Tony Renteria, mayoral candidate, courtesy photo
Mayoral candidate Tony Renteria had a chance to run for mayor a few years back and didn’t. He regretted it.
“I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and I just start reading my Bible. And I’m looking through there and in my heart,” he said.
One such occasion, he prayed.
“I just asked God, ‘Lord, if this is for me, you know, give me a sign,’” Renteria recalled. “I got a phone call at 6 that morning from somebody here saying that there was a group of ladies that were praying that I would jump in this race.”
Like Gideon, who needed to see both the wet fleece and dry fleece, Renteria asked for another sign.
“There were a few people that I honestly didn’t think loved me very much that contacted a friend of mine and said, ‘Hey, if Tony will jump in this race, we want to support him,’” Renteria said.
“That was confirmation enough, and I said, ‘All right.’”
Race for mayor: This is one story in a series about the 2024 race for mayor. Click here to get an overview and links to other stories in the series.
What makes him tick
“I’m obviously incredibly conservative – most likely the most conservative in this race. I’ve worked in the trenches long enough that I understand government at a much higher level than most people,” Renteria said.
Renteria is the founder and chairman of LUCA – Latinos United for Conservative Action. He described the group as a combination of Biblical and constitutional values.
As one example of recent advocacy, LUCA led the protest against sexually explicit books in the school libraries in the Fort Worth Independent School District. The district removed three books at first and more than a hundred later for further review. The district, by the way, has been accused of censorship.
Renteria said removing books was the right thing to do.
“We went into that school district, found out that there’s three books that were clearly pornographic – clearly pornographic in nature — and hat they were in elementary schools,” Renteria said. His group gathered concerned parents.
“We attended a school board meeting. We went there and protested,” he said.
Renteria’s group also opposes those who put up money for minors to travel out of state for sex change surgery. Transitioning a child is already against Texas law, but Renteria thinks the law should also prevent putting up the money to travel out of state.
“We have to protect these children. They can’t protect themselves,” he said.
He’s also staunchly pro-life and takes a conservative stand with the border and illegal immigration.
Personal life
Renteria attended Texas Tech but did not finish his degree.
“I was with the CPA firm at the time, was working at that time
on an audit with them,” he said.
“I do have four years of school, but I never went back,” he said.
“I’ve worked with forensic CPAs,” he added – saying he learned principles he can apply in other areas of life. He also worked with CPA firms in Dallas.
Renteria is the CFO for a Ralls-based company called Texas Power Suppliers which installs and maintains overhead and underground power lines.
He was previously the president of Texas Custom Wine Works and previously the Senior VP at Ki-Corps.
“I have two daughters,” Renteria said, and two grandsons.
He also wanted to point out he’s among the top local donors to Republicans in Texas.
Local priorities
“First and foremost, we have to take a look at law enforcement and the first responders. Our police officers and firefighters are making less than even our neighboring larger counties,” he said.
While police salaries are not enough, he said, the crime rate is too high.
“There’s been a drive-by shooting almost every night in Lubbock,” he said. “You worry about the fentanyl crisis and what people are going to try to give your kid.”
Renteria also wants the city to pay for repairs to sewer lines in the alleys. A recent move by the city to make homeowners pay is not right, as far as he’s concerned.
“They’re shifting that blame back to the resident who already is struggling to pay their bills. They’re trying to decide – do I pay the light bill, or do I eat this week? Do I put gas in the car, or do I walk to work so we can pay the rent?”
But some of those sewer lines are damaged by heavy trucks – including city trucks – going through the alleys, he said.
Renteria also thinks the City Council was wrong to stop two proposals for student housing projects in the last year – one in the South Overton Neighborhood and the other in Tech Terrace.
“You have to look at the greater good that is providing rather than, you know, 20 or 30 people that don’t want something right there that could greatly benefit the entire city,” Renteria said.
When he was a legislative director for State Representative Carl Isett, he worked with the office of Texas Comptroller to create an accounting method to save taxpayer money. He wants to use that method on every department in the city – looking for “the little traps” where money is spent that shouldn’t be.
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