Swadley's

[Ward]

i have wondered about the affect it would have on their business and then I see stories posted on social media with folks commenting " i loved having a great place to eat at state parks" posts and was like wow.... you don't get it. but social media isn't the best poll of all people of course.

I'm not taking political sides on this issue. However, I am completely against corruption and criminals, and those who are guilty need to have their day in court

Having said that, I was born and raised, and still have lots of family, very near the Quartz Mountain State Park, which had a restaurant run by Swadleys.

If you live in a rural area, and for now let's just say SW Oklahoma, Western Oklahoma, NW Oklahoma and the Panhandle, and let's throw in the Texas Panhandle, there are very few good places to eat. Many towns don't even have anything more than a convenience store selling crap and coffee, or possibly a greasy spoon diner that is serving crappy food and barely keeping their doors open, etc.

When the restaurant space was taken over by Swadleys everyone was excited, and when it opened everyone who dined there was so happy to have a nice place to eat and enjoy a good meal.

Yeah, I know, that's all a relative experience, and most people might turn their nose up at Swadleys and go to a place more their liking, but when you have little to zero opportunity to eat a a decent place, it makes you happy and go you go again and again.

So, here is the, I can't think of the right word at 1:45 in the morning, but I'll use conundrum. Here is the conundrum: Someone had the idea to come into underserved areas and give folks a decent place to eat, to entertain, to gather with friends or family reunions..... And some greedy person thoroughly mucks up, FUBAR's it up, all in the name of GREED, and in the end, people who were happy with their new circumstances have had that taken away from them.

I am NOT defending Swadleys, the governor, the others. Politicians and greedy folks always muck things up, and that's sad. Really sad.

You could have run things honestly and ethically and been legal, but noooooooooooo you had to get greedy and steal and connive and cheat because you wanted even more money and were willing to do this.

Or so it seems, the facts will come out in the end, and charges may or may not be filed, people may or may not be fined or jailed,
etc.

Justice must be served.

[citywokchinesefood]

I'm not taking political sides on this issue. However, I am completely against corruption and criminals, and those who are guilty need to have their day in court

Having said that, I was born and raised, and still have lots of family, very near the Quartz Mountain State Park, which had a restaurant run by Swadleys.

If you live in a rural area, and for now let's just say SW Oklahoma, Western Oklahoma, NW Oklahoma and the Panhandle, and let's throw in the Texas Panhandle, there are very few good places to eat. Many towns don't even have anything more than a convenience store selling crap and coffee, or possibly a greasy spoon diner that is serving crappy food and barely keeping their doors open, etc.

When the restaurant space was taken over by Swadleys everyone was excited, and when it opened everyone who dined there was so happy to have a nice place to eat and enjoy a good meal.

Yeah, I know, that's all a relative experience, and most people might turn their nose up at Swadleys and go to a place more their liking, but when you have little to zero opportunity to eat a a decent place, it makes you happy and go you go again and again.

So, here is the, I can't think of the right word at 1:45 in the morning, but I'll use conundrum. Here is the conundrum: Someone had the idea to come into underserved areas and give folks a decent place to eat, to entertain, to gather with friends or family reunions..... And some greedy person thoroughly mucks up, FUBAR's it up, all in the name of GREED, and in the end, people who were happy with their new circumstances have had that taken away from them.

I am NOT defending Swadleys, the governor, the others. Politicians and greedy folks always muck things up, and that's sad. Really sad.

You could have run things honestly and ethically and been legal, but noooooooooooo you had to get greedy and steal and connive and cheat because you wanted even more money and were willing to do this.

Or so it seems, the facts will come out in the end, and charges may or may not be filed, people may or may not be fined or jailed,
etc.

Justice must be served.

I personally hope all parties involved actually see consequences for their actions. Realistically I am not going to hold my breath. I think it was a bad idea to do a BBQ restaurant from the start. As a concept BBQ restaurants have some very high costs to handle namely purchasing, storing, and cooking large quantities of meat. When it takes hours to prepare your product it doesn't give you a lot of ability to adjust to fluctuations in volume. They really should have gone with a local pizza, taco, or burger place. All those concepts are much higher margin and can deal with much bigger changes in volume on a daily basis than any barbecue restaurant. IMO it was a massive grift from the start and all parties involved knew it.

[baralheia]

Swadley's is a "great place to eat" maybe if you've literally NEVER eaten BBQ before...

For what it's worth - the Foggy Bottom Kitchen menu didn't include BBQ. Instead, it was your general American restaurant fare - burgers, sandwiches (including a Monte Cristo), salads, chicken fried steak, pork chops, chicken & waffles, breakfast options, that sort of thing. You can find copies of their menu online. Never got the opportunity to try 'em out, but the menu looked pretty good. Of course, that doesn't excuse corruption and greed.

[catcherinthewry]

For what it's worth - the Foggy Bottom Kitchen menu didn't include BBQ. Instead, it was your general American restaurant fare - burgers, sandwiches, salads, chicken fried steak, pork chops, breakfast options, that sort of thing. You can find copies of their menu online.

That was my impression too, but it makes me wonder why they bought and overpaid for smokers. Do you think they bought them on the state's dime and meant to use them for their non-state restaurants?

[TheTravellers]

https://www.thelostogle.com/2022/05/...r-ppp-funding/

[baralheia]

That was my impression too, but it makes me wonder why they bought and overpaid for smokers. Do you think they bought them on the state's dime and meant to use them for their non-state restaurants?

Honestly, that's a really good question and it puzzles me too. I don't know if they intended to eventually introduce some menu items that would have required a smoker, or if the smokers ever even got installed at the Foggy Bottom restaurants in the first place - that's definitely something that should be investigated.

[Roger S]

For what it's worth - the Foggy Bottom Kitchen menu didn't include BBQ. Instead, it was your general American restaurant fare - burgers, sandwiches (including a Monte Cristo), salads, chicken fried steak, pork chops, chicken & waffles, breakfast options, that sort of thing. You can find copies of their menu online. Never got the opportunity to try 'em out, but the menu looked pretty good. Of course, that doesn't excuse corruption and greed.

The food and service was good at the Lake Murray location.... That's what really sucks about all the shenanigans involved behind it.

It was a nice option for people at the lake to dine at and as I said upthread we would drive out there from my farm north of Ardmore just to eat breakfast on the patio and take in the view.

[Midtowner]

I'm not sure there was fraud here. At first blush, it sounds like everything Swadley's did was permitted in the contract they signed. The contract says you can do it, you do it, no fraud happened. Don't hate the player, hate the game. Brent Swadley worked out a contract, probably directly with Jerry Winchester. Swadley's lawyers did a better job than Winchester's lawyers. Then Swadley operated businesses, which definitely appear to have been built for the long haul, not a short grift, squarely within the four corners of the contract. How can the State now be claiming there to have been fraud? It seems the State and its subsidiaries have managed to contract with other entities and not be taken for such a ride. Right?

This is a pretty complicated situation and it didn't have to be. The State could have opened up a bidding process. It maybe should have considered its obligation to offer these catering and vending gigs to blind operators through the Department of Rehabilitative Services as State law (7 O.S. sections 71-78) requires the State to first offer any state owned cafeteria, counter, vending machine, etc., to blind owner-operators. That wasn't done and the A.G.'s office has been quiet.

I don't think anyone can blame Brent Swadley or his business here. He was just trying to do what any vendor does when they walk away from a negotiation with a contract allowing massive profits--he went and made those profits. We shouldn't blame Jerry Winchester, he shouldn't have been in a position to negotiate a contract like that. There should have been oversight. There should have been someone in the AG's office or even a privately contracted firm to negotiate this contract. It's governmental malpractice.

There are massive structural issues here, which if not addressed, the state will continue to get robbed blind time after time.

[BoulderSooner]

I'm not sure there was fraud here. At first blush, it sounds like everything Swadley's did was permitted in the contract they signed. The contract says you can do it, you do it, no fraud happened. Don't hate the player, hate the game. Brent Swadley worked out a contract, probably directly with Jerry Winchester. Swadley's lawyers did a better job than Winchester's lawyers. Then Swadley operated businesses, which definitely appear to have been built for the long haul, not a short grift, squarely within the four corners of the contract. How can the State now be claiming there to have been fraud? It seems the State and its subsidiaries have managed to contract with other entities and not be taken for such a ride. Right?

This is a pretty complicated situation and it didn't have to be. The State could have opened up a bidding process. It maybe should have considered its obligation to offer these catering and vending gigs to blind operators through the Department of Rehabilitative Services as State law (7 O.S. sections 71-78) requires the State to first offer any state owned cafeteria, counter, vending machine, etc., to blind owner-operators. That wasn't done and the A.G.'s office has been quiet.

I don't think anyone can blame Brent Swadley or his business here. He was just trying to do what any vendor does when they walk away from a negotiation with a contract allowing massive profits--he went and made those profits. We shouldn't blame Jerry Winchester, he shouldn't have been in a position to negotiate a contract like that. There should have been oversight. There should have been someone in the AG's office or even a privately contracted firm to negotiate this contract. It's governmental malpractice.

There are massive structural issues here, which if not addressed, the state will continue to get robbed blind time after time.

thank you for the great information

[Bits_Of_Real_Panther]

Would it be considered fraud if swadley billed the state for permits and work related to permits (sprinkler systems, fire suppression equipment, etc.) That was never performed or properly permitted?

[Jersey Boss]

Would it be considered fraud if swadley billed the state for permits and work related to permits (sprinkler systems, fire suppression equipment, etc.) That was never performed or properly permitted?

Point-Counterpoint.

[Jersey Boss]

I'm not sure there was fraud here. At first blush, it sounds like everything Swadley's did was permitted in the contract they signed. The contract says you can do it, you do it, no fraud happened. Don't hate the player, hate the game. Brent Swadley worked out a contract, probably directly with Jerry Winchester. Swadley's lawyers did a better job than Winchester's lawyers. Then Swadley operated businesses, which definitely appear to have been built for the long haul, not a short grift, squarely within the four corners of the contract. How can the State now be claiming there to have been fraud? It seems the State and its subsidiaries have managed to contract with other entities and not be taken for such a ride. Right?

This is a pretty complicated situation and it didn't have to be. The State could have opened up a bidding process. It maybe should have considered its obligation to offer these catering and vending gigs to blind operators through the Department of Rehabilitative Services as State law (7 O.S. sections 71-78) requires the State to first offer any state owned cafeteria, counter, vending machine, etc., to blind owner-operators. That wasn't done and the A.G.'s office has been quiet.

I don't think anyone can blame Brent Swadley or his business here. He was just trying to do what any vendor does when they walk away from a negotiation with a contract allowing massive profits--he went and made those profits. We shouldn't blame Jerry Winchester, he shouldn't have been in a position to negotiate a contract like that. There should have been oversight. There should have been someone in the AG's office or even a privately contracted firm to negotiate this contract. It's governmental malpractice.

There are massive structural issues here, which if not addressed, the state will continue to get robbed blind time after time.

I wonder if the brainaics who manufactured the contract made Sunday a day of no service? How stupid is that at a resort.

[Midtowner]

Would it be considered fraud if swadley billed the state for permits and work related to permits (sprinkler systems, fire suppression equipment, etc.) That was never performed or properly permitted?

I'm guessing if Brent Swadley was put under oath, assuming that happened as described above, it would be a billing error which they would quickly offer to refund, or it was for work which was planned to be done and was not done because the contract with the State was ended abruptly and with no notice. Maybe the contract allows for pre-payment for these things so that it never comes out of the company's pocket? As screwed up as it looks like it is, I'd almost feel safe assuming that to be true.

[Midtowner]

I wonder if the brainaics who manufactured the contract made Sunday a day of no service? How stupid is that at a resort.

Very stupid. It's as if whoever negotiated the deal simply took Swadley's first proposal and signed off on the deal without reading it. Whoever negotiated that deal needs to be gone. Whoever was supposed to sign off and oversee that deal and didn't needs to go as well.

[Midtowner]

And back to the point about the blind owner/operators not being given an opportunity to bid, if I heard that they were open to bids, I've got a client who'd probably jump all over that. It's pretty astounding what's happening in State government. With certain things, I'd call the Stitt administration visionary and excellent. If they're able to turn Oklahoma into a manufacturing hub for EVs and batteries, no one will even remember this stuff.

That said, they're patently awful at the day to day running of the government. If something is not of interest, it receives the least amount of work possible. For example, the federal money they hired a 3rd party contractor to dole out to home schooling families who used the education money to pay for home repairs, Xboxes, etc. That wasn't because there was some big payoff from homeschooling contractors. It was just that no one thought they might need to come up with some sort of oversight. Nope. Not interesting. Least amount of work possible.

Where some see corruption, I just see incompetence. At least if there was corruption, there'd be some sort of backroom grift. Some kind of quid pro quo. I really do believe this all surprises Kevin Stitt. I really do believe that Jerry Winchester never thought there'd be a problem with any of this. I really do believe that Brent Swadley thought he was given a cash cow because of his party loyalty and he just maxed it out. No, it's just out in the open for everyone to see.

And before you can say I'm excusing everyone's conduct here, I'm not. I'd probably rather have a thoroughly corrupt but competent politician representing me than a person who is in over his head.

[CS_Mike]

I don't think anyone can blame Brent Swadley or his business here.

Seriously? You can rationalize his actions all you want, but even if you can argue that this didn't rise to the threshold of legal fraud, he'd still be guilty of either unethical business practices or gross negligence/incompetence (assuming these were all just "mistakes" made on his company's part). In any of those scenarios, I think it would be reasonable for anyone to "blame Brent Swadley or his business" for misusing taxpayer dollars. Should the state have done better to prevent this type of activity? Of course it should have! That doesn't absolve Swadley's of blame however.

[Bill Robertson]

Very stupid. It's as if whoever negotiated the deal simply took Swadley's first proposal and signed off on the deal without reading it. Whoever negotiated that deal needs to be gone. Whoever was supposed to sign off and oversee that deal and didn't needs to go as well.

Or worse. Whoever negotiated and oversaw the contract knew exactly what was in it and what was going on. In which case just being gone isn't enough.

[PaddyShack]

I have insight into the being closed on Sunday part of the agreement, a close friend of mine was one of the GMs of Foggy Bottom and previously worked as a GM for a few of the Swadley's BBQ locations. Swadley's originally didn't want to serve alcohol however the state did. This was the compromise that was made, closed on Sunday and Foggy Bottom would sell alcohol.

[Dr Beard Face]

Swadley needs to be behind bars for his very obvious attempts to strong arm the fire marshal and ignoring permits. He thought he was above the law and didn't need the permits, intentional or not, its put every customer in danger and he should be at least charged with endangering every single customer, employee, and vendor that stepped foot in those buildings. At best he's an irresponsible business owner, at worst a fraud; either way he should not be in business. His history of skirting permits and bragging, telling people to "fake it until you make it" shows he's not an honest person. Stitt and crew should go down as well with their complete lack of actually governing the processes, but I doubt any of them see ANY punishment past a fine.

[catcherinthewry]

I'm not sure there was fraud here.

I've read a lot of articles from several sources and I remember one mentioning Swadley telling vendors to inflate their prices so they could kick back to Swadley. Also, some of their consulting fees were double billed. But I think what is most egregious thing is the conspiracy between Swadley and Winchester. They set up the corrupt contract and made it so that Swadley would be the only one that qualified to bid on it. And the whistle blower obviously thought there were crimes committed or he wouldn't have quit and turned them in.

[Bellaboo]

Stitt appointed Winchester April 1, 2019. Winchester and Swadley are best buds. Stitt proclaims the buck stops with him. His Gary Cox appointment didn't go so well either.

These guys are all sleeping in the same bed. And Stitt claims transparency.

[Jeepnokc]

I've read a lot of articles from several sources and I remember one mentioning Swadley telling vendors to inflate their prices so they could kick back to Swadley. Also, some of their consulting fees were double billed. But I think what is most egregious thing is the conspiracy between Swadley and Winchester. They set up the corrupt contract and made it so that Swadley would be the only one that qualified to bid on it. And the whistle blower obviously thought there were crimes committed or he wouldn't have quit and turned them in.

Also, don't forget the heck of a deal they made the state on used smokers from their own company.....

"The alleged overcharges include a pair of used smokers that, when new, retail for about $29,000. The price Swadley's charged to the agency? About $60,000 each, including management fees, according to the whistleblower and agency records."

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...sm/7326424001/

[David]

Might be worth looking into what state parks (if any) those smokers were being used at.

[TheTravellers]

Stitt appointed Winchester April 1, 2019. Winchester and Swadley are best buds. Stitt proclaims the buck stops with him. His Gary Cox appointment didn't go so well either.

These guys are all sleeping in the same bed. And Stitt claims transparency.

No idea how he can claim any kind of transparency at all:

https://oklahomawatch.org/newsletter...ency-proposal/

[Dob Hooligan]

And back to the point about the blind owner/operators not being given an opportunity to bid, if I heard that they were open to bids, I've got a client who'd probably jump all over that. It's pretty astounding what's happening in State government. With certain things, I'd call the Stitt administration visionary and excellent. If they're able to turn Oklahoma into a manufacturing hub for EVs and batteries, no one will even remember this stuff.

That said, they're patently awful at the day to day running of the government. If something is not of interest, it receives the least amount of work possible. For example, the federal money they hired a 3rd party contractor to dole out to home schooling families who used the education money to pay for home repairs, Xboxes, etc. That wasn't because there was some big payoff from homeschooling contractors. It was just that no one thought they might need to come up with some sort of oversight. Nope. Not interesting. Least amount of work possible.

Where some see corruption, I just see incompetence. At least if there was corruption, there'd be some sort of backroom grift. Some kind of quid pro quo. I really do believe this all surprises Kevin Stitt. I really do believe that Jerry Winchester never thought there'd be a problem with any of this. I really do believe that Brent Swadley thought he was given a cash cow because of his party loyalty and he just maxed it out. No, it's just out in the open for everyone to see.

And before you can say I'm excusing everyone's conduct here, I'm not. I'd probably rather have a thoroughly corrupt but competent politician representing me than a person who is in over his head.

I think we don't know what we don't know. I am willing to give the story the time necessary to get to the truth before I draw a conclusion. Having said that-at first blush it does look like Governor Stitt's team were either crooks or rookies.