funding sources, timing, and whether adjustments are sufficient to match regional pay scales and the demands of policing in Val Verde County.

Guanajuato-Webb’s intervention links public-safety staffing to the lived experience of local families and institutions. As a school board member, she represents concerns about safety in and around schools; as a widow of a local officer, she underscores the personal stakes behind staffing and retention decisions. Her remarks placed an individual face on a policy issue that many in Del Rio have framed as both practical and moral: how to pay for public safety while balancing limited municipal resources.

Council members have not announced a specific plan in response to the appeal. Residents concerned about police staffing and municipal priorities should monitor upcoming council agendas and budget discussions for proposals on compensation, recruitment, and retention. The outcome will shape how Del Rio allocates resources to keep neighborhoods safe and maintain stable staffing in its police force.