October 18, 2024 • 25 mins
What if the future of your city was in your hands? Mayor Victor Gonzales of Pflugerville joins us for a compelling discussion on the city's rapid development, offering an inside look at the innovative strategies shaping its growth. From contracting with ESD2 for essential ambulance and ALS services to reflecting on his nearly two decades of public service, Mayor Gonzales shares personal stories that paint a vivid picture of Pflugerville's transformation from a small town with a volunteer fire department to a bustling community. His commitment to transparency and leadership shines through as he shares his vision for maintaining the safety and well-being of residents amidst these changes.
Join us as we uncover the rich tapestry of community engagement and local politics in Pflugerville, from the 1960s to today. We journey through pivotal moments like the formation of the North Rural Community Advisory Group and a controversial racetrack proposal that spurred significant political change. Mayor Gonzales offers personal insights into the challenges of securing adequate emergency services and the debate between private companies and ESD-2's well-trained paramedics, including his daughter. This episode provides a nuanced look at the complexities of local governance and the necessity of robust emergency response systems, leaving listeners with a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing Pflugerville.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
So I consider the ESD as a Pflugerville Fire
Department always have.
We had the opportunity oncouncil this last time to
actually contract with the ESD2for the ambulance service and
ALS service, which I supportedand had two other council
members supported as well,because we think and we believe
(00:31):
that our Pflugerville FireDepartment, as well as the
Pflugerville Ambulance Service,is the best qualified, the best
trained and most responsive tothe community needs that we have
.
Again, the city doesn't have areal plan at this point.
I think they've chewed on acouple of ideas and I would hate
to think at the end of the day,that a group of citizens that
(00:54):
are supporting Prop A, the yesvote, would diminish the public
services for the rest of thecitizens in Pflugerville and
putting them at risk Welcomeback to Pflugerville and putting
them at risk.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Welcome back to Pflugerville on Fire.
I'm your host, chris Wolfe, onthe show.
This week.
We've got the mayor ofPflugerville, mr Victor Gonzalez
, coming on to talk to all of us.
Mayor Gonzalez has been on thecity council for nearly 20 years
now, and his last term as mayorhas been over a pretty
tumultuous time for the city.
City of Fleerville faces a lotof challenges, especially with
(01:29):
its essential infrastructure andall that is related to rapid
growth.
Things that we don't even thinkabout, like the water and the
roads, all have to do withplanning for a city that half
its population hasn't even movedin yet.
As I dig deeper into localpolitics, I see that taking a
(01:50):
firm stance and coming out onthe record is definitely the
exception and not the norm, andI applaud Mayor Gonzalez for
coming on the show, for hiscourage and his leadership and
being on the record.
In this episode, mayor Gonzalezis going to get into what he
feels like the future for thecity of Pflugerville is and what
(02:12):
his legacy will be movingforward.
Enjoy the show, mayor Gonzalez.
Welcome to Pflugerville on Fire.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to be heretoday, oh well, it's an honor to
have you.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Thank you for jumping on the show.
I think you've heard me saythat leadership is about service
, and really part of thatservice means going in front of
your constituents and lettingthem know hey, this is what's
happening.
This is how I feel about it, soI really appreciate you taking
time exhibiting that leadershipand coming on the show.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
So thank you for giving me the opportunity, chris
, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Well, let's jump in here.
You've been a Pflugervilleresident for a long time.
Can you tell us briefly what itwas like growing up in
Pflugerville and what got youinto politics, and then,
ultimately, what made you decideto run for mayor?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Right, right.
Well, chris, I always tell mystory about growing up in
Pflugerville.
When I was growing up and couldread the population sign and
said 272 people, that's about anine square block and
fortunately back then we didhave a volunteer fire department
.
This is the interesting partbecause I tell this story and I
(03:19):
don't think anybody believes meis that we had a volunteer fire
department and if we ever had afire or an emergency, somebody
from the tavern because that'swhere they got the call, there
was a tavern next door would getan emergency call and they'd go
over and flip the siren, switchand all the farmers would come
running into town.
(03:39):
So that was the volunteer firedepartment.
It's amazing, it's changedquite a bit.
So, yeah, growing up inPflugerville was really kind of
an exciting time for me andstill is today A little
different, but it's stillexciting and a lot of changes
that have happened over theyears actually very dramatic
changes.
But you know, when I wasgrowing up in Pflugerville, my
(04:00):
concern was always with thecommunity up in Pflugerville, my
concern was always with thecommunity.
I don't think a lot of peopleknow that early on, probably in
the late 60s, right after Igraduated high school, I was
involved with creating the NorthRural Community Advisory Group
and it was a non-profit andactually there was one that was
created in East Travis County,north Travis County, west and
(04:24):
South Travis County through ahuman opportunities corporation,
a social service organizationthat back then was President
Johnson's War on Povertyapproach.
And so as a charter member ofthat group which, by the way,
today is now the North TravisCounty North Rural Community
Center over on Pflugger Farm.
(04:45):
So we had an early beginningfocusing on community access,
involvement, public health, andit was a struggle to get through
the maze in Pfluggerville andtry to garner the resources for
a growing community.
Back then, although small itwas still growing.
So back then that was my firstinvolvement and as a matter of
(05:06):
fact, this last weekend I wentto a class reunion and sat with
not one of my classmates.
He was in the class before orafter me.
His name is David Samuelson.
As a matter of fact, his fatherwas a commissioner in this area
, david Samuelson, I think hewas commissioner for about eight
(05:28):
years.
So actually he was part of thatinitial growth of Pflugerville.
I think he was also involvedwith getting the Manville water
system established for this partof the county, which was very
important.
So back then, yeah, I was verycommunity centric, started the
first recreation center inPflugerville Actually, not the
first, it was a summer program,summer youth program and so
(05:51):
again, at a very early age I wasinvolved with the community and
getting people involved andgetting youth involved, and so I
was again very involved intrying to develop services for
Pflugerville, involved in tryingto develop services for
Pflugerville.
And the reason and againanother short note that people
don't know is I actually ran forcity council back in the early
(06:12):
70s.
Really, Wow.
And who beat you out for that,do you remember?
Well, this is the funny part,is that?
So my name was the only name onthe ballot.
Oh, wow, and you didn't win.
And you would have thought yeah, you know well, he's going to
win.
No, actually I got beat out bythree other candidates.
Actually, there were threeslots open and they were all
(06:34):
write-in votes.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
You're kidding me.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
That's wild so anyway , I got a whole total sum of
nine votes.
And that was my earlyexperience.
Same kind of campaigning evenback then, with pushcards and
mailers.
Yeah, signs the campaign hadn'tchanged a whole lot, but anyway
it was an experience for me andthen kind of took a low profile
for a while.
(06:57):
I was still involved withpolitics on the local level and
the district level and regionallevel, but again trying to work
my way through making a livingand life and career and all that
and family.
So it wasn't until probably2004, 2005, back in Pflugerville
.
I had been living here inPflugerville and there was an
(07:18):
initiative that was raising alittle bit of the eyebrows of
the community back then.
It was a racetrack, horseracetrack.
Oh yeah, I've heard about that.
If some people will remember, alot of people don't but that
was an initiative that thecommunity was pushing back on
and it was actually part of aproject that actually one of the
(07:38):
developers back then who, bythe way, happens to be one of
the developers that's supportingthe Vote yes campaign- Wow.
Prop 8, wow.
So there was a referendum puton the ballot by the city
council and it was defeatedwholeheartedly.
I think we had a huge turnoutBack in 2005,.
(08:01):
You still didn't have a lot ofpeople coming out to vote.
I think we had over 3,000people voting, and then the next
thing that happened was thatthe city council was voted out
of office.
So that presented anopportunity for me to run for
office, because I hadn't reallythought about it until then, and
so somebody at a group of folksencouraged me and I said, okay,
(08:23):
well, let's give it a shot.
And so here I am today.
Good for you.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
That's incredible.
And so you actually did allyour terms on city council and
then ran for mayor after that.
Correct.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, we have term limits.
I termed out as a city councilmember.
I was mayor pro tem the lastfive years of that city council
reign and then decided to runfor mayor Good for you.
So I could run for mayor andwon.
So now I had an opportunity toserve another three three-year
terms, and the first two I meanthe second one again was a
(08:57):
reelection, but the last termnobody showed up to run against
me, so that was easy.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
You must be doing something right, then, or
something's going on.
Well, I think it's aninspiration, because people
don't realize how much happensin local politics, and if you're
just trying to raise kids andtrying to get groceries and put
dinner on the table, a lot ofthat can come and go and you
have no idea what's happening.
So so, mayor, you were opposedto the EMS overlay back when
(09:23):
they tried to do it way, but youhave supported the fire
department or running theambulance transport, so you've
had some evolving perspectives.
Where are you at today?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Well, you know, as I said originally, you know I've
always supported Pflugervilleand been very community-oriented
and while I know that the ESD-2is a separate, if you will,
kind of governmental entityfunded by different sources
other than you know, it's not acity-funded program, I think
(09:55):
it's still.
You know, when I see a firetruck it says Pflugerville Fire
and so I consider the ESD as aPflugerville Fire Department.
Always have and you know therehave always been some issues
with the type of structure andrepresentation on the boards.
I mean there's.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
I don't want to say it's political, but in a way it
is political.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Sure, you begin to realize everything's political,
whether you want it to be or not.
And so when we lost theambulance service, it becomes
incumbent upon, I think, thecity to provide some type of
public service to our community,whether it's ambulance or law
enforcement.
And so we opted to go withprivate ambulance and have now
(10:42):
on our second private ambulancecompany, and we had the
opportunity on council this lasttime to actually contract with
the ESD-2 for the ambulanceservice and ALS service, which I
supported and had two othercouncil members supported as
well, because we think and webelieve that our Pflugerville
(11:06):
Fire Department, as well as thePflugerville Ambulance Service,
is the best qualified, the besttrained and most responsive to
the community needs that we have.
Unfortunately, we didn't havethe votes to swing the ambulance
service and it went back to aprivate service, which was very
unfortunate.
Very unfortunate and I'm notsure what we're looking forward
(11:28):
to the future.
I'd like to get back to havingthe ESD provide the ambulance
service and ALS service.
I know you provide the firstresponders at this point and not
sure how that's going to turnout with the election, but we'll
see.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Well, that's a big one.
Hopefully I mean people thatare listening to this show, I
think, know that.
You know, if Proposition Apasses and the fire department
loses 40 percent of its revenue,the idea would be that we
wouldn't run on the low prioritymedical calls which the it
passes and the sales tax revenueis abolished.
What do you think is going tohappen with that five cents
(12:17):
sales tax and how much of thatis going to go back to emergency
response?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Chris, that's a very good question and I've pondered
that question over the lastseveral months now, even
thinking into the future, andI've asked this question
internally, and I'm of theimpression that we really don't
when I say we, again, the citydoesn't have a real plan at this
(12:44):
point.
I think they've chewed on acouple of ideas, but in terms of
losing those services, thebasic life support services and
early responders, I think is isgoing to be a mistake, because
if we don't have that in place,you're going to have delayed
response time.
You're going to have we'llstill have the private ambulance
(13:05):
service running on those calls.
That doesn't necessarily meanthat they will be on time any
faster or quicker because, again, right now we've only got four
units and they could be acrosstown or they may be all in
service, for that matter.
So we feel like thinning backor scaling back any types of
ambulance service or firstresponder service is going to be
(13:29):
very drastic and puts a lot ofcitizens at risk.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Well, I am encouraged to hear you say that, Mayor,
because sometimes you know, weas citizens elect y'all and we
all kind of hope, oh, they'regoing to do the right thing for
us and it sounds like that'swhere your head is at.
So we need you to keep doing it.
And one thing I want toemphasize for our listeners is
Mayor Gonzalez, if you don'tknow what the plan is, there
(13:54):
isn't a plan.
I mean, no one's going to know.
You're the most qualifiedperson to answer this question.
So it's just, it's such aprivilege to have you on the
show and to get to ask you that,and I think I think making a
plan is not a plan.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Right.
Well, at this point, I think,with the proposition of
supporters in terms of howthey're positioning, envisioning
a better EMS and I posted thisthe other day I said well, it
sounds like you don't think thecurrent EMS service is all that
great, so you're envisioning abetter one.
Unfortunately, some of thoseindividuals voted for that less
(14:34):
than better EMS and so, longterm, I don't think we can get a
better EMS on the private side,because I strongly believe that
there is a lack of ongoingtraining for the medical
professionals, whether they'rethe EMTs or the paramedics,
because I know what goes intothe paramedic training for the
(14:55):
ESD-2.
And it's not just you go do atraining, you get your
certificate and you're done.
It's way much more than thatand a very comprehensive and
intensive program that theparamedics follow, which makes
me feel pretty confident.
If ESD2 is on a call foradvanced life support, they know
(15:17):
what they're doing, whereas theother team may not, may not,
even may not even have the rightequipment on their vehicles.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah, or it's not charged.
It doesn't work Right.
So Lacey and I decided when westarted this podcast we wanted
to be full disclosure.
And so, Mr Mayor, how do youknow so much about the paramedic
training program and what goesinto it?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Well, I didn't think you were going to go there with
that question, but that's fine.
Yeah well, my daughter is afirefighter and now has gone
through the paramedic training.
By the way, it was prettyextensive and exhausting for her
and so I know we've had chatswith her and all the type of
(16:00):
training that she goes throughor the type of training that the
paramedics go through, and evenin service at hospitals,
emergency rooms and in the labswith cadavers, it's pretty
intense and involved.
So the paramedic that comes outof that training knows what
(16:22):
they're doing.
And my daughter's done great asa matter of fact is probably at
the top of her class, which I'mproud of.
So she's doing great.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah, we're proud of her for sure.
That class is not easy.
I went through the very firstprogram that they offered and it
has not gotten any easier.
I can tell you that, ifanything, it's gotten harder.
So I like to let people know,because I knew immediately you
had an idea what you weretalking about.
I talked to a lot of folks onboth sides and I feel like as a
(16:51):
firefighter, as a paramedic, Ican pick up pretty quick when
people have an idea of whatthey're talking about and what
they don't.
So you're coming at it fromboth sides.
You have an idea of what EMS issupposed to look like and
what's happening on the cityside, and that's just part of
that legacy that you have withthe Pflugerville politics.
So now you're coming to the endof, you're about to be termed
(17:12):
out.
You can't run again as mayor.
So how would you like people toremember your time I mean from
your city council to your earlywork that you did to your terms
as mayor, especially as itrelates to ambulance service?
How do you want people to lookback and remember what you did?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Well, chris, a lot of things have happened over my
term as mayor.
As a matter of fact, when I gotelected I thought well, it'll
be a piece of cake.
Now It'll be a cakewalk.
The rest of my term as mayor ithas not.
It's been all uphill with anumber of issues and challenges
we've had with growth,infrastructure you know, covid,
the ice storms, I mean, it's onething after another.
(17:54):
Years ago, early on in council,you know, the big issue was
water resources.
Where are we going to get water?
How are we going to pay for it?
Well, we're still having thosesame issues and challenges and
we're addressing those.
And over the years that welowered the property tax for a
number of years and we thoughtthat was good for our citizens,
and it was.
And actually citizens todaystill believe we're overtaxed in
(18:17):
Pflugerville.
But when you think about thegrowth, the infrastructure,
commercial development, retaildevelopment, it's massive and
you have to have the resourcesfor that.
Unfortunately, we don't havethe resources to build our own
fire department and that's beena topic over the years and my
position is why fix somethingthat's not broke?
(18:39):
And ultimately I thinkPflugerville may have its own
fire department, but it won't bea fire department that we have
to rebuild.
I think we have a great firedepartment in place now.
The ambulance services that arebeing provided are bar none,
and so we have a good publichealth, public safety program in
(19:04):
place, and I would hope thatwith this election, that we can
continue providing those sameservices, if not, and I hope,
better EMS services inPflugerville through the ESD.
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Well, Mayor Gonzalez, thank you so much for coming on
.
I want to give you anopportunity.
If you have a message for aPflugerville resident out there,
what would you tell them?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
before the vote for Prop A Well, I would say look at
the ballot issue very carefully.
The way ballots are written,they're always confusing.
When you think about voting no,it seems like a negative.
In this case it's a positive,and when you think about voting
(19:50):
yes, it seems easy.
And I think there are going tobe a lot of voters that will go
to the polls who won't have anyidea about the ballot measure or
may not even vote for theballot measure because you don't
have to.
But I think, for those citizensthat are in Pflugerville and
are responsible and take theirvoting very seriously, that you
(20:11):
know, look at both sides.
Certainly, look at both sides,but I think and I would hate to
think at the end of the day,that a group of citizens that
are supporting Prop A, the yesvote, would diminish the public
services for the rest of thecitizens in Pflugerville and
putting them at risk.
(20:32):
Because what's going to happenis, if Prop A yes wins, we're
going to have a lot of citizenscalling me and the city and say,
okay, what are you going to dofor me now?
Well, the sales tax, and let meclarify that it's not like it's
a property tax, it's a sales taxthat is collected from
(20:55):
individuals that live in thecity.
You go to Costco.
You have a lot of people thatcome from out of town all over
to spend their money in our cityand we get a portion of that.
The ESD gets a portion, theEconomic Development Commission
gets a portion, the city gets aportion.
This is money that comes intoour city.
(21:15):
That is money that we can takeadvantage of.
It's not like we're taxinganybody on purpose.
We're not.
People are spending money andthey're paying the tax.
So to remove that revenue andminimize the services in
Pflugerville will be a realtragedy.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Mayor, I want to piggyback on because I haven't
really talked about this on theshow, but you'd be the perfect
person to talk about this alittle bit.
A lot of times we think oursales tax, I'm going to save
that half cent, you know, and mygroceries bill is going to go
down by a couple of bucks, and.
But I think what people don'trealize is for every half cent
we give, there's commercialindustry here in the city of
(21:58):
Pflugerville that that's reallycontributing way more to our
citizens than just what thecitizens are putting in, right,
right.
I don't know if there's aneasier way to explain that, but
you know it's hard to tellpeople like.
You know, by taking away thesales tax, we're missing out on
so much more than just what weput into it.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, and I think that's just additional revenue,
that while, let's say, we takeaway that half cent, well, you
go to the store, you're going tosave a half cent, but would
that half cent save the lifesomewhere else down the road?
And I think that's what we failto think about.
It's like what you save todayis not as significant as lives
(22:44):
that are going to be savedtomorrow by retaining that half
cent for the ESD2.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Absolutely so, mayor Gonzalez, when your time in
office is up after the nextelection cycle, what are you
going to do?
You're going to go on the backporch and play some golf, or
have you thought about what yourfuture looks like?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Well, you know I told you I started back in the late
60s and 70s.
As far as being a verycommunity-centric individual, I
still have a term on theEconomic Development Corporation
board that doesn't expire nextyear, so I'll continue with that
, I think, for another year, andthen definitely not leave.
I'm not moving from the city ofPflugerville at all.
(23:24):
That's where we're retiring.
My wife's already retired and Ilook forward to, if nothing
else, becoming one of thosepolitical activists that are
supporting good things forPflugerville.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Well, thank you so much for your leadership and for
everything you've done for thecity over the decades, and, in a
much smaller way, thank you somuch for coming on this show and
explaining to citizens yourperspective, chris, thank you
very much.
All right, thank you.
So that's our show.
I hope you enjoyed thatinterview with Mayor Victor
(23:58):
Gonzalez Lacey and I's goal whenwe came out with the
Pflugerville On Fire podcast wasexactly what happened today.
We wanted to talk to thedecision makers, the people that
were in the room when ithappened, and getting the mayor
of Pflugerville to come on andtalk about his perspective and
how he sees the issue is exactlyin line with that, and I hope
(24:22):
all of you listeners enjoyedlistening to that.
While we're talking about you,our listeners.
Thank you so much for joiningus on this journey.
We're not done yet.
We got more episodes coming ourway.
That said, it's one thing tolisten to the show and be
knowledgeable about it, but nowwe need you to come out and vote
.
Early voting is kicking off,third week in October.
(24:44):
We've got the electionhappening on November 5th.
Man, take this information thatyou've gotten.
Please spread it with yourfriends and neighbors and then
go out there and make your voiceheard this election.
We'll be hoping all of you comeout, support us and support
your community.
Thanks for taking this journeywith us.
So I consider the ESD as a Pflugerville Fire
Department always have.
We had the opportunity oncouncil this last time to
actually contract with the ESD2for the ambulance service and
ALS service, which I supportedand had two other council
members supported as well,because we think and we believe
(00:31):
that our Pflugerville FireDepartment, as well as the
Pflugerville Ambulance Service,is the best qualified, the best
trained and most responsive tothe community needs that we have
.
Again, the city doesn't have areal plan at this point.
I think they've chewed on acouple of ideas and I would hate
to think at the end of the day,that a group of citizens that
(00:54):
are supporting Prop A, the yesvote, would diminish the public
services for the rest of thecitizens in Pflugerville and
putting them at risk Welcomeback to Pflugerville and putting
them at risk.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Welcome back to Pflugerville on Fire.
I'm your host, chris Wolfe, onthe show.
This week.
We've got the mayor ofPflugerville, mr Victor Gonzalez
, coming on to talk to all of us.
Mayor Gonzalez has been on thecity council for nearly 20 years
now, and his last term as mayorhas been over a pretty
tumultuous time for the city.
City of Fleerville faces a lotof challenges, especially with
(01:29):
its essential infrastructure andall that is related to rapid
growth.
Things that we don't even thinkabout, like the water and the
roads, all have to do withplanning for a city that half
its population hasn't even movedin yet.
As I dig deeper into localpolitics, I see that taking a
(01:50):
firm stance and coming out onthe record is definitely the
exception and not the norm, andI applaud Mayor Gonzalez for
coming on the show, for hiscourage and his leadership and
being on the record.
In this episode, mayor Gonzalezis going to get into what he
feels like the future for thecity of Pflugerville is and what
(02:12):
his legacy will be movingforward.
Enjoy the show, mayor Gonzalez.
Welcome to Pflugerville on Fire.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to be heretoday, oh well, it's an honor to
have you.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Thank you for jumping on the show.
I think you've heard me saythat leadership is about service
, and really part of thatservice means going in front of
your constituents and lettingthem know hey, this is what's
happening.
This is how I feel about it, soI really appreciate you taking
time exhibiting that leadershipand coming on the show.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
So thank you for giving me the opportunity, chris
, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Well, let's jump in here.
You've been a Pflugervilleresident for a long time.
Can you tell us briefly what itwas like growing up in
Pflugerville and what got youinto politics, and then,
ultimately, what made you decideto run for mayor?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Right, right.
Well, chris, I always tell mystory about growing up in
Pflugerville.
When I was growing up and couldread the population sign and
said 272 people, that's about anine square block and
fortunately back then we didhave a volunteer fire department
.
This is the interesting partbecause I tell this story and I
(03:19):
don't think anybody believes meis that we had a volunteer fire
department and if we ever had afire or an emergency, somebody
from the tavern because that'swhere they got the call, there
was a tavern next door would getan emergency call and they'd go
over and flip the siren, switchand all the farmers would come
running into town.
(03:39):
So that was the volunteer firedepartment.
It's amazing, it's changedquite a bit.
So, yeah, growing up inPflugerville was really kind of
an exciting time for me andstill is today A little
different, but it's stillexciting and a lot of changes
that have happened over theyears actually very dramatic
changes.
But you know, when I wasgrowing up in Pflugerville, my
(04:00):
concern was always with thecommunity up in Pflugerville, my
concern was always with thecommunity.
I don't think a lot of peopleknow that early on, probably in
the late 60s, right after Igraduated high school, I was
involved with creating the NorthRural Community Advisory Group
and it was a non-profit andactually there was one that was
created in East Travis County,north Travis County, west and
(04:24):
South Travis County through ahuman opportunities corporation,
a social service organizationthat back then was President
Johnson's War on Povertyapproach.
And so as a charter member ofthat group which, by the way,
today is now the North TravisCounty North Rural Community
Center over on Pflugger Farm.
(04:45):
So we had an early beginningfocusing on community access,
involvement, public health, andit was a struggle to get through
the maze in Pfluggerville andtry to garner the resources for
a growing community.
Back then, although small itwas still growing.
So back then that was my firstinvolvement and as a matter of
(05:06):
fact, this last weekend I wentto a class reunion and sat with
not one of my classmates.
He was in the class before orafter me.
His name is David Samuelson.
As a matter of fact, his fatherwas a commissioner in this area
, david Samuelson, I think hewas commissioner for about eight
(05:28):
years.
So actually he was part of thatinitial growth of Pflugerville.
I think he was also involvedwith getting the Manville water
system established for this partof the county, which was very
important.
So back then, yeah, I was verycommunity centric, started the
first recreation center inPflugerville Actually, not the
first, it was a summer program,summer youth program and so
(05:51):
again, at a very early age I wasinvolved with the community and
getting people involved andgetting youth involved, and so I
was again very involved intrying to develop services for
Pflugerville, involved in tryingto develop services for
Pflugerville.
And the reason and againanother short note that people
don't know is I actually ran forcity council back in the early
(06:12):
70s.
Really, Wow.
And who beat you out for that,do you remember?
Well, this is the funny part,is that?
So my name was the only name onthe ballot.
Oh, wow, and you didn't win.
And you would have thought yeah, you know well, he's going to
win.
No, actually I got beat out bythree other candidates.
Actually, there were threeslots open and they were all
(06:34):
write-in votes.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
You're kidding me.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
That's wild so anyway , I got a whole total sum of
nine votes.
And that was my earlyexperience.
Same kind of campaigning evenback then, with pushcards and
mailers.
Yeah, signs the campaign hadn'tchanged a whole lot, but anyway
it was an experience for me andthen kind of took a low profile
for a while.
(06:57):
I was still involved withpolitics on the local level and
the district level and regionallevel, but again trying to work
my way through making a livingand life and career and all that
and family.
So it wasn't until probably2004, 2005, back in Pflugerville
.
I had been living here inPflugerville and there was an
(07:18):
initiative that was raising alittle bit of the eyebrows of
the community back then.
It was a racetrack, horseracetrack.
Oh yeah, I've heard about that.
If some people will remember, alot of people don't but that
was an initiative that thecommunity was pushing back on
and it was actually part of aproject that actually one of the
(07:38):
developers back then who, bythe way, happens to be one of
the developers that's supportingthe Vote yes campaign- Wow.
Prop 8, wow.
So there was a referendum puton the ballot by the city
council and it was defeatedwholeheartedly.
I think we had a huge turnoutBack in 2005,.
(08:01):
You still didn't have a lot ofpeople coming out to vote.
I think we had over 3,000people voting, and then the next
thing that happened was thatthe city council was voted out
of office.
So that presented anopportunity for me to run for
office, because I hadn't reallythought about it until then, and
so somebody at a group of folksencouraged me and I said, okay,
(08:23):
well, let's give it a shot.
And so here I am today.
Good for you.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
That's incredible.
And so you actually did allyour terms on city council and
then ran for mayor after that.
Correct.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, we have term limits.
I termed out as a city councilmember.
I was mayor pro tem the lastfive years of that city council
reign and then decided to runfor mayor Good for you.
So I could run for mayor andwon.
So now I had an opportunity toserve another three three-year
terms, and the first two I meanthe second one again was a
(08:57):
reelection, but the last termnobody showed up to run against
me, so that was easy.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
You must be doing something right, then, or
something's going on.
Well, I think it's aninspiration, because people
don't realize how much happensin local politics, and if you're
just trying to raise kids andtrying to get groceries and put
dinner on the table, a lot ofthat can come and go and you
have no idea what's happening.
So so, mayor, you were opposedto the EMS overlay back when
(09:23):
they tried to do it way, but youhave supported the fire
department or running theambulance transport, so you've
had some evolving perspectives.
Where are you at today?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Well, you know, as I said originally, you know I've
always supported Pflugervilleand been very community-oriented
and while I know that the ESD-2is a separate, if you will,
kind of governmental entityfunded by different sources
other than you know, it's not acity-funded program, I think
(09:55):
it's still.
You know, when I see a firetruck it says Pflugerville Fire
and so I consider the ESD as aPflugerville Fire Department.
Always have and you know therehave always been some issues
with the type of structure andrepresentation on the boards.
I mean there's.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
I don't want to say it's political, but in a way it
is political.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Sure, you begin to realize everything's political,
whether you want it to be or not.
And so when we lost theambulance service, it becomes
incumbent upon, I think, thecity to provide some type of
public service to our community,whether it's ambulance or law
enforcement.
And so we opted to go withprivate ambulance and have now
(10:42):
on our second private ambulancecompany, and we had the
opportunity on council this lasttime to actually contract with
the ESD-2 for the ambulanceservice and ALS service, which I
supported and had two othercouncil members supported as
well, because we think and webelieve that our Pflugerville
(11:06):
Fire Department, as well as thePflugerville Ambulance Service,
is the best qualified, the besttrained and most responsive to
the community needs that we have.
Unfortunately, we didn't havethe votes to swing the ambulance
service and it went back to aprivate service, which was very
unfortunate.
Very unfortunate and I'm notsure what we're looking forward
(11:28):
to the future.
I'd like to get back to havingthe ESD provide the ambulance
service and ALS service.
I know you provide the firstresponders at this point and not
sure how that's going to turnout with the election, but we'll
see.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Well, that's a big one.
Hopefully I mean people thatare listening to this show, I
think, know that.
You know, if Proposition Apasses and the fire department
loses 40 percent of its revenue,the idea would be that we
wouldn't run on the low prioritymedical calls which the it
passes and the sales tax revenueis abolished.
What do you think is going tohappen with that five cents
(12:17):
sales tax and how much of thatis going to go back to emergency
response?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Chris, that's a very good question and I've pondered
that question over the lastseveral months now, even
thinking into the future, andI've asked this question
internally, and I'm of theimpression that we really don't
when I say we, again, the citydoesn't have a real plan at this
(12:44):
point.
I think they've chewed on acouple of ideas, but in terms of
losing those services, thebasic life support services and
early responders, I think is isgoing to be a mistake, because
if we don't have that in place,you're going to have delayed
response time.
You're going to have we'llstill have the private ambulance
(13:05):
service running on those calls.
That doesn't necessarily meanthat they will be on time any
faster or quicker because, again, right now we've only got four
units and they could be acrosstown or they may be all in
service, for that matter.
So we feel like thinning backor scaling back any types of
ambulance service or firstresponder service is going to be
(13:29):
very drastic and puts a lot ofcitizens at risk.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Well, I am encouraged to hear you say that, Mayor,
because sometimes you know, weas citizens elect y'all and we
all kind of hope, oh, they'regoing to do the right thing for
us and it sounds like that'swhere your head is at.
So we need you to keep doing it.
And one thing I want toemphasize for our listeners is
Mayor Gonzalez, if you don'tknow what the plan is, there
(13:54):
isn't a plan.
I mean, no one's going to know.
You're the most qualifiedperson to answer this question.
So it's just, it's such aprivilege to have you on the
show and to get to ask you that,and I think I think making a
plan is not a plan.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Right.
Well, at this point, I think,with the proposition of
supporters in terms of howthey're positioning, envisioning
a better EMS and I posted thisthe other day I said well, it
sounds like you don't think thecurrent EMS service is all that
great, so you're envisioning abetter one.
Unfortunately, some of thoseindividuals voted for that less
(14:34):
than better EMS and so, longterm, I don't think we can get a
better EMS on the private side,because I strongly believe that
there is a lack of ongoingtraining for the medical
professionals, whether they'rethe EMTs or the paramedics,
because I know what goes intothe paramedic training for the
(14:55):
ESD-2.
And it's not just you go do atraining, you get your
certificate and you're done.
It's way much more than thatand a very comprehensive and
intensive program that theparamedics follow, which makes
me feel pretty confident.
If ESD2 is on a call foradvanced life support, they know
(15:17):
what they're doing, whereas theother team may not, may not,
even may not even have the rightequipment on their vehicles.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah, or it's not charged.
It doesn't work Right.
So Lacey and I decided when westarted this podcast we wanted
to be full disclosure.
And so, Mr Mayor, how do youknow so much about the paramedic
training program and what goesinto it?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Well, I didn't think you were going to go there with
that question, but that's fine.
Yeah well, my daughter is afirefighter and now has gone
through the paramedic training.
By the way, it was prettyextensive and exhausting for her
and so I know we've had chatswith her and all the type of
(16:00):
training that she goes throughor the type of training that the
paramedics go through, and evenin service at hospitals,
emergency rooms and in the labswith cadavers, it's pretty
intense and involved.
So the paramedic that comes outof that training knows what
(16:22):
they're doing.
And my daughter's done great asa matter of fact is probably at
the top of her class, which I'mproud of.
So she's doing great.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah, we're proud of her for sure.
That class is not easy.
I went through the very firstprogram that they offered and it
has not gotten any easier.
I can tell you that, ifanything, it's gotten harder.
So I like to let people know,because I knew immediately you
had an idea what you weretalking about.
I talked to a lot of folks onboth sides and I feel like as a
(16:51):
firefighter, as a paramedic, Ican pick up pretty quick when
people have an idea of whatthey're talking about and what
they don't.
So you're coming at it fromboth sides.
You have an idea of what EMS issupposed to look like and
what's happening on the cityside, and that's just part of
that legacy that you have withthe Pflugerville politics.
So now you're coming to the endof, you're about to be termed
(17:12):
out.
You can't run again as mayor.
So how would you like people toremember your time I mean from
your city council to your earlywork that you did to your terms
as mayor, especially as itrelates to ambulance service?
How do you want people to lookback and remember what you did?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Well, chris, a lot of things have happened over my
term as mayor.
As a matter of fact, when I gotelected I thought well, it'll
be a piece of cake.
Now It'll be a cakewalk.
The rest of my term as mayor ithas not.
It's been all uphill with anumber of issues and challenges
we've had with growth,infrastructure you know, covid,
the ice storms, I mean, it's onething after another.
(17:54):
Years ago, early on in council,you know, the big issue was
water resources.
Where are we going to get water?
How are we going to pay for it?
Well, we're still having thosesame issues and challenges and
we're addressing those.
And over the years that welowered the property tax for a
number of years and we thoughtthat was good for our citizens,
and it was.
And actually citizens todaystill believe we're overtaxed in
(18:17):
Pflugerville.
But when you think about thegrowth, the infrastructure,
commercial development, retaildevelopment, it's massive and
you have to have the resourcesfor that.
Unfortunately, we don't havethe resources to build our own
fire department and that's beena topic over the years and my
position is why fix somethingthat's not broke?
(18:39):
And ultimately I thinkPflugerville may have its own
fire department, but it won't bea fire department that we have
to rebuild.
I think we have a great firedepartment in place now.
The ambulance services that arebeing provided are bar none,
and so we have a good publichealth, public safety program in
(19:04):
place, and I would hope thatwith this election, that we can
continue providing those sameservices, if not, and I hope,
better EMS services inPflugerville through the ESD.
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Well, Mayor Gonzalez, thank you so much for coming on
.
I want to give you anopportunity.
If you have a message for aPflugerville resident out there,
what would you tell them?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
before the vote for Prop A Well, I would say look at
the ballot issue very carefully.
The way ballots are written,they're always confusing.
When you think about voting no,it seems like a negative.
In this case it's a positive,and when you think about voting
(19:50):
yes, it seems easy.
And I think there are going tobe a lot of voters that will go
to the polls who won't have anyidea about the ballot measure or
may not even vote for theballot measure because you don't
have to.
But I think, for those citizensthat are in Pflugerville and
are responsible and take theirvoting very seriously, that you
(20:11):
know, look at both sides.
Certainly, look at both sides,but I think and I would hate to
think at the end of the day,that a group of citizens that
are supporting Prop A, the yesvote, would diminish the public
services for the rest of thecitizens in Pflugerville and
putting them at risk.
(20:32):
Because what's going to happenis, if Prop A yes wins, we're
going to have a lot of citizenscalling me and the city and say,
okay, what are you going to dofor me now?
Well, the sales tax, and let meclarify that it's not like it's
a property tax, it's a sales taxthat is collected from
(20:55):
individuals that live in thecity.
You go to Costco.
You have a lot of people thatcome from out of town all over
to spend their money in our cityand we get a portion of that.
The ESD gets a portion, theEconomic Development Commission
gets a portion, the city gets aportion.
This is money that comes intoour city.
(21:15):
That is money that we can takeadvantage of.
It's not like we're taxinganybody on purpose.
We're not.
People are spending money andthey're paying the tax.
So to remove that revenue andminimize the services in
Pflugerville will be a realtragedy.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Mayor, I want to piggyback on because I haven't
really talked about this on theshow, but you'd be the perfect
person to talk about this alittle bit.
A lot of times we think oursales tax, I'm going to save
that half cent, you know, and mygroceries bill is going to go
down by a couple of bucks, and.
But I think what people don'trealize is for every half cent
we give, there's commercialindustry here in the city of
(21:58):
Pflugerville that that's reallycontributing way more to our
citizens than just what thecitizens are putting in, right,
right.
I don't know if there's aneasier way to explain that, but
you know it's hard to tellpeople like.
You know, by taking away thesales tax, we're missing out on
so much more than just what weput into it.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, and I think that's just additional revenue,
that while, let's say, we takeaway that half cent, well, you
go to the store, you're going tosave a half cent, but would
that half cent save the lifesomewhere else down the road?
And I think that's what we failto think about.
It's like what you save todayis not as significant as lives
(22:44):
that are going to be savedtomorrow by retaining that half
cent for the ESD2.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Absolutely so, mayor Gonzalez, when your time in
office is up after the nextelection cycle, what are you
going to do?
You're going to go on the backporch and play some golf, or
have you thought about what yourfuture looks like?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Well, you know I told you I started back in the late
60s and 70s.
As far as being a verycommunity-centric individual, I
still have a term on theEconomic Development Corporation
board that doesn't expire nextyear, so I'll continue with that
, I think, for another year, andthen definitely not leave.
I'm not moving from the city ofPflugerville at all.
(23:24):
That's where we're retiring.
My wife's already retired and Ilook forward to, if nothing
else, becoming one of thosepolitical activists that are
supporting good things forPflugerville.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Well, thank you so much for your leadership and for
everything you've done for thecity over the decades, and, in a
much smaller way, thank you somuch for coming on this show and
explaining to citizens yourperspective, chris, thank you
very much.
All right, thank you.
So that's our show.
I hope you enjoyed thatinterview with Mayor Victor
(23:58):
Gonzalez Lacey and I's goal whenwe came out with the
Pflugerville On Fire podcast wasexactly what happened today.
We wanted to talk to thedecision makers, the people that
were in the room when ithappened, and getting the mayor
of Pflugerville to come on andtalk about his perspective and
how he sees the issue is exactlyin line with that, and I hope
(24:22):
all of you listeners enjoyedlistening to that.
While we're talking about you,our listeners.
Thank you so much for joiningus on this journey.
We're not done yet.
We got more episodes coming ourway.
That said, it's one thing tolisten to the show and be
knowledgeable about it, but nowwe need you to come out and vote
.
Early voting is kicking off,third week in October.
(24:44):
We've got the electionhappening on November 5th.
Man, take this information thatyou've gotten.
Please spread it with yourfriends and neighbors and then
go out there and make your voiceheard this election.
We'll be hoping all of you comeout, support us and support
your community.
Thanks for taking this journeywith us.
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