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Terry Simonson: Tulsa murder rate isn't so bad, when you don't count all the killings

Terry Simonson, Dewey Bartlett Jr's former chief of staff, writes that Tulsa's murder rate isn't all that bad, if you don't count all the murders: It's hard for the community to be concerned about the number of homicides when it's gang members killing gang members. When you think about it,...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 26, 2013 5:28 PM

Keep the Fairgrounds in the city limits

In a recent issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly, Terry Simonson, who left his position as Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr's chief of staff under an ethical cloud, makes a very weak case for de-annexing the Tulsa County Fairgrounds (aka Expo Square) from the City of Tulsa. Over the history of the...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 14, 2012 11:05 PM

Capitol follies: Simonson and sales tax; Wright and Reynolds rap

Peter Rudy of Oklahoma Watchdog has a couple of intriguing items: Whatever happened to former mayoral chief of staff Terry Simonson? House Speaker Kris Steele appointed him to a municipal sales tax collection task force, and an interesting question came up at today's meeting of the task force: The former...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 16, 2012 6:11 PM

Terry Simonson resigns

At a 4 p.m. news conference, Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr announced that his Chief of Staff, Terry Simonson, has resigned, according to News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan, who was live-tweeting the announcement. MORE: Bartlett Jr sent an email to city employees at 4:32 pm: Employees, I have just announced...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 29, 2011 4:14 PM

"President" of Terry Simonson "fan club" to investigate favoritism allegations

Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr has appointed two committees to look into allegations that Chief of Staff Terry Simonson used his position to get his son a slot in the Tulsa Fire Department applicant pool and to use the department's practice facility without authorization. The list of names -- three...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 28, 2011 12:24 AM

Simonson and son

So Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr has placed Chief of Staff Terry Simonson and Fire Chief Allen LaCroix on paid leave pending an investigation into emails suggesting that Simonson's intervention with LaCroix allowed his son to jump ahead of the line to apply for a position as a Tulsa firefighter...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 25, 2011 1:27 AM

Report on Bartlett Jr, Simonson, and the JAG grant online

The investigative report commissioned by the Tulsa City Council regarding Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. and Chief of Staff Terry Simonson is now online at the tulsacouncil.org website. The investigation concerned statements made by Bartlett Jr and Simonson regarding a particular Federal grant (JAG) that might be used to prevent...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 2, 2010 12:21 AM

Simonson says

UTW has an interesting cover story this week about Terry Simonson, chief of staff to Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr, written by Mike Easterling with photos by Michael Cooper. The story begins with Simonson filing for mayor just before the deadline in 1998. I was there when it happened. I...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 25, 2010 6:15 PM