Yes, Virginia: Tulsa's 1988 election

Speaking of colorful characters like Virginia "Blue Jeans" Jenner, here's another find from my friend's basement, a political ad from page 2 B of the Monday, February 15, 1988, edition of the late great Tulsa Tribune, in which she attacked Oral Roberts, State Senate President Pro Tempore Rodger Randle, and Water & Sewer Commissioner Patty Eaton. (Click here for a full-sized image.)

(I hasten to add that I don't endorse any of the views in the ad -- far from it -- which is presented solely for historical and entertainment value.) Here's the punch line of the ad:

To stop husband and wife teams benefitting at taxpayer expense, get your Irish up and vote for this dental hygienist who knows how to deal with folks who talk out of both sides of their mouth. I'll give a lottery instead of a tax hike. 50 percent women appointments and ward government. Merge ORU and UCT and retire Oral.

Love always,
Virginia Jenner
Democrat for Mayor of Tulsa

This would have been just before the primary of what was to be the last election under the old city charter. Coincidentally, on the same page there's an article about a Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce committee writing a new city charter, with the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and the Northeast Oklahoma Labor Council, that they hoped to get on the ballot by the summer:

Under the chamber proposal, the mayor would be elected citywide to a four-year term. Council members would be elected from districts, with a few elected from larger, regional districts. Council members would be part-time and serve four-year terms.

The chamber didn't quite get their way, but isn't it odd that government would turn over the responsibility for developing the basic law of our city to unelected, private organizations?