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More on Harris County Democrat judge and 11 million contract probe: news report from Sept 2021 when investigation underway:

"HOUSTON - Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo fiercely defended a controversial $11 million COVID-19 outreach project awarded to Elevate Strategies - a one-woman company with a very short 19-month track record headquartered in a Montrose Apartment." …

But Rice Political Analyst Mark Jones called the deal a thinly veiled political pass through.

"This was an RFP (request for proposal) that was wired from the very start to go to Elevate Strategies to provide political money for Lina Hidalgo's supporters," said Jones.

In the days since Hidalgo's challenge, FOX 26 has sought and obtained public documents - the actual "score sheets" from the five-person committee evaluating four different proposals.

Turns out, Elevate Strategies actually lost the competition, coming in second behind the $7 million bid of The University of Texas Health Science Center, a renowned institution with plenty of resources.

But that's when this COVID-19 Communication saga reversed course.

Harris County Purchasing Agent Dewight Dopslauf tells FOX 26 the contract committee later contacted his office to disqualify UT-Health, claiming the winning bidder was behind schedule on an existing project with the County.

And just like that, runner-up Elevate Strategies was back in the game.

With Hidalgo's current chief-of-staff Alex Triantaphyllis as its ranking member, standard "financial fitness" requirements were eventually "waived" and the contract committee voted to recommend Elevate Strategies for an $11-million-dollar contract - a substantial $4 million dollar premium over the bid from UT Health. "

https://www.fox26houston.com/news/serious-questions-emerge-around-11-million-harris-county-covid-19-contract