Tom Adelson



Q&A

  1. A recent presentation by a city councilor showed Tulsa's overall police and fire budget has grown more than three times above the rate of inflation over the last 40 years without adding manpower in at least the last decade. It has been described as "unsustainable growth" with the city's current level of revenue. How would you propose to address this situation?
  2. I am always conscious of the obligation to make government services give value for taxpayers’ hard earned dollars. Maintaining public safety and providing critical services; such as, clean drinking water, adequate sanitation operations and a usable transportation network define the essential core of city services. Cost increases over time reflect inflation, population increases, technology changes and service area growth. In the last decade, population increases and service area growth impacted less and is almost certainly reflected in the lack of manpower growth.

    Every effort will be made and every stone overturned finding cost savings and seeking more efficient operations in all areas of city government. A good starting point is to remember the importance of careful budgets analysis and fully understanding historical costs. It is critical to compare “apples to apples”.

    In the State Senate, I chaired the Health and Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee. I oversaw the budgets for Medicaid, the Department of Health, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, and the Department of Veteran Affairs. Annual budgets for these state agencies exceeded $1 billion. I always found it useful to approach the budgeting process by asking: First, what are we required to do? Second, what does it make sense to do? And last, what do we want to do? I’ve found that following this protocol ensures that essential needs are met first , especially in tough economic times. Costs savings coupled with a smart budgeting process rather than tax increases is what is needed.
  3. Over the last several years, controversy between the City Council and mayor's administration has triggered discussions about changing from the current strong mayor- council form of government to a city manager-council form of government and about having Tulsa's elected offices be non-partisan. Would you support either of these ideas? Why or why not?
  4. Ultimately, this is for the citizens of Tulsa to decide. What’s important is that we attract highly competent leaders to public service. The form of government is secondary to the talent and capacity of those who serve. Indeed, in recent months, there appears to have been politically inspired difficulties between the city managers and the city councilors in Bixby and Broken Arrow that led to the termination of employment of two professional city managers. It is also important to remember how much study and research was invested in the decision to change to our current form of government. Many diverse organizations such as the Metro Chamber and the League of Women Voters chose our strong mayor-council form of government as best suited to the needs of Tulsa. A strong point in support of the current system is that it encourages citizen participation from all parts of our city. I think that is a good thing to encourage.

    As to the issue of non partisan elections, it appears as if the voters will decide this issue in November at the same time a new mayor is elected.
  5. Improving mass transit (i.e. additional bus service, rail lines, etc.) has been a major topic of discussion through the city's ongoing PlaniTulsa comprehensive planning process. Do you believe Tulsa's public transportation system needs improvement? Please explain.
  6. The issue of mass transit is properly considered along with the other elements of our surface transportation system. In 2008, Tulsans took a major step forward by approving a $452 million streets initiative. Long term, we will need to do more to fully meet our needs. The growth in south Tulsa justifies four-laning of several arterials. However, we have to be much smarter about how we grow as a city. For the last 30 years, we have constructed about 25 miles of new streets each year. At the same time, we have lost about 1% of our sales tax market share to surrounding communities. A model with ever increasing infrastructure costs, especially maintenance costs, supported by ever decreasing population density is simply not sustainable. We need to invest in a more compact Tulsa and make mass transit reflect the population density.
  7. What would be your top three priorities if you are elected?
  8. My top three priorities as mayor:

    1. Maintain and improve streets, roads, essential services like clean water, sewer and trash operations, and other vital infrastructure.

    2. Insure public safety, for instance combating and targeting gangs and the violently resurgent meth crisis.

    3. Continue and expand ongoing efforts and progress in modernizing city government and its operations to produce cost savings for taxpayers.