TAFT, Tx — "In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for this opportunity," Elida Castillo told neighbors of Taft after taking her seat as their new Ward 1 representative. Castillo and Alonso Molina Jr. were sworn in during the Taft City Council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19.
Castillo was also elected as the city’s new Mayor Pro-Tem. In her new role, she will preside over meetings in the absence of Mayor Leonard Vasquez.
KRIS 6 spoke with Castillo following her November 5 victory, where she won the Ward 1 seat over Adam Babcock and then-Ward 1 Alderman Rolando Rodriguez.
"I am committed to doing my part to righting the wrongs and just really making sure that everybody's interests are at least listened to," Castillo said. "Taft is a beautiful town. It's an amazing town. There are so many amazing people here."
When asked about her priorities in her new position, Castillo emphasized the importance of transparency.
"Once we have more people engaged and being a part of this decision-making process and not feel like they're left out of the conversations, left out of what is happening," she explained. "I feel like I will have done my job as a representative of the community because it's all about bringing other people into something and not keeping them out."
Whatever I learned from being in that seat, communicating that with the citizens also being very open on what is happening in our community, getting their input on what is happening. A lot of times they use this shield, this cover of like, well, I'm on the council. I cannot share that. But that's the absolute reason why we are on the council, because we are representatives of our citizens, of our constituency. So just having more communication, like what are the things is opening up our city council meetings to where they're not just held in person, but to where we're able to hold them online and then also having more regular town halls with our community members so that they're also engaged and informed of what is happening.
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