Laredo Commission for Women elects new officers, adopts 2025–26 action plan and seeks city support for webpage and social media

The Laredo Commission for Women voted Oct. 14 to approve a slate of officers for 2025–26 and to adopt an updated action plan that asks the City of Laredo for financial assistance to create an informative web page and social-media presence.

The nominations presented by Laura Yanes, chair of the nominating committee, were accepted by the commission. Lupita Ramirez was approved to lead the commission as chair, Lehi Guajardo was approved as vice president, Sandra Cavazos Ayana as parliamentarian and Frida Figueroa as secretary. The vote to accept the committee’s slate was recorded as unanimous; the record does not list an exact roll-call tally.

The commission approved a draft 2025–26 action plan with several standing priorities: voter-registration and participation work, breast-cancer–awareness activities, participation in International Women’s Day events organized by the Mexican consulate, a Women’s Hall of Fame recognition and a women’s-health promotion effort in May coordinated with the Laredo Health Department. Commissioners amended the draft language before the vote to (1) change an item labeled “safety and health” to the broader phrase “women’s issues” and (2) ask the city for assistance in funding — not developing — a public web page and related social media support. The amended action plan passed by motion (mover recorded as Delvia; second by Esther Filova) and a unanimous voice vote; the minutes do not show an itemized vote count.

Most of the meeting’s discussion focused on how the commission would present the web-and-social-media request to City Council and on practical options for hosting and maintenance. Frida Figueroa, who reported for the website committee, walked members through three options discussed by the committee: a commercial host such as GoDaddy (committee estimate roughly $120–$250 per year depending on storage), a WordPress site with paid hosting (approximately $50–$100 per year), or a free Google Sites/WordPress option that would lack a custom domain and look more basic. The committee recommended a plan that pairs an informational website (calendar, officer bios, past Hall of Fame recipients, minutes and agenda documents) with a social-media account for more frequent promotion and community engagement. As a fallback if the council does not fund hosting, the committee proposed using a Facebook page with pinned posts to serve key information.

Commissioners agreed the website and social accounts should be managed by a small appointed committee to control content and approve posts; the website committee named during discussion includes Frida Figueroa, Bianca Ramirez, Laura Yanes and other volunteer members. The action approved by the commission directs the committee to finalize language and present the plan and budget request to City Council at a future meeting (date to be scheduled by staff). The commission will circulate a corrected final draft of the action plan to members before that presentation.

Votes at a glance: • Approval of minutes for Sept. 9 and Aug. 11, 2025 — approved (motion by Silvia Palomo; recorded as passed). Exact vote counts not specified. • Acceptance of nominating committee slate (Lupita Ramirez, Lehi Guajardo, Sandra Cavazos Ayana, Frida Figueroa) — approved (unanimous voice vote; exact tally not specified). • Adoption of 2025–26 action plan with corrections (rename item to “women’s issues”; request city assistance to fund web page/social media) — approved (mover: Delvia; second: Esther Filova; unanimous voice vote; exact tally not specified).

Next steps and context: The commission will finalize the action-plan text (including updated committee membership) and present a funding request to City Council; members discussed preparing cost estimates for the council presentation. The commission also scheduled its next meeting for Nov. 12, 2025, and plans a group photo of incoming officers for publication.