(Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
Last week, Oklahomans had the misfortune of witnessing one of the most ridiculous state board meetings that I’ve seen in my two decades as a journalist.
It starred Republican leaders: Gov. Kevin Stitt and House Speaker Charles McCall, the newly minted head of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services and a team of officials from our state mental health department.
Together, they decided an early Festivus holiday – or at least an airing of grievances if not any feats of strength – was necessary against our elected attorney general and a mental health settlement agreement that he negotiated on behalf of taxpayers.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against airing grievances. After all, I do it frequently in my weekly columns.
The problem is that rather than posting a social media video or issuing a strongly worded press release that outlined their concerns, they determined that a public board meeting was the perfect place to hold a melodramatic, theatrical performance.
Let me set the scene for you.
Oklahoma charges its four-member Contingency Review Board with a serious mission. State law grants its three voting members — the governor, House speaker and Senate president pro tem — the power in certain emergency situations to make decisions in place of the entire Legislature during the interim.
It’s so powerful that it rarely meets.
The reason the board cited for calling this particular meeting was very serious. Our state is facing allegations that we’re violating the constitutional rights of indigent defendants who are deemed incompetent to stand trial. We’re accused of warehousing them like goods in our county jails and ignoring the necessity of court-ordered competency restoration so that they can assist in their own defense.
Unsurprisingly, we got sued. The Attorney General’s Office has reached a settlement agreement that the agency argues could potentially save taxpayers a ton of money by avoiding trial in federal court.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond knows what every other sane taxpayer knows. If we go to trial, this is an indefensible case that we’re going to lose. He’s trying to mitigate the financial damage.
But instead of having a serious, organic conversation about the merits of the settlement, Oklahomans got a carefully contrived, scripted performance.
On one side of the table sat Stitt, seemingly ticking off a lengthy list of prepared questions for his self-appointed mental health commissioner.
Across the table sat our mental health commissioner, Allie Friesen, who “coincidentally” appeared to have her own prepared answers to those very same questions. She’d answer Stitt’s questions with a tone akin to “Well, Governor, I’m glad you asked.”
Stitt and Friesen indicated that they wanted a data-based decision that reflects the realities of what’s being done, not feelings or politics. Friesen said her agency has restored the competency of 216 people through jail-based programs since January 2023. She fears losing control of the decision-making process of what services defendants receive. She warned that other Oklahomans would lose their mental health services if we entered into this settlement because it would be expensive to implement.
What I didn’t hear her explain: Why her agency is treating severely mentally ill defendants in a county jail versus our state mental health hospitals. Everyone knows that jails aren’t great places for anyone in distress.
Then we have McCall, who rather than intervening in the theatrics, seemed content to let it play out. At one point, he bemoaned that state lawmakers haven’t yet been able to fully comply with another massive settlement agreement, known as the Pinnacle Plan. It affects the Human Services department and is aimed at ensuring our state is providing adequate services to foster children. McCall complained that it seems like the goalposts keep moving and indicated his reluctance to enter into another such costly settlement agreement that could potentially have no end in sight.
End scene.
It felt a little like they were mocking the severity of the situation.
At one point, one official even tossed out the term “odd paradoxical” in response to a question.
“Odd paradoxical” is an apt description of the entire meeting.
But I think the icing on the cake was the absurd — but perhaps unscripted — question asked by someone toward the end about whether our attorney general was in the room. He was on the agenda to make a presentation.
Spoiler alert: Drummond decided he didn’t want to be written into this act and passed on taking a curtain call. Ahead of the meeting, though, he sent out a press release calling the entire meeting a “sham” and claiming Stitt wanted to stage “political theater.”
Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat also missed the meeting. A spokesperson said his son was in the hospital.
After the goofy Q&A, the board ultimately decided it was too premature to vote on the settlement because a judge hasn’t yet given it preliminary approval. They did agree to send a strongly worded letter to the judge expressing their opposition.
I think it’s safe to say that Oklahomans are not patsies.
We can recognize a dog and pony show when we see it.
We don’t need our public officials to hold unserious board meetings to trumpet their political points.
A press release or video message to supporters will do just fine.
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