County renames park after former judge
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Carlos “Chale” Garcia served Frio for 20 years before resigning
A year after commissioners voted to strike an agenda item that would name Frio Regional Park after former Frio County Judge Carlos “Chale” Garcia, the court unanimously decided to dedicate the park to the late judge.
“This was an agenda item back in June [2023],” Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho said during a special-called meeting on Thursday, June 13. “We removed it from that agenda due to the fact we were waiting approval from the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. The consideration then [in June 2023] was that when the park was brought back in 2002-2003, [that] this has been the only huge project that has been brought to Frio County since then.”
Garcia served as county judge for 20 years, during which Pearsall and Frio County saw a number of development projects related to the energy industry boom in South Texas and the establishment of several detention facilities in the region.
In January 2005, Correctional Services Corporation announced that it had been awarded a contract by the US Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to build a 1,020-bed detention center in Pearsall.
At the time, Garcia lauded the government’s decision to bring the ICE facility to Frio County.
“I am very proud; this was a team effort,” Garcia said in a Jan. 26 2004, meeting.
Garcia was also a proponent of a five-year Chapter 381 Economic Development Agreement with Chesapeake Energy in May 2011 that included a stipulation that the energy company agree to guarantee the creation of 250 full-time jobs for all five years of the contract.
Frio County and Pearsall city elected officials celebrated the opening of the Camino Real Regional Park in May 2004.
“You’re not going to find 250 jobs just anywhere,” Judge Garcia said at the time.
Camacho said she had listened to some citizens and prior commissioners regarding their desire to rename the park after the late judge.
Pct. 2 Comm. Mario Martinez made the motion to rename the park, supported by Pct. 1 Comm. Joe Vela and Camacho; Pct. 3 Comm. Raul Carrizales and Pct. 4 Comm. Danny Cano were not present for the meeting.
The county was granted the TPWD grant for the park in 1999, but commissioners did not approve construction until July 2002. The delay in approving the park followed nearly three years of debate between commissioners and Garcia regarding his push to build a golf course on the property.
A proposed plan for the park was rejected by commissioners in a split vote by the court in April 2002. The plan included a gazebo, a pond, fishing pier, a playground and a nature trail on 17 acres with an estimated price tag between $250,000 and $300,000.
Garcia and former Pct. 3 Comm. Ruben Maldonado voted in favor of the proposed plan but failed to gain the support of former Pct. 4 Comm. Jose “Pepe” Flores, Pct. 1 Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Salinas and Pct. 2 Comm. Jack Shanklin.
The five-acre park was slated for completion by August 31, 2003 in order to meet requirements for grant funding from TPWD. It officially opened on Monday, May 3, 2004, as the El Camino Real Regional Park – it would later be referred to as Frio Regional Park – shortly after Garcia’s third term in office.
Situated between FM 1581 and IH-35, the park features a lighted pavilion, basketball and volleyball courts, restrooms, a horseshoe pit, a playground, picnic tables, barbecue grills, and parking for 100 vehicles. The park was built with a $274,000 matching grant from TPWD; Frio County matched that with in-kind labor and cash.
The city of Pearsall provided installation of a wastewater line from the city’s wastewater treatment facility.
Garcia served two terms as a justice of the peace, beginning in 1989, before being elected as county judge in 1994. Garcia had won a bid for re-election as county judge in 2014 but tendered his resignation in 2015 on the same day he was indicted on third-degree felony charges by a Frio County grand jury for his alleged misuse of official information. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor a year and a half later. Garcia died March 29, 2023.
The county has planned a dedication ceremony on Monday, July 1 at 10 a.m.
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