Juanita Vasquez loves Dublin, and strives to keep the town thriving as the presiding judge and an active community member.
Vasquez graduated from Dublin High School in 2000, and went on to Ranger College, intending to become a teacher. After college, she started working at Happy Days Child Development Center in Stephenville as a bilingual preschool teacher. Vasquez realized she didn’t want to work in childcare forever, though. In 2008, she found a new opportunity.
“I got word that the city was hiring for a court clerk, so I came in and interviewed with Judge [Latrelle] Cain,” Vasquez said. “She pretty much interviewed me and then said, ‘When can you start?’ And I said, ‘Let me put in a two weeks notice, and then we’ll go from there.’” Judge Cain became a career mentor for Vasquez. “She kind of took me under her wing,” Vasquez said. In 2015, Cain, who was close to retirement,appointedVasquez to associate judge. In 2021, after 25 years as judge, Cain retired at the age of 85. Upon her retirement, the city council appointed Vasquez as the presiding judge.
Her judge duties keep Vasquez’life interesting. Some weeks she’s magistrating at the jail or serving as judge on issues of county ordinance citations or class C misdemeanors, and some days she’s serving as a marriage official. “I like the weddings, and it’s always fun to see the people after the fact and they’re like, ‘Oh, you married us!’” she said. “It’s one of the neat things [about my job].”
Vasquez tries to be a constructive judge, helping people get back on track from legal issues. “I always try to correct whatever’s going on, whether it’s a no insurance ticket or registration ticket, or a city ordinance citation they receive,” she said. “I’ll tell them to go get insurance, come back, and we’ll work something out. Or if you don’t have a license, I’ll give them a deadline to go get yourlicense,becauseobviously you’re an adult and you need the license to be driving. I’d rather you be legal and not come see me again.”
Vasquez has also recently started a remodeling company with a business partner, Bayardo Baca. The business is called Baca Handyman.
“He does the remodel, and I’m the supervisor,” she said. “I go out, talk to the customer, see what they need, and then dropby,makesureeverything’s going accordingly, if there’s anything that we need to get switched or fixed, and then I present the project at the end.”
Their company has done remodels in Dublin, Stephenville and Hico. “It’s been a learning experience for me, definitely,” Vasquez said. “But I’m a people person. I like to talk to people and go out and meet new people, so it’s been great. I always like to go out there at the beginning of our project and see what’s going on and what they need, and then for me, the greatest part is going back out with them when it’s done and seeing their faces after what we do.”
Besides her work as judge and with the remodeling company, Vasquez is also active in the Dublin community in other ways. She’s served on the Chamber board for several years, and in 2014 she helped start the Hispanic Festival which takes place each September. The festival features a boxing tournament, a rodeo, a trail ride, music, and food and product vendors.
Vasquez enjoys living in Dublin because of the people. “I love our community,” she said. “That’s one of the greatest things about living in town. I’ve been part of the chamber, and we have a great response from the community when we go out and ask for help.”
Vasquez also spends a lot of time with her 9-year-old daughter Arisbeth. “We do everything from baseball, basketball, soccer, cheer, so she keeps me pretty busy,” Vasquez said. “She’s my little partner in crime. I usually tell people, like, if you ever ask her when she gets older, ‘Have you ever been to jail?’ She’s going to tell you yes, because she goes where I go. If it’s my jail week, she is by my side. Or if we have a wedding that weekend, she’s my little helper.”
Vasquez’ parents, Josefina and Angel Vasquez, still live in Dublin. Her parents moved to Texas from Mexico, and she was the first in her family to graduate. “They pushed me to better myself, to get somewhere where they weren’t capable of because they didn’t have the resources to,” she said.
Vazquez’ advice to Dublin graduates is to set goals and stick to them. “Whatever you set their mind to, you can do,” she said. “It’s not a race, but as long as you have an ending point of what you want to get to, you’ll get there.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen. com.