Competing Nominees For Corporation Commission

Charles R. Nesbitt

Lame Duck Appointee Attempt:

  Since 1990, the Republicans controlled the commission when they held 2 of the 3 seats. When Commissioner JC Watts was elected to congress in November of 1994, the lame duck governor, David Walters; sought to give the Democrats control of the Commission by appointing former state attorney general Charles Nesbitt as a temporary successor to JC Watts. Gov. Elect, Frank Keating intended to name Ed Apple to the temporary post. The case ended up being argued before the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Oklahoma's governor is sworn in a week after the US Congress swears in their members to a new term.

 The Daily Oklahoman recapped the drama this way...

A brief accompanying Nesbitt's petition claims Watts' commission seat "was vacant at the latest on Jan. 3, the date of commencement of the congressional term for which Commissioner Watts was elected," thus allowing Walters to appoint a replacement. Watts says he did not officially resign his commission seat until Jan. 9, after Keating became governor and gained the right to appoint Apple.
"This is a political controversy," Nesbitt charged. "The Republican Party undertook a power play. They did a real sloppy job of it, but it's for the Supreme Court to decide whether it was effective enough," he said.

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Bob Hopkins Corporation Commission Bribes

 The watchdogs over the state-sanctioned monopolies are called "Corporation Commissioners". But too often they become cozy with the very corporations they are supposed to be watching.

The Tulsa World said;

Bribery scandal: Another Tulsan, Bob Hopkins, a former state corporation commissioner who represented Tulsa County for 28 years in the state Legislature, was convicted in 1994 of accepting a $10,000 bribe from a Southwestern Bell attorney. In return, Hopkins had voted to allow the telephone company to use $30 million in overcharges. Hopkins died in 1997 at age 68.

Governor Walters Plea Deal And Avoidance Of Impeachment

Gov. David Walters stands before District Judge John Amick in Oklahoma County District Court as he pleads guilty to one misdemeanor count of violating state campaign finance laws.

Harry Holloway, of the Oklahoma Historical Society said;

Then in 1990 a scandal emerged from the gubernatorial campaign of winner and Democrat David Walters. Walters won, but the campaign was accompanied by a barrage of press reports that he had raised and spent more money that any previous candidate. Investigations by the state attorney general and Oklahoma County district attorney led to charges of campaign violations. Walters finally pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges. Critics attacked the outcome as letting him escape too easily from more serious charges. Still, the publicity probably moderated some of the worst excesses of campaign finance. And in this case reform had occurred with little federal intervention, in itself a significant gain.

One of the more prominent politicians convicted in the last 25 years of the state's history was former Gov. David Walters. Walters pleaded guilty in 1993 to a misdemeanor charge of violating a state campaign law in a plea agreement that dismissed eight felony charges of conspiracy and perjury. The conviction also led to his decision not to run for governor again. Walters, a Democrat, became president of Walters Power International, a company that provides huge electricity-generating mobile plants sometimes located in remote regions.

The 1991 School Bond Scandal

Tulsa Public Schools Claimed Poverty While Running A Loan Business With Surpluses

Roughly a decade after Okscam came to light, a major scandal broke that grew out of the misuse of education bonds issued by school districts. A word about bonds is in order. Federal officials allowed local officials to issue education bonds to tide them over financially tight periods, as when property tax receipts for schools were late coming in. The bonds were never intended as a means for local education officials to make money, a distinction that was to become quite important as the bond scam unfolded.

Bonds Without A Vote Of The Electorate

During the 1980s, a major bond underwriting company, Stifel, Nicolaus, and Co., was active in promoting the use of bonds to finance public projects. Stifel also engaged in promoting candidates for office via contributions to their campaigns. The Stifel bond company formed a political action committee (PAC) to channel political contributions to candidates, and also channeled contributions through company officers and lobbyists. By these means, they could contribute quite legitimately, just as other businesses did.

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Election Board Secretary, Harmon Moore, Goes To Prison For Embezzlement

 

  There were several claims of fraud and shiftiness for years. But none could be proven. Oldtimers still say that the 1984 mayoral race was wrought with corruption by the many broken machines that led to long lines at the polls, but only in the heavily Republican precincts!

  Then, in 1987, The Tulsa World said;

1987 

 Tulsa County Election Board Secretary Harmon Moore Jr. resigned amid allegations of embezzlement; he later was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for embezzling public funds.

Embezzlers: Also in Tulsa County, election board secretary Harmon Moore was sent to prison in 1987 for embezzling public funds. He was convicted of converting $16,713 in public funds to his own use. 

Leo Winters: State Treasurer & Banking Secrets

  In 1974 A federal grand jury indicted Winters, for, among other things, of using his position to extort campaign money from banks. Winters was acquitted of four counts during a well publicized trial, and other counts later were dropped. A few weeks after that, he was re-elected. 

  Winters served five terms and was trying for a sixth when his 1986 campaign was doomed by allegations that a Tulsa bank may have written off millions in loans to him.

  In 1986, many Oklahoma banks were on the brink of default from a crash in the oil markets, worldwide. Yet State Treasure Winters, decided to deposit a massive amount of state funds into a non-interest bearing account in Liberty Bank (now known as Banc One).

The Oklahoman reported:

Former Rep. Joe Manning of Cushing led the three-man field in the Republican primary and Rep. Bob Brown of Claremore finished second.

Manning, 39, was a member of the House of Representatives from 1974 to 1982 and now is business manager of the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma. In that job, Manning says, he invests and manages the foundation's assets.

 Read more, here..