The hits keep coming for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.
Last night, KFOR's Ally Myer filed a very-hyped, 8-minute report on Kevin Stitt's (no longer a) secret plan to build a new $6.5 million Governor's Mansion for the first family, which if you believe recent polls, will not be his.
Here's a quick breakdown of the report...
As News 9 reported back in 2019, Governor Kevin Stitt never really wanted to live in the Oklahoma Governor's Mansion. Right after he was elected, he claimed the residence needed $8-million in repairs to be habitable because, apparently, Mary Fallin and Hipster Boo Boo really trashed the place up!
As a result, the Stitts never moved into the Governor's Mansion, and instead took up temporary residence in Edmond before buying this lavish beauty back in 2021.
Anyway, I guess Stitt really really really wanted to live in free government housing, because he then took up a secret crusade to build a new Governor's mansion...
Nine months after Governor Stitt took office, he and First Lady Sarah Stitt called a meeting with the former first families.
The Stitts presented a multi-million dollar idea: to build a new governor’s mansion.
According to multiple sources in the room, the Governor brought in a well-known fundraiser, a large public relations firm and an architect.
Hmmm. I wonder why KFOR isn't naming names here? I'm going to guess the fundraiser was Lee Allen Smith, the large public relations firm was Saxum, and the architect was Brent Swadley!
Here's more:
They presented concept drawings and architectural sketches for a second mansion on the south side of the grounds.
“Even if 100 percent of the funds are raised privately to build a new residence on the property, there’s going to be ongoing maintenance costs,” said Dr. Steve Agee, professor of economics at Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business.
The Stitts were hoping for enthusiastic approval from the former first families.
Instead, the room was quiet.
There was no support for their proposition...
Without the blessing of the former first families, the Stitts pushed on.
Wow. Isn't that the most Stitt thing ever? He asks a room full of experts what they think about something, they tell him it's a really bad idea, and he pushes forward with it anyway. What a great leader, huh?
From there, KFOR focused on the secretive nature of Stitt's campaign to build a new mansion...
The Governor’s Director of Communications Carly Atchison believes a new, private residence will be a great asset to the state.
She says this plan will “make the Governor’s mansion that much more accessible to the public.”
Future first families are welcome to live in the historic mansion if they choose.
Atchison said, “I think this is an amazing and thoughtful gift from the Governor and First Lady.”
Yes, what an amazing, thoughtful gift. I think we can all agree that using private funds that could have gone to other non-profits to build your wealthy family a new mansion is definitely the gift that keeps on giving, especially when there's a totally suitable historic mansion located next door.
Here's more:
The Communications Director denies the plans were a secret.
However, both Atchison and First Lady’s Chief of Staff claimed to be unaware of the plan to build a new mansion when we first called one week ago on October 4th, 2022.
Additionally, according to minutes from the May 2021 meeting, the President of the Board for Friends of the Mansion, “reminded board members to keep everything pertaining to the project confidential.”
Yikes! The plans for a new mansion were such a big secret that they even kept Carly out of the loop? That had to hurt. I wonder how many Dalmatians she had to kidnap to make herself feel better?
We called a dozen Republican lawmakers to ask for their thoughts on the Governor’s plan to use private funding to build a new private mansion.
None of them were aware of the project.
Only one agreed to comment on-the-record.
Most said they feared retaliation from Governor Kevin Stitt.
“This is brand new information,” said Logan Phillips. “At no point have we been told anything about building a new mansion.”
In fact, the Executive Director of the Friends of the Mansion asked board members to sign a non-disclosure agreement in February of 2020, to ensure this plan to build a new private governor’s mansion stayed under wraps.
In all fairness, you can't blame the Friends of the Mansion folks for wanting to keep things under wraps. After all the controversy and code violations that ensued after we broke the news about Hipster Boo Boo living in a trailer on the Governor's Mansion grounds, they probably want to keep any improvements and upgrades under tight wraps.
Anyway, you can read and watch the full KFOR report here. If you know of any other secret plans or things the Governor may be up to, send us an email.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.
