Tulsa World: Mayoral candidates Q&A

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Mayoral candidates Q&A

Tom Adelson
Democrat

By P.J. LASSEK & BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writers
Published: 10/25/2009 2:22 AM
Last Modified: 10/25/2009 4:30 AM

Visit the Tulsa World’s city elections Web page for continuing coverage.

In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 10 city elections, the Tulsa World will present the mayoral candidates — Democrat Tom Adelson, Republican Dewey Bartlett Jr. and independent Mark Perkins — with various questions about issues facing the city. Here are the candidates' responses, in 100 words or less, to today's questions about city budget issues.

Question: With city administrators looking for $6 million in cuts to the budget, what public service areas do you think could be scaled back to find savings?

Adelson: Tulsa is in difficult budgetary times. A silver lining is potential taxpayer savings in a more competitive marketplace. Additional procurement savings should come with modernization of city functions. Our police officers must be well-trained and well-equipped to ensure public safety, our No. 1 priority. However, the practice of taking vehicles home beyond Tulsa city limits when off duty costs Tulsa taxpayers $1.1 million each year. No other comparable city allows this practice. A PSO energy audit may generate savings of about $1 million. Taken together, these and other savings will get us through this budget crisis without any tax increases.

Bartlett: As mayor, I will change the entire approach to the delivery of government services. There

will be a complete understanding of what is "inherently government jobs." Many services can be done cheaper and better in the private sector. We will determine exactly what it costs to provide our services today. Then we will inject competition between the city and private sector to provide this service. This competition will bring out the best in our organizations and individuals. We can't just cut service. We must have a smart plan going forward while we make our government more efficient.

Perkins: I will make budget decisions like I make all decisions: after thorough consultation with knowledgeable professionals, armed with all the information and carefully calculated to produce results. My approach: 1) What are the primary expectations of the taxpayer citizens? 2) Is the funding directly related to fulfilling those expectations? 3) Are the allocated funds being used efficiently and effectively to satisfy those expectations? 4) Can we make modifications that enable us to produce the same results at a lower cost? Since real Tulsans are impacted, it would be irresponsible to surmise on service cuts before having access to the information.

Question: City leaders have often discussed the need for Tulsa to have a more diverse revenue base so that it doesn't have to rely so heavily on volatile sales taxes. How would you work to accomplish this as mayor?

Adelson: Successfully diversifying our revenue stream would require state legislation, a funding mechanism acceptable to taxpayers and one sufficiently insulated from economic cycles. So we must leverage existing revenues. The EMSA pact provides substantial economy of scale savings. Leveraged taxpayer dollars provide cost-effective, quality services at Tulsa City-County Library and Health Department. Local elected officials should seek cost savings through cooperative joint ventures. Information technology, public works projects, public safety, parks and utility services cost area taxpayers millions of dollars and are rife with duplication of services. Cities throughout America save millions through regional cooperation. We must do the same.

Bartlett: The city now receives over $39 million dollars each year in property taxes. Its use is limited to paying bond indebtedness and judgments against the city. The only way the property tax collected by the city can be used for any other purpose is through a constitutional amendment. I am not in favor of doing this if it increases the tax burden on Tulsans. I will promote efforts to have legislation passed that would return to Tulsa a portion of the state sales tax now collected from our city's taxpayers.

Perkins: There is no question we need to diversify our revenue sources. Unfortunately most of our diversification options require state legislative action. As a nonpartisan independent who does not participate in divisive partisan politics, I will be in the best position to work with legislators from both parties to pursue legislative priorities that improve the city of Tulsa's financial security. One priority would be to keep more of the revenue generated within the city of Tulsa from being reallocated by the state. Our city should be allowed to use more of our money for our infrastructure needs.

Question: Many cities fund public safety budgets with a designated tax, providing relief so the general fund budget can be used to provide other services. Would you support such a tax? Why or why not?

Adelson: Meeting public safety needs is priority No. 1. No, I am not in favor of rushing forward to create a new designated tax. Our country is still suffering from the recession, and the unemployment rate is rising. This tough economic environment demands belt tightening and smart, cost-effective delivery of city services. Oklahoma City's dedicated public safety tax is a good model to study long term. Their dedicated tax has demonstrated significant benefits. Those benefits have impacted other services beyond the city's public safety departments. Most importantly, their residents feel safe and happy with the return on dedicated tax dollars.

Bartlett: I am not in favor of raising taxes for public safety or any other purpose. That would be the absolute worst thing to do to our local economy and taxpayers. We don't raise taxes in a recession, especially when I see significant savings opportunities in our current government. Rather, we should look to see if we are financing jobs that are not inherently government jobs; what areas are we subsidizing outside of the core government services that need to be reduced or eliminated; and as an example, we need to examine how the police department and sheriffs department can work together to eliminate duplication of service so that both governments save taxpayer money and win.

Perkins: I am aware of the mechanism creating a Fire Protection District, which would allow for some portion of the district's property tax revenues to be used for fire protection funding. This would require an exception to our state law governing property taxes, and would likely result in an increase in property taxes. I do support diversifying funding sources, but that is different from supporting a tax increase. My primary goals are to reduce costs, increase efficiency, eliminate waste and, most importantly, increase our revenues. I believe tax increases should always be a last resort.

P.J. Lassek 581-8382
pj.lassek@tulsaworld.com

Brian Barber 581-8322
brian.barber@tulsaworld.com By P.J. LASSEK & BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writers

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	Report Comment jaenosjelantru, Tulsa (10/25/2009 3:43:11 PM) Perkins is a full fledged Democrat; I've met him. You got the wrong guy.
	Report Comment jaenosjelantru, Tulsa (10/25/2009 11:39:41 PM) "Perkins is a Chambercrat. A puppet of the Tulsa Metro Chamber." That's probably a better way to describe him than I did. He absolutely will raise taxes and support any new infrastructure taxes Karen Keith tells him to. He's a nice guy, but not a good mayor.
	Report Comment sj, tulsa (10/25/2009 9:06:18 PM) Dismayed, sorry someone is wrong , Mr. Perkins is a REGISTERED REPUBLICAN< WHO FILED AS A INDEPENDENT HAD ANY ONE PROTESTED HIS FILING INN TIME HIS NAME WOULD NOT BE THERE; HE THINKS HE CAN DRAW FROM BOTH DEMO AND REPUBLICANS TO BEAT BOTH PROPER FILED CANDIDATES; WANT A PROPER CANDIDATE BETTER STICK WITH BARTLETT OR ADLESION& AT LEAST THERE IS A DIFFERENCE OBAMA LOVER AND A CONSERVATIVE LOOKING OUT FOR OUR CHILDREN AND NO NEW TAXES.
	Report Comment The A Team, (10/25/2009 11:22:14 PM) Perkins is a Chambercrat. A puppet of the Tulsa Metro Chamber.
	Report Comment Dismayed, (10/25/2009 9:13:56 AM) As a nonpartisan independent? Isn't Perkins the guy who is a registered republican who just filed as an independent to get on the ballot? Or was that someone else?
	Report Comment nativedaughter, (10/26/2009 5:31:28 AM) NotN2U2Day: What Bartlett said makes sense: let the city workers and the private sector compete for the right to provide the service. Nothing wrong with competition and if the city workers are as good as you say, they will win the jobs. They have the right to compete - not a right to the job.
	Report Comment sweeper, (10/26/2009 9:23:08 AM) You guys are hilarious
	Report Comment NotN2U2day, T.B.D. (10/25/2009 7:18:00 PM) I think the Citizens of Tulsa should NEVER allow any of the city jobs to be OutSourced. The people who work for the city work there because they are dedicated employees and they love making a difference for the City of Tulsa. If you allow these mayoral candidates to be come Mayor and then to outsource even the trash, you should be concerned, very concerned. Citizens need to know what is going on.
	Report Comment NotN2U2day, T.B.D. (10/26/2009 7:52:17 PM) One thing about out-sourcing that a lot of people do not know is that it actually costs more in the long run and 90% of the companies that out-source end up bringing the work back to the regular employment status and giving up the out-sourcing. It looks really really good on paper for the first couple of years and then it no longer looks good on paper. Wasn't it Dollar and Thrifty car rentals that just recently had a huge interviewing processing to hire back in house managers??? Think about it...

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