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A debate is on the rise after a former political campaign employee received $11 million in an effort to aid her firm's push for an increase in vaccinations.
The Harris County administration awarded an $11 million contract for "Targeted Community Vaccine Delivery" to a firm called “Elevate Strategies LLC." Precinct 4’s Jack Cagle of the Harris County Commissioner Court said Elevate Strategies' website called it a one-woman operation run by Felicity Pereyra.
The firm has been in existence for two years and is headquartered in a residential complex in Montrose. Before starting the business, Pereyra worked almost exclusively for Democrat political campaigns, including the Hillary Clinton campaign and mayoral candidate Adrian Garcia.
Cagle criticized this decision to give such a large contract to an inexperienced firm with little resources to carry out such an extensive campaign.
“I did raise the concern that their experience was all with political campaigns and not health campaigns and I didn't like that and I still don't like it," Cagle said at the Aug. 10 meeting.
Cagle has not been the only one to raise a concern over the small firm receiving the $11 million.
Greg Googan of Fox 26 said, “experts in the industry and county officials tell FOX 26, Elevate Strategies lacks the bare minimum of resources needed for a project of this scope." He said they told him the firm could not have met county bidding requirements that include five years of annual billings and a qualifying financial balance sheet with audited income statements. FOX 26 confirmed no financial statements were required from Elevate Strategies LLC during the bidding process.”
The vaccine outreach contract requires Elevate to hire more than 50 canvassers and staff, who will conduct a door-to-door campaign to convince residents to get vaccinations.
County Purchaser DeWight Dopslauf said his staff handled the contract normally like any other contract.
Elevate Strategies LLC was chosen by a group of “three individuals from the County Judge's Office” and “two or three individuals from the Public Health Group," according to Dopslauf. All these individuals answered directly to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. There was no input from the County Commissioners Court.
Hidalgo told commissioners she knew Pereyra's firm for having helped the county with Census outreach and also said Cagle was lying about the vendor being a one-person firm.
Cagle countered by saying he was quoting Elevate Strategies' own website.