Felix Alvarez, the Executive Director of AISD’s Office of Contract and Procurement, is under criminal investigation by the police department of his former employer, the University of Texas at Austin.
In response to a public information request, UT Austin’s Open Records Coordinator Robert S. Davis confirmed to Honest Austin that there is a pending criminal investigation involving Alvarez but declined to release further details, citing an Attorney General’s opinion on the matter.
Alvarez worked at UT Austin from January 2017 until April 2019 as the assistant vice president for procurement, contracts, and payment services, with a yearly salary of $204,000, personnel records show.
In a letter from the Texas Attorney General’s Office to UT Austin attorneys, which was made available to Honest Austin, Assistant Attorney General Blake Brennan stated, “In this instance, the information at issue pertains to an internal investigation conducted by the university’s office of internal audits.”
“…you inform us, and provide documentation demonstrating, the submitted information pertains to the subject matter of a pending criminal investigation being conducted by the university’s police department.”
Brennan therefore ruled that UT could withhold information about the criminal investigation under Government Code sec. 552.108(a)(1), which allows a government to withhold information if releasing it “would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime.”
Warning to AISD
Alvarez moved jobs from UT Austin to the Austin Independent School District (AISD) earlier this year, after resigning from UT in mid-April.
At least one UT official or some other interested party appears to have tried to tip off AISD as to why Alvarez left the university, according to reports in The Texas Tribune and the Statesman.
But by the time AISD got in touch with UT Austin the district had already confirmed Alvarez’s appointment. The school district reached out to UT on Sept. 18, 2019 requesting Alvarez’s school records. One day later, the district received an an anonymous tip via email, the Statesman reported.
The tip alleged that Alvarez left the university because he was about to be fired, and it accused him of inappropriate use of department funds and equipment and auctioning athletic tickets on his Facebook account.
Similarly, citing a source with knowledge of the internal UT audit, the Texas Tribune reported that Alvarez “double-dipped on travel funds, may have misused purchasing cards and raffled off athletic tickets for personal gain, costing the university several thousand dollars.”
According to J.B. Bird, UT Austin’s spokesman, the university’s Chief Financial Officer Darrell Bazzell spoke with an AISD representative on Sept. 26. Bazzell declined to respond to questions about Alvarez’s performance, Bird noted, instead offering only to confirm Alvarez’s start and end dates.
Nicole Conley, AISD’s chief business and operations officer, told the Statesman that the district was aware of the investigation at the university, but would take no action until it was complete.
According to Alvarez’s LinkedIn profile, he worked at San Antonio ISD from 2008-2011, the North Texas Tollway Authority from 2011-2013, and the University Health System from 2013-2016 prior to joining UT.
Alvarez did not respond to requests for comment.
