June 27, 2019 612 PM
ALPINE, AUSTIN – Alpine businesswoman Monica Hernandez McBride has been appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Her term expires in 2025.
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards is the regulatory agency for all county jails and privately operated municipal jails in the state. Its mission is to assist local governments in providing safe, secure and suitable local jail facilities through our provision of the following services.
Said state Sen. Peter P. Flores of District 19, which includes Alpine and Brewster County: “A lot of great bills passed the Texas Senate this session––and some great people. We have wonderful Texans in Senate District 19, ready to serve their state however it’s necessary. I’m glad the Governor took notice and my colleagues in the Texas Senate approved.”
McBride has been the Brewster County Republican Party chairwoman for more than nine years.
She has more than 20 years of experience as a successful, international entrepreneur in the ranching and professional hunting/ wildlife management industries.
She holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Communications and Spanish from Sul Ross State University in Alpine, and attended the Southwest College of Real Estate in Midland. She learned to fly from the Karvonen Ground/ Pilot School in Alpine in 1996.
She’s also a Texas Real Estate Agent and owner of Stephen-McBride Properties, LLC.
She owns the Estancia Faro Moro cattle ranch in Paraguay, South America, and a hunting guide and conservation company in Alpine and Paraguay.
She’s been a member of the West of the Pecos Republican Women since 2005.
She and her husband, Roy “Rocky” Thomas McBride Jr. have three children and two grandchildren.
In her letter to Gov. Abbott to be considered for the post, McBride wrote, “I am a worker. I have always been a worker. One of my earliest memories is working the fields in Coyanosa, Texas. We were migrant workers and my job then was to carry empty gunny sacks to my brothers and sisters who were filling the sacks with produce.
“During my elementary and junior high school years, my mother’s family had a sheep and goat shearing business, so my weekends were spent working in shearing camps in South Texas and summers we traveled to Montana, South Dakota, and other northern states, for work. When I was in high school, my father entered a partnership in Crane, Texas, in a foundry which made safety anchors for oil rigs. He employed me as his part-time secretary. I worked after school and weekends doing everything from payroll, insurance, and handling personal and business issues for workers (at one point there were over 50 employees).
“After graduating high school, I enrolled at UT San Antonio, and worked full time as a custodian. I also worked full time as a hairdresser while I put myself through school and graduated from Sul Ross State University in Alpine. In recent years I have been married, raised three children, and have run several international businesses from home. I home-schooled my children while traveling and working, participated in numerous felid captures in the states and other countries, managed a cattle ranch in Paraguay, South America and have also participated civically in my community.
“My civic experience has been characterized by an ability to develop strong relationships among co-workers and volunteers, while supporting and advancing the roles and campaigns of local, state, and national candidates.
“I know that public and political pressure will many times determine these appointments, but I urge you to consider the fact that I am a staunch conservative but have never had anything but very fair and honest working relationships with democratic constituents. I hope that you will honor Brewster County and the counties’ citizens by seeing that we are represented.
“My personal and professional life has been successful and fulfilling, and I feel I would be an asset to any commission requiring my skill set. I am eager and willing to benefit my county and my state,” McBride wrote.
