Commissioners’ debate ‘crazy’

It was a case of “all psyched up with no place to go” during Tuesday’s commissioners court meeting as commissioners Donnie Brzozowski and Bud Wuest squared off with Sheriff Glen Sachtleben in search of common ground regarding an auto insurance policy.

The policy under the microscope is for a soon-to-be-contracted officer for Gonzales County.

Unfortunately, outdated terminology proved to be the decision maker in this debate, at least for the time being.

Sachtleben’s idea is to bring on an unpaid officer with Gonzales County who has invested his own money in using his personal vehicle for work. The question is, should Gonzales County pay the vehicle’s insurance when the officer is “on the job,” even if he is not technically a paid employee with the county?

“I don’t think the county should pay someone’s insurance if they’re not a full-time county employee and it’s not a county vehicle,” Brzozowski said.

“You’re not paying his insurance,” Sachtleben rebutted. “You’re paying liability only. If he has an accident while working for the county, then the liability applies to that. If he has an accident while using it for his own purpose, he has his own insurance to cover that.”

But Wuest offered another alternative. “I’d much rather find out some way when he is working for the county if we can just have him drive a county vehicle instead of his own.”

Sachtleben then explained that the reserve deputy had invested more than $5,000 of his own money into the car itself, including a computer and radar.

“He did all that on his own as well,” he said. “He did it to help.”

Brzozowski then gave a hypothetical scenario to further clarify any potential gray areas.

“What if your guy goes to Houston, and he’s working for someone else,” he said. “Suppose he has a wreck. How is it going to be designated who pays what?”

“Regular insurance will not cover an ‘emergency vehicle’ in that situation,” Sachtleben said.

Brzozowski said that he could not understand why a reserve deputy, someone who is not even full-time, would want to invest that kind of money into a vehicle that wouldn’t be covered in the event of an accident.

“Besides, this isn’t even a county vehicle, and we’re just going to up and pay liability insurance on it?” he asked.

County Auditor Becky Weston then asked if the car in question had any signage on it at all, or if it was completely unmarked.

“If he’s doing his own work, it will not be marked,” Sachtleben said. “If he’s working traffic, it will be marked.”

County Attorney Paul Watkins offered some views as well.

“If we’re going to have reserve deputies, then we need them insured,” he said. “If they’re not insured, then we will be liable. That’s an important thing to remember.”

Sachteleben then pointed out that, although the position was listed as such on the commissioners’ agenda, there is no such thing as a “reserve deputy,” and the conversation took a whole new twist.

“He is a fully-certified peace officer in the state of Texas,” he said. “He has the same authority as any other peace officer in the state. Anytime, seven days a week.”

“Then when he comes to work for us, let’s put him in a county vehicle when possible,” Wuest reiterated. “That’s all we have to do.”

“This is crazy,” Sachtleben said. “We have a man who will come down and donate all this time to us, and this is how we’re going to take care of him? This is just crazy.”

“Since there is no such thing as a reserve deputy anymore, and this item was listed on the addendum containing that title, it shouldn’t even count,” Wuest pointed out.

The commissioners tabled the item until the next regular commissioners court meeting with a new title for the position, presumably “peace officer.”