Wednesday, September 2, 2009

New Ethics Commission Message from Commissioner Escobar

As you probably have learned, County Commissioners just passed legislation for a new Ethics Commission. Much thanks goes to our County Commissioner, Veronica Escobar, a reform leader. Here is her emailed message about the new commission and the appointment of its members:

September 2, 2009

Dear Friends,

Commissioners approved implementation of the ethics legislation yesterday by vote of the court. That means we have 60 days to nominate and vote on the new members, and the new commission will meet for the first time on November 2.

Help Spread the Word

Each member of the court is allowed to nominate one person; five additional nominations will come through five other entities. We need strong, thoughtful leaders to serve on this commission - volunteers who can spend the time listening to the public's concerns, evaluating the current ethics code, creating new processes, and individuals who will safeguard the confidentiality of both parties - the individual filing the complaint and the accused. All nominations have to be voted on by the court.

Please feel free to suggest people or even to submit your own name/resume for consideration.

If you haven't had a chance to read through the final version of the bill or the fact sheet, they are available for your review on our home page.

You can send your resumes or recommendations to one or all of us at the following email addresses:

County Judge Anthony Cobos, CountyJudge@epcounty.com

Commissioner Anna Perez, Pct. 1, Commissioner1@epcounty.com

Commissioner Veronica Escobar, Pct. 2, commissioner2@epcounty.com

Commissioner Willie Gandara Jr., Pct. 3, commissioner3@epcounty.com

Commissioner Dan Haggerty, Pct. 4, commissioner4@epcounty.com

Public Forum Tonight

For your information, a group of community members independent of El Paso County's efforts has come together to host a public forum, and I'd like to encourage you to attend if you can. The Citizen's Commission for Best Practices in Government will host its forum, "Power, Greed and Politics," at the El Paso Community College Administrative Services Building in the board room, 9050 Viscount. For more information call 532-2104.

Thank you

I appreciate the input and questions I received throughout this process. Thank you for caring about your county government. Please let me know if I can continue to answer any questions or address your concerns.

Have a great day!

Veronica

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