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November / December 2011
Volume 23, Number 6

Kudos from citizens

Brazoria County Elections Staff Receives Local Praise for Dedication, Hard Work

After the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 100, which required election officials to move primary runoff elections for state and county offices to the fourth Tuesday in May in evennumbered years, officials in Brazoria County worried that the county would not have the equipment and personnel to host elections for its political subdivisions in May, as there was only 10 days between the local election date and the date of the primary runoff.

Officials in the county’s 40 various political entities considered a variety of options to deal with the change, including changing the terms of some elected officials from two years to four years, moving the elections from May to November at a significant cost increase, or buying their own elections equipment. But the options only caused pandemonium. “

On June 16th, we held a meeting with the 40 local political subdivisions that normally contract with the county for their May elections,” said Janice Evans, Brazoria County elections director. “We announced that we would no longer do May local elections in even numbered years. Once the announcement was made, we saw turmoil and panic in Brazoria County.”

Fortunately, Evan’s small staff came to the rescue. The staff created a day-by-day calendar to help guide them through both elections and advised Evans and Brazoria County Clerk Joyce Hudman that they were willing to put in extra hours in order in order to hold both elections.

“The attitude of the department was ‘How dare you tell us we can not do this!’” Evans said, adding that the staff’s can-do attitude caused the county to reverse its earlier position. “I personally am proud of my staff for stepping up to the plate when the county needed help. We are now the ‘Very Best Friends’ of all school districts, cities, hospital, drainage districts and water districts because the rank and file stepped up and were heard.”

Praise to the staff hasn’t just been coming from within. As a result of the staff’s hard work, the local newspaper The Facts printed an editorial thanking the employees for their hard work.

“A tangle of election-related confusion, chaos and headaches that were headed our way has been averted thanks to a change of heart on part of Brazoria County poll workers,” wrote The Facts News Editor Dale Dimitri. “The rank-and-file county elections workers toil behind the scenes, and public employees like these often are taken for granted despite the invaluable job they do to keep government operating efficiently and serving the people as intended.”