Well, Harris County… the clock struck midnight.
And Cinderella did not lose a glass slipper.
Worst! The fair requested raise… Is A No Go! Or politically correct… Tabled It For Now.
On September 8, Harris County Commissioners Court rejected a citizens’ Salary Grievance Committee recommendation that would have increased Treasurer Dr. Carla Wyatt’s annual salary from $139,547 to $181,411.
The committee had voted 6 to 3 in favor of the recommendation.
Not $305,000.
Not even the $250,000 Wyatt originally requested.
The citizens offered approximately $181,411.
Commissioners Court said no.
And Cinderella went right back to work.
But before anybody tells taxpayers this was simply about fiscal responsibility, let us open Harris County’s checkbook.
Commissioner Rodney Ellis [The Godfather] previously moved to extend $305,000 salaries to additional countywide elected officials, excluding the Treasurer, County Judge and Sheriff. His reasoning?
It was “only fair.” Well now…
Only fair to whom?
Because apparently “only fair” has boundaries in Harris County, and somewhere between $139,547 and $305,000, somebody drew one around the Treasurer’s Office.
Meanwhile, what exactly does this Cinderella do?
According to Harris County, the Treasurer is the chief custodian of county funds. The office receives and deposits county money, maintains records of deposits and withdrawals, reconciles bank statements, safeguards county funds and disburses money as directed by Commissioners Court.
Let us make that distinction clear.
Dr. Wyatt does not decide everybody’s salary.
Commissioners Court makes the major budget and compensation decisions.
But once authorized money starts moving, the Treasurer’s Office is one of the financial guardians helping make certain county funds are properly received, recorded, reconciled and disbursed.
Cinderella is not sweeping ashes from the fireplace.
She is helping safeguard the county purse.
Now follow me into another room of this mansion.
Harris County’s FY2025 budget projected $115.1
million for indigent defense, including approximately $59.1 million for court appointed attorney costs and $56 million for the Public Defender.
And let me be absolutely clear: poor defendants have a constitutional right to legal representation.
Protect that right.
But taxpayers have rights too.
They have the right to ask:
Where is the same microscope when millions upon millions are being spent elsewhere?
Harris County’s own Auditor processes payments for court appointed indigent defense attorneys. County records have also documented reviews of court appointed attorney billing.
So nobody needs to hate the attorney.
As our political cartoon says:
“Don’t hate me… hate the game!”
The question is whether taxpayers are getting accountability, efficiency and fairness throughout the entire system.
Because if Harris County can budget $59.1 million for court appointed attorney costs, why does roughly $42,000 more for its elected Treasurer suddenly become the moment everybody discovers fiscal restraint?
That glass slipper does not fit.
And there is another twist.
County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth declined her proposed increase to $305,000. That was her decision, and I respect it.
But Wyatt did not receive $305,000.
She did not receive $250,000.
She did not even receive the citizens’ compromise of $181,411.
She received: NO.
So here we are.
Receive the money. Deposit the money. Reconcile the money. Safeguard the money. Disburse authorized
funds.
Maintain the records. Protect the public trust. But when Cinderella asks whether her compensation reflects the responsibility of the office…
The Godfather says: NO!
This is bigger than
Carla Wyatt.
It is about consistency. It is about priorities.
It is about whether
“only fair” applies to everybody standing inside the Harris County ballroom.
The citizens spoke.
The recommendation was made.
The Court rejected it.
And Cinderella remains at $139,547.
No pumpkin.
No fairy godmother. Just public money, public responsibility and one mighty uncomfortable question:
Same county. Same taxpayers. Same public money.
