On October 30, Tainan City Government held the second ethics committee meeting, chaired by Deputy Mayor Xu Yu-dian himself. Five external ethics committee members were invited to attend the meeting, including Chairperson Xu Ya-fen of Tainan Bar Association, Professor Chen Yun-tsai of the Department of Law, NCKU, Lawyer Klemen Lin of Yu-Cheng Law Office, Lawyer He Jian-hong of Deyou Law Firm, and Professor Chen Yueh-tuan of the Department of Economic and Financial Law, NUK.
At the meeting, Deputy Mayor Xu first awarded the 2020 Excellent Ethics Personnel Certificate to 12 recipients, including Doctor and Director Xie Mao-zhong of Tainan City Guantian District Health Station, and Director Yang Wen-song of Gueiren Land Office of Tainan City. Deputy Mayor Xu stated that staff integrity is the main impetus for ensuring government integrity. He hoped that in the future, city government agencies can learn from those role models, taking on responsibilities without hesitation and benefiting the public, thus gaining people’s trust. He also encouraged the civil service ethics team to continue to help government staff avoid violation of the law or improper external intervention, and assist the heads of various agencies in planning integrity strategies, protecting the city government’s values of integrity, efficiency, openness and transparency.
For project reports, the Agriculture Bureau reported on the auditing of subsidy applications for fallowing and alternate husbandry, as well as the validation of permissible use of in-situ agricultural facilities, identifying the problems of the current operation process to improve risk warning. In addition, the Environmental Protection Bureau reviewed the environmental protection inspection services, and proposed improvements to administrative sanction cases to prevent malpractice.
As for new proposals, the Civil Service Ethics Office proposed a plan to “advocate the correct way for civil servants to apply for small claims, and the difference between private profit and convenient service,” aiming to promote ethics and law-abiding consciousness among government staff, draw a clear line between private profit and convenient service, and implement internal control systems, so that civil servants can gain a deeper understanding of proper law-based administration.
In this meeting, Deputy Mayor Xu, the government’s supervisors and external ethics committee members discussed together and shared their experiences or professional suggestions on the topics covered. These efforts all help the government review its governance practices and promote integrity, demonstrating once again the city government’s determination to create an honest and transparent government.