Collin County Commissioners to consider “no bid” contract for Fusion Center

by Bill Baumbach of of The Collin County Observer

On the agenda for the December 9 Commissioners' court is item #4f2, "Grant exemption from the competitive bidding process...[to] approve a Maintenance Services Agreement with ADB Consulting, LLC for Fusion System Operation and Maintenance for an annual amount of $36,400..."

ADB Consulting is based in Santa Fe, NM. ADB stands for "Anita and Dr. Bob". Its partners are Dr. Robert Johnson and his wife, Anita Miller. They describe themselves as consultants and options traders.

According to check registers published on the county website, Collin County paid ADB consulting $556,123.51 in fiscal year 2008 for consulting, maintenance and software for the North Texas Fusion Center.

The North Texas Fusion Center is an intelligence gathering and data sharing system used in the 16 county North Texas area. It is funded mostly by state and federal grants. The largest grant is the "State Homeland Security Grant" which is financed with federal funds allocated under the "Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program" created by the US Patriot Act.

Dr. Robert Johnson of ADB Consulting is the son of Congressman Sam Johnson. Congressman Sam Johnson voted for the Patriot Act.

It's not surprising that Anita and Dr. Bob's website points to the website of "our favorite congressman" - Congressman Sam Johnson.