The Collin County Observer

After I wrote Commissioners to consider "no bid" contract for Fusion Center earlier this month, I sent an Open Records request to Collin County asking for a list of all county payments to ADB consulting.

The response was astounding, especially since my search of Commissioners Court records finds no record of any competitive bid ever being awarded to ADB.

ADB stands for Anita and Dr. Bob. Dr. Robert Johnson is the son of Plano's Congressman Sam Johnson. Anita Miller is Dr. Bob's wife. Together they own and are ADB Consulting.

On the Fusion Center's website, Dr. Bob is listed as the Fusion Center's Architect, and Anita Miller as the Fusion Center Manager. In a recent Fusion Center mailing, Dr. Bob is also described as the Acting Intelligence Analyst. Neither Anita Miller nor Dr. Bob Johnson live anywhere near Collin County - their home is in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

According to the County Auditor, the payments to ADB are as follows:

• In fiscal year 2004, $20,156.60
• In fiscal year 2005, $81,486.69
• In fiscal year 2006, $264,324.72
• In fiscal year 2007, $195,084.50
• In fiscal year 2008, $556,123.51
• In fiscal year 2009 (to date), $22,069.75

For a grand total of $1,139,245.77

I conducted an extensive review of all commissioners court meeting minutes for 2006, 2007, and 2008 - looking for any contracts between ADB and the county.

In 2006, requests were made on March 28, and on May 2 for no-bid contract approval for a sum total of $144,000.

Almost all of the funding was for the, "Pursuit of Directed Funding to aid in the advancement of homeland Security capability" - in simpler language, the money was so that ADB would seek state and federal funding for more grants to pay for more ADB contracts. On both occasions, the court approved the no-bid contracts on 4-1 votes. Commissioner Joe Jaynes voted 'no' on both occasions.

On February 13, 2007 a no-bid request was made for $120,000 for ADB. The request was approved 5-0. Commissioner Hatchell asked for more information about ADB and the Fusion Center, and was promised that another discussion would be on a March agenda. That discussion never happened.

On July 23, 2007 another no-bid request was made for a contract with ADB for $180,000. This time Commissioner Hoagland asked for more information and was promised there would be a presentation at the next workshop. On this contract Commissioner Jaynes was again the sole 'no' vote.

On August 28, 2007 $52,000 was requested and approved, without dissent, for a no-bid contract with ADB.

On March 26, 2008 a huge no-bid contract to ADB for consulting services was approved without discussion or dissent. The amount approved was $253,637.

On April 29, 2008 a $130,000 no-bid contract request for translation software with ADB was pulled off the agenda, and never resubmitted.

On November 18, 2008, a $5,000 no-bid contract for software integration consulting to ADB was approved unanimously, without discussion.

And on December 9, 2008 the court approved a no-bid contract to ADB for $36,500 for software maintenance. Mr. Jaynes was the sole 'no' vote.

During the period from 2006-2008 that I was able to check the minutes, the county wrote checks totaling $1,037,602.48 to ADB, while only $802,137 was awarded to the Johnsons by an open vote of the commissioners court.

The accounting for the disbursements to ADB is also interesting, probably tracking the grant funds.

In 2004 and 2005, almost all the payouts to ADB were charged to a "Health Related Services" account number; in 2006, to "Consulting Services; in 2007 to "Educational Services"; and in 2008, to "Misc. Software", "Professional Services" and "Consultants".

County Commissioners are quick to point out that most of the money for the Fusion Center was from federal bio-terrorism and homeland security grants. No one yet has come forth with a plan to fund the Fusion Center when the grant money runs out.

It should also be noted that funding for Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" was also federal grant money.

Bill