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Ohio Watchdog Faults Ohio Agency for Handling of IT Contract


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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A state investigation has cleared a now-retired state administrator but found her department violated rules in awarding a state information-technology contract.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Ohio Inspector General Randall Meyer’s finding Thursday.

Meyer cleared Carolyn Chavanne, who was a Department of Administrative Services contract supervisor while also being listed as a registered agent for a contract recipient, UMT Consulting Group. The company told investigators it gave Chavanne’s name in error.

Meyer determined protocols were nonetheless broken in UMT’s deal. The agency has since increased training.

The finding follows a Dispatch investigation that found DAS personnel sometimes thwarted state policy and ignored analysts’ warnings to questionably award millions in no-bid IT contracts back to 2011, often at excessive prices and to firms that employed former department executives.