Meet Our City Secretary

Your Contact for City Business

Esmeralda R. Sanchez brings her wealth of education and experience to her position as City Secretary for the City of La Feria. Hers will be the voice you hear when you contact the city for assistance and guidance in navigating the many agencies available to our citizens. LA FERIA NEWS met with this fervent young lady to learn more about her plans and fresh ideas for her office.

Sanchez has worked with several federal and state agencies, mainly in disaster recovery programs after her graduation from the University of Texas at Austin. At that university, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Public Health.

With that academic foundation, she signed on with a number of public service organizations: First, with the Small Business Administration, later with the agency managing the Texas Disaster Recovery Program where she worked in conjunction with FEMA. During those years, she was to find herself project coordinator in far-flung assignments, not only in Texas, but in Michigan, Arkansas, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

“My job was to help victims of natural disasters navigate through government recovery programs and help them rebuild,” she said. “Working with those desperate people affected me. It made me realize that most people are not prepared for natural disasters and I became aware and empathetic to the needs of the community collectively and individually with the victims.”

In that role, Sanchez was working with the state agency that administrated the disaster recovery program after Hurricane Dolly struck the Valley in 2009. Her office was in the La Feria City Hall. From that office, she served as the government grant manager for 25 communities in South Texas–including La Feria.

“That is how I got to know La Feria and its citizens,” she said. “I am a life-long resident of Weslaco, but when the opportunity opened up to be Capital Project Coordinator for the City of La Feria, ‘I jumped at it.’ Later, another opportunity came my way by the promotion of Paula Rodriguez to the position of Planning Director for the City of La Feria, and the secretary position was left vacant. “It was offered to me, and I didn’t hesitate a second.”

“I am now continuing my dream career of having been in the field of public service at federal, state, and now the local municipal level,” she exclaimed. “My job description includes the title of Human Resources Director.

Sanchez said that in her dual capacity of City Secretary and Human Resources Director she will be overseeing some 15 new projects to be announced soon–including the fire station expansion, the basketball league, Unger Park opening, the Memorial library and improving drainage in parts of town. Way to go!

For more information, you can call (956) 797-2261 or email [email protected]