Nixon tourism board gets permission for brick fundraiser

Due to a technical error on the July 10 agenda, the Nixon City Council tabled action to rescind the name of Freddy Aguirre Memorial Park until next month, but not before engaging in a lively discussion about whether the park should bear any person’s name.

Council members also approved a number of directives for the newly created Tourism and Development Board, the organization which is spearheading the development of the new park — including authorizing the group to sell custom bricks to residents and businesses as a fundraiser.

The council also agreed to establish a separate bank account for the Tourism and Development Board and directed City Manager Harold Rice to work with the group on possibly applying for a grant of up to $50,000 from the Lower Colorado River Authority for the park.

Park name

Previously, the council had voted to name the proposed park for Lance Cpl. Freddy Aguirre, whose brother Pablo is on the Tourism and Development Board. Freddy Aguirre was enlisted in the U.S. Marines for less than one year before he and most of his platoon were killed in a 1977 helicopter accident while on maneuvers in the Philippines.

Later, there was a groundswell of support to also honor U. S. Marine Corps Cpl. John Matthew Longoria — who died at age 21 while serving in New Ubaydi, Iraq — by naming the park after him as well. Longoria was a member of the Nixon High School Class of 2003.

At last month’s meeting, however, members of the American Legion, including Natividad Ruiz and Donald Hoffman, as well as City Council members Patsy Scherrer, Ellie Dominguez and Melissa Pompa, expressed their opinion the park should be given a generic name to honor all veterans who served — not just two who paid the ultimate sacrifice. However, the park could not be renamed unless the previous name was rescinded.

Monday’s agenda item was posted to rescind “the naming of the Aguirre Veterans Memorial Wall” — something which does not exist — instead of the Freddy Aguirre Memorial Park. Council member Maggie Gaytan and Justin La Fleur made a motion not to rescind the name, and it failed by a 3-2 margin with Scherrer, Dominguez and Pompa voting against it.

That’s when Briana Dominguez, vice chair of the Tourism and Development Board, pointed out the agenda was not worded correctly — to which City Attorney Eddie Escboar agreed and advised the council they could not take any action Monday night on the matter.

“The name is incorrect on the agenda. You can't vote on something that's incorrect,” Briana Dominguez said. “This is saying two different things.”

Mayor Dorothy Riojas noted that the Veterans Wall is supposed to be a “Wall of Honor” for all veterans who served in the area and is a separate thing from the park, where it will reside.

Noting they could not take action on the name Monday night, the council voted to table the matter until August.

In a heartfelt moment, Gaytan explained why she wanted to name the park after Aguirre and Longoria and why it meant so much to her.

“We already have the Mahan Patteson American Legion Post, which is already named for two different people. We have a library that is named for one person (Aphne Patillo) and we have a park that is already named for one person (Gladyne Finch),” Gaytan said.

“Freddy Aguirre and John Longoria gave up the ultimate sacrifice. And nobody knew John

Longoria at all. I brought him here to be with the Villanueva family. He didn't choose Nixon. We chose it for him and then he chose to stay here. He chose the Villanuevas to be his forever family and Nixon to be his forever town. So that's why he needs to be added along with Freddy’s name.”

Gaytan then scolded Ruiz for comments he made last month about forming a petition to have the name overturned if it wasn’t changed to a more generic one to honor all veterans.

Ruiz told Gaytan “I feel for you, I really do,” but said there are protocols that should be followed when naming something after a veteran.

“We in the American Legion have traditions that we uphold that civilians have no idea what that’s about,” Ruiz said. “Other people that served, they lose their lives all the time, but that doesn't necessarily mean that something’s named after them. A lot of people that I talked to said to include everybody and call it the Nixon Veterans Park.”

Hitting the bricks

The council did give the board permission to sell two types of bricks for a walkway at the park that residents could purchase to honor and remember loved ones or to promote local businesses. A 4x8 brick will sell for $50, while an 8x8 brick will sell for $100. Inscriptions on the bricks are included in the cost unless a business wishes to add a logo, which would be an extra $25.
Board chair Travis Hansen said the more bricks that could be ordered at one time, the more likely the brick plant would put a rush on production when an order is turned in. He also spoke about the possibility that there could be phases to the walkways based on future consultations with any design professionals who could better advise what would be the best course of action.

La Fleur advised Hansen that LCRA has a community grant program which just started accepting applications this month. It will grant up to $50,000 to worthwhile projects that are community based. He advised Hansen to consider applying for the grant and asked the council to direct Rice to provide any assistance possible to help in that.

Also, the board discussed, at City Secretary Tanya Torres’ recommendation, creating a separate account for the Tourism board to account for any money they raised so it can be kept separated from other city funds for transparency. That was something the council all agreed to as well.