Longtime Tarrant County Administrator G.K. Maenius led his last county commissioners meeting Tuesday, and commissioners voted to promote one of his deputies to replace him.
Assistant County Administrator Chandler Merritt will start the job Oct. 1, after commissioners approved his appointment 4-1.
The county administrator has a powerful job. As the county’s top non-elected official, the administrator oversees county departments, guides public meetings, and carries out the will of the elected members of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court.
Merritt will be only the second county administrator in the county’s history. Maenius originated the job 35 years ago.
“We are not appointing Mr. Maenius’ replacement, because some things just cannot be replaced,” Democratic Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks said before the vote Tuesday.
Commissioners interviewed candidates last week. Republican Commissioner Manny Ramirez congratulated Merritt before the vote Tuesday, saying Merritt would be a perfect “bridge” between Maenius’ leadership and the future.
The decision was a long time coming, Republican Commissioner Gary Fickes said.
“Chandler, when I first met you, this is where I thought you’d be,” he said.
The only commissioner to vote against Merritt’s appointment was Democrat Alisa Simmons. She objected to hiring someone from inside the county.
“It could lead to an organization which is unwilling to look at innovate ways to do things, and it can lead to an organization unwilling to address weaknesses, bad practices, which may have built up over time,” Simmons said.
Simmons said she preferred another candidate in the hiring process but did not specify who.
The county will commemorate Maenius’ contributions to the county by renaming the county commissioners’ meeting building in downtown Fort Worth after him.
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