Riedel, Concha not seeking re-election to San Luis council

SAN LUIS, Ariz. - City council members Nieves Riedel and Dolores Concha will not run to retain their seats in the March 2008 elections, where their seats as well as Guillermina Fuentes' will be up for election in the San Luis city council.

After eight years of serving the city council, both Riedel and Concha said they will dedicate their time to their businesses and their private life.

Fuentes said she cannot comment on her plans regarding the election.

"I feel I have served my time and I should give the opportunity to others. There's a time for everything, even to retire and that time for me has arrived," said Riedel.

She's taking on new projects and among them is starting housing developments in Sonora, Mexico, for which she has made initial contacts, said the 57-year-old.

"I never neglected my business nor my personal life. I managed to balance them with the positions I had," Riedel said.

Originally from Nuevo Leon, Mexico, the former mayor said her long-time dream was to have businesses in Mexico.

"I made my life here, my children grew up here but I have always had Mexico in mind and I'm giving myself that opportunity," Riedel said.

Riedel said she will not continue her political career which she describes as circumstantial.

"I don't have the porfirismo syndrome. I don't consider myself a political model to follow, I think I would be the least appropriate person to give advice on politics, but on business I can."

She added that others who want to serve the people with good intentions should be given the opportunity.

Expressing the same sentiment, Concha is retiring to start a new phase in her personal life as a newlywed to rest and enjoy living with her husband.

"It's almost eight years in the council. It was a good experience - a lot of learning. And if there is a qualified candidate young or old I will support him," Concha said.

She said her time in the council allowed her to learn more about her community and understand that "there are many different ways of thinking. That's why the council need to have current criticism. We were it, we broke a dynasty in power for over 12 years. But that doesn't mean we were a group, we are friends but we also have our different opinions and it was seen a lot of the times and

we voted differently."

Concha, 69, who recently opened a restaurant in town, said she plans to move from the city but still manage her business.

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Cesar Neyoy is a staff writer for Bajo El Sol, The Sun's Spanish-language sister publication from which this story is reprinted.