Opponents hope to improve public confidence

The two opponents who are seeking the Collin County District Clerk's seat in the upcoming primary election are looking to improve employee morale and public confidence in the wake of former district clerk Patricia Crigger's conviction in December.

McKinney businessman and consultant Tim Baker said his 30-plus years in the business world would be a valuable asset in the district clerk's office. Baker ran for the seat during the 2010 election and although he "lost dramatically" as a write-in, the El Paso native said he has learned a lot about the responsibilities of the clerk's office and the needs of the office in the aftermath of the Crigger case.

"A lot of it has to do with motivation," Baker said. "Living in this community and in this stage in my life, I really want to give something back and get our local processes running more efficiently. I've found it's always better trying to get the existing people to perform better rather than bringing in new people. Companies invest a lot in training and hiring people, so we need to focus on how to get more out of those people."

After working in the corporate realm for worldwide companies in executive roles, Baker started his own business roughly 10 years ago. As founder of Baker Business and Consulting, now called The Growth Coach, Baker aids small business owners in growing their businesses. He and his wife and their two children have lived in McKinney since 1997.

As a consultant, Baker said he knows what it takes to make the district clerk's office more efficient and productive, as well as provide for its employees a sense of stability and encouragement. With improving employee morale a popular topic among many business owners, Baker said he wants to instill the same principals that he has bestowed upon other employers as recipes for in-house success.

"I would tell them anything we do has to be above the board and legal, there's no grey area," Baker said. "I would sit down with every person in that office and find out what works well and what doesn't work well. We over promise and under deliver all the time. One of my philosophies is when you hire somebody you hire the whole person, not just those 40 hours you get out of them. I think the big difference between leadership and management is that leadership is more of an inspirational and motivational function."

Baker's opponent, Andrea Stroh Thompson, was sworn in last December as the new Collin County district clerk and said her experience as an attorney is a perfect fit for the role and has proven to be an effective motivating tool for her employees so far.

"I think it's a natural fit and the way the county is growing, I think it's a smart move to get an attorney in there now as we are on the cusp of hitting those [population] benchmarks," Thompson said. "It's surprising to see how easy a fit it has been for me in this transition."

The Collin County Board of District Judges approached Thompson as a candidate to replace Crigger, who was found guilty of abuse of capacity and immediately removed from office. Thompson, who ran her own law firm in a Plano prior to her appointment, now oversees the approximately 65 employees in both the criminal division and the civil division of the district clerk's office.

Thompson will serve in the position as an appointed official until after the November 2012 general election. The winner of the election will take over the remainder of the official term, which expires in December 2014.

While the idea of running a campaign was slightly nerve-racking at first, Thompson said she is excited to let the public know about her and the strides she has already made in her new role.

"It's been a learning curve for me but it seemed like a natural fit to have someone who has that legal background," she said. "There's a tremendous amount of work and it's been really good for me to experience that as an attorney. I'm two months in and it feels like I'm taking a sip of water out of a fire hydrant. I've given myself about a year to try to get through the process of learning how to effectively learn what needs to get done."

Since she accepted the position, Thompson said she has been able to implement streamlined processes, skills testing and evaluations not typically done in the office. Such changes have increased efficiency and have been recognized among other county officials. Despite the negative news surrounding Crigger, Thompson said she is thankful for the level of professionalism her employees have maintained, stating Collin County's district clerk's office is the best compared to surrounding counties in terms of customer service. Her goal is to make that characteristic outshine the negative connotations.

"I felt like it would be unfair to the people in that office and frankly, the county as whole, not to run for election," she said. "If I don't win this election, we will have had four different people as clerks in the past four years. Any organization or any business, and that kind of turmoil would be crushing to the employees. I felt like it wouldn't be fair to come in and do what they've been asking me to do and turn around and say, 'well, I've put my finger in the dike; it's up to you now.' I really saw it as 3-year commitment."

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...