Upcoming election fundamentals
The Obama Administration acknowledged Friday, as the family began vacation at Martha’s Vineyard, our national debt will exceed $9 trillion within ten years. This fact begs two simple questions: First, if citizens write checks without value they get arrested, so why can’t taxpayers arrest government doing the same? Second, do Americans really want a nanny government suckling all from the top down or freedom from continually escalating tax and regulation to build a better society from the ground up?
Even “ground up” folk know some tax is required to fund appropriate services, but there are only three ways all government spends seized private money: 1.) Benefits, 2.) Bureaucracy, or 3.) Bricks and Mortar. With the increased attention by citizens on the national Democrat Party’s unchecked spending on unread, unknown, and amorphous legislation, every race (local, state and national) is being judged more severely.
Locally, Tulsa elections are highlighting primaries for mayor and city council with voting Sept. 8. The overwhelming fundamental debate is over what kind of government we want and how we want it organized. I’ll address council races and charter questions later this week, but here are a few notes for consideration relating to the mayoral race:
Chris Medlock – Republican. Strange as it may sound, this Republican candidate is following Obama’s style, but from the right of the political spectrum – a campaign of insult and glittering generalities. Medlock is a proven serial liar. He is a demagogue using insubstantial twisted thought to demonize people and issues to the detriment of civic problem solving. He did so repeatedly when briefly elected to the City Council. The conspiracy fantasies he promoted (school mates conspire in corruption, the BOK Center will never be built, etc.) while, again briefly, hosting a local radio talk show were, at best, stupid and damaging to listeners new in their interest in public policy.
Medlock’s attempt at a political career began as Liberal Democrat, then pro-abortion Republican, now he is on the right tip of the right wing. He is an ambition extremist looking for a constituency. Despite his pointless press releases, private polling suggests Medlock will earn less than 10 percent of the vote. http://www.medlockformayor.com
Paul Tay – Democrat. Contributing to the insanity of public debate is candidate Paul Tay, who lists his occupation as “bicycling advocate and self-promoter.” At least he is more honest than Medlock. Tay is best known for dressing in a Santa suit and riding his bicycle down area highways. He’s also appeared peddling on a public road with a six-foot inflatable penis attached to the back of this bicycle. More bizarre than not, Tay’s effort will provide a count of how many people in Tulsa think it is funny to waste their vote on the village idiot. http://pimpthistownvotepaultay.blogspot.com
Other highlights or odd-lights from the list of eleven candidates for mayor include:
Nathaniel Booth – Republican. The 18-year-old shows promise and purpose in principle, but vastly under-experienced to run a city with more than 5,000 employees and an annual budget topping $560 million. However, he’s impressed many as being one of the best speakers in many Republican candidate forums. http://www.nathanielbooth.com
A. Burns – Democrat. A perennial candidate never elected, but still filing at age 82. He does not drive and is often seen walking downtown. No web site listed.
Anna Falling – Republican. A former city councilor most noted as co-founder of the Tulsa Cornerstone Assistance Network and other organizations providing charity services in less affluent areas of Tulsa. Her effort appears focused on inspiring church groups to solve civic issues, lowering taxes, and building public infrastructure in “west, southeast, and north Tulsa,” which are not growing from private investment. Apparently, she thinks it is good public policy to ignore the areas of Tulsa booming with commercial success currently overwhelming public infrastructure. http://annafalling.com.
Robert Gwin, Jr. – Democrat. He is a night manager at Kum & Go with no political experience and no web site. He answered the daily print rag’s question of top priorities saying, “…be a champion of same sex couples who are too often ignored in Tulsa by allowing any city worker of the same [sexual] orientation to add their partner to their benefits package. This as well as, pressure the Oklahoma legislature to finally make same sex marriage legal, [sic] this will have a massive economic impact for Tulsa and Oklahoma at large.”
Norris Streetman – Republican. A realtor and developer, he is the most pleasantly surprising “dark horse” candidate in the race. With abundant attitude and well-fixed fundamentals, his campaign is focusing on fighting crime, improving streets, and increasing jobs. http://www.streetmanformayor.com
The top contenders for the office of mayor at this time appear to be:
Dewy Bartlett, Jr. – Republican, President of Keener Oil and Gas, twice elected city councilor and a long time civic leader promises first not to raise taxes. He speaks of prioritizing needs and better management of city functions, but he may be too polite for bare-knuckle local politics. A competitive conservative with earned success in the locally important energy industry, Bartlett supports external audits to evaluate government operations and pledges open transparent government. Bartlett advocates cooperation between dissenting political positions and has fought passionately for good government principles, but can he control the bureaucrats in city positions since Moses was young? Bartlett encourages redevelopment to increase residential density and grow our local economy saying, “We need to have more taxpayers living in Tulsa, and that will ultimately improve our budgetary problems and help our businesses thrive.” http://www.deweybartlett.com
Tom Adelson – Democrat. An attorney serving as Oklahoma District 33 senator (elected 2004); Adelson is the player of choice for most Democrats and the apparent heir to Mayor Kathy Taylor. Although well funded, some Tulsans question if he has distinguished himself within the Senate. Adelson is promoting cost effective consolidation of government, but without details beyond general examples of Clarke County, Georgia and Indianapolis, Indiana, where consolidation has worked. A merger between City and County government in Tulsa could be very interesting given the ongoing fight intensified by Democrat Mayor Taylor. While complex, a merger of the City (annual budget $560 million) into the County (annual budget $60 million) should save the public money without reducing service levels. http://www.adelsonformayor.com
Look for more on the local elections of Tulsa City Council, City Auditor and Charter Change questions next week.
About the author:
David Arnett
David Arnett began his career in professional journalism in 1985 and has published Tulsa Today since 1996 – before Al Gore invented the Internet. He has won two national awards as a First Amendment Publisher. Arnett is an idea guy, a Constitutional Republican, a Conservative Media Critic and a proud pain in the political derriere of the disingenuous. This analysis may be reproduced without charge with proper attribution and links to the original source. Arnett is available for interview by recognized media.
Last Updated ( Friday, 28 August 2009 )