Sooner State News

The former deputy director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, Gino DeMarco, may have been involved in another rigged state contract, according to a series of recently uncovered emails, The Frontier reported.

The emails show DeMarco claiming to have recused himself from a marina contract process, but then discussing details that appeared only in the winning bid, the story said.

DeMarco, who has served in numerous positions under Gov. Kevin Stitt, has found himself attached to several other scandals, including the Swadley's BBQ scandal and the state's apparent reckless spending related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In emails, DeMarco discusses details regarding an upcoming bid for the Murray Marina. Despite claiming in the emails to have recused himself from the process, DeMarco lays out specific details for the contract that would later only appear in the winning bid, the Frontier reported.

In one email to Tourism Department general counsel Brett Thomas, DeMarco says someone else would have to communicate with the marina developer since he had recused himself, the story said.

"I can't do it, so it would be great if you could," DeMarco says in the email, the Frontier reported.

The Oklahoma Tourism Department did not have any record of DeMarco's formal recusal, the story said. Furthermore, he was personally under contract to buy land on Lake Murray while discussing the marina deal.

DeMarco was also implicated in another scandal surrounding Stitt. Sooner State News previously highlighted that DeMarco was intimately involved in negotiations regarding the Swadley's BBQ deal in state parks. Emails show him offering the restaurant group significant incentives and guaranteeing they will "make money from the start." The Swadley's deal has cost Oklahoma nearly $17 million.

According to KOSU, earlier this year an audit discovered wasteful and possibly illegal conduct in the state's handling of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stitt appointed DeMarco to be the COVID PPE czar during the pandemic. Under DeMarco, the state paid for more than $5 million worth of equipment that never arrived. The state auditor concluded that state laws may have been broken in the purchase of this undelivered equipment.