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Trump 2016 official denies Dunkerley endorsement claim

Tulsa County Commission District 3 candidate Kelly Dunkerley has been falsely claiming an endorsement from a former Trump campaign official in mailings to voters. Stuart Jolly, who was national field director for the 2016 Trump campaign, denies ever having met Dunkerley and denies endorsing him. Three mail pieces, sent before...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 6, 2022 5:09 PM

John Wright for Tulsa County Commissioner, District 3

There are four candidates in Tuesday's Republican primary for Tulsa County Commission District 3, to fill the unexpired term of Fred Perry, who is resigning with a year and a half to go. This is the ideal situation for Instant Runoff Voting (ranking your candidates in order of preference), but...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 6, 2013 11:07 PM

Tulsa County Commissioner candidate forum Tuesday

A candidate forum for the Tulsa County Commission District 3 special election, sponsored by the League of Women Voters and Tulsa Community College will be held tomorrow night, Tuesday, June 4, 2013, at the TCC Southeast campus, 81st Street and U. S. 169, in the studio theater, from 6:30 to...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 3, 2013 7:21 PM

Ronda Vuillemont-Smith withdraws from Tulsa County Commissioner race

Citing the last-minute entry of former State Rep. John Wright into the Tulsa County Commission District 3 special election, Ronda Vuillemont-Smith has announced her withdrawal from the race. Vuillemont-Smith heads the Tulsa 9.12 Project, a Tea Party organization, and led last year's defeat of the Vision2 county sales tax. TULSA,...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 13, 2013 9:58 AM

Tulsa Election 2013: Filing complete

Filing ended Wednesday with a surprise: The last minute entry of former State Rep. John Wright in the Tulsa County Commission District 3 race, along with a Democrat, John Bomar, the first time a Democrat has run for this seat for as long as I can recall. One more candidate...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 12, 2013 7:38 AM

Tulsa Election 2013: First day of filing

Filing for Mayor of Tulsa, City Auditor, three city council seats, and the special election for Tulsa County Commissioner District 3 began today, April 8, 2013, and runs through Wednesday, April 10, 2013. Four candidates filed for mayor: Former Councilor Bill Christiansen, Former Mayor Kathy Taylor, frequent mayoral candidate Lawrence...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 8, 2013 2:37 AM

Vision2: A distraction from bigger issues

I was out of town, but last Friday, the Tulsa Republican Club had as its speaker a proponent of the Vision2 corporate welfare and pork barrel tax package. At its October meeting, the Tulsa Republican Club will hear from an opponent of the Vision2 package. A glance through my email...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 24, 2012 12:08 AM

City of Tulsa Vision2 forum: Time to ask the Mayor some questions

Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr is holding the first in a series of Vision2 public forums tonight (August 27, 2012, Webster High School, 5:30 to 7:30 pm) to ask what projects should be funded with the money the county would <sarcasm>graciously</sarcasm> allow the city to have. Never mind that no...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 27, 2012 12:52 PM

BOHICA: Chamber & County start agitating for another tax hike, regional unification

The TEA Party folks say they're Taxed Enough Already, but several of them who might have run against a Democrat Tulsa County Commissioner (with plans to raise our county sales taxes once again) opted instead to run against Republican legislative incumbents who are working to reduce our state income tax...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 15, 2012 11:56 PM

Murphey calls for county government reform

Via NewsFifty's Oklahoma news page: State Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) is considering proposing legislation to reform the structure of county government in Oklahoma. In an Edmond Sun op-ed, Murphey sets forth his concerns. At the heart, the lack of adequate separation of powers when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars:...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 25, 2009 12:06 AM

Vote against removing Liz Wright: An open letter to John Smaligo and Fred Perry

I can't attend Monday morning's Tulsa County Commission meeting, so I sent the following letter to County Commissioners John Smaligo and Fred Perry urging them to vote against removing Liz Wright from the TMAPC. (I didn't figure there was any point in sending it to Commissioner Karen Keith, the lead...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 22, 2009 11:56 PM

Karen Keith's <em>ex post facto</em> crusade for unfair zoning

Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith's bizarre and unprecedented campaign to remove Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission member Elizabeth Wright (for bogus reasons, a year before her term expires) reaches its climax on Monday, November 23, 2009, at 9:30 a.m., at a public hearing to be held as part of the...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 20, 2009 12:20 AM

Karen Keith trying to bully neighborhood leader off planning commission

UPDATE 11:40 a.m. 2009/11/02: Liz Wright called earlier this morning to tell me that the County Commission voted to approve the November 23 public hearing. Karen Keith based her call for a hearing on the need for geographical balance and her desire to make her own appointment, neither of which...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 2, 2009 12:07 AM

A response to Karen Keith

The Karen Keith campaign submitted a lengthy rebuttal in UTW to my column endorsing Sally Bell for Tulsa County District 2 Commissioner. Here's my reply: (1) Karen Keith doesn't seem to get the difference between one's philosophy of government and one's conduct as an elected official. I wrote: "Although Randi...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 1, 2008 8:39 AM

Rumble in Red Fork: Sally Bell v. Karen Keith

Steve Roemerman has a detailed report from Tuesday night's debate between Tulsa County Commission District 2 candidates Sally Bell (R) and Karen Keith (D). Steve reports that Keith claimed the sad state of Tulsa streets was because of "failed tax initiatives." I challenge Karen Keith to name one street-related tax...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 22, 2008 10:47 PM

Tulsa County Commission District 2 debate

Monday evening I attended a debate at All Souls Unitarian Church, hosted by the League of Women Voters. I suspect most of the people in the room were supporters either of the Republican nominee, Sally Bell, or the Democratic nominee, Karen Keith. Although I had expected the venue to be...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 21, 2008 12:06 AM

Sally Bell vs. Karen Keith debate on KRMG

The downtown Tulsa Kiwanis Club is hosting a debate between the candidates for District 2 Tulsa County Commissioner today beginning at 12:15. Republican Sally Bell will face Democrat Karen Keith. KRMG's Joe Kelley will moderate the debate, and it will be cybercast live online at krmg.com. It will also be...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 13, 2008 6:12 PM

TIF 201; Perry responds to "Realistic River Development"

Last week I wrote a primer on tax increment financing (TIF) districts. My column in this week's issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly is the advanced course: TIF districts as applied to Jenks' proposed billion-dollar River District development and a Branson Landing-type development on Tulsa's west bank. You can read all...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 12, 2007 11:10 PM