Rep. Woolley Texas House Leader on Ethics Endorses Conservative Leader Vows to Carry Bacarisse Reforms to/through Austin
Published: 01-21-08
Published: 01-21-08
HOUSTON — On December 2nd Charles Bacarisse was the first countywide candidate to call for ethics reform in Harris County when he filed for county judge; and today the conservative leader honored his pledge and released a specific four-point package of county ethics reforms as a “down payment” for turning the county around.Bacarisse announced his proposals flanked by respected Republican leaders George Strake and State Rep. Beverly Woolley (R-136) in the downtown office that Jesse Jones “Mr. Houston” once occupied. After thanking Woolley for her strong endorsement Bacarisse introduced the following county reforms:
• End the perpetual campaign. For four-year countywide offices in Texas we should initiate a one-year blackout window on fundraising from the day the official is sworn in.
• Clean hands. For countywide officeholders in Texas we should ban all lobbying and private business dealings with that county or its political subdivisions during the officeholder’s term of service and for one year after leaving office.
• Real-time transparency. For Texas counties with 800000 or more residents (including Harris Bexar Dallas) we should require every countywide officeholder to post all vendor and other political contributions online within five business days. in a readily accessible database
• Fuller disclosure. We should require every countywide officeholder in Texas to file a personal financial statement at the same time they file their January semi-annual campaign finance reports.
• Clean hands. For countywide officeholders in Texas we should ban all lobbying and private business dealings with that county or its political subdivisions during the officeholder’s term of service and for one year after leaving office.
• Real-time transparency. For Texas counties with 800000 or more residents (including Harris Bexar Dallas) we should require every countywide officeholder to post all vendor and other political contributions online within five business days. in a readily accessible database
• Fuller disclosure. We should require every countywide officeholder in Texas to file a personal financial statement at the same time they file their January semi-annual campaign finance reports.
“Leadership on this key issue starts at the top with the CEO of county government and that’s why I am putting my name on these proposals — not outsourcing them” Bacarisse said. “We’ve got to clean up this mess and I will send a very clear message from the start of my time as county judge that the era of county politics as usual is over. The fact that I have already begun working with THE leader on ethics in the Texas House shows that we can in fact change the direction of county government for the better.”
Rep. Woolley serves as chairman of the powerful House Committee on Calendars and has authored several bills reforming ethics practices of local government officials. Her 2005 bill was the first to shed light onto relationships between local government officials and the vendors with which they contract. This bill requires these relationships to be disclosed which in Harris County requires posting on the Internet all disclosure statements.
“I salute Charles for his positive leadership as the first to recognize the ways county government can be more transparent to the people it serves” Woolley said in explaining her endorsement of Bacarisse. “The reforms he has announced are reasonable and well thought-out and I look forward to working with Charles to get positive results on them in Austin.”
