State of the Region luncheon centers on one message: the Valley moves forward together

MISSION — Rio Grande Valley leadership didn’t shy away from big things — be they problems or solutions — at the RGV Partnership’s State of the Region Luncheon on Wednesday.

Speaking to a room filled with elected officials and community leaders, the Valley’s four county judges talked about a lot of big things going on in South Texas.

They brought up successes like major drainage projects in Starr County and Willacy County’s incoming data center.

They talked about problems that still need to be resolved, like the Valley’s struggle to deal with stray animals and an increasingly dire water crisis.

The throughline in all of their speeches, however, was that the Valley’s best days are ahead of it.

Working together, the judges said, the Valley has what it needs to capitalize fully on assets and deal with its challenges effectively.

“In our neck of the woods, we may disagree,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said. “We may not always agree. But we make sure that we work together with respect and collaboration. Because we know that at the end of day, instead of fighting over that piece of bread, that slice of bread in that loaf, our goal is to keep baking and baking and baking and making more and more loaves.”

RGV Partnership Chairwoman Amanda Saldaña said that mentality is more than just a nice sentiment.

She says it’s an effective strategy that’s put the Valley on the map nationwide.

“Unity. It’s all about unity and working together as we advocate on the state and federal levels. That’s the most important thing,” she said.

Saldaña pointed to the Partnership’s work during the last legislative session.

During it, she said, the partnership pushed hard on water issues, supporting both Proposition 4 and S.B. 7.

That effort paid off.

S.B. 7 got Proposition 4 on a ballot last month, and the voters approved it, paving the way for a $20 billion investment in Texas’ water infrastructure.

Advocating for such colossal goals isn’t feasible for individual cities — or even counties — in the Valley, Saldaña said.

“The Friday night light mentality is outdated,” she said. “When we go to state legislators and statewide office holders and ask for dollars, it’s very difficult to do so city by city. It’s much more effective when we go up there together and have the same message.”

Saldaña, who became the Partnership’s chairwoman on Wednesday, says she sees her tenure being dominated by consolidating the needs of individual communities in the Valley into large-scale needs that reflect the necessities of the region as a whole.

To do that, the Partnership is rolling out RGV Connect, which is essentially a listening tour meant to create a new legislative agenda.

“It’s so we’re all on the same page as a region for the regional “asks” at the state level,” Saldaña said.