Tulsa World: Hopefuls: Preserve police force

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Hopefuls: Preserve police force
Three mayoral candidates agree on that overriding point but find their differences in the details.

Mark Perkins (center), an independent candidate for mayor, answers questions during a mayoral candidate forum Monday at Clinton Middle School while Democrat Tom Adelson (left) listens and Republican Dewey Bartlett Jr. takes notes. SHERRY BROWN / Tulsa World

By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
Published: 10/27/2009 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 10/27/2009 6:00 AM

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

No Tulsa police officers' jobs should be cut as city officials work to reduce the budget by $6 million, the three major mayoral candidates said at a forum Monday night.

Tom Adelson, the Democratic nominee; Dewey Bartlett Jr., the Republican nominee; and Mark Perkins, an independent candidate, all said they support the city's efforts to see whether the federal stimulus grant the city recently received to hire 18 more officers can be used instead to retain current officers.

But each also said he would look elsewhere for cuts, if he were the mayor, and spare the police force.

Perkins, a lawyer, said independent manpower studies have shown that the Tulsa Police Department needs more officers.

"I don't believe in a time where it seems our crime rate has been rising that we need to reduce our manpower level," he said during the forum, which was co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Tulsa County News.

"That would send us in the wrong direction."

Bartlett, president of Keener Oil & Gas Co., said public safety needs to be Tulsa's funding priority.

"When you walk outside, it's important that you not only feel safe but that you are safe," he said.

Police clerical and desk positions that are held by police officers

need to be consolidated and filled by civilians so the officers can be out on the streets, he said.

Bartlett also said the educational requirement for reserve officers should be reduced from a college degree to a high school diploma so that more people would be available to support the force.

He also said he would have the city's energy use audited to find savings.

Adelson, a state senator and lawyer, said public safety is a top responsibility for the mayor.

"Wherever we go in the city of Tulsa, we need to make sure we have the safety and security we've grown accustomed to," he said.

Adelson said he thinks the city could reduce expenses by negotiating with the police union to stop allowing officers who live outside Tulsa to drive police cars home, a practice that costs about $1.1 million a year.

He also said savings could be possible through an American Electric Power-PublicService Company of Oklahoma electricity use audit and by making sure that the city is getting all discounts it is entitled to in its vendor contracts.

Because the forum took place at Clinton Middle School, in west Tulsa, the candidates also addressed how they would move that area of the city forward.

A key component, all agreed, is completion of the long-gestating Gilcrease Expressway.

Adelson said that although road money has dried up at many levels of government, he is committed to seeing the project proceed.

"Look at the development along (U.S.) Highway 169 and what that has done for commerce in south Tulsa," he said, adding that similar benefits would come by finally linking west and north Tulsa.

Bartlett touted himself as the candidate who has the state and federal connections to help get the expressway done.

"We've been waiting around for this for decades and decades," he said, noting that it would open up a lot of land for residential and commercial development that would help the entire city.

Perkins said it is important to partner with area officials and Oklahoma's congressional delegation to make sure that a project that has been on the books for 50 years doesn't take another half-century to complete.

"What was a good idea a long time ago is still a good idea," he said. "It's critical to economic development for the city."

Brian Barber 581-8322
brian.barber@tulsaworld.com By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Mayoral candidates weigh in on police cuts," which was published on 10/26/2009.

	Report Comment you'rekidding, tulsa (10/27/2009 12:13:44 AM) I'm hoping Bartlett's old money will not be a factor in his election.
	Report Comment okie ridgerunner, Small Country Town State Line (10/27/2009 10:06:11 PM) Anne M. Green,I did not go to college or even finish high school.But I have had people working for me who went to college and was very surprised when they found out that i had not gone and they was working for me.college only means something if you have learned the right things.
	Report Comment okie ridgerunner, Small Country Town State Line (10/27/2009 10:08:28 PM) Thank you.
	Report Comment sirwinston, (10/27/2009 2:15:11 AM) The city needs to stop spending money on sign inspectors. I think that money would be put to better use paying police officers to be able to respond to crimes in progress. We are in a recession. Realize it.
	Report Comment fld11, (10/27/2009 8:00:35 PM) Cutting the police department was long overdue and is certainly welcome news. They have outgrown their role and have arrogance throughout the department. We all know that there are too many employees in that department compared to other cities of this size. What will happen next is that they will blame the "increase" in crime, which is a fallocy, on the department cutback. The problem is that this is simply a ploy to sway public opinion, but it certainly won't work this time around boys. The good old boy days have come to an end. The mayor did the right thing. Period.
	Report Comment sweeper, (10/27/2009 9:19:44 AM) Do you actually read the papers? Gang problems, firearm thefts, shootings, meth labs. We need to do everything we can to at least keep our manpower levels. Don't see how that's irrational.
	Report Comment Anne M. Green, Tulsa (10/27/2009 5:09:18 PM) There are some intriguing suggestions here for budgetary solutions - from all three of the mayoral candidates. However, I have to disagree with this one by candidate Bartlett: "the educational requirement for reserve officers should be reduced from a college degree to a high school diploma so that more people would be available to support the force." Hmmmm. I vote "NO" to that one. I may not understand what a reserve officer does, but any reduction of educational requirements to carry a gun, enforce the law, and ensure my safety are not at the top of my "negotiable" list. I don't think that a college degree guarantees intellegence or good judgement, but I have met some of Oklahoma's high school grads that can't speak, write, spell, or do simple math. If they did not apply themselves in school enough to have basic life skills, I clearly don't want them to bring that same work ethic with them "on the job." It sounds like Bartlett is saying that lowering the educational requirements would allow for "cheaper" officers, thus his quote, "more people would be available to support the force." Ummmm, no thanks.
	Report Comment focuses, (10/26/2009 11:49:30 PM) And what will be the legacy of the next mayor?
	Report Comment TCB, (10/27/2009 8:36:48 AM) "in a time where it SEEMS our crime rate has been rising . . . ." Way to feed irrational and unfounded fears, without doing any homework. It'll come back to bite you in the axe if you're actually elected - I promise. Irrational citizens demand irrational things. You better be prepared to give them.

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