Veronica Vela Whitacre has been the District 6 McAllen City Commissioner for eight years.
She said she decided to become a commissioner because many of her friends encouraged her to run.
“They said, “Veronica, you’ve done everything there is to do in the city of McAllen. The only thing left you have is the city commission,” she said. “I thought, 'oh wow,' and they said, 'Veronica you’d be amazing. It’d be a good thing for our city to have you.' ”
Vela-Whitacre was born and raised in McAllen.
“I remember you could ride your bike anywhere, and we didn’t have a phone connected to us," she said. "We were able to ride our bikes and go walking and entertain ourselves outside. We would make little campfires and forts and stuff in the different fields in our neighborhoods. A lot of that is gone because McAllen has grown tremendously. McAllen is booming, and rightfully so, and they’ve done a great job of growing consistently, slowly, and we’ve grown for the benefit of everyone in McAllen.”