Ballot-question blitz is planned

BY BRIAN BARBER & P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
11/03/11 at 4:04 PM

Correction: A Tuesday Tulsa World story omitted the campaign finance report for District 6 Republican Byron Steele. It was turned in to the Tulsa City Clerk’s Office before the deadline. Steele reported raising $700 this reporting period and $2,200 this election cycle. This story has been corrected.

Read continuing coverage on the proposals seeking to change the government structure.

See the filed campaign finance reports.

Related Story: Council campaign donations set record

Save Our Tulsa is set to hit the streets midweek with a campaign blitz for its three ballot questions that seek to change Tulsa's form of government.

The nonprofit group reported raising $49,735 this election cycle, according to campaign filings due Monday.

The group submitted its report to the City Clerk's Office as did other political action committees and most City Council candidates.

Save Our Tulsa Co-Chairman John Brock said newspaper advertisements, yard signs and mailers will begin to appear starting Wednesday and through the weekend leading up to Tuesday's election.

"Our message is the same as it always has been," Brock said. "The system is broken, let's fix it, and this is how you fix it."

Save Our Tulsa's three City Charter changes were placed on the ballot through an initiative petition process.

The ballot questions seek to add three at-large members to the nine-member council and have the mayor chair of the council meetings; return the council terms to two years with elections aligned with state and federal elections; and switch to nonpartisan races.

Brock said there appears to be public support for the two-year terms and nonpartisan races.

He said it's the initiative petition proposition No. 1 that seeks at-large councilors "where we have had the opposition."

Brock said the "people don't understand that this thing has been broken for many years."

He said the public needs to remember back to the early 2000s when the "gang of five hijacked the council vote" and created difficulty for then-Mayor Bill LaFortune to move the city forward. At that time, five of the nine councilors formed a voting bloc against the administration.

He said adding at-large councilors should eliminate the ability of councilors to create that voting bloc again.

Brock said that starting this week and leading up to next week's vote should create the "final blast" needed to ensure voters understand the Save Our Tulsa proposals.

A fourth proposal comes from a majority of councilors and would replace the current strong mayor-council with a council-city manager structure.

The most-watched race in the Nov. 8 general election is in District 4, where political newcomers Blake Ewing and Ken Brune are vying for the council seat.

Brune, a Democrat and attorney, outraised Republican Ewing, a downtown entrepreneur, by about $15,000.

Brune received $47,585 compared to Ewing's $32,415.

Ewing raised $12,295 for his campaign this reporting period. Of that amount $1,445 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were $250 from Charles and Mary Patterson; $500 each from Frank Henke III, and Thomas and Vivienne Culver; $600 from Caleb Reynolds; $1,000 from David Sharp; $3,000 from Stuart McDaniel; and $5,000 from Vincent Lovoi.

Brune raised $27,860 for his campaign this reporting period. Of that amount, $4,860 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations included $250 each from Marvin Spears, Frank Fisher, George Otey, Jeffrey Scott, Gentner Drummond, David James, Andrew Williams, Gary Watts, Gregory Meier; $500 each from Michael Tramontana, Robert Peterson, Philip Haney, William Thomas, Robert Poe, Allen Smallwood, Bill Mizner, Joseph Parker Jr., Stephen Adelson, and John Gaberino Jr.; $1,000 each from Ellis Edwards, Robert Price, Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa, Thomas Kelly, George Krumme and Philip Marshall; $1,750 from Raymond Miller; $3,000 from Joseph Mueller; $5,000 from W.K. Warren Jr.

Defeated candidates: Republican Liz Hunt raised $4,230 for her campaign this reporting period and $19,029.37 this election cycle.

Democrat incumbent Maria Barnes did not file a report.

District 1

Election winner at primary: Democrat Jack Henderson raised $3,550 for his campaign this reporting period and $13,954.17 this election cycle.

District 2

General election candidates: Republican Jeannie Cue and Democrat Phillip Oyler did not file reports.

Defeated candidates: Republican Nancy Rothman raised $75 for her campaign this reporting period and $5,995 this election cycle.

District 3

General election candidates: Democrat David Patrick raised $8,850 for his campaign this reporting period and $9,602.44 this election cycle.

Of the $8,850, $850 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were $250 each from Michael Stanford and James Marchesano; $500 each from Anthony B. Davis, Robert Peterson and Art Couch; $1,000 each from John Bumgarner Jr. and Joseph Parker Jr., and $2,000 each from Robert B. Price and Tulsa Firefighters Local 176.

Republican David Bell raised $5,975 for his campaign this reporting period and $7,575 this election cycle.

Of the $5,975, $3,125 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were $250 from Jay Buckner; $300 from Dino Hux; $500 from Scott Harris; and $1,800 in-kind and cash from Jerry Springer.

Defeated candidates: Democrat Roscoe Turner raised $3,300 for his campaign this reporting period and $7,996.51 this election cycle.

District 5

Election winner at primary stage: Republican Karen Gilbert raised $5,225 for her campaign this reporting period and $18,570 this election cycle.

Defeated candidates: Republican Sam Roop raised $550 for his campaign this reporting period and $21,255 this election cycle.

Republican incumbent Chris Trail did not file a report.

District 6

General election candidates: Democrat Robert Gwin Jr. raised $988 for his campaign this reporting period and $1,538 this election cycle.

Of the $988, $38 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were a $500 loan to himself, $200 in-kind work from his father, Robert Gwin Sr., and $250 in-kind consulting from Mike Workman.

Republican Byron Steele reported raising $700 this reporting period and $2,200 this election cycle.

Defeated candidates: Republican incumbent Jim Mautino did not file a report.

District 7

General election candidates: Republican Thomas Mansur raised $3,275 for his campaign this reporting period and $16,325 this election cycle.

Of the $3,275, $1,025 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were $250 each from James Marchesano, Michael Stanford and John Bumgarner; $500 from Robert Peterson and $1,000 from Robert Price.

Democrat Michael Rainwater did not file a report.

Defeated candidates: Republican Steven Roemerman raised $472 for his campaign this reporting period and $4,938 this election cycle.

District 8

General election candidates: Democrat William Suliburk raised $2,325 for his campaign this reporting period and $20,169 this election cycle.

Of the $2,325, $724 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were $500 from Michael and Dorothy Tramontana and $1,000 from George Krumme.

Republican Phil Lakin Jr. raised $18,015 for his campaign and $75,540 this election cycle.

Of the $18,015, $2,365 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were $250 each from Barbara Dunn, Larry and Olivia Wagner, Jean Kelley, Phillip and Rene Maloney, John and Mary Bumgarner, Meredith Siegfried, Willis and Barbee Tomsen, Eddie and Patsy Sutton, Stephen Duenner, Charles Pennington and George Sutton; $400 from David Lamb; $500 each from Don Millican, Robert Petersen, John and Sandy Stava, J.R. McGraw, Stephen Heyman, Douglas Hill, Thomas and Donna Snyder, Thomas McKeon and Joe Dickman; and $1,000 each from Robert Price, Ken Harrell, James Adelson, John and Donnie Brock, Darton Zink, Joseph Craft III, Philip Smith, Leslie and Phyllis Simmons.

Defeated candidates: Republican George Gibbs reported $20,791 for his campaign this reporting period and $42,402.25 this election cycle.

District 9

General election candidates: Democrat Mike Batman raised $25 for his campaign this reporting period and $35 this election cycle.

Republican incumbent G.T. Bynum raised $7,485 for his campaign reporting period and a total of $58,325 this election cycle. The $87,000 number at the top of his form includes rollover money from previous campaigns.

Of the $7,485, $1,851 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were $250 each from Steve Austin, Robert Biolchini, James Orbison, Steven Ortwein, Ross Warren, David Thomas, Brian Hoeffer; $409.32 from G.T. Bynum; $500 from James Phoenix II; $1,000 from Robert LaFortune; $2,000 from Robert Price.

Other candidates who were all defeated at the primary stage and did not file financial reports by Monday's deadline include District 1 Democrats Jason Trent II and Twan Jones; District 2 Republican Judith Adams and Matthew Foster; District 3 Republican Randall Reese; District 4 Republican Rocky Frisco; District 7 Republican Elliott Parker, District 9 Republicans Kimberlee Whiteman and Robert Pinney.

PACs

Save Our Tulsa reported raising $49,735 this election cycle.

Of the total, $1,925 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were $250 each from Richard and Norma Small, Peter Adamson III, Raymond Batchelor, Joseph W. Morris, J. Harvie Roe and Ameritrust Corp., $300 from Frank W. Murphy, $500 each from John Pilkington Jr., Jack Short, Mickey Wilson, Donald Atkins, Don Quint, James McGill, Robert Rainey, Robert Thomas, Noble Investments, $1,000 each from John and Carole Nikkel, Neal and Hazel Seidle, W.K. and Margo Dunbar, Stephen Adams, HM International, Anchor Stone Co., James Lewis, KWB Inc., Esse Resources LLC, Robert Thomas Revocable Trust, $2,000 each from Patricia Wheeler and Mike Case, $2,500 from Keith Bailer, $5,000 each from Samuel Stone and Joseph Cappy, and $15,000 from John Brock.

Tulsa Biz PAC reported raising $9,825 this filing period and $43,200 this election cycle.

Of the $9,825, $775 was in amounts of $200 or less.

Other donations were $250 each from Stan Lybarger, Curtis Dinan and Chris Benge, $300 from Diane Murphy, $500 each from David Kollman, Michael Cook, David Page, Mike Thornbrugh and Jay Helm, $1,000 each from Stuart Deselms, Michael Neal, Howard Barnett and the Stacy Schusterman Revocable Trust, and $1,500 from Larry Mocha.

Working Tulsans reported raising $27,000 this election cycle.

Donations were $500 from George Bashaw Jr., $1,000 each from Paul Lackey Jr., Russel Richardson and E. Terrill Corley, $2,000 each from Daryl Wood-ard and Stuart Price, $4,500 from Burt Holmes, $5,000 each from Jay Helm, Stacy Schusterman and George Kaiser.

Brian Barber 918-581-8322
brian.barber@tulsaworld.com

P.J. Lassek 918-581-8382
pj.lassek@tulsaworld.com