By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Fernando Garcia is seeking election to the office of County Commissioner Pct. 3.
Garcia will be one of four candidates who will be on the ballot for the office in the March 5 Republican Party Primary Election.
Garcia was born in Uvalde, Texas, and graduated from Uvalde High School in 1986.
He attended Southwest Texas Junior College and earned an associate of arts degree, then attended the University of Texas in Austin, where he earned a bachelor’s of business administration degree in finance.
Following college, Garcia went to work as the office manager for Alta Vista Realty in Uvalde. He also worked as an appraiser for the Uvalde County Appraisal District and for a private company, John Hodges Real Estate Appraisals, in Uvalde.
Garcia moved to Del Rio and has worked as an appraiser for Cadena Appraisal Service here since 2004.
Garcia said he decided to run for county commissioner because it seemed like the next logical step in his community involvement.
“I had been the chair of the Val Verde County Republican Party, and I served on the state Republican Executive Committee for two years. I saw that (Precinct 3) vacancy on the court coming up, and I felt it was something I needed to do. Val Verde County needs a conservative voice on commissioners court, and I want to be that conservative voice,” Garcia said.
If elected, Garcia said there is a slate of priorities he would like to focus on.
“I’ve talked to people in U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s office, and they have these Water Resource Development Act grants, and his south and central regional director told me, ‘Hey, there’s money you all can get in Val Verde County and Del Rio, and you all don’t even apply for these. We can earmark it.
“That kind of got me thinking about looking into applying for grants to help not only Precinct 3, but all of Val Verde County, and if elected, not only do you get me, you get all the contacts I’ve made over the last six years. I have contacts with Sen. Cornyn’s office. I have contacts with the governor’s office. I’m really good friends with Texas Sen. Peter Flores, who sits on Senate Finance, who has said he would help, so I believe I would be able to bring more access to state funds and even federal funds,” Garcia said.
“I’m not going to promise that I’m going to get these, but at least there is a way in,” he added.
“Advocating for the taxpayer isn’t new to me. When the county wanted to use county money to fund the migrant processing center, I was the first one to stand up and say no. At the county, city and school district meeting at the civic center, I was the first one to get up and speak against it, and the following week, at the commissioners court meeting, I got up and spoke against it, and they tabled it and never brought it up again,” Garcia said.
But Garcia said he has other priorities as well.
“I’ve had people in Precinct 3 talk to me that they’re interested in food distribution for Precinct 3. It’s the only precinct that doesn’t (have regular food distribution). They do one in Comstock, but not the rest of Precinct 3. So that is something I’m interested in looking into and might start if elected, because there is need in the precinct,” Garcia said.
Garcia said he has also spoken with an engineering company that writes grants for municipalities and counties.
“He told me that he’d like to come and see what the needs are here and see if they could work with us to fill those needs, and I told him, ‘Maybe we could run fiber optics to Comstock.’ I feel like there are a lot of things that we’re not applying for that I think we could get, and that kind of bugs me,” he said.
“I believe the voters of Precinct 3 should cast their ballots for me because I think I’m the best equipped to do the job from day one. I’ve been involved in county government. I’ve been involved in the precinct. I’m conservative. I’m fiscally conservative,” Garcia said.
“The concerns voters are voicing to me are immigration, the second international bridge and wages at the county, that certain offices aren’t getting paid enough, and so we end up with a revolving door of employees because the lower-range employees aren’t getting paid enough, and that’s something that was surprising to me. Another thing they want is more patrols from the sheriff’s office and night, and I’d like to work on a grant to get a deputy constable to have them do patrols,” he said.
“I moved here, and I’m not a native of Del Rio, but I became involved in this community as soon as I got here. I was on the city’s board of adjustments and on different boards and committees, like the housing authority. I’ve made this my community. I’m going to retire here, so I’m trying to make Del Rio and Val Verde County better not only for me, but for you and for everyone,” Garcia said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
