Beefed-Up County Ethics Board Inches Forward
EL PASO – County Commissioners took no action following emotional and vigorous debate over asking the state to give them authority to create an ethics board with subpoena power and that authority to assess civil penalties.Commissioners voted to move forward with the request last week; by taking no action, it allows the board to move closer to becoming a reality.It’s the first time the legislature has ever been asked to do such a thing by any county in Texas.County Commissioner Dan Haggerty led the charge against the proposed change in law. He said certain county leaders and employees have come to him asking, “How does this affect me?”
“I’d like to know who of our elected officials or department heads have heartburn because of it,” Commissioner Anna Perez said.Haggerty didn’t elaborate.”We’re only looking at the upper echelon,” Perez said, indicating that corruption typically comes from the top down.County Judge Anthony Cobos opposed the measure, saying he was afraid it might be used to launch a “witch hunt” against certain elected officials.”This is certainly not a witch hunt,” said Sofia Larkin, member of the county Board of Ethics, appointed by County Commissioner Veronica Escobar. “All this (law would mean) is we can enforce (the code)…. When we censure somebody it’s a blip. We have to have consequences.””They clarify legality… they don’t tell us what to do,” Larkin said to Cobos’ concerns that the County Attorney’s office might co-opt the ethics board to jail and penalize county employees and leaders unnecesarily.
ABC-7 reporter Martin Bartlett is providing live updates on the debate via Twitter: Follow him attwitter.com/martinbartlett.
