The Problem with Electing Department Heads

I wrote a piece earlier today about the Tax Assessor-Collector's Office and I made the point that its one of those offices that people don't care about.

Well it got me to thinking about the fact that most of the offices that are elected at the county level are offices that no one gives a shit about, like the County Clerk, District Clerk, and the DA and CA.

Relax office holders, I'm not saying your office isn't important. It is.

I'm saying it isn't important to most people voting. They don't know/care what you do.

However I will say this. Most of those jobs are administrative in nature. They have a lot of potential to save/cost taxpayers a lot of money so it helps to have a good administrator in that office more so than a good politician.

And therein lies the problem.

We elect department heads.

Elected department heads costs you money.

Every time they screw up and get sued, it costs you the taxpayer money because the County almost always settles out of court for x amount of dollars. Those are your tax dollars they settle for.

So when you see these elections come up on the ballot, make sure you are taking that into account. Bad managers cost you money.