But does any of this really matter...?

[Rico]

Some half a dozen months ago, or maybe a little longer, I attended a reception for then Candidate Kathy Taylor. The event was somewhat smaller, than others I have heard about, therefore the opportunity arose for me to ask Ms. Taylor a few questions.

I was sure these questions would tell me if things were going to be different under a Mayor Taylor as opposed to a Mayor LaFortuna.

The main questions I asked and she answered were the following.

1. If you are elected to the office of Mayor will you retain a "Cabinet?..
   
   
   The answer to this was in a round about fashion that "she would need to have a group of advisors... But did not feel she would be calling them her Cabinet... and they in no way would be a substitute for what she felt the City of Tulsa was in need of... that being a true Hands on Mayor.."
   
   To her Credit, I feel she has done this, the City is better off for this being done...That would be the only comment I have on this matter.



2. During your possible tenure as Mayor will your State of the City speeches be delivered to an exclusive Metro Chamber audience.?



The answer to this was something I thought would be very telling.. she responded with the following..
"If I am Elected the next Mayor of Tulsa I will have my State of the City Speeches at a location where anyone and everyone that wants to be present can be.. at the Civic Center, Convention Center, whatever it takes... That is the way we did things in OKC when the Govenor had his State of the State speech and that is the way things will be done if I am Elected your next Mayor."




3. Do you feel that the crime in Tulsa deserves to be a priority above everything else.?

Ms Taylor's response to this was that "Yes she was going to make public safety and crime in Tulsa priority one."
Well we all have different opinions on the facts regarding this and I am not really going to make the case that she has or hasn't done this to a certain degree.. Do I feel it has become the "single most important thing on her Agenda..

No.



The points I am getting at are the following....

Do any Politicians ever tell the Truth..?

Does the Tulsa Metro Chamber have some "God Bestowed" place in society that we need to be made aware of..?

Is all of this something that I and the rest of the Citizens of Tulsa should even be concerned with..?

Does any of this BS remind anyone other than myself of some condescending person that you may have known in your past that you would prefer to forget about..?

The following is an email I received from the Mayor's office today.
The only change I have made to the text.. was to enter a somewhat sarcastic Greeting as opposed to my name.

Dear Citizens of Tulsa that Have a Computer,

It has been just over six months since I began serving as Tulsa's Mayor and I wanted to take a moment to bring two items to your attention. For those friends who were not present during the State of the City Address, I want you to have the chance be a part of this as well.  If you would like view the 20 minute video of this event please click this link.

I invite you as well to log on to my personal blog link which will journal my participation in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC). This is a week-long, multi-service orientation program on national defense issues.

The first part of the exercise includes a briefing by senior officials at the Pentagon to discuss national defense matters from a strategic perspective. We will also observe activities and operations of each branch of the military on bases overseas.

I am very honored to be a part of this experience and have the opportunity to see first hand the work being done by our military personnel -both in the defense of our country and in building strong communities throughout the world.  For security reasons, we are not given an itinerary until the conference begins, but past destinations have included Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Singapore, Korea and Japan.

I am honored to have the opportunity to join great people who have chosen to work together to Make Life Better for all Tulsa.

Best Wishes,

Kathy Taylor
Mayor

In closing this I Welcome any and all comments..

But does any of this really matter........?

[RecycleMichael]

I am seeing three or more things here and I don't know which ones you are talking about.

Are you mad that she gave "a state of the city" speech to the chamber? Tickets were available to the public, but the chamber organized it.

You think she should give more of theses speeches? Is your point that she sent out a video of the speech and you wanted it to be some big event that you would be invited to?

Are you saying that public safety isn't a priority? Didn't she work with officers to make a task force that has helped cut the murder rate in half? Didn't she sign contracts with police and fire to give pay raises? Do you expect her to solve all the crimes herself?

The next paragraph is confusing to me. Do you not want her to send out e-mails to friends? Is it because she is traveling outside of the city? LaFortune went all over and I don't remember any outrage. He went to Germany and Israel just a few months apart in late 2004 early 2005.

I guess your question is really "does any of this really matter"?

I have no idea.

[Cubs]

Kathy Taylor --- like Brad Henry --- does nothing

[waterboy]

quote:Originally posted by Cubs

Kathy Taylor --- like Brad Henry --- does nothing

rribbit, rrrribbit. burrp.

[Rico]

quote:Originally posted by recyclemichael

I am seeing three or more things here and I don't know which ones you are talking about.

Are you mad that she gave "a state of the city" speech to the chamber? Tickets were available to the public, but the chamber organized it.

You think she should give more of theses speeches? Is your point that she sent out a video of the speech and you wanted it to be some big event that you would be invited to?

Are you saying that public safety isn't a priority? Didn't she work with officers to make a task force that has helped cut the murder rate in half? Didn't she sign contracts with police and fire to give pay raises? Do you expect her to solve all the crimes herself?

The next paragraph is confusing to me. Do you not want her to send out e-mails to friends? Is it because she is traveling outside of the city? LaFortune went all over and I don't remember any outrage. He went to Germany and Israel just a few months apart in late 2004 early 2005.

I guess your question is really "does any of this really matter"?

I have no idea.

The point is.. she either lied... or just took office and found out how things work....

Very Good... for $40 bucks and an afternoon off one could sit with the Chamber and hear her speak..

In any event... Not every person in Tulsa owns a Computer.. This release from her office is approximately one month after the fact..

Would have been a step in the "Right Direction" if this had been publicized in advance.. That is to anyone other than the TMC..

She was not elected solely by the Metro Chamber.. Yet she and the past Mayor... do a whole lot of their answering to them.

The Metro Chamber is paid by the City of Tulsa more than 2 Million Dollars a year...

Anyone ever see the "Contract"...? FYI They are contracted through the EDC..

Do they have to issue updates..? Reports..? do they ever have to account for the monies they spend..?

If so let's see a copy.

This Mayor was at the home of one of her personal friends when she made the statement that "Every Tulsan would be able to come and listen to her deliver her State of the City Speech..

In your "Worldly and slitely biased opinion" does every Voter in Tulsa Have a Computer..?

Does every Voter in Tulsa have the extra $40 dollars and an afternoon to spend at the Doubletree at Warren Place.?

Do the Voters deserve a Mayor that answers to them and not a, let's call a dog a dog, PAC that the City pays and, from what I see, has little or no accountability.?

Public Safety has a place on the City agenda..

If I did not make that clear I apologize..
Do I feel it is the "Top Priority" as stated in the Campaign..
No..
In fact in the "taped delay" State of the City dpeech.. it is the third thing mentioned before the Chamber..

"Economic Development was #1"

Finally RM...... "Do I think she should give more of these speeches..?"

I think she will give as many as the Metro Chamber wants to arrange..

After all... LaFortuna was on the Board of the Metro Chamber when he was Mayor...

[Conan71]

Well, it comes as no surprise that political candidates make all sorts of promises to become an elected official.  Most engage the average citizen during the campaign and cater to the upper eschelon after they are elected.

Some of the promises are pure pie-in-the-sky, some of it is not really having a clue as to what you can and can't do when you are elected to that position and what the priorities are going to have to be once you take office and see what really needs to be done and what really hasn't been done by the previous office holder.

Probably the most telling and honest statement I've heard about this was Fred Perry, after winning the County Commissioner race stating: "Now we need to go find out what all this job entails."- or a very close quote to that.

Addressing the "State of The City" address: this should not have turned into a $40 a head Metro Chamber fund-raiser.  There are plenty of venues around the city where this could have been done at no charge.  For the whining I've heard on this board about the cost of having a photo ID to vote being such a burden, then our own mayor and chamber are managing to exclude those from lower income levels from participating in an important city forum, eh?

While no proof was ever uncovered that Mayor Taylor voted twice in an election, it cast some dispersions on her honesty because of the way she stammered through her response and did not offer a firm denial for several hours until, IMO, her campaign confirmed it could not be proven.  I was also turned off and saw it as somewhat dishonest that she portrayed herself as a "single mother" in the campaign and distanced herself from being married to one of Tulsa's wealthier citizens.  It was for those  reasons I didn't vote for her.  So, FWIW, I believe she's capable of skirting the truth.

That being said, to this point, I think she has done a credible job as mayor.  I believe she is far more hands-on than "Deft Bill" and she has worked to repair rifts between the Mayor's office and other branches of city government.  

Unless she does something really bone-headed, I'll vote for her next time around.  I think to this point, she's proven herself an able administrator, though I believe she needs to listen to the average citizen and have open forums to let them know what is going on with their government and to give them free access to it.

[Rico]

Originally posted by Conan71.

quote:


That being said, to this point, I think she has done a credible job as mayor. I believe she is far more hands-on than "Deft Bill" and she has worked to repair rifts between the Mayor's office and other branches of city government.

Unless she does something really bone-headed, I'll vote for her next time around. I think to this point, she's proven herself an able administrator, though I believe she needs to listen to the average citizen and have open forums to let them know what is going on with their government and to give them free access to it.

I concur with your assessment of the Mayor's job performance to date..

My point is... she can "launch a history making Neighborfest" series of events.." to increase Citizen involvement in the City and it's Government.." yet, for the most part, the community is excluded from the State of the City Speech.
She is accountable to all Tulsan's not just the TMC..

Furthermore, the TMC if they are to continue to receive City monies, needs to issue public reports as to what they have done.
They need to be held accountable even to the point of being subject to the City Auditor.
They are paid more than twenty times the amount paid the Mayor, and yet, has anyone ever seen a report as to what they have done for the cash.?
The most recent Budget included an added cost of nearly 40 thousand dollars to be paid to the TMC, that on top of the Two Million Plus..,for what was termed in the budget as " Reallocation of personnel" to work in advance on the BOK Center.
Do we have a ghost work force.?
Is the TMC the place we outsource our pet projects.?
Is their a "bidding process" that is gone through to make these deals.?
How do we know they are the "best qualified" for the projects.?

Is this similar to the "Channels" they tell us what is best for us.?

[Conan71]

I couldn't agree with you more.  TMC should be accountable if they are recieving funds from the city.

Didn't Karen Keith work for Mayor Bill?  She now has a job down at the TMC.  I guess it's sort of a "retirement" plan for the appointed subordinates of previous civil leaders.

[RecycleMichael]

So the real beef is that the Chamber isn't doing what you want and the mayor hasn't done anything about the financial and overall relationship between city hall and the chamber.

The Chamber certainly has critics, especially on this board.

[jne]

I'm getting a kick out of this thread. Everyone seems to agree here - although RM seems to be treading very lightly.  The chamber is blowing it! I think Taylor has done a commendable job, but I don't think it is unreasonable to lean on her a bit for pandering to the chamber.
BTW - participating in the JCOC sounds like resume building for a long term political career.

[aoxamaxoa]

TMC has used the "if we tell, everyone will know" line for over 30 years.

Yes, we all agree....

[rwarn17588]

I don't pay attention as much to the promises made as I did these things:

-- Can this person bring competence or leadership to the table as an officeholder?

-- Is the person the candidate is running against having a problem with competency or leadership?

The answers in the last mayoral election were:

1) Yes, Taylor has shown signs of competence and leadership in the past, with her last state job.

2) Yes, Mayor LaFortune was having big problems in both of those areas.

So that made my vote easy to cast in the general election.

If both candidates seem sound, THEN you focus on other issues, promises and the like. You have to make sure the fundamentals are there before you sweat the smaller stuff. No one would except OU to field a good football team without a stout offensive line or a crack defense, would you?

LaFortune's deficiencies became so glaring that I couldn't see how any reasonable person could have voted for him -- except in the unlikely case that his opponent was even less competent.

That's why I couldn't comprehend a few of Tulsa's pontificators (you know who they are) who lambasted LaFortune for 3 1/2 years, then turned around and endorsed him for mayor after the primary. It genuinely made me question their sanity.

There's a time when an official's performance is so bad that you have to set aside your partisan leanings when you go into the voting booth and simply choose for the greater good. The mayoral election was one of those times.

[papaspot]

quote:Originally posted by Cubs

Kathy Taylor --- like Brad Henry --- does nothing

LOL! You're real long on opinion and real short on details, arn'cha there, Cubs? [}:)]

[Rico]

quote:Originally posted by recyclemichael

So the real beef is that the Chamber isn't doing what you want and the mayor hasn't done anything about the financial and overall relationship between city hall and the chamber.

The Chamber certainly has critics, especially on this board.

"The real beef" is ..

If we were talking about a puppet I would say the Chamber was 100% of the problem..

Mayor Taylor had the moxie to go toe to toe with fat Bill and his bunch of stooges..
So I do not think she is a puppet...

But she is the person holding office.. She gave her State of the City Speech before the Chamber rather than the Citizens of Tulsa..

I find it extremely troubling that the person that holds the highest office in the City has the appearance of a special allegiance to the Tulsa Metro Chamber...

When Mayor Taylor appointed "Himelfarb" that was such a financial wizard... I had hopes that perhaps...just perhaps.. this was leading up to the end for the TMC...

Many, many, threads ago I wrote that they should take City Hall and start at the top and work their way down.. Do away with the status quo.. run a Government that was truly run by the people and not just a good ol boy system..
Do away with the only change being the faces of the people in power...

Taylor, during her Campaign, seemed to be someone that was able to grasp the need for such a sweeping change..

Many threads and much of the talk on this board is in regards to "Making Tulsa a Happening Place"..

What would make "Tulsa a Happening Place"... a group of people that are truly trying to bring better days to Tulsa..  *Note: I said days and not Islands...*

Not "Buck Reynolds" that has made his living on the repair of bicycles... and knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that a Bicycle maufacturing plant moving to Tulsa would be the answer to Tulsa's economy..

One can only guess at the multitude of conflicts of interest that exist inside the TMC...

These fellows at the Chamber know diddley about form based codes,Downtown Revitalization, geez the list could go on forever..

Tulsa Now is the entity putting on the Speakers, Forums, Workshops...etc. that pretain to what the "Now Generation" seems to be concerned with... Not the Tulsa Metro Chamber..

At this time the TMC is contracted through the Economic Development Commission....

The Economic Development Commission, along with the City Council, along with the Citizens of Tulsa need to demand an accountability from the TMC..

Hell, let's turn Phil Wood loose on their books.. Lets have them give a weekly presentation before the City Council..

Instead of just having a Mayor's report....
We could have a Mayor's Report and follow that with the Tulsa Metro Chamber Report..
they could give us the details of what they accomplished for the week...


Well Mr RM there you have it... Mayor Taylor has an oportunity to make changes that would be to the benefit of Tulsa from now on...

But sending her constituents an email with a link to a speech given before a wall covered with nothing other than the words Tulsa Metro Chamber...is not the direction of things to come.... it is the direction of things that should disappear..
 

[RecycleMichael]

Rico...

Let's get to the root of the problem. Lay down on the TulsaNow couch and let it all out.

Why do you hate the Tulsa Metro Chamber?

They get two million a year from the city budget. Is that it?

They work for the region instead of the city? Is that it?

They spawned a group of young professionals that remind me of the singing group "Up with People"? Is that it?