Tulsa World: All Tulsa mayoral candidates address Hispanic community

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All Tulsa mayoral candidates address Hispanic community

From left, Tulsa mayoral candidates Tom Adelson, Mark Perkins, Dewey Bartlett Jr. and Lawrence Kirkpatrick at the Hispanic Chamber's Mayoral debate on Wednesday. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World

By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
Published: 10/28/2009 4:50 PM
Last Modified: 10/28/2009 4:50 PM

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

All four mayoral candidates said Wednesday that racial profiling of Hispanics by any Tulsa Police officer would not be tolerated under their administration.

They also said as mayor they would address the fear many of the city’s Latin Americans have in reporting crime in their areas due to immigration crackdown.

Democrat Tom Adelson, Republican Dewey Bartlett Jr., and both independents Mark Perkins and Lawrence Kirkpatrick participated in a mayoral forum held by the Greater Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Bartlett said building good communication between Tulsa police officers and Latin Americans is essential because “obviously the fear aspect that we’re witnessing is not a good thing. It’s a terrible thing and stops good crime prevention.”

Bartlett said eliminating the college education requirement for the volunteer auxiliary police would allow more bilingual people to be recruited to act as a conduit between police and the Hispanic community.

Adelson said he attended the Police Department’s Mingo Valley Division and saw first hand how the dialogue between police and neighborhood has been somewhat damaged.

He suggested assigning police to specific neighborhoods so that trust can be

built “so that people when they are concerned or have a need to call police will do it because they have that relationship.”

Perkins said he too believes putting cops in neighborhood to create a presence so that residents can “get to know an officers outside of the traditional role of an arrest is important,” not only to build trust, but to gather intelligence to help solve crimes.

Kirkpatrick said the issue is something to watch closely. He said he needs to “quietly look at the records and see what is really happening and deal with it.”

All the candidates were asked about how they would address concerns of an English-only language law which would hinder language guidances for Hispanics seeking health, public safety and city services.

Bartlett said the city shouldn’t stand in the way of a language barrier.

“Obviously, being a U.S. citizen English is our common language,” he said. Speaking English is advantageous to all parties when dealing in business, commerce and personal activities, “but we have to be aware that if there are problems where a language barrier exist we need to do something about it.”

Adelson said there are about 31 states that have adopted some form of a language only law.

He said as mayor he will ensure Tulsa will continue to be welcoming to all newcomers. “We need to recognize our strengths lie in our diversity of our citizenry,” he said.

Perkins said that if the impact of a law would make it more difficult to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents. “It wouldn’t make sense and I would tell my legislators I opposed it,” he said.

Kirkpatrick asked: “When you say English, are you talking about the English language or the American language? There is a difference.”

Bartlett said that when looking for appointments to city boards, commissions and authorities, he would seek recommendations from the Hispanic community.

“My threshold, would be experience, the ability to communicate, good vision, and a good understanding of job creation and business development,” he said.

Adelson said there isn’t a tradeoff between diversity, high quality, or experience, and he expects diversity to be reflected in his appointments and on his mayor’s staff.

Adelson said as wide of an experience base as possible. He said “life experience, cultural experience, and educational experience,” are all equally important qualities that reflects how a person interacts with citizens.

Perkins said his management philosophy is to surround oneself with the best talent from the top to the bottom. He said he’d include the Hispanic community in his search.

“It’s who will do the best job,” said Perkins about his final selection.

Kirkpatrick said he would find positions in the city for Hispanics.

“What I’ve seen of the Hispanic workforce, they can do a lot of good,” he said. By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "Mayoral candidates come out against profiling," which was published on 10/29/2009. So far, 39 comments have been made.