Tulsa World: Bartlett wants 'slanderous' TV ad pulled

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Bartlett wants 'slanderous' TV ad pulled
Adelson says he stands by the ad but will double-check its accuracy.

"Great Plains" from Tom Adelson campaign.

By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
Published: 10/3/2009 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 10/3/2009 4:04 AM

Tulsa Elections: Read bios of candidates for mayor, City Council and city auditor and view a map of City Council districts.

Republican mayoral candidate Dewey Bartlett is calling for his opponent Tom Adelson to pull a television campaign ad about Great Plains Airline that he says is "false, misleading and slanderous."

Bartlett also is demanding that Adelson, a Democrat, publicly apologize to him, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and the state.

Bartlett called a news conference Thursday to address the negative television ad.

Bartlett said Adelson "has once again exhibited temperament that is absolutely not suited to be mayor of this city. He has a history. He called the governor a traitor and (said he) should be shot. He called the speaker of the House of Representatives a schizoid."

Bartlett said the ad falsely claims that he, as a member of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, diverted toll-road money to be invested into Great Plains Airlines, which ultimately went bankrupt.

The ad says: "Dewey Bartlett raised turnpike tolls, then diverted our money to a privately owned airline that was going broke. Money needed to fix our roads went up in smoke with bankrupt Great Plains Airlines. Just more bad business from Bartlett."

"It's an outright lie to claim that dollars for roads were diverted and that money meant for roads

'went up in smoke,' " Bartlett said. "That clearly did not happen, and Sen. Adelson should pull this ad immediately."

Bartlett provided minutes of a 2002 Turnpike Authority meeting which show that the authority did approve letters of intent to provide financing for an aviation hub for Great Plains. The minutes also show that there was discussion that legislation would be needed to allow the authority to act on the letters of intent.

Former authority member Kell Kelly was present at the news conference, as was former authority member Fred Hall via speakerphone, and both said that ultimately no authority money was ever spent for the airline.

Bartlett said that in his opinion the ad is libelous and slanderous but that he does not plan to file a lawsuit.

Adelson said Bartlett did seek to involve the authority in plans to fund an aviation hub at the Tulsa International Airport for Great Plains. By approving the letters of intent, the authority "clearly voted to use some portion of their financing ability," he said.

Adelson said a Nov. 26, 2002, article in the Journal Record states that "the authority would also gain a preferred equity position in Great Plains."

Bartlett said: "That is absolutely wrong. I never heard anything like that."

Adelson said the fact that Bartlett states that the Turnpike Authority would need legislative approval for its investment plans to move forward "does not diminish Mr. Bartlett's poor judgment."

Adelson said he is not apologizing but that out of an abundance of caution, he will look at the ad for accuracy.

"Unlike Mr. Bartlett, I take the importance of accuracy very seriously," he said.

"To date, the Tulsa World has verified the accuracy of our television ads," Adelson said. "The Dewey Bartlett campaign does not dispute the accuracy of a current ad criticizing his support for new toll roads in Tulsa.

"Bartlett showed us the skyline of Oklahoma City and asked us to believe it was Tulsa. Now, he is asking us to believe that he had nothing to do with our tax dollars going to a bankrupt private airline — Great Plains."

P.J. Lassek 581-8382
pj.lassek@tulsaworld.com By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Bartlett calls for Adelson to pull TV ad," which was published on 10/2/2009.

	Report Comment Lance-a-lot, Tulsa (10/2/2009 7:30:56 PM) Screw the both of them...vote Mark Perkins for mayor!
	Report Comment Urban Crab, Tulsa (10/3/2009 1:58:34 PM) Watch out, Tulsa. Adelson is a snake.
	Report Comment Mar, Tulsa (10/2/2009 4:56:19 PM) I'm still on the fence, but I have my reservations about Adelson now. Especially when I found he donated money to Obama. Now if the ad regarding this article is false that Adelson put out there, not looking good for Adelson. I don't know, I'm beginning to look at Mark Perkins more seriously. What surprises me is how quiet the mayoral race has been. I expected more tv and print ads, yard signs, etc. Though I don't like negative campaigning. It's easy to trash your opponent(s), but more difficult to not do so and just talk about what you will do for the city. You are correct What the ? and orange glove. Libs like Blesstguy get confused easily.
	Report Comment Eric, Tulsa (10/2/2009 4:47:00 PM) ... Jackys' right. This started out with all the making of a good, fair and well-balanced campaign. I expected this kind of cr@p with Medlock in the race. What the h*ll happened here? ... .. .
	Report Comment my view, Sand Springs (10/3/2009 9:48:05 AM) Another of the half stories by P.J. Lassek.
	Report Comment FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (10/2/2009 10:51:05 PM) I say to all mayoral candidates, PULL AND STOP ALL THE ADS. We've heard enough, lets just vote.
	Report Comment FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (10/7/2009 9:56:20 PM) Does it really matter? Most have made up their minds on the election. Whether true or false, the ad is irrelevant in terms of who the voters are going to support. Only the last minute voters might be swayed by this trash.
	Report Comment Iluvflys2, Tulsa (10/2/2009 5:34:09 PM) So Blesstguy, where are your facts published so we can send them to Dewey?
	Report Comment Barf-Bag, Chouteau (10/3/2009 7:18:16 AM) Another reason to use Tivo and fast-forward thru commercials and etc. Boy, am I glad I don't live there any more, but maybe Taylor is looking better to some of you now.
	Report Comment Webmeister, Tulsa (10/3/2009 8:49:48 AM) "..diverted our money to a privately owned airline that was going broke". Well, actually, while a board member of TAIT, voted to divert $7.1 million in Tulsa taxpayer money to Bank of Kaiser, AFTER a privately owned airline already went broke. Thanks, Dewey. I feel much better knowing that the 24th richest man in America is just a little bit richer with Tulsa taxpayer dollars.
	Report Comment Ric, Broken Arrow (10/2/2009 4:45:52 PM) Geesh, this didn't even happen in high school.
	Report Comment Ignatz, A nice place where Democrats hold every office in the County. (10/2/2009 4:52:58 PM) Bartlett's concern indicates that the ad, accurate or not, is working. Normally politicians let these things go on for a couple of more days or longer then pull it and about 6 in the morning on a Sunday announce it has been pulled. Sadly, that's the nature of the beast. As someone said long, long ago when the phrase had some resonance.."politics ain't bean bag."
	Report Comment dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (10/2/2009 8:12:59 PM) They're both crooks. VOTE PERKINS!!!
	Report Comment Jacky, small town Oklahoma (10/2/2009 4:23:43 PM) This campaign got ugly fast...
	Report Comment Thunder196, Tulsa (10/2/2009 6:07:21 PM) Hey, Bartlett, too bad how sad. Bartlett had the OTA people speak up for him. LOL
	Report Comment WhoseLeft, Tulsa (10/2/2009 5:21:47 PM) Seems to me that accuracy may be an issue for this campaign since Bartlett's ad had him positioned in front of the SKYLINE of OKLAHOMA CITY. That would be pretty inaccurate unless he is running for mayor of OKC. Or, as in all our dark imaginations, since most of our money seems to go to OKC anyway, maybe the Mayor of Tulsa will have an office there. Bartlett's ad accuses Adelson of the sin of liberalism. Would that were true. Adelson is pretty darn moderate.
	Report Comment Matt in BA, Broken Arrow (10/2/2009 4:51:24 PM) This story looks like material for a Plante cartoon next week, maybe even for the weekend.
	Report Comment justiceawaits, Claremore (10/3/2009 8:02:40 AM) Score round 2 for Adelson. Looks like Bartlet is going to get spanked. This trying to set up a hub with taxpayer funds while working for the government with a company You happen to own, sems like a conflict of interest to me. I would be interested to know more about Bartlet`s slimey business deals.
	Report Comment What the ?, OK (10/2/2009 4:36:55 PM) Did I read the story wrong, Bless? Doesn't it say Adelson's commercial is inaccurate? Isn't that why he's going to check on the "accuracy" of it. He should know the "accuracy" BEFORE he ok'd the commercial. Just asking....
	Report Comment sirwinston, (10/2/2009 7:21:47 PM) Well I did not know he was on the board of the OTA. I will not vote for him now. How dare he try to use tax dollars to support an airline that failed. Tax payers lost 8 million dollars. Why doesn't he reimburse the tax payers and maybe we'll talk about letting him be our mayor.
	Report Comment MisterSmith, (10/3/2009 5:37:59 PM) Why doesn't Bartlett file a lawsuit for slander if he's so sure the ad is inaccurate. Not so brave when push comes to shove I guess. Clearly, Bartlett is all talk.
	Report Comment Blesstguy, Tulsa (10/2/2009 4:28:34 PM) Wow get a Republican upset by telling the truth and all of a sudden it is negative advertising. Hey big boy when there are public records and you were part of the group that did exactly what you are being accused of doing is not negative. It is telling the truth and people in Tulsa need to know what the truth is!!!! Way to go Tom!! Now let the independent in the debate. If you do not it will hurt you not Dewey!
	Report Comment Blesstguy, Tulsa (10/2/2009 4:53:58 PM) I remember when this story happened. It was a big controversity att he time because there should be no reason for the turnpike authority subsidizing an airline when the toll roads need work!
	Report Comment Blesstguy, Tulsa (10/2/2009 5:14:30 PM) There was nothing negative about the ad at all. It was a statement of facts. When the republicans do this tactict it called good politicing but when a Democrat does it, it is called negative. They would not put something out there without knowing that it is factual based. It made it seem ole Dewey was the main guy but we know he wasn't, he was just part of the group that did it and it makes it a factual statement.
	Report Comment Blesstguy, Tulsa (10/2/2009 5:20:25 PM) Orange Glove: Here are the facts while good ole Dewey was a good ole boy on the OTA. 1. Tolls were raised. 2. Money was diverted to a privately owned airline. 3. That privately owned airline went bankrupt. 4. It is public record that OTA loaned money to help start the HUB in Tulsa. So you need to go back to the schoolyard and play with the kiddos

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