New Calexico City Council gets passing grade

The new Calexico City Council has been together for just under two months. A downtown business owner is already giving them a failing grade.

Morris Reisin said, “I feel priorities is a little off. For example, they took away the water – the drinking water from all the employees. To me that’s too petty.”

Reisin said they’re focusing on the wrong issues.

“What they should do is fill up the twenty-six, twenty-eight stores that are empty in downtown Calexico, get sales tax, and with that you can pay a lot of our bills down here,” Reisin said.

Calexico Economic Commissioner Ben Horton gives them a passing grade.

“We should be focused on service and bringing ideas together to move the city forward,” Horton said.

Horton is against the water restrictions.

“This idea of taking the water, it may save money but on the short term. We have to look at the overall picture in order to see where we’re at,” Horton said.

Business owner James Beaver focused at the qualifications of the new council.

“We have a lot of professional people there. They’ve got degrees in economics and finances. So, I say this city council has an advantage over the other council,” Beaver said.

He said people should give the new council more time to prove themselves.

“They’re just beginning to appoint bid commissioners down there to help deal and help with that solution,” Beaver said.

However, all three men do agree the new council gets along better than the previous one.

“They’re respecting each other, so there’s no bickering or fighting up there. Which is great in the new council,” Reisin said.