Editor's Note: The Tulsa World will feature a day on the campaign trail with each of the leading mayoral candidates this week. Wednesday's paper will feature Bill Christiansen's campaign; Thursday's paper will feature Kathy Taylor's campaign.
View A day on the campaign trail with former Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor.
View A day on the campaign trail with Bill Christiansen.
Dewey Bartlett couldn't run from his name if he wanted to - and he definitely does not want to.
"I'm voting for you," the woman in the ticket booth tells him. "I voted for your father."
Bartlett extends his long arm, takes his change and thanks the woman.
"Let me know if there is anything I can do for you," he says.
His parking paid for, Bartlett steers his silver Lexus SUV away from Tulsa International Airport and points it toward downtown. This will not be the last time this day that someone brings up Bartlett's father, former Oklahoma Gov. and U.S. Sen. Dewey Bartlett Sr.
And that is just fine with the son.
"I get a lot of that. Quite a few people remember my dad," Bartlett says.
"I think he was not sure how I was going to turn out. ... I wish he were here to see how I turned out."
Bartlett Sr. died March 1, 1979, but the mayor's mother, Ann Bartlett, lived to see most of his current term in office. She died in January.
A week from today, Tulsans will have their say on how Dewey Bartlett Jr.'s administration has turned out and whether he deserves another term as mayor - or at least a crack at winning re-election in the Nov. 12 general election.
If one recent day full of campaign stops and official city business is any indication, Bartlett's not sweating it.
He begins the day at 6:30 a.m. in the living room of his spacious, two-story brick home in midtown, where he meets with his campaign manager, Dan Patten, over an espresso.
Bartlett makes his own, in an alcove of the kitchen adorned with a "Victoria Station 1747" clock - a nod to his wife, Victoria Bartlett, for whom he climbs the winding wooden staircase to deliver an espresso of her own.
He is wearing a gray suit, a white shirt and a blue-and-white tie. On a round, wooden table are copies of the Wall Street Journal and the Tulsa World.
Bartlett will end the day in the same suit, surrounded by his family - including Victoria, son Dewey III, daughter Andrea Brown and her husband, Brad Brown - at the Paul McCartney concert at the BOK Center.
How Dewey-ish: all business and always up for a good time.
"He loves music. ... He loves people. He loves a party," Bruce O'Connor, a Bartlett boyhood friend, says after an afternoon campaign stop at the Inter-Chem Co.
"But he also loves to serve and to work hard, as well, and I think that balance is what makes a great individual."
Bartlett, 66, no doubt still has a lot of young man in him. He's growing pecans in Osage County, hasn't lost his love for photography and rides a silver Harley V-Rod.
He fondly recalls his younger days, when he helped run the family's cattle ranch in Delaware County.
"That is really how I used to relax - getting on a tractor, getting a chain saw, kicking rocks," Bartlett says. "It was great. I don't get to do that much today."
Dewey Bartlett the candidate is no different from Dewey Bartlett the mayor: personable, not polished, his remarks - normally unscripted - occasionally punctuated with classic Deweyisms such as "hoo-rah" and "so there you are."
But folksy makes not a fool. While on the campaign trail making his pitch for continuity of leadership, efficient government and improved public safety, Bartlett is wise enough to understand the appeal of self-deprecating humor, for example.
After an 8 a.m. meeting of the Tulsa Airport Authority, he stops by the Burgundy Place independent living center for a meet-and-greet. Some residents aren't sure who he is. Others are - and Bartlett's ready to give as good as he gets.
"Very nice to see you," he tells Ann Bessette. "Hope you are well."
"I'm glad you came here to talk to us," she says.
"Just don't throw anything at me - no tomatoes," Bartlett responds.
"I don't promise anything," Bessette snaps back with a smile.
Bartlett won't get to his office at City Hall until after 4 p.m. Before his afternoon campaign stop at Inter-Chem, he will stop to get his hair cut at A Sharper Image Hair Design, grab a burger at the Chalkboard Restaurant - the site of his first date with Victoria - and join city energy consultant Mickey Thompson for a meeting with Airgas executives.
At his office, Bartlett spends a few minutes signing documents before heading off to a 5:30 p.m. campaign forum sponsored by Tulsa's Young Professionals.
Then it's off to the concert.
Voters will soon decide how long he'll be on this ride of a lifetime, but Bartlett seems unperturbed by it all - even as it takes up every waking moment of his life.
"How're you doing?" a man on the elevator asks as he leaves City Hall.
"Couldn't be better," Bartlett says.
The man pauses a moment, then says: "Well, I was about to make a comment - if you win the election, you will be."
A day with the mayor
Mayor Dewey Bartlett's May 29 schedule:
6:30 a.m.: Meet with campaign manager at Bartlett's home
8 a.m.: Tulsa Airport Authority meeting
10 a.m.: Meet and greet at Burgundy Place independent living center
11 a.m.: Haircut at A Sharper Image Hair Design
Noon: Lunch at Chalkboard Restaurant with city energy consultant Mickey Thompson
1:30 p.m.: Meeting with executives at Airgas Co.
3 p.m.: Campaign speech to workers at Inter-Chem Co.
4:30 p.m.: Sign documents at his office at City Hall
5:30 p.m.: Attend Tulsa's Young Professionals candidates forum
8 p.m.: Paul McCartney concert
Kevin Canfield 918-581-8313
kevin.canfield@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Bartlett's name precedes him
