Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen sometimes charged extra fees as part of a costly restaurant overhaul at state parks

Swadley’s Foggy Base Kitchen spared no expenditure when it launched an ambitious system to transform places to eat at Oklahoma condition parks in 2020.

The Oklahoma Metropolis-dependent restaurant firm billed the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Section $12,433 for a classic 1956 camper to display screen at the Sequoyah Condition Park cafe in the vicinity of Hulbert. Yet another $119,440 went to construct an elaborate pretend mine shaft and deal with other building charges at Robbers Cave Condition Park in the vicinity of Wilburton.

Foggy Bottom also billed the Tourism Department $48,000 to paint murals and establish a fake cave entryway at the Robbers Cave restaurant and lifted a 12-foot tall illuminated indication bearing the Swadley’s identify. The cafe enterprise commissioned features like a waterfall and a lazy river at some of the dining places. Ornamental upside-down canoes hung from dining home rafters.

Cost for the Foggy Base dining establishments shortly ballooned to $16.7 million, as the point out compensated the corporation management service fees, coated its financial losses, and reimbursed for building expenditures and kitchen equipment, according to a report from the Oklahoma Legislative Place of work of Fiscal Transparency.

Foggy Base also charged added expenses on prime of some expenditures it billed to the condition, in accordance to invoices the Tourism Office presented to The Frontier.

The Frontier located $546,890 in additional administration and consulting service fees that Swadley’s Foggy Bottom charged the Tourism Office on invoices for gear and renovation prices amongst May and August 2021.

People fees were being in addition to month-to-month restaurant administration costs outlined in the Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen area agreement with the Tourism Division. The deal licensed the enterprise to oversee cafe renovations, invest in devices and seek the services of subcontractors at the state’s expenditure but make no point out of these more service fees.

Starting in mid-2021, several invoices show that Foggy Bottom billed the Tourism Department consulting and management fees ranging from 5% to 20% on best of some development and tools fees. On some invoices, the cafe firm billed the state for both a management and a consulting fee for up to a 30% markup.

Foggy Bottom restaurants operator Brent Swadley declined to answer composed queries from The Frontier about costs and other charges the company billed to the Tourism Department. Swadley directed all issues to his attorney, who did not return a cellphone get in touch with to his business office on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Swadley explained to the news outlet NonDoc “That’s just common stuff. We demand for our products and services.”

David White, a spokesman for the Tourism Department, mentioned the agency couldn’t remedy The Frontier’s questions about Foggy Bottom’s billing methods or the phrases of the company’s deal with the point out mainly because of “ongoing inside and exterior investigations.”

The Tourism Section has invested in updating the point out parks system about the previous two years soon after “decades of deferred maintenance owing to underfunding,” White stated in an e-mail.

“We respect the Legislature’s essential company oversight role and seem ahead to working together to continue bettering the state park program,” he wrote.

Some of the invoices from Foggy Bottom submitted to the state also did not incorporate specific solution descriptions or design numbers for kitchen area machines the enterprise acquired for places to eat. For invoices that did contain more comprehensive information, The Frontier was capable to come across some products priced for noticeably considerably less.

In August 2021, Foggy Bottom billed the Tourism Division for two barbecue smoker pits from the Oklahoma Town-based corporation Good quality Foods Gear, priced at $51,346 each and every. The Frontier identified the very same design of smoker at yet another restaurant provide business priced at $29,570. The Frontier also attained out to the Missouri-primarily based maker of the smoker, Ole Hickory Pits. A agent claimed the very same model of a smoker expenses $22,700 purchased straight from the company, furthermore shipping fees.

High quality Meals Tools proprietor Mike McWhorter declined to remark.

Foggy Base Kitchen area billed the Section of Tourism $107,442 for the two people who smoke and other related gear and installation, in addition a 15% administration fee of $16,116.

The Tourism Section stopped spending Foggy Bottom’s invoices following August 2021 and is now conducting an interior audit of merchandise the cafe firm billed to the company.

Tourism officers instructed a legislative oversight committee in March that teams are viewing just about every Foggy Bottom restaurant to audit all of the machines the enterprise procured.

Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, who functions as the state’s Secretary of Tourism, declined to remark via a spokesperson.

Lawmakers have questioned some of the Foggy Base venture prices, and a legal investigation is also now underway.

At the oversight hearing, Rep. Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond, questioned how Foggy Base chosen subcontractors and vendors and whether the Tourism Division verified fees before it paid out invoices. He also questioned the phrases of the restaurant company’s agreement with the Tourism Office. The company agreed to include $2.1 million of Foggy Bottom’s fiscal losses for the 2021 fiscal year.

“This is a quite sweetheart offer. if I can function a business enterprise and be guaranteed that my losses would be lined, which is really tempting,” Martinez explained.

Other lawmakers questioned how this sort of a deal at any time bought signed.

Jerry Winchester, executive director of the Tourism Office, instructed lawmakers at the hearing that he approved the Foggy Base contract and that he and agency workers reviewed the scope of renovations at point out park dining places.

The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Commission once had the authority to approve contracts, but laws that Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, sponsored in 2018 stripped the board’s powers.

Lepak sponsored the laws as portion of an exertion to acquire choice-generating authority away from disparate state boards and consolidate power beneath agency leaders appointed by the governor. Then-Gov. Mary Fallin signed the monthly bill in the vicinity of the stop of her second term.

Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma Town, thinks the shift in power has led to less transparency and oversight of government investing.

“We have to make an setting that sales opportunities to accountability and open up information and facts,” she stated. “So if there is a basic dilemma with a thing not seeming correct for general public resources, to me that is a challenge with our devices.”

But Lepak believes if any wrongdoing has happened in the Foggy Base affair, the persons in charge of the agency bear accountability, he claimed in an job interview with The Frontier. 

“If there truly actually is some kind of misdeed that has transpired, which is about people, not method,” he claimed.

Right after the legislative oversight listening to, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Condition Bureau of Investigation stated the company was wanting into “allegations of potential criminal perform between the condition of Oklahoma and Swadley’s.” That investigation is continue to open up and ongoing, an OSBI formal mentioned this 7 days.

Rep. Jim Grego, R-Wilburton, vice chairman of the Property Tourism Committee, said he hopes the legal investigation won’t problems people’s faith in condition govt and harm the graphic of state parks. Tourism is a single of rural Oklahoma’s most very important rising industries, he claimed.

“As oil and gasoline depart and agriculture is shifting to more substantial functions in other parts of the region, we even now have a great deal to offer you in the area of tourism,” Grego explained. “I really do not believe it will discourage persons from coming to see what we have.”
The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Commission once experienced the authority to approve contracts, but legislation that Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, sponsored in 2018 stripped the board’s powers.

Lepak sponsored the legislation as part of an energy to choose selection-building authority absent from disparate state boards and consolidate electric power beneath agency leaders appointed by the governor. Then-Gov. Mary Fallin signed the monthly bill close to the close of her next expression.

Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma Town, believes the shift in energy has led to fewer transparency and oversight of authorities investing.

“We have to create an setting that qualified prospects to accountability and open up information and facts,” she claimed. “So if there is a fundamental trouble with a little something not seeming appropriate for public cash, to me that is a challenge with our programs.”

But Lepak believes if any wrongdoing has occurred in the Foggy Base affair, the people today in charge of the company bear duty, he reported in an interview with The Frontier. 

“If there actually actually is some sort of misdeed that has occurred, which is about persons, not approach,” he said.

After the legislative oversight listening to, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation claimed the company was seeking into “allegations of prospective legal conduct involving the condition of Oklahoma and Swadley’s.” That investigation is even now open and ongoing, an OSBI official reported this week.

Rep. Jim Grego, R-Wilburton, vice chairman of the House Tourism Committee, reported he hopes the criminal investigation won’t injury people’s faith in condition governing administration and hurt the picture of point out parks. Tourism is 1 of rural Oklahoma’s most crucial emerging industries, he reported.

“As oil and fuel depart and agriculture is moving to more substantial functions in other pieces of the place, we however have a lot to provide in the space of tourism,” Grego reported. “I never consider it will discourage folks from coming to see what we have.”

The Frontier is a nonprofit newsroom that provides fearless journalism with influence in Oklahoma. Examine a lot more at www.readfrontier.org.