The interior of the governor's private office at his state-provided residence will have to be demolished to deal with the lingering smell of rats, first lady Susan Hutchinson told the Arkansas Governor's Mansion Commission on Wednesday.
The rat infestation was removed and new insulation installed, but the stench remains, she said.
"You can walk in there today and still smell the rat stench. It looks fine, but it's hideous smelling," Hutchinson said. "It just permeated anything that would absorb air."
Also at the meeting, the commission approved a list of purchases and donations, including a purchase from Tipton & Hurst for Christmas items by the Arkansas Governor's Mansion Association. Stacy Hurst, director of Tipton & Hurst, is a voting member of the commission. Hurst, who is also director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, recused to avoid the "appearance of a conflict," she said during the meeting.
"Tipton & Hurst was on the list and we sell, at a substantial discount, or contribute a limited number of goods to the Governor's Mansion Association," Hurst said in an interview after the meeting. "We do not profit."
Though commissioners approved the purchases and donations, the dollar amounts involved were not listed on paperwork or discussed at the meeting.
Wednesday was the first commission meeting since the Legislature passed a so-called government efficiency bill in May that allowed the governor to remove commissioners at will and eliminated a provision that required the commission to make rules concerning improvements and repairs to the mansion.
According to emails previously released under the state Freedom of Information Act, the legal department at the governor's office signed off on Tipton & Hurst making a profit while Hurst was a nonvoting member. She became the ninth voting member of the commission thanks to the legislation passed earlier this year.
Also included on the list of donations was a collection of crystal from Jayne Jackson, who also gave the Little Rock Zoo its largest-ever donation -- $3 million -- earlier this year.
After passage of the law that changed the commission, news articles addressed maintenance and repair problems at the mansion -- including in the governor's private office -- as well as disagreements that the first lady had with previous members of the commission over mansion decorations and furnishings.
Four commissioners were replaced in June.
During the one-hour-and-15-minute meeting on Wednesday, Hutchinson updated commissioners on the use of a $1.1 million grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council. The grant includes provisions to increase privacy, repair portions of the mansion and surrounding buildings, and fund other upgrades.
The grant application included a $62,220 request for the governor's private office.
Hutchinson said she wanted to make the mansion more accessible to visitors. Governor's Mansion Association President Jan Zimmerman said she planned to expand the annual First Lady's Tea to two pourings. This year, she said she removed a restriction on younger children from attending and advertised statewide.
Zimmerman said the mansion had also hosted an art-related reception for more than 200 high school students.
"All we need is one person to walk through the door and it could be a life-changer," she said.
Meredith Rebsamen, deputy attorney general, then gave the committee an overview of the state Freedom of Information Act.
She said two members of the committee could not discuss its business without notifying the public, and any emails or other documents created by commissioners related to commission business are public records.
Charlene Reed, chairman of the Governor's Mansion Commission, said Mansion Administrator Don Bingham and Hutchinson would prepare the report on the mansion's condition. One of the commissioners could be involved, but if more are involved, the public would have to be notified of the meeting, she said.
According to state law, the commission must "prepare and file with the Governor and the Legislative Council an annual Governor's Mansion report" by Nov. 1 "summarizing the results of the commission's surveys and investigations" and "recommending any necessary repairs, improvements, replacements, or reconstruction of the Governor's Mansion, its appurtenant buildings, grounds, and contents, together with an itemized and detailed estimate of the costs thereof."
Hutchinson left a few minutes before the commission meeting ended. That was because she had to attend an Arkansas Governor's Mansion Association meeting, Reed said.
Before the meeting, Hutchinson introduced herself to a reporter and described the chairs set out for guests. Each chair featured a hand-stitched image portraying a period of Arkansas history. She also pointed out the grandfather clock in the corner of the room; the clock was made in Ireland about 250 years ago and still works.
Metro on 09/15/2016