In a few weeks, my term as president of the Texas Association of Counties will end but the memories and personal growth that I have experienced will affect me for the rest of my life. With that in mind, I thought I’d share a bit about what it’s been like to be the titular head of your association during the last two years.

First and foremost, of course, is the responsibility of presiding as chair of the TAC Board of Directors. That board, as well as the boards of the various selfinsurance pools, is comprised exclusively of county officials from all parts of county government and all parts of the state. It is their guidance that directs the TAC staff’s development of services, as well as the allocation of resources through adoption of TAC’s budget. As president, I have seen my role as one of facilitating discussion to help the board determine the direction the organization should go. I would like to thank the members of all those boards for their volunteer service and leadership. Their efforts, as well as the day-to-day input from county officials throughout the state, are what drive the organization’s actions.

Once those policies and priorities are determined, it is the president’s job to communicate those directives to TAC staff for implementation. I especially enjoyed going over to the Capitol with the Legislative Department staff to present the perspective of county government to our state lawmakers. In addition to the ongoing effort to explain the potential impact of revenue caps, one crisis in particular stands out in my mind as indicative of the critical role counties play in our state. In late February, Attorney General Gregg Abbott issued an opinion requiring county clerks to redact social security numbers of living persons from all records maintained by the clerks before allowing public access to the records. With the stroke of a pen, Abbott’s ruling delayed, and in some instances denied, attorneys, title companies, landmen, banks and the general public ready access to property records whether stored on paper, microfilm or in electronic format. Abbott’s opinion cautioned the clerks that the release of social security numbers could subject them to state and federal criminal prosecution and as a result, virtually all of those business operations effectively were shut down until a solution could be found. In a very short time, all those interest groups came to understand the critical role counties perform in maintaining public records. And more than a few industry interest groups were impressed by the professionalism evidenced by TAC’s staff involvement, particularly the Legal and Legislative Departments. The other key role of the individual who serves as TAC president is to communicate directly to county officials out in the courthouses. I was fortunate to be able to go out to more than 100 counties during my tenure. I literally traveled from Deep East Texas to El Paso up to Amarillo and down to Brownsville. Sometimes, the purpose was to present Best Practice Awards to local county officials and other times, I was there just to let the people know that TAC cares about them and wants to know how to help. My message was that without local officials, there is no TAC. And you know what? It seemed people in the counties were just as interested in letting me know how grateful they are for what the organization does. On each occasion, it lifted my spirits to know that we were appreciated.

Finally, I’d like to express my thanks to the board members and officials throughout the state for all the help afforded me during the passing of our longtime executive director, Sam Seale, earlier this year. Sam was a great man and he left us well-prepared to continue in his absence. I have great faith in the current and future leadership of his replacement, Karen Ann Norris. Thanks to county officials all over Texas for supporting your association of counties.