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Remembering Jim Mautino

Viewing for James Mautino will be 12 noon - 8 pm, Wednesday, November 1, 2023, and the service 11:30 am, Thursday, November 2, 2023, at Moore's Southlawn Funeral Home. Services will be webcast. Condolences may be left online at www.moorefuneral.com. Former Tulsa City Councilor Jim Mautino passed away last Thursday,...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 31, 2023 9:24 PM

Tulsa Election 2022: District 4 dilemma

There are six candidates on the ballot for Tulsa City Council District 4, an open seat. As was the case two years ago, I'm not enthusiastic about any of them. This is my district, so I've had to make a choice....

Posted by Michael Bates on August 21, 2022 8:38 AM

Tulsa City Council funds teen sex survey with federal COVID cash

A sex survey targeting teenagers was funded by the City of Tulsa using federal COVID relief funding. The survey was one of 70 non-profit projects selected for funding by a working group of four city councilors who are on next Tuesday's ballot -- Phil Lakin (District 8), Jeannie Cue (2),...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 16, 2022 10:59 PM

Tulsa Election 2022: Filing final

The three-day filing period for the 2022 City of Tulsa election for City Council and City Auditor has concluded. All nine council seats are contested, but City Auditor Cathy Champion Carter has been reelected without opposition. Here is the complete list of candidates who filed. Names, ages, and addresses are...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 15, 2022 7:39 PM

Tulsa Election 2022: Filing day 2

At the end of the second day (June 14, 2022) of the three-day filing period for the 2022 City of Tulsa election for City Council and City Auditor, only two incumbents remain unopposed: District 3 Councilor Crista Patrick (D) and City Auditor Cathy Champion Carter (D). All nine City Council...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 14, 2022 5:42 PM

Tulsa Election 2022: First day of filing

Today (June 13, 2022) was the first day of the three-day filing period for the 2022 City of Tulsa election for City Council and City Auditor. All nine City Council races will be on the ballot. The filing period continues through 5 p.m. Wednesday. The City of Tulsa filing packet...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 13, 2022 10:01 PM

Tulsa redistricting commission considers plans

Tomorrow, September 24, 2021, the City of Tulsa Election District Commission will hold a special meetingto consider a set of five proposed plans for redrawing Tulsa's city council district boundaries for possible presentation for public comment. The proposed plans were assembled by mapping staff at the Indian Nations Council...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 23, 2021 5:27 PM

Tulsa City Council preview, 2021/05/05: 36th & MLK TIF

AFTER-ACTION REVIEW: All items on the regular council meeting agenda were approved without dissent. There was only one controversy: Gary Brinkner, vice chairman of the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, objected to special event application for the Black Wall Street Legacy Festival, which would block off Greenwood and Archer for three...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 4, 2021 8:06 AM

Tulsa City Council chairman attacks Sen. Tim Scott with racial slur

In a social media post last Wednesday, Tulsa City Council chairman Vanessa Hall Harper labeled U. S. Sen Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) with a racist slur. As of this writing, Hall Harper has yet to retract or apologize for the slur, which remains posted on her personal Facebook profile, accessible...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 2, 2021 10:17 PM

Council chickens out of revising poultry rules

On Wednesday, April 28, 2021, the Tulsa City Council approved a massive rewrite of the city's animal ordinance (Title 2), which covers everything from pets to livestock to homing pigeons, at its regular 5 p.m. meeting. But the update didn't make any changes to the rules for raising chickens in...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 30, 2021 12:35 PM

Election Day 2020: Notes

I voted in person yesterday at 9:35. The line was out the door, but not very far, and I slid my ballot into the scanner and was finished in 20 minutes. The other, larger precinct that votes at the same church had a line across the parking lot, but I...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 4, 2020 11:28 PM

Tulsa 2020 charter amendments

Five amendments to Tulsa's city charter -- our city's constitution -- will be on the August 25, 2020, ballot. As usual, the summaries you will see on the ballot paper only tell part of the story. For the TL;DR folks, here are my recommendations: Proposition No. 1: Yes Proposition No....

Posted by Michael Bates on August 10, 2020 11:51 PM

Tulsa Election 2020: Filing Day 2

At the end of the second of three days of candidate filing for the 2020 City of Tulsa elections, the incumbent mayor, auditor, and seven of the nine incumbent city councilors have filed for re-election, with Mayor GT Bynum IV drawing three opponents and incumbent Democratic Councilors Kara Joy McKee...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 9, 2020 5:12 PM

2020 City of Tulsa candidate filing period

Filing period for mayor, auditor, and council of the City of Tulsa runs June 8-10, 2020. If you're unhappy with city officials (and you should be), time to act and make a real difference.

Posted by Michael Bates on June 8, 2020 12:00 AM

Saving Paul Harvey's neighborhood: Next steps

I had to be downtown last night, and I decided to go for a walk. On a whim, I walked under the east leg of the IDL to Paul Harvey's old neighborhood, which the City of Tulsa is acquiring, lot by lot, house by house, to convert to a...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 27, 2019 12:29 PM

BatesLine retrospective: The "bickering Tulsa City Councilors" narrative

In writing the previous entry about the Covington Catholic High School students, I wrote about how local Tulsa media pushed a narrative that Tulsa City Councilors, particularly those elected with grassroots support over the objections of the chamber of commerce, developers, and other special interest groups, were bickering troublemakers. This...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 28, 2019 6:12 PM

2018 Tulsa City Council: Rolph, Reddick two bright spots in the gloom

If you live in District 3 (northeast Tulsa) or District 7 (southeast Tulsa), you've got someone on the City Council ballot worth voting for. Otherwise.... Justin Rolph, running in District 3, and Ken Reddick, running in District 7, are both conservative Republicans, newcomers to politics, and they work for a...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 5, 2018 10:59 AM

Tulsa City Council District 4: No endorsement

"I shall show my contempt by going down to the polling booth, taking my form, crossing both their names out and writing 'GET KNOTTED' in." -- Tony Hancock, Hancock's Half Hour, "The Election Candidate" I share The Lad's sentiments about many of the races on the August 28, 2018, runoff...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 24, 2018 12:28 AM

2018 Tulsa city election: Filing complete

The 2018 filing period for Tulsa City Auditor and all nine Tulsa City Council seats has ended. Thirteen Democrats, nine Republicans, one Libertarian, and one independent filed for the ten positions. Incumbents Cathy Criswell (Auditor), Jeannie Cue (District 2), Anna America (District 7), and Phil Lakin (District 8) have been...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 13, 2018 9:59 PM

2018 Tulsa city election: Filing underway

Details of the first day's filings for the 2018 City of Tulsa elections

Posted by Michael Bates on June 11, 2018 11:13 PM