December 10,
2007
On Nov. 27th
I filed an FOIA request to the Arkansas State Police to determine if a
commercial license had been applied for and/or obtained according to FAR-91 for
the new King Air. I received information
Dec. 6th that a commercial ticket had not been sought. In the same FOI, I requested detailed
information regarding Spanish language commercial produced for and used by the
State Police. At this point I will say
that there are tens of thousands of dollars being spent on Spanish language
commercials.
Is it a
coincidence that today, Dec. 10th a large story appeared in the
Democrat-Gazette regarding Gov. Beebe’s trips (67) on the state plane made to
different cities and towns in Arkansas and two out of state trips.
Since this
article appeared only days after I FOIed, it might lead one to the conclusion
that Beebe wanted to head this FOIA off at the pass.
1. 10 of the 67 trips could have been
made in a state owned vehicle in about the same time or less than the airplane
could have been pre-flighted, cleared for takeoff, etc. The estimated cost per hour is bare bones
$870.
2. I am not convinced that the flights
shown in today’s Democrat article are the only flights made by Beebe in the new
King.
3. I will FOIA the ASP for a copy of the
log to see if the Governor has used it for his personal use.
As mentioned
above, re: Spanish language commercials, print material, etc., I have FOIed 4
state agencies and they are all spending tons of tax money on said advertising.
Is the
English language not the official language of Arkansas? State fiefdoms are thriving and making
absolute fools of the citizens.
Kindest
regards,
Joe
McCutchen
P.S. go to www.arkansasfreedom.com
for FOI requests/results
Also note in the news article
Huckabee’s blatant misuse of the police airplane!!
Beebe holds use of police plane to state’s
needs
No personal flights, he says
By Seth
Blomeley (Contact)
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe is using the state
police airplane much less than his predecessor did, and that’s costing
taxpayers less money.
Since taking office in January, Beebe took 63 flights, many on the new $4
million airplane bought in April.
He took two out-of-state trips, each to a National Governors Association
conference.
The flights totaled 76.4 flight hours, costing $68,775.
“I told you we wouldn’t use it for anything that’s not state business,”
Beebe said in an interview. “And we don’t use it when the weather is bad
because I don’t like it. You can look at records at how we use it vis-a-vis how
it’s been used in the past. But we use it for getting around the state to do
those things the people want us to do, to be in the local communities.”
Beebe’s predecessor, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, spent nearly $600,000 in
state money to use the Arkansas State Police airplane his last five years in
office. His out-of-state trips on the plane reached a high in 2005 with 40,
including 16 visits to Washington.
Huckabee wouldn’t disclose the purpose of his flights, but Beebe’s office
provided a list of what the governor did on each of his trips this year.
They included trips across the state from Corning to Texarkana and from
Bentonville to Monticello for economic development announcements, chamber of
commerce meetings, local festivals, meetings and banquets.
“The thing I think I hear over and over is the folks around the state say,
‘You’re not the governor of Little Rock,’” Beebe said. “We want to see you in
Monticello, Crossett or Blytheville or Rogers or Texarkana, wherever. The
airplane lets you do that and be at the events you have to be at.”
He said it allows him to be in multiple places the same day. He cited a
recent day visiting Rogers, Hot Springs and Monticello.
Beebe and the state police advocated for a new airplane during the 2007
legislative session. They said the old plane, with 2,900 flight hours logged,
needed too much repair so that buying a new one made sense. The Legislature
agreed to fund the purchase.
The last time the state police bought a plane was in 1997, when it acquired
a 1982 King Air 200 turboprop twin-engine. It was a 10-seater that cost the
state $1.4 million.
That plane was traded in as part of the $4 million deal with King Air to get
a newer version of the same model. It was bought as a demonstration 2007 model
that has about 200 hours on it.
It took a while for Beebe to settle on a policy for the use of the plane.
During the 2006 gubernatorial race, he said if elected he would reimburse
the state police in a way similar to presidents’ reimbursing the federal
government for use of Air Force One when on political trips.
But in May when unveiling the new plane, Beebe’s office and state police
said the Federal Aviation Administration wouldn’t allow reimbursements. That
would require a different license that would include state police spending more
money to meet additional federal rules, they said.
An FAA spokesman, however, later said that exemptions could be granted.
The governor’s office then considered finding a different way to reimburse
the state but later abandoned those plans, saying Beebe wouldn’t use the plane
for personal or political trips.
Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Beebe, pointed to a June 1 trip to Northwest
Arkansas as an example of how careful Beebe is about using the plane.
Beebe flew on the plane to Fayetteville for a chamber of commerce luncheon
and planned to attend the Benton County Bean Supper in Little Flock that night.
DeCample said Beebe sent the plane back to Little Rock without him because
he didn’t want to appear that he was using the plane to attend the supper,
which is a political event.
Beebe returned to Little Rock by a state police vehicle the next day,
DeCample said.
“I think he believes that he’s not to use that plane unless something
absolutely necessary as part of his job as governor,” said Bill Gwatney of
Little Rock, chairman of the state Democratic Party. Gwatney served with Beebe
in the state Senate.
Huckabee, who is running for the Republican nomination for president, used
state police aircraft to attend events such as the 2004 Republican National
Convention in New York City, several political stops in New Hampshire in 2005,
and several visits to his house on Lake Greeson in Pike County.
“We have a governor [Beebe] who wants to be governor and only wants to be
governor,” Gwatney said. “I think it’s pretty clear some of [Huckabee’s] plane
usage was directly related to going outside the state and making a name for
himself.”
Alice Stewart, a spokesman for Huckabee, didn’t return messages last week.
Last year, Huckabee said he had a “clean conscience” on his use of the
airplane because he didn’t take trips on state aircraft for “purely political”
or “nefarious” purposes or for a random “ride somewhere.”
Huckabee was chairman of the governors association from July 2005 to July
2006 and some of his trips were related to that. Huckabee, who wrote a
weight-loss book, gave numerous speeches around the country on health.
Beebe also differs from Huckabee regarding state-funded commercial flights.
According to the Department of Finance and Administration, the state has
purchased no commercial airline tickets for Beebe or first lady Ginger Beebe.
Last year, the state spent $1,380 on plane tickets for Huckabee and $2,748
for former first lady Janet Huckabee, including a $633 ticket to Puerto Rico
for Janet Huckabee.
This article was published Monday, December 10, 2007.
Arkansas, Pages 7, 9 on 12/10/2007
