Bastrop council unanimously recommends Rajiv Gupta for county Board of Health
Loading...
Summary
At a Jan. 22 special meeting the council recommended physician Rajiv Gupta to the Bastrop County Advisory Board of Health by unanimous roll-call; the city's selected application will be forwarded to the county for final appointment.
The Bastrop City Council voted unanimously on Jan. 22 to recommend Rajiv Gupta to the Bastrop County Advisory Board of Health following a review of four applicants.
Councilperson Plunkett moved to recommend Rajiv Gupta; Councilperson Foster seconded the motion. The City Secretary called the roll and the motion passed unanimously (three yes votes recorded). The Manager said the applications that the council did not select will be forwarded to Bastrop County for consideration for the county’s six available seats.
City staff said the city received four applications; council members reviewed applicant resumes and used a scoring rubric. Council members said they each submitted top-two rankings; a straw-poll process showed Gupta as the top-ranked candidate by three council members. Heather Stone and David Cruz were among the other applicants discussed: staff noted Stone scored highly in one council member’s rubric and that Cruz’s experience was more focused on health-care marketing and advocacy rather than direct clinical work.
Mayor Pro Tem and council members thanked all applicants for applying and noted the county will review municipal recommendations alongside other submissions. The City Manager and a council member characterized the new county Board of Health as a significant development: “Also, this is the first Board of Health in Texas in 30 years,” a council member said, praising local efforts to re-establish the panel.
Next steps: the city will forward Gupta’s application to Bastrop County; the county will review municipal recommendations and appoint members to its Advisory Board of Health.
