Oklahoma Election 2023 Category

Originally posted on August 1, 2023. Post-dating to August 8 so it remains at the top of the page through election day. A previous entry has a just-the-facts discussion of the four August 8 bond issue and sales tax propositions.

Here are seven reasons to vote no on all four City of Tulsa ballot propositions at the special election next Tuesday, August 8, 2023:

1. Two-and-a-half years too early: The proposed sales tax may not go into effect until January 1, 2026.* A lot can change in two years and five months. Economic and global circumstances two years from now may be very different -- just think how different the world was two-and-a-half years ago -- and our priorities may change with those circumstances. We shouldn't commit nearly a billion dollars in spending so far in advance, nor should we start borrowing (and paying interest) on revenue that's two-and-a-half years in the future.

2. Hamstringing the next mayor and council: The proposals block the ability of new city officials to pursue capital improvements to implement their election platforms. A new mayor and city council will be elected in 2024, but the August 8 proposals lock up funding for capital improvements until 2030, after the end of the next mayor's term of office in 2028. It's selfish on the part of lame duck mayor GT Bynum IV, who is not running for re-election, to lock in spending priorities for his successor. There's plenty of time before the current tax runs out for the new mayor and council to decide on a new package. The new officials will have 10 months after taking office in December 2024 to put together a package and put it before the voters.

3. Too vague: $162 million is "itemized" for "citywide" but unspecified lists in broad categories -- streets, sidewalks, alleys, ADA implementation (whatever that means), bridge replacement. This list of vague citywide items includes traffic engineering, which is not a capital improvement but an operational responsibility, and project engineering inspection and testing, which in the past was always priced into individual projects as essential to any construction project. In the original 1980 "third-penny" sales tax vote and its early successors, specific intersections, bridges, widening projects, water and sewer lines, etc., were listed in the sales tax ordinance or general obligation bond issue, committing the city to specific projects with definable costs. It was possible to see whether or not funding was going to the most urgent needs and whether all parts of the city were given due consideration. These vague "citywide" line items don't give the voters anyway of telling whether we're being offered good value for money or whether contractor profits are being padded.

We also don't have specifics on nearly $80 million, divided between Proposition 1 and Proposition 4 for "Additional costs for completion of previously approved street projects listed in Improve Our Tulsa Proposition No 1 approved at an election held on November 12, 2019." Which projects overran? How much does each project require for completion?

Besides the "citywide" and "additional costs" items, many other line items are vague and undefined; some of them are outlined below.

4. $75 million for undefined "housing initiatives": When government sets out to solve a social problem, the money is wasted and the problem gets worse. $22 trillion was spent during the first 50 years of the War on Poverty, and there are more people dependent on government than ever before. The city wants $75 million to solve the homeless problem but they won't tell us how they will spend that money, not even why they think $75 million is the right amount to ask for.

The money will be spent in accordance with the recommendations of the Housing, Homelessness, and Mental Health Task Force, a group of the usual suspects and yacht guests that includes exactly one person who might have some direct experience dealing with homeless people.

The people in charge of our city government and the philanthropocrats** who control them see human beings as mere animals, automata that respond to stimuli in predictable ways. Their thinking goes that if you provide the proper environment and nutrients, people will thrive, just like plants do. That way of thinking leads to the arrogant belief that enough government money can fix anything: "If we can put a man on the moon" -- solve an engineering problem using the unchanging laws of physics and chemistry -- "we can end homelessness" -- a complex set of human tragedies that find their explanation in spiritual truths denied by the philanthropocrats and their minions.

The Founding Fathers and the Framers of the Constitution, informed by a Biblical anthropology, understood that all human beings are created in the image of God and as such have inherent dignity and worth, but also that all human beings are marred by the Fall, and inclined by nature to selfishness and evil, which requires the internal restraint of the Holy Spirit, a conscience externally restrained by the social pressure of a moral society, or, as a last resort, the threat of state violence to prevent violent evil.

Christian ministries like City of Hope Outreach and John 3:16 Mission have helped homeless people successfully leave the streets and rebuild their lives, because they begin with a true understanding of human nature. Materialist philanthropists and social service agencies, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot hope to address the problem and will likely only enable more of the self-destructive and societally destructive behavior they claim to be able to stop, if only they had enough money to spend.

5. Gilcrease Museum held hostage: Bynum IV & Co. are demanding another $7 million in "matching funds for improvements." In 2016, Tulsans approved $65 million to renovate Gilcrease Museum. In 2020, we were told that it had to be demolished and rebuilt. (Bynum IV chief of staff Blake Ewing wrongly claimed at the Tulsa GOP forum that we didn't know until the museum was closed that demolition was necessary. In July 2021, the doors closed for what we were told would be three years. In March 2023 we were told that more money was required, and recently we were told that the museum won't be open to the public until 2026. Bynum IV & Co. will have deprived an entire generation of Tulsa students of the opportunity to visit Gilcrease Museum during their high school years.

Like the proverbial car dealer who throws your keys on the roof and won't get them down until you buy a new car, Tulsa mis-leaders are demanding more money before they'll let us enjoy the priceless collection of artwork, artifacts, and historical documents that we, the Citizens of Tulsa, own. They don't deserve any more trust when they've already betrayed us over and over again. To earn our trust, the first step is to reopen Gilcrease, and put our collection back on display, with the money they already have in hand.

6. PAC in danger: Now City Hall mis-leaders want $55,790,000 for "Tulsa Performing Arts Center - facility renovation, infrastructure, loading dock improvements, safety and ADA improvements." This is more than half of the money for specified projects in Proposition 2. Given our experience with Gilcrease Museum, I would expect a similar bait-and-switch:

1. Tulsans approve funding for PAC renovations
2. Mis-leaders "discover" "serious problems" requiring demolition (or gutting)
3. PAC closes with a promise to reopen in three years
4. Mis-leaders "discover" a need for more money to reopen
5. Construction delays keep PAC closed for two more years

I believe that Tulsa's mis-leaders wanted a new building for Gilcrease all along***, just like they wanted a new Arkansas River pedestrian bridge, and I strongly suspect they want a new PAC, but they know they cannot convince the voters to approve demolition of a beloved landmark or the full cost of the new facility. So they will deceive Tulsa voters, and if voters are stupid, they will fail to learn anything from past behavior and will let themselves be deceived once again.

Do we want to go for five or more years without a venue for Broadway theater, symphony, ballet, and opera? Until they deliver a new Gilcrease Museum to our satisfaction, we shouldn't trust Tulsa's mis-leaders with another precious cultural institution.

7. Millions more for a toxic lake: Work on the Zink Dam isn't complete yet, and the City wants another $3.5 million (per Proposition 2 in the bond issue resolution) or $5 million (per public statements) for "Zink Lake - infrastructure." Blake Ewing said during the Tulsa GOP forum that this was for parking lots, but when I asked where the document was that spells this out, I didn't get an answer. Meanwhile, Tulsa citizens have unanswered questions about toxic chemicals seeping into the lake from ground water under the refineries, past and present, along the river. Ewing dismissed these concerns as a "political, fun, fun hot button thing to get upset about."

In May 1979, Tulsa voters rejected the first attempt to pass a "third penny" sales tax for capital improvements. The list of projects was too vague, lacked guarantees that money would be spent as promised, and included some big projects that voters didn't want. In October 1980, 60% of Tulsa voters approved a more specific package with better safeguards and without the most objectionable projects. City of Tulsa officials have plenty of time to give us a solid package if we say no to this one.

Thanks to Jesse Rodgers and City Elders for the logo at the top of the page.

The Tulsa County Republican Party has officially come out in opposition to the four City of Tulsa propositions for sales tax and general obligation bonds on the August 8, 2023, ballot ("Improve Our Tulsa 3"):

Republican Party of Tulsa County Takes Stance on
Improve Our Tulsa 3 Bond Package
Tulsa GOP is asking voters to Vote No on August 8th

TULSA, OK (08/02/2023)

On August 8th, the City of Tulsa is asking all residents to vote on the Improve Our Tulsa 3 bond package. We love Tulsa; however, Improve Our Tulsa is the wrong approach at this time. It is vague and unvetted by the citizens. This package is being rushed when we have over two years to renew the current tax. Our biggest concerns about this package are the $75MM for UNDEFINED housing initiatives in the housing package, additional funding for the Gilcrease Museum, and the uncertainty with Zink Lake. Should this package be passed, the next Mayor will be hamstrung with the responsibility of implementing something he or she had no part in creating. How is this fair for our next Mayor?

We should learn from our history, in May 1979 Tulsa voters rejected the first attempt to pass a "third penny" sales tax for capital improvements. The list of projects was too vague, lacked guarantees that money would be spent as promised, and included some big projects that voters didn't want. In October 1980, 60% of Tulsa voters approved a more specific package with better safeguards and without the most objectionable projects. City of Tulsa officials have plenty of time to give us a solid package if we say no to this one. (batesline.com)

These are just a few reasons why the Republican Party of Tulsa County is asking you, the Tulsa voters, to VOTE NO on ALL FOUR propositions on August 8th because history tells us..... WE. CAN. DO. BETTER.

MORE: District 5 City Councilor Grant Miller explains why he voted against sending the package to the voters:

The mayor continues to dismiss the real and valid concerns of Tulsans claiming that people who don't like the idea of not having a plan for $75M of spending on homelessness or want answers regarding chemicals in the river before spending millions on a recreational area are "...just folks, like Councilor Miller, who object to things for the sake of objecting to them." (Link in comments). We can do better than the Mayor's package and come up with something that actually works for Tulsa, instead. And there is absolutely no reason to rush into this. We have more than enough time to go back to the drawing board according to Chief of Staff, Blake Ewing. Everything is and will be funded through 2025. So why did the Mayor say it would be a disaster?! He knows that's not true. Dismissing Tulsans' very serious concerns is terribly arrogant.

Here's the link to Councilor Miller's comments on KRMG.

UPDATE: The Tulsa County Republican Party hosted a forum on the August 8 vote on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 6 p.m., at the Embassy Church, 7100 E. 31st Street. The panelists included City Councilors Christian Bengel and Grant Miller, Mayor's Chief of Staff Blake Ewing, and me, Michael Bates. Darryl Baskin moderated the discussion and provided a live stream, which is archived on his TulsaLiveEvents.com Vimeo channel.

On Tuesday, August 8, 2023, on a day when there is nothing else on the ballot, on a day when only 14 jurisdictions across the entire State of Oklahoma have an election, City of Tulsa voters will be confronted with four ballot propositions, one to enact a new sales tax, and three for new general obligation bond issues. Combined, voters are being asked to approve $815,415,000 in new capital spending, not counting bond interest and fees.

The "temporary" 0.95% sales tax would go into effect when the current 2021 Miscellaneous Capital lmprovements Temporary Sales Tax (approved in 2019) expires on December 31, 2025, or earlier if that tax raises $193 million before that time. Based on my tally of sales tax revenues since the Improve Our Tulsa 2 tax went into effect, and assuming a 5% increase in revenues year-on-year (which is based on recent numbers), we might hit $193 million collected in October 2025, boosted by the increase in the Improve Our Tulsa 2 tax rate from 0.45% to 0.95% in July 2025. Even so, it means that we will vote on a tax and the list of projects to be funded more than two years before the tax goes into effect. Why so early? Why not wait at least until a new mayor and council take office in November 2024 and have had time to assess priorities and re-estimate project costs?

The new sales tax would expire on June 30, 2030, with no provision for an earlier expiration if receipts are better than forecast. If the new sales tax is defeated, Tulsa's overall city sales tax rate would be 2.7% and combined state, county, and city sales tax rate of 7.567%. If the new sales tax passes, the overall city sales tax rate would be 3.65%, an increase of 35.2%.

On the jump page, the ballot language for the four propositions, the ordinances and resolutions approved by the City Council for each, and the list of projects for each:

Some thoughts on the April 4, 2023, school board and municipal results, from my live-tweet thread. (ThreadReaderApp unroll here.)

At 7:36 pm, early results in the Tulsa school board election came from 4 of the 18 precincts in District 1, all east of the river (and thus incumbent Stacey Woolley's home turf). Woolley led Jared Buswell 366 to 67, also dominating absentee and early voting, 160-29. At that point in the Bixby election, only absentee/early votes were in, with incumbent Matt Dotson leading Julie Bentley, 79-42.

In Tulsa and Bixby, challengers Buswell and Bentley were running on platforms supporting transparency and parental rights and opposing obscene materials in school libraries.

At 7:50 pm, we were still waiting for three big west-of-the-river precincts to report, but Woolley's home precinct was also yet to come in. Woolley was leading 865-359. Buswell won the two working-class precincts on the west end of Chas Page Blvd, but not downtown-adjacent neighborhoods, like Owen Park, The [formerly Brady] Heights, and Crosbie Heights.

By 8:00 pm, Woolley had won her home precinct, North Maple Ridge & Swan Lake, 412 to 80. Buswell won the precinct encompassing Red Fork and Carbondale, including Webster HS, 132 to 61 -- dominating but by a smaller percentage and with a much lower turnout.
Buswell won his own precinct (720123), but only 100-72. Woolley won the old West Tulsa precinct, just across the river from downtown. That precinct includes the Westport Apartments and a great deal of public housing. The only precincts yet to report were the Gilcrease Hills precincts in Osage County; those also went to Woolley.

There were upsets, but not in the high-profile Tulsa and Bixby school board races. In Berryhill, challenger Danny Bean defeated incumbent Doc Geiger, 170-76. Tracy Hanlon defeated incumbent Rusty Gunn for a seat on the Sand Springs school board, 289-220. Jerald Freeman defeated Skiatook city councilor Joyce Jech, 98-77.

In Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's 4th largest city, Mayor Debra Wimpee had a good night, even though she wasn't on the ballot. Her endorsed candidates won in all three council races. Adding this election to the 2021 results, the entire council is composed of her allies. Vice Mayor Christi Gillespie won a rematch against longtime councilor Mike Lester, the incumbent she beat in 2019. Challenger Joe Franco beat incumbent Scott Eudey. In the at-large council seat, incumbent Johnnie Parks survived with 45% of the vote. William Vaughn improved his 2019 performance with 36%, but voters opposed to Parks split their votes with two other candidates once again. Some conservative organizations backed George Ghesquire, who finished third.

The award for the lowest turnout in any Oklahoma election went to the Town of Ochelata in Washington Co., which had only 10 voters. There were two propositions on the ballot that each tied 5 votes for, 5 against. The propositions were to decide whether the Town Clerk and Town Treasurer would become offices appointed by the Board of Trustees, rather than elected. Ochelata has 279 registered voters. The Town of Avant in Osage County also voted whether to appoint Town Clerk and Treasurer, and the votes also were tied 8 to 8 for both propositions, but there are only 186 voters, so they managed 8.6% turnout!

Biggest turnout was for a regular election was for a seat on the board of the Indian Capital Tech Center -- 8,029 votes over 4 counties and parts of 4 more. Challenger Mark Walters defeated incumbent Scott Chambers, 4,158 to 3,871. Ascend Action was the consulting team supporting Walters's campaign.

The biggest turnout of all was for the Oklahoma County special election for County Clerk. Republican Marissa Treat (wife of State Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat) won 52% to 48%, with a total vote of 42,410.

Last results of the night came from Washita County. All precincts in the state had reported by 9:35 pm.

As I was tweeting, I was periodically refreshing the Oklahoma State Election Board results page, which brought to mind a number of suggestions for improvements, which I tweeted out @OKElections (but with no response):

• A visible permalink for each race, so I don't go all the way back to Achille when I'm refreshing the Tulsa results. This would also make it easier to point people (via Twitter and elsewhere on social media) directly to a specific result of interest.
• Make it possible to look up sample ballots without needing the name and birthdate of a voter in that jurisdiction. Right now there is no simple way to see the ballot title for a proposition in another jurisdiction except to find a voter in that jurisdiction and plug his/her name and date of birth into the OK voter portal.
• Put geographical name first in the list of entities, e.g. "Broken Arrow, City of," "Ochelata, Town of," so that all municipal elections in the results list sort by geographical name, as is the case for school districts. I don't always remember whether a municipality is a city or a town.
• Group local results by type of jurisdiction. Right now, the city and town results are mixed in alphabetically with K-12 and technology center school districts. All results for cities are between Cimarron Public Schools and Colcord Public Schools, and all results for towns are between Tonkawa Public Schools and Tulsa Public Schools.

The day after the election, the Tulsa Whirled decided to report on a Tulsa Public Schools audit finding involving $364,000 in questionably legal contracts. Although the report had been discussed in the TPS board meeting on Monday night, the Whirled delayed reporting on it until it was too late to inform voters deciding whether the school board president deserved another term. TPS board and administration deserve some blame as well -- the open records request wasn't answered until Wednesday morning. The report from the audit firm is dated March 30, 2023, the Thursday before the election.

April 4, 2023, is general election day across Oklahoma for school board races and for municipalities that use the default forms of municipal government established by state statute. Many cities with city charters that define a customized government structure still use the default dates for city elections. As is all too typical for local elections, many races failed to draw more than one candidate.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. To find your polling place and take a look at sample ballots, visit the Oklahoma State Election Board's voter portal.

Four Tulsa County school districts have school board races on the ballot. For Tulsa Office No. 1, incumbent Democrat Stacey Woolley faces Republican challenger Jared Buswell. For Berryhill Office No. 3, Danny Bean vs. Doc Geiger. For Bixby Office No. 3, Julie Bentley vs. Matt Dotson. For Sand Springs Office No. 3, Tracy Hanlon vs. Rusty Gunn.

Three Broken Arrow city council seats are on the ballot: Mike Lester v. Christie Gillespie in District 3, Scott Eudey vs. Joe Franco in DIstrict 4, and four candidates for the at-large council seat: George Ghesquire, Sonjia J. Potter, William Vaughn, Johnnie D. Parks. One Bixby city council seat, Monica Rios v. Ken Hirshey. One Skiatook seat: Joyce Jech vs. Jerald Freeman.

Below is a list of candidates running in Tulsa County school board and municipal elections. The name as it appears on the ballot is followed by the name under which the candidate is registered to vote, the party of voter registration, age as of election day, and then a list of web pages and social media profiles related to each candidate:

School Board seats

Except in the Tulsa school district, voters anywhere in a school district can vote in the election for any school board seat, regardless of election district. In the Tulsa school district, only voters in Election District No. 1 may vote.

Tulsa Public Schools, Office No. 1:

• Jared Buswell (Jared David Buswell), R, 39, 1860 W. 58th St.: campaign website, personal FB, campaign FB.
• Stacey Woolley (Stacey Ryan Woolley), D, 47, 1110 E. 20th St., incumbent: campaign website, personal FB, campaign FB.

Berryhill Office No. 3:

• Danny Bean (Daniel Earle Bean), R, 42: personal FB
• Doc Geiger (James Conrad Geiger), R, 73, incumbent: personal FB

Bixby Office No. 3:

• Julie Bentley (Julie Lynn Bentley), R, 52: personal FB, campaign FB.
• Matt Dotson (Matthew Ray Dotson), R, 42, incumbent: personal FB.

Sand Springs Office No. 3:

• Tracy Hanlon (Tracy Anne Hanlon), R, 42: personal FB
• Rusty Gunn (Rusty Don Gunn), R, 45, incumbent since 2013: personal FB

City Council seats

Three Broken Arrow city council seats are on the ballot. Under the statutory charter, registered voters from anywhere in the city can vote in all races. In Bixby, only residents of Council District 3 may vote; incumbent councilor Paul Blair is not seeking re-election. Under Skiatook's city charter, registered voters from anywhere in the city can vote in all races.

Broken Arrow City Council Ward 3:

• Christi Gillespie, (Christi D. Gillespie), R, 53, incumbent, vice mayor: personal FB, campaign FB.
• Mike Lester (Michael Edward Lester), R, 75, former incumbent: personal FB, campaign FB

Broken Arrow City Council Ward 4:

• Scott Eudey (Scott Riley Eudey), R, 49, incumbent: personal FB, campaign FB
• Joe Franco (Joseph Dale Franco), R, 45: personal FB, campaign FB

Broken Arrow City Council At-Large:

• George Ghesquire (George Camiel Ghesquire III), R, 54: personal FB, campaign FB
• Johnnie D. Parks, R, 75, incumbent: personal FB, campaign FB
• Sonjia J. Potter (Sonjia Juanita Potter), R, 76: No social media or website found
• William Vaughn (William Daniel Vaughn), R, 49: personal FB, campaign FB

Bixby City Council, Ward 3:

• Ken Hirshey (Kenneth Loyd Hirshey, Jr.), R, 63: Oklahoma Environmental Quality Board website, company website
• Monica Rios (Monica Joi Rios), R, 48: personal FB, campaign FB

Skiatook, Ward 3:

• Jerald Freeman, R, 85: personal FB
• Joyce Jech (Joyce May Jech), R, 77, incumbent: campaign FB

Endorsements:

If I could vote in the TPS Office 1 race, I would vote for Republican challenger Jared Buswell. Buswell, a member of Asbury Church, serves as chairman of the board of Favor International, a Christian ministry working in war-affected areas of Africa -- specifically northern Uganda and South Sudan -- to relieve suffering, proclaim the gospel, build churches and Christian leadership, educate, build community infrastructure, and train to empower economic development. Buswell has been involved with Favor since 2012 and has helped to build Favor's donor base from $300,000 to $6 million per year. Buswell also has a business called Look Inside Tulsa, which uses 360-degree spherical photography to provide VR views of home and building interiors. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he came to Tulsa in 2001 to attend Oral Roberts University and has lived in west Tulsa since 2007.

His opponent, incumbent Democrat Stacey Woolley, has presided over the continued decline of Tulsa Public Schools, which badly underperforms the rest of the state by every measure. The Whirled's endorsement is inadvertently damning. The Whirled says that, "Among her top accomplishments is refocusing school meetings to student achievement and simplifying operational votes to a consent agenda." This was a move against public transparency and accountability: Last July, the consent agenda was used to hide the board's acceptance of a grant from a non-profit funded by the Chinese Communist Party; it was only exposed because board members E'Lena Ashley, Jerry Griffin, and Jennettie Marshall voted against the consent agenda as a whole.

The Whirled also applauds Woolley for "help[ing to] update the superintendent's evaluation, making it among the nation's few based almost entirely on student outcomes." If that's so, why does Deborah Gist still have a job, when student outcomes continue to be abysmal? And yet Woolley has repeatedly voted to extend Gist's contract.

Election District 1 includes all of the Tulsa school district west of the Arkansas River, plus downtown Tulsa, the neighborhoods along Charles Page Blvd west of downtown, the southern portion of Gilcrease Hills, Brady Heights, Pearl District south of 6th Street, Tracy Park, Swan Lake, North Maple Ridge, and Riverview. Like most of his prospective constituents, Buswell lives west of the river, in a modest home valued by the county assessor at $119,221, located in Woodview Heights near 61st and Union. Woolley lives in the wealthiest neighborhood in the ward, North Maple Ridge, in the extreme eastern extent of the district, in a home valued by the county assessor at $585,301. It is a sadly frequent redistricting technique to gerrymander a few exclusive neighborhoods into an otherwise working-class, middle-class district, so as to maximize the number of the connected and wealthy on an elected board or council.

In the Bixby school board race, I would vote for challenger Julie Bentley over incumbent Matt Dotson. Bentley is a certified teacher who has taught 13 years in the Bixby district and is the mom of a current Bixby High School student. Dotson appears to be a subservient rubber stamp for superintendent Rob Miller, who has expressed his contempt for concerned citizens who speak at board meetings. Dotson refused to take a firm stand against inappropriate books in the curriculum and the library, preferring to invest total confidence in the district employee he's supposed to be holding accountable. (Miller's blog View from the Edge, which he ended in 2017, shortly before he was hired as Bixby superintendent, reveals his hostility to public accountability for the performance of public schools.)

Endorsements from conservative groups:

• Tulsa County Republican Party: Jared Buswell (Tulsa schools, Office 1), Julie Bentley (Bixby schools, Office 3).
• Bixby Parents Voice: Julie Bentley (Bixby schools, Office 3).
• Moms for Liberty: Jared Buswell (Tulsa schools, Office 1), Julie Bentley (Bixby schools, Office 3).
• Oklahomans for the Second Amendment (OK2A): Jared Buswell (Tulsa schools, Office 1), Julie Bentley (Bixby schools, Office 3); Christie Gillespie (Broken Arrow Council 3), Joe Franco (Broken Arrow Council 4), George Ghesquire (Broken Arrow Council At-Large). William Vaughn (Broken Arrow Council At-Large) also had an A-rated survey.
• Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights: Jared Buswell (Tulsa schools, Office 1), Julie Bentley (Bixby schools, Office 3); Christie Gillespie (Broken Arrow Council 3), Joe Franco (Broken Arrow Council 4). George Ghesquire and William Vaughn in the Broken Arrow Council At-Large election each had an A-rated survey, but OKHPR did not endorse in that race.

The incumbent and challenger in the Tulsa School Board District 1 race have each raised over $50,000 according to campaign contribution and expenditures reports filed with the Tulsa Public Schools district clerk.

As of the March 20, 2023, close of the pre-election reporting period, Democrat incumbent Stacey Woolley had raised $51,798, while Republican challenger Jared Buswell had raised $58,643.

Woolley's donor list includes contributors connected with the foundations whose influence has propelled Tulsa Public Schools toward its abysmal academic performance. Maximum $2,900 donors include the Lynn Schusterman Revocable Trust, the Stacy Schusterman Revocable Trust, Frederic Dorwart (attorney for the George Kaiser Family Foundation and related entities), and Philip Kaiser (son of George Kaiser). George Kaiser made a personal donation of $500. Big Democrat donors George Krumme and Burt Holmes also gave maximum donations. Attorney Robert A. Curry gave $1,500 in aggregate, and Joseph Parker Jr. and Robert Thomas each gave $1,000. Employees of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, Tulsa Community Foundation, Zarrow Family Foundations also appear on Woolley's list of contributors. Other notable names include left-wing Democrat Tulsa City Councilors Laura Bellis and Lori Decter Wright, former Democrat Mayor M. Susan Savage and her ex-husband Grant Hall, Democrat State Reps. Melodye Blancett and Suzanne Schreiber (also a former school board member), and Democrat former school board member Cindy Decker, head of GKFF-backed Tulsa Educare. "Friends of Shawna Keller," the campaign committee of the east Tulsa school board incumbent defeated a year ago by E'Lena Ashley, gave $1,000 to Woolley.

Republican challenger Jared Buswell raised $57,643.55, including $6,573.55 in in-kind contributions. Buswell received maximum $2,900 contributions from H. Michael Krimbill, L. Avery Krimbill, Christie Glesener, Tom Culver, and Vivienne Culver. The latter two contributions were in-kind as office rent reductions. Buswell received several large PAC contributions: Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC), $2,350; Women Working for Oklahoma PAC, $2,000; Oklahoma Realtors PAC, $1,000. Other lare donors include Brian & Pauline Robinson, $2,500; Kent Glesener, $2,500; Rob Prulhiere, $2,000; Julia Sublett, $2,000; Suzanne Behr, $1,500; Frances Fleming, $1,500; Michael Phillips, $1,500 (including $250 in-kind for yard signs); Jody Tell, $1,200; Matthew Watson, $1,000; Ken Sellers, $1,000; Thomas Carruth, $1,000; Michael Ross, $1,000; Reed Downey Jr, $1,000; Alvin Loeffler, $1,000. Former District Attorney Tim Harris, who ran unsuccessfully for the District 7 board seat last year, contributed $250 to Buswell. Buswell reports giving $2,750 to his own campaign, plus another $349.48 in in-kind contributions, purchasing push cards, yard signs, and other printing for the campaign.

The initial set of documents sent by inquiries@tulsaschools.org in response to my Open Records request did not include the full list of Woolley's contributors. Melissa Remington of Tulsa Parents Voice observed that the sum of itemized contributions in Schedule A was over $30,000 less than the reported contribution total. Remington also noticed that the list of contributions abruptly ended on January 17, 2023, despite a well-publicized fundraiser hosted by Democrat former Mayor Kathy Taylor and Democrat State Rep. Monroe Nichols on February 16. Remington called the discrepancies to the attention of Woolley, the school board clerk, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, and others.

Remington and I subsequently received an update to our separate open records requests from Emma Garrett-Nelson, whose email signature gives "pronouns" "(she/her/hers)" and describes herself as Executive Director of Communications & Strategy, with the following statement: "We uncovered a glitch in our Adobe PDF reader that we've since addressed, so please use these rather than the files we sent you on March 28. This is everything responsive to your request." The attachment was an oddly-formatted report of contributions only, in which the page header appeared at different places on the page and contribution amounts appeared in a variety of font sizes, including unnecessarily small. The original version was clearly a scan of the filed hardcopy report, complete with the Tulsa Public Schools "RECEIVED" date stamp. The new contributions-only report has no scanning artifacts -- text is selectable and there are no date stamps.

The explanation of "a glitch in our Adobe PDF reader" doesn't fit the evidence. In the original version there are no indications that the reverse sides of pages were not scanned or that consecutive pages were missed by a scanner. An explanation more consistent with the evidence is that the Woolley campaign failed to submit a complete report by the deadline, whether or not accidentally.

This raises a concern with the current process. The "Executive Director of Communications & Strategy" is likely to depend on the goodwill of her boss, Superintendent Deborah Gist, for her continued employment. She would have some incentive to help cover over the mistakes of an incumbent candidate who has been an unquestioning supporter of her boss. It would be best for all concerned if all campaign ethics reporting, for every office and proposition in every political subdivision at every level, were through the Oklahoma Ethics Commission's Guardian system, rather than forcing citizens to make open records requests to access campaign filings that should be accessible to the public the instant they are submitted.

To its credit, for the first time in a long time the Tulsa Whirled reported on the pre-election ethics filings, but reporter Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton failed to notice the discrepancy in contributions and didn't find any significance in the maximum donations to Woolley. The Whirled reporter found it interesting that current school board member E'Lena Ashley contributed to Jared Buswell's campaign, but not that former board members Suzanne Schreiber, Cindy Decker, and Shawna Keller (via her campaign fund) did.

FILES: The following are the files provided by the Tulsa Public Schools district clerk in response to my open records request. I have run each through optical character recognition and changed file names to improve consistency and searchability.

• Ethics-Tulsa-School-D1-Jared_Buswell-2022Q4.pdf
• Ethics-Tulsa-School-D1-Jared_Buswell-2023-PreElection.pdf
• Ethics-Tulsa-School-D1-Stacey_Woolley-2022Q4.pdf
• Ethics-Tulsa-School-D1-Stacey_Woolley-2023-PreElection-Original.pdf
• Ethics-Tulsa-School-D1-Stacey_Woolley-2023-PreElection-Contributions-Revised.pdf

More warnings from professionals who work with teenagers about the dangers of legalizing recreational marijuana by passing Oklahoma State Question 820 and the damage already caused by the dysfunctional medical marijuana regime approved through SQ 788 in 2018.

School Administrators Urge NO Vote on SQ 820

OKCPS Superintendent Sean McDaniel: "Legalizing recreational marijuana for adults will lead to more children having access and trying it"

School administrators from across the state gathered at the state capitol today to encourage a NO vote on SQ 820, the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. All speakers iterated they were making these statements as individuals with experience in our schools and were not speaking on behalf of the entities where they are employed.

Muskogee Superintendent Dr. Jarod Mendenhall led off the event. "Under the cover of the state's medical marijuana program, we have seen an increase in students using marijuana. SQ 820 will increase that access and puts our schools in a very difficult situation because marijuana's use is so difficult to detect. As educators our goal is to maximize a student's ability to achieve, but marijuana strikes at that very core. Ingesting THC as the adolescent brain is actively developing has horrible consequences. Marijuana use among those under 25 harms brain development including difficulty in thinking, problem solving, and memory loss," Mendenhall stated.

Dr. Matt Posey, Superintendent of Bethel Public Schools a rural school district in Pottawatomie County serving approximately 400 students, was among the speakers.

"Speaking as an Oklahoma citizen, I'm deeply concerned about the possibility of legalizing recreational marijuana and its potential impact on Oklahoma students and education. Teen marijuana use is already a major concern, and I anticipate that recreational legalization will only exacerbate the current problems by dramatically increasing accessibility," Posey stated.

"Bethel Public Schools does not take a position for, or against, SQ820. However, I urge voters to further consider the potential impacts that legalizing recreational marijuana may have on Oklahoma students and the school environment. We must take steps to ensure that our students have access to safe and healthy academic environments with an emphasis on their overall health and well-being," Posey concluded.

Guthrie High School principal Chris LeGrande also expressed his concerns. "As a school administrator speaking as a private citizen, the legalization of recreational marijuana is very concerning. Marijuana in its simplest form is a gateway drug that leads to more serious drug addictions. Marijuana's use creates a carefree persona that is detrimental to learning and subsequent academic achievement," state LeGrande.

A few school leaders who could not attend also issued statements in opposition to State Question 820. One of these was Dr. Joe Siano who served as Superintendent for Norman Public Schools for 17 years.

"Schools across our state have seen an increase in marijuana usage under the medical marijuana system. Moving to legalizing recreational marijuana will make this worse. Our school leaders want the focus to be on academic achievement, but the proliferation of marijuana in our communities and the consequential increase in its usage among our students and in our schools takes us away from that central mission. Not only does recreational legalization lead to more individual lives being sidetracked by addiction, but it diverts the resources of our schools, ultimately hurting all of our children, our families, and our communities," stated Siano.

Oklahoma City Public Schools District 89 serves more student than any other in the state. Their leader, Superintendent Sean McDaniel also provided a statement.

"During my more than 30 years working to improve the lives of young people, it is still heart-breaking to see a child damage, or even destroy, a promising future by starting down the road of substance abuse which often begins with marijuana. The record is clear, legalizing recreational marijuana for adults will lead to more children having access and trying it out. With today's high THC, that means the more of our youth and young adults will have their addiction circuitry activated.. No amount of tax dollars is worth putting one life, one family, one community, through the pain that can cause.

The school administrators were joined and supported by state legislators and members of the law enforcement community as well as Protect Our Kids NO 820 Co-Chairs, former Governor Frank Keating and former Commissioner of the Dept. of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Terri White.

Earlier coverage of SQ 820:

• NO on Oklahoma SQ 820 recreational marijuana legalization
• No on SQ 820 marijuana: More voices

More commentary opposed to SQ 820, on the ballot this Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (My earlier SQ 820 blog post covers campaign finances, the actual text of the proposition, and more voices against the proposition.)

Twitter user Chels (@ChesterTweet) has a link-rich thread "explaining why every Oklahoman should vote NO on SQ820." Chels is a returned Oklahoma who lived in Colorado during the vote on marijuana legalization there and its aftermath. You can find the full thread captured on ThreadReader and here as a PDF. Among the concerns:

3:In CO, we witnessed many ppl who relied on pot to function have to switch to hard drugs b/c they could no longer afford it legally or illegally. Many died. Legalizing will harm children who can no longer afford to experiment. They will also turn to hard drugs as an alternative.

8: Every state that has legalized marijuana deteriorated rapidly following legalization. This includes but certainly isn't limited to increased homelessness, increased crime, legalizing other drugs, fentanyl overdoses...etc. (Oregon, CA, Washington, MA, NY, Colorado, etc.)

9: Colorado got comfortable with cannabis, the stakes raised and now it's onto psilocybin and currently discussing safe places to do heroin. No end in sight.

10: In CO, there are numerous reports of violence at cannabis shops. Several security guards have been shot, one killed. Armed robberies are common b/c of the amount of cash on hand. Unfortunately, marijuana has proven to be a breeding ground for other illegal activities.

Chels backs those statements up with a long list of links to crime rates and criminal activity following the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. Dispensaries themselves are significant targets for burglary and armed robbery because of the amounts of cash typically available. Chels then adds a string of links and screenshots from studies on the mental health effects of marijuana.

Jamison Faught at Muskogee Politico has several recent reports on state leaders and elected officials opposing SQ 820, including U. S. Sen. James Lankford, Muskogee police chief Johnny Teehee, 39 of 48 members of the Oklahoma Senate, former Mental Health Commissioner Terri White, and the Oklahoma Sheriffs' Association, Oklahoma District Attorneys' Association and the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police.

You can click the links above for full statements, but here are a few key points:

Sen. Lankford writes:

Drug cartels--from not just south of the border, but also Asia--are now deeply ingrained across Oklahoma, operating grow facilities that ship marijuana across the country. Oklahomans often now wake up to read the news about the latest execution-style murder, human trafficking, or prostitution at a grow facility in rural Oklahoma.... Oklahoma is now the top source for black market marijuana in the nation. So much for the argument that widening legal access to a drug gets rid of the illicit market.

Thousands of acres of land and buildings are being purchased across Oklahoma by foreign nationals and perhaps even governments to grow marijuana. In fact, two years after medical marijuana passed in Oklahoma, people in the state sold more land to foreign entities than any other state in America.

Chief Teehee:

When my father returned from serving in Vietnam, he turned to alcohol to cope. Marijuana was the gateway drug that entrapped my mother and held her until she finally got clean in prison. If not for my grandparents and the small town of Vian, there is no telling where I would be today. But they stuck with me, shepherded me, and led me on a better path. That was tough. I don't know that it would have been successful in a world with legal weed. It is already tough enough to evade the world of substance abuse, but if recreational marijuana is given legal status, it will be even more difficult....

Legalizing recreational marijuana tells Oklahomans - including those under the age of 21 - that marijuana must not be that bad. Nothing could be further from the truth. Today's marijuana has much higher concentration of THC, the component that creates the "high" and that is addictive. Consumption has been correlated with increased prevalence of suicidal ideation, psychoses, and schizophrenia. Addiction leads to poor decision-making as an addict looks to feed a habit.

The state senators echoed the above concerns about the health impacts of marijuana and the growth of organized crime and also pointed out that:

• The maximum $25 penalty for violating laws related to smoking marijuana in public is not a deterrent and will lead to more Oklahomans being exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke.
• This state question permits smoking and use of marijuana around toddlers and infants.
• This state question makes it more difficult for courts to address marijuana issues in custody and visitation cases.
• Our state's medical marijuana system is slowly improving and adding recreational will make it even more difficult to get that system to where Oklahomans think it should be.
• Because of the passage of SQ 780 in 2016, minor marijuana possession charges are no longer punishable by imprisonment, so SQ 820 is not needed for this purpose.

(The nine senators that did not sign the statement opposing SQ 820 are Kevin Matthews (D-11), Mary Boren (D-16), Julia Kirt (D-30), Nathan Dahm (R-33), Jo Anna Dossett (D-35) Carri Hicks (D-40), Michael Brooks (D-44), Kay Floyd (D-46), George Young (D-48) -- all 8 Democrat state senators, plus Republican Nathan Dahm.)

Sheriffs, DAs, and police chiefs have spoken out against Yes on 820's dishonest ads:

The Yes on 820 campaign commercials claim passage will "make our communities safer".

"SQ 820 throws a match into the middle of what already is a powder keg in rural Oklahoma," said Sheriff Damon Devereaux of Logan County who also serves as President of the Oklahoma Sheriffs' Association. "Illegal grows, black market operations, organized crime, even execution style killings were all spawned by the poorly drafted initiative petition known as 788, and 820 builds on that flawed process," Devereaux continued.

Former Commissioner White, who is CEO of the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma, writes:

White has been a longtime advocate for strong brain health. Her opposition to 820 is based in science. Marijuana, particularly the high content THC marijuana of today, has health risks for all brains - particularly developing brains in youth and young adults and those vulnerable to addiction. "Oklahoma already has high rates of mental health and substance use issues and the door to get into treatment is too narrow. We cannot in good conscience exacerbate this problem; we must protect our youth and young adults," White said.

The science is clear that high content THC marijuana has been associated with an increase in suicidal ideation, the onset of psychosis, and the activation of addiction circuitry especially in brains under the age of 25 where the prefrontal cortex is not yet fully developed.

All of Oklahoma's voters have an election on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. The only thing on the ballot is State Question 820, which would enact a law to legalize marijuana for any purpose, over and above the "medical" marijuana law, SQ 788, approved by voters in June 2018.

I will be voting NO - AGAINST THE PROPOSITION, and I hope you will join me in turning out to cast a no vote and encouraging friends and family to do the same. Polls will be open on election day, Tuesday, March 7, 2023, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Early voting will be available on Thursday, March 2, and Friday, March 3, 2023, from 8:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. at at least one location in each county; Tulsa County will have early voting at the election board downtown and at the Hardesty Regional Library in south Tulsa.

In 2018, Oklahoma voters approved "medical" marijuana, perhaps imagining pharmacists in white coats measuring carefully calibrated doses of THC to relieve the pain of terminal cancer patients. Instead, dispensaries with punny names (e.g. "Dank of Oklahoma," "Oklahoma Natural Grass") filled every vacant storefront selling varieties with names that evoke lost weekends and Cheech and Chong albums, rather than pharmaceutical precision: "Maui Wowie," "Acapulco Gold," "Bad Parent," "Gary Satan," "Kingpin Kush OG," and "Terdz," which reportedly smells of "sweet diesel, fruit, and candy." According to an LA Times video report, Oklahoma has 2,301 dispensaries compared to 913 in California, and nearly as many licensed cultivators as the Golden State -- 8,014 in Oklahoma and 8,757 in California.

What SQ 788 made bad, SQ 820 would make worse. Among other provisions, SQ 820 would forbid taking marijuana use into consideration in child custody decisions. This goes beyond removing criminal sanctions for low-level use and treats the use of a mind-altering drug as inconsequential.

Unlike most state questions, SQ 820 is not a constitutional amendment. If approved by a majority of voters statewide, a new piece of legislation, 16 pages in length, will be enacted into law, adding Sections 431 through 446 to Title 63, Public Health & Safety, the same as if the legislature had passed a bill. The actual legislation is contained in pages 3-18 of the PDF for State Question 820 on the Oklahoma Secretary of State website. (The PDF also includes legal challenges concerning the validity of the proposal, petition tallies, and the legal battle over the summary that will appear on the ballot.) Because SQ 820 is statutory, the legislature could subsequently amend the law contained in this state question, but political considerations would deter a legislator from making changes to a question approved by a majority of voters in his own district.

Eighteen Oklahoma state questions legalizing marijuana in some form have been filed with the Secretary of State, beginning with SQ 501 in 1973, a single-page proposition that would have removed all "civil or criminal penalties for the use, possession, cultivation, distribution, or possession with intent to distribute, of marihuana by persons eighteen years of age or older." Distributing to a minor would have been a misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $100. The petition failed for an insufficient number of signatures, and that was the last attempt for until SQ 768 in 2014, a medical marijuana proposal which garnered less than half the signatures required. Of the 18 proposed state questions, six were withdrawn by their proponents, five failed to garner sufficient signatures, four were abandoned (no signatures ever filed), one (SQ 813) was stricken from the ballot by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2020 for lack of an accurate and sufficient gist to advise petition signers of the full scope of the proposed constitutional amendment; the remaining two are SQ 788 and SQ 820, both statutory proposals. The proponents of SQ 820 also proposed SQ 821 as a backup if the State Supreme Court had held that SQ 820 violated the single-subject requirement of the Oklahoma Constitution.

Yes on 820 - Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws raised $3,229,547.76 as of December 31, 2022, the last date they had to file a full contributions and expenditures report. They have spent $4,183,920.28 as of Friday, February 24, 2003. Major individual pro-pot contributors include Stacy Schusterman ($250,000), Harold Hamm's ex-wife Sue Ann Arnall ($100,000), and George Krumme ($25,000). The Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies gave $50,000, and the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union donated $30,000.

Most of the financial support for the "vote yes" cause has come from out-of-state leftist organizations. The Just Trust for Action of Asheville, NC, which is targeting Oklahoma for "criminal justice reform" (aka releasing dangerous criminals from prison) has contributed $1,171,400.00. The New Approach Advocacy Fund of Washington DC has contributed $750,319.95 some of which was in-kind "campaign advising." The ACLU has donated $570,476.00, including "staff time." Drug Policy Action of New York City gave $218,000.01.

It is disappointing to see the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs on the list of Just Trust for Action grant recipients, along with the ACLU of Oklahoma, the Terence Crutcher Foundation, the leftist Oklahoma Policy Institute, and the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma. OCPA is conservative on most issues but has been outspoken in support of "criminal justice reform" measures that have turned criminals loose to continue to prey on law-abiding Oklahomans. While OCPA published an critical article by Mike Brake on the impact of medical marijuana in 2021, I was unable to find any commentary on ocpathink.org regarding SQ 820.

Protect Our Kids No 820, chaired by former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, has spent $158,150.00 as of Friday. They have not yet been required to file a full campaign and expenditures report, which is due on a quarterly basis.

Organizational opponents of SQ 820 include the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the Oklahoma Sheriff's Association, the Oklahoma State Chamber, and the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association. The Farm Bureau's press release cites "the effects the marijuana industry has on rural Oklahoma, including placing significant strain on rural utility providers and making common land management practices like herbicide application a greater challenge." The State Chamber states:

Oklahoma passed SQ 788 in 2018, making medical marijuana legal, but it failed to create a regulatory system needed for a true medical marijuana program. SQ 820 also lacks a sufficient regulatory scheme and implementation plan, both of which are essential for introducing recreational marijuana into the state.

SQ 820 adversely affects the state in a variety of ways, including its impact on children, workforce reliability and limited regulatory environment, as well as law enforcement concerns.

"Oklahoma is still trying to sort out the aftereffects of our hastily approved medical marijuana program. To this day, our state is suffering from serious regulatory and enforcement issues," said Chad Warmington, president and CEO of The State Chamber. "SQ 820 has many unforeseen consequences that will no doubt add to the overall marijuana crisis in Oklahoma. Approving SQ 820 makes the situation worse without solving the problems that persist. We encourage Oklahomans to say 'No' to SQ 820."

Even some pro-cannabis forces are opposed to SQ 820. Jed Green, director of Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action, and proponent of two proposals that failed to reach the ballot, filed petitions with the Oklahoma Supreme Court challenging the legal sufficiency and constitutionallity of SQ 820. A Reddit post raises concerns that SQ 820 will drive mom-and-pop dispensaries and growers out of business, in favor of big corporate growers and retailers.

MORE:

Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action, a pro-pot group that has not endorsed SQ 820, has a matter-of-fact SQ 820 FAQ sheet.

Parents Opposed to Pot: Bursting the Bubble of Marijuana Hype (poppot.org) is a cornucopia of information on the medical and social damage done by marijuana use. This article on the upcoming Oklahoma vote reports on 10 marijuana-related deaths last year -- 6 due to a teen driver who tested positive for cannabis, 4 involving a farm operated by Chinese nationals under an illegally obtained grow license.

Tulsa constitutional attorney Leah Farish has done two interviews on marijuana, health, and the law on her Conversation Balloons podcast:

• Ken Finn, MD, a board-certified pain management physician in Colorado
• Jordan Davidson, a former teen marijuana addict who now, at age 22, works for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes legalization but advocates for treatment, rather than incarceration, for low-level users.

League of Women Voters forum on SQ 820 features Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler and Tulsa Health Department director Bruce Dart speaking in opposition to the proposal and speaking of the dangers in terms of public health and law enforcement. Paid proponent Michelle Tilley's rebuttal avoided the issues raised by Kunzweiler and Dart with vague claims of "scare tactics" and by saying that the legislature could fix problems later. We are still trying to fix problems caused by SQ 788. While there is value in the initiative and referendum process, as a bypass for a legislature that has lost its way, it is a lousy way to enact complex legislation, which needs the scrutiny that the legislative process can provide.

Marijuana Moment coverage of Oklahoma propositions

Above: 75 years ago today, a newspaper advertisement from the February 27, 1948, Washington Countian of Dewey, Oklahoma, for the movie "Marihuana: The Weed with Its Roots in Hell"

Tuesday, Februrary 14, 2023, is the annual school primary for all Oklahoma public school districts. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can view your sample ballot and find the address of your polling place at the Oklahoma Voter Portal.

At least one school board seat in every district is up for re-election every year, but this year as always few are contested. Up through the 2018 election, any contested school board seat would be on the ballot for the 2nd Tuesday in February, with a runoff on the 1st Tuesday in April if no one won a majority of the vote. Now, the February election is regarded as a primary and the April election as a general, so any race with only two candidates automatically occurs in April, and the April election serves as a runoff for races with three or more candidates where none wins more than 50% of the vote.

Tulsa County has only one school board race on Tuesday's ballot: Owasso Office No. 3. Incumbent Neal Kessler, a 47-year-old registered Republican, is being challenged by Republican Vincent Donaldson, 67, and Democrat Kristy Moon, 41. Donaldson is a retired Tulsa Public School teacher with 21 years of service, 18 of which were in special education, and is now a Realtor. The Tulsa County Republican Party Candidate Committee interviewed and recommended Vincent Donaldson.

Here are their social media and web pages.

Vincent Donaldson: Campaign website, campaign FB page, personal FB profile.
Neal Kessler: Campaign website, campaign FB page, personal FB profile.
Kristy Moon: Campaign FB page.

Owasso schools have been in the news, and not in a good way, several times in the past year, garnering the attention of Libs of TikTok as well as traditional media. In October, Owasso superintendent Margaret Coates banned a student's father from school grounds; the father had confronted his board member after a board meeting over pornographic materials in the school library. A federal judge slapped down the school's ban. During the previous school year, Owasso middle school teacher Tyler Wrynn posted a TikTok video telling his students, "F--- your parents! I'm your parents now!" While Wrynn left Owasso (and wound up at Tulsa Will Rogers High School), Owasso parents reasonably want to know how a self-proclaimed anarchist hostile to parental authority over their middle-school children gets hired by their allegedly conservative district.

Three other Tulsa County districts each have two bond issues on the ballot. School bond issues result in a property tax increase, as the annual debt service for each bond is divided across the district's total assessed property value, resulting in the tax rate increase. The increase in property taxes from a bond issue approval may be offset by a decrease as previous bond issues are paid off, but approving any bond issue will result in higher property taxes than if the bond issue were defeated. Unlike most propositions in Oklahoma, school bond issues must pass by 60% of those voting. The 2017 School Bond Transparency Act, requires school districts to publish details of their proposed and past bond issue expenditures; see below to links for those districts with bond issues on the ballot. Except where noted, Proposition No. 1 is always for "constructing, equipping, repairing and remodeling school buildings, acquiring school furniture, fixtures and equipment and acquiring and improving school sites" (building and equipment) and Proposition No. 2 is for "purchasing transportation equipment."

Jenks Public Schools:

• Jenks 2023 bond transparency act statement
• Proposition No. 1 (building & equipment): $16,255,000
• Proposition No. 2 (transportation equipment): $945,000 for

Skiatook Public Schools:

• Skiatook 2023 bond transparency act statement
• Proposition No. 1 (building & equipment): $13,470,000
• Proposition No. 2 (transportation equipment): $730,000

Union Public Schools:

• Union 2023 bond transparency act statement
• Proposition No. 1 (building & equipment): $146,540,000
• Proposition No. 2 (transportation equipment): $5,460,000

In our neighboring counties, there are contested elections for school board Office No. 3 in Chouteau-Mazie, Claremore, and Wagoner, and school bond issue propositions (links go to the Bond Transparency Act notice for each district). Prop 1 is for buildings & equipment, Prop 2 for transportation equipment unless otherwise noted.

• Bartlesville: Prop 1, $37,400,000; Prop 2, $600,000.
• Catoosa: Prop for buildings & equipment, $9,000,000 to cover elementary school cost overruns
• Coweta: Prop for buildings & equipment, $50,200,000
• Fort Gibson: Prop 1, $6,400,000; Prop 2, $600,000.
• Inola: Prop 1, $2,075,000; Prop 2, $510,000.
• Olive: Prop 1, $830,000; Prop 2, $285,000.
• Osage Hills: Prop 1, $195,100; Prop 2, $100,000.
• Sequoyah (Rogers Co.): Prop 1, $18,385,000; Prop 2, $400,000.
• Woodland (Osage Co.): Proposition (transportation equipment) $460,000.

Some municipalities also have elections. Broken Arrow has a 25-year electric franchise vote on the ballot for Public Service Company of Oklahoma. Bristow has a mayor's race, and there is one city council race each in Okmulgee and Pawhuska.

MORE: A couple of images from a promotional flyer for Sequoyah's bond issue illustrate the ugliness that modern school governance and finance produces. Here is the Rogers County Model School (later Sequoyah School), 1914-1915, a dignified two-story brick schoolhouse:

And here is "the vision of the future" -- a massive, mostly empty parking lot surrounded by metal buildings with a bit of decorative brickwork:

UPDATE: An election day morning email from the Tulsa County Republican Party adds some perspective:

Happy Valentine's Day

Nothing says, "I LOVE YOU" quite like higher taxes and fees

In select areas of Tulsa County there are elections today. On the day when we should be thinking of flowers and chocolates and romantic dinners, we must take a brief moment out of our time and VOTE!

School bonds affect your property taxes. I'm sure they are telling you that your property tax won't increase if you pass their Bond Package, but what they fail to tell you is that if the bond FAILS, your property taxes WILL go down.

Fun fact:

One of the reasons the schools fight so hard to keep our School Board and bond package elections when you least expect an election (like Valentine's Day) is because of low voter turnout which gives them the advantage on getting the bond passed or their candidate elected.

City of Broken Arrow Residents ONLY Special PSO Utility Franchise Election

This is to vote on the 25-year renewal - PSO currently pays the City of Broken Arrow a 2% franchise fee on gross receipts that goes into the general fund. Under the new agreement, an additional 1% fee is to be used for improvements like street lighting, underground utilities, etc.

Going from 2% to 3% is a 50% increase on the fees we pay as consumers. You don't think PSO is absorbing the cost of the increase now do you?

Because this is a "fee" (fancy word for tax), it only requires a simple majority vote.