MARFA — At Wednesday morning’s meeting, Presidio County Treasurer Frances Garcia announced her retirement from her position at the end of the year, just halfway through her third term in office. The commissioners voted to approve the resignation, but all expressed appreciation for her hard work.
Garcia is a lifelong Marfa resident who has worked in county service for over two decades. In 2002, she was sworn in as deputy clerk for then-County Clerk Brenda Silva Bentley, where she served for six years. She then worked as an administrative assistant for the office of the Presidio County Attorney before deciding to run for the office of treasurer in 2015.
While the commissioners court makes decisions about how the county’s money is spent, the treasurer makes that process actually happen. For 10 years, Garcia has been responsible for interacting between the county and banks, recording expenditures, reconciling bank statements, preparing payroll, and a wealth of other vitally important tasks that keep the county running.
Garcia was involved in a lawsuit filed in July 2019 by former county employee Katie Sanchez, who claimed that her position in the now-obsolete Office of Management and Budget was cut from county government in retaliation for her unsuccessful bid for treasurer in 2018. (The ultimate payout was $700,000, which the county covered through its insurance under the Texas Association of Counties.)
Verdict aside, voters expressed confidence in Garcia and elected her for a third time in 2022, where she continued to serve in the vital office as the county weathered difficult budget deliberations and attempted to make up for a backlog of poor audits.
Garcia says that she plans to unwind from her many years of service by traveling and spending time with family.
Precinct 4 Commissioner David Beebe expressed special thanks to Garcia and for all of those who keep the county ticking. “Like many offices in this county, it wouldn’t run even one day without them,” he said.