On the Issues: How would you improve the openness of city government, including communications and open records policies?
By Staff Reports on May 13, 2013, at 2:24 AM Updated on 5/13/13 at 7:13 AM
Elections 2013
Every Monday through Nov. 4, the Tulsa World will publish answers from Tulsa mayoral candidates on questions about major issues leading up to the Nov. 12 election.
A civil engineer who worked in Iraq. A former college football player. Students eyeing political careers.
Every Monday through June 3, the Tulsa World will publish answers from Tulsa mayoral candidates on questions about major issues. Today’s question:
Dewey Bartlett
Current mayor (elected 2009)
I am proud my Administration received an A+ transparency rating from the Sunshine Review watchdog group. We also wanted to focus on bringing transparency to the citizens instead of having them have to come to us, so we implemented City Hall in Your Neighborhood. We recently completed the second round of City Hall in Your Neighborhood and with the help of our nine excellent councilors, we've greatly improved civic engagement and an openness of government. Finally, we took the KPMG study's advice and created an Open Records custodian to streamline all requests and provide a more efficient process for Tulsans.
Bill Christiansen
Former city councilor (2002-11)
Tulsa should utilize TGOV (local-access television) to adhere to complete transparency of our most important city boards. I will immediately implement a sunshine review task force to address Freedom of Information requests. The past two mayors have operated in secrecy and in blatant disregard for the rights of the tax-paying citizens. Great Plains bailout, costly new trash service, and the secret dealing in the purchase of our new City Hall are examples. The citizens of Tulsa have a right to know how our government functions and how our money is spent. These things will only happen in a Christiansen administration.
Kathy Taylor
Former Tulsa mayor (2006-2009)
Transparency is a priority to develop trust and involvement in city government. It should be integrated into the culture of every department in the city including financial information, crime data, road construction, land use, procurement and hiring. Timely, easy and understandable access to city information and services using 21st century technology is a high priority for my administration. The city should have an open-platform data portal that allows fast responses to Open Records requests, instant access to city information and encourages the development of new and innovative applications for that data that improve the way the city runs.
Elections 2013
Every Monday through Nov. 4, the Tulsa World will publish answers from Tulsa mayoral candidates on questions about major issues leading up to the Nov. 12 election.
A civil engineer who worked in Iraq. A former college football player. Students eyeing political careers.
