Ramsey English Cantu Seeks Election as Maverick County Judge
Ramsey English Cantú hereby authorizes The Eagle Pass Business Journal to announce his candidacy for Maverick County Judge on the Democratic ticket for the November 8, 2022 General Elections.
Cantu, a life-long resident of Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Texas is the proud son of Raul “Pecas” Cantú and Byrdie English Cantú. He is the grandson of the late Tomas Cantu Flores and Rosa Cantú Galindo and the late Walter Willis English and Elvira English.
Cantu’s mission was to be a representative of the people as evidenced through his selfless commitment and civic responsibility to his community. On May 13, 2006, Cantú was elected to the Eagle Pass City Council Place 2 Position and re-elected to another term in 2008 and also served as Mayor Pro-Tem. On May 15, 2010, he made history and was sworn in as the youngest Mayor of our great City where he served for ten (10) years. Outside of municipal government, he served as State Senate Regional Director for TX SD 19 in 2020-2021. Cantú has participated on numerous boards in our area as follows:
Cantú served as a board member representing Maverick County for the Camino Real Mental Health Mental Retardation Center (MHMR) servicing the needs of our residents with special needs.
As a former Library Foundation board member, Cantú promoted awareness to our public library. In conjunction with other board members, he helped raise funds that in turn were used to promote literacy in our community providing our citizens and children with adequate research and educational resources.
As a former member of the Eagle Pass Art’s Council, Cantú joined the effort to bring culture and awareness to our City. He also volunteers his time promoting literacy with the Eagle Pass Independent School District visiting our school children and reading to them. Cantú is also a former member of the Our Lady of Refuge School board.
While serving as Mayor, he was the board Chairman of the Community Action Social Services & Education (CASSE) organization that focused on providing assistance to the citizens of Eagle Pass undergoing financial hardships.
A strong advocate in the Race for a Cure, Cantú has volunteered with the Relay for Life for over 10 years serving over 8 years as Chairperson of the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. He has championed against cancer and served as an Ambassador for our congressional district joining other congressional leaders and lobbyists in Washington, D.C. to obtain federal funding to find a cure for cancer. With the support and exhausted efforts of many local organizations, businesses and participating schools, youth groups and our dedicated citizens, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer research and patient services within the Eagle Pass, Maverick County area. Cantú was honored in 2013 by the American Cancer Society Laredo District for his commitment & dedication in the race to find a cure for Cancer.
In his official capacity as Mayor, Cantú served as Chairman of the Texas Border Coalition. This coalition is an organization comprised of Texas Border Mayors and County Judges from El Paso to Brownsville, Texas representing nearly 2.5 million people along the Texas-Mexico border. The Texas Border Coalition serves as the collective voice of border communities on issues that affect our border region’s quality of life.
Cantú served on the Board of Directors for the Middle Rio Grande Development Council. This Council lobbied for state and federal funds for the regional area encompassing nine surrounding counties including, Dimmit, La Salle, Kinney and Val Verde to name a few. While serving on this Board, Cantu was selected to represent the nine counties at a state level on the Texas Association of Regional Councils (TARC) Board of Directors where after one year of service he was elected to serve as the first Hispanic President of the state board to tackle state funding assistance for councils of government throughout the State of Texas. In his State office holder capacity, Cantú has actively testified in Austin at our State Capitol to address the needs for funding increases on issues that pertain to health, education, homeland security and environmental concerns.
Cantu’s strong ties and state testimonials afforded him the opportunity to serve on the State Border Trade Advisory Commission under the Direction of five former Secretary of State officials and most recently under Secretary Rolando Pablos. Cantú was one of three border Mayors appointed to the Commission along with Colleagues Mayor Pete Saenz of Laredo, Texas and Mayor Bruno Lozano of Del Rio, Texas to bring forth issues of Border Trade and Commerce. They were instrumental in addressing TxDot’s Formula Funding mechanism assuring that major project funding sources were available to rural areas as well not only to the main interstates such as IH-35. They addressed the expansion opportunities on Highway 57 and Highway 277 thus providing safer highway traveling routes for our citizens and commercial trucks. Border Ports of Entries are also a high priority to address wait times not only for commercial crossings but those of tourist crossings as well. This appointment positioned our city leadership in a great place to bring the main issues affecting our border commerce and trade for our region.
As a former Main Street Board Trustee, he worked to improve the aesthetics and overall revitalization of the downtown business district of Eagle Pass, Texas.
Vital to our prosperous growth, Cantú will maintain strong partnerships with The City of Eagle Pass, The Eagle Pass Independent School District, The Chamber of Commerce, our neighbors and friends in Piedras Negras, el Estado de Coahuila, Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas among others. Mayor Cantu’s strong international bonds earned him the Highest Honor a United Sates citizen can attain by receiving the 2020 OTTLI Award for International work and benefiting Citizens on the Texas Mexico Border.
“Listening to the concerns of the community has always been and will continue to be my foundation. Our county government needs to change and grow with your support. Given the opportunity to serve, every individual whether it be a public/elected official or in the private sector are always welcomed in my office.
Over a period of ten years while I was at the forefront at the city of Eagle Pass as your Mayor, places like the library was remodeled leaving it in a more dignified condition for our future generations. In public safety we built a new police department and fire station providing better facilities for our police officers and our emergency medical personnel. We constructed more than five parks where our families can gather for outdoor activities along with two recreational facilities including the Antonio Munoz Gymnasium and the Patsy Winn Sports Complex which is the largest sports venue in the Middle Rio Grande border region. More than 100 miles of streets and avenues were re-paved and all these projects are in view of the city’s population. My leadership and experience speak for itself. I am committed to working with all local, state and federal entities because as your next county judge I will not divide our county but UNITE it and move it forward so our citizens can have better living conditions.
For years Maverick County has had an administration that has not advanced our community and just as the clock above our historical courthouse has stopped in time so has our county which remains lifeless, stagnant and without any proven or visual progress. I am committed to starting a new era with a new vision of opportunity and growth for the good of our community. I will team up with your county commissioners to resolve all diverse necessities that our county currently encounters. We will maintain an agenda in conjunction with each member of the commissioner’s court to guarantee diverse public works projects that assure better infrastructure in all four precincts of our county. Together we will give our community the necessary resources to move Maverick County and our citizens forward. I stand with our people from La Herradura and surrounding areas that lack infrastructure in public works. I stand with those who live in Las Quintas and are fed up with flooding problems that they don’t give you a solution for. Our people in Quemado and Normandy continue to be forgotten and who for years the current judge has failed to support their current commissioner so that they can have garbage collection services among many other issues. I commit to you that under a Ramsey English Cantu Administration no one will be left out of the work plan and its improvements for our county neighborhoods because our homes families are the most sacred. As your future judge, I will ensure the investment necessary to move Maverick County forward because YOU deserve all the best .
On March 1, 2022, we obtained our first victory winning the primary elections of the democratic party where we obtained more than 61 percent of the vote making it a historic election. On September 16th we obtained a second victory by delivering a petition with more than 2,282 signatures from citizens to not allow the current administration to place Maverick County in debt for an additional 8 million dollars which had no real work plan or specified improvements. The 3rd victory is in your hands where you can assure the future and well-being of our county by choosing a person capable and experienced in governing and working for the good of our citizenry. I am at your disposal to move our county forward with a plan of action for the benefit of all citizens
I look forward to seeing you during Early Voting this Monday, October 24th through November 4th at the Multi-purpose Center or on election day, Tuesday, November 8th at your respective precinct polling sites. I fully commit myself to a new vison for Maverick County with better infrastructure and better development for all of our neighborhoods. I encourage every citizen to go out and vote. Again, I respectfully ask for your vote and support. As citizens you have the ultimate power and I invite you to come out and vote. We are one step closer to the change we deserve. The Time is Now and together we will achieve the Maverick County we ALL deserve”. May God bless each of you and may God continue to bless Maverick County!
