Strickland Reverses Expensive Travel Tastes After Getting Caught

April 8, 2010: Turnaround Ted's Expensive Travel Tastes Exposed!

• A Columbus alternative newspaper uncovered that Gov. Strickland often racks up thousands of dollars in extra travel costs by demanding that his private, taxpayer-funded plane pick him up at an airport closer to his home.
   
• The state plane is forced to take "a four or five minute trip" from an airport across town, where it is housed in a state-owned hanger, to the Port Columbus International Airport, where Strickland "is a 'big fan' of the flight operation’s complimentary cookies."  A spokesperson for the aviation company adds, "We have all kinds of cookies, and they are always kept warm."
   
• In addition to his warm cookies, the governor apparently also likes his plane to be warm: "According to knowledgeable sources, the governor’s six-seater is a lot more comfortable for the public servants inside after it’s made the five-minute trip from Don Scott to Port Columbus."

April 10, 2010: Turnaround Ted's Expensive Travel Tastes Denied! (After Getting Caught)

• The Columbus Dispatch reports: "Gov. Ted Strickland is ending the practice of sometimes having the state plane make the short trip from Don Scott Field to Port Columbus to pick him up as a way to save time.  The governor now will be driven to Don Scott whenever he uses a state plane, unless the aircraft is already at Port Columbus when the governor needs to travel, spokeswoman Amanda Wurst said yesterday."