Tulsa GOP chairman praises councilors on ethics board stance

Tulsa County Republican Party Chairman Sally Bell praised four Republican Tulsa City Councilors for continuing to hold the line against Mayor Kathy Taylor's efforts to oust Michael Slankard from the City's Ethics Advisory Committee in a newsletter sent out on Wednesday. At a June 23, 2009, Council committee meeting five of the nine councilors (Jack Henderson, Rick Westcott, Bill Martinson, John Eagleton, and Bill Christiansen) indicated they would vote against James Kincaid, a District 9 resident and Taylor's latest attempt to replace Slankard. Six councilors rejected an earlier nominee to replace Slankard, Sandra Rodolf.

Although the newsletter singles out Republicans for praise (as you would expect in a Republican newsletter), it's worth noting that the group in opposition is bipartisan. Notice too that, even though Taylor has dropped her re-election bid, councilors have still opposed her position on several issues. That puts the lie to Taylor's suggestion that Council objections to her budget, nominations, and other decisions were motivated by attempts to gain partisan political advantage. (It also undermines Mayoral candidate Dewey Bartlett's complaints about partisan bickering.)

Republican Councilors Hold the Line on Mayor Taylor

Four Republican Tulsa city councilors have drawn a line in the sand with Mayor Kathy Taylor. Republicans Rick Westcott, Bill Christiansen, John Eagleton and Bill Martinson, along with Democrat Jack Henderson, voted to reject Mayor Taylor's pick of Tulsa attorney James Kincaid for the Ethics Advisory Committee. Mr. Kincaid was to replace Michael Slankard.

Mayor Taylor refused to re-nominate Mr. Slankard for another term after he requested that the Ethics Advisory Committee investigate Taylor's decision to send her private jet to pick up Councilor David Patrick (D) so Patrick could be present for the vote on the controversial assessment fee for the downtown ball park.

Mr. Slankard has served the Ethics Advisory Committee well, has a very good record of service and should have been reappointed according to the councilors.

The Tulsa City Charter allows for the mayor to make appointments and reappointments that then must be approved by the city council. The city council has the right to accept or reject any nominee.

Mr. Kincaid is Mayor Taylor's second choice. Her first choice was Tulsa attorney Sandra Rodolf. Ms. Rodolf was voted down on April 30, 2009 in a 6-3 vote. The five councilors listed above, along with Republican city councilor Eric Gomez voted against Ms. Rodolf's appointment.

When Republican elected officials stray off the "legal" or "moral" path - as in the case of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford - we don't sweep it under the rug. We hold them accountable.

When our Republican elected officials make a stand for what's right we need to stand with them by getting the word out. We know most media outlets won't do it.

We commend our Tulsa City Council Republican officials for making this stance. These councilors now need the support of a strong Republican Mayor. Let's work hard to give them that support in November.