Gene Autry museum closes amid controversy over management

July 05--GENE AUTRY -- In the heart of this tiny, southern Oklahoma town, a museum honoring the famous singing cowboy for whom it is named, closed without explanation in May.

Now, folks in this Carter County town are raising questions about the management of the once-bustling attraction. When it closed, the

museum's liability insurance had lapsed, some memorabilia had been reported stolen and the longtime museum director, Elvin Sweeten, appeared to be preparing to clear out and sell what items were left, Mayor Kyle Lawson said.

Meanwhile, adding to the town's problems, a recent audit found that during the last three years, under the tenure of former Mayor Katherine McQuistion, more than $172,000 of public money went missing -- an amount that exceeds an entire year's worth of town revenue.

McQuistion resigned earlier this year amid a sheriff's investigation into the town's finances; she has not been charged.

Lawson, a 28-year-old Army veteran, was elected in May. He immediately called an emergency meeting to fill vacant administrative positions and empty seats on the town council. After McQuistion resigned, there were no sitting town councilmen.

Lawson turned over financial records to the Carter County sheriff and hired a certified public accountant to conduct an audit of the town's books.

On Lawson's first day in office, Sweeten, the museum director, approached him and said he was closing the museum, according to Lawson. Lawson said he consulted an attorney and several residents and they decided they wanted to keep the museum open.

It was then that Lawson discovered the museum no longer had liability insurance. He changed the museum locks until the issue could be resolved.

"That museum is the heart and soul of this community, and in order to get this community going again, we've got to get the museum reopened," Lawson said.

Sweeten, when contacted by phone, denied plans to close the museum -- despite a notice on the museum website that reads: "Museum closed. Will not be reopened. 5/14/15 Elvin Sweeten."

Sweeten said it's all a misunderstanding.

Missing memorabilia

One question being investigated is just exactly how one museum artifact ended up on an online auction site.

Sweeten reported a trophy which had belonged to Lonnie Rooney, Autry's ranch foreman, stolen. The trophy then turned up in an online listing of a Fort Worth auction site valued at $6,000 to $8,000. Bidding was to start at $600. The trophy went unsold.

The Carter County sheriff is investigating who consigned the trophy and how it ended up on the auction site.

Sheriff Milton Anthony said there were no signs of a break-in at the museum when the item was reported stolen.

Lawson and others also question Sweeten's management of the nonprofit Gene Autry Oklahoma Historical Society, which operated the museum. In its 2013 tax return, the society valued the museum's total assets at $11,851. The return detailed no revenue or expenses for the year.

Sweeten listed himself and five others as board members, but reported that each board member devoted zero hours per week to their position.

Bud Boyer, one of the board members, said he hasn't been to a board meeting since 2007 or 2008, despite a state law that requires boards of nonprofits to meet at least once a year.

Sweeten has refused to provide the town with agendas or minutes of the board's meetings or the museum's finances. As a nonprofit, Sweeten contends the museum is not subject to the Open Meeting Act or Open Records Act, Lawson said.

Sweeten's wife operated a gift shop called the Blue Rooster inside the museum, and Lawson said there's also no record of sales tax from the shop.

"I believe, if we could look at his records, we would find other areas where he was using public funding for his organization," Lawson said.

Sweeten counters that the town had no reason to close the museum before he was ready, and he plans to file a lawsuit.

"I told them that I was going to close the museum after I got some of the things that were mine out of there. And some of the stuff that was loaned to the museum I was going to send back to other people that wanted it. And they closed the museum before I ever got a chance to do any of that," Sweeten said.

Legally, he likely doesn't own those items anymore, even if he purchased them. State statute specifies that if a nonprofit is being dissolved, assets must be transferred to another tax-exempt organization.

Max Ary, a former executive director of the Oklahoma City Omniplex, now renamed Science Museum Oklahoma, served time in prison for stealing artifacts from NASA and a Kansas space museum and selling them at auction.

Ary claimed the sales were legitimate, and that he personally owned some of the items displayed at the museum.

Missing money

A three-year audit of the town's finances was completed last week, and Lawson said he plans to present the findings at a town council meeting Tuesday.

For the year ending June 30, the town's "miscellaneous" expenses were $82,700, which made up 84 percent of public spending. Those expenditures were cash withdrawals without receipts, Lawson said.

Numbers for the prior year show nearly $81,880 in miscellaneous expenditures, or 61 percent of total spending.

At the end of that year, the town was operating $52,156 in debt.

When reached by phone, McQuistion, the former mayor, declined to answer any questions.

"I'm done with it," she said.

McQuistion served six years as mayor.

Sheriff Anthony said the investigation into missing public funds has been turned over to the district attorney.

The tiny, southern Oklahoma town, previously named Berwyn, was re-named in 1941 after the famous "singing cowboy," and boasts a population of 159. Autry, who later owned the California Angels baseball team, died in 1998.

The museum, which opened in 1991 under the same roof as the town's post office, contained movie posters, record albums, storybook covers, coloring books, tin lunchboxes, cereal boxes and other memorabilia and trinkets featuring images of the late actor and recording artist.

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