not accurate<\/a>. The first woman elected to the city council was Arlene Stark Quenon.<\/p>\nAfter serving two terms on the city council, she chose not to run for a third term. Although rumors circulated in 1988 that she would run for mayor, she did not.<\/p>\n
Instead, Chac\u00f3n ran for County Judge unseating Luther Jones on with 51% of the vote on March 13, 1990. On April 12, 1994, Chac\u00f3n lost her first election, when Chuck Mattox defeated her by 512 votes in the runoff election.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Chac\u00f3n has been honored with several awards including \u201cWomen of the Year in Politics,\u201d named to the Texas Women\u2019s Hall of Fame and a YISD school named after her, the Alicia R. Chac\u00f3n International School.<\/p>\n
Chac\u00f3n will be buried tomorrow at Fort Bliss National Cemetery. Visitation is today at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church, starting at 4:00 and ending at 8:00pm.<\/p>\n
El Paso Herald Post reached out to several current and past elected officials, and other prominent individuals for comment about the legacy Chac\u00f3n has left in El Paso.<\/p>\n
Former State Representative Joe Pickett said that one of his proudest legislations was resolving water issues at Westway. Pickett wrote that \u201cmy name is on the legislation, but Alicia Chacon was instrumental in making safe, reliable, and affordable water service available to an area that had been underserved for too long.\u201d<\/p>\n
El Paso attorney, Albert Armendariz, Jr. called Chac\u00f3n the \u201cGrand Dame of El Paso politics.\u201d Businessman Richard Castro said that Chac\u00f3n \u201cwanted to be helpful\u2026she wanted to represent her community\u2026she wanted people to be the best they could be and wanted to find ways to help them achieve a better life!\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Senior Vice President Administrative Services, Fermin Acosta, Jr., said that he once shared the story of how \u201cdisgusted\u201d his boss was after telling her that he repainted the building because \u201cJudge Alicia Chacon called to ask us to assist her sprucing up the neighborhood,\u201d because \u201ceveryone in the neighborhood had just freshly painted\u201d their properties. Acosta writes that he and Chac\u00f3n \u201chad a good laugh\u201d over the incident years later.<\/p>\n
El Paso County Commissioner, Iliana Hoguin, told us that \u201cEl Paso has lost an incredible community leader and political trailblazer.\u201d Her husband, former City Representative Eddie Holguin, Jr., said that \u201cAlicia Chac\u00f3n was a force of nature,\u201d who \u201cbelieved that by working together, our community could accomplish anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
City Representative Lily Lim\u00f3n wrote that \u201cAlicia was a friend, mentor and in her own words on one of the last days we were able to talk, her hermana.\u201d Lim\u00f3n added that Chac\u00f3n \u201chad experienced so many roadblocks in her life, yet she was always positive and firmly rooted in the belief of hope.\u201d She concluded with, \u201cmy heart is broken without her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Readers interested in learning more about Alicia Chac\u00f3n\u2019s life and legacy can read \u201cThe Grand Dame of El Paso Politics,\u201d The Life and Legacy of Alicia Chac\u00f3n, available online for free by clicking on this link<\/a>.<\/p>\nCover image: Illustration Alicia Chac\u00f3n by Mart\u00edn Paredes.<\/p>\n
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