COMMISSONERS DENY SALARY INCREASE REQUESTS BY SHERIFF

  
Sheriff Otto Hanak

 

 

Washington County Sheriff Otto Hanak was denied on two separate salary increase requests before the County Commissioners Court this morning.  Hanak requested that the three administrative assistants in his office be paid the same amount as those is other county offices.  Commissioner Joy Fuchs said that she didn’t want to fight over the issue and that the entire salary system needed to be reviewed:

Commissioners denied the request saying that a total review of all the county administrative assistant positions would be more appropriate.

In a separate request, Hanak asked for an 11.5 percent increase in salary for Deputy Al Gomez when he is promoted to Transport Sergeant.  That would put him at the same salary level as the retiring Transport Sergeant.  Commissioners suggested that a 3 percent increase would be more appropriate because Gomez would be eligible for a 3 percent increase in January and another 3 percent after his 90 day review.

Hanak said that he couldn’t guarantee if Gomez would accept the promotion unless he made the same amount as the retiring Transport Sergeant.  Longtime Commissioners Court observer Bill Neinast stated that this request should never have made it to the court, that the whole idea of having to request a promotion pay increase was archaic.  Commissioner Kirk Hanath agreed.

Commissioners approved the promotion, but with only a 3 percent increase in the pay scale.

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35 Comments

  1. I think the county commissioners get paid way more than they are worth. Next time
    they have a problem and have to call law enforcement for help think about how you felt they were not worthy of a raise but yet you expect them to go into harms way to protect you because you could not protect yourself. What is your life or your family members life worth? Hypocrites!

  2. Do our sheriff’s deputies deserve more?
    The sheriff and his deputies are all heroes, each and everyone.
    It is dangerous from the moment a deputy leaves home in the Tahoe until he returns home at the end of the shift. Think about all our deputies do like working traffic at an accident scene, serving papers, ticketing speeders on busy US 290 Loop, high speed chases, weekly illegal drug busts, patrolling lonely county roads (alone, as in by yourself, at night, in the dark), breaking up fights every night, solving crimes daily, writing long reports, dealing with jealous husbands and on and on.
    Need I say more? Sure.
    The number of rural burglaries prevented by the deputy patrols could be anywhere between 0 and a million. That’s right. So you just think about all that you commissioners court people.

  3. It appears the only time we hear from the sheriff is when he wants something from us the tax payers and that is quite frequently. I don”t blame the commissioners court for saying no, I say no also. Every dept. submits a proposed budget and operates within that approved budget, if he and his dept can’t do the same maybe changes need to be made. The sheriffs dept.is a able to raise revenue through fines, no other dept. in county govt. has that option.

  4. Well, now that every friend of the officer has chimed in. Did he not know what the pay scale was from the start. To think that just because of a person is promoted that they should receive the same pay as a person that had been in that position is nuts. That like saying a new college grad should be paid the same as a retiring manager at the start of their hire, not gonna happen. Another thing that puzzles me. Why is it that we always see the sheriffs office in front of the council asking for more money. Do they not have a budget? A few months ago it was brand new SUVs, now its more salary. Someone needs to learn to manage their budget plain and simple.

    1. Ronald Regan trumpete: Yes, we support our Sheriff’s Department for their dedication and service , and being backsided by the county commissioners is not right But if their “thinking” work in horse and buggy-it’s not working today.

  5. Question for the sheriff and the commissioners. Is the use of a county vehicle for off duty hours officially part of their salary? Does the state law enforcement allow state vehicles to go home with employees each day? Maybe the extra money needed for better salaries could come from better management of fleet vehicles. Fewer vehicles, less maintenance, less insurance equals more money for salaries.
    And in exchange for those higher salaries, how about having more rigorous physical fitness requirements for any field officer? Such as maximum weight? If officers were physically fit, management would not hesitate to send them out at 2 am to contain very large groups celebrating too loudly after citizens called in complaints. After all, if the majority of offenders can outrun the deputies, that does not reflect well on our law enforcement.
    As far as administrative salary increases, we all know county jobs are sought after because they give what the majority of administrative jobs in private sector do not, benefits. So private sector administrative jobs make more in salary, BUT, no health insurance, no sick pay, no retirement.
    In defense of persons not using their real names, everyone knows how retaliation works in this county if you speak up, it is a fact.

    1. Good points. I am against the physical fitness standards though. My ability to outrun most of the sheriiff’s deputies, if needed, is comforting to me. In their defense, they are very fast when in their Tahoes..

      1. Fast-ish, but not very maneuverable and not at all fuel efficient. Beats me why they feel safer conducting high-speed operations in such dangerous, top-heavy vehicles.

    2. Those “benefits” you speak of are pretty much universal in law enforcement. Also, deputies and officers having take home cars is just as much of a benefit to the county as it is to the officers. It allows them to more capably and quickly respond in the event that an emergency would arise and them be called in to work.

      Again, the vast majority of law enforcement agencies have the benefits you spoke of and while I’m not sure about the status of the fleet of our sheriff’s office, that issue should be addressed independently from the pay of our men and women that wear bullet proof vests and have to carry guns around all day to protect us. Their salaries are laughable and our county government is directly at fault. The Sheriff was elected to help bring this department up a notch and he’s trying. Time to elect some people to help him get it done.

  6. It is heartbreaking to write this but we are going to lose our good employees of the Sherrif Office if the Commisioners do not wake up and give them what they deserve as pay for their hard work and dedication to Washington County. It would be nice if Sheriff Hanak would have the support of the Commisioners. I know personally of very good qualified officers that would be happy to be working for the Sheriff but the pay is a joke and they drive to Houston and other surrounding areas to be compensated accordingly because apparentley the County Commisioners have other priorities other than keeping upstanding qualified deputies in our County. Shame on them!

  7. It’s worth pointing out that, aside from a few specific individuals who seem to consistently get more, county employees across the board will get a 3% “raise” this year. Gomez’s predecessor would’ve gotten the same 3%. Giving him 6% (only after a “review”) is a little ridiculous.

    It just doesn’t make sense to pay for someone to go through an academy, pay for their gear, pay for a year or 2 of training, and then not give them enough salary to stay. Then you can do it all over again. Surely the cost of replacement outweighs the cost of retention, let alone the benefits of having high-quality, experienced law enforcement.

  8. Dang right Deans, you hit the nail on the head brother and it is indeed a shame people won’t stand behind what they have to say with their name behind it.

    We lose good deputies every month due to the lack of support our County Commissioners and Judge show for our Sheriff’s Office. These fine men and women don’t leave because they’re greedy, they leave because it’s damn near impossible to feed a family and have a decent life on a salary you could probably beat mowing yards.

    I will not be voting for another incumbent in this county for the foreseeable future until their actions start to reflect my governmental priorities.

    1. Hey Josh Vandever or John Deans or whatever name you want to put here, how do you know whether the name used to post the comment is a real name or not? Why do you care? The comments still come from a human being whether you know that person or not.

    2. Name or no name, who cares? Get over yourselves! The premise of a comment doesn’t change just because the author refuses to post his or her name.

      Now get those deputies raises!

  9. Great opinions on all comments but really have they or will they ever change anything how Brenham / Wash. Co. operates? NO!
    It’s gonna be the kids of the future leaving the same old comments until the end of time!
    Now in my opinion if he’s name was different this wouldn’t be an issue or an IT guy! Lol

  10. The main reason I left the SO after almost 10 years as a deputy and then patrol sergeant was lack of pay. By going to a state law enforcement agency as a trainee I received at $10000 a year raise. If the commissioners refuse to pay Sheriffs Office employees a living wage comparable to what other agencies are paying then don’t be surprised if all experienced and good employees leave. This is just unacceptable time to vote out some commissioners.

  11. The County Commissioners should be ashamed of their appalling actions towards the selfless hard working men and women of the Washington County Sheriff Department that sacrifice and put their lives on the line each and everyday so that YOU can be safe. The deputies miss time spent with their familes so that YOUR family is kept safe. How dare you make a mockery of our heroes with stating that a 3 percent raise was adequate or that the raise for the admins to make them equal with those in the city was not applicable at the current time. You wanted to jepordize the safety of these officers with providing them used vehicles, you will not grant them the much deserved raises that they have earned. What is your true motive? How do you expect to keep these upstanding men and women if you fail to compensate them accordingly??? You have the bandwith and monies to make the applicable corrections in your system and WE as tax payers expect to see our deputies with the monies they deserve.

    1. Well, I’m a taxpayer and I don’t agree with most of what you say. You folks are getting kinda frothy in here, please calm down.

      1. That is YOUR opinion Mr. Johnson as this is MINE. I will not calm down. I will stand up for what is right proudly beside Sheriff Hanak and the Deputies of Washington County and support them each step of the way.

  12. “…a total review of all the county administrative assistant positions would be more appropriate…”
    Commissioners: shouldn’t this have already been done? Now that the SO wants to bring his staff up to what has been acceptable to you for other departments, you think it’s time for a review across the board? And if you find that the staff doesn’t deserve the pay raise Otto is asking for because it’s too high for that position, are you going to DECREASE the pay of the other comparable county staff? Doubtful! And with regard to promoting Deputy Gomez, if the position to which he is being promoted pays X salary, YOU PAY HIM X SALARY. He only gets a pittance because he is supposed to get a raise in January? You are all excellent politicians. (And that’s not a compliment.) I’m sure you’ve made sure you are aptly paid but hey, let’s shortchange THE PEOPLE WHO KEEP YOU SAFE. Otto’s hands are tied because YOU haven’t taken the time in (how long have we had the same people on this Commissioners court??) years to do your due diligence. You are clearly not supportive of our SO and you are only succeeding in looking inept while appearing to collectively undermine the Sheriff and his department. Shame on you. Our tax dollars should go to our safety and our infrastructure first and foremost. Give the Sheriff what he needs to run his department at salaries comparable to neighboring communities!!!!

  13. Its time to vote for new Commissioners, and a new Judge. Pay your employees, they will stay longer, and not have a higher turn over rate in the Sheriff’s office has.

  14. Can we as a community please vote these commissioners out of office?! This is ridiculous! Don’t worry they will get their raises and bonuses this year like always!

  15. Once again, the country commissioners are at a total loss of their function. So sad for Washington county. Apparently they seem to believe that if it was good enough in 1817 that it is good enough now.

  16. Another sad and disgusting act by the county commissioners who are suppose to support the Sheriff’s Office

  17. The county judge and commissioners need to stop being such tightwads and give the Sheriff whatever he needs whenever he wants it. Most supporters of the Sheriff would rather see the property tax rate increase, if that extra money is needed beyond what was in the Sheriff’s annual budget. We can’t put a price on good law enforcement. Either the commissioners court needs to start spending more taxpayer money for the Sheriff or we need to vote them out! Many of us have moved here from larger cities and we’d like more government services from the county in our beautiful unincorporated areas…. and we don’t mind paying more property taxes to do it.

    1. Give him whatever he wants when he wants it? Don’t mind increased property taxes?
      You definitely don’t speak for me or anyone I know.

    2. Yikes, I am shocked at your statement of “Many of us have moved here from larger cities and we’d like more government services from the county in our beautiful unincorporated areas…. and we don’t mind paying more property taxes to do it.”

      Let me be clear, I think the commissioners court is mistaken in not giving the sheriff what he needs and I support law enforcement completely. With that being said I have more government than I need right or want right now. I am sick of paying for it. Please don’t add any more “services” to our areas. I pay enough already. How about just making sure the basics are done well and skip the “services”. Maybe you moved here with a pocket full of money o throw around but many of us still have a need to be careful in our spending which no government agency has ever seemed to be able to do.

  18. Our Law Enforcement First Responders are vastly underpaid! That is why we lose so many to other PDs and SOs. We MUST match surrounding county SO and PD pay scales right now. How can a county who went from two part time IT techs (no health insurance) who ran the county courts, EMS, Road and Bridge, and Sheriff department for ten years quite well then go to THREE FULL TIME IT techs WITH Health Insurance even AFTER the new lower maintenance network was built to this day!!! That is more than a 300% increase in IT funding! Yet the Sheriff (as rough as he can be) gets 2nd guessed and penny’d down on every ever freaking position to get his staff up to a competitive salary.

    Beware of the coming primaries…….it’s a comin…..and we are preparing……

    BTW…I’m not using anonymous initials as the previous comment authors do….jeeezzzzz

    1. Don’t you realize yet that no one cares what name you use? What difference does it make to any of us who you are? You could be a commissioner, or Hanak himself, and it would make no difference to the value of your comments here. The ONLY difference it makes, is it allows other people to target you in real life for your opinions. Do you tell your daughters to use their real names wherever they go on the internet? I didn’t think so.

    2. Here is the problem. Just look at the Taj Mahal of a Police Station that Brenham built. Then, look at the new EMS building, the new public library, the new Chevy Tahoe’s recently requested by the Sheriffs Dept., etc. Our Govt. is spending money like it’s going out of style. But, when they are spending your money, they don’t seem to care how much it costs. Your property taxes going up, no worries? When they need more money, they just go back to the well that never dries up. That well is your back pocket. I didn’t even mention the schools in this rant.

  19. In my opinion if you want to promote good employees, then a pay raise, should be a no brainer.
    How does the payscale compare with neighboring counties?

  20. Shocking that the Sheriff’s admin makes less than the Judge’s admin. Shocking that a Sergeant taking over the position of a retiring Sergeant is not given the same pay on the day he assumes the position. Shocking that the Sheriff has to request every pay increase instead of being given a budget for salaries to use at his discretion.

  21. It’s called a budget for a reason! If the Sheriff’s Office budget allows for the raises then the Sheriff should be allowed to give the raises without going to the commissioners for approval. However if he doesn’t have the money in his budget then it would require approval from the commissioners or wait and place the raises in next budget, if this would be followed it would prevent all of this bickering by the Sheriff and the commissioners if all of them were up for election this would prove to me that none of them are capable of running the county without bickering and I would not vote for any of them in return!!!

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