High-Ticket Amenities Raise Eyebrows, Ire

If you listen to a recent radio ad produced by the Wyoming Republican Party... you might end up thinking the state has spent more than $157,000 outfitting a Cessna 208 Caravan as something of a party plane.

The ad points to four leather seats that cost a total of $50,000... a $5,500 cooler... and a $13,000 toilet -- all "extravagences" on just one aircraft in what the ad claims is Democratic Governor Dave Freudenthal's $18-million fleet.

But what's the real story here? Ask Curtis Clabaugh. He's in charge of photogammetry and surveys at the Wyoming Department of Transportation and he says that Caravan belongs to his department. The governor, he says, never flies on that plane.

Instead, Clabaugh says the 208 is used for aerial photography, surveying and mapping. Those leather seats, he says, are so expensive because they have to swivel so crew members can access their photographic equipment. The cooler is actually part of an equipment camera necessary for the work... and yes, the toilet was expensive, but it has to withstand unusual G-forces inherent in this type of work.

Clabaugh adds the Caravan actually saves the state money, when compared to similar work done on the ground.

The Wyoming GOP maintains it's telling the truth... and has a responsibility to lay out the facts for state voters.

FMI: www.cessna.gov, www.dot.state.wy.us/