Interview filmed 5th of May, 2012, with Luis Garcia. He is a Cuban-American immigrant who has spent his entire adult life in public service to the City of Miami Beach, his adopted home. He was a firefighter who rose in the ranks to become the first Cuban-American Fire Chief for Miami Beach. After retiring as Chief in 1999, he ran successfully for the City of Miami Beach Commission. In 2006, he was elected to the Florida legislature, where he represented district 107 for three terms. Mr. Garcia was born in Cuba and left with his parents in 1960 when Fidel Castro came to power. Mr. Garcia was 15 years old. His father had been an attorney in Cuba but could only find work as a busboy. His mother, a housewife in Cuba, went to work in a local cafeteria. To help his parents put food on the table, he worked after school and weekends for $1 an hour. He is a graduate of Miami Beach High School and Miami-Dade Community College. In his interview, he talks about his family’s adjustment to their new life, his teenaged years living on Miami Beach, and his decades of public service. As Fire Chief and later as a legislator, he focused much of his work on public safety issues.
