A Republican Candidates Forum ahead of the March 3 Primary, organized by the Brown County Republican Party, took place Thursday evening at Victory Life Church. The nearly three-hour event featured introductory and closing comments, along with question-and-answer sessions, with candidates for Brown County Judge, Brown County Treasurer, Brown County Clerk, County Commissioner in Precincts 2 and 4, Justice of the Peace in Precinct 4, and Republican Party Chair.
The following are the excerpts from the questions answered by County Treasurer candidates Stacee Hetzel, David Becktold and Stephanie Jester.
Stacee Hetzel
What prompted you to run for county treasurer?
A lot. Over the years me teaching the subject that I’m super passionate about, and then this job opening came up and it was like someone dropped it in my lap. It was something God to just gave me. I read it and I knew this is what I really want to do. I’m going to retire from teaching at the end of this year, but I’m not ready to not do something and this is something I’m so passionate about.
With the financial and human resources responsibilities of the treasurer’s office, is that too much or can it be done by one position?
I feel like HR is the heart of any business, anything you’re going to work in. HR is the heart of it and where it starts. If you have a good department that’s going to support your people, have an open door policy, be able to collaborate and communicate with each other, that’s where it all begins. Then, of course, the finance falls in. Again, I am the one that my door with always be open. The people that I have spoken to, over and over that’s something they reiterated to me, having that open door policy, being a people person, going out and visiting with each other to make sure all these tasks that this department should be able to accomplish are getting accomplished, and they’re being accomplished with everybody else collaborating together so it’s a success. Human resources is the heart of everything and where it all begins. If your employees aren’t happy and you’re not taking care of everything from A to Z something’s wrong. That’s where I’m ready to step in and collaborate and help our county.
How does the role of treasurer affect the different offices of the courthouse?
The treasurer is the hub for every county office. I relate this a little to what I’ve done at school. My department is so varied so I’m used to working with everything from the Ag mechanics people to culinary arts people to health science people, building trade teachers, everyone of those people have a very different need. That’s one of the things when we’re doing our budgets and I’m visiting with them, we have to sit down and prioritize all of it. Then you have to go through that budget and make sure you can try your very best to help every one of those people to the best of their needs and your knowledge. You are the hub, you are the one they’re going to go to, and you’re the one that’s going to have to help them crunch numbers and try and find what they need.
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What prompted you to run for county treasurer?
For me it was something I did not take lightly. Whenever I left Kroger I was offered the job by Ms. (Ann) Krpoun and right off the bat she told that it was her intention to retire and her love for Brown County was second to none. She wanted to make sure Brown County was always taken care of. So for the last eight years I’ve trained under her. I’ve gone to state training, I have prepared every way possible to make sure there is a seamless transition with her retirement and when the commissioners appointed me to take over and finish her term for the rest of his year. Me and Ms. Krpoun talked for many hours before she made the decision that she was ready to retire because she knew Brown County would be taken care of in the new era. This is something I have always enjoyed and loved. Payroll was always my favorite subject in school and in college, I excelled at it. I love human resources, I have been all over the courthouse, there is not a single person in that courthouse or the rest of the county that feels like they can’t approach me with any problem and know that I will not ignore it. It’s that love for those employees and this county that prompted to run for this office and continue serving our employees and you, the voters, for many years to come.
With the financial and human resources responsibilities of the treasurer’s office, is that too much or can it be done by one position?
They match up 100 percent. Whenever people are hired for any department they come to our office first. We get the pleasure of introducing them to Brown County, we get their paperwork filled out, we get them set up with everything they need to make sure they’re taken care of on a payroll level. On top of that, we have to report everything to the state so it makes sense if we’re taking care of the payroll, that we also have to things like the child support and things like that the state sends to us, any kind of deductions from the checks. With us being in charge of the insurance as well, that’s deductions out of the payroll. It just really flows together pretty evenly and equally. We also, as far as HR goes, with people going on the Family and Medical Leave Act, they have to visit our office for the payroll side of it anyway, so it just makes that our office takes care of both of the issues at the same time. It has never been a burden, I actually quite enjoy it. There is never a door between me and my employees because I care about every employee for Brown County whether they work for my office, the clerk’s office, the sheriff’s office, it doesn’t matter. I am there for the employees and I’m proud to be able to help in both the payroll side and the HR side.
How does the role of treasurer affect the different offices of the courthouse?
We’re the heartbeat of Brown County. We are behind the scenes, we help every single person in that county no matter what. We do have an open door policy, but my policy is even more than that. If the sheriff’s office has a problem and they need help, I’m driving to the sheriff’s office. If the clerks need help, I’m going over there. They don’t have to come to me, I’m willing and able to go to them to help their problem and get it rectified as quick as possible. Also, we’re in the process of upgrading our financial system, which is something that’s been so long overdue. Our current financial system is 30 years outdated. This new system is going to offer so much more for the employees. They’re going to have access to their personnel files, they’re going to be able to communicate with us without having to come over. We’re opening up new areas for all of our employees to help them be a better employee, to take some of the pressure off the back side to where they can focus solely on helping the voters. We also go to commissioners court to present all the reports, we are the to support the commissioners with any questions they have about payroll, about the budget. As far as our employees, we can’t do enough for them.
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Stephanie Jester
What prompted you to run for county treasurer?
I thought about this for a long time. My husband and I had discussed if Ms. Krpoun had ever decided to retire I was going to put my name in the hat. I chose to run for Brown County Treasurer because I believe that my professional skills can directly benefit Brown County, and I feel called to serve in a role where accuracy, stewardship and trust matter deeply. I’ve always been one that servant leadership is my cornerstone for life. I’m not going to ask you to do anything I’m not willing to do. In the years I’ve been a human resources director and an accountant, I bend over backwards to make sure the employees that I work with and for know that I’m going to take the time to learn what you do and I want to teach you how I do it as well so we have that partnership. It’s not do what I do or do what I say, but let’s do this together. Also, as someone who lives and works in this community, I care deeply about ensuring the county funds are managed responsibility and employees are supported appropriately. The treasurer’s role allows me to use my experience in finance and HR to serve the public in a practical way.
With the financial and human resources responsibilities of the treasurer’s office, is that too much or can it be done by one position?
I think it can definitely be done by one position. Currently the job that I have as the chief financial officer and as the human resources director for the company that I work for, that is every aspect that I oversee. I make sure the payroll is done. I also do payroll not only for the state of Texas but Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, so I understand the laws as far as a multi-state transfer as far as payroll is concerned. You have new hire reporting to all the different states, as far as child support the government has to know who’s out there that owes money to the kiddos. That aspect, having your HRIS, which is a Human Resource Information System generally does tie in your benefits administration and ties into your payroll with the Family and Medical Leave Act. There’s a lot of laws with the Fair Standard Labor Act that ties back into both payroll and finance. You can’t do payroll without understanding finance, and it all just ties in perfectly. With my position where I oversee budgeting, payroll, benefits, administration, financial reporting, internal controls and regulatory compliance, those do all tie in to the multiple entities and I do think it’s a perfect combination.
How does the role of treasurer affect the different offices of the courthouse?
My experience that I’ve done in the past, all of those directly will affect the role of the courthouse because the county treasurer’s office is the human resources hub for the whole county. They touch every office, the county commissioners office, the ladies that work in the clerk’s office, my experience in almost 40 years has been HR, financing, accounting, that’s all I’ve done my adult life. This is all going to tie in to the county treasurer’s office. With touching the other offices, the open door policy, being able to be open and available for every office, being able to understand and explain their payroll or benefits, and being able to go over a budget, balance a budget, look at the accounts and be able to do your debits and your credits with your journal entries to make sure there’s not any money that’s missed. Looking at different aspect of money that can be saved, in HR and in payroll there are great opportunities to find places that you can save money with accounting. Being that central hub for everybody in the county there’s the communication. You can find out where they have issues, or where they have concerns, or where they have hopes, and you can find that money and pull it in and maybe make it better for everyone involved.
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To watch the KOXE live stream of the forum in its entirety, click HERE.