City appoints new council member from pool of 13 applicants
Calexico appointed retired businessman Morris Reisin as new council member on Wednesday night during the regular meeting.
“I tried three times running for council and i came up short all three times and with the confidence of the City Council we have, they have confidence in me and I’m here to work with them,” Reisin said.
He was selected out of a pool of 13 applicants.
“They had great qualifications, very good qualifications, and it was very competitive,” Reisin said.
Council Member Bill Hodge said the process was challenging.
“We took our time. We tried to be as objective and fair as possible. So, it was time-consuming and sometimes we wrestled with some,” Hodge said.
Mayor Lewis Pacheco said council members and the special committee to review the applications worked together effectively.
“Everyone had a voice to say no, yay or nay on each candidate,” Pacheco said.
The council members all agree they have confidence in Reisin.
“Mr. Morris does bring a lot of experience, especially in downtown, being a business owner there for almost forty years and being a long-time Calexico resident. I think it’s amazing to be able to work with him” Council Member David Romero said.
“He’s been a strong advocate for parks, recreation, sports in general,” Hodge added.
“There’s a way to invigorate the city and he has some good ideas. He was on the BID [Business Improvement District] committee, and he was part of that big downtown area,” Pacheco said.
The new council member said he’s ready to go to work.
“I want to bring back Calexico the way it was in the seventies when we had anchor stores. Give me about a month, month-and-a-half and you’ll see a big difference in our town. We’re going to clean up our town, especially the alleys,” Reisin said.
And he doesn’t want his time as council member to be a short one.
“if I see that there’s a lot of progress, you’ll see me on the ballot in 2020,” Reisin said.
Reisin takes over the seat left open by former Council Member Jesus Escobar, who left to become district supervisor. Reisin’s term ends next year.
