Atascosa County Commissioner Mark Gillespie
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 Atascosa County Commissioner Mark Gillespie for taking the time to visit with us.
YOUR HISTORY: I stand proud to be a second-generation Commissioner of Atascosa County Precinct 1. I was born in San Antonio in October 1976 to Lonnie and Debbie Gillespie, and I have an older brother, Loren. I was raised in the small rural area of Leming, Texas, and I attended Pleasanton ISD. After school in 1995, I stayed home to partner with my dad and brother in the business of Gillespie Custom Cabinets LLC, which was established by our family in 1982.
In 2000, I started playing out the roles of dad, youth rodeo president, baseball coach, and hunting guide, as I wanted to give my two sons, Cody and Tyler, the best life I could offer them. I hauled them both to countless youth rodeos, endless ballgames, and places to hunt every spare moment I had.
In 2007, with his success as a local business owner, my dad was asked to run for Commissioner of Atascosa County Precinct 1. Dad was elected in 2009, and I became a full-bloom business partner in 2011 along with Loren. Like our father, we found ourselves young successful business owners raising our own families in Atascosa County.
In September 2017, in a huge shock to our community, my dad, Commissioner Lonnie Gillespie, passed away leaving a vacant seat on the Commissioners Court. Just a few short days after Dad’s passing, I was approached about being appointed as Commissioner to fill my dad’s unexpired term.
County Judge Robert L. Hurley had one stipulation when asking if I’d take the responsibility: that I would eventually run for the position through a general election and fill my dad’s shoes the best I possibly could. With a large lump in my throat, I shook his hand and accepted the challenge. During this life-changing experience of losing my dad and finishing out his term, I was also dealing with a separation and divorce and even more time absent from my family business and my normal life and its activities.
During that same time period, while attending an education conference in Laredo, I was asked to apply for the Commissioners Court Leadership Academy, a program spread over two years sponsored by the V.G. Young Institute of County Government. Wow, what an amazing program! I learned so much about county government and leadership.
In October 2023, I married my beautiful and amazing wife, Marissa, who fully supports my life as a leader in our level of government.
Having a lifetime of interest in business and leadership, I find myself leaning more to the county business side of things. For multiple years, I’ve participated in conferences of the South Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association (STCJCA). I’ve spoken on panels about various topics and have served on several committees.
I went into my third term unopposed, and I am thankful for the doors of service that have been opened for me. Along with overseeing the operations of a 12-man road and bridge crew and working to provide clean and safe roadways in my precinct, I also serve as Atascosa County Judge pro tem, the Atascosa County Judge’s alternate on the Alamo Area Council of Governments Board of Directors, vice chairman on the Alamo Senior Advisory Committee, second vice president of the STCJCA, and chairman of the Atascosa Area Regional Public Defender Office. I am the senior member of our Commissioners Court, and I am a member of the Atascosa County Historical Commission, the Local Emergency Planning Committee, the Atascosa County Post Juvenile Facility Board, and the 81st/218th Judicial District Medical Examiner Project Committee. I have overseen the major remodel of the Atascosa County Tax Annex and Atascosa County Jail addition. At the end of the day, I hope I have filled my late father’s shoes, and then some.
IS IT WHAT YOU EXPECTED: When Dad won his election in 2009, he would tell us boys he would stay active in the business. The longer he was in office, the more distance we noticed. Knowing his heart was his family and the business, he would always find the time to sit with us at the lunch table and have discussions about his day or ours. Assuming he was just steering away from us looking for a different path, I’ve now come to realize that was not the case at all. I remember when I was appointed as Commissioner telling Loren I would stay active in our business, and now here I am eight years later and I find myself just as distant as he was. So, was it what I expected? Yes and no. Yes because I know the name Gillespie means you get involved to the highest of your reach and go even further. No because of how many steps there are in this ladder! Every day is something new and something old. You absolutely have no clue what the ring of a phone has chasing it! You stay ready for the good and the bad.
TYPICAL DAY: A typical day in my shoes is waking to the smell of fresh coffee and making my way into the office. On some days I start with the road crew, and on other days I go straight to the courthouse. In some cases, I head to a specific location. You never know what the day may bring with the ring of that phone. For me, being on several committees and boards, it’s not often I have a day without some kind of meeting or Zoom call. On the days when I do find myself without a meeting, I like to stay active with my road crew. I know when and where they are every day, and I know I don’t have to hold their hands as they fulfill their duties.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: To me, the biggest challenge is educating the public about what’s happening and why it’s happening. Most of the time, the challenges involve taxes, property values, or the well-being of a particular road. Sometimes it’s teaching about how the flowers grow. Whatever the topic, it leads to me gathering the most education I can from the many resources available to me so I can pass information along to my constituents in a timely manner.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOUR JOB: I’d have to say my favorite thing about my job is the fact that I’m bettering my home community and county as our area grows. Seeing how the pieces of the puzzle fall together and having that feeling that I’ve had a very large part of making it a great place where folks want to raise their families is rewarding. I enjoy being in the public and running across families and having great conversations about life events, and knowing I’m not having to avoid them because I feel I’ve done wrong in their eyes.