Amid continued controversy over a canceled $11 million COVID-19 vaccine outreach contract with Elevate Strategies, Harris County Commissioners Court discussed recovering losses from the canceled contract March 22, and County Judge Lina Hidalgo offered comments to news outlets during a court intermission.

On March 11 and March 16, the Texas Rangers executed search warrants at locations across Harris County to obtain 10 electronic devices belonging to Aaron Dunn, Harris County’s senior advisor for public safety and emergency management; Policy Director Wallis Nader; and Chief of Staff Alex Triantaphyllis, as previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper. According to the court records, all 10 devices were seized by authorities.

The warrants were granted based on evidence provided by Texas Ranger Daron Parker in his investigation of the county’s canceled contract with firm Elevate Strategies. According to a March 10 affidavit from the Harris County District Clerk's office, Parker alleged he has encountered evidence of the offenses of “tampering with governmental document” and “misuse of official information" since the start of his investigation Oct. 7.

“Through email and phone conversations ... Dunn, Nader and Triantaphyllis obtained nonpublic information due to their employment at the Harris County judge’s office, and ... the release of the information harmed Harris County by providing an advantage to a competitor,” the affidavit reads.

Recovering the funds

During the March 22 Commissioners Court meeting, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle asked how much the county has paid to Elevate Strategies and how much of that amount the county attorney’s office has recovered.

According to First Assistant County Attorney Jay Aiyer, the county has paid Elevate Strategies $1.4 million and has recovered about $200,000 so far with hopes of obtaining an additional $1 million “very soon.”

“We will not get 100% [of the money paid to Elevate Strategies back],” Aiyer said. “Because with any vendor, if they're under contract for a period of time, they've incurred legitimate expenses to which they would be entitled to by law. We cannot deny them that amount.”

Cagle told Aiyer to “go for every penny that was paid.”

Later, Hidalgo addressed news organizations outside of the March 22 Commissioners Court meeting during an intermission.

"Because it's an ongoing investigation, I can't address many of the misleading and sometimes false allegations that are swirling around. ... What I can say is this: I follow the law," Hidalgo said, according to Community Impact Newspaper's reporting partner, ABC 13.

Contract controversy

As previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper, Harris County hired Elevate Strategies in early June to conduct community outreach encouraging county residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19. After controversy arose surrounding the contract, commissioners voted unanimously to terminate the contract Sept. 14.

Four organizations, including Elevate Strategies, submitted proposals for the county’s vaccine campaign, according to Parker’s affidavit. The county released its vaccine outreach request for proposals publicly for the project Feb. 19, 2021, and the final deadline to submit proposals was March 8, 2021.

According to Parker's affidavit, county employees were allegedly in contact with Elevate Strategies founder and manager Felicity Pereyra about the project before the county’s request for proposals was made public.

“Let us know your thoughts and proposed budget after you’ve had a chance to review,” Nader said in a Jan. 13, 2021, email to Pereyra, according to the affidavit.

Parker’s affidavit alleges that in a Feb. 25, 2021 email, Pereyra stated she had been invited to bid for Harris County’s vaccine campaign, saying she has “really solid” relationships “in house.”

“They asked me to design the program beforehand, but then were told to go to RFP,” Pereyra wrote in an email, according to the affidavit.

Hidalgo’s office and her attorneys had not responded to Community Impact Newspaper's requests for comment regarding the March 22 Commissioners Court meeting as of press time March 28. Pereyra and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office also did not respond to requests for comment.

Danica Lloyd and Hannah Zedaker contributed to this report.