Why am I running?

I believe it is time for a new kind of politician in Tulsa – a version 2.0, if you will. Tulsa has been invigorated with "A New Kind of Energy," and from that, a new kind of politician is born. You don't have to be wealthy, run a corporation, or be from a connected family anymore. A person such as me who didn't grow up in the best neighborhood, went through public schools, got his first job at 15, and has a passion for Tulsa can be a leader in this new era. Since I can be a leader in Tulsa, I want nothing more than to be the Councilor for District 8 so I can help Tulsa become the most vibrant and well run city it can be.

Community Connected with Government

As your District 8 Councilor, the first thing I will do is to initiate monthly public meetings for District 8 residents. I will host the meetings in a public venue, paying out of my own pocket if necessary. I want to create opportunities to connect in person and let the residents know what is going on with District 8 and the rest of the city. The residents in turn will be able to voice their opinions directly to me as well. I would encourage discussion between everyone in attendance on the issues facing our district and the city as a whole. In addition to these meetings, I will make myself available by phone, e-mail and in person for one-on-one conversations.

The city, and District 8 in particular, has seen several instances recently where the residents were not well informed about what was being built in their own backyards until it was already too late. I will set up an e-mail newsletter system so that the citizens in District 8 will be informed about zoning requests, and new developments in the area and will know about them in plenty of time for their voices to be heard. In addition, I will push for a requirement to notify adjacent property owners by mail in advance of any zoning or PUD (Planned Unit Development) changes that may directly affect them. The newsletter will also be an opportunity to include community events and other stories to help bring the citizens of District 8 together.

Unless you are able to go downtown every Thursday evening, or subscribe to Cox Cable, you have no ability to see what is going on in your city government. I will push to get council meetings shown live over the internet so that anyone with internet access at home, in the library, or on their mobile device can see the council meetings. I will also push for all public meetings and other TGOV content be made available on the website for viewing at any time. The technology to do this has been around for years and the costs have dropped dramatically, but Tulsa is still behind the curve. Once public meetings are available on the internet, groups of residents can have public viewings from churches, community centers, libraries and schools.

Tulsa has done a poor job of educating, and getting feedback from, the public and I believe with these three things, the citizens in District 8 can be well informed, well connected and it will make me the best representative for my constituents.

Crime

Every district has its own types of crimes to deal with. District 8 sees a large amount of non-violent crimes, and I myself have been the victim of numerous break-ins and vandalism at my own residence. In talking with law enforcement officers, I was told that a lot of the criminal acts we see in District 8 are from individuals from other cities who come in to what is seen as the nicer areas of town to try to steal cars, electronics, and even identities. They are often out of our area and back home before the sun comes up. Since tracking down these criminals is extremely problematic, I believe we should focus on deterring them. We need to focus on getting neighborhood watch programs established across the district in cooperation with the Citizen's Crime Commission. I was instrumental in establishing the first real neighborhood association in my 35+ year old neighborhood so that we could implement a neighborhood watch program.

I believe that once established, these groups should work closely with the Tulsa Police Department to meet the officers that work in their area and discuss any recurring crime issues that the neighborhood may face. I also believe that Tulsa Police Department should, in turn, make visible neighborhood patrols and would like them to park along busier streets and neighborhood entrances when they need to type up a report instead of parking at QuikTrip or Walgreens.

Infrastructure

District 8 is literally where all the widened roads end. We sit just south of one of the busiest areas in Tulsa and yet we exist almost entirely on two-lane roads. I do not believe widening is the solution to every problem; however, I would like to work cooperatively with INCOG to develop a District-8-specific transportation plan. This process would involve community meetings and public input sessions to determine what the residents want to see in terms of widened roads, sidewalks, and public transit. Once that plan is created we can then prioritize future road projects in Tulsa more effectively.

As for what I am personally interested in, I want a Park-and-Ride site in District 8. Shortly after I wrote my initial draft of these plans, my own vehicle broke down. This left me relying on others because Tulsa's transportation system is incapable of providing me timely transportation for my daily commute. I can ride an express bus straight from a Park-and-Ride site in Sand Springs or Broken Arrow to my office but I can't do it in Tulsa, the city our transit system is supposed to be serving. In terms of street improvements, I believe widening a few main roads like Yale would take the burden off of the rest of the streets and also better prepare us, should a South Tulsa river bridge come to fruition.

City Services

Once elected, I will pursue efforts to "Green" District 8. As a supplement to the City's own "Operation CleanSweep" I will create special cleanup days in District 8 and have the citizens not only focus on their own neighborhoods, but also have focused cleanup days in certain parks and roadways.

I will also push for a re-evaluation of our trash service. Our existing service will become more costly in the future with the higher gas prices and landfill costs that are already affecting the city. We could curb the cost growth, add recycling, and possibly even lower our current-day bills by going with once-a-week trash and recycling pickup citywide. There are some issues to address particularly with our residents of advanced age, but if we don't start working on it now, we will pay for it in the long run.

Lastly, I will push for improvements to District 8 parks, particularly Hunter Park, to make it the shining cornerstone of the District 8 community and a park to be envied citywide. I believe that this, like all of the improvements listed above, can be done with little or no cost to the city by leveraging community involvement, public-private partnerships, and better utilization of our city assets and budget dollars.