‘Hardworking’ panel tamed mansion problems, Beebe recalls

Don Bingham (left), mansion administrator, and J.R. Davis, spokesman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson, show loose wiring from a former security system in the closet of the Governor’s Mansion guesthouse while giving a tour of some of the problems affecting the mansion and other buildings on the grounds.
Don Bingham (left), mansion administrator, and J.R. Davis, spokesman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson, show loose wiring from a former security system in the closet of the Governor’s Mansion guesthouse while giving a tour of some of the problems affecting the mansion and other buildings on the grounds.

Yes, there were rats in his office at the Governor’s Mansion but they were in check, former Gov. Mike Beebe said Friday in an interview in which he described other aspects of life at the residence for the state’s first family.

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http://www.arkansas…">Rodents, leaks plague Governor's Mansion

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Former Gov. Mike Beebe is shown in this file photo.

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Former Arkansas first lady Ginger Beebe (front) and current first lady Susan Hutchinson wait to be escorted to the stage by state troopers during Lunch on the Lawn last year at the Governor’s Mansion.

Beebe and former first lady Ginger Beebe were interviewed by telephone Friday about ongoing maintenance and repair concerns at the mansion, including an infestation of rats in the walls of the governor’s private office on the grounds. The concerns have been reported in recent news articles about coming changes in the Governor’s Mansion Commission, the panel that oversees maintenance and operations of the building and grounds. Problems with the mansion aren’t new, stretching back to the 1960s.

Mike Beebe said spending money to keep the mansion in top shape was good politics, and he praised the Governor’s Mansion Commission for its assistance. Beebe left office in January 2015.

His comments came less than a week after his successor, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, signed a 105-page so-called efficiency bill that eliminated or changed a number of state panels and agencies. One provision allows the governor to hire and fire the Mansion Commission members; some previously served five-year terms. Hutchinson signed the legislation after problems were found at the mansion — including rats in the governor’s private office — and first lady Susan Hutchinson received approval for a $1.1 million grant for repairs and upgrades.

“Our approach was, it wasn’t our house. We were fortunate to get to live there for a while, but we recognized the house belonged to the people of Arkansas,” said Mike Beebe, who served two four-year terms.

“I think that attitude permeated our eight years there, and we were really mindful of who the house belonged to and impressed by the history and the important fiduciary relationship that the commission had.”

The commission, he said, had appointees from all political backgrounds.

“My experience is they were hardworking Arkansans who honestly cared about that mansion, the history and what it meant for the people of Arkansas,” he said. “I don’t remember a single incident where there was a problem.”

To deal with the rats, Mike Beebe said a pest extermination service came out once a month. Traps were set, and the hole through which the vermin entered his office was sealed.

Inmates on work details at the mansion daily checked those traps, also spread around the house and in the attic. One inmate would become particularly excited when he found a rat, Ginger Beebe said.

Beebe said he made a few upgrades to his office, such as replacing sagging floors and removing boards over a window to let some light in. The Beebes also added a walk-in refrigerator and freezer to the kitchen.

Mike Beebe also said there weren’t serious problems in the mansion while he was governor. Mold had gotten out of hand in the game room in the basement and in his detached office, but he had that taken care of.

He said he was able to turn back large parts of funding meant for the mansion — once more than $100,000.

Mike Beebe said he didn’t know what the issue is with the first family using the washer and dryer that also is used for cleaning tablecloths after events. As part of a grant, the Hutchinsons asked for a washer and dryer of their own.

He said he didn’t know whether the shower in his office worked but everything else was functional. During a tour taken by an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter and photographer Thursday, there was plywood over a bathtub in the building that has the office. The Hutchinsons asked for plumbing fixes in the office as part of the grant.

Mike Beebe said he liked the basement family room, which has a 7-foot drop ceiling and fluorescent lighting. The grandchildren can run around, he said.

The Hutchinsons have asked for the drop ceiling to be removed — there’s abandoned wiring on top — and a small, private bathroom added in a closet in the basement. That bathroom would be used when the first-family members are in the basement and don’t want to leave when the public is in the mansion.

“It’s one of the few places that looked like somebody’s regular house,” Mike Beebe said.

Regarding the Rain of Faith statue — a large, stainless-steel statue that the Hutchinsons proposed placing over a small reflecting pool at a cost of $153,133 — Ginger Beebe said it’s OK in the shade.

The sculptor informed her that it can set vegetation on fire, so she had it moved it under a tree, the former first lady said.

The Beebes’ comments on the condition of the mansion starkly differed from officials who served under Mike Huckabee. Huckabee preceded Beebe as governor. One said that a few weeks after Janet and Mike Huckabee moved into the Governor’s Mansion, the living room’s ceiling fell in.

Jim Harris — now chief of staff in the state treasurer’s office — served as Huckabee’s spokesman and is married to the former governor’s sister. He went to the mansion more than the average staff member and recalled the incident — and the particular political environment that shaped it — in an interview.

“What they discovered [was] there was a waterline that ran through the ceiling that had a leak and previous governors just plastered the ceiling back up and every 18 months to two years enough water would leak out — because it’s a slow leak — and it would fall back down,” he said.

“They didn’t fear replacing a ceiling that had collapsed. They did fear fixing a water pipe — which would be more expensive than plastering a ceiling.”

Other problems were also apparent at that time, including an electrical system that wasn’t built to handle modern appliances.

“You have to understand Mike Huckabee’s philosophy,” Harris said. “You don’t plug a hole in the dike, but you repair the dike. He didn’t follow the old procedure that a lot of governors had used, which was do the minimum to get by until I’m out of here in four to eight years.”

So seven years before the Beebes moved into the mansion, the Huckabees moved out, albeit temporarily.

In 2000, Arkansas’ first lady excitedly assumed her place as “queen of the triple-wide.”

She hung a state seal near the front door of the mobile home that she and her husband called home while the Governor’s Mansion got a plumbing and wiring overhaul, according to a 2000 article in the Democrat-Gazette.

Before a gaggle of reporters, Janet Huckabee bounded up the wooden front-porch steps, brandishing a pair of hedge clippers to cut a large red plastic ribbon pasted over the front door of the 2,133-square-foot structure.

“There are no words to describe the excitement I feel,” she said.

The upgrades, which cost more than $1.4 million, were paid through a grant.

There was political risk in spending money to fix the place, said Rex Nelson, a former Huckabee spokesman. He now writes a column for the Democrat-Gazette and is a spokesman for Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff.

“I’m not sure that the public fully understands that unlike governors’ mansions in some states — which are primarily residences — our Governor’s Mansion is primarily a state public-events center, and it does happen to have a small residential area for the first family on the second floor,” he said.

“I think one of the problems that we have always had with the Governor’s Mansion is that residents of that mansion are almost afraid to do improvements because it can be used as a political tool against them.”

Construction of the mansion started in 1948 and ended in January 1950. Gov. Sid McMath was the mansion’s first occupant. Perhaps the building’s first scandal involved his dog.

“It is a long-established rule — set 50 years ago — the governor cannot use the Mansion Fund to buy dog food,” said McMath, who held the office in 1949-53, in a 1998 article. “I had a coon dog — a red-bone hound — called him Ol’ Red. He was given to me by the Scott County Coon Hunters while I was governor of Arkansas.

“Ol’ Red was placed on duty at the mansion as a guard dog. He was fed dog biscuits bought from the mansion fund. I considered this proper, seeing as how he was on duty for the state. However, this practice caused quite a ruckus. It was made a big issue by my opposition and frowned upon by a North Little Rock publication. Hence it was discontinued.”

Stories from the archives of the Democrat-Gazette show that over the decades, state officials have often declared that the mansion suffers from neglect and maintenance problems, in part because the Legislature didn’t appropriate enough funds for upkeep and governors were reluctant to ask for money:

1967 — Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller and his wife refused to move into the mansion when he first took office. The home was declared “unsafe for living” by Rockefeller and Edwin B. Cromwell, the home’s architect.

In April 1967, Cromwell toured the mansion and noted extensive problems with wiring, including a wire taped to a natural gas pipe. He also noticed other problems, such as inadequate air conditioning, guest house plumbing that leaked and a layout that trapped the family in upstairs private quarters during public events.

Some repairs had been suggested by former Gov. Orval Faubus and awaited an appropriation by the Legislature.

1971 — Gov. Dale Bumpers had to find furnishings for the second story. Rockefeller, a millionaire, paid for the furnishings for the second story and took those with him when he left office. Rockefeller left behind some items, such as draperies and rugs, but believed that the state needed to provide for the mansion’s upkeep and furnishings. Wholesalers agreed to furnish the upstairs quarters when Bumpers took office.

1972 — First lady Betty Bumpers asked legislators to create a commission to be responsible for maintaining the mansion and grounds. She asked for the commission so the upkeep would “not be left to the whim of whichever family is living there at the time.” She said there was no groundskeeper or regular maintenance staff.

1980 — An architect recommended $124,000 in repairs to the mansion, including replacing window sills and waterproofing exterior brick. Legislators complain about annual maintenance costs of the mansion and suggest looking into a new home for the first family. The state spent nearly $500,000 in the previous 10 years on maintenance and repair.

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