The clerks
Democrat Trautman for county clerk and Republican incumbent Daniel for district clerk
Under the Texas Constitution voters are asked to elect politicians to fill positions in county government that seemed designed to be run by nonpartisan administrators. The best the public can aim for is someone who will do the job well and maintain public trust by avoiding the worst partisan instincts. Incumbent Republican Chris Daniel has proven himself up to this task for district clerk. Voters should send him back for a third term.
His office has responsibility for overseeing the behind-the-scenes work in our district courts, including the ongoing project of implementing e-filing in the criminal courthouse. Both the civil and family courts have already transitioned to this new system. Daniel, 36, is also one of the rare Republicans to earn an endorsement from the AFL-CIO, which he told the editorial board he attributes to his support for a $15 minimum wage for his employees.
His Democratic challenger, Marilyn Burgess, has managerial experience in the public and private sector, including service as executive director of Texas PTA and president of North Houston-Greenspoint Chamber of Commerce. While lawyers may be concerned that she doesn’t have a law degree, Burgess pointed out the situation is similar to hospital managers who aren’t doctors. Burgess, however, would bring the credentials of a certified public accountant.
When meeting with the editorial board Burgess said that Daniel is too politically ambitious to serve as an effective administrator and alleged that he doesn’t show up often enough to his office — with statistics to back it up. But Daniel has also developed a reputation for transparency and responsiveness that’s appreciated by lawyers and journalists alike.
No doubt that Burgess would make for an excellent district clerk, but Daniel already has proven that he’s up to the task.
The county clerk maintains property records, court documents and marriage licenses in Harris County, but it’s the office’s responsibility for running elections that seems to get the most attention. If you find yourself clicking reload on the clerk’s website over and over waiting for the Election Day results to start pouring in, you might want to consider blaming the frustrating delay on an inconvenient case of the munchies.
In his meeting with the Houston Chronicle editorial board, County Clerk Stan Stanart told us that sometimes the election results come in late because the election judges will stop for a meal or maybe an election night party while driving the results to a drop-off spot. Or sometimes they just get lost. No doubt some hiccups will develop in any kind of operation, but for Stanart these fumbles seemed to elicit more bemusement than cause to act. Overall he had a general sense that any attempt at improvement would be too much work or simply futile.
“There’s really not too much we can do, I don’t think, to increase the speed,” he said.
It is an attitude that Republicans often perceive in government bureaucrats: Officials who don’t have to worry about failing in a competitive business market become content with mediocrity. That is why it falls upon voters to remove politicians who grow too comfortable in their positions and replace them with new blood. Democracy must ensure a survival of the fittest among public servants. While we endorsed Stanart in 2014, we do not believe he is fit for a third term.
Instead, we encourage voters to support his challenger, Diane Trautman. A current at-large board member at the Harris County Department of Education, Trautman has managerial experience in the public and private sector and a doctorate from Sam Houston State University with a dissertation on women’s leadership styles. Meeting with the editorial board, she offered a litany of ideas for improving those frustratingly slow election night returns, including better training and a more transparent process.
She also has a passion for creating countywide voting centers so that people don’t have to cast their ballots at specific — and often inconvenient — precincts on Election Day.
Stanart’s use of George Soros-related fear-mongering on his campaign website also brings an unnecessary tinge of partisanship to his office and panders to antiSemitic conspiracy theories.
His site says that the Jewish Hungarian billionaire “wants to control Harris County Elections” — a bizarre and inaccurate claim. Stanart told us it was based on an rumor that later turned out to be untrue but he never changed the website.
Voters should want the person in charge of our elections to be above the usual political squabbles and avoid spreading unsubstantiated gossip.