Outsourced

Dear friend,

Recently, the media reported that the Texas Department of Public Safety outsourced the majority of our state’s border security operations to Abrams Learning & Information Systems (ALIS), a private consulting firm based in Arlington, Va., through no-bid contracts.

This raises significant concerns about the transparency of DPS’ bidding and procurement processes as well as DPS’ management of millions of state and federal taxpayer dollars. It also raises questions about the government paying for messaging that benefits the messenger.

ALIS has received nearly $20 million in payments as a “sole source vendor,” a description usually reserved for vendors of unique goods and services. In February of this year, an independent report by the State Auditor demonstrated that, on at least three occasions, DPS was unable to document why an “emergency” contract — and bypassing the state’s regular competitive bidding process — was needed. A startling 83 percent of the contracts reviewed by the State Auditor in the cluster of federal grants for homeland and border security were not bid competitively as required by state law.

Further, the existence of these contracts raises the serious public policy consideration of whether the state of Texas should have outsourced the bulk of border security operations to a private company with negligible experience in international border operations.

Equally troubling, the most recent emergency ALIS contract calls for the company to “develop a border security media/public information outreach strategy” and create “Border Security Public Outreach Themes.” Asking a private vendor with an interest in state contracts to develop the messaging on border security that politically supports the contracts — especially when that messaging misrepresents the level of violence on this side of the border — seems like a clear conflict of interest.

Last Friday, I posed questions about the contracts and the procurement process in a letter to DPS, and I called for the State Comptroller to investigate these issues. I will share that information with you when it becomes available.

Some Perspective

I love El Paso and the region it anchors. From one of the most vibrant urban borders in the world to the vast open spaces of the Big Bend region, life on the border takes place within the complex dynamics of an international boundary that both divides and unites communities. This is always our challenge — to take advantage of our unique place in the world, with a shared interest in language, culture, family, business and resources, while protecting our national interests.

This requires that we carefully identify our policy goals, which not only immediately affect the El Paso region, but the millions of people on both sides of the border.

When we fail to accurately analyze, we end up with a one-size-fits-all approach to the border. Increasingly throughout the United States, and unfortunately in Texas, where we should know better, the border is viewed almost exclusively as a security threat. As both crime measures and the experience of millions of people who live here can attest, this is untrue and the threat overblown, but facts don’t always overcome politics.

Transparency

As entrusted stewards of Texans’ taxpayer dollars, and at a time when the focus on the border is intense, we need to make sure that the policies affecting the millions of border residents are not driven by the politics of fear and that funds are spent in an effective, transparent manner.

Using a private company to set the political stage for its own funding and the serious issues involving DPS’ contracts highlighted in the State Auditor’s report show that Texas has got it the wrong way around when it comes to our border and our money.

Other items of note

• I was pleased to spend time at La Fe Saturday morning for the Citizens Legislative Town Hall. You can read the El Paso Times’ article here. The meetings are occasions to participate in community dialogue, build connections, and learn from one another, as well as to focus on the legislative process. The next Citizens Legislative Town Hall is at 10 a.m. Saturday (March 24) at the Tigua Tribal Judicial Department, 9241 Socorro Rd. See the calendar of meetings here.

• Also Saturday is the Save Texas Schools March and Rally, in Austin. You can learn more here. The Legislature last year cut $5.4 billion in school funding, resulting in less teachers and larger classes. Meanwhile, the stress on schools increases. One example is the STAAR test, which I wrote about in last week’s newsletter.

• In the last two years, Republicans have pushed voter ID laws in eight more states, including Texas, where the Department of Justice blocked implementation. You can read a quick state-by-state overview of the issue by the Washington Post here.

• I invite you to follow me on Facebook and Twitter, and to stay in touch with events and issues through the website.

Sincerely,