Police Commissioner Ricardo Garcia

Ricardo D. Garcia was elected Town Commissioner of Shalimar on March 8, 2005 for a four-year term. He had been Shalimar Roads & Grounds Commisssioner before (2002), but had to resign after being hired for an overseas contract. He ran unopposed for his second term.

Ricardo (Rick) was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, and grew up there until his family moved to Santa Barbara, California, in 1965, where he attended and finished high school. He still has most of his family in Brasil and tries to visit them whenever possible. He is presently very retired from the United States Air Force, where he served for 30 plus years in the Civil Engineering field, attaining the rank of Chief Master Sergeant.

He retired in 1997 from the 823^rd RED HORSE Squadron, at Hurlburt Field. Following his US Air Force retirement, Rick stayed mainly at home until 2002, when he got a contract with DynCorp International and did a two-year tour in Ecuador, South America, supporting multi-service ops. Besides currently serving as Shalimar Police Commissioner, Rick is also the Mayor Pro-Tem.

Rick and Lou spend most of their free time with the grandkids or at the beach. Rick is also a standing member of the Hurlburt Field Chief's Group. They have been married for 28 years and live on Avalon Lane with two of their daughters, Maria and Jessica, and four grandkids, Rico, Elias, Jordan, and Nathan. Their son, Kenneth, and their oldest daughter, Tina (and grandson Gavon), also live in the local area.