Mayor Bynum hasn’t heard from Gov. Stitt, Lt. Gov. Pinnell returned to state Friday

TULSA, Okla. — Since a derecho and strong straight line winds left widespread damage and power outages across northeast Oklahoma viewers calling in to 2 News Oklahoma asked where Governor Kevin Stitt and Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell were during the recovery.

Stitt is in Paris at an air show with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and other state representatives.

As of Thursday afternoon Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum still has not heard from Stitt, When asked he said he’d reached out to the governor but had not heard back.

WATCH:

Bynum has not heard from governor

On Tuesday, Stitt asked OK Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat to issue a State of Emergency declaration as acting governor. For many, that’s when they learned Pinnell was not in the state.

Treat talked to Treat about the confusion:

What does an emergency declaration do?

2 News Oklahoma reached out to Pinnell’s office to see where he was and when he left Oklahoma.

In a response to an email from 2 News Oklahoma Anchor Sharon Phillips his officer said:

“The Lt. Governor left the state Monday afternoon around 2:30pm and is returning this (Thursday) afternoon. He was attending an annual lieutenant governor’s conference in Georgia and was aware of the Governor’s plans to leave the state.”

They did say Pinnell was in touch with Oklahoma Emergency Management, Mayor Bynum, the Governor, and Pro Tem Treat’s staff since the storms hit. He also said the state moved forward with the emergency declaration as soon as the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management completed survey assessments.

2 News reached out to Treat’s office after hearing from Pinnell. Alex Gerszewski with his office said, “Our staff has had communication with the Lieutenant Governor and his staff. We were unaware of his departure but when we were contacted about Treat being acting governor they confirmed that he had left the prior day. A completed disaster survey was never a factor in Pro Tem Treat’s decision making. He’s been in contact with Director Gower in the intervening time trying to help expedite the completion of the damage application process.”

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