Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on Tuesday said her office was continuing to investigate the awarding of a $30 million contract, one day after the former head of the county’s public health department was accused of illegally sharing information with the company that later won the deal.
Barbie Robinson, who was fired from her job as director of Harris County Public Health in August, faces a third-degree felony charge of misuse of information, according to court documents.
Robinson is accused of giving information to IBM employee Kenneth Wolsey about a potential county contract centered around Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency, a Harris County program that works with community members experiencing health challenges, financial hardships or substance abuse. IBM later won the contract. Robinson could face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
A lawyer listed for Robinson in court records, Cornel A. Williams, and an IBM spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.
In addition to the ACCESS contract, Ogg said her office was investigating Disaster Emergency Medical Assistance Consulting and Management, which operates a 911 diversion call program for the county. Earlier this year, DEMA was accused of invoicing Harris County for the same hours it was working for a county in California.
A Houston Chronicle investigation found Robinson communicated with DEMA’s CEO, Michelle Patino, during the contracting process. Robinson previously had worked with DEMA in Sonoma County, California. County Administrator Diana Ramirez then fired Robinson.
A subsequent county audit determined that DEMA may have billed the county for the same hours it was working for Sonoma County.
Ogg said Robinson’s termination sparked the district attorney’s investigation of the former health department director and the contracts. She declined to elaborate and stressed that the IBM contract is separate from DEMA.
“People hate public corruption, and nothing is more crucial to a democracy than the public’s trust in their government,” Ogg said at a Tuesday news conference. “That begins with ensuring financial responsibility by your public officials.”
News of Robinson’s indictment prompted a rebuke from Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Monday, who accused Ogg of using her office to go after political opponents.
“She’s been voted out, but Kim Ogg continues her pattern of weaponizing her office against those who disagree with her, like Director Robinson, who led a successful program DA Ogg did not like,” Hidalgo said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ogg frequently has sparred with the county’s Democratic leadership and launched investigations into local officials. Her office procured indictments against three former Hidalgo staffers for allegedly steering an $11 million COVID-19 vaccine outreach contract to a vendor, charges Hidalgo has argued were politically motivated.
Prior to becoming Harris County’s public health director in May 2021, Robinson worked in Sonoma County California as its county health director. During her time there, she created a similar program to ACCESS that focused on the needs of residents experiencing mental health challenges, economic uncertainty and housing instability. IBM was involved in Sonoma County’s iteration of the program.
According to the indictment, a Texas Ranger investigating the director said he found emails from Robinson’s personal email account to Wolsey and others that involved discussions about Harris County’s program while the proposal was being created, according to the indictment.
The emails included discussions about a “sole source” contract, which is a way to get around the competitive bidding process usually required for government contracts, the indictment states. Harris County ultimately issued a “Request For Proposals” for the contract, but the emails showed IBM officials and Robinson shared information about the ACCESS program before bidding on the contract, according to the indictment.
“This is cheating,” Ogg said Tuesday. “IBM became much more informed than any other competitor, giving them a tremendous advantage.”
IBM’s contract, which was paid for with the American Rescue Plan Act funds, totaled nearly $30 million. The next highest bid, Ogg said, was $2.2 million.
“The savings to Harris County could have been tremendous,” the district attorney said. “Where could the COVID money have gone? It could have actually gone to health services, it could have gone to public safety, it could have gone to mitigate some of the damage that our residents suffered for COVID That’s what it was intended for.”
The charge against Robinson comes as Ogg approaches the end of her tenure as the county’s top prosecutor. Ogg lost the Democratic primary in March and will leave office in January 2025, when district attorney-elect Sean Teare will take her spot.
Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia released a statement saying the IBM contract was “one of several agreements” under Robinson’s tenure that he had “significant concerns about and raised questions about in public meetings.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the lone Republican on the Democratic-majority court, said he questioned the value of the DEMA and ACCESS Harris contracts, especially since the program was only for 1,200 people.
“Now, we have a whole new element to this ACCESS Harris and IBM contract, and I hope we get to the bottom of this,” Ramsey said. “There are many questions about the Health Department that need to be answered, and I’m glad someone is asking.”
Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis did not respond to request for comment. Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones declined comment.
Questions regarding DEMA’s billing on the county’s Holistic Assistance Response Team program earlier this year prompted Ellis and Briones to put forward a plan to improve the invoicing process for the company.
The plan also required the Office of County Administration and health department to come up with a plan to move the program in-house.
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