Alexander answers, but not much

Exclusive:  As reported on Tulsa Today January 30, J.B. Alexander, Chairman of the Tulsa County Republican Party and now a candidate for Owasso City Council was cited January 23 for criminal assault and battery on a job site  while working for the City of Tulsa as a contracted inspector.

Since that time, Alexander has filed for office challenging incumbent Doug Bonebrake.  Alexander’s emotional and mental stability is exponentially more relevant as an aspiring politician, but there is another violation of Oklahoma law pending answer by Alexander.

Alexander was provided an advance copy of the previous Tulsa Today article and invited “to comment on any part of the story … welcome to provide quotes, corrections or perspectives.”  The deadline passed, the story posted and then Alexander by email responded.

Alexander wrote, “You were not present at the event last week so you have no idea what went down.  I stand by my actions and after reflecting on them over the past week I wouldn't change them.  After 13 years in law enforcement I have a pretty good feel about when to use force.”

Click here to read the original story, “Alexander’s anger: Politics to fisticuffs.”

As noted in that story, Alexander formed a citizen activist group in Owasso called the Owasso Taxpayer Alliance (OTA) which attempts on Facebook to answer “questions many have raised about the workplace assault.”  Click here for OTA’s Facebook page.

That posting begins, “Many of you are aware of the citation J.B. Alexander received about two months ago concerning a physical altercation. Since that time the company he works for and the city involved have both conducted internal investigations concerning this issue. Both of these organizations have a zero tolerance when it comes to any physical aggression.

“J.B. has been informed that through these internal investigations he has been cleared by both organizations and he has supplied us with correspondence to back up these results. This supports his position that he acted in self-defense,” the posting continues.

In preparation for this story, Alexander was contacted by email again and asked for proof of any “internal investigations” and the “correspondence” referenced in the OTA Facebook post.  Alexander has not responded as of this writing, but if he does, this article will be updated with what relevant comments he may provide.

Tulsa Today has received a copy of the Tulsa Police Department (TPD) Narrative of the incident (#2013004786) in which Officer Mark Moore investigating writes, “[Victim] sustained a cut on the left side of his forehead when Alexander punched him and he wanted to file criminal charges against Alexander for assault and battery.  Alexander also wanted to file criminal charges against [victim] for poking him in the chest with his finger.  I issued Alexander a citation #5926325 for assault and battery and he was released.  [Victim] was not given a citation for assault and battery since no one saw him poke Alexander in the chest.”

Detailed statements from two witnesses are included in the report.  Both support the victim’s version of events and no witness supports Alexander’s claim the victim poked him in the chest.

As a candidate for office, Alexander has established a Facebook page for his campaign (click here for that page) and a web site for the same purpose (click here for that site).

The OTA post also says, “J.B. has a great reputation in his industry as someone who is fair and honest.”

However, the graphic to the right is from a screen shot of Alexander’s LinkedIn profile before he filed for office.  As it clearly shows, he presents as one doing “civil engineering.”  To a qualified licensed civil engineer, that is offensive and, in Oklahoma, it is illegal.  It would be like someone representing themselves “Doctoring” or “CPAing” or “Lawyering” without a license.

The Oklahoma State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors has opened an investigation of Alexander and his company.  Mark Caruthers is the investigator for the Board and told Tulsa Today, “We have opened an investigation (case number 2013-012) and have sent Mr. Alexander a Cease and Desist order and have requested information on the types of civil engineering projects he and/or his firm provided.  Mr. Alexander was given 30 days to respond to our request.  Our next step will depend on the information we receive from him.  To date I have not received any response yet.”

Alexander does have one blogger supporting his candidacy for Owasso City Council specifically because of the Tulsa County Vision2 proposal opposed by Alexander and the blogger Michael Bates.  Both Alexander and Bates are friends, political allies and were public leaders often appearing in media interviews in opposition to the Vision2 proposal.

Bates writes, “The latest edition of the Owasso Reporter has a color ad in which five county officials, a state senator, and a state representative have endorsed [incumbent Doug] Bonebrake. Five of the officials are Republicans, two are Democrats, but none of them live in the City of Owasso … Six of the seven endorsers live in the City of Tulsa and the other lives in Broken Arrow. Sheriff Stanley Glanz lives in east Tulsa, County Commissioner Karen Keith, State Rep. Eric Proctor, and State Sen. Brian Crain live in midtown Tulsa, County Treasurer Dennis Semler lives in far southeast Tulsa, County Commissioner Fred Perry lives in Broken Arrow, and County Commissioner John Smaligo lives in Tulsa's Brady Heights neighborhood, a short walk from downtown Tulsa.”

Apparently, Bates thinks it is bad for other elected officials who have worked with the incumbent Doug Bonebrake over many years to endorse him.  And where does Bates live?  Bates makes a home in Midtown Tulsa (the 21st and Yale area at last report) far from Owasso.  Apparently, Bates does not see the hypocrisy of his position which is a regular complaint of many about his online pontifications.  Bates lost a position as a columnist with a weekly entertainment rag over a mistake of fact he was forced to admit under threat of court action and twice lost races for the Tulsa City Council.

Bates doesn’t give just a mild endorsement, but an over-the-top swearing for Alexander writing, “I've only known J. B. for about four years, from when he was first elected as GOP county vice chairman in 2009. What I've seen is that he is a hard worker, a committed conservative, and he has bent over backwards to be fair to everyone, notwithstanding the vocal complaints of the Big Government minority in the party. His day job involves ensuring that taxpayers get their money's worth on government construction contracts; he inspects the work to ensure that it was completed to specifications, without skimping on material or workmanship. Sometimes that means a contractor gets upset when he's told to redo work in order to fix a deficiency. It's not surprising that someone devoted to the best interest of taxpayers would be on the receiving end of darts from the political class.”

Wow, no hypocrisy darting there from a paid political operative – Bates also produces walking and mailing lists for candidates running for office.

The race in Owasso will be decided March 5, 2013 long before Alexander must answer the assault charge or the license (or lack thereof) issue.