The only thing that sucks about the impending departure of Mary Fallin as Governor is that Christina Fallin – a.k.a Hipster Boo Boo – will no longer be "the Governor's daughter."
From the day Mary took office, Christina's attention craving antics, hilarious gaffes and general hipster pretension have provided joy, entertainment and outrage to people from Oklahoma and all across the world. Whether she was wearing a headdress, playing games with her love life, or violating Capitol Medical Center zoning codes, she's always been fun to watch and write about. She's the classic train wreck, but only if that train was carrying pink balloons, CHANEL scarves and Grimes.
It doesn't look like Christina is going to let up before the finish line either. Earlier this year, we reported that she is pregnant, and naturally, the baby's daddy's family is being linked to wacko (and probably racist) OKC bombing conspiracy theories. Also, KOKH reported last night that Christina and other members of the Fallin family occasionally enjoyed the perks of flying in the state plane.
Via KOKH:
The state of Oklahoma has a special aircraft that is reserved for use by the governor and records obtained by FOX 25 show that the governor’s family sometimes travels on the plane even if she is not on board.
FOX 25 requested records from the governor’s office in the summer of 2015 about her staff’s interaction with some of the Fallin family members in response to a tip we received. It took two-and-a-half years for the office to respond. When it did the governor’s office provided more than 8,000 pages, many of them duplicates, about the interactions between the governor’s staff and the first family.
After reviewing the emails, FOX 25 found references to use of the state’s aircraft to take family members to Grand Lake where Fallin has another home. In one email from 2013 a state trooper asks if “the "lake" is confirmed for Friday” when talking about the upcoming flight.
Another staff member confirms that the state's King Air 350 airplane will be dropping the governor off at her lake house in Northeastern Oklahoma on her way back from an out-of-state trip. The emails indicate the governor’s daughter, accompanied by one staff member, would be ferried back to the city on the private plane.
That's interesting. Obviously, the follow-up question is "Did Hipster Boo Boo fly the state plane?" Remember, Christina Fallin has "pilot" etched on her lengthy yet somehow empty resume. Here's a video of her "First Solo." Don't worry. It's safe for work:
That was cool. You could see Mary was proud. My only suggestion would be to change the music to something even more pretentious.
Anyway, how much did these trips cost taxpayers? Private planes are expensive, right?
The flight from Grand Lake to any airport in the metro area is just under an hour of flight time. According to the website “Aircraft Cost Calculator” it costs just over $1,300 an hour to operate the governor’s private plane.
Another flight manifest from December of 2015 shows the governor, her husband and their security detail being dropped off at Grand Lake, again after another out-of-state trip, but two of the couple's children were to be taxied back to Norman on the $1,300 an hour taxpayer-funded flight.
$1,300? That's it? I'm all for government fiscal responsibility, but that seems like more than a fair price to pay to keep Christina from towing her trailer down the Turner Turnpike at midnight. She'd probably take the curve too fast at the midway McDonald's and cause an accident.
Multiple records show Christina Fallin often joined her mother on trips, sometimes staying in her mother’s hotel room. They do not always fly together, but in one email a state trooper asked if they will again be asked to escort the first daughter to her mother.
"I presume the gov [sic] wants a detail member to go pick her up right?" the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lieutenant asked.
In that one case, the governor’s staff said Christina had made other arrangements and did not need a taxpayer funded escort.
However, the emails reviewed by FOX 25 show the Governor’s staff were routinely asked to step in on personal favors for the first family. Some of these favors related to getting seats at private events the governor was attending or arranging for gubernatorial proclamations or letters be issued to family friends and acquaintances.
Mary Fallin and other Republicans say we need to run government more like a business. Well, it looks like that's the only campaign promise Mary's actually kept. I bet the CEO of Fortune 500 companies could get away with this stuff. As Brad Henry would attest, what's the fun in being Governor if you can't enjoy the perks of the job?
