Harris County residents are renewing calls for an election to fill a county commissioner seat they argue is vacant.
A lawsuit filed against members of the Harris County Commissioners Court asserts that Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia (D) vacated his seat when he took a conflicting government job serving on the board of the Gulf Coast Protection District (GCPD).
One of the plaintiffs, Pastor Richard Vega, is seeking a court order to force Harris County commissioners to recognize the vacancy and call an election for May 2025 to fill the Precinct 2 seat.
Vega intends to run for that seat as a Republican.
“I’m running because Precinct 2 needs a Commissioner committed to prioritizing law enforcement and securing the infrastructure and investment we need, as well as restoring accountability and integrity to our County government after years of arrogant waste and abuse,” said Vega. “This vacancy is a Christmas gift to Precinct 2 because we have a chance to elect a leader with the right priorities.”
An amended complaint filed in November states that as a matter of law, Garcia “automatically resigned his position as Commissioner, because (among other things) the offices involve overlapping authority to tax residents of the same jurisdiction (Harris County).”
Under the Texas Election Code, if an officer “accepts another office and the two offices may not lawfully be held simultaneously, a vacancy in the first office occurs on the date the person qualifies for the other office.”
Garcia was first elected to the county’s governing body in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022.
The commissioners court first appointed Garcia to the newly created Gulf Coast Protection District board in 2021 and reappointed him in 2023. Commissioners replaced Garcia on the board in August 2024, shortly after the lawsuit against Garcia was originally filed in June 2024.
Throughout his time on the GCPD board, Garcia continued to vote as a commissioner and draw a salary.
A second plaintiff, Harris County taxpayer Mark Goloby, is seeking to stop the county from paying Garcia’s commissioner salary.
Attorney Jerad Najvar, who represents Goloby and Vega, said during a December 31 press conference that Harris County commissioners should have known about this conflict “long before they made this appointment.”
Najvar said the “essential problem” is that Garcia’s duties as a commissioner and as a member of the GCPD “are in irreconcilable conflict” because “you can’t sit on both sides of the negotiating table” when making decisions that impact local taxpayers.
“That’s a problem under Texas law,” he said. “Simply replacing him on the second board is not enough to fix the problem.”
Adrian Garcia resigned as commissioner in August 2023. Ever since that day, he’s been illegally drawing his very substantial commissioner salary, over $200,000 a year, and everything that he’s done on commissioners court has been illegal. He has not had authority to sit in that Precinct 2 office since August.
“There’s nothing they can do now to fix that problem,” Najvar added. “We’re asking the court to recognize the vacancy… and then order Harris County to call the election to fill the vacancy of the unexpired term. And we’re seeking an election in May of 2025 so it coincides with the other elections that will be held in May.”
Vega, who also spoke at the press conference, agreed with his attorney that removing Garcia from the GCPD position doesn’t make the violation go away.
“The truth is, is that we’re tired of the politicians thinking that we’re ignorant and we’re not going to do anything,” said Vega. “Enough is enough.”
