A community asset
Osborne’s work in first term undermines challenger’s case that the office needs change.
The job of county treasurer is a bit like being a sports official in one respect: They’re usually invisible unless they mess up.
The treasurer’s basic duties are to cut checks for the county, balance its checkbook and account for funds in designated accounts. The office moved about $20 billion in 2021. Incumbent Dylan Osborne has tried since 2018 to increase the 12-person office’s visibility — without any big mistakes. He participated in the November 2020 Protect the Results rally, making the shouldn’t-be-controversial argument that vote counting and transfers of power needn’t be partisan. He also led the office to partner with Unity National Bank, one of the few Black-owned financial institutions in Texas.
He wants to work with some local schools to build programs for financial literacy training and pitch to Harris County Commissioners Court a plan to help residents combat financial struggles.
“I run an efficient, tight ship, and we’re working hard to make this office an asset to the community,” Osborne told us.
Osborne, 40, is a University of Houston graduate with a master’s in public administration who worked in the city’s Planning and Development Department before his election in 2018.
His opponent, Carla Wyatt, is a qualified challenger. She’s worked for 20 years as a Harris County employee, including stints with public infrastructure and the budget office, which, she argues, gives her more experience than Osborne despite his incumbency. She has a doctorate in environmental toxicology. Wyatt, 51, ran emergency communications during Hurricane Harvey and wants to “pull back the curtain” and use the internet to make it even easier for residents to access (and monitor) the treasurer’s office.
“I love working for Harris County. It has invested in me, and now I want to invest in Harris County,” Wyatt told us.
We’ve little doubt that Wyatt has the skills and energy to make an effective, community-focused treasurer. What was missing was a persuasive case that the office needs a change. We think Osborne has the office on an encouraging path, and we therefore recommend Democratic voters send him to the general election.