By VERNON ROBISON
The Progress
U.S. Congressman Steven Horsford paid a visit to the City of Mesquite on Wednesday, May 5. During the stop, he spoke with local leaders, City officials, business owners – and made two specially-appointed stops to spend time with emergency first responders.
Throughout his visit, Horsford reiterated the message that help was coming for the City of Mesquite. Specifically, he talked about $17.1 million coming directly to the city via the American Rescue Plan bill which passed Congress in early March. This funding was meant to prop up the City’s budget after a year of sharply reduced revenues, Horsford said.
“The City of Mesquite is really representative of the types of communities that we were thinking about in the American Rescue Plan,” Horsford told a crowd of more than a hundred people at a luncheon event on the west lawn of the Mesquite Recreation Center. Horsford added that this federal funding should begin flowing to the City within the next few weeks.
“In Congress, we are moving now from rescue to recovery,” he said. “That is going to be focused on making sure that we build back better, and that we don’t leave anybody behind.”
At the end of the event, Horsford wished everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo. Horsford’s campaign had provided the luncheon which was comprised of Mexican cuisine from La Fonda restaurant.
Earlier in the day, Horsford had stopped in to speak with first responders in the City. He made visits to both Mesquite Fire and Rescue and to the Mesquite Police Department. At both stops, he provided lunch to the first responders from local restaurant Los Lupes.
He first visited Mesquite Fire Station #3 where a group of about a dozen firefighters, EMTs and paramedics were gathered.Horsford thanked the firefighters for their contributions in the mammoth effort of testing and vaccinating local a residents for COVID-19.
“But for you, we would not be as close as we are to crushing this virus,” Horsford said.
Horsford emphasized how important it is to continue the push for vaccination of the public.
“Obviously, there are some folks who don’t want to get it (the vaccine) and I’m not here to push,” Horsford said. “But I am here to reinforce that if we want our kids back in school, our churches back open and businesses back in full, the quickest way to get there is to get vaccinated.”
Mesquite Fire and Rescue Captain Will Martinez asked Horsford for support in the Department’s application for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant. The grant aims to provide funding directly to fire departments to help increase the number of responders available.
“I am pretty sure that our numbers support the need for additional personnel,” Martinez said. “With COVID and everything else going on in the past year, half of our crew got COVID. And frankly, we got our butts kicked! So if you could just give it a little push, we would appreciate it.”
Chief Jayson Andrus stressed that his crew continues to be short on manpower.
“We continue to be pushed to the limit in staffing,” Andrus said. “Once in every single day for the last year and a half, we have had zero people available to respond to calls. So we have applied for this grant for six more positions.”
Horsford pledged to provide letters of support for these grants and to aid in any way he could in the grant process.
At the Mesquite Police Department headquarters, Horsford praised the officers, dispatch personnel and administrative staff for their work during a difficult time.
“The last year has been really tough for everybody, and you have been on the front lines of it all,” Horsford told the police department personnel in attendance. “I just want to thank you for your service and offer my support.”
Horsford acknowledged that 48 percent of Mesquite’s budget covers public safety. His work on the American Rescue Plan was to help shore up that budget and keep first responders on the job, he said.
“That was all about you, and what it is you do to provide a safe and secure community,” Horsford said.
During the visit, MPD grantwriter Kim Otero asked for Horsford’s support in the department’s JAG Grant application.
“We are applying for funds for a true narcotics unit that would allow our officers to look into packaging without having to expose themselves to the harmful drugs,” Otero said.
Horsford said that his staff would follow up with Otero on providing whatever was needed in the process.
Horsford’s visit to Mesquite also included a tour of the new library building and a visit with City Councilman George Gault to the proposed site of a future STEM education center to better prepare high school students in the region for the workforce.
