Montgomery County Commissioner's Court 6/15/09

Background

The county commissioner’s court is composed of the county judge, elected county wide, and four county commissioners, elected within four commissioner precincts within the county. (See map.) The Montgomery County Judge is Alan B. Sadler. The four commissioners are Mike Meador (Precinct 1, North County), Craig Doyal (Precinct 2, West County), Ed Chance (Precinct 3, The Woodlands and Oak Ridge), and Ed Rinehart (Precinct 4, East County). Commissioners of precincts 2 and 4 are up for election in 2010.

The commissioner’s court controls the county budget and sets the county tax rate. It is responsible for maintenance of county roads, controls the budget for the sheriff’s department and district and county court system, funds the Montgomery County Library System and is responsible for indigent citizens. The members of the court are the core administrative structure of Texas government. In Montgomery County, the 2008 county budget was $200,702,107. Based on number of employees, the county is probably the second largest employer in Montgomery County. (The seven county school districts are first.)

Court Session

Agendas for commissioner’s court meetings and other county information are posted at the Montgomery County Web Site http://www.co.montgomery.tx.us. The June 15 meeting agenda may be viewed here.

Most county business is agreed to by all parties beforehand, thus most of the June 15 meeting involved a brief presentation by the interested party to transfer funds or approve a transaction, the County Judge asking for a motion to approve and second, those motions being made, and a 5-0 approval vote being given. Red flags are raised when:

1. 1. A commissioner feels a prearranged agreement has been misunderstood, forgotten, or broken. An example in this meeting occurred when an employee in a court position was recommended for promotion to a higher salary level. Mike Meador asked if the change he suggested had been made and the presenter of the suggestion said it had not. Questions were immediately raised by Meador and Sadler and the item was deferred until a change had been made. Reconsideration of the item later in the meeting resulted in the salary being approved at a lower level than was originally recommended. Lesson 1: Don’t ask for budget increases without doing groundwork beforehand with all commissioners. Blue Dog Democratic “Pay-As-You-Go” doctrine is alive and well in Montgomery County government regardless of commissioner party affiliation. If you want an increase you need to find the funds somewhere else in your budget. In public session, the court is Scotch with county money.

1. 2. Public testimony highlights a legal or public approval problem. An example occurred in this session on consideration of an order prohibiting certain fireworks in unincorporated areas of Montgomery County under certain conditions during the fourth of July fireworks season. A county employee requested such an order, but the largest fireworks business owner in the county pointed out in public testimony that the law requires such an order must be approved before the 15th of the month. Since today’s date was the 15th, the order would be legally void. Commissioners Chance and Meador focused on the “letter of the law” detail of the owner’s complaint until County Attorney David Walker asked for a deferral for a few minutes while his staff researched the law. Mr. Walker sent a member of his staff to research the issue. On his return, the item was addressed again and Mr. Walker quoted a section of state law indicating that expiration dates occurring on non-working days (the 14th was a Sunday) pushed forward the actual expiration date to the next legal work day, in this case the 15th. Given Mr. Walker’s legal opinion, the court approved the order prohibiting the fireworks under the required conditions. Lesson 2: Don’t put the court in a position where it could face legal liability or public opprobrium. Lesson 3: If you disagree with an issue before the court, get yourself on the agenda and state your position publicly.

Reflection

Most attendees at the meeting were public service employees looking out for their department and employees or interested private parties with financial interest in the transactions. I was and have been impressed with the professionalism of the public service employees of Montgomery County.

The preplanned nature of the meetings requires that members of the Commissioner’s Court be of high moral character. Any immoral “deal making” in the numerous items on the agenda will take place before the public session. Many such “deals” should leave tracks of a pattern of behavior that can be traced to an individual unworthy of the public trust.

If you disagree with an item before the court, get on the agenda and state your case.