Los Fresnos Mayoral Candidate Nataly Ramos on Smoke, Flooding and Transparency
Most people in the Rio Grande Valley know Los Fresnos as the town they drive through on the way to South Padre Island. Nataly Ramos wants it known for something else.
Ramos is a candidate for mayor of Los Fresnos [CONFIRM: election date]. She grew up there and says she joined the Army at 17. She has served nearly 25 years, now in the Army Reserve, and her husband is a retired soldier. After more than two decades away, she moved home. She sat down with The 956 Report to talk about the concerns residents have been bringing to her campaign.
"I'm not a politician. I'm a soldier," Ramos said. "I'm about service."
SMOKE OVER LOS FRESNOS
Ramos said she first paid attention to air quality when residents began asking her about smoke from large outdoor burning inside city limits. Then she saw it from her own house.
She described seeing photos and videos of debris piles about twice the height of a person, burning for hours.
Ramos said she reported the burning to the Los Fresnos Police Department. She said officers told her the property owner had a city permit to burn from sunup to sundown. She said she then filed a complaint with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. According to Ramos, TCEQ replied that the burning was inside city limits and therefore a city matter. She has filed a public information request with the city to learn what the permit allows and how it was issued.
The 956 Report has not independently reviewed the permit or TCEQ's response. [UPDATE if obtained.]
"If I go burn something in my backyard, I'm going to get fined," Ramos said. "Now we're talking about a huge scale."
When she posted about it, some residents pushed back and worried they would not be allowed to barbecue. Ramos said that misses the point. "It's not your son that has the asthma," she said. "It's not your grandma that's having to walk around with an oxygen tank."
The concern fits a larger regional picture. In the American Lung Association's 2026 State of the Air report, the Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville metro area, which includes Los Fresnos, ranked second-worst in the nation for year-round particle pollution. That was a record high for the area, up from 16th the year before. The same metro ranked fourth-worst for short-term particle pollution. McAllen-Edinburg ranked 17th for year-round particle pollution. The Lung Association gave Cameron County a failing grade for year-round particle pollution.
FLOODING AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Ramos said even moderate rain brings the smell of sewage to parts of Los Fresnos.
"Just a little bit of rain and you can smell the sewer," she said. "That is unacceptable, especially when we're trying to grow this quickly."
She described helping residents in a neighborhood just outside city limits. She said she pressed for help there, and crews then dug out drainage ditches, cut grass and repaired roads. Afterward, she said, a resident messaged her that their home had not flooded during the next storm.
She also described meeting a 71-year-old woman living less than a mile from the city park without electricity or running water. Ramos said the woman makes several trips a week just to get water.
"Just because they're not within city limits doesn't mean they're not part of our community," Ramos said.
Growth upstream matters here too. Development in Hidalgo County cities adds pavement and storm runoff, and much of the Valley's drainage moves east toward Cameron County and the Laguna Madre. Communities downstream have little say in how upstream cities manage that water.
WHY SHE RAN
Ramos said she had not planned to run for office. She decided after a rezoning case near her home.
She said the city mailed notices to residents in an older neighborhood where she grew up. Many of the residents are longtime homeowners, many speak mostly Spanish, and many live on fixed incomes. Ramos said many of them did not understand the letter. Some thought they were being bought out or forced to move. She said she met with them, walked them through the map, and went with them to the Planning and Zoning meeting.
According to Ramos, residents asked questions about studies and impacts. She said the commission voted to approve the rezoning anyway, and residents left feeling unheard.
"They had legitimate concerns, legitimate questions," she said. "Where is the study for this, where is the study for that? Without having answers, they still moved forward."
TRANSPARENCY AND PUBLIC RECORDS
Ramos said transparency is the center of her campaign. During the race she has been posting council meeting agendas and budget information so residents know what is coming up.
She said the city recently posted a public notice of an opening on a city board for the first time. Before that, she said, people were appointed without the public being told.
She also criticized how long it takes the city to answer public records requests. She said one of her requests took about 50 days. Under the Texas Public Information Act, governments must promptly produce records or ask the attorney general for a ruling within 10 business days. Some requests take longer when a ruling is sought.
"This should be public information," Ramos said. "Why are we having to struggle to access all of this?"
REACHING PEOPLE WHO AREN'T ONLINE
Ramos supports streaming meetings and posting information online. But she said block walking showed her how many residents are not online at all. Some had not heard about city events such as the annual parade.
She said the city should also use bulletin boards, printed notices and other offline ways to reach people.
"We have to take care of that community that was here for us when we were growing up," she said.
WHAT'S NEXT
Ramos said she will keep pushing on these issues whether or not she wins.
"Whether I get in there or not, I'm still going to be helping the people," she said.
More information about her campaign is at https://www.natalyramos.com/
SOURCES
American Lung Association, State of the Air 2026, year-round particle pollution findings
American Lung Association, State of the Air 2026, Texas press release
Interview with Nataly Ramos, conducted by Joshua Moroles for The 956 Report, October 2026
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