October 29, 2015 5:52 PM

TxDOT gears up for major changes in agency contracts

Commissioner Austin says the agency has “room to improve” on contract management and “There’s a fine line between managing performance versus just the relationship”

The Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday passed the first of a number of rule changes that get to the heart of conflicts of interest and contract performance.

The biggest package of rule changes will come with a report out of the Audit Committee in December. Commissioner Jeff Austin of Tyler told his colleagues that the agency had “room to improve” on contract management.

“There’s a fine line between managing performance versus just the relationship,” Austin told his colleagues during commissioner remarks. “You’ll hear us talking more and more about it. We do have a contract for a reason, and we do need to be enforcing it and holding people accountable.”

By Kimberly Reeves