County eyes revolving door policy
The Hays County Commissioners Court is moving toward the adoption of a policy to prevent conflicts of interest involving former county employees or elected officials.
At their meeting Tuesday, the commissioners held a workshop to discuss putting revolving door prohibitions in place. Alex Villalobos, chief of staff for Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra, gave a brief presentation on the idea.
“These policies have been in place since the late 1800s at the federal level,” Villalobos said, noting that Kyle and San Marcos also have policies in place regarding contracting and representing private businesses doing business with the government. Villalobos also said that although the county has some procurement policies in place to prevent former county staffers or elected officials from benefiting from their connection to the county, “the overall revolving door policy is not in place.”
Commissioners cautioned against trying to exert control over what employees or officials do after leaving the county, noting that Texas is an at-will employment state. Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith even said he thought it would benefit taxpayers if someone with intimate knowledge of the county were working for a company crafting a bid for a project.
“Why is that a disadvantage to our taxpayers?” he asked Villalobos.
“I think at the end of the day it’s somebody who has the intimate knowledge of understanding of how to create a proposal that gains business for that particular entity,” Villalobos said.
“I think that’s a great thing,” Smith replied, “if they know what we’re asking for.
Villalobos said that it would give that company an unfair advantage over other companies seeking to do business with the county and suggested the creation of “something that makes sense for Hays County, something that mitigates any conflicts of interest.”
Smith also argued that it would limit the companies the county could do business with to avoid awarding contracts to firms where former county employees work.
Becerra said that the idea of a revolving door prohibition is not intended to dictate what employees do after they leave the county. He said that such a prohibition would help to prevent “insider trading-type” activity.
The subject came up, Becerra said, because people have asked him privately to talk about a revolving door prohibition because of pressure to hire someone who used to be with the county.
“We are faced with people in our county feeling bullied to hire others … to hire former key leadership of the county,” he said, “and if they don’t, it’s a ‘do this or else’ kind of ‘Godfather’ fee of sorts.” The judge likened it to a “protection money” racket.
Smith asked if there were any elements in place to address grievances in situations like that and, if so, whether anyone has gone through that process. Grievances, it was said, should be taken to the county auditor’s office.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Lon Shell asked if the issue is with disclosure of the employment of former Hays County employees or officials. He proposed a solution that would require firms in the running for discretionary bids to disclose any former employees or officials now employed by those firms.
“You’re right on the money,” Becerra said.
Shell said that such a disclosure agreement would expose any potential conflict of interest that the commissioners could then discuss. Moreover, Shell said, the county should make sure that vendors know to take grievances to the county auditor’s office.
“If there’s a problem,” he said, “There is a remedy.”
Becerra voiced support for Shell’s disclosure idea and suggested that an action adopting such a policy be put on the agenda for a future meeting.
