WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS CREATE ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR POSITION

  

Washington County Commissioners approved the creation of a county elections administrator position at their meeting today (Tuesday).

The county will now begin advertising for the position, which will be responsible for coordinating, implementing and supervising all facets of voter registration and county election administration in compliance with applicable laws, ordinances, rules and regulations.

County Clerk Beth Rothermel said there is “an incredible amount of work and detail” that goes into managing elections, and that she has been doing “two full-time jobs” while holding this role in addition to her job as county clerk.

Commissioner Kirk Hanath said the handling of elections is a lot to ask of an official who already has other responsibilities.

 

Commissioners earmarked funding in the budget for the elections administrator position in the summer of 2019, but opted to have Rothermel continue her election role through the 2020 cycle, due to the projected scope of the 2020 election.  The county previously had an election administrator from 2007 to 2009, but the position was eliminated along with seven other positions due to budgetary constraints.

According to Rothermel, about half of the counties in Texas have elections administrators, and Austin County is the only surrounding county that does not have one.  She also said this year could be a good starting point for a new employee to begin handling elections, as she expects there will be a constitutional amendment election this fall.

A hiring committee consisting of the county judge, county clerk, tax assessor-collector and the local chairs of the Republican and Democratic Parties will review applications and hire for the position.  The salary range to be advertised will be for a minimum salary of $50,458, a midpoint of $63,073 for an employee with 10 years of experience, and a maximum of $75,687 for an employee with 20 years of experience.

As part of the court’s action, it designated that all election records generated after August 1^st be moved into the elections administrator’s office.  All records prior to August 1^st will be kept in the county clerk’s office.

Also at today’s meeting, commissioners:

• Approved an agreement between the Washington County Expo and credit card processing company NCR for payment collecting.
• Awarded a contract to GrantWorks for administration services for the American Rescue Plan Act.
• Took no action on awarding a contract for professional janitorial services for the Expo during the Washington County Fair, as no bids were received.
• Tabled action on the county engineer’s recommendation for approval of the conditionally approved final plat of the Century Farms at Chappell Hill subdivision fronting Wonder Hill Road in Chappell Hill.
• Heard monthly reports from the emergency management coordinator, county and district clerks, justices of the peace, auditor, tax assessor-collector, treasurer and constables.