October 2011
Lake Travis
Economic Impact Report

What’s in a Day’s work?

I thought it might be informative to constituents to share an example of a workday for your county commissioner, so here it goes.

By 7:30AM (6:30 on court days) I’m in the car and in traffic like most everyone this Monday morning.  Living in western Travis County means an hour commute to downtown. While stopped at a traffic light, I call the office to check in with staff and inquire about my schedule.

First on the agenda is coffee with a city manager. I arrive at my office by 9:30. While my computer boots, I get updates from staff and scour my desk.  It is covered with “organized” piles of paper, post-it notes, and phone messages, all of them needing my attention.  I return a phone call and find myself leaving a message.

My 10:00 has arrived early. While my staff introduces themselves to the constituent, I pull a map from the corner of my office, so we can have a visual reference.  He is here to talk about drainage issues in his neighborhood. I welcome him, along with county staff who can answer his technical questions and provide timing information. Fortunately, my staff can handle most constituent issues via telephone, because with this precinct covering 500+ square miles and over 285,000 constituents, it would be difficult to meet with everyone.

After the meeting, the Planning and Budget Executive Manager stops by the office. We talk briefly about a proposed budgetary item and agree to talk later. As I prepare for the next appointment, my Chief of Staff, Garry, flags my attention to an item on tomorrow’s Commissioners’ Court agenda.  I reviewed the three-inch agenda packet over the weekend, but back-up materials sometimes arrive the day before court, or even the day of court. 

The remainder of today’s schedule includes a meeting with County staff about our upcoming Animal Control super meeting with county-wide representatives; a working lunch; a meeting with a commissioner to review joint board appointment applications; and a visit with an engineer working on a subdivision project.

Today’s meetings are in my office, but on other days, I may be in San Marcos for a Corridor Council Meeting with a stop on my return in Manchaca to meet community leaders; or in Lakeway for a Chamber meeting and afterwards look at roads that need improvements. Getting out to all the corners of this precinct is the biggest challenge of the job.

Between appointments, Lori, who does Constituent Relations, tells me the monthly Lone Star Rail District Board meeting has been rescheduled and conflicts with three other appointments. She’s becoming a pro at managing the diplomacy of these changes. Calendar changes are frequent and unavoidable because, as your representative on a dozen boards and commissions, we are often juggling priorities (everything is important!) to make it all work. 

Also woven into today’s work: checking on a legal review of a contract, drafting a letter to a state agency on behalf of a municipality in my precinct, reviewing hundreds of daily emails; following up with my Mother to see if she arranged her doctor’s appointment. I try to have a personal life, but I couldn’t do this job well without my awesome husband who does the countless family things that I have little time to do!  

The end of the day finds me meeting briefly with my Policy Director, Michael, before heading to the CAMPO meeting at 6PM.  Two hours later, I’m finally heading home.

Another full day, the kind of day I look forward to – busy, productive, engaging – one that provides me with opportunities to work with constituents, business leaders, other elected officials and Travis County staff.  It’s sometimes difficult measuring success, but it’s the constituent whose problem is solved and the emails I get saying “thanks for taking a stand on this for us” that keep me going and make me glad that I ran for this office. 

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