Radack v. Sanchez

I remain skeptical that anything much will be done to eliminate the office of Harris County Treasurer now that it is inhabited by Orlando Sanchez instead of Richard Garcia, but County Commissioner Steve Radack is still giving it the old college try.

Commissioner Steve Radack, who wants to abolish the county Treasurer's Office, said Harris County should withdraw from the Texas Association of Counties if it doesn't reverse its opposition to abolishing constitutionally mandated elective offices.

Radack told the Commissioners Court Tuesday that the decision on abolishing the office should be left up to voters and the association has no business meddling in the county's affairs.

"The association should support any effort by the county to reduce the size of county government," Radack said.

Actually, I'd assume that the TAC would consider it part of its mission to maintain status quo as a matter of course. That's pretty much how organizations like that operate. I'm not saying it's right or wrong - in general, I'd say "it depends" - but I don't think Steve Radack is naive enough to really believe what he's saying here.

The board of the association, a nonprofit organization that lobbies on issues affecting counties and runs seminars on ethics and open records laws, passed a resolution last month opposing abolishing treasurer posts and other elected county offices mandated by the state constitution.

"Abolishing any of these offices would create gaps in county government and be an impediment to effective local government," the resolution said.

But Marc Hamlin, the association's president and Brazos County district clerk, said the association wasn't taking a specific position on the Harris County treasurer's post.

I don't find anything unusual in TAC's actions here. I also don't care one way or the other if Harris is a member of it or not. By sheer size alone, Harris is unique in Texas, so it may not derive all that much value from its membership. Is this a line-in-the-sand, take-my-ball-and-go-home issue? Probably not, but then no one's ever accused Radack of being subtle. He does make up for it in entertainment value, though.

County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez, who assumed the office this month, opposes abolishing it, saying that it can act as a watchdog on county spending.

I'll repeat what I said on Monday: Prove it to me, Orlando. You've got a year. I'll be watching.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on January 11, 2007 to Local politics