Ronnie Canales was elected as Nueces County Tax Assessor-Collector in November 1988. He was the first in County history to reform the tax collection processes by implementing an automated tax collection system, which resulted in a consolidation of over one million tax collection parcels for a first year savings of over 500 thousand dollars to area taxpayers. In addition, the cash flow of the new system collects and distributes, within 24 hours, revenues to all 34 jurisdictions (cities, water districts, ISD's, county, etc.), faster than any of the pre-existing tax operations.

Ronnie also was responsible for the automation of the motor vehicle registration process with hardware/software installations, which have expedited services, reduced cumbersome manual processes, and made critical information more accessible to cooperating governmental offices.

Additionally, Ronnie Canales initiated automation of the voter registration system. Nueces County was one of only nine pilot counties selected for the State automated registration system. Since 1989, registered voters have increased from 133,500 to 188,000 in 2003.

Ronnie Canales has been selected to serve on numerous local and State Advisory Boards and Associations. He and his wife, Tere, reside in Corpus Christi.