Gustavo L. Garcia

Gustavo L. "Gus" Garcia (January 23, 1934 – December 17, 2018) was an American politician who served as the first (and only) Hispanic mayor of Austin, Texas.

Early life
Garcia was born in 1934 in Zapata, Texas, a poor border town, where his father ran a small grocery store. When he was 10, he moved to Laredo with his mother and siblings, where he enrolled in 7th grade.

Garcia enlisted in the United States Army in 1954. When Garcia returned to Laredo, he married Marina Gonzalez in 1957. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Austin, where he enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. He soon encountered discrimination, and was barred from fraternities.

Garcia earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1959. Garcia opened his own company, and for years, Garcia was the only Hispanic accountant in town.

Public Service
Despite leaving the commission, Garcia continued to be involved in politics and the ongoing civil rights struggle. He turned his attention to the Austin school board. In 1971 the first African-American school board member, Wilhelmina R. Delco, led a failed effort to appoint Garcia to the board to fill an unexpired term. He ran for an open seat in 1972 and won.

The practice of desegregation busing had begun, but the Austin school district resisted, fighting a federal discrimination order in court. The school district had been found in violation of the 1964.

Garcia, who had three children enrolled in Austin schools, supported court-ordered busing. However a majority of the board fought the busing decree in court, including Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who was the school board president. Garcia consistently voted against the school district's appeals of the discrimination lawsuit.

In 1975 Garcia won a second term to the board and fellow board members chose him as president of the board. At the end of his second term in 1978 he left office. He ran for the State Board of Education in 1978 and 1982, losing both times to Will Davis. After his attempts to win statewide office, Garcia turned his focus to his accounting business.

City Council
Garcia first ran for Austin City Council in 1991. On May 4, he won a majority of the votes and advanced to a run-off. On May 18, 1991 he beat Gilbert Martinez to secure a seat on the council. He was reelected in 1994 to Place 5 and again in 1997, to Place 2.

Once on the council, Garcia closed his CPA business and focused himself on his council work, beginning with youth and housing programs. For example, he successfully helped start an anti-graffiti program that also provides family counseling to counter poverty and patterns of alienation. His efforts yielded numerous East Austin facilities, like the Cepeda Branch Library, the Zavala recreation center, Plaza Saltillo, the Mexican American Cultural Center and Tillery Square, an affordable housing development. Austin–Bergstrom International Airport was completed during his tenure on the council. When deregulation proponents proposed the city sell its public electric utility, Garcia was key in keeping what is now Austin Energy in the public's hands. Garcia supported the successful acquisition of significant acreage for nature preserves and parks.

After being put on the ballot by a petition, Austin voters overwhelmingly passed the SOS (Save Our Springs) ordinance on August 8, 1992. In December 1994, a jury in Hays County overturned SOS and the city council was evenly divided over whether to appeal the decision. Mayor Bruce Todd, Ronnie Reynolds and Charles Urdy, opposed the appeal. Max Nofziger, Jackie Goodman and Brigid Shea were in favor. Garcia's vote was the deciding factor. He voted in favor and the city appealed and won. The court reinstated the SOS ordinance in 1996.

Mayor
Garcia was elected mayor of Austin on November 6, 2001. Mayor Kirk Watson had stepped down to run for state office and Garcia ran in a special election. He won 59% of the vote in a field of eight candidates.

Garcia faced many challenges, including tough budget conditions and a development agreement with Stratus Properties. He overcame opposition to institute Austin's smoking ban. Garcia served nine years as a city council member and 19 months as mayor.

He did not seek reelection in the 2003 Austin mayoral election.

Personal life
Garcia married Marina Gonzalez in 1957, and they remained married until his death. The couple had three sons and five grandchildren. Garcia died in Austin, Texas on December 17, 2018, at the age of 84.