Every so often, County Progress asks our distinguished Judges and Commissioners to allow us a glimpse into their public lives, giving us a fresh appreciation for the myriad of roles and responsibilities they shoulder every day. Our thanks to Refugio County Commissioner Ann Lopez for taking the time to visit with us.

HISTORY:

Refugio County Commissioner Ann Lopez accepts her Commissioners
Court Advanced Curriculum Certificate of Achievement from San Patricio
County Commissioner Alma Moreno, 2017-18 president of the County
Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, and Taylor County
Commissioner Chuck Statler, member of the CJCAT Commissioners
Education Committee, during the 2018 CJCAT Annual Conference on
Oct. 11.

“The Greatest Generation!” What a wonderful term to describe my parents’ era: They loved their five daughters, their community, and the USA. My sisters and I absorbed the lessons they modeled. We knew all about “servant leadership” before it was defined. Mom belonged to the PTA and Dad to the Lions Club. My father served on the Woodsboro ISD School Board, and my mother walked the neighborhood streets soliciting funds for the American Red Cross and March of Dimes and taught religion education classes. They stressed education and God.

While growing up, I learned about politics and business at my dad’s lumberyard, and I later practiced them at my mom’s bakery/restaurant. I loved Woodsboro High, and I enjoyed the mental challenges of Our Lady of the Lake University, Texas A&I University-Kingsville, and The University of Texas at Austin.

In between getting my higher education degrees, I taught fifth grade, developed/taught a developmental reading program for Laredo College, was a research assistant in UT’s College of Education, and served as assistant to Commissioner Blandina “Bambi” Cardenas, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. My doctorate helped me secure a position as dean of continuing education at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell when colleges and universities were first encouraged to develop economic development training programs for business and industry.

I returned to Texas as director of community colleges at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and I then served as the dean of arts and sciences at Del Mar College where I helped develop Corpus Christi Independent School District’s first early college program, Collegiate High School.

Commissioner Lopez, center, visits with her sisters, from left: Dianne
Cardiel, Lorraine Lopez, Cindy Fernandez and Maxine Lopez.

As I retired to care for my mother, I read that the incumbent County Commissioner would not seek re-election. My mother encouraged me to run for the office, so I did. I faced opponents each time I ran in the primaries. Had it not been for my sisters (Dianne, Cindy, and Maxine) who knocked on doors and walked the streets for me, and my sister, Lorraine, Refugio County Justice of the Peace, who encouraged me to keep going, the road would have been harder to travel. I am now in the middle of my third term, and everything I learned from my family and various local and state education positions I held, I practice as County Commissioner.

 

Thom Cunningham, director of Faith Formation and Mission, First
Presbyterian Church, Deerfield, Ill., and Ann Lopez, Refugio County
Commissioner, following Hurricane Harvey.

TYPICAL DAY:

A typical day for the precinct starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. The foreman and I meet between 7-7:15 a.m. to discuss the previous day’s accomplishments and the agenda for the day.  Because my precinct is responsible for two county rental facilities, I make sure that they are clean, safe, and prepared to be rented out as soon as possible. I check roads to see whether the tire ruts created by oil or American Electric Power trucks have gotten any deeper, or whether ditches/roads are littered with paper goods, cans, or bottles. I also attend meetings.

The precinct I represent encompasses two small cities; half is in Woodsboro, and half is in Refugio, with very little housing development and roads in between the communities. Thus, the number of miles I maintain as County Commissioner are few. To compensate, I engage in other activities, i.e. grant writing or representing the county at meetings. I represent my colleagues and the Judge on the Coastal Bend Council of Governments (COG), and serve as a member of its executive board and on COG committees.

I am also the county-appointed member on the Refugio County Community Development Foundation (RCCDF). The RCCDF serves in an advising capacity on economic development matters for the county and municipalities.

The Refugio County Community Development Foundation meets with
State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (pictured above) and State Rep. Geannie
Morrison at the Texas Capitol.

A typical day after a hurricane is very different from a normal period of time. It means being the representative from Refugio County at countless meetings during the day or evening held in Rockport, Port Aransas, Aransas Pass, Austwell, Bayside, Corpus Christi, Tivoli, Refugio, or Woodsboro. Many times, I felt I represented all of the residents of our county who were suffering because of damaged or lost homes, and I felt the need to learn about opportunities to help with their recovery. Those were very difficult times.

 

IS IT WHAT YOU EXPECTED?

I really did not know what to expect. Until I was elected, my world revolved around education. I did think there would be more in policymaking than there has been. I quickly learned that policy topics were rarely brought before the Commissioners Court. An occasion arose when I needed to review our county road policies and related standards, and I found that they were embedded in the minutes of Commissioners Court meetings! I also learned the important role of the Commissioners Court in ensuring that policies are not forgotten and are periodically scheduled for review as legislative changes occur. More importantly, I never expected that the Commissioners, Judge, and road hands would become such a close-knit family. I am blessed to work with the fair-minded, hard-working, and loyal crews of each precinct, especially mine.

Commissioner Lopez joins fellow Refugio County Commissioners Gary
Bourland and David Vega at the V.G. Young School. Photo reprinted with
permission, V.G. Young Institute of County Government

BIGGEST CHALLENGE:

I face many challenges regularly in this position. There is always the research needed to be done, i.e., securing permits for the collection centers following Harvey or writing a report to the TCEQ on a gasoline spill. There is always the challenge of having to operate my precinct (similar needs, same work to be done as in the other larger precincts) without the operating capital needed to replace equipment and/or vehicles which keep breaking down as they age.

The biggest challenge I faced was in 2017 dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. My precinct workers, along with those in other precincts, helped clear debris off the roads, assisted in the unloading of goods flowing into the communities, etc. Our collection center was open every day from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. for a month, then six days a week through March. A rural county with little population, Refugio County was the last county to have its needs addressed. Every day for one month, Judge Robert Blaschke asked the county agency heads for a solution to mesh residents with unmet needs to volunteers who came into the county wanting to help. A FEMA rep finally pulled me aside and said, “Go to Rockport. Refugio County needs a Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) like Rockport’s.”  I paid Rockport a visit and came back enlightened. I modeled our VRC on Rockport’s, and it has helped draw attention to the county’s need for agencies with resources to help us recover.

 

Refugio County Commissioner Ann Lopez was sworn in by her sister, Refugio County Justice of
the Peace Lorraine Lopez, on Jan. 1, 2017.

The county float in the Refugio County Fair Association Parade portrayed the following theme:
Hurricane Harvey Hit, We Hit Back! Pictured on the float are: Commissioner Gary Bourland,
Commissioner Ann Lopez, Tax Assessor-Collector Ida Turner, and Commissioner David Vega.

Commissioner Lopez oversees a seal coating project.

Jamie Allnutt, RV Disaster Corps director, Refugio County Judge Robert Blaschke, and
Commissioner Ann Lopez.

Commissioner Lopez, cutting Dontae Fernandez’ pancakes, enjoys volunteering at Gloria Hicks
Elementary School, Corpus Christi ISD.

FAVORITE PART OF BEING A COUNTY COMMISSIONER:

I love being a County Commissioner. I can be in the county courthouse, and someone I know or went to school with stops me in the hall to find out what is going on with the county or just to catch up on family!

One of the main reasons I enjoy my job so much is that I get to put into practice all I ever learned from being a teacher and college administrator and while working for the state and a federal commissioner. I already knew a great deal about budgeting, hiring people, policymaking, working with legislators, etc. It was comforting to learn that the behavior rules in families and professions are all the same. You have to be nice. You have to know what is going on. You have to read, and you have to write, and you have to do research, even when you are already familiar with the topics.

I love meeting and working with the people in the county, and I love working with the professionals I meet. It’s like being back in grad school, and I loved being a graduate student! *