Tulsa World: Political Notebook: Candidate wants police to use foreclosed homes

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Political Notebook: Candidate wants police to use foreclosed homes

Streetman

By BRIAN BARBER & RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writers
Published: 7/26/2009 3:57 AM
Last Modified: 7/28/2009 3:29 PM

Streetman proposal: Tulsa mayoral candidate Norris Streetman said last week he wants to use foreclosed, vacant homes as mini police stations in the city's worst neighborhoods.

"Until the average citizen realizes that crime is at their doorstep .... we won't be able to take a stand against it," said the Republican, who is one of 11 candidates vying for the GOP nomination.

Streetman, who is in real estate, said he has talked to private investors who may be able to make the idea a reality. However, he said he has not talked to police officials about it.

Streetman said he knows the city's police force is stretched thin. He said he's not suggesting officers stay at the homes all the time, but that they can be used as a place to fill out paperwork and perform other duties.

The same strategy has been put to work in Iraq by the military to help cut down the murder rate, he said.

"I'm taking ideas from different parts of the world, not just locally," Streetman said. "That's the kind of mayor I would be."

Medlock questions Bartlett: Republican mayoral candidate Chris Medlock is questioning why fellow GOP mayoral opponent Dewey Bartlett Jr., as a Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust member, voted for Mayor Kathy Taylor's $7.1 million lawsuit settlement regarding Great Plains Airlines.

"Dewey Bartlett is claiming to be a conservative Republican," Medlock said in a press release, "but he supported a Democrat mayor in one of the single biggest giveaways of taxpayer money in this city's history. Bartlett needs to explain his wasteful actions to the voters.

"This was $7.1 million of city property taxes that Tulsa didn't owe," Medlock said, "but which Kathy Taylor paid in full, to the Bank of Oklahoma."

Taylor, whom Bartlett endorsed, appointed him to TAIT. He just resigned from the board to run for mayor.

Bartlett called Medlock's press release "political rhetoric" and declined to comment further.

Stimulus update: State Auditor and Inspector Steve Burrage, who has been given responsibility for tracking the state's federal stimulus money, says he has some concerns about the ability of some entities to properly document its use.

"We don't (routinely) audit individual school districts," he said. "I have a lot of concern about them. We're (investigating) four districts right now and we've been asked to come into two more."

Burrage said he has impressed on everyone from the governor's cabinet officers to newly elected school board members the importance of controls.

Concerning the stimulus program itself, Burrage said money is only now beginning to make its way through the system and into the economy.

"You can't give the money out all at once. Contracts have to be bid and the work done. I beg people to stop and not be so judgmental."

Brogdon to speak: Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brogdon will be featured speaker at the After Five Republican Women's Group, 6 p.m. Monday at Cowboy Sharkies Restaurant, 5840 S. Memorial Road.

Fourth District challenger: Iraq War veteran R.J. Harris of Norman has announced his candidacy for the 4th Congressional District. Harris, a Republican, will challenge GOP incumbent Tom Cole.

Sullivan speech: 1st District Congressman John Sullivan will be featured speaker at the Tulsa Republican Club, 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 7 at the Summit Club, 15 W. Sixth St. By BRIAN BARBER & RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writers

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	Report Comment Alan Shore, (7/26/2009 9:32:28 AM) Chris Medlock slinks back from the dustbin of history...
	Report Comment Observer3, (7/26/2009 12:17:25 PM) Thank you, Chris Medlock. Please don't let this issue die. Dewey Bartlett is just another rich Tulsan who just wants to take care of his friends with no thought to the average voter.
	Report Comment ajohnb, Jenks (7/26/2009 7:02:49 PM) And Mr. Streetman. Who is going to buy yhrese home for the Tulsa Police? Just because they are foreclosed on doesn't mean they don't have and entity, usually bank, owning them. And where will the money come from?
	Report Comment Dismayed, (7/26/2009 8:33:02 PM) So Medlock doesn't have any real issue to discuss so brings this up? I'd be much more interested in how he plans to run the city if he's elected. But wait that might require some serious thought and not just mudslinging.
	Report Comment Webmeister, Tulsa (7/26/2009 9:08:40 PM) Another Trust Fund Baby as Mayor, a Mayor Bartlett (Jr.) would be four more years of Kathy Taylor running this city for the privileged ruling Establishment. Just like the past 50 years. Might I remind those voting in the GOP Primary that so-called RINO Dewey Bartlett supported Democrat Mayor Kathy Taylor's Re-Election?? He'd be Kathy Taylor again, without the warmth..... Vote for a real Reformer: Chris Medlock.
	Report Comment Bliss, Okc (7/26/2009 9:38:24 PM) It's time to kick the crooked criminals that use a gov. job to steal OUT. Now there are too many that needs kicking out particularly in Okla. and Neb....get to WORK!
	Report Comment lufkin, (7/27/2009 1:48:15 PM) Jr. Bartlett equals four more years of Her highness--Kathy Taylor..Bartlett is a trust fund baby,elitist,shill for the establishment.
	Report Comment misfit missy, no thanks (7/28/2009 1:05:26 AM) My gosh....the little house of horrors.

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