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Josh Turley for Tulsa County Commissioner, District 2
The only contested Tulsa County office on the ballot is a rematch for Tulsa County Commissioner, District 2. Republican Josh Turley seeks to defeat 12-year incumbent Democrat Commissioner Karen Keith. Dr. Turley, whose doctorate is in organizational leadership, had a distinguished 24-year career at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office,...
Look for the Chamber label -- then vote for someone else
It may seem counter-intuitive, but if you're a conservative, the Chamber of Commerce is not your friend. Not the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, not the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce, not the Tulsa Regional Chamber. If you're a conservative voting in the Republican primary, look to see whom the Chambers are supporting, then give your vote to some other candidate. If the Chambers are attacking a Republican candidate, she's probably worthy of your enthusiastic backing.
Wanted: conservative candidates; Tulsa, county, state, federal 2016 filing periods this week
City of Tulsa candidate filing is this week, and we don't have any conservatives running for mayor, nor any conservatives currently on the city council. I am praying that solidly conservative candidates will step forward to run for city office. I hope you'll join with me in prayer, that you'll be open to the possibility of running, and that you'll think through your list of friends and consider whom you might encourage to run.
Vision Tulsa, sheriff special election: BatesLine ballot card
Here are my recommended votes in the Tulsa County special election on April 5, 2016, for the unexpired term for Tulsa County Sheriff and county and municipal sales tax propositions. Links lead to more detailed information or earlier blog entries. (This entry may change as I decide to add...
Vision 2025's broken promise: Economic development
We were promised in 2003 that if we passed Vision 2025, our economy would grow so much that we'd have enough additional revenue to pave streets and hire more police officers and re-open our closed city pools. If Vision 2025 made our economy grow, why are we now being asked to increase our permanent operating sales tax rate by 17.25% (from 2% to 2.345%) to fund basic police and fire coverage and street maintenance? Why are we demolishing rec centers and pools?
Vision Tulsa: Northside payola projects
North Tulsa residents are among the most skeptical of visionary sales taxes. They know that they will bear a heavy share of the costs, but they are doubtful of seeing any benefits. They'll pay extra sales taxes on the basics of life -- food, clothing, electricity, natural gas --...
Bartlett Jr vs. Bynum IV: Tweedle-dee vs. Tweedle-dum
Tulsa Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. has announced his intention to run for a third term. Federal lobbyist and City Councilor G. T. Bynum IV has announced his intention to run against Bartlett. My one-word take: Feh. Tulsa needs better choices. (I won't say "deserves better"; as Mencken wrote, "Democracy...
Oklahoma runoff election day 2014
Happy Election Day! Polls open across Oklahoma at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Results should start rolling in soon after 7 p.m. The Oklahoma State Election Board website will update results as they are received from the county election boards. Although results are posted on each precinct door...
Oklahoma Primary 2014: BatesLine ballot card
Here are the candidates I'm recommending and voting for (when I can) in the Oklahoma primary elections on June 24, 2014. (This entry will change as I decide to add more detail or discuss additional races between now and election day. The entry is post-dated to keep it at...
Ken Yazel for Tulsa County Assessor
Several important elections will be settled in the June 24, 2014, Republican primary. Between now and then, I will be posting endorsements, starting with an enthusiastic recommendation that I can make without hesitation. Tulsa County Assessor Ken Yazel is one of those rare elected officials who has remained true to...
VisionPrison: Vote no, and repurpose Vision 2025 surplus
On April Fools' Day, next Tuesday, April 1, 2014, Tulsa County voters have a special election to raise taxes to pay for an addition to the Tulsa County Jail and a brand new juvenile justice facility. I will be voting no on both questions. Ronda Vuillemont-Smith of the Tulsa 9/12...
Roscoe Turner, RIP
Services for Roscoe Turner will be held at First Baptist Church, 4th & Cincinnati in downtown Tulsa, Monday, January 27, 2014, at 11:00 a.m., with interment at Rose Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be held at Moore's Memory Chapel, 1403 S. Peoria, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Saturday, January 25,...
Voting for image, not understanding
There's a thought-provoking story from last week's local elections in Houston: An elderly, white, conservative man won a non-partisan race for a six-year-term on the board of Houston Community College, defeating a four-term African-American incumbent in a heavily African-American district. The victorious candidate, Dave Wilson, used stock photos of African-Americans...
Kathy Taylor aide slams Rick Santorum
A press release by Kathy Taylor's campaign manager may have accomplished what no amount of celebrity Republican endorsements have been able do: Motivate grassroots conservatives to go to the polls to vote for a man they despise as a RINO, just to make sure Taylor and her inner circle don't...
Dan Keating: Time for Dewey Bartlett Jr to go
Dan Keating, a conservative Republican, recently appointed by Gov. Mary Fallin to the State Board of Education, has written a scathing column in the Tulsa Beacon denouncing Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr's campaign for pushing party affiliation over his performance as mayor and saying that it's time for Tulsa Mayor...
Christiansen announces he won't back Bartlett for Tulsa mayor
Former Councilor and mayoral candidate Bill Christiansen announced today that, having met this week with Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr to discuss his concerns, he has decided not to endorse Bartlett Jr. According to Christansen, Bartlett told him he doesn't have a platform for his second term in office and...
Bartlett Jr importing out-of-town GOP volunteers
Just got an email from the Tulsa County Republican Party announcing volunteer door-knocking days on behalf of Dewey Bartlett Jr, running for re-election as Mayor of Tulsa. Although this is officially a non-partisan race, both candidates are closely identified with their respective parties, and both were elected to their first...
Petition for jail tax points to opposition of commission majority
Consider these options for putting a county-wide tax proposition on the ballot this fall: 1. Convince at least two of the three county commissioners to support the idea. 2. Collect 18,000 petition signatures in six weeks, early enough to make the November ballot. If you could do either, which would...
Bill Christiansen for Tulsa Mayor
Another day, another mendacious attack mailer from Dewey Bartlett Jr. If I had known there were enough Tulsans who objected to rising city budgets, county tax initiatives, the City Hall move, the Great Plains Airlines bailout, and accepting Federal stimulus money to justify a mail piece targeting those concerns, I...
Tulsa mayor's race: A tale of two polls
The first thing to say about any poll in the Tulsa mayor's race is that it doesn't matter. It shouldn't affect how you think about your own vote. Because there is a runoff in November, you can vote for your favorite of the top three candidates without worrying that you'll...
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