By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
In the latest back-and-fourth between the Ellis County Commission and the County Treasurer, Commission Chairman Dean Haselhorst read a statement Monday night responding to claims of “blind partisanship” and “corruption.”
Treasurer Lisa Schlegel has, in recent letters to the editor, claimed she is being targeted by the “political elites” of Ellis County. Schlegel was not present at Monday’s meeting.
Schlegel has publicly criticized several county officials and specifically targeted Clerk Donna Maskus after she failed to provide the Treasurer’s office with the necessary tax information by the Nov. 1 deadline in 2017.
She claims the commission and County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes have attempted to bully her into not talking about the delay in receiving tax information.
Haselhorst pointed out the three commissioners and are all of the same political party – Republican – while Clerk Maskus is opposite political party – Democrat.
“It is not partisanship to ask questions when we, as a commission, have been approached by our constituents,” Haselhorst said. “It is not partisanship to express our hope that county officials get along. It is not partisanship, and certainly not corruption, to desire to communicate in open public meetings rather than on editorial pages.”
In her letters to the editor, Schlegel also said County Counselor Bill Jeter and Smith-Hanes are using taxpayer funds to dig up information on the treasurer, “for the purpose of a political smear campaign.”
In his response Haselhorst said, “These two individuals are not engaged in any taxpayer-funded attempt to make a county official look bad. In fact engaging in such an activity would violate their publicly available contracts these individuals have signed with the commission.”
“Rather Mr. Jeter and Mr. Smith-Hanes have attempted to meet with Ms. Schlegel to seek answers to questions raised by commissioners. In response, it is Ms. Schlegel who insinuates that some nefarious motives are at play,” Haselhorst said.
Haselhorst added, “Let me be clear, we as a commission hope Donna Maskus will meet her statutory deadlines. We hope Lisa Schlegel will answer questions about her expenditures when we ask them. We hope all county elected officials can work together to highlight the positive things that are happening in Ellis County.”
In other business, the commission approved changes to the exempt waste policy at the landfill, approved the reclassification of a vacant position within the Public Works Department to create a road foreman position, approved the 2018 road striping bid with a four-year option and approved the purchase of a flatbed and sprayer components for the Noxious Weed Department.
