Promises fulfilled
Garcia, a savvy politician and proven leader, deserves chance to get second term in office.
Among the frequent criticisms we hear about Harris County Commissioners Court is that it’s an opaque repository for political insiders, an entity with limited authority beyond building and maintaining roads, shepherding flood control projects and rubber-stamping budgets.
When Democrat Adrian Garcia challenged Republican incumbent Jack Morman in 2018 for Precinct 2 commissioner, he set out to break that mold. Garcia, 61, a former Houston police officer, city councilman and Harris County sheriff, ran as an advocate for criminal justice reform, environmental justice, and for people without health insurance. He pledged to direct resources to long-neglected neighborhoods in his district, which spans eastern Harris County, North Houston and leafy suburbs such as Friendswood.
As commissioner, Garcia has fulfilled many of those promises and deserves a chance to defend his seat this fall against Morman, who wants it back.
While Republican county commissioners attempt to undo the county's existing misdemeanor bail reform agreement, Garcia has been a steadfast advocate of staying the course on bail reform since signing on to a consent decree to settle the Harris County litigation in 2019. In a precinct where some county residents are 56 percent more likely to be diagnosed with cancer, Garcia secured funding for air quality monitors. Garcia partnered with the Baylor College of Medicine to bring SmartPods — a one-stop shop for health care services, including clinic spaces, pharmacies and biosafety labs — to medically under-served residents in Pasadena and Aldine. He was the driving force behind bringing a $7.6 million park to northeast Harris County for children and adults with disabilities, an all-inclusive jewel for an area desperate for green space.
“I have been working tirelessly on all fronts to address all the things that I campaigned on and that my constituents have focused on,” Garcia told the editorial board.
However, Garcia’s first term also included some notable blemishes.
While Garcia champions his support for law enforcement and last year spearheaded a nearly $15 million investment in technological advancements for officers, he has thus far been reluctant to meet Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s funding requests to hire prosecutors to address the county’s massive case backlog. Garcia told the editorial board he wants to first see Ogg fill the dozens of vacancies in her office before asking for new positions. With the backlog a key contributor to the county’s spike in violent crime, we’d like to see Garcia act with more urgency to get cases resolved and alleviate overcrowding in the county jail.
We’d also like to see him be more transparent in his campaign finance disclosures. He follows the law, but the law governing political contributions to Harris County commissioners is weaker than in other counties, and Garcia told us he’s not willing to go the extra step, as his colleague Tom Ramsey does, to publicly identify his donors’ occupations.
The Houston Chronicle’s Zach Despart reported recently that 68 percent of Garcia’s campaign contributions — he has a war chest of $2.1 million, according to his most recent campaign finance report — during his first term came from vendors with business before the county. There is no law against accepting donations from county vendors, and Garcia is hardly alone in this practice — all four county commissioners, Republicans and Democrats, have filled their campaign coffers with vendor cash — and Garcia has rejected any insinuation that the donations influence his decisions.
“No one in my years in elected office has given me a contribution and then expected anything back from me,” Garcia told the editorial board. Garcia added that he supported Commissioner Rodney Ellis’ 2019 proposal — which would have required the state Legislature’s approval — to establish a mandatory registration of lobbyists and a blackout period for campaign contributions to elected officials from firms who seek or receive county contracts. The commissioners should champion the issue again next session.
Another bone to pick with Garcia is that he joined Ellis in redrawing county precinct lines to make their seats far safer — the same gerrymandering that Democrats accuse Republicans of doing in legislative and congressional districts. Legal or not, hypocrisy is never an admirable quality, and redistricting should be about fair representation, not job security for incumbents.
One of Garcia’s opponents, Justice of the Peace George Risner, 71, has longstanding community ties in the precinct, having served in the area since 1987. Risner’s record of public service is admirable, and he is a vocal proponent of addressing the county’s case backlog and reducing overcrowding in the county jail.
Gary Harrison, 60, a retired police officer, also is in the race, promising to be a bridge between the public and private sector.
Yet Risner has only $51,550 in campaign funds on hand, while Harrison has not raised any money. With an experienced field of candidates in the Republican primary, including Morman, it will take an experienced, well-funded Democrat to stand up to the challenge.
That’s Garcia. He’s a savvy politician and proven leader with a litany of accomplishments benefiting his constituents. Democrats would be wise to stick with him.