Profit from disaster?

Anyone who pays any attention at all to the state they reside in knows that the Texas Governor's Mansion was Molotov'd in December, burning it to the ground. Nobody was hurt, thankfully, but the response time as slow at best. But that is beyond the point.
A number of oil and gas companies have donated to the building of a new mansion. Conoco Phillips and Valero, just to name a few, have pledged $100,000 and $50,000 respectively, and they aren't even the largest contributors. This makes me a little uneasy. Why are these gigantic oil tycoons pledging money to give the governor a new home? What is there to gain from doing this?
These companies are definitely not known for being nice people, or doing the right thing. There is always a catch with them, and I doubt this is an exception. Although Perry's press secretary has stated that, "Any assumption that those who are contributing to the restoration fund would do so for purposes other than restoring a great treasure is unfortunate", it fails to answer a big question in my mind. If this is so, why didn't Perry make the statement himself?
So on the other side of the equation, because we always want to be even, I don't want my tax dollars going to work on some outlandish home that I will most likely never step foot in. That would be a misuse of public funds, and would drive the people of this city nuts, even if it weren't surprising. So what to do?
Do we naively believe that these giant companies will not expect preferential treatment down the road sometime, or do we understand that special interests really do run the government now and voice our frustrations? I don't have the answer on this one. One way or another that mansion has to be rebuilt, although I could not tell you why, and it will happen. I guess we have to understand that the system that used to put its taxpayers first is flawed, and tends to favor big money and corporations now. Maybe one day there will be someone that can change things, and set them right again. As for this specific issue, it looks as if these giant donations are going to fund the construction of this mansion. I will be curious however, to see the bill at the end of the job, and to see where the remainder of the funds will go.