Questions raised by no-bid contract

Sometimes a government announcement raises at least as many questions as it answers.

That’s what happened last week when the Lamont Administration announced it has entered a three-month, no-bid contract paying $250,000 to a public-relations firm headed by Duby McDowell — a former TV reporter with Democratic political ties who has supported Lamont and now co-hosts WFSB, Channel 3s, Sunday Face the State program — to take the lead on news and communications about the COVID-19 pandemic for the state Department of Public Health.

The main question was why the governor and his brain trust found it necessary to spend so much taxpayer money (it’s federal COVID-19 relief funds, but it’s still collected from taxpayers here and around the country) to bring in a private PR firm to handle official government communications on such a critical issue.

After all, this is a function generally handled by government employees, not outsiders from the private sector, and the Lamont administration has plenty of people who could perform such duty, even if it meant a temporary shift in assignments; about 40 executive-branch employees, some paid more than $100,000 a year by taxpayers, have duties such as writing news releases and/ or dealing with press inquiries.

Plus, with almost-daily briefings about the pandemic, sometimes it seems like COVID-19 is all that Lamont and his people talk about. So why do they need to pay an outside firm $83,000 a month to talk about it too?

The announcement of the unusual deal with the Hartford-based McDowell Communications Group burst forth without information emerging beforehand about any arrangements or negotiations leading up to it. Unanswered questions included:

Why was there no competitive bidding on this? The administration used its COVID19-emergency powers to waive the normal contract-procurement procedure, saying it would have been too time-consuming, but what makes it so urgent to hire an outside PR firm to do the state’s job for it?

But even if they didn’t go through the normal bidding procedure, why not just make a few calls to solicit competitive quotes from other firms?

Why the three-month deal? What happens at the end of it? Is it possible this arrangement with McDowell Communications might be extended beyond Feb. 28?

The answer to that last question, by the way, is yes — an extension is possible, according to Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner of the public health department. How likely is that? “To be determined,” she said.

Government Watch this week obtained the contract via a public-records request and asked bunch of questions about the surprise arrangement.

The administration’s answers began with an overall statement from Gifford, who said her agency’s “communications and press relations demands” have increased so drastically during the pandemic that it “had to increase its responsiveness to members of the press, as well as and internal and external efforts to communicate with the public.”

“I reviewed the state’s approved vendor list for media, marketing and public relations contracts and found McDowell Communications, who employ a CDC Crisis Communication trained communications expert in Maura Fitzgerald who recently served [from 2016 to 2019] as the Director of Communications for the Department of Public Health.

In addition, the firm as a whole is also able to provide guidance and strategy as it relates to spreading actionable messages to encourage our residents to receive the vaccine.”

“I made the decision,” Gifford said.

GOP leader: ‘It smells ... of politics’

Not everybody’s on board with that, including state Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, who’ll officially become House minority leader when the General Assembly reconvenes next week.

He said in an interview that he thinks it’s fine for the Democratic administration to invoke emergency powers to waive bidding on things such as the purchase of life-saving personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line health workers and first responders, but he questions using that authority in retaining “a firm that is sort of a Democrat operative with a no bid contract.”

“It smells more of politics than of policy,” Candelora said. “The extraordinary powers that the governor has right now should be used as restrictively as possible, and I am not sure in these circumstances...they have been used in a restrictive manner.”

Neither McDowell nor any of Lamont’s people had any response to that, including the governor’s main media spokesman, Max Reiss.

McDowell is a registered Democrat who has had ties to figures in that party over the years. She has made campaign contributions to Democrats, but not Lamont.

However, a Nov. 8, 2018 post in her firm’s online newsletter said “we congratulate our friend and client, Ned Lamont, on winning Tuesday’s election.” The newsletter went on to say that McDowell’s partner in the firm at the time, Steve Jewett, “served as the campaign’s senior advisor and chief strategist.” It also said: “We look forward to continuing to support Governor-Elect Lamont and seeing the positive change he will bring Connecticut.”

McDowell responded to Courant questions about the new contract by issuing a statement.

“In the midst of this worldwide public health crisis we’re honored to help the State in this crucial effort,” she said in an email Thursday. “Everyone is working overtime and we are hiring additional staff to assist the DPH with messaging, statewide outreach, and agency support. So much is at stake, and we will do everything we can to support the administration’s lifesaving efforts.”

“There are upfront costs related to communications that are part of this work that will pay dividends down the road,” she said. “This is part of a longer-term strategy.”

Fitzgerald, also a Democrat, who is senior vice president at McDowell Communications, headed the press operation for Richard Blumenthal’s successful 2010 Democratic campaign for U.S. Senate and then was his deputy district director for five years. Then she headed the health department’s communications operation for three years while Democrat Dannel P. Malloy was governor, which is what Gifford said qualifies Fitzgerald for the leading role she’ll play on this contract. Fitzgerald is the niece of Democratic U.S. Rep. John Larson.

Also working on the contract for the McDowell firm is Dean Pagani, the former radio newsman and veteran Republican political staffer in Connecticut and Washington, D.C. He was press secretary for former Gov. John Rowland, and handled communications for four different statewide campaigns for governor.

Conflicts with TV host’s role

Here’s another question, which straddles the worlds of Connecticut government and the news media: How can McDowell perform as on-air co-host of WFSB’s Face the State show when a Lamont administration official is interviewed, or when the topic relates to COVID-19 and the state’s handling of it?

Her response: “When [Courant columnist] Kevin Rennie and I started co-hosting Face the State in October, our arrangement with WFSB involved an understanding that if I have a client conflict Kevin will handle that interview.”

She did not respond to the question of whether that meant she wouldn’t be present during such interviews — or would be on the set, on camera, but silent.

Lamont appeared on the public affairs show with McDowell and Rennie in October, but has not done so since McDowell’s contract with the state commenced.

Questions and answers

Here are other questions submitted by The Courant, along with Gifford’s written answers:

Will all the communications relating to this contract by members of the PR firm be subject to disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act? Gifford said: “If the agency is doing state work, consistent with its agreement with DPH, then communications relating to that work is public information.”

What work product has the firm produced to date? Gifford said: “Maura has led communications meetings, participated in vaccine meetings, responded to reporter inquiries including from the Hartford Courant, provided input during communications meetings, and she’s provided input and provided updates to the Office of the Governor relative to the COVID-19 response based on discussions and coordination with DPH and vaccine distribution efforts.”

Why has Fitzgerald been given a ct.gov email account, same regular state employees, and might this give the wrong impression of her capacity as an outside contractor? Said Gifford: “Considering the hands-on nature of the work, working directly with the department, and how her communications are subject to FOI laws, we felt it would be easier for her to have a state email account to communicate internally and externally.”

What made the hiring McDowell’s firm such an emergency that additional time couldn’t have been spent on soliciting other PR firms’ proposals? Gifford said: “The need to distribute vaccines and save as many lives as possible is the emergency and public health need of a generation. An all hands on deck approach is needed to ensure that the agency is doing everything possible to both vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly and safely as possible, but also to educate the public on the efficacy, availability, and where to get the vaccine. This requires both an external and internal strategy to ensure messaging and techniques are consistent, which required an augmentation of the resources available to DPH.”

“Additionally, the regular functions of DPH remain in full effect,” Gifford said. “There remain other public health issues that must be addressed by the agency, and there must not be a prioritization of resources which could come at the expense of other public health matters facing our state.” Non-COVID-19 issues will be handled by the department’s regular communications director, Av Harris, officials said.

Jon Lender is a reporter on The Courant’s investigative desk, with a focus on government and politics. Contact him at jlender@ courant.com, 860-241-6524, or c/o The Hartford Courant, 285 Broad St., Hartford, CT 06115 and find him on Twitter @jonlender.