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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.