Harris County Commissioners Court will consider an agenda item on Thursday to award a no-bid contract worth $90,000 to a consulting firm owned by a longtime Democrat political operative who once worked as a Senior Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The agenda item asks Commissioners Court to approve a “Request by the Office of the Purchasing Agent for approval of a personal services exemption from the competitive bid requirements and that the County Judge execute an agreement with SWR Consulting LLC DBA SWR Strategies LLC in the amount of $90,000 for strategic communications and voter registration support services agreement for the Tax Assessor-Collector for the period of May 14, 2026 – October 31, 2026.”
A more detailed explanation of the agenda item on Harris County’s website states, “No other alternatives exist at this time” as justification for approving the contract.
Sahar Robertson, the owner of SWR Strategies, has a long history of working for Democrat politicians and liberal special interest groups. According to Robertson’s LinkedIn profile, she served as Senior Advisor for Communications & Strategy for California Governor Gavin Newsom from 2020 until 2021.
In addition to her work for Newsom, Robertson has also worked for the left-wing advocacy organization MoveOn, the Service Employees International Union, and in the Obama administration.
While a copy of the proposed contract had initially been posted online by Harris County, it has since been taken down. The Texas Voice downloaded a copy of the contract before it was removed from Harris County’s website and is making a copy of it available here.
The contract calls for SWR Strategies to be paid $10,000 per month through the end of October for “strategic communications advisory services in support of the communications priorities of the Office of the Tax Assessor-Collector as identified by the Chief of Public Affairs and the communications team.” The scope of work also includes a communications audit and “strategic media relations and backgrounding.”
SWR Strategies began performing work for the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector’s office without a contract on or about February 1, and the contract includes settlement and release provisions that require Harris County to pay the firm $35,000 for the work it performed without a contract in place.
Tom Ramsey, the lone Republican on the Harris County Commissioners Court, has expressed his opposition to the proposed contract.
A spokesperson for Ramsey told The Texas Voice, “Commissioner Ramsey will not be supporting the item due to its lack of clarity in scope of services, why this consultant was selected, and why a settlement agreement was even needed for this contract.”
