Rancho Viejo elects new mayor

The town of Rancho Viejo has elected a new mayor.

Voters chose Roberto Medrano on Saturday to replace Mayor Craig Flood, who chose not to run for re-election. It will be a period of transition for the town, as it deals with growth and changing demographics. Medrano was elected with 156 votes.

"I feel very elated and humbled by the fact I was elected by the citizens," Medrano said. "It's an honor to be elected to a post like this. I'm ready to do a good job."

The other candidates, William Hector Dorsset and Maria V. Garza, came up short, receiving 80 votes and 128 votes, respectively.

"The town needs to develop a master plan, a 10-20 year plan," said Flood, who will be replaced when a new mayor is sworn in May 15. "We need to tear down some of our old buildings and turn them into parks and libraries."

Flood has been the cornerstone of the town's government for the last several years, dealing with town's feral cat problem and the closure of its Stripes convenience store. Now the baton has been passed on to Medrano. But neither of those pressing issues has been resolved.

Medrano said that in the last town meeting he made a proposition to address the feral cat issue and hopes that with time his plan can be used as a model to address similar issues.

The new mayor said he would focus on the town's master plan to address the changing demographics.

"There is some acreage that is undeveloped and it's very important to have guidance in place to dictate how that land will be developed," Medrano said. "We have had developments that are inconsistent with what Rancho Viejo is. We recently had some development that had back-to-back lots and that is not in place with the town's image."

In addition to the subdivision ordinance, the mayor plans to focus the town's resources in developing parks and areas for both young and old.

Regarding the Stripes issue, Medrano said he will tackle it head on focusing on getting it resolved "one way or another."

I want to make (town meetings) more transparent as far as the board," he said. "The community might have good ideas, as well (as the board). We don't hold a monopoly. If we open it up, it's a good thing."