Tom Swale “was exactly what Vallarta needed at the time he was here”

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Gene Mendosa arguably ran and sweat harder than any of the queens who participated in this year’s Drag Derby.

The annual event is a highlight for Vallarta Pride revelers, a fundraiser and community-builder presented by the Amapas Neighborhood Association. It’s also the brainchild of Tom Swale — the president of the association who passed away in late May — and, as a volunteer, Gene visibly worked to insure the event went off without a hitch, just as Tom had done. His commitment that day is perhaps the single greatest evidence of Tom’s influence in this community.

Six years ago, Gene had to be talked into joining the Amapas Neighborhood Association. The owner of Fusion Gourmet restaurant, he was an obvious prospective member.

“I was reluctant to get into the association because I know it’s a lot of work,” he said, “and you can’t keep people happy. Some people are going to be mad at you for some reason. Not everyone can get their way.”

He credits Tom with singlehandedly revitalizing a moribund organization and inciting in him the interest and energy to become a better supporter of the community.

“First of all, he changed the entire mechanics of the neighborhood association because before that it was like a club,” he said. “He turned it into an association that is very prominent in the city. We have a direct line to the mayor, the chief of police. Anything that happens, now the local government will listen to us, and it’s due to the six years relationship with them. We did everything from buying a police car when there were no police cars around, new streets, new lighting. At the same time the activism kept some developers from building these monstrosities, and we were successful. They could have been 12 stories instead of five or six. Tom was pivotal in all of this. He was the engine behind the neighborhood association. He made us work really, really hard.”

“Sometimes I have more work to do for the association than for my business,” he added. “Tom came with all that energy. He was a great leader.”

In a few short and productive years, the neighborhood of Amapas has grown and the results prove it. According to Mendosa, policing was an issue here. Burglars and robberies were common and increased pressure from the association created a more visible presence from law enforcement. And even the relationship between the police and visitors to the area evolved. “We really worked with the city,” he said, “because actually the police were harassing a lot of tourists, you know, shaking them down for money. And we put a stop to that. That’s decreased a lot.”

The association, under Tom’s direction, rewired the light posts on Hwy 200 and just last year invested in building a sidewalk along that busy highway. On Calle Pulpito work has begun to widen and revamp the street, to include moving all the utility services (telephone and power lines) underground. The association has partnered with the city to fill potholes in the area, and rebuild a dilapidated staircase leading from the highway to the beach near Mantamar.

Tom’s interest in the Amapas Neighborhood Association, according to Gene, came about after he and his partner Carl were robbed at gunpoint in their home shortly after moving to Vallarta. The two had gone to Costco that day and were followed home. They worked with police to identify the perpetrators and eventually recouped everything that was stolen. It created in the couple a resolve to work in the community to ensure situations like that one wouldn’t happen again.

“He was a great example of the behaviour of how to give back to the community that you’ve chosen to live in,” said Julie Guerrero, a real estate agent and co-proprietor of No Way Jose restaurant.

“I would watch him,” she added, “the way he could create a cohesive group among people who had lived here much longer than he had, and actually keep people focused on the goal. That was one thing that I always noticed about him. It’s not personal. Things here can get super personal, quickly. With Tom, it was always about focusing on what needed to be done. He was exactly what Vallarta needed at the time that he was here, doing what he was doing.”

Tracy Parks, the owner of Incanto cabaret and piano bar, agrees. “He had a way of getting people to do what he needed them to do without it becoming a lot of struggle. People would actually show up when he called a meeting.”

“When he had his Amapas Neighborhood Association meetings here at Incanto,” he said, “the last one, over those building ordinances, there must have been 80 people here. And he was running around the room, fielding questions, and saying ‘I’ve got to make sure I get to you,’ because everybody had a little different opinion and he was not doing the talking. He was doing the listening. Almost all the time. And he knew how to pull the talent out of a person. He knew how to find out what each person was good at and to make it shine, rather than just saying, ‘I need you to do this.’”

Gene Mendosa realized in Tom a respect that led to a friendship. “I always felt like he was more like an older brother, a father figure, but at the same time we would kick back, have a margarita, and talk who I was dating or what was going on, what we did when we were young, just laugh about it.”

“He was a great combination between a boss, a leader, a friend, family member who was always there for you, and he always had your back and that’s why so many people miss him and so many people are sorry that he’s gone.”

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