Elections chief quits post ahead of early votes

With early voting in the state’s constitutional amendment election just days away from starting on Monday, Oct. 23, Lavaca County finds itself without an elections administrator.

That’s after Amy Kloesel tendered a letter of resignation dated Wednesday, Oct. 11, to the election commission and members of the commissioners court that said she quit her post, effective Tuesday, Oct. 10, citing “a very hostile work environment at Lavaca County” as her main reason for her departure.

Kloesel went to specifically name several individuals in the letter, including “County Auditor Shana Opeal, County Judge assistant Nailene Rupert -elected officials County Judge Keith Mudd, Democratic Party chair Carroll Brincefield and Lavaca County appraisal district Chief appraiser Pam Lathrop [sic]” as targets of her concern.

(For those not familiar with the “sic” designation, as listed above, it’s from the Latin, meaning that all words preceding it in a quote are an exact transcription from the original source, and it includes any spelling mistakes, errant capitalizations, faulty punctuations or nonstandard word choices used by the original author. It abbreviates a longer Latin phrase, “sic erat scriptum,” which means, “thus had it been written.”)

Kloesel goes on to say: “On [Thursday, Sept. 21] I saw first hand, how unprofessional, untrustworthy and malicious these individuals are. I wish not to associate myself with people with these bad tendencies” (also quoted verbatim, minus the inclusion of standard AP usage on the date).

She also thanks the elections commission board for the opportunity to work for Lavaca County. “I have enjoyed working with my team ,the Lavaca county citizens and the ladies at the annex [sic],” Kloesel said. “I hope the best for Lavaca County and hope some positive changes are coming. Thank you again for the opportunity. God Bless.”

Judge Mudd—the county-level person to whom the elections administrator reports—confirmed receipt of the letter on Oct. 11, and offered the following:

“The Elections Department collectively has done a fantastic job with conducting our elections,” he said. “The Elections Commission unanimously agreed that we are proud of the department as a whole. We were shocked by the abrupt resignation, especially on equipment testing day. We thank Ms. Kloesel for her service and wish her all the best in her next endeavors.”