State Auditor a Marketing Guru?

The State Auditor's office, headed by Jeff McMahan, recently spent an undisclosed amount of taxpayer money, investigating the Tourism and Recreation Department, at the request of the Attorney General at the insistence of a Tulsa man that has made a career of harassing state agencies with unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. The man, identified in Daily Oklahoman articles as Mr. Sam Mahjoub, has spent several years accusing the Oklahoma Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourism of everything from running fake overseas offices to conspiratorial secret meetings in exotic European capitals. For at least three years Mr. Mahjoub has been roaming the halls of the State Capitol with a trolly full of "evidence" to back up his conspiracy theories. Many Capitol denizens and staffers have grown weary of his obsession and his lurking presence in the halls. The State Auditor however, has spent tens of thousands of dollars investigating claims raised by the man in the last few years. More on his conspiracy theories in a later post.

The latest travesty was an exhaustive and expensive investigation of Mr. Mahjoub's claims against the Tourism Department. The investigation covered the period from July 1, 2001 to October 10, 2002 and investigated claims of illegal contracting and contracting procedures and such matters as whether clothing was purchased for employees. The result? Nothing of any significance at all. You can read the report for yourself at the State Auditor's website. It is said that the State Auditor's office released the report to the conspiracy theorist before they released it to the public. If so, the State Auditor needs to answer concerns of those who believe the office has become too close to a modern-day Rasputin.

Disturbingly, the State Auditor, in this report, and other recent reports, has overstepped the office's responsibility and started making recommendations on strategic decisions he knows little or nothing about. In the Tourism report for example, the State Auditor says the "Legislature might consider prioritizing the Department's funding in a more appropriate manner...an advertising contract of $4.5 million dollars per year may seem inappropriate during a period of economic downturn and severe budget cuts at the state government level." The State Auditor's business sense, or lack thereof, aside, he has no business trying to make agencies strategic decisions for them. Will he next start telling the Wildlife Department how long hunting season should last? Or perhaps he'd like to weigh in on whether the Secretary of State's office should use ivory or winter white-colored stationery? The public's welfare is not well looked after by having an accountant tell marketers how to do their job. Any business/marketing professional knows that when times get tough that is exactly when you don't cut your advertising budget. That's when you need sales more than ever.

It is very necessary to have a State Auditor to investigate possible corruption or misuse of funds in government agencies and departments. But if the State Auditor allows his office to be used by people obsessed with conspiracy theories and wildly throwing around unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against agencies and public servants, he is not spending our money wisely. He is engaging in a disservice to those whose interests he takes an oath to protect.

What comes as a surprise to many is that those audited, or investigated, must pay the State Auditor's office for the entire cost of the audits. These amounts can easily be in the tens of thousands of dollars. So, no audits, no income for the State Auditor's office. The State Auditor has a financial incentive to investigate agencies. Even the innocent must pay to be investigated. This can be quite an unplanned-for blow to the budgets of agencies and offices trying to do their jobs of serving the public. To be fair, the State Auditor must respond to citizens, even crackpot citizens, who alledge corruption. But should the State Auditor allow himself to be manipulated by crackpots?

Oklahoma Today

If you haven't read "Oklahoma Today" magazine you should! This is a first class magazine that does more to promote an Oklahoma culture and an awareness of Oklahoma than all the politicians talk put together. The Legislature has been trying to starve the magazine to death for years or offload it. They need to wise up and realize what a gem they have.

Where's the Vision Governor?

Sources at the Capitol complain that Brad Henry is still trapped in the mindset of a lawyer/legislator - wanting to know the details of issues and projects and unable to see the big picture. Not only that, but he has surrounded himself with a cabinet of like-thinkers - technocrats obsessed with the small details and without the "vision thing". While others want to move forward on issues such as new wave economic development and globalization the Governor seems to have his head stuck in the sand. Granted, he has a big challenge with the budget but rather than move forward with wealth-creating projects he is focused on cutting the state's economic development budget. He says one thing and does another. He says while other states pull back on economic development he is going to go full steam ahead. How? By slashing the state's economic development efforts?

Governor Henry was in the Legislature for years. He knows the wastage is in the pork barrel projects hidden in the state's "pass-through" funds. These are line-item appropriations Legislators pass-through state agencies on to their pet projects. The state agencies have no control over these pass-throughs and there is no oversight of how the monies are spent. Two-thirds of some agencies' budgets are pass-throughs. Why not cut the pork Governor and use it for revenue-generating economic development?

The Late Show

Punctuality doesn't seem to be Governor Henry's thing. He arrives late at everything, often very late. It all starts with a late arrival at the office - sometimes an hour late, and then everything is backed up all day long. People are routinely keep waiting for appointments and often find their appointment with the Governor cancelled at the last minute. Many, especially in the business community, can't get an appointment. Complaints about an inability to book the governor for events or to get an appointment abound. The street wonders what the Governor is doing - he's certainly not receiving many people. What does he spend his time doing?

Regime Change at OSU Looks like a Texas Occupation - an expensive one perhaps.

OSU's new president, David Schmidly, is said to be close to a faculty revolt. As he moves longtime OSU loyalists out and moves more fellow Texans in to surround him he seems to be going out of his way to irritate folks in Stillwater. A series of perfunctory, single-candidate "searches" for new VPs have quickly resulted in hiring his friends from Texas Tech - where Schmidly came from. The new president is moving everyone out of Whitehurst to make room for his new Texas Tech wing for his new hires that surround him. At a time the state budget is under severe pressure Schmidley is paying his new hires an incredible $180,000 per year. Meanwhile, OSU is planning on spending heavily to move the OSU Center for Health Sciences from its current modern home on 17th Street in Tulsa to the OSU-Tulsa campus on North Greenwood. The move of about 2 miles will cost the state $40 million.

Continental Airlines' "Frequent Flyer Awards"

In the mail recently I received from Continental Airlines an official-looking envelope with "Frequent Flyer Reward Vouchers" inside. Thinking my membership in their OnePass frequent flyer reward program had finally paid off and I had gotten one of those long-promised free tickets to some destination I opened the packet designed to look like airline tickets and found...coupons!!! And advertisements... for Mastercard, AT&T, Best Buy etc. I would get 10,000 miles on my Continental account if I signed up for Mastercard. So much for the "frequent flyer reward vouchers" the cover promised inside. Will I be getting a Mastercard. No. Does this type of direct mail gimmick endear Continental to me? No. I don't reward misleading advertising.

We should have known...

that the religious extremists in Iraq would want to create a theocracy once Saddamm was gone. Now the Shiites want to create an Islamic religious state and force everyone else to obey their religious laws. It's disgusting yes, but didn't we know this would happen? Shouldn't we have known these clerics would be completely ungrateful for our sacrifices to remove their secular dictator? A dictatorship of the clerics is coming I'm afraid. And the fools dance in the streets of Iraq slashing themselves with knives, beating themselves with chains, and demanding a religious dictatorship. Were these people worth it?

Ironically, as we try to create a secular democracy in Iraq our own administration moves ever closer to mingling religion and government in our own country. One Texas Congressman, Tom DeLay, recently said he did not believe in a separation of church and state. I would invite that Congressman to consider Basra as a place he'd be more comfortable in.

Oklahoma slams door shut on Eco-terrorists


The whip-smart bunch at the Capitol in Oklahoma City have taken strong measures to put a stop to terrorism in Oklahoma - eco-terrorism that is. In response to a veritable avalanche of imagined animal rights activists overrunning Oklahoma farms and "disrupting" farm operations, the State Legislature passed a law making it a felony to "disrupt" farm operations. And our Governor signed it with dispatch.

Rep. James Covey, D-Custer City, House author of the anti-terrorist bill said the bill is a preventative measure to head off actions by "radical animal rights" groups. Then, if something happens, at least there is some teeth in the law," Covey said. Others said it was time to protect corporate hog farms and factory farms from complaints filed by uppity neighbors and journalists. "The environmentalists and animal rights nuts haven't actually done nuttin yet," said Delmer Hinks of Pookville, "but this here law will keep em from even tinkin about it. It was jus' real smart of those senators to make it look like it had somethin' to do wit terrorism."

Ouch! Brad Henry Gets it from Both Sides

Talking on KOSU this week conservative Neva Hill and liberal Frosty Troy laid into Governor Brad Henry with tooth and nail. Both agreed that the Governor has been nowhere to be seen and has flubbed pushing his agenda forward. Frosty Troy said he hadn't seen a worse performance since 1960. He quoted one Democratic lawmaker as saying he "never thought he'd miss Frank Keating." Ms. Hill agreed that not only has the Governor not talked to the media to explain anything but has relied on incredibly inept political advice from an insulated group of advisors.

When you've got both the Republicans AND the Democrats after you like this you've got major problems.

A "Diversity" of Opinion on Radio in Oklahoma?

NE OKlahoma finally gets an alternative to the far-right radio of KRMG and its even more far-right radio. KFAQ Radio picked up Michael DelGiornio from KRMG and also has put together a line-up of other screaming extremists like Michael Savage and the not-so predictable but predictably rude Bill O'Reilly. I was flipping around on the radio dessert for something worth listening to tonight and came across a radio "personality" on KFAQ I had not heard before, Laura Ingraham. I caught her monologue as she was into a horribly biased discussion on Islam. I won't even go into her lame opinions on Islam vs. Christianity but suffice it to say it was uninformed.

Is all of American radio talk as looney toon far right and hate-filled as what we get to hear in Oklahoma? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't listen to far-left shock radio (does such a thing exist?) either but we don't have that choice in Oklahoma. Wouldn't level-headed and informed talk radio be wonderful? What would it be like if we had talkshows featuring intelligent moderates willing to weigh issues from all sides? Why can't we have that? In the meantime I'll listen to NPR.

Cultural Treasures Lost

The BBC reports that three White House cultural advisers have resigned in protest at the failure of US forces to prevent the looting of Iraq's national museum - home to artefacts dating back 10,000 years. Yes, it was Iraqis that made off with their own museum treasures but every society has their useless bandits who prey on society at large. But our military should have planned for this. It's hard to fathom how the protection of this storehouse of some of the world's most treasured ancient artefacts was not planned for by our government and military. Not only is our lack of consideration of this matter deplorable but it's an absolute public relations disaster for our country. How could we have been so stupid? Now we need to do everything we can to get back what was stolen and do our part to safeguard the Iraqi's cultural treasures for them - and humanity.

Ernest Istook vs. James Madison

You may have noticed that Oklahoma's own, U.S. Rep. Ernest J. Istook, is again attempting to add a school prayer amendment to the Constitution. Istook's “Pledge and Prayer Amendment” would permit public schools to sponsor prayer and religious worship and would allow government to display sectarian symbols and religious codes like the Ten Commandments in government buildings. The House rejected an earlier version of the amendment in 1998.

Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Seperation of Church and State has charged that Istook is reintroducing the amendment now to capitalize on Religious Right-led hysteria over the recent ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools because of its religious content. “This amendment will foster a type of religious mob rule in our public schools,” said Lynn. “Religious majorities will be able to impose their faith on everyone else. That runs counter to the spirit of true religious liberty.”

Please, Congressman Istook, leave our Constitution alone. You can't improve upon James Medison.

Just got to clean up the airport a bit....

Did you see Saddam's Minister of Information telling journalists today that the "elite" Republican Guard had retaken the Baghdad Airport and were cleaning it up? Yea, those American soldiers got it all dirty during the few hours they had control of it and as soon as the Iraqis got it all cleaned up again he'd take the press corps over to see it. What a joke. I hope some cartoonist does a cartoon showing this idiot proclaiming that the Americans aren't even with a 100 km of Baghdad while in the background American tanks run back and forth. He may be Iraq's only standup comedian.

Down with long lines!

Have you ever been so upset over long lines at a grocery or retail store that you just left your basket and walked out of the store? I do this more and more these days. Tonight I was at an Albertsons grocery and spent 10 minutes gathering up some items. When I got to the front to check out there was one checkout stand open and a line of 10 people waiting to pay for their groceries. Without hesitation I dumped my armful of groceries in an empty basket and walked out. I voted with my feet.

Wal-mart is one of the worst retailers at expediting check out. They do most things very well but their checkout lines are often too long. If I walk in and see long lines at Wal-Mart I just turn around and leave. Once in a while I just leave a basket of abandoned groceries at Wal-Mart. I don't enjoy causing associates extra work but if we'd all refuse to wait in long lines the retailers would get the message and fix the problem.

Tajikistan More Progressive than Oklahoma?

As the Tulsa World recently pointed out the country of Tajikistan in Central Asia recently banned cockfighting "because such bloodthirsty shows inevitably end in the death of helpless animals, in defiance of moral principles advocated by all religions." Other Tajik officials were qouted as saying "such shows provoke sadism and perversion in young people, who tend to prefer such cruel games to reading or sports." As the Tulsa World concluded, "It would appear Tajikistan has more enlightened leadership than Oklahoma." Our Governor and Legislators should be ashamed of this stark contrast - but since they don't seem to have any shame on this issue - let's be ashamed for them.

The Daily Oklahoman's Hatchet Woman

Looks like a reporter named Carmel Perez Snyder is the Daily Oklahoman's hatchet writer assigned to harassing the Brad Henry Administration. Already, Carmel has penned several slanted articles designed to point a stick in the eye of Henry and his Cabinet. In March the Oklahoman, on a day heavy with war news, frontpaged an article by Perez about an old story regarding an audit of the state's European trade office. As a source, Perez used a Sam Mahjoub, a well-known Tulsa crank that has made a hobby of suing businesses and government officials. The Tulsa World quit covering Mahjoubs looney conspiracy theories long ago - but not the Daily Oklahoman! The DO treats the guy like a credible source. Could Perez really be so gullible?

A few days later, Perez tries to create a scandal out of Henry's attempt to replace Agriculture Secretary Dennis Howard with a new appointment. Then today, Perez infers irresponsibility in the hiring of three new personnel by State Finance director Scott Meacham and Secretary of Commerce Kathryn Taylor. The gist of Perez' story is that in a time of hiring freezes these Henry appointments shouldn't be hiring anyone. Buried in the story is the information that these agencies have a number of vacancies and have downsized significantly. The reader has to ask himself/herself whether the hiring of three people, professionals apparently, is newsworthy? I wonder if Perez will write a story every time three people are hired in state government?

Keeping any administration honest is a noble journalistic role but we can rightfully ask the Daily Oklahoman and Perez to please don't waste our time with non-news, with misleading news, or with dishonest news coverage. We can see right through you.

Lottery by County?

A bill calling for an election on creating a state-run lottery was approved by the Oklahoma House today. Governor Henry will get his wish to let the citizens vote on a lottery. I'm waiting on Senator Shurden to insist that it be by county option.

Interrupted Lunch

In the Capitol basement snackbar I recently noticed State Senator Leftwich, Attorney General Drew Edmondson, and Don Davis of Governor Henry's office having lunch. While they were talking politics and eating, a couple of elderly gentlemen from a veterans' group interrupted them to lobby them on some veterans matter. The three were very friendly to the veterans but I wonder why people think it is acceptable behavior to interrupt someone at lunch to pitch their business.

P.F. Chang

This new Chinese bistro at Tulsa's Utica Square has the best chicken lettuce wraps. Try it.

Who is Running Tulsa?

A source tells us that Tulsa's Mayor LaFortune had been in discussions with Kathryn Taylor to play a significant role in his administration. Another source says this role was to possibly take over economic development for the City. The deal was nixed however by US Senator Jim Inhofe who complained to LaFortune that Mrs. Taylor had supported David Walters in his bid for Inhofe's seat last year. LaFortune is said to have buckled under Inhofe's pressure and called the deal off. Within weeks, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry had appointed Kathryn Taylor to be his Secretary of Commerce and Tourism. Now LaFortune has to work with the lady he dumped because Uncle Inhofe told him to, In fact, Mrs. Taylor could have a lot of say in economic assistance to Tulsa. Those who know her say she is too professional to seek revenge. The mayor should have been so professional.