March 21, 2007
Looks like Orlando will escape the legislative axe

Back in January, I wrote the following about any attempt by the Lege to eliminate the office of Harris County Treasurer now that it was being held by Orlando Sanchez:


I have my doubts that any progress will be made towards eliminating the Treasurer's office. It would have been an uphill climb even with Richard Garcia in there, since it would have needed a 2/3 majority in both chambers and would have run into stiff opposition from other counties' treasurers, who consider Harris to be a bulkhead of sorts. I have a hard time seeing the Lege eliminating this position when the person who currently fills it, who must still have some friends in power, wants to keep it around.

I was right.

Harris County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez likely will keep his job for at least a couple of years more despite the desires of other county leaders to abolish a post they say is unnecessary.

Eliminating the treasurer's office would require legislation as well as voter approval, and lawmakers on both sides of the issue say the effort has little or no momentum in this year's legislative session.

[...]

[Said] County Judge Ed Emmett, a former state representative. "I made some calls. Everybody said that bill [to eliminate the office] isn't going anywhere," he said. "It's a lot easier to kill a bill than it is to pass one."

Emmett said he has no strong opinion on the issue. "But I wouldn't go out of my way to eliminate the office," he said.

[...]

Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, carried a similar bill on behalf of Fort Bend County last session. It had the unanimous support of Commissioners Court, yet it went nowhere in Austin.

He said eliminating a county elective office is difficult even if county leaders are united, and Harris County's aren't.

"I made it clear to Commissioner Radack that I'd like to see commissioner support, plus popular support. I'm waiting for popular support."

Janek said has received calls only from people asking him not to abolish the position.


It'd be nice to know more about these people and why they think the Treasurer's office is worth saving, but I suppose it's not that important. Who supports the office is more important than how many do.

And you'll never guess who is standing in opposition to this effort to reduce the size of local government:


"My concern about the issue is, it wasn't an issue when Jack Cato was campaigning. It only became one when Orlando got the job," said Sen. Dan Patrick, a Houston Republican who opposes abolishing the office.

Oh, Danno, you silver-tongued devil. We all know that you'd be perfectly happy to go along with this if there were a Democrat in office. But one of your Republican buddies? Perish the thought. Government may be the problem, as a certain President once said, but a $96K/year government job for a friend who really needed steady employment is something else altogether. So nice to know where your priorities are.

You may recall that the Lone Star Times stayed true to its values and endorsed Garcia over Sanchez precisely because they support the abolition of the office. I'd love to know what they think of Sen. Patrick's stance on the matter, but alas, as of this posting they have not commented on it. I'll check back later to see if that has changed.

One more thing: In that same post, I also said this, based on the assumption that we'd have a Treasurer for the foreseeable future:


Go ahead, Orlando. Show me just what useful function the County Treasurer can perform. And I don't mean the employees of the office, all of whom would still be employed elsewhere if you were to vanish in a puff of smoke. Show me what you, as the elected official who can make news and (so you say) influence policy, can do. I'll stipulate that Jack Cato was not about making waves or nipping at the County Commissioners' heels. You say that's what this job is about and that that's what you'll do, and I say go for it. I'm going to do an archive search of the Chronicle in a year's time, and we'll see just what you've been up to.

It's not quite three months yet, but to my total non-surprise, the only articles I've found relating to Orlando Sanchez and the Harris County Treasurer's office are all about the effort to abolish it. There are three stories total - today's, the one I blogged about from January 7, and another I blogged about from January 10. I mean heck, we just had a change in County Judge, and we got not so much as a quote from Sanchez about it. Far as I can tell, the only thing Orlando Sanchez has accomplished is to have the title on the Treasurer web page changed to include his name. Well done, sir! Thank you for proving my instincts correct so far.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on March 21, 2007 to Local politics
Comments

It's not quite three months yet, but to my total non-surprise, the only articles I've found

That can be a non-surprise for a number of reasons, some of which have little to do with Orlando Sanchez. Since the Chronicle devotes embarrassingly limited resources to covering Harris County government, it's really not surprising that as a result, they don't really have much coverage of Harris County government. It will hardly surprise me if Sanchez turns out simply to be a lazy elected official who doesn't do a heck of a lot in an office that doesn't do a heck of a lot, but I don't know that Chron archives are going to prove that point convincingly.

I'd love to know what they think of Sen. Patrick's stance on the matter

You know what -- instead of engaging in mindreading and/or complaints that nobody has posted on one of your topics, you could probably email Patrick's chief of staff or someone at Lone Star Times and ask about their views. I mean, if you would honestly LOVE to know those views. Just a thought. :)

Posted by: kevin whited on March 21, 2007 11:53 AM

I don't understand your criticisms, Kevin. Orlando Sanchez, as I know you know, ran on a platform of being an advocate for the taxpayer and a watchdog on Commissioners Court. Whatever you think the Chron's flaws may be, can you really argue that Sanchez has done anything newsworthy in the past three months? Anything that might indicate he's doing the job he said he was going to do? Even you ought to agree that the Chron regularly covers what Commissioners Court does. Yet there's nothing on Sanchez.

Yes, some other news organization might have carried a story on Orlando Sanchez. I can't recall any, and I daresay you can't either, but at least the Chron has an archive I can search.

Finally, I looked to see what the LST might have said because they showed an interest in that race last year, and as noted have been consistent on the point. It wasn't a complaint that they hadn't said anything, just an observation borne out of genuine curiosity. Perhaps you should refrain from mind-reading, too.

Posted by: Charles Kuffner on March 21, 2007 12:36 PM

The state (and the citizen, IMO) will be better served by keeping the commissioners sticky fingers out of the County Treasurers office. Heck, the commissioners have already consolidated power by appointing the County Judge and County Attorney - effectively taking these functions away from the citizen. Where does it stop?

Posted by: Charles Hixon on March 21, 2007 12:50 PM