Editing Laredo, Texas (section)

==Government==

===Municipal government===

[[File:Laredo, TX, Fire Dept. IMG 7352.JPG|thumb|Administrative headquarters of the Laredo Fire Department are on Del Mar Boulevard across from St. Patrick's Catholic Church.]]

The Laredo city government is a [[Mayor–council government#Weak-mayor form|strong city council – weak mayor system]]. The mayor presides over the eight-member city council, but only votes to break a tie. City Council elections are based on single-member districts and campaigns have no party affiliations. Municipal elections are now held in November (formerly in May) of even-numbered years. The municipal government is administered by the city manager hired by the city council. All city elected offices have a four-year term and are [[Non-partisan democracy|nonpartisan]] though most officials have a Democratic party preference or affiliation.

City council meetings are held on Mondays and can be viewed on the [[public-access television]] cable TV channel or live online at Public Access Channel live stream.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ci.laredo.tx.us/ngovt.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110502014932/http://www.ci.laredo.tx.us/ngovt.html|url-status=dead|title=City of Laredo Government|archive-date=May 2, 2011}}</ref>

{{hidden begin
|title = List of mayors of Laredo, Texas
|titlestyle = background:#F8F8FF;width:60%
}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! width="25%"|Name
! width="8%"|Portrait
! width="20%"|Term start
! width="20%"|Term end
|-
| William Franklin Alexander<ref name=mayors>{{cite web |url=http://www.cityoflaredo.com/History/Mayors_History.pdf |title=History of Laredo Mayors |publisher= City of Laredo|access-date=June 28, 2016 }}</ref>
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1852
| 1854
|-
| Bartolome Garcia
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1855
| 1855
|-
| [[Santos Benavides]]
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1856
| 1856
|-
| Refugio Benavides
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1857
| 1857
|-
| Bartolome Garcia
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1858
| 1858
|-
| Refugio Benavides
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1859
| 1859
|-
| Tomas Treviño
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1860
| 1860
|-
| Juan Francisco Farias
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1861
| 1861
|-
| Bartolome Garcia
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1862
| 1864
|-
| Nicolas Sanchez
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1865
| 1865
|-
| Agustin Salinas
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1866
| 1867
|-
| Samuel M. Jarvis
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1868
| 1868
|-
| Agustin Salinas
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1866
| 1867
|-
| Hugh James
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1874
| 1876
|-
| Atanacio Vidaurri
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1877
| 1877
|-
| Rosendo Garcia
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1878
| 1878
|-
| Julian Garcia
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1879
| 1880
|-
| Porfirio Benavidez
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1881
| 1882
|-
| Dario Sanchez
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1883
| 1883
|-
| Porfirio Benavides
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1884
| 1884
|-
| Dario Sanchez
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1885
| 1885
|-
| E. A. Atlee
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1886
| 1890
|-
| C. A. McLane
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1891
| 1894
|-
| Andrew Hans Thaison
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1895
| 1895
|-
| L. J. Christian
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1896
| 1898
|-
| A. E. Vidaurri
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1899
| 1900
|-
| Amador Sanchez
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1901
| 1909
|-
| Robert McComb
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1910
| 1919
|-
| L. Villegas
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1920
| 1925
|-
| Albert Martin
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1926
| 1939
|-
| Hugh Cluck
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1940
| 1953
|-
| [[J. C. Martin (Texas politician)|J. C. Martin Jr.]]
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1954
| 1977
|-
| [[Aldo Tatangelo]]
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1978
| 1990
|-
| [[Saul N. Ramirez Jr.]]
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1990
| 1997
|-
| [[Betty Flores]]
| <!-- PORTRAIT-->
| 1998
| 2006
|-
| [[Raul G. Salinas]]
| [[File:Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas IMG 1949.JPG|50px]]
| 2006
| 2014
|-
| [[Pete Saenz]]
| [[File:LCC Trustee President Pete Saenz IMG 1950.JPG|50px]]
| 2014
| 
|-
|}
{{Clear}}{{hidden end}}

The council then named the assistant city manager, Horacio De Leon, as the acting city manager.<ref>{{cite news |author=Julia Wallace |date=May 16, 2017 |title=In fallout from FBI raids, Laredo city manager announces retirement |newspaper=Laredo Morning Times |url=http://www.lmtonline.com/local/politics/article/In-fallout-from-FBI-raids-Laredo-city-manager-11149155.php |access-date=May 17, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lmtonline.com/local/politics/article/Mayor-happy-with-outcome-11151708.php|title=Laredo mayor calls city manager's retirement 'convenient for both sides'|newspaper=Laredo Morning Times|author=Julia Wallace|date=May 2017|access-date=May 18, 2017}}</ref> Robert Alexander Eads was selected as City Manager on March 4, 2020,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/Garner-resigns-as-LPD-chief-11024047.php|title=Ray Garner resgns as LPD chief|newspaper=Laredo Morning Times|date=March 24, 2017|access-date=March 31, 2017}}</ref>

===State and federal representation===
The [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas]] Laredo division is a relatively new building adjacent to the Webb County Courthouse.

The [[United States Border Patrol]] Laredo Sector Headquarters is at 207 W. Del Mar Blvd, Laredo, Texas.

The [[United States Postal Service]] operates its main Post Office at 2700 East Saunders Street south of [[Laredo International Airport]].<ref>"[http://usps.whitepages.com/service/post_office/laredo-2700-e-saunders-st-laredo-tx-1369880 Post Office Location – LAREDO] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714222336/http://usps.whitepages.com/service/post_office/laredo-2700-e-saunders-st-laredo-tx-1369880 |date=14 July 2010 }}." [[United States Postal Service]]. Retrieved May 21, 2010.</ref> Postal branches are downtown and at 2395 East Del Mar Boulevard.<ref>"[http://usps.whitepages.com/service/post_office/del-mar-2395-e-del-mar-blvd-laredo-tx-1432975 Post Office Location – DEL MAR] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713083258/http://usps.whitepages.com/service/post_office/del-mar-2395-e-del-mar-blvd-laredo-tx-1432975 |date=13 July 2010 }}." [[United States Postal Service]]. Retrieved May 21, 2010.</ref><ref>"[http://usps.whitepages.com/service/post_office/el-centro-1300-matamoros-st-laredo-tx-1362172 Post Office Location – EL CENTRO] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714222315/http://usps.whitepages.com/service/post_office/el-centro-1300-matamoros-st-laredo-tx-1362172 |date=14 July 2010 }}." [[United States Postal Service]]. Retrieved May 21, 2010.</ref>

The [[Texas Army National Guard]] armory is at 6001 E. Bob Bullock Loop 20 Laredo, Texas.

The Colburn Memorial United States Army Reserve Center is at 1 W End Washington St, Laredo, Texas.

The [[Texas Department of Criminal Justice]] (TDCJ) operates the Laredo Parole Office.<ref>"[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/parole/parole-directory/paroledir-rgnldisparoff4.htm Parole Division Region IV] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904002737/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/parole/parole-directory/paroledir-rgnldisparoff4.htm |date=4 September 2011 }}." [[Texas Department of Criminal Justice]]. Retrieved May 21, 2010.</ref>

The private prison operator [[GEO Group]] runs the [[Rio Grande Detention Center]] in Laredo, which opened in 2008 and holds a maximum of 1900 federal detainees.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rio Grande Detention Center|url=http://www.geogroup.com/maps/locationdetails/31|website=GEO Group|access-date=July 30, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722020305/http://www.geogroup.com/maps/locationdetails/31|archive-date=July 22, 2016}}</ref>