TulsaNow candidate forum - meet district 4 hopefuls

[RecycleMichael]

This is scheduled for Tuesday June 4th and is being held at Foolish Things coffee at 11th and Main. People will begin gathering at 5:30 pm and the forum will start at 6:00 pm and last till 7:00 pm.

The candidates invited include the incumbent (and sometimes poster on this forum) Blake Ewing. He was first elected to the city council in 2011. Other challengers include Dan Patten, the past campaign manager for the Bartlett re-election campaign, Julian Morgan, a host of Live Event Trivia, and Elissa Harville, a housewife and writer.

District 4 encompasses downtown Tulsa and many of the nearby historic neighborhoods. It probably includes the highest percentage of appointees to city boards, authorities, and commissions and most of both the outspoken advocates and critics of local government.

Each candidate will be able to give a brief opening statement, then each will be asked to answer questions from our moderator, TulsaNow president Carlos Moreno. Answers will be limited to one minute with some opportunity for candidates to address each other. TulsaNow will also be making a video of this forum and plan to post it on this forum and on YouTube.

The questions are being written in advance. If you have specific questions that you would like to see asked, please send them to TulsaNow secretary Johnna Yoder at JohnnaYoder@yahoo.com.

This is a great chance for all of us posters to come out and socialize, get a cup of good coffee, and be entertained by candidates wanting our support. It would be great to get a big crowd or this forum. See you there.

[sgrizzle]

Apparently Dan has stated one of his priorities are road improvements, so my interest waned already.

[RecycleMichael]

Road improvements are still a priority for many people. I bet it would still poll first or second in any measurement.

I am with you. We have voted for well over a billion dollars for road improvements in the last five years. It is time to fund something else.

[Hoss]

Road improvements are still a priority for many people. I bet it would still poll first or second in any measurement.

I am with you. We have voted for well over a billion dollars for road improvements in the last five years. It is time to fund something else.

And the reason it's cost so much is we've taken a 'wait until it's completely FUBAR'd' approach to road maintenance.  Sure, road construction is a grumble.  But they're working on Memorial right now between Admiral and 11th, once of the worst sections of road in town.  Just the half they've completed is ten thousand percent better than what was there.

Just waiting now for the 'well, next winter it will be potholes again' comments.  As if that's a reason to not continue upkeep on infrastructure.  Might ask the families of the victims of the I-35W bridge collapse how that works.

[RecycleMichael]

Who thinks they can make this forum?

[Conan71]

And the reason it's cost so much is we've taken a 'wait until it's completely FUBAR'd' approach to road maintenance.  Sure, road construction is a grumble.  But they're working on Memorial right now between Admiral and 11th, once of the worst sections of road in town.  Just the half they've completed is ten thousand percent better than what was there.

Just waiting now for the 'well, next winter it will be potholes again' comments.  As if that's a reason to not continue upkeep on infrastructure.  Might ask the families of the victims of the I-35W bridge collapse how that works.

They are doing the mile between 21st & 31st on Yale in concrete, that should prove more durable than the years of asphalt and over-patch.  I can't wait for them to address Harvard between 41st & 31st.  Easily two of the bumpiest intersections of town and they have been that way since I started driving over 30 years ago.

RM, it's a possibility I might make it.

[AquaMan]

I would like to go. Is the coffee good?

Conan, that stretch of Yale between 21st and 31st needed concrete badly. After one heavy spring rain I returned home to see 3 ft long slabs of asphalt that had been lifted and moved along the street. And that was 35 years ago.

[patric]

They are doing the mile between 21st & 31st on Yale in concrete, that should prove more durable than the years of asphalt and over-patch.

When our asphalt street was replaced last summer, I was surprised to see about a foot of concrete far beneath... which was removed and replaced with gravel and a liner.
Never understood why the concrete was removed.

[Conan71]

When our asphalt street was replaced last summer, I was surprised to see about a foot of concrete far beneath... which was removed and replaced with gravel and a liner.
Never understood why the concrete was removed.

I saw that.  We cut through your 'hood coming and going from Riverparks on the bikes all the time.  When my family had a house at 26th & Delaware from '69 to '77, there was already asphalt throughout the neighborhood.

[Vision 2025]

When our asphalt street was replaced last summer, I was surprised to see about a foot of concrete far beneath... which was removed and replaced with gravel and a liner.
Never understood why the concrete was removed.

The situation you described can make for an inconsistent base that can cause ride and subsurface drainage issues resulting in lesser life of the paving section.  It can also cause surface failures from water being trapped between the concrete and asphalt surface (if we had any subsurface moisture, not much lately) via freeze/thaw damage.  One of the major reasons some/many of our roads are bad is the variety of base and or highly plastic subsurface conditions we have.

[RecycleMichael]

I guess it is true. Tulsans are obsessed with roads. No matter the topic, if someone mentions roads, the conversation becomes about roads.

Is there any other topic you would like discussed with these council hopefuls?

I can't wait to tell outsiders about my hometown on what an attraction this is. We could use another 100 cops on the street, our water and sewer bills are going up double digits, and we are tearing down park rec centers, but damn it, we need to spend more on roads. The last two votes now raise over $12,000 in taxes for a family of four. When can we fund something else?

[Conan71]

I guess it is true. Tulsans are obsessed with roads. No matter the topic, if someone mentions roads, the conversation becomes about roads.

Is there any other topic you would like discussed with these council hopefuls?

I can't wait to tell outsiders about my hometown on what an attraction this is. We could use another 100 cops on the street, our water and sewer bills are going up double digits, and we are tearing down park rec centers, but damn it, we need to spend more on roads. The last two votes now raise over $12,000 in taxes for a family of four. When can we fund something else?

Can we discuss beer?

[RecycleMichael]

What beer question would you have for a City Council candidate?

[Conan71]

What beer question would you have for a City Council candidate?

Who is going to throw free keggers when they win?

[TheArtist]

I think I can make it. 

My question, nobody on here will be surprised, would concern pedestrian friendly development. 

Perhaps...

What will you do to encourage Tulsa's core to become more pedestrian friendly in order to compete with other cities who are attracting and growing more jobs, and increasing tax revenue, like Salt Lake City, and even Denver whose city council recently stated it's TOP, #1 priority is " transit and multi-modal transportation investments "?