Commissioners delay vote on operations audit

Travis County Commissioners on Tuesday put off for another week a vote to initiate the county’s first “large-scale organizational assessment since the 1990s.” The notion came up two weeks ago during a discussion about hiring a new county executive for administrative operations. Judge Sarah Eckhardt told her colleagues that she wanted to move very cautiously on the decision and review the various departments that report to the Commissioners Court. She also cited the absence of Commissioner Margaret Gómez, a co-sponsor of the item, as a reason to postpone the vote. (Gómez was out sick.) But before Eckhardt reset the item, two other commissioners expressed their skepticism. Commissioner Gerald Daugherty worried that a long review process would prove costly and produce only nonbinding recommendations that could go ignored. And Commissioner Ron Davis questioned the need for a review at all, pointing to the county’s triple-A bond rating as a sign of a government operating in top form. “We’re doing a dadgum good job,” Davis exclaimed before adding, “My goodness gracious, how can we become more efficient with one of the top bond ratings in the state of Texas?”