Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Education of Jeff McMahan

POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON

Democrat Jeff McMahan won the only two political races he ever ran – both for state auditor and inspector. Both times he defeated Republican Gary Jones, a former Comanche County commissioner who now serves as the state GOP chairman.

The 2002 and 2006 campaigns were hard-hitting, personal and bitter.

In many ways, the feud is as intense now as it was then.

Jones doesn’t parse his words: He is convinced McMahan is crooked and deserves to be prosecuted. He’s worked tirelessly to tie McMahan to a straw donor scheme involving former longtime state Sen. Gene Stipe. And he’s accused McMahan of being bought by abstractors tied to Stipe and his estranged business partner Steve Phipps.

McMahan says Jones has levied 511 allegations against him so far – all with one goal: Drumming McMahan out of office in hopes it will help Jones win it.

“This comes from a guy … twice defeated by me,” McMahan said, “and he’s still bitter.”

Jones says McMahan’s only hope is to claim he’s the victim of a vendetta because he can’t refute the facts.

In a recent interview in his first-floor state Capitol office, McMahan discussed his on-going battle with Jones and the negative headlines that have dogged his first 4½ years in office.

On Jones’ accusations against him: “They [political opponents] can say anything and they’re not liable. That’s the real sad part about it. They can say anything they want to say about you and they don’t have to be accountable.

“But you know, that’s what scares me about him in this position [auditor]. He lobs those allegations and bombs out with no supporting documentation. What would keep him from doing that to a director of a state agency or a school superintendent? He could hurt a lot of innocent people, would be my concern, if he were sitting in this chair, just because he doesn’t check things out very well.”

On media coverage that links him to straw donors, junkets, failed business ventures and federal investigations: “They’re doing their job. I disagree with it, but they’re doing their job.

“I would hope they would put themselves in the role of being the auditor: We get allegations every day on someone violating the public’s trust, and before we throw it out there to you guys [media], we go check it out – we do an audit – and try to gather up supporting documents.

“And until we’re finished gathering those supporting documents, you won’t hear from us about that issue.

“I would just ask the citizens to play our role a little bit – check it out before they believe anything that comes out of his [Jones’] mouth.”

On his relationship with Steve Phipps, the Kiowa abstractor who recently pleaded guilty to a federal mail fraud count in an investigation of a kickback scheme involving state lawmakers: “I met Mr. Phipps in ’02, the year I was running, when Mr. Scott [former state Auditor Clifton Scott] introduced me to him, and he seemed like a very intelligent man. Never thought he would be doing anything that would contrary to state law.

“He’s never asked me for anything, any favors or anything of that nature.

“I went fishing with him, of course … I went with him and Clif and literally thought that Clif had paid for that trip and found out the day after checking into it, Clif had gotten his checkbook out to pay for it, and Steve had already paid for it. Bonehead decision.”

On his primary job – to ensure tax dollars are spent properly: “That’s what we’ve tried to do. Unfortunately, we’ve stepped on some toes. We’ve stepped on some toes on both sides of the political aisle. But I grew up as a Democrat that tries to choose to do the right thing, regardless, especially in this position.”

On the state motor vehicle audit that identified more than $20 million in potential savings: “When we’re putting our mentally ill out of the streets or they’re ending up in our county jails, and we’re not taking care of our elderly in the nursing homes, but yet we can drive nice suburbans or nice four-door diesel trucks to the state Capitol and back home every day, something’s wrong with that picture. It was a common sense issue.”

On state Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City, introducing a resolution demanding McMahan step aside because of the allegations: “I actually went to see him. He wouldn’t come off the House floor. I sat up there for quite a while and he wouldn’t come out.”

[He said Dank only agreed to meet him later in the office of – and presence of – state state Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa. Dank’s resolution went nowhere in the GOP dominated state House.]

On whether he thinks Jones ever will leave him alone: “It’s an obsession. It’s something I don’t have. It’s something I don’t understand. I don’t think Gary Jones is going away. I think there are a lot of things in the future that may pop up and bite him.

“I think if you give someone like that enough rope, they’ll hang themselves. He can only hurt so many people before somebody calls his hand.

“I could get caught up in a cat fight with him everyday. Who’s that helping? We’re going to continue to do our job. We’re going to keep uncovering fraud, waste and abuse and we’re going to keep receiving national recognition. I think it’s good for Oklahoma. It’s good for our staff.

“Bottom line, I’ll have a record to run on, and it’s going to be good.”

For the full story on Jeff McMahan’s fight for political survival, see “McMahan Besieged: Auditor’s Political Education” on the cover of the July 10/25 issue of The Oklahoma Observer.

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