Commissioners fill emergency management spot; collections position open
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

The Lampasas County Commissioners Court voted 5-0 Monday to separate emergency management from code enforcement and drop the emergency management coordinator's salary to $32,500.

Commissioners unanimously approved a motion to hire Angela Rainwater for the emergency management position. Along with the salary, the coordinator will receive a seized vehicle equipped with a radio for use in county business. The vehicle and radio will allow Mrs. Rainwater to contact county, state and federal officials during an emergency or when applying for public relief funds after an event.

Commissioners called the Monday meeting after tabling action on the hire during the Sept. 24 regular meeting. During the regular session, commissioners said they hoped to lower the initial proposed salary of $45,000, as the coordinator would handle emergency management issues only. Several commissioners said county advertisements for the position stated the official also would handle code enforcement.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack B. Cox said he had hoped to lower the salary to $30,000 to save taxpayer money.

Before the Monday hire, Mrs. Rainwater had worked in emergency management and served as the collector of fines, while a sheriff's deputy handled code enforcement part-time. Without a dual emergency management coordinator/code enforcement officer, Sheriff Gordon Morris said his department cannot continue to assign a deputy to code duty.

"It's putting a terrible strain on my department," he said, "and I'm going to refer all the information to the commissioners."

Each commissioner can choose a code enforcement officer if the need arises in his precinct, Morris said. The official would not need to be a trained peace officer, the sheriff added.

The collections position now is open, County Judge Wayne Boultinghouse said, and the county probably will try to fill it.

Because Mrs. Rainwater will cover emergency management duties only, commissioners voted Monday to move the position from the sheriff's budget and place it under the county judge's authority. Boultinghouse said the vote should make the handling of emergency management issues more convenient, as he and Mrs. Rainwater can work side by side.

"I am the guy that has to call Austin or Washington," Boultinghouse said of applying for disaster declarations.

Once the county receives a disaster declaration, the emergency management coordinator prepares grant requests and completes applications for funding. As a result, the judge said it makes sense for the coordinator to report to him rather than working as a Sheriff's Department employee.