Tulsa World: Republican mayoral candidates make their pitches

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Republican mayoral candidates make their pitches

Republican Mayoral candidates Chris Medlock (left), Norris Streetman, Dewey Bartlett and Anna Falling share a laugh during a meeting of the Republican Club of Tulsa on Friday. MIKE SIMONS/ Tulsa World

By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
Published: 7/17/2009 4:17 PM
Last Modified: 7/28/2009 3:33 PM

Five of the 11 Republican candidates competing to be the city’s next mayor spoke Friday to the Republican Club of Tulsa, hoping to make themselves stand out from the pack.

It was the first opportunity for candidates Dewey Bartlett Jr., Kevin Boggs, Anna Falling, Chris Medlock and Norris Streetman to appear together since the election filing period ended earlier in the week. The primary will be Sept. 8.

Bartlett, 62, Keener Oil & Gas president and former city councilor, said, “Now, more than ever before, we need to have a conservative, strong, dependable manager as our mayor.”

Bartlett said the job is a serious one that is not just for anyone.

“It’s going to require someone with very significant experience in the business community and the civic community,” he said.

Bartlett said he would focus on improving the city’s basic infrastructure, while working to add jobs and residents in the city. He also said he supports the use of external audits to make government more efficient and opposes any new taxes.

Boggs, 50, a Federal Express employee, said he was set to compete for the mayor’s job before Mayor Kathy Taylor cancelled her re-election campaign when few other people were.

“We don’t need career politicians,” he said. “We don’t need people who are divisive. What we need are people who care about making this city better.”

Boggs said he wants to focus on all areas of Tulsa, not just one or two. “We have to change the hearts and minds of people throughout the city,” he said. “It’s not about me. It’s about the citizens.”

Falling, 40, cofounder of several Christian charities and former city councilor, said if she didn’t know better, she would be scared to come to Tulsa.

“Have you guys ever seen some of the statistics about Tulsa?” she asked the crowd. “We are twice the national average when it comes to murder in the city.”

Through her charitable work, Falling said, she has been able to target “pockets of need” to help address problems.

“My passion is to see Tulsa reach its full potential,” she said. “Tulsa is a city on a hill, but our light is fading.”

Medlock, 51, former city councilor and conservative radio talk show host, said: “Tulsa is facing some very serious times. This is about as bad as I’ve seen Tulsa in my lifetime.”

With the economy and other issues, Medlock said, it’s going to take a great team to turn the city around.

If elected, Medlock said, he would hire a city manager for his administration.

“This person would handle the day-to-day operations of the city, leaving me for what I am better at, which is the high-level, policy-driven ideas and going out and selling the change,” he said. “I am a communicator.”

He said he wants to explore officially changing Tulsa’s form of government from a strong mayor-council to a strong council-city manager, which is what Oklahoma City has. That would require voter approval.

Streetman, 53, a Realtor, who described himself as “a newcomer, no one knows me,” said he comes from a family with a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit.

“A lot of us are afraid, but it takes strong leadership to say, ‘Hey, you can,’?” he said. “If you’ve got a right idea and a bright idea, let’s make it happen. I believe in that philosophy.”

Streetman, who was trailed by his videographer while networking at the event, said he’s an “outsider” who will tell it like it is.

“It’s probably going to be tough for me to win, really,” he said. “But if I can get out some issues that you guys aren’t listening to, then so be it.”

The other GOP candidates in the mayor’s race are truck driver David O’Connor, contract petroleum geologist Paul Roales and political unknowns Michael Tomes, John Todd, 18-year-old Nathaniel Booth and Michael Rush.

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By BRIAN BARBER 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 "GOP mayoral hopefuls vie for prominence," which was published on 7/18/2009. So far, 34 comments have been made.