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Nueces County risk manager asks commissioners for a new senior clerk to reduce single-person vulnerability
Summary
Risk Management asked the Commissioners Court for one senior clerk (estimated $38,500/year including benefits) to address expanded duties — driver records for 300+ staff, defensive-driving training, building valuations and on-site safety surveys — and to provide succession depth if current staff are unavailable.
Lance, speaking for the county's Risk Management office, asked the Nueces County Commissioners Court during its June 17, 2014, budget workshop to authorize one additional staff position, a senior clerk, to handle expanded recordkeeping and program duties.
Lance told the court that Risk Management now manages an online driver database covering more than 300 county drivers, conducts defensive-driving classes, performs on-site building safety surveys and runs building valuations used in insurance negotiations. He said those responsibilities, combined with existing claims work, leave the office with limited "defensive depth" if either of the two current staff members were suddenly unavailable. "If Martha and I were to happen to have some type of, God forbid, accident where one of us was out for an extended period of time, that one-person show is not gonna work," Lance said.
To justify the hire, Lance compared staffing ratios with peer counties, citing numbers he received through TAC: some similar-size counties operate with more risk-management staff (examples discussed included Montgomery County and others). He said the proposed position is not clerical only but would require administrative and claims-processing skills; he estimated a senior-clerk hourly rate of $14.93, or about $38,500 including benefits.
Lance also described improvements in loss control since 2011, noting workers'compensation losses that peaked near $600,000 in 2011 have fallen considerably. He attributed part of the improvement to more immediate reporting and early medical baseline visits, which reduce claim severity and costs. "We want every injury reported because what we don't want is someone say they're hurt but they didn't file paperwork right away," he said, adding that timely reporting helps trend analysis and targeted safety training.
Commissioners asked follow-up questions about peer-county staffing and claim counts; Lance said he could provide more detailed comparisons and additional TAC-supplied numbers on request. No formal motion was recorded during the presentation; the request was left for the court's budget deliberations.
