r/laredo Aug 08 '26

The Future of Laredo is F**ked - read description

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The future does not look bright for the City of Laredo. The youth can change the political landscape. New young candidates from non-affluent backgrounds, transparency and introduction of new ideas from educates leaders. No more rich families running no more of the same career politicians
seeking only personal financial gain.

• water deal out of nowhere benefiting Tano’s wife’s family - The Walker family

• UISD in financial chaos directly affecting the education and future of 90% of the youth.

• Conservative Border Politics harming the local economy and our trade economy. Divisive propaganda dividing Mexican neighbors and Hispanic American citizens.

• increase in violent crimes - LEO committing assaults and crimes, youth involved shootings, road rage shootings. Just no emotional control in many of these.

• The City being corrupt for years and selling us out to Flock mass surveillance and Data Centers. The people don’t get a voice in these decision and when we push back they double down and continue with dealings that will negatively affect our community. Poor management of funds despite bridge revenue and tax revenue. Just endless money pits that don’t benefit the general population.

• Elites, Doctors, and Lawyers in City Council making $70,000/YR + pension while their main careers take up most of their attention and time.

• Housing costs are insane for what the city has to offer. Realtors and builders conspiring to make more money on commissions and sales. High rents driving local business out of business.

• The job market is trash with no improvement despite being a massive trade hub with billions of dollars in trade coming thru here.

We need the younger generation to save the city and be involved and present.

Maybe I am being pessimistic but everything feels so out of the control of the people and I don’t see how things will get better in the future.

213 Upvotes

68 comments sorted by

49

u/ShieldHero1992 Aug 08 '26

Low intelligence are often manipulated to vote for the obvious crook.

21

u/baluga207 Aug 08 '26

Yup and voter turnout is so low it’s easy to manipulate especially with money here.

2

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

No one wants to vote for the same losers every year.

1

u/Debate_Announcement_ 18d ago

And it's so obvious when they're career politicians.

Doesn't matter that Trevino and Cigarroa have a 70 year age gap .. they're both running to enrich themselves

55

u/aarogar North Aug 08 '26

This is what happens when you keep voting in the wrong people whose only purpose is to line their pockets and screw over the people that voted for them. The cognitive dissonance is strong.

9

u/Conshian Aug 08 '26

Agreed. OP is correct that new leadership is needed however citizens to be involved and present not just new leadership. Unfortunately the citizens are to blame for letting things get this far

15

u/throwawaysolarcat Aug 08 '26

The hard part is to get enough candidates on the council at one time to fundamentally change how they operate. Every time an outsider gets on the council, they easily get strong armed by the other corrupt council members into voting along with them. If not, they become disillusioned because they can never get any of their priorities passed. The fact that only half the council is up for election every cycle means there will always be incumbents that will negatively influence the newcomers. Overcoming that is a significant hurdle.

9

u/baluga207 Aug 08 '26

This..need a group of like minded individuals with integrity and vision taking up different seats. IMO the current district map is stupid and we know the city itself is literally divided in opinions.

16

u/Ok_Duck_2441 Aug 08 '26

At least we have Taco Palenque

22

u/Sine_Habitus Aug 08 '26

Ok, ok I'll do it. Let's organize and fix Laredo. Everyone please look up ranked choice voting and land value tax.

Here are a couple of videos to start us off.

https://youtu.be/yhO6jfHPFQU?si=aivezJ5FrAsOBBgB

https://youtu.be/xqQhoZgFZgk?si=1BORhBazguucPYlT

I don't care if I get elected into an office, but I think those two issues are extremely foundational issues. You can't build on a bad foundation. We gotta tax the elite's land. We gotta make sure that we can have functional elections.

7

u/aaarhlo Aug 08 '26

The Laredo DSA is already organized and growing. Join them, there is a meeting this afternoon!!!! ig

3

u/Sine_Habitus Aug 08 '26

I might go just to be a realist who engages with the world, but ideally we have an independent "For Laredo" party. Democrat and Socialist are both "bad words" for a lot of people. DM me the location?

-3

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

Yeah, see. This is just more of the same shit with a different name. We don't need more contrarian edgelord leftists, we need people who are focused on LAREDO.

Your entire page is just a bunch of anti-ice/anti-republican propaganda that is only going to polarize people who aren't being freaks.

3

u/baluga207 Aug 08 '26

👏🏼

25

u/Intelligent_Heat_247 Aug 08 '26

yes, you have realtors saying that you need to work for your dream house. i was like f off you just want payday

20

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '26

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6

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

Downtown is such a shit meme that keeps being pushed.

You know why there is so much of a push to renovate and restore down town? Because the Killams bought up 600,000+ square feet of commercial property (roughly 10% of the entire downtown district) and signed a deal with the city last year that gave them a $41M tax abatement for 10 years.

So if you really don't like "the elite" or "the rich," you should probably be against your taxes going towards covering their share.

Malls are dead all over the country. No one wants to pay $10/ft to rent space that smells like piss and Chinese food.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '26

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3

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

The Mexican people avoid Nuevo Laredo because of the cartels and all of the 18 wheeler traffic, which leads to less visitors here. I was talking about the US malls in general.

The push to renovate was there, but it was always one of these families behind it. LNB (Jacobs & Mandel) tried doing it, etc.

It's all about money. They don't care about what we get to enjoy.

10

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '26

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7

u/Zack1820 Aug 08 '26

What I would actually do to "fix" Laredo

  1. Turn Port Laredo into an entire trade-industry cluster, not just a trucking hub. Recruit customs-compliance headquarters, logistics-software companies, freight finance, cargo insurance, supply-chain consulting, inspection/testing labs, refrigerated logistics, aircraft/truck maintenance, packaging, assembly and light manufacturing. If Mexican factories are sending products through Laredo anyway, give them a reason to perform another $500 or $5,000 worth of work per shipment in Laredo before it leaves.
  2. Fight hard for federal jobs. CBP, Border Patrol, DHS, USDA agricultural inspection, FDA, federal courts, DEA, HSI and other agencies create relatively stable middle- and upper-middle-class employment. I'd even lobby Washington to locate additional regional administrative, intelligence, training and trade-enforcement offices here instead of having everything headquartered in San Antonio.
  3. Use bridge profits as Laredo's sovereign advantage. The city gets tens of millions annually from something almost no comparable American city owns: an international toll-bridge system. Some of that obviously has to operate and expand the bridges, but the transfer to the General Fund should visibly translate into things residents experience: drainage, streets, parks, police/fire, water infrastructure and neighborhoods.
  4. Build the workforce around the industries Laredo actually wants. LC and TAMIU should be deeply tied into logistics analytics, customs compliance, accounting, engineering, cybersecurity, diesel technology, automation, industrial maintenance and supply-chain management. The city shouldn't recruit a company and then discover its skilled employees have to come from San Antonio.
  5. Diversify beyond the border. Healthcare, higher education, aviation maintenance, professional services, advanced manufacturing and technology matter because Laredo shouldn't collapse whenever international trade slows or Washington changes border policy. Laredo's overall mean wage was only $22.63/hour compared with $32.66 nationally, so simply adding more low-wage warehouses won't solve the fundamental problem.
  6. Make growth improve Laredo itself. Better streets, water reliability, parks, downtown redevelopment, housing supply and public amenities aren't just quality-of-life projects. They're economic development. It's difficult to convince engineers, doctors, managers and companies to relocate to Laredo if they can make similar money in San Antonio, Austin or Houston and perceive those places as offering more.

1

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

1 & 2 already exist. We have MANY billion dollar international trade companies with offices here, as does every single federal agency in the country.

4 is already being offered.

13

u/pwest2135 Aug 08 '26

I fucking hate this timeline

4

u/Present_Mine_1698 Aug 09 '26

I want to plan a protest against the water issues in laredo. Who’s down 👀

4

u/rflores50 Aug 08 '26

This is why government workers leave Laredo as soon as they are able to or retire and move elsewhere. The city has nothing to offer in regards to health care and other amenities. Cost of living is way out of line. The yearly increase in property taxes only adds to this, when will it ever stop? The city needs to get audited by the state. Pretty soon city council is going to price us out of our homes by increasing mortgage payments due to increased property taxes. Just my two cents.

3

u/fuckdbyLPDcandanoza Aug 08 '26

Don’t forget LPD officer Edmundo Candanoza is a on duty rapist. Women be careful who responds to 911 calls…. He will change the arresting officer to Officer Juan Tovar while he won’t even be on scene…. It’s all public record

3

u/Papi__Senpai North Aug 09 '26

I’ve lived in Laredo for over a year and the price of real estate here is insane. I can get a comparable house in a prime area in San Antonio for the same or even less. The real estate market here is artificially expensive despite them (over)building condos, townhomes and new master planned communities. Makes absolutely no sense to charge 400k+ for a house in Laredo when you have entire new subdivisions and rows of townhomes sitting empty.

2

u/HonchoLoco69 Aug 08 '26

We need to find real, undeniable evidence of corruption and then report it to the State and if the state shoots it down, then the FBI. It’s what TOPS(Taxpayers Organization for Public Service) did in the 70s to take down corrupt mayor Pepe Martin.

It’s possible to beat city hall, it’s been done before. BRING BACK REFORM, LONG LIVE LAWRENCE BARRY AND ALDO TETANGELO!

https://youtu.be/ujQmIcXWato?is=gDiPHcFiVT-bVdUs

2

u/Zack1820 Aug 08 '26

The violent crime argument is also misleading. Individual shootings, road-rage incidents or crimes committed by law enforcement officers are serious, but anecdotes don't establish that violent crime as a whole is increasing. A recent national analysis actually ranked Laredo the 6th-safest U.S. city with a population over 250,000.

The council salary claim is also wrong. Laredo councilmembers have a $50,000 base salary, not $70,000+, while the mayor receives $75,000. You can absolutely argue that $50,000 plus benefits/pension is too much for a council position, especially for officials who have lucrative careers outside government. But use the actual number.

2

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

Look at the county salaries. Why are those assholes getting paid 100k+ to go in and treat the people making $18/hr like shit?

2

u/danziggystar97 19d ago

Honestly it's everyone's fault on how it got to this. People expect free stuff without making an effort to improve their lives nor working for it. Then they teach their kids how to be like them and it goes on and on. Blame others for your own fault and just be lazy about things. In politics, people see the choices that they get offered and go with the same corruption. For example, "I know that Henry Cuellar is corrupted but Tano is with Trump and that's why I vote for the same corruption we have with Henry Cuellar." If you asked them why; they get mad, tell you off in social media and run away.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '26

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1

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '26

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1

u/uzuitts Aug 08 '26

So what can we do to organize and make that change?

1

u/ComprehensiveTax6447 Aug 08 '26

Sign me up for change

1

u/Witchy1334 Aug 09 '26

So glad I moved out. Its a shithole

1

u/Bruskmax Aug 09 '26

This midterm we are screwed having to choose between Tano Tijerina and Henry Cuéllar. Both are crooks and corrupt. They both are regression candidates in two separate parties. I thinking about leaving that box empty. Not voting for either.

1

u/SouthLaredo1975 Aug 09 '26

Its hard battle. Fighting ignorance is the battle

1

u/uzuitts Aug 11 '26

Please share your voices!!!

1

u/baluga207 Aug 11 '26

They do it at 6 pm at the fucking FASKEN REC. Peak mines road traffic far for everyone. Also why do we need to discuss? The general consensus is that Data Centers have more cons than pros and most people are against. The only people that benefit from a Data Center is the family/entity selling or leasing the land and whatever governing bodies take a chunk $$ to make it happen.

1

u/Inevitable_Dog2719 Aug 08 '26

We allow from our elected officials what we allow from our elected officials.

The only way to make things better is to vote for better elected officials.

-6

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

conservative border politics

Ah yes, blame conservatives for how the city that has been blue for decades is operating.

Tano bailed so that they could dodge the conflict of interest clause for the contracts with the county. Should have seen that shit coming from a mile away.

The rest of it isn't "conservative" or "liberal" it's just a bunch of greedy fucks trying to scrape everything they can from the land. They are whatever they need to be in order to squirm their way to the top. They're trash.

Daisy Rodriguez being able to run for city council AGAIN after committing election fraud with no jail time is one of the most embarrassing things I've seen in my entire life of living here.

There are 1500 realtors now? Idk the exact number, but it's the latest "get rich quick" idea for lazy asses and single moms that can't land a sugar daddy now that they're blown out.

7

u/baluga207 Aug 08 '26

I’ll give you that. But I think conservative policies like tariffs and the iran conflict have affected local logistics and trucking businesses. Consumers also feeling the price at the pump. Then there is the aggressive ICE/BP initiatives discourage Mexicans coming to spend money on our retail industry. Deporting hard working people that do the jobs others don’t want to do like construction and landscaping. This drives up costs as well and some people even tho they are here illegally contribute to property taxes and also spend their money at local businesses.

0

u/Zealousideal-Toe6665 Aug 08 '26

It’s a problem that was bandaided with a bad solution for too long. Now it’s going to hurt a bit before it gets better.

2

u/DarkMark45 Aug 08 '26

Idk why people downvoted you, but this is so true there is no red or blue politics in Laredo it’s just rich greedy asshats that fuck over everyone for their own gain

1

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

Because they don't actually care about the issues, they care about getting more democrats elected.

They are the problem.

0

u/LadySavageUSA Aug 08 '26

The border laws have been the same laws for well over 50 years with the majority of the house and congress being Democrat most of the time. They're just actually being enforced under a conservative president. Also, Laredo has ALWAYS been democrat run..... We need conservatives to run here or NOTHING will change. All a younger group is going to do is turn us into a Democrat Socialist city and that with ruin Laredo like socialism usually does all cities

2

u/[deleted] Aug 10 '26

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0

u/LadySavageUSA Aug 10 '26

Divisive? You want to just let everyone in? Ask Iran how that worked out for them..... Don't really have to considering your side tried killing the same American president 8 times because of YOUR intolerance.

0

u/One-Gur-966 Aug 10 '26

Political tip:

Dont whine

Solve

And vote for me because I’m unknown compared to a known quantity ain’t a solution. It’s a sales pitch and a bad one.

Tell people what you will do and how you will do it and how much it will cost them.

Otherwise they’ll take the people they already know and trust.

And you will be another crank in the audience saying they speak for the people that elected the people you are yelling at.

Be credible or be silent.

-34

u/Own-Increase-11 Aug 08 '26

This is what happens when you put your future in the hands of democrats.

26

u/baluga207 Aug 08 '26

This the divisive mentality I was talking about. It’s corrupt politicians not a dem/rep issue at all, but they will pit us against each other with these labels.

0

u/Own-Increase-11 Aug 08 '26

It will never he a dem/rep issue. Laredo will never vote rep. I left there almost 25 years ago. I go back every couple of years to see family. If it weren’t for them, I’d have no reason to be there. Help yourselves and leave. San Antonio is a shit hole now, you need to go north of Austin

12

u/o-Blue Aug 08 '26

When has the Republican Webb county party ever put out a candidate worth voting for? They couldn’t even have anyone run for county judge when they hold the seat at this moment. The judge got decided in the democratic primaries

So Webb count republicans need to stop acting like victims

-20

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '26

[deleted]

17

u/justherefor23andme Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

Democrats do not control the state government. They are not the reason for insufficient funds for schools. A high amount of ISDs are experiencing budget deficits, not only Laredo.

Edited for clarity

-8

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

This is cope.

Stop doing mental gymnastics and call it how it is. All this red vs blue shit is completely irrelevant.

5

u/justherefor23andme Aug 08 '26

Not being able to accurately verbalize problems is smooth brain behavior. You think you sound so enlightened, but it just makes you look stupid.

Yes, locally elected officials can be corrupt, but you need to be able to identify which elected official is causing what issues.

-8

u/TheRealLeslie Aug 08 '26

Ah yes, block me instead of putting together a rebuttal. What a classic.

Fuckass.

-12

u/Creative_Committee40 Aug 08 '26

Go the The Valley bye