Perry assists 'stealth' tech firm
Rick Perry sets up a sales meeting between a secretive Austin company and top lottery officials.
Weeks after dropping out of the Republican race for president, former Gov. Rick Perry used his connections as the state’s longest serving governor to set up a sales meeting between a secretive Austin technology company and the top two officials at the Texas Lottery Commission, the American-Statesman has learned.
Perry on Monday introduced Executive Director Gary Grief and Chairman J. Winston Krause, a Perry appointee, to GovWhiz, a company that isn’t registered to do business in Texas despite having an office across from the Capitol and a website.
The former governor’s role with GovWhiz is unclear. Two of GovWhiz’s founders dodged the Statesman’s questions about the company and its relationship with Perry, but one said the former governor “has no financial interest.”
Perry has connections to at least four people in the company, including two lobbyists who were high-ranking officials in his administration and two others with close ties to the governor’s alma mater, Texas A&M.
The nature of GovWhiz’s meeting with the lottery commission was unclear; while the company’s website prominently displays a photo of the
state’s Capitol complex, its only description says: “Shhhhh! Still in stealth.”
But emails between GovWhiz representatives and officials at the Health and Human Services Commission show the company is interested in developing Web and phone apps for state agencies.
Emails show former Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek, a Perry appointee who resigned in June after a state contract scandal, set up a meeting in September 2014 between GovWhiz representatives and commission staff who were working on a project called “2-1-1 Texas,” an application designed to connect veterans with services.
The new commissioner, Chris Traylor, has not met with representatives of the company, an agency spokesman said.
Two registered GovWhiz lobbyists were close to Perry for much of his 14 years in office. Karen Robinson worked for Perry for a decade as a technology director and in 2009 Perry appointed her director of the Department of Information Resources, a technology purchasing hub for state agencies. She left that post last year but became a subject in a criminal investigation into the state’s dealing with a different technology company, Austin data analytics firm 21CT.
The Statesman reported in April that Robinson was being investigated for allegations that she urged vendors trying to sell to state agencies to give donations to her favorite charity, Rodeo Austin. Among those asked to give to the charity was 21CT’s chief executive, Irene Williams.
The 21CT contract scandal and other contract failures prompted legislators this year to enact unprecedented reforms to state contracting, including rules aimed at stopping a so-called revolving door, in which officials who leave state jobs quickly find work with companies that do business with the state.
The other lobbyist, Kathy Walt, had worked as an adviser and press secretary for Perry since his time as lieutenant governor.
When asked about her role with the company, Walt quickly ended the conversation and said, “I’m in a meeting right now. I’m probably not going to call you back.”
Robinson could not be reached because the phone number listed on her registration with the Texas Ethics Commission is disconnected.
Attempts to reach Perry through several of his former media contacts and advisers were unsuccessful.
Morgan Warstler, the CEO and founder of GovWhiz, would not say why the company is not registered to do business with the Secretary of State, nor would he provide clarity on Perry’s role or what the company does.
“We’re deep in stealth mode and will continue to be so for a long time,” Warstler told the Statesman. “This is deep stealth.”
When asked if Perry is a business partner, Warstler said, “We went out of our way to find a lot of politicians and get their feedback on our product vision. That’s it. If anything, Gov. Perry is the smartest guy in the room. We have reached down and are communicating to a lot of politicians, to hundreds of bureaucrats.”
When asked again of Perry’s role, Warstler said: “I would say that we are mutual fans of one another. There are hundreds of politicians that I would love to go into business with.”
A spokeswoman for the Texas Lottery Commission confirmed Thursday that Perry opened doors for the company.
“Former Gov. Rick Perry and Kathy Walt were introducing a vendor, GovWhiz,” Kelly Cripe said.
A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation said representatives from the company recently approached Darran Anderson, the department’s chief strategy officer, but Perry wasn’t involved.
“That group has been shopping to agencies all over,” spokeswoman Veronica Beyer said. “But it never came at the recommendation of the governor.”
A visit to the company’s office at 1115 San Jacinto Blvd., across the street from the Capitol, also produced few answers.
A man answered a knock at the door and introduced himself as John, saying he wouldn’t identify himself further.
“I’m not telling you. Let’s see how good of a reporter you are,” he said.
He was John Claybrook, who made national news in 2013 when he, as student body president at Texas A&M University, vetoed a student government bill that would have allowed students to opt out of fees allocated to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender services.
“We can’t say a whole lot just because of how the business is modeled,” Claybrook said in the doorway. “It’s something the governor (Perry) has been passionate about for a long time.”
According to Maroon Weekly, a magazine covering the Aggies, Claybrook produced a documentary last year about the Texas A&M football program’s entry into the SEC. He was an associate producer for John Robison, also an A&M alumnus and the entrepreneur behind the production company Wellborn Road.
A Jan. 13 post from the company’s Twitter account shows Claybrook speaking in the governor’s mansion, with Perry at his side.
“The eloquent John Claybrook making a riveting speech @ the governors mansion about his bond for his #Aggie family,” the post reads.
A résumé posted on Wikipedia indicates Robison is also chairman of GovWhiz.
A 2013 story published by the university’s alumni magazine reported that “Robison’s newest project is a concept he calls ‘America 2.0: there’s an app for that,’ which he is doing with an eclectic group of partners including Newt Gingrich to create a marketplace to ‘appify’ government.”