Tomorrow Residents inside the Union Public school district will have an opportunity to vote for the latest school bond for $19,000,000.   I support this bond and will vote yes.

Click here for information on how the 2012 bond money will be spent.

The following table shows the bond amounts for 2010, 2011, and for the proposed 2012 bond, what Union assumed the growth in the district would be, and what growth actually was.

You will see that this year, in addition to lowering the amount they asked for, they assumed 0% growth.  This in a good faith attempt to keep the overall tax rate voters are are asked to pay, the same as the previous years.  As long as growth is at least 0%, the overall tax rate in the Union district, for these bonds will remain the same.

Here are the last several bond amounts.  You will notice that this will be the smallest bond in the current 5 year cycle, lower than what was issued in 2008

2011: $21,600,000
2010: $22,000,000
2009: $20,000,000
2008: $19,400,000
2007: $17,000,000*
2006: $15,200,000*
2005: $13,000,000*
2004: $17,000,000*
2003: $16,000,000*
*Remember that Union school bonds are on a 5 year cycle. The new one coming on with the oldest one dropping off.

**I have some additional documentation regarding the projections and assumptions used to create this 2012 bond, I would be more than happy to share it if you will shoot me an email roemermanonrecord at gmail dot com.

Today was the last day to file Tulsa Election 2011 pre-general ethics filings. please to enjoy.

Last night The Tulsa Press Club hosted a council forum for Districts 2, 7, 8.

District 2 Republican Jeannie Cue
District 2 Democrat Phillip Oyler
District 7 Republican Thomas Mansur
District 7 Democrat Michael Rainwater
District 8 Democrat William Suliburk
District 8 Republican Phil Lakin Jr.
Forum moderator Randy Krehbiel

I have split up the video into the 6 questions plus the opening and closing statements.

Opening Statements

[ http://www.youtube.com/embed/D19RX3P-4DU ]

Major Issues

Non Partisan City Elections

[ http://www.youtube.com/embed/hJkTbYw85Yk ]

City Manager Form of Government

Trash

[ http://www.youtube.com/embed/W_ryYLd6_g0 ]

Proper Role of Chamber of Commerce

City Employees Involvement in Local Elections

[ http://www.youtube.com/embed/IVX9rCdEw1M ]

Closing Statements

Restrictions on the sale of pseudoephedrine to behind the counter have caused at least 2 unintended consequences that I'm aware of.


1.  The shake and bake method.  This method for the production of meth is a direct response to the government's attempted regulation of pseudoephedrine as a method to control the production or meth.  I would argue that the shake an bake method has actually made the problem worse.  I might be surprised, but I'm never shocked to find that government meddling produces the opposite intended result.  The entire Obama presidency has been a case study to this truism.  Laws meant to grow the economy produce the opposite effect.  Try to create jobs...the unemployment rate rises; try to protect consumers against bank fees, and bank fees get worse; try to make healthcare more affordable and accessible, it becomes harder to get and more expensive.  Attempts to regulate pseudoephedrine have been no exception.


2.  An increase in the use of phenylephrine as a replacement for pseudoephedrine .  This might be great except that there is no evidence that phenylephrine, when taken orally, actually works. A fact that seems to escape those who would point to phenylephrine as an excuse to restrict pseudoephedrine .  The truth is that studies show that phenylephrine doesn't work as a decongestant.

Because successive crackdowns on pseudoephedrine have failed to produce the desired effect on meth production, Oklahoma legislators would now restrict the sale of pseudoephedrine only to those with a prescription. I can only surmise that the assumption on the part of legislators  is that making pseudoephedrine available only by prescription will stop or severally limit the production of meth.   I have to ask if they have any hard data to support this?  The government's own study into prescription drug abuse shows a 400% increase in abuse from 1998 to 2008, with almost 10% of people over the age of 12 admitting to prescription drug abuse. If making a drugs available by prescription only were the solution I would think that prescription drug abuse would be less rampant.  Where are 1 out of 10 of us getting these drugs? What evidence is there that limiting pseudoephedrine to prescription only will keep it out of the hands of meth producers? 

I suspect that this course of action will have the following impacts.

1.  As before, meth production will not be hampered as makers will get their drugs by prescription via a network of  "allergy sufferers", or by going across state lines to get their pseudoephedrin.

2.   The ability of law abiding citizens to procure the only drug that seems to be affective to end their seasonal suffering will be hampered.  Most people have precious little time or money to go to the doctor as it is, this unnecessary requirement will just be an extra hurdle. One that I'm afraid will be insurmountable for the lower-middle and lower class.

3.  When lawmakers realize that their law has done nothing except cause problems for seasonal allergy sufferers, they will attempt to outlaw pseudoephedrine altogether.

Since Liberals and Democrats love regulation and government meddling, I will give them a pass on this legislation.  I will hold Oklahoma Republicans responsible for this.  I don't see them rushing to regulate guns or bullets as a method to reduce gun crime.  Most of our conservative Republican law makers would see this as folly because they know that law breakers will break the law, and such regulation would only serve to hurt law abiding citizens.  However when it comes to regulating pseudoephedrine somehow the same logic doesn't apply.  The we-have-to-do-something-now mentality has taken hold, and they are ready to regulate, restrict and meddle in our lives, consequence be dammed.

When this law fails to produce the desired effect, causing only unintended consequences on our health care system and hardship for seasonal allergy sufferers, don't say I didn't tell you so....remember who is to blame.

On Thursday September 1st I, along with several other candidates put on a nice shirt and tie and headed down town to City Hall as a part of the process for getting a job with the City of Tulsa. 

I was there to take this picture for my second political mailer in my Tulsa City Council bid.  Having arrived early before my photographer I waited in the lobby of One Technology Center along with another candidate who was also waiting in the lobby. He was not running for city council however, he was a candidate for one of the coveted Tulsa City firefighter academy positions. He asked me if I was waiting for an interview as well, probably hoping that I was since a fat bald guy would not be much competition for him. A few minutes later another firefighter candidate showed up. Sizing each other up, they talked about the various stages of testing and interviewing that they had already gone through and their confidence about whether or not they would make it into the program. One of the candidates, having gone through the process once before but not making it, felt that he had learned from his mistakes and was a shoe in this time.


I had no idea how relevant this experience would be until a few days ago when news broke that Dewey Bartlett’s Chief of Staff, Terry Simonson, was accused of using his influence at City Hall to procure a slot for his son in the process even though all the slots were already full.


One of the things I learned about the process of applying for the TFD academy in preparation for this post, was how difficult it is to become a Tulsa City Firefighter.  The gentlemen I witnessed were preparing for the 4th step of 6 required to qualify for entrance into the firefighter academy.  At any step a candidate can be kicked out of the running. Even those who make it through all 6 steps are still not guaranteed a spot in the academy because the academy itself is by no means a guaranteed certainty. The City may not be able to afford a spring academy, or there might not be as many openings as they had hoped. Indeed, the last academy boasted 49 graduates from a starting pool of 375-400 candidates, each getting washed out either in 1 of the first 6 steps or in the academy itself.


Simonson has been accused of using his position of authority as the Mayors Chief of Staff to get his son past the first hurdle of the application process, being one of the first 100 callers to apply.  Tulsa processes candidates in batches of 100. To get in, you have to call.  If you cant get through then you miss your opportunity.  Allegedly, Terry's son missed that opportunity and was added after the fact because of his father's request.


Despite the fact that this seems to be a gross violation of the ethics rules that all city employees are bound to obey, it is just bad form.  Sitting next to the two men who had made it so far into the process on their own made an impact on me.  I could see in their eyes how important this was to them, everything about their demeanor, and their speech screamed, "I want to be a Tulsa Firefighter so bad I can taste it!"  If they get through to the end everyone will know that they beat out hundreds of candidates to get there.  They will feel the pride of being the best of the best.  To start that process by cheating is dishonorable.


For a wonderful contrast between this scandal the right way to do things we need to look no further than Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer who refused a shot at FDNY because it would have required a special exception and special treatment.  Meyer understands that a man can not attain honor by acting dishonorably.


You may ask yourself, what is the big deal? Why is this important? I'd say ask the hundreds of candidates that follow the rules if it is a big deal.  Ask the people also tried and failed to call in that day but didn't have a father that works for the Mayor to help if this is a big deal.  This is a big deal because it is a another alleged violation of the ethics ordinance from this administration, another investigation, and another controversy. 


[update]
After I wrote this piece, but before I posted it, Terry Simonson tendered his resengation as Mayor Bartlett's Chief of Staff.

The first and most painful lesson I learned involved the transition from blogger to politician.  With political discourse people sometimes have a tendency to let their passions get the better of them and say unfair things.  The problem with this if you are a blogger is that it is easy to put those unfair things into words and onto the internet.

Unfortunately I've been guilty of blogging while angry, or being too one sided, or being just unfair.  This was painfully obvious to me the day I decided to run for office.  While I was worried about my blog being used against me (in fact it was used in an attack ad) this wasn't the genesis of my discomfort.  I realized that I was stepping into a glass house hoping that people would do unto me better than I had done to them.

I was forced to think about the tenor of my blog. While I was mostly proud, I could think of a few instances where I was not so proud.  Now that I'm no longer running for office, I can apologize to a few people and it won’t seem so disingenuous.  Jeff Applekamp, Bill Christiansen, and Dewey Bartlett are three people who have come under the wrath of Roemerman On Record, and while I think in some of the cases it was warranted, the words I used or the way I went about it was wrong.  To them, and to anyone else who feels like I've stepped over the line, I'm sorry, I promise to do better. Lesson 1 is easily summed up by Luke 6:31 "Do to others as you would have them do to you."
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Lesson two was a most unexpected and welcome surprise.   I'm surprised at how many people offered their congratulations despite my loss.  Perhaps it is one of the reasons I lost, but I ran a very positive, issues oriented campaign, free from negativity and personal attack.  While we didn't win, I pulled in nearly 40% of the vote in a three way race, not too shabby!  For every person that awkwardly offers up President Lincoln's repeated failures to win elections as inspiration to keep trying (pro tip, don't do that if you find yourself talking to the looser of an election), I have had several people express to me their pride at how well I did, both in the results I achieved despite my loss, and the way I achieved them, and/or personal thanks for getting into the race.  While winning is preferred, winning at all costs isn't, and not every defeat is served with bitter disappointment and shame. This is a good lesson.
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Lesson three is one I already knew but didn't appreciate fully. Elections are expensive, and however much money you think you need it probably isn't enough.  I raised $3,526.00 (not including in-kind donations)  and spent $3636.56;  I was confident that in conjunction with the incredible amount of work we put in knocking on the doors of thousands of voters it would be enough. While the reasons for my defeat are multifaceted, I think that a big chunk of it can be attributed to being out-spent.  The winner of the election in District 7 out-spent me by at least 3 to 1 if not a lot more, and at reporting time he out raised me by at least 4 to 1. It may be impossible to determine the price per vote on his side due to the nature of the reporting periods, but I think the analysis would show that a had I done a more aggressive media campaign made possible by more aggressive fundraising, I could have picked up the votes needed for a win.

Let this lesson be a lesson to you too.  Donate to political candidates.  You have no idea how much donations of $10, $20, or $50 add up.  I can tell you that your donation that you think isn't worth giving, when added with just a few more people who make the same donation make a world of difference.
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Every vote counts, and some count more that others.  For this next lesson, what I found is that there are key people who it is vitally important you get on your side.  There was one woman who I spoke with on her door step.  I had secured her vote, but what I also secured was her staunch support.  She became an advocate for me amongst her friends and her circle of influence.  By analyzing the voting records you can guess at who these people might be but it is really impossible to know for sure. Every contact, every phone call, every door knocked creates the potential for not just one vote but perhaps several.  When people asked me questions I never changed my answers to what I thought they wanted to hear, but sometimes I couldn't tell what side of an issue they were on.  This often created a tense moment where I wasn't sure if I was going to lose them or not. Loosing one vote is bad enough, losing one of these key influencers can be a nightmare scenario in a close election. 
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The last lesson is another one we all know, but is good to reinforce.  You can't do it alone.  I am humbled and awestruck at the help and support of volunteers and people that donated to my campaign.  I won’t dwell on this one except to say that campaigns are hard hard work, and the old adage that many hands make light work is true.  I have a lot of thank you cards to write!
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So for what it's worth, those are some of the more important lessons I learned in a bid for Tulsa City Council District 7.  Running for office has been an amazing experience, and even though I lost, I wouldn't trade it for the world.  For the time being, I've turned off politician Steven and re-ignited blogger Steven.  As I fire Roemerman on Record back up, be on the look out for more coverage of local issues.

I'm excited to announce that I've decided to run for city council. You can read my press release below.

July is marked by the song of the cicada, sometimes called locusts. A couple years ago I made a time laps video of one molting. If you haven't seen it before, you might find this interesting. Please to enjoy...

[ http://www.youtube.com/embed/Bw1MFdlmWyA ]

I teach 3-5th grade gentlemen on Wednesday nights at church. Tonight they have to take the following test to get their Matthew Bible merit badge...

In May of 1998, fresh out of college, I packed up my things left Dallas TX, and moved to Tulsa. I had no job and no prospects for one. At the time, Tulsa's attraction to me was its low cost of living and affordable housing. I moved into a great little two story house in East Tulsa and started preparing my house for my soon-to-be wife. In a few months I would be married, and I needed to find a job.

It wasn't long before I found a temp job working at Williams Tower installing software. On my first day at the job I left home at 6:45 so I could get downtown by 8 o'clock. Five minutes later I found myself on 244 heading downtown at 70MPH!!! I got to work a little early. That was my first indication that there was something special about Tulsa.

Tulsa has been very generous to me in the ensuing years, and I've discovered many more special things about Tulsa other than the cheap houses, and amazing commute times. In fact,these have been the best years of my life. Tulsa has given me a place to worship that is so important to me that it was difficult to even consider a move to another city just a few years into my career as a computer programmer. Tulsa has witnessed the birth of my three wonderful children. As they have grown, I've discovered that it is an amazing place to raise a family. It has provided me life long friends and colleagues. I discovered its rich history, heritage and culture.

I love Tulsa, I'm so glad to have laid down deep roots here. I'm honored to be involved as a blogger, as a member of the Sales Tax Overview Committee, and as an adopted son of this great city. I hope to find that the next 13 years are as fortunate to me as the first 13.