A $22,000 boat purchased on the state's dime entered the debate on Wednesday in the race for Arkansas' next secretary of state.
Susan Inman, the Democratic candidate, criticized her Republican opponent, Commissioner of State Lands John Thurston, for spending nearly $27,000 on the boat and accessories and more on storage and maintenance. The boat was purchased in 2014.
Thurston, who is running for secretary of state after reaching the two-term limit as land commissioner, said the boat was necessary to fulfill the office's statutory duty of stewarding the state's navigable waterways and submerged lands.
Inman's attack came two days after a post on BlueHogReport.com, a left-leaning blog run by attorney Matt Campbell, detailed the spending by Thurston's office on the War Eagle boat. Inman of Little Rock described the boat as a boondoggle, and questioned whether it was purchased for Thurston's personal pleasure, though she said she hadn't seen any evidence of that.
"Regardless of that, it was a terrible, ill-thought-out purchase and unnecessary," Inman said.
Thurston said the attack was silly, and the boat had never been used for fishing or any other personal use. He said if an employee did use it for that, he would be fired immediately.
Thurston, of the East End community in Saline County, said the office had traditionally relied on the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to provide boats to investigate potential waterway issues, but the office was at the mercy of the commission's schedule. That issue, coupled with a new law passed in 2013 that extended the land commissioner's authority to initiate legal actions to remove structure or debris from navigable waterways, prompted Thurston and his staff to take a more proactive approach.
Inman's attack, Thurston said, is an attempt to smear his record from a "weak, low-in-the-polls candidate."
"It's D.C. politics; that's all it is," said Thurston, who was first elected in 2010. "Smear and tell half the facts."
In addition to overseeing navigable waters and submerged lands, the commissioner of state lands is also responsible for collecting delinquent real estate taxes that are uncollectable at the county level; auctioning tax delinquent land; and having jurisdiction over mineral rights on state lands.
According to records initially obtained through a public records request by Campbell and later provided to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Thurston's office paid $22,477.65 on Dec. 4, 2014, for a War Eagle model 860LDSV, described on the company's website as a hunting and fishing v-hull boat.
The office also spent close to $4,500 on accessories, including a $2,299.99 depth finder, and between $1,500 and $1,800 annually for storage.
In response to emailed questions, Thurston's office identified four instances when the boat had been used to survey navigable waterways in the state.
He was not on the boat for those four trips, but Thurston did participate in two trips to survey waterway debris with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission personnel and resources.*
Diane Schratz, general counsel in the land commissioner's office, said that at the time the boat was purchased, the office had seen an uptick in waterway complaints.
"At the time of the purchase of the boat, the houseboat in the Little Maumelle River had just been removed, and we had an increase in the number of complaints we were receiving," Schratz said. "Our intent was to be able to act upon complaints quickly because the situation with the houseboat removal proved that the longer time elapsed, the more entrenched the debris had become, making it more dangerous and removal more difficult."
Campbell in his blog post and Inman during her Wednesday news conference questioned the necessity of the boat since it hasn't been used often since being purchased.
"It's unnecessary," Inman said. "He didn't have to buy this."
Thurston said the boat is mostly used when the office receives complaints, which he can't control.
"I can't predict if there's going to be one complaint or 10 this year," Thurston said. "I do know that I'm not going to burden another agency and their staff to help me do my job."
All the supplies purchased for the boat were to help research and investigate issues while on the water and to ensure the safety of those on board, Thurston said.
The election is Nov. 6. In addition to Thurston and Inman, Libertarian Christopher Olson of Viola is also running for secretary of state.
Metro on 10/04/2018
*CORRECTION: A boat purchased by the Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands office in 2014 has been used four times to survey navigable waterways in the state. Land Commissioner John Thurston wasn’t on the boat for those four trips, but Thurston did participate in two trips to survey waterway debris with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission personnel and resources. A previous version of this article misstated Thurston’s use of his office’s boat.