Meet La Marque’s New City Manager, Cesar Garcia

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

How do you get out of an adult rut that you might not even have known you were stuck in? Well, if you have some teenage children, you can let them be your guide.

In the case of the Garcia household, the eldest daughter teamed with her siblings to convince her dad and mom they needed to move out of their small town in South Florida and go on an adventure in one of America’s urban centers. 

The list of suggestions generated by the children included Phoenix, Atlanta, Washington D.C., and Houston.

Not on that list was La Marque, but Cesar Garcia, at the prompting of his children who were eager to get out and experience America, threw his hat in the ring as Parks and Recreation director for the city of Galveston. 

He and his family made the move from one hot humid part of the country over to another during the peak of our National Emergency with the pandemic. He took up the reigns as Parks and Rec Director for Galveston in July 2020. 

After a short time in Galveston, he and his family elected to settle in La Marque, and the children quickly adapted to their new environment joining in all the athletic and other extracurricular activities they could possibly find. 

“Our kids’ activities are part of the joy of living and keep us very busy,” said Garcia, who is now serving as the City Manager for La Marque.

Mr. Garcia had never set his sights on a City Manager position. He had always seen himself as a parks and rec kind of person. Growing up in South Florida, he kept busy with the athletic offerings from local parks and rec and was part of his school’s athletic teams.

City Manager seemed out of character for him, and it would most likely have stayed off of his list of things to do had it not been for the nudging of his children to relocate. Then as fate would have it, while he was getting his family settled in La Marque, the city posted a job opening for City Manager.

Garcia was born in the Dominican Republic. His father brought him along with his mother to the United States when he was still in diapers. His father didn’t stay around for very long, leaving him to be raised by his mother. His school years were filled with life in West Palm Beach Fla., which for him meant at times a clash of cultures.

“I’m Hispanic, but grew up in a Black community,” explained Garcia.

He spent his summertime back in the Dominican Republic with his grandmother, who only spoke Spanish.  

Because of his early immersion in Spanish, his English was limited, and he developed a bit of a stutter when he spoke English. To solve this problem, he spent time watching his favorite TV shows such as “The A-Team” or “Saved by the Bell.” Then he would mimic what he heard till he overcame his stuttering.

For most of his childhood, he was an only child. His mom remarried, and a baby sister came along when he was about 11 years old. Also, he gained a stepdaddy who took him fishing. 

Garcia was responsible for contributing to his family household expenses when he was just a young man and did what he could such as mowing yards, passing out flyers for small business owners, babysitting, washing cars, and helping with the take down and prep of food trucks. 

“I wanted to be independent and help my family, so I worked as much as I could, and I wanted to go to college,” said Garcia. 

 Then he moved into restaurant and hospitality work. “I held every position available in restaurants. At one time I thought I wanted to be a cook,” said Garcia, who did have his turn in the kitchen as a sous chef. 

Right out of high school, he joined the National Guard. With basic training over, he moved to Miami and enrolled in college. He completed both a bachelor’s and master’s degree and moved into his career roles serving in Parks and Rec departments in Florida.

If it weren’t for the persuasiveness of his children, the city of LaMarque might not have had a chance to hire Mr. Garcia, who brings to the position a wealth of professional and personal experience in overcoming challenges and striving to develop the potential of a community. 

“There is a lot of unique talent in the city and the people of La Marque have a lot of love and passion for their community,” said Garcia. 

 Garcia believes everyone has something to contribute and he is eager to put his believes into practice for La Marque, “I firmly believe the solutions to the problems we are facing today are within us,” he said.