Oklahoma City (KFOR). The State of Oklahoma has a website dedicated to Oklahoma buyer housing. As of this month, Article 12 of the website reads, "Governor Stitt and his family live in five rooms on the second floor."
We know it's not true.
News 4's Ali Meyer got down to the truth.
He made a secret plan to build a new governor's residence in the Capitol grounds.
The historic governor's residence was built in 1927. It was opened in 1928
The Oklahoma Governor's Mansion was built for the governor and first family.
Every ruler since Henry Johnston has settled here; 19 governors in 90 years.
Governor Kevin Stitt does not live in the Governor's Mansion.
He was elected four years ago in 2018.
In August 2019, he and his family moved from Tulsa to Oklahoma City.
The governor's office confirmed that the first family moved into the historic governor's palace in August 2019.
The first family did not remain.
Instead, Stites purchased a $2.7 million property at Oak Tree Golf and Country Club, twenty miles from the state capitol.
In the year When Governor Stitt took office in 2019, the residence was vandalized, according to the governor's office.
The State Department tells us that Stitt's children have developed mold in the air conditioning system.
They say the house is a fire hazard because of old wiring.
They say, "It didn't help family life."
The governor has personally declared the historic home "uninhabitable".
In the year In January 2019, even before the first family moved into the historic mansion, Governor Stitt was working on plans for the new Governor's Mansion.
News 4 spoke to all of the living former governors. Everyone says the historic Governor's Palace is a treasure. Living in the house was a joy, one of the most desirable activities in Oklahoma.
It is a privilege to live in the halls of history at NE 23rd and Phillips for a century under the shadow of our Capitol.
"Governors used to invite legislators to breakfast at their homes," says Oklahoma historian Dr. Bob Blackburn. "It was important to get to know each other on a personal level before we went to war on Capitol Hill."
Historians present the first family contribution.
Our ninth governor turned the area into a community park in the 1930s.
"During his administration, Bill Murray plowed all of his alfalfa land and turned it into farmland," said Treat Thompson, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
In the 1980s, Governor George Nye expanded the Oklahoma Basin and later established the September Festival, an annual celebration of the First Family's official residence.
"People park half a mile from the building and walk in," Dr. Blackburn said. “You get a chance to see the governor's mansion, you get a chance to tour, see where the first family lived.
The last buyers are proud of the restoration of the house and 14,000 square meters.
Governor Frank Keating built the Phillips Pavilion. First Lady Cathy Keating raised funds for permanent furniture and china.
Prior to that, Governor David Walters had expanded the family's living quarters on the second floor to accommodate the original family's four children.
Governor Brad Henry raised private funds for a Steinway piano and family theater. Henry's three youngest children lived in the mansion for eight years during Governor Henry's reign.
Governor Mary Fallin built the summer kitchen as a gift to the state from her ancestors.
"It's a blessing to be there. What other families could live in the governor's palace?"
Sheren Lenhart Polkinghorne has worked at the Governor's Mansion since 1980.
Polkinghorne was a full-time caregiver to three governors, then chief aide to First Lady Rhonda Walters and most recently was employed by Governor Mary Fallin and Governor Kevin Stitt's Christmas decorating team.
"It's part of Oklahoma," Polkinghorne said of the historic home. “In other words, we are pioneers. Everyone knows that we are a strong nation and we built this palace for the first family. It's a blessing to be there."
Last year, the state completed a $2 million renovation of the historic residence, which included a new roof, new windows, a new geothermal heating system, a new kitchen and electrical, plumbing and structural work.
According to the Office of Business Management Services, our state spent $2,090,580 in taxpayer money on a home our governor does not live in.
Nine months after Governor Stitt took office, First Lady Sarah invited Stitt to meet former First Families.
Stites proposed a multi-million dollar plan to build a new governor's palace.
According to several sources in the hall, the governor has invited a famous fundraiser, a large public relations firm and an architect.
They submitted conceptual designs and architectural drawings for a second building on the south side of the property.
"While 100 percent of the money to build a new settlement on the site will be raised privately, there will be ongoing maintenance costs," said Dr. Steve Agee, an economics professor at the University of Oklahoma City's Meander School.
Stites expected warm approval from the former first families.
Instead, the room fell silent.
His proposal was not supported.
The former first family raised concerns about the cost.
"So if you want to raise $5 million or $6 million or $7 million to build a new residence in Governor Mancey, the opportunity to give to other organizations is lost because of the money," he said. He said... "I think the nonprofit community, if they don't already know, will be a little surprised by this," said Dr. Age. I didn't know anything about it and I was a little surprised."
Without the blessing of the previous First Families, the Stistas continued their way.
The non-profit organization "Friends of the Mansion" gradually collects funds for the construction of the new governor's residence.
The CEO declined to provide the agenda or minutes of the meeting. Xena 4 has received both since 2019.
From these documents we see that the budget is $6.5 million.
Friends of the Mansion accepts donations of up to $250,000 from the foundation; Individuals up to $150,000.
These investments are not available, private money from the rich is secretly sought. While Friends of the Mansion is not required by law to release a list of donors, News 4 Governor Stitt has previously sought one, citing his commitment to transparency. Governor Stitt's office and the executive director of Friends of the Mansion declined to provide it.
"Who's donating? Why are they taking bribes? I guarantee it," said Republican state Rep. Logan Phillips. His banking system.” This is basically self-enrichment and self-employment.
Carly Atchison, the governor's communications director, believes the new palace will be beneficial to the state.
The plan will "make the governor's residence more accessible to the public," he said.
Future first families can live in the historic residence if they wish.
"I think this is a wonderful and thoughtful gift from the governor and first lady," Atchison said.
The director of public relations denied that the plans were confidential.
However, both Atchison and the First Lady's staff said they were unaware of plans for the new residence when we first called a week ago on Oct. 4, 2022.
Additionally, according to the May 2021 meeting minutes, Friends of the Mansion board chairman "urged board members to keep anything related to the project confidential."
We called a dozen Republican lawmakers to get their thoughts on the governor's plans to build new privately funded housing.
None of them knew about the project.
Only one agreed to comment on the record.
Many said they fear retaliation from Gov. Kevin Stitt.
"This is completely new information," said Logan Phillips. They never told us anything about building a new palace.
In fact, Friends of the Mansion executives asked board members to sign a nondisclosure agreement in February 2020 to keep this plan to build a new private buyer's mansion a secret.
"This is absolutely insane. It shows how out of touch this governor is with the current situation in Oklahoma," Phillips said. that luxury." to him. irrelevant."
The governor's administration announced that construction of a new palace would begin next year.
They say they plan to officially announce the campaign after the election.
The first floor of the house is currently open for tours.
The first lady hopes to expand tours to include all floors of the house, which is convenient since the first family does not live in the house.
A week after we first requested information, the CEO of Friends of the Mansion confirmed the plans for the new mansion with the following statement.
"Governor Stitt and First Lady Sarah Stitt have decided to raise private funds for a new family home that will provide families with young children and those in need of ADA-compliant accommodations and make the historic mansion accessible to the public. No taxpayer funds from Oklahoma residents will be used for legacy gifts because they are all donated by Friends of the Mansion." It's through."
KFOR prefers to talk to the governor on camera.
We asked this question a week ago. We are still waiting for an answer.
First, on Tuesday, October 4, we met several members of the regional administration.
News 4's Allie Meyer emailed Governor's Press Secretary Kate Vesper and Communications Director Carly Atchison. That same day, we spoke with the first lady's chief of staff, Lauren Dunlap. Ali Meyer has exchanged texts and emails with Atchison several times over the past week.
News 4 has delayed the release of this report to allow the governor's communications staff to respond in detail to all of the allegations contained in this special report.
