Tulsa Election 2011: Primary election day

This entry post-dated to remain at top until polls close.

Happy election day! Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

In two districts (1 and 5), the primary will determine a winner. In all districts, the primary will determine whether we'll have good representation or not-so-good representation at City Hall when all the dust settles. The important decisions are being made today! Get out and vote!

The Tulsa County Election Board has a precinct locator which will tell you where to vote and which City Council district you're in. 42 precincts -- about 20% -- have been moved to a new district this year, so there are decent odds that you've been moved.

The Tulsa City Council website has a Google Maps search: Enter an address, and it'll show your address in your new council district

Key information as you weigh your decision:

Archive of all BatesLine entries on Tulsa Election 2011.

My endorsements, with links to more information:

District 2, Republican primary: NOT Nancy Rothman
District 3, Democratic primary: Roscoe Turner
District 3, Republican primary: David Bell
District 4, Democratic primary: Maria Barnes
District 4, Republican primary: Blake Ewing
District 5, Republican primary: Sam Roop
District 6, Republican primary: Jim Mautino
District 7, Republican primary: Steven Roemerman
District 8, Republican primary: George Gibbs
District 9, Republican primary: Robert Pinney

Endorsements and questionnaires from conservative groups:

Tulsa Area Republican Assembly: They endorsed Bell, Mautino, Roemerman, Gibbs, and Pinney.
Tulsa 912 Project: They endorsed Bell, Ewing, Mautino, Roemerman, Gibbs, and Pinney, plus Matthew Foster in District 2.
OK-SAFE candidate questionnaire

Who's trying to buy a set of City Councilors?

Scans of all pre-primary contribution and expenditures reports
Which candidates accepted the BatesLine campaign finance transparency challenge?
Transparency challenge update: Post-deadline, pre-primary contributions

What is TulsaBizPac? (Note: Both Jeannie Cue and Blake Ewing gave their TulsaBizPac contribution to charity.)

Who are Ben Latham and Burt Holmes? They've given money to Rothman, Patrick, Hunt, Brune, Gilbert, Steele, Mansur, and Lakin.

Who is Karl Ahlgren (and why you should care)? Ahlgren is consultant for Hunt, Gilbert, Steele, Mansur and Lakin. He was identified as Rothman's consultant in early July. His firm sent mailers late last week for Cue, Patrick, and Steele.

What is Save Our Tulsa? Where do Save Our Tulsa supporters (median age: 75) live? Why do Money Belt denizens complain about SOT's proposals privately but refuse to denounce them publicly? (SOT's charter change proposals are on the November ballot, but SOT supporters have been active donors in this primary election.)

What is the "Midtown money belt"? Brice Bogle calls it "Tulsa's Golden Rectangle":

... an area he defines as from the northwest corner of the Inner Dispersal Loop to Skelly Drive in the south, and Harvard Avenue on the east.

"When the leaders of Tulsa talk about doing things for the benefit of Tulsa, it seldom means an area outside of the golden rectangle," Bogle said. "To many outside of the rectangular area, it often seems that those inside the area do not think of Tulsa really being anything beyond it."

My take on the Money Belt:

I would adjust his boundaries slightly -- shave off the less prosperous parts of southern and western Brookside and northeast of the Broken Arrow Expressway -- to come up with what I call the "Money Belt," but the attitude Bogle describes is spot on, and it manifests itself in election results, mayoral appointments, council-packing schemes, survey results, even water usage. That's not to say that all Money Belt denizens are afflicted with this insular attitude, or that those who are are bad people -- they just need to broaden their horizons. To them, the rest of Tulsa is something you drive through to get to Grand Lake or the airport.

But Money Belt blindness to the needs and concerns of the rest of Tulsa has real consequences. It's why it's important to provide some geographic balance on the city's boards and commissions, rather than drawing most appointees from this golden rectangle. It's why it's important for city councilors to advocate forcefully for their district's concerns; no one else in a position of power will....

(P.S. No, I don't think the Money Belt is a conspiracy. It's a demographic phenomenon, a mindset, a subculture. What makes it especially interesting is that it's a subculture that wields a good deal of political and economic power.)

The original use of the term "Cockroach Caucus"

I have struggled with what to call this cluster of special interests which has been trying to run the City of Tulsa without public input, and preferably without public debate....

They don't like the light of public scrutiny, so they conduct their business in the dark. But just because we can't see what's going on, it doesn't mean that they aren't there, contaminating public policy out of sight.

Why don't they like the light? Here's a link to reputable 2000 year old opinion on the subject. They know they aren't serving the interests of all Tulsans. They're serving the interests of a favored few, but they don't want us to know that.