Tulsa District 9: For Robert Pinney

District 9 has spread out, the result of a loss of population over the last ten years and the redistricting decision to move the northern border from 21st to 31st St. To get close to 1/9th of the city's population, the district has had to expand to the east and southeast. (It also had to expand to 71st and Sheridan to allow Mayor Bartlett Jr his petty revenge against District 7 Councilor John Eagleton, now a District 9 resident.)

Consequently, District 9 has stretched beyond the Money Belt to include more middle-class neighborhoods with a variety of needs. (The district has never had a middle-class city councilor; perhaps it's time that changed.)

There are three candidates for the District 9 Republican nomination: incumbent G. T. Bynum, Robert Pinney, and Kimberlee Whiteman. Pinney is a long-time leader in the Brookside Neighborhood Association and a consistent conservative. Pinney is very knowledgeable about the work of the City Council and city boards and authorities and has a detailed and realistic list of things he'd like to accomplish. Whiteman is a newcomer to politics. Both Pinney and Whiteman accepted the BatesLine campaign finance transparency challenge.

I like Bynum personally, but I believe it's time to replace him. Read this BatesLine entry from July for a summary of the pros and cons of G. T. Bynum as I see them.