Democratic political consultants hired by Fort Bend County in hot seat over $345K COVID outreach deal

A political consulting firm with Democratic ties hired for a COVID outreach contract in Fort Bend County might have to repay the county about $25,000 after an audit found the company submitted questionable expenses and did not comply with terms of the $345,000 deal. Next Wave Strategies was hired to “develop a marketing communication plan that utilizes social marketing principles and grassroots strategies to dispel myths and misperceptions about the COVID-19 vaccine” according to the contract between the county and the firm. Fort Bend County has paid out $102,237 in invoices. As a result of the audit, which was made public on Friday, the Fort Bend County Auditor’s Office wants the firm to return about a quarter of that amount and has put a freeze on future payments.

Next Wave Strategies' website has been taken down and the company's phone number has been disconnected. The company consists of two employees, Shekira Dennis and Erika Johnson, neither of whom could be reached for comment on Friday. While Next Wave Strategies was hired to spread awareness on the COVID vaccine, only about 75 percent of the work they billed could be substantiated, the audit says. Timesheets submitted in July of 2021 include billing for hours worked by Dennis and Johnson in December 2021, for example. Dennis and Johnson submitted identical timesheets claiming the exact same hours. The pair claimed 867 hours each at $59.36 per hour for total of $102,839.25. “We noted that all timesheets submitted by the owners of NWS, Shekira Dennis and Erika Johnson, were identical,” the audit says. “That is, each day submitted reflected the same hours for both individuals.” When questioned about the identical timesheets, the audit says, Johnson said "Shekira and I worked in lockstep appropriately to manage the project. Due to that fact, our activities mirrored each other." Next Wave Strategies also billed for meetings that never occurred or that were shorter than the hours recorded, the audit reports. “There were 14 instances where either the settings were not on the calendar or the duration of the meeting was not as long as indicated on the time sheets,” the report says. The amount billed for these meetings was $51,298.04.