After almost two decades of service, Wharton County’s chief appraiser left for greener pastures, bringing in a replacement from North Texas.
Tylene Gamble, Wharton County’s chief appraiser, resigned before Christmas. Irene Klein was hired as her replacement in following a unanimous Central Appraisal District board vote last week, with Kathy Smith, El Campo ISD’s representative, absent.
Gamble’s exit from the department was sudden. Her letter of resignation in October, effective Dec. 16, gave no reason beyond, “the time has come to find new paths.”
Her temporary replacement had an idea as to why Gamble left.
“She’d been here around 18 years and she decided that she wanted to move closer to her kids and her father. I think she had been looking for a while and this opportunity came up,” Wharton CAD Interim Chief Brian Niemeier said.
The CAD board, made up of representatives from elected bodies countywide, extended Klein the chief appraiser position, starting at $127,000 annually. She attended meetings and sat in on official discussions before her start date to help her acclimate to the position.
Klein comes to the Wharton CAD after serving for 30 years at the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District, starting as a residential appraiser in 1992, before rising through the ranks and becoming deputy chief appraiser in 2017. She also served at the Wharton CAD for three years before moving to Fort Bend, from 1989-92.
“I wanted to thank the board for giving me this opportunity,” Klein said.
Niemeier has been holding the office together for about a month, and will continue to officially run the department until mid-February.
“For me, it’s been semi challenging, we’ve been doing routine stuff and we’re in the middle of computer conversion. It’ll probably take a while before everything is back in place. We’re still trying to do our normal duties, we don’t stop when someone leaves. It’s just a part of life,” Niemeier said.
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