Elections boss will stay in basement

Published Sunday, January 20, 2008

By Brandon Evans

Wise County elections administrator Glen Moore asked county commissioners Monday to allow him to move to a new office, outside the confines of the basement of the County Records Building on North Trinity Street.

"The county clerk basement is inadequate," Moore said, "even on a temporary basis."

Moore and his deputy administrator share a tight space, snuggled next to a stack of electronic voting machines.

"The environment is dusty and moldy," he said. "It's not employee or public friendly, it's a storage space."

The space also lacks phone lines for the elections administrator (EA) and his assistant. They have been conducting all office business by cell phone only.

Moore asked the county commissioners to approve a temporary move into a pair of rental office suites located in the 1400 block of U.S. 380 Business.

However, commissioners, as well as members of the public in attendance at the commissioners court, felt it was too close to the March primary to move from the current location. Also, since mail-in votes are going to the current office, some felt it unwise to have the elections administrator in a separate spot.

"What bothers me is the ballots coming in by mail," said Pat Wheeler, the Wise County Democratic Party Chair. "I just want to know that the administrator will pick them up and they will be protected."

"I've been down there (to the EA's office)," said Brenda Rankin, a precinct chair with the Democratic Party. "Yes, it is cramped, and it's not the best place to be, but it is a central location where ballots are stored. And we are going into an election right now."

Early voting for the March primary election begins on Feb. 19.

Rankin and Wheeler also brought up some problems with the current office, saying their needs to be a LAN phone line and regular office hours for the public.

"I've worked in voting for a long time, and you have to have somebody there to help the public," Wheeler said.

"Can you be open to the public during normal office hours in the basement?" Precinct 1 commissioner Robert Rankin asked Moore.

"The answer I'm about to give you might cost me my job," Moore said. "The answer is no."

However, commissioners felt it was best for Moore to stay in the current office, at least until the end of the March primary. But the commissioners will work with the EA and the county clerk to find a way to better utilize existing space in the basement of the county clerk's building.

Also, the commissioners approved the installation of new phone lines into the EA office.

Last month, commissioners approved a new office for the elections administrator and his assistant. The new office will be located near the public works offices on Farm Road 51 in Decatur. The building will also feature warehouse space to store the county's electronic voting machines.