February 26, 2015      4:50 PM
Former Ethics Commission Director Reisman becomes HHSC Ethics Officer
Janek says "I created this position to help increase our emphasis on ethical behavior"
The
head of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Kyle Janek,
on Thursday announced he's tapped former Ethics Commission Director David Reisman
to be the internal ethical watchdog for HHSC.
"I
created this position to help increase our emphasis on ethical behavior," Janek said. "As public servants, we must hold
ourselves and our programs to high standards,” he said. Janek
said the agency’s leadership wants “strong policies” and a “good training
program to make sure our employees know the rules, and a culture where people
can elevate and discuss issues.”
The
agency, of course, has been rocked by questions about a huge no-bid contract
that went to an Austin tech company called 21CT. That company has ties to former
HHSC general counsel Jack Stick, who quit his post after revelations about the contract.
After
his stint as executive director of the Texas Ethics Commission, Reisman worked at the scandal-plagued Cancer Prevention and Research
Institute where he created a monitoring system for $1 billion in
grants.
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