1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Meeting and Emergency Meeting 10 Monday, February 5, 2007 11 4:00 p.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 PRESENT: PAT TINLEY, Kerr County Judge H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 24 WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X February 5, 2007 2 PAGE 3 SPECIAL MEETING 4 1.1 Consider, discuss, and take appropriate action on resignation tendered by Kerr County Treasurer 1 5 1.2 Consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to 6 designate an acting Kerr County Treasurer who will serve until the appointment, by Kerr County 7 Commissioners' Court, of the Kerr County Treasurer who will serve until the next general election 8 (Executive Session, as necessary) 5 9 EMERGENCY MEETING 10 1.1 Consider, discuss, and take appropriate action 11 to fill vacancy in the office of Kerr County Treasurer in accordance with section 87.041 of 12 the Texas Local Government Code (Executive Session, as necessary) 5 13 14 3.1 Action as may be required on matters discussed in Executive Session 9 15 --- Adjourned 16 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Monday, February 5, 2007, at 4:00 p.m., an emergency 2 meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court was held in the 3 Commissioners' Courtroom, Kerr County Courthouse, Kerrville, 4 Texas, and the following proceedings were had in open court: 5 P R O C E E D I N G S 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. 7 Let me call to order this special Commissioners Court meeting 8 scheduled and posted for this time and date, Monday, February 9 the 5th, 2007, at 4 p.m. I will also call to order the 10 emergency meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court also 11 posted and scheduled for this time and date, Monday, 12 February 5th, 2007 at 4 p.m. The first item on the agenda is 13 to consider, discuss, and take appropriate action on 14 resignation tendered by Kerr County Treasurer. For the 15 record, on February the 2nd, 2007, addressed to Kerr County 16 Commissioners Court, reference, resignation as Kerr County 17 Treasurer, as follows: "To the honorable members of the Kerr 18 County Commissioners Court, I am resigning as Kerr County 19 Treasurer effective immediately. For nearly two years, I have 20 struggled with several serious medical problems. My health 21 has now declined to the point that I am no longer able to 22 discharge my duties and responsibilities without serious 23 medical consequences. My physician has recommended that I 24 resign to alleviate the stress created by my duties and the 25 circumstances in which I perform those duties. This has been 2-5-07 sp 4 1 an extremely difficult decision to make. However, after much 2 consultation with my family, I believe that this is the best 3 decision for both me and my family. Therefore, I ask that the 4 Commissioners Court accept this letter of resignation. It has 5 been a privilege and an honor to serve as Kerr County 6 Treasurer for the past 14 years. I am very grateful for the 7 confidence the citizens of Kerr County have shown in me during 8 my tenure, and I also appreciate the faith they have had in 9 me. I thank the citizens of Kerr County and the Commissioners 10 Court for their continued support over the years. Sincerely," 11 signed Barbara Nemec, Kerr County Treasurer. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I move for approval. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: There's been a motion and a second 15 for approval of the agenda item. I assume that's acceptance 16 of the resignation as tendered? 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Correct. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Very well. Any -- any question or 19 discussion on the motion? All in favor of the motion, signify 20 by raising your right hand. 21 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 23 (No response.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Because they 25 are closely allied items, I'm going to call the second item on 2-5-07 sp 5 1 the special Commissioners Court agenda -- agenda, and also the 2 item as specified on the emergency Commissioners Court agenda 3 together. They are as follows: Consider, discuss, and take 4 appropriate action to designate an acting Kerr County 5 Treasurer who will serve until the appointment by Kerr County 6 Commissioners Court of the Kerr County Treasurer who will 7 serve until the next general election. The agenda item as 8 specified on the other agenda, the emergency agenda, is to 9 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to fill vacancy 10 in the office of County Treasurer in accordance with Section 11 87.041 of the Texas Local Government Code. Mr. Emerson, I 12 think that it would be appropriate, would it not, if 13 particular individuals were being considered and discussed, 14 that it would be appropriate for that to be done in executive 15 session, if that's what the Court chooses? 16 MR. EMERSON: Yes, sir. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. What's your pleasure, 18 gentlemen? 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Move we go into executive 20 session to discuss the issue. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. Anybody have any serious 22 objection or want to have anything in the open, public 23 session, before we go into executive session, of a generalized 24 nature? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would ask the County Attorney 2-5-07 sp 6 1 to give us an update of the process, to make sure -- I mean, I 2 know I've read through it. I think I understand it, but I'd 3 like to hear it from him so it's real clear, and also to the 4 public, as to what the process is. You know, such things as a 5 -- you know, your agenda item refers to an interim 6 appointment. Is there such a thing as an interim appointment, 7 or is there only an appointment, and things of that nature. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Would you care to address 9 those, Mr. Emerson? 10 MR. EMERSON: Sure. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. 12 MR. EMERSON: Local Government Code 83.004, 13 gentlemen, specifically addresses filling of vacancies. And 14 what it says under Subsection (c) is that a vacancy in the 15 office of County Treasurer shall be filled as provided by 16 Section 87.041. The person appointed to fill the vacancy 17 shall, on or before entering upon discharge of the duties of 18 office, take the official oath and obtain the same surety bond 19 as required of an elected County Treasurer. And if you look 20 at 87.041, vacancies filled by appointment of Commissioners 21 Court, Subsection (a)(6), the County Treasurer is one of them. 22 And what it states is that the Commissioners Court, under 23 Subsection (b), shall fill a vacancy by a majority vote of the 24 members of the Court who are present and voting. Under 25 Subsection (c), the person appointed by the Commissioners 2-5-07 sp 7 1 Court to fill the vacancy shall hold office until the next 2 general election. 3 Now, in this particular case, Barbara had just 4 started her term, so the next general election can be 5 clarified to be the 2008 election, not the 2010 election, as 6 it was on the original cycle. So, whoever y'all appoint will 7 be there until 2008, at which point at general election, the 8 public will have an opportunity to elect the Treasurer. That 9 Treasurer will serve a two-year term instead of a four-year 10 term to put it back on the original cycle for the County 11 Treasurer, so in 2010, there'll be another election right 12 behind the 2008 one. The reason you cannot appoint an interim 13 Treasurer until you make a long-term decision is under Article 14 16, Section 17 of the Texas Constitution, wherein all officers 15 within the state shall continue to perform the duties of their 16 offices until their successor shall be duly qualified. And 17 the issue that you have before you that I know you're familiar 18 with -- the public may not be -- is the -- are the multiple 19 receivables and payables issues, as well as investments of the 20 county that would all basically be frozen up until you appoint 21 somebody new. It also means that under the holdover provision 22 of the Texas Constitution, that although Barbara has tendered 23 her resignation, under Article 16, Section 27, she has to 24 serve her term until you appoint somebody, whether she wants 25 to be there or not. So, it's not a good situation for her or 2-5-07 sp 8 1 for the County to try to pursue any other means than to 2 appoint somebody that would be in place until the 2008 general 3 election. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Do you have any questions for the 5 County Attorney? Thank you, sir. We appreciate it. 6 MR. EMERSON: You're welcome. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other general comments, 8 inquiries, or other matters to be discussed of a general 9 nature before we go into executive or closed session? 10 MR. PEARSON: Judge? That conflicts with -- what 11 the County Attorney just said conflicts with the way the 12 agenda is written. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: We've got two agenda items, 14 Mr. Pearson. I called two of them. 15 MR. PEARSON: You've got a different agenda than 16 I've got. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, there's an additional emergency 18 agenda posted this afternoon. 19 MR. PEARSON: Oh, okay. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Because of the legalities that were 21 discovered to be involved. 22 MR. PEARSON: Okay. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay? We will go out of open or 24 public session at 4:08, to go into executive session or closed 25 session to discuss personnel matters, as specified previously. 2-5-07 sp 9 1 If we could ask all of y'all to vacate the room. I -- I 2 apologize to you. You just barely got here, and now we're -- 3 we're getting you back out. We need the County Attorney here, 4 I think, and the Auditor. 5 (The open session was closed at 4:08 p.m., and an executive session was held, the transcript of which 6 is contained in a separate document.) 7 - - - - - - - - - - 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. It is -- it's 4:39. Let's 9 come back into open or public session. Does any member of the 10 Court have anything to offer with respect to matters discussed 11 in closed or executive session? 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Maybe you. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Well, okay. It occurs to me 14 that there certainly should be some consideration given to 15 someone who has risked their time, their resources, their 16 reputation, their skills, their capabilities, to achieve this 17 office, and I think that counts for something. You know, we 18 get to a point where it's open, like it is now, and you 19 potentially have a lot of folks coming forward and saying, 20 "Well, I'd like to be considered." It wouldn't be required 21 that I put myself at risk, either my time, my resources, my 22 reputation and so forth. So, for someone who has done that 23 specifically, I think you've got to give due consideration. 24 Having said that, we have a situation in this office 25 that we don't know what lays in front of us, and to expose 2-5-07 sp 10 1 someone to the kind of risks and unknown factors that might be 2 there, and I suspect there are several, probably wouldn't be 3 fair to any individual. County government accounting is not 4 the simplest thing in the world. There's a whole lot of 5 different statutes, lots of different records, different 6 procedures that have to be followed. There is considerable 7 interaction with other government offices, particularly the 8 Auditor's office. And at this stage of Kerr County's 9 situation, not knowing what we have down there, I think it's 10 extremely important that we put someone in that office that 11 is, to the best we can find at this point, ramped up and 12 capable of handling it. That's what the taxpayers of this 13 county deserve in order that that office be capable of 14 functioning immediately and on an ongoing basis. 15 We have an individual that is presently in the 16 Auditor's office that has spent probably the majority of that 17 individual's time during the past two years, in a fashion at 18 least, working with and functioning with the County 19 Treasurer's office. That is probably the best qualified 20 individual right now to hold that office, and that's our 21 Assistant Auditor, Ms. Mindy Williams, who works for Tommy 22 Tomlinson, our Auditor. Probably not totally fair to him, but 23 I think to do otherwise would be unfair to someone who was not 24 familiar with the operations of that office. And all things 25 considered, I think we should probably give consideration to 2-5-07 sp 11 1 Ms. Williams. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Are you finished, Judge? 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I concur with everything the 5 Judge said. And many of you know, that doesn't always happen, 6 and the Judge and I are at odds on occasion. In this 7 situation, I do. I think -- and I've talked to some of the 8 people in the audience on the phone. Running for public 9 office takes a lot for a person to do. And I -- you know, 10 Ms. Rust, when she ran, I think she -- she definitely merits 11 great consideration, and if circumstances in that office right 12 now would be different, I would -- my feeling right now would 13 be to go with her as the Treasurer. The other thing that 14 hasn't -- the Judge didn't say is that there is no set person 15 there. There's no deputy currently. There is nobody down 16 there to help learn what needs to be done. And we have about 17 a $20 million budget and we have reports and we have payrolls 18 that we have a huge amount that we just don't have time to 19 train. And there's no one in that office right now that can 20 help bring someone up to speed, which would have been ideally 21 the way I would have liked to have gone. 22 But, you know, we don't live in a world of -- where 23 we can dictate the hands that are dealt. And we're dealt with 24 a -- a bad hand right now, from the Court's standpoint, in my 25 mind, that we have to make a decision and we have to look 2-5-07 sp 12 1 after the taxpayers of Kerr County, and we need to get that 2 office up and running tomorrow morning. And I think the only 3 viable option is to go with what the Judge has said, is that 4 Mindy Williams. And I -- and I think I should also say, to my 5 knowledge, she has no political aspirations. She's never run 6 for this office or any other office. I think, hopefully, 7 she'll accept this. The Auditor has visited with her about 8 this. And I think that it's a -- my feeling is she's doing 9 this as a favor to the County and to the citizens, not because 10 she wants to get in to become an elected official. That's the 11 only comment I have. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'd like to express some 13 thoughts on the matter. I just -- I agree with the comments 14 of Judge Tinley and Commissioner Letz. I appreciate, as does 15 everybody, I believe, the fortitude and willingness of anybody 16 who's willing to put themselves up for public office and 17 endure a political campaign for that purpose. There's much to 18 be said for that. But I think I'd like to make the public 19 aware that my thoughts on this subject are, hopefully, to set 20 political considerations -- any political considerations to 21 the contrary notwithstanding, our obligation is to do what's 22 best for Kerr County. A lot of folks don't realize that there 23 are -- there is, every day, millions and millions of dollars 24 of Kerr County money that has to be managed and accounted for, 25 scrupulously. Not to suggest that anybody coming in the 2-5-07 sp 13 1 office wouldn't do that, but it does require a good bit of 2 experience to be able to manage money and to make certain that 3 our obligations are met, forthright and completely. And I 4 don't want to put anybody in a position of failure, and I 5 don't want to put Kerr County in a position of experiencing in 6 the future some of the things we've experienced over the last 7 18 to 24 months. Not good. Not good for the County, not good 8 for the taxpayers, not good for the individual entrusted with 9 the responsibility. 10 So, I believe that the solution of appointing Mindy 11 Williams -- Mindy L. Williams is a good solution. She's a 12 tried and true, dedicated, competent public servant who has 13 never opted to get into the political arena, who comes to work 14 every single day, has her fingers on the pulse, knows exactly 15 what takes place with respect to Kerr County's business, knows 16 exactly what's needed in terms of the relationship between the 17 County Treasurer and the County Auditor and all the 18 responsibilities that go with that. I think all of you are 19 here today because you want us to do what's best for Kerr 20 County. I'm going to support, and if the Court asks -- 21 wishes, I will offer a motion at this point to appoint Mindy 22 L. Williams Treasurer of Kerr County, subject to the results 23 of the primary and general election of 2008. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second. Any 2-5-07 sp 14 1 question or discussion on that motion? 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'd like to make a comment. 3 I'm -- I'm just going to say it, just as plain and simple and 4 bottom line as I possibly can. We have a major, major problem 5 down there, and I don't know the -- the extent. I purposely 6 stayed away from Rusty and Rex and all of that side of the 7 issue throughout this circus. But, you know, I feel like -- I 8 know that there's -- there's a storm down there around that 9 office, and I wouldn't ever ask anybody -- I certainly 10 wouldn't ask a member of my family to go down there and go to 11 work. It's not fair to our county, and it's certainly not 12 fair to the individual that's going down there. It is not 13 fair to them. So, the -- you know, and we have -- I think 14 Commissioner Letz mentioned a $20 million budget, and it's 15 20-plus. And we have a lot of that money invested out there 16 in -- in the market here and there. And at this juncture, in 17 county government, it just -- we have to have somebody that is 18 really in tune with that -- that type of thing, and so I'm 19 going to support Mindy Williams as well. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, I kind of have to -- to 21 echo what the rest of the Commissioners and Judge have said. 22 It is a very difficult time. You know, any -- any elected 23 official that comes into a situation of serving, they need to 24 at least have a clean slate. Things need to be running fairly 25 and -- and on the up-and-up and everything be representative 2-5-07 sp 15 1 of what it is. And I totally agree with Buster; I would never 2 ask somebody to do this that did not have the knowledge it 3 takes to go through what is probably coming in the next year 4 or so. We don't know how long it's going to last. We don't 5 really know what it is, but we do know there's problems. And 6 I just think it's the right thing to do to put an experienced 7 person who has knowledge in that position, and that's really 8 all I have to say. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions or comments from 10 anybody? 11 MS. DAVIS: I just wanted to ask you -- 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Please come forward and give us your 13 name and address, please. 14 MS. DAVIS: Sure. Hi, I'm Marie Davis. I just 15 basically wanted to ask, does -- is Mindy ready to take this 16 position without any schooling or anything? She can start 17 tomorrow and handle this position? 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes, ma'am. 19 MS. DAVIS: Okay, thank you. I concur with what you 20 all have said. Understand it. Thank you. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: I think I indicated that Ms. Williams 22 has been actively working on matters dealing with the 23 Treasurer's office for the last year and a half, two years. 24 Probably spending the majority of her time, I would say, on 25 those matters. 2-5-07 sp 16 1 MS. DAVIS: Good. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Certainly in the last year, without 3 question. Anything further? All in favor of the motion, 4 signify by raising your right hand. 5 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 7 (No response.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Gentlemen, 9 that's all we have on the agenda today. If we have nothing 10 further, we will stand adjourned. 11 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 4:52 p.m.) 12 - - - - - - - - - - - 13 STATE OF TEXAS | 14 COUNTY OF KERR | 15 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 16 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my 17 capacity as County Clerk of the Commissioners Court 18 of Kerr County, Texas, at the time and place 19 heretofore set forth. 20 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 6th day of 21 February, 2007. 22 23 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 24 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 25 Certified Shorthand Reporter 2-5-07 sp