TravCo commissioners adopt new gift policy

Travis County employees and officials now have new guidance regarding the solicitation of and accepting of gifts. The Commissioners Court approved the new gift policy last Tuesday, and it will go into effect on June 1. “The public expects County officials and employees to devote their time and energies to the service of the people, and not to self-enrichment in any form,” said the county’s Intergovernmental Relations Officer Deece Eckstein, chair of the Ethics Policy Workgroup that was tasked with creating this policy. “With the adoption of this new gift policy, the Court has provided a clear and enforceable standard which will serve the needs of the Court’s workforce and reassure the public of the Court’s commitment to integrity and transparency.” During the yearlong process of creating the policy, the workgroup looked at gift policies of other urban counties around the U.S. While the policy only applies to the Commissioners Court and departments directly under its control, at the meeting, commissioners expressed confidence that it could be beneficial in the offices of other elected and appointed officials in the county as well. “I am confident this newly adopted policy will … set a high standard for the Court’s conduct, an example which will ripple throughout the organization,” Eckstein said.