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November / December 2009
Volume 21, Number 6

By Vernon Cook, Roberts County Judge and President, Texas Association of Counties

New Transitions for a New Year

As our new year gets underway, I am excited about taking the helm as the president of the Texas Association of Counties for the years 2010-2011. I believe TAC is a super asset to Texas county government and hope that over the next couple of years, officials from throughout the state will become aware of the wide range of services the organization offers.

First, let me summarize my own background. Since 1991, I’ve served as county judge in Roberts County, a Panhandle community with less than 900 people. I started my career teaching vocational agriculture in my county seat of Miami and then moved to College Station to get my master’s degree in agriculture education, which prepared me to serve as a county extension agent back home. I served on my local city council and our school board before running for the job of county judge. I’ve also served as a member and chair of the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission, as well as on the boards of the local Resource Conservation & Development Council, livestock show, economic development corporation, volunteer fire department, Red Cross and Lions Club — when you’re from a small town, you get to do it all.

The experience with the regional planning commission made me realize the value of uniting with others to get the job done — regional planning for emergency management has made a significant improvement in public safety in our area, for example. That collective effort by numerous local governments is an example of a major reason I value my involvement with TAC — its programs and services are the direct result of county leaders getting together to address issues that face us all. I’ve experienced this firsthand when I served as chair of TAC’s Health and Employee Benefits Pool Board. That organization, especially its groundbreaking efforts in developing county wellness programs, is a terrific value to all of our members.

Serving on that board also gave me an opportunity to get to know our new executive director, Gene Terry. As Marion County judge, he preceded me as chair of that board and I came to recognize his tremendous intellect and commitment to county government. There are other articles about his taking over the top job at TAC, but let me be the first to welcome him in print – you’ll do a great job, Gene, and I look forward to working with you!

Of course, it wouldn’t do to welcome Gene Terry without recognizing the wonderful job that Karen Ann Norris did over the course of more than 26 years with the organization. Much of that time, she was the de facto “operations manager” in the role of assistant executive director. Working under the direction of the county officials on TAC’s Board of Directors, the late Sam Seale provided the overall policy leadership but it was Karen Ann who was responsible for overseeing the development of many of the organization’s programs. When Sam passed away almost three years ago, Karen was persuaded to serve as executive director for a period of transition. One of her great accomplishments was the development of a plan for orderly succession of staff leadership. As a mature organization of four decades, a number of its department heads are nearing retirement; with the implementation of an effective succession plan, Karen Ann has assured that TAC’s staff leadership will continue the fine service to county government that the organization has enjoyed.

That brings me back to the point of the first paragraph of this article. One of the major goals of my term as TAC president will be an effort to help make county officials more aware of all the potential benefits TAC offers. I really believe that a lot of county officials are not aware of all that TAC does for counties. Many do not realize that the wide array of programs are based on a common goal: helping counties operate more efficiently and effectively, for the sake of saving money for our local taxpayers. With this issue of County magazine and other TAC publications, you will begin to notice the initiation of a new “TAC Services that Save” campaign. When you see the little icon that promotes this effort, take a moment to read just about the services that are explained there. You may learn about a service you didn’t know about, but you can bet that it’s probably a way to benefit your local citizens.