Criminal complaint filed over canceled IT contract

By Max Reinhart, MediaNews Group

An Oakland County commissioner is asking police to research a now-cancelled contract between the county and an organization owned by a county worker.

A spokesperson for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Workplace confirmed that Michael Spisz, the highest Republican on the county govt, filed a grievance Wednesday requesting a proper investigation right into a $450,000 service contract with an IT staffing firm based and owned by a member of the county’s IT division.

An investigation carried out by an outdoor agency had already concluded that the approval of the contract violated state regulation. Spisz is looking on the sheriff’s division to research this discovering and, if substantiated, file expenses towards anybody present in violation.

“If somebody broke a regulation, we have to perceive what regulation was damaged,” Spisz mentioned.

A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Workplace declined to remark additional on the grievance.

In June 2024, Oakland County started accepting proposals from tech staffing corporations searching for to deal with the county’s Courts and Regulation Enforcement Administration Info System (CLEMIS) division, in accordance with a abstract of impartial analysis findings ready by the Oakland County Company Counsel.

Among the many 130 corporations bidding for the CLEMIS workers place was ZaydLogix, which in accordance with an Oakland Press report was owned by an worker of the Oakland County IT division who was anticipated to retire within the close to future.

In June, the county authorised a contract with ZaydLogix for CLEMIS workforce companies. However the next month, county officers acquired an nameless electronic mail expressing concern that the settlement violated county coverage — and state regulation — barring the county from contracting with corporations during which a county worker has a monetary or private curiosity, in accordance with the county abstract.

The impartial investigation, carried out by Detroit-based Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, concluded that the county’s CLEMIS supervisor “meant to recruit a number of contractors of the supervisor’s option to work at CELMIS by means of the ZaydLogix contract previous to (Mohammad’s) retirement, which was inappropriate.”

The abstract notes that the county’s Procurement Division typically handles bid evaluations, however that the IT division has traditionally used its personal analysis course of for IT staffing contracts.

The investigation additionally concluded that the county’s request for proposals, which was ready by the IT division, didn’t include language prohibiting conflicts of curiosity.

The IT division worker who reviewed the bids was conscious that ZaydLogix was owned by a county worker, the abstract mentioned, “however they didn’t imagine that approving ZaydLogix’s bid could be problematic” as a result of the reviewer mentioned they had been “contemplating retirement.”

Investigators didn’t discover any proof of fraud, kickbacks or worth manipulation, however “it seems that CLEMIS managers used a ‘past means’ method to retain particular, well-known people as contracted personnel for CLEMIS.”

County spokesman Invoice Mullan instructed the Oakland Press that the county has made a number of coverage modifications in gentle of the scandal, together with retraining administration officers on battle of curiosity guidelines, now not permitting IT or different departments to submit their very own requests for proposals and requiring potential bidders to fill out types to assist establish potential conflicts of curiosity.

He mentioned 4 county workers — three senior IT employees and one different worker — would face disciplinary motion starting from verbal reprimands to the lack of anticipated raises and demotion or termination, the Oakland Press reported.

Spisz mentioned a proper legal investigation is critical for the sake of transparency and to carry legally accountable anybody who broke the regulation.

“I want to see the info come to gentle in order that the board of commissioners and the individuals can see what occurred. Any (additional) disciplinary actions, and I anticipate there might be some, ought to mirror that,” Spisz mentioned. “And if there’s legal exercise, that’s the job of the authorities.”

The most recent transfer comes after Oakland County Government Dave Coulter known as for strengthening the county’s ethics coverage after criticizing the chairman of the county board of commissioners who labored as a paid outdoors advisor for personal corporations and the contract awarded to the county worker.

Coulter has mentioned he’s asking elected officers and senior appointees to regulate their monetary disclosures mid-year to allow them to report any new outdoors sources of revenue above $10,000. He’s additionally asking these two teams to reveal the pursuits of their companions and relations, that the disclosures be posted on-line for public viewing and that the province rent an ombudsman to implement the disclosures. Components of the proposed updates to the ethics coverage had been met with resistance from some commissioners.

The province’s present requirements of conduct wouldn’t have a longtime greenback threshold for conflicts of curiosity.