THE SPECTATOR: WASHINGTON COUNTY NEEDS NEW LEADERSHIP

  

It is has become painfully obvious that Washington County needs new leadership.  Several incidents involving the Commissioners’ Court have become public over the last couple of months that are downright embarrassing to the County.  The spat between the Commissioners and the Judges in the courthouse over possibly moving court to another location played out in the media and in public.  What should have happened in a professional meeting between the Commissioners Court and the Judges became a battle between the two parties of news releases to the radio and the newspaper.  Instead of sitting down to work out a solution, the Commissioners and Judges threw barbs at each other in the media.  Not a good look for either party.  Although they supposedly reached an agreeable solution, court is still being held in a courthouse where loud exterior renovations are happening.  Our courthouse is not the first one to deal with renovations.  Someone should have done some advance planning.

Recently a private citizen came to the Commissioners Court to speak about Animal Control in the county, and about the EMS Department budget.  Instead of politely listening to the concerns and comments of the citizen, the Commissioners attacked and questioned her…even dragging the personal life of a county employee into the mix.  That is far from the way a professional government body is supposed to handle citizens’ comments.  I’ve always been told that a court or council should listen, keep their mouths shut, and at the end, thank the citizen for their comments.  That didn’t happen in this case, and once again, the Commissioners Court was embarrassed in the media as the fight between them and a citizen became “THE” story from the meeting.  It makes me wonder whether the County attends any training sessions on the expectations of a Judge and Commissioners Court.

One final point I’d like to make is that a Chief of Staff should not be the person speaking for the Judge and for the Commissioners.  When Washington County has questions, we want to hear from the elected officials, not someone they hired to speak on their behalf.  And when the County has business before another governmental body, like the City of Brenham, the Chief of Staff should not be the County’s representative speaking to the City Council.  Washington County needs new leadership that is not afraid to speak to the public, that is willing to work professionally with other parties, and won’t hide behind a Chief of Staff and news releases.  And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.