WHAT IF THEY HELD A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE SALARY OF CAMERON COUNTY ELECTED OFFICIALS...AND NO ONE CAME?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

That is exactly what happened Tuesday when the Cameron County Commissioners Court held a public hearing to discuss the proposed salary increases for elected officials.

One person who signed up to comment on the matter complained about a certain justice of the peace and urged the court o trim her sails by suing the salary as a club.

The other "objected strongly," partly because she thought – despite the fact that COVID-19 Delta variant is raging across South Texas counties, the meeting should not have been held via Zoom and person-to-person instead.

Regardless, the public participation was dismal when they had the chance to voice their approval or displeasure on the matter.

The increase on public elected officials is accompanied with seniority-based salary increases for low-level employees who – and this is undisputed – critically need relief. Under Carlos Cascos – a Republican who prided himself as a skinflint conservative – raises were non-existent. As a Certified Public Accountant, Carlos was doing quite well who, as becomes a bean counter, kept an eye on the bottom line and asked everyone to tighten their belts while he struggled to diminish his growing longita, thank you.

Cascos will probably mention this as one of the planks in his platform when he makes a run at county judge again.

The rank-and-file workers have gone for years without a meaningful increase. They raised their kids, bought their cars and other goods from local merchants and paid their county taxes. Often, depending on the size of their families, they would qualify for social services like food stamps while working full time. When Cascos asked them to tighten their belts, they asked him to send them belts.

Commissioners and other department heads have gone for decades at the same salary as when they were elected. Many things have changed. Gone are the days when commissioners ran their Road and Bridge budgets and worried about caliche on their dirt roads to keep voters happy. Our county has become an urbanized one with caliche being the last of their worries.

Now they have to worry about dealing with a worldwide pandemic, major economic development and environmental issues, and – in the case of Cameron and Hidalgo counties – dealing with security on the border and all its associated evils like spillover violence. In fact, public safety is one of the major expenditures of counties and cities along the river. It's a 365, 24-7 job. Would you do it?

A comparison with other counties with similar populations is often like comparing naranjas to manzanas because of the disparity in income between South Texas economy and the rest of the state north of Sarita. But those with comparable population size shows that the local elected officials lag far behind.

County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr.’s total compensation would be increased from $65,343 to $70,343 for the 2022 budget. He would also receive a $6,000 annual vehicle allowance and his total compensation would increase to $81,743. It is noteworthy that he is currently the second lowest paid county judge among Texas counties with 100,000 population or more.

Other commissioners would get raises in the amount of $11,000.  Sofia Benavides, David Garza, Joey Lopez and Gus Ruiz would see their total compensation increased to $60,076 except for Benavides, who does not receive a phone allowance.

In the latest salary comparisons provided by the Texas Association of Counties, the closest similar population size counties show the difficulties in using this measure. https://www.county.org/Resources-for-County-Officials/TAC-Publications/Salary-Survey

Cameron County's population is pegged at 423,163, numbers that will surely increase when the final U.S. Census come in. 

Bell County, with a population listed at 362,124 pays its county judge $127,078. It pays commissioners $78,288. Brazoria County, with a 374,264 population, pays its county judge $152,373 and commissioners $124,440. And Brazos County, listing a population of 229,211, pays its county judge 111,094 and its commissioners 86,007.

Bee County, with a population of 32,565 – about one-12th the Cameron County population – pays the county judge $57,000 and commissioners $45,280, just a step below the Cameron County salaries.

A common fallacy in the argument of whether to raise the salary of local elected officials is based on the personalities involved. But these elected officials will not be there forever. One shouldn't base their opinion on whether you like Treviño, Benavides, Lopez, Garza or Ruiz. The political tide often turns and they may not be there next election round. In the case of the county, term limits are based on elections outcomes. Have your say there.

Let's remember that the county has a population of more than 400,000 whereas the City of Brownsville has yet to reach half of that, or 200,000. And if we are going to talk of bloated salaries, get this: There are more than a score of city employees whose salaries are sometimes twice as higher than these county officials.  The schedule below is from just one department in the City of Brownsville. 

City Manager Noel Bernal, who last worked in Coppell, Texas, with a population was only 41,465 in 2019, commands a $225,000 salary plus perks, almost as much as the four county commissioners combined will if they approve their $11,000 raises. And no one complains about that. 

The better argument is that when you don't pay your people well, you get what you pay for. It's easy for retired people to scoff at paying elected officials anything at all. In their day a bag of chips cost a nickel, a pair of shoes less than $20. Those days, of course, are gone. Right now you can't get a hamburger and fries for less than $7.

This is 2021, not 2001. The salaries paid to the workforce in those 20 years ago will simply not do, regardless of your fiscal philosophy. Let's get over this and move on.