A&I Employees Make 581 Separate Donations To McMahan; Total Near $96,000 Since 2001

THIRD IN A SERIES ~ Employees of the auditor & examiner's office have made 581 separate donations totaling about $96,000 to Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahan's campaigns for the office he now holds, a computer-assisted examination of his campaign reports since July 1, 2001 reveals.

Wednesday afternoon, McMahan told Oklahoma City radio station KTOK that he has never "strong-armed" anyone for a contribution. He said such claims are false, even though no one has made such an accusation. A former district manager of the Tulsa auditor & inspector's office, Dana Webb, told TMRO earlier this week that other office employees turned that office into an adjunct campaign headquarters for McMahan, soliciting donations and using state property to print campaign materials.

There are about 165 employees in the office. They work in two Oklahoma City offices (State Capitol, Shepherd Mall) and field offices in Tulsa, Ada, and Weatherford. Almost every employee is listed in McMahan's finance reports over the 5-year period.

Interest in McMahan's donations increased this week when the former district manager of the auditor & inspector's Tulsa office, Dana Webb, alleged that donations from state employees were encouraged and being solicited and accepted on state property, that state property was used to print campaign materials, that McMahan campaign items were sold in the office and that the Tulsa state office essentially became an adjunct campaign headquarters for McMahan.

State law and Oklahoma Ethics Commission rules prohibit such activities; each violation is considered a felony under the law.

Some of the donations from employees to McMahan were listed as "in-kind" and most often involved expenses for fundraising events.

Webb said that some employees in the Tulsa office often talked about "$250 donations" from office workers for such things as golf tournament sponsorships and other events to raise money for McMahan's campaign. His finance report for the first quarter of 2002 lists nine Tulsa office employees as donors of $250 each on March 1st and the day before. The nine office employees listed as giving $250 each at that time are Kelly Corbin of Pawhuska, Kerri Carter of Hominy, Terri Ross of Tulsa, Christopher Stephens of Claremore, Tisha Carroll of Jay, Gary Gibney of Jenks, Clarence McClain of Tulsa, Susanna Conaway of Tulsa and Jesse Badley of Ralston.

As previously reported here, McMahan received 102 donations totaling $17,467 from office employees this year alone, through August 10th. The 2001-2006 totals make McMahan hands down the most popular elected official in the state with those who work for him; few other statewide elected official list any significant number of office employee donations and some list none. Some, like Lt. Governor Mary Fallin, refuse to accept donations from members of their staffs to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Other than McMahan, only School Superintendent Sandy Garrett lists any large number of donations from those in her agency; she lists 75.

The McCarville Report Online's new computer-assisted analysis of McMahan's campaign finances includes reports back to July 1, 2001. Some of the reports are a sea of employee donations; the report for the period July 1st to September 30th, 2003, for example, lists 86 donations with 80 of them from employees.

The reports show the following number of individual employee donations followed by the sum for the period:

7/1-9/30/01 - 5/$600

10/1-12/31/01 - 41/$6,468

1/1-3/31/02 - 52/$7,182

4/1-6/30/02 - 38/$10,960

7/1-8/12/02 - 39/$5,957

8/13-9/3/02 - 7/$3,335

9/4-10/21/02 - 99/$18,962

11/22-12/31/02 - 12/$2,119 This sum was part of about $24,000 McMahan collected immediately after his election and used to pay off a $20,000 loan at BancFirst in Shawnee. As reported yesterday, two former top administrators in the office say they each signed $2,000 promissory notes to help McMahan secure the loan. Despite a state law requirement that loan guarantors be listed as contributors, the names of the two, or others who allegedly signed similiar promissory notes at the same time, do not appear on McMahan's reports for this period. The two say the promissory notes were signed in Room 100 of the State Capitol, an office assigned to the auditor & inspector. Former Auditor & Inspector Clifton Scott told Oklahoma City radio station KTOK on Tuesday that he introduced McMahan to officials at the bank and told McMahan about a 1982 campaign in which promissory notes were used to secure a loan. Election laws since then, however, have changed; in addition, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission now exists to enforce donation rules and laws.

1/1-3/31/03 - 13/$2,200

4/29-6/30/03 - 44/$4,225

7/1-9/30/03 - 80/$2,300

10/1-12/31/03 - 9/$970

1/1-3/31/04 - None

4/1-6/31/04 - 26/$3,720

7/1-9/30/04 - 2/$99

10/1-12/31/04 None

1/1-3/31/05 - 1/$500

4/1-6/30/05 - 28/$3,451

7/1-9/30/05 - 5/$2,100

10/1-12/31/05 - 14/$2,850

By years, the totals are: 2001-2002, 306/$57,783; 2003, 133/$7,495; 2004, 28/$3,819; 2005, 48/$8,901; 2006 to August 10th, 66/$17,467.

Next: Who loves Jeff McMahan?

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