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Commissioners reject change to county administrator's firing powers after heated debate
Summary
A motion to require court ratification of hiring and dismissal of department heads reporting to the county administrator failed for lack of a second after commissioners weighed oversight concerns, recent terminations and the purpose of the office.
Commissioner Adrian Garcia moved to revise documents governing the county administrator's duties to require Commissioners Court ratification for hiring and firing of department heads who report to the county administrator. Garcia said a recent termination took place without court approval and argued the court should have final oversight for personnel actions "because ultimately ... this body ... has to contend with the liability."
The motion drew strong pushback from colleagues who supported keeping the county administrator empowered to run day-to-day operations. Commissioner Brown called the county administrator the government's "COO" and said neutering the office would undermine its effectiveness; Commissioner Brianna and others praised the administrator's performance and warned about the precedent of revisiting a position hired after a national search. Because the motion did not receive a second, it failed procedurally and no change was made to the administrator's authorities.
