Margaret Gómez, the longest-serving Travis County commissioner in history, is retiring early.
She will continue her post overseeing Precinct 4 until June 11, when George Morales, who won the Democratic primary election for the seat last month, will be appointed to take over, Gómez said.
Gómez, 81, said she is ready to step down after serving as a Travis County employee for nearly 53 years. Gómez originally planned to retire in December when her term ends, but she said after suddenly losing her ability to walk, it was “time to turn it over to somebody else.”
“That was kind of something I couldn’t really deal with because my love is to walk door to door,” she said. “If I can’t walk anymore, it’s just kind of like, well, what am I in this for? Because that was the way I always campaigned.”
Gómez said she’s looking forward to listening to music, reading and “learning how to relax.”
“Not jumping every time the phone rings, that kind of thing,” she said.
George Morales, Margaret Gómez’ successor, wipes his tears during Gómez’ retirement celebration at the Travis County commissioners courtroom.
Gómez began her career in Travis County in 1973 working for former County Commissioner Richard Moya, who was the first Mexican-American elected to public office in the county.
In 1980, she became the county’s first elected female constable after defeating a 14-year incumbent. She was reelected three times, and in her tenure, cleared a backlog of more than 30,000 criminal warrants.
Gómez was sworn in as the first female Mexican-American commissioner in 1995 and has held the position since.
Dozens of county employees, former judges and commissioners and other elected officials gathered at the Travis County Administrative Building on Tuesday to celebrate her retirement.
Former Travis County Commissioner Karen Sonleitner, Precinct 2, was sworn in the same day as Gómez in 1995. Speaking to the crowd, Sonleitner recalled how the county won its first bond election in more than a decade after the two women took office.
“It was successful because we didn’t look at it in terms of, well, what’s in it for me? The precincts worked together to put together a countywide package,” Sonleitner said, adding that the bond included the first-ever county park projects in northeast and southeast Travis County.
During her tenure as a commissioner, Gómez was also involved in creating the county’s health and human services department, human resources department, STAR Flight and the Travis County Housing Authority.
Gómez said she wouldn’t have made progress on the Commissioners Court without overcoming disagreements with “all the personalities” she worked with in the past 30 years.
“We can’t have such a thin skin that we can’t get over it, because there are more issues to handle in the future,” she said. “And we know we can’t do that alone. We have to always come back together and overcome issues for a basic goal.”
Gómez said she also had support from her parents, schoolteachers and colleagues, who she said had “tremendous belief in me and instructed me on the things that I needed to do.”
“That was one of the things that I needed to tell some of the young people: please listen to people who have advice for you,” she said. “We don’t know everything we think we do.”
Gómez announced last year she planned to retire at the end of her term, drawing four local democrats to run for her seat. Morales won in last month’s runoff election with nearly 55% of the vote. Unless a third-party candidate files to run for the position, Morales will run unopposed for the seat in November and begin his term early next year.
Speaking to the crowd, Morales said he met Gómez as a young kid and was inspired by her servant leadership.
“When I lost family members, Margaret was the first one there at the coffee table with pan dulce and coffee, consoling my family,” Morales said. “I got to follow in her footsteps. I got to be mentored by her, and as a mentee, I’m extremely grateful.”
Gómez said she still plans on being an active presence in the community, even after she passes the baton to Morales.
“I’m still hanging in here,” she said. “I’m a taxpayer, I’m a voter, and I will still go out and try to get people to understand why they need to register and why they need to vote.”