Roob Won't Participate In Billion Dollar Contract Decision

It may be the largest single contract the state of Indiana has ever awarded, but the head of the state agency which will decide who gets the contract will not be participating in the decision. Following up on AI's report last weekend about Mitch Roob's ties to one of the two bidders for an FSSA contract to manage the state's Medicaid, food stamps, welfare and other benefit programs, the Star's Tim Evans tells us that Roob is not participating in the decision. Evans writes:

A partner in the IBM group, Affiliated Computer Services, lost part of a Georgia contract two years ago because of problems processing claims. Texas-based ACS also is the former employer of FSSA Secretary E. Mitchell Roob Jr . . .

[Dennis] Rosebrough said Roob will not be involved in the selection process because of his former ties to ACS . . .

An IBM spokesman said he could not comment on the proposal Tuesday. Rosebrough said Roob and other state leaders knew there was a possibility Roob's former employer would be a bidder "because there are only a limited number of companies who provide these services."

Roob has delegated responsibility for the project to James Robertson IV, director of the agency's division of family resources, said Rosebrough.

Once a firm is selected to do the work in Indiana, Rosebrough said, state officials will negotiate final details of the contract, including the cost. The $1 billion estimate is based on the current cost of the work done by state employees.

So if ACS is chosen, does that also mean that Roob will be walled off from participating in any contract administration decisions with respect to the contract because of his past ties to ACS? Or will it be about that time that he returns to ACS in an even-higher paid job than he had prior to joining the administration?