Former Ryan Walters PR Henchman Scores $75K Golden Parachute…

Does anyone remember the phone number for OKIE DOGE? I think I found some wasteful spending to report!

Last night, KFOR totally legitimately reported that Dan Isett – Ryan Walters’s wobbly ex-PR chief, spin master, and apparent bodyguard – received a $76,000 golden parachute from the state when he departed the OSDE back in February.

According to my quick, unreliable math, that equates to about $4,000 or so in severance/hush money for every insufferable month he spent on the state payroll boosting Ryan’s brand on the national stage.

I don’t know about you, but $76,000 seems like a lot to pay someone who left their job after 18 months under their own apparent will and volition. There has to be a good reason for this, right?

Here are the details:

The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) paid its former Director of Communications – and spokesperson for State Superintendent Ryan Walters – a final paycheck of more than $75,000 after he parted ways with OSDE earlier this year, according to records uncovered by News 4.

In February, News 4 reported OSDE Director of Communications Dan Isett was no longer employed with the agency.

According to state payroll records from the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), Oklahoma taxpayers paid Isett three paychecks totaling more than $76,000 on Feb. 28.

The largest check was for $72,218.18, for something called “terminal leave.”

“Terminal Leave?” What the fuck is that? It sounds more like the title of a Lifetime movie Ryan Walters’s wife watches alone in the bedroom than a legitimate HR code.

“Tonight on Lifetime, Mischa Barton and Tom Welling star in Terminal Leave – the lurid story of a morally compromised PR flack, her emotionally unavailable boss, and the golden parachute that kept them together… until it tore them apart.

It’s not just severance… it’s Terminal Leave. 8pm tonight.”

Seriously, how does one even qualify for terminal leave? Do you have to literally die, or is it as simple as sacrificing whatever’s left of your values, ethics, and reputation for your boss?

Here’s how KFOR explains it:

The Oklahoma State Accounting Manual defines “terminal leave” as “payment of unused accrued annual leave to an employee upon termination of employment with a paying agency.”

Records show Isett received the more-than-$72K “terminal leave” check on Feb. 28 as payment for 176 hours of accrued annual leave — a rate of around $410.33 per hour.

However, during previous pay periods in which Isett logged 176 hours of work, the state paid him $9,583.34 — a rate of around $54.45 per hour.

I don’t know about you, but I’d say it’s time for OMES to add “GRIFT,” “HUSH,” and “SIMP” to the state payroll processing lexicon.

That way, Walters, Stitt, and all other state agency heads will have more aptly suited code available to document and categorize the golden parachutes they dole out to their foot soldiers, lieutenants, and leeches.

Anyway, KFOR reached out to Isett and OSDE for comment and – not surprisingly – neither of them responded.

That being said, they did find a variety of lawmakers eager and willing to go on camera and complain about it.

On Wednesday, multiple Republican and Democratic lawmakers told News 4 that taxpayers, at minimum, deserve an explanation.

“It is appalling to see a payout this size, effectively creating a golden parachute for somebody who’s separated from an agency for unknown reasons,” State Rep. Andy Fugate (D-Del City) told News 4.

“We are in charge of the taxpayers’ money, and $72,000 is a large number,” State Rep. Daniel Pae (R-Lawton) told News 4. “It’s more than the average Oklahoman makes.”

In all fairness to Isett, he—like most of Ryan’s top staff—is a Texan. They earn more than Oklahomans and also don't have an income tax, so we do have to pay him more to stay competitive.

Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.