A South Texas town has voted on who will run for office.

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MCALLEN — As election officials across Texas work to maintain voter confidence in how their elections are conducted, one South Texas city is giving residents the opportunity to fight for the city’s control of elections amid allegations of bias.

Rio Grande City has added a statutory election scheduled for Tuesday that will allow voters to decide whether a third-party agency will conduct future elections instead of the city clerk. The second proposal would establish term limits for elected officials, allowing them to serve only two four-year terms.

The proposed amendments came from the city’s new elected officials, including Mayor Gilberto Falcon. He and two city commissioners were elected in May, and after clashes with city administrators during the campaign, Falcon believes their elections should be handled by an independent body.

“We had to overcome a lot of problems during the election that shouldn’t have happened,” Falcon said. “We had to be sure that the elections would be fair.”

Recent elections in the city of Rio Grande, located about 40 miles west of McAllen, prompted allegations of corruption by rivals against incumbents.

Falcon and two new commission members made similar accusations during the campaign, but this time their accusations went to trial. Attorney Falcon represented one of his partners, Ediel Barrera, in a lawsuit against the city over multiple public records requests filed with the city clerk. Barrera blamed officials for delaying the release of documents he wanted to prove his opponent was corrupt.

Then-Deputy City Manager Noe Castillo, who is also the police chief, assured the public that the city clerk’s office complies with state law.

Over the past five years, the Secretary’s office has come under significant scrutiny. In January 2020, City Clerk Lisette Peña was arrested on charges that she illegally recorded other city employees. The charges were later dropped.

She was replaced by Melissa Garza. arrested in 2022 on money laundering charges related to a drug trafficking ring that federal prosecutors say was led by her husband, Ignacio “Nacho” Garza. The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges.

After Falcon, Barrera and a third candidate, Eudolio Barrera, took office in June, the City Commission made sweeping changes to city government, hiring a new municipal judge, a new city attorney and a new city manager.

Commissioners removed Castillo from his position as deputy city attorney but retained him as police chief. The city clerk who oversaw the May election resigned last month. The city is currently accepting applications for this position.

Meanwhile, the Starr County Elections Department is conducting city elections, the first time the city has contracted with the county to conduct elections. Texas law allows cities, school districts and other political subdivisions to require district elections.

Armandina Martinez, director of the Starr County Elections Department, said she hopes combining city and county polling places on Election Day will help boost turnout. Elections in smaller towns usually have fewer people participating.

“Hopefully on Election Day, since (the statutory election) is in our precinct, they will get better voting results,” Martinez said.

If the proposal is approved by voters, Falcon said the city will continue to contract with the county in future elections, but the city will retain control of those locations.

“It’s just a way to assure the community that whoever wants to run in the future will get an equal chance,” he said.

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by Methodist Health Ministries of South Texas, Inc.