Roemerman on Record

Bill Christiansen Press Conference (Apr 22)

2013-04-22T16:35:00.000-05:00

Tulsa Mayoral Candidate Bill Christiansen held a press conference today at the Tulsa Press Club. He touched on 2 main topics.

1. His new campaign office in North Tulsa (2945 E Pine Ave).

2. The controversial push poll performed by Weston Research that touched on Former Mayor Taylor's involvement with the settlement of Great Plains Airline loans to the BOK; and a letter from Taylor's campaign alleging defamation.

I recorded the entire event and the videos can bee seen below. In the video there are several references to a media handout or backup packet. This can be found here.

Tulsa Transit Gun Policy May Violate OK State Law

2013-03-27T14:13:00.005-05:00

I decided to ride the bus the other day on a whim. I was surprised to see a no gun sign on the bus. I also found this on the Tulsa Transit website.

Effectively what they are saying with their policy is, if I need to ride the bus, I must give up my God given right to protect myself both on the bus, and at my destination.

I don't think they can or do have that kind of power. The Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority is a trust, defined under Tulsa's title 39. It derives it's power and authority from the City of Tulsa.

The Oklahoma Self Defense act says that Tulsa doesn't have the kind of authority to tell me where I can or can't carry a gun, therefore I would assume that the MTTA doesn't either.

TITLE 21 § 1289.24 FIREARM REGULATION – STATE PREEMPTION The State Legislature hereby occupies and preempts the entire field of legislation in this state touching in any way firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies to the complete exclusion of any order, ordinance, or regulation by any municipality or other political subdivision of this state. Any existing or future orders, ordinances, or regulations in this field, except as provided for in paragraph 2 of this subsection and subsection C of this section, are null and void.

Tulsa Ordinances on Firearms May Violate OK State Law

2013-02-10T22:03:00.000-06:00

I was surprised recently to find out that it is illegal to carry a firearm in a Tulsa park. I saw a sign similar to this one posted outside one of the the parks. I didn't believe that this jived with Oklahoma State law so I did a little digging. I found at least 4 sections of Tulsa's Ordinances that seem to me to conflict with Oklahoma law.

Before we get into specifics, I want to share the key Oklahoma statutes that I think inform the rest of the discussion. Specifly there are 2 sections of the Oklahoma Self Defense Act (PDF) that I want to share.

First, according to TITLE 21 § 1277 UNLAWFUL CARRY IN CERTAIN PLACES, the following places are off limits for folks with an SDA license to carry:

A. It shall be unlawful for any person in possession of a valid handgun license issued pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act to carry any concealed or unconcealed handgun into any of the following places:

1. Any structure, building, or office space which is owned or leased by a city, town, county, state, or federal governmental authority for the purpose of conducting business with the public;

2. Any meeting of any city, town, county, state or federal officials, school board members, legislative members, or any other elected or appointed officials;

3. Any prison, jail, detention facility or any facility used to process, hold, or house arrested persons, prisoners or persons alleged delinquent or adjudicated delinquent;

4. Any elementary or secondary school;

5. Any sports arena during a professional sporting event;

6. Any place where pari-mutuel wagering is authorized by law; and

7. Any other place specifically prohibited by law.

1277 continues to clarify in section B by listing places that might fall into one of those aforementioned places but are specifically excluded. In other words, It's okay to carry in these places even if it seems like it isn't because of the previous section (emphasis added with bolding and underlining).

B. For purposes of paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of subsection A of this section, the prohibited place does not include and specifically excludes the following property:

1. Any property set aside for the use or parking of any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, by a city, town, county, state, or federal governmental authority,

2. Any property set aside for the use or parking of any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, by any entity offering any professional sporting event which is open to the public for admission, or by any entity engaged in pari-mutuel wagering authorized by law,

3. Any property adjacent to a structure, building, or office space in which concealed or unconcealed weapons are prohibited by the provisions of this section, and

4. Any property designated by a city, town, county, or state, governmental authority as a park, recreational area, or fairgrounds; provided nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to authorize any entry by a person in possession of a concealed or unconcealed handgun into any structure, building, or office space which is specifically prohibited by the provisions of subsection A of this section.

Nothing contained in any provision of this subsection shall be construed to authorize or allow any person in control of any place described in paragraph 1, 2, 3, 5 or 6 of subsection A of this section to establish any policy or rule that has the effect of prohibiting any person in lawful possession of a handgun license from possession of a handgun allowable under such license in places described in paragraph 1, 2, 3, or 4 of this subsection.

Second, the next important section deals with Oklahoma's supremacy regarding gun laws (emphasis added with bolding and underlining).

TITLE 21 § 1289.24 FIREARM REGULATION – STATE PREEMPTION

A.

1. The State Legislature hereby occupies and preempts the entire field of legislation in this state touching in any way firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies to the complete exclusion of any order, ordinance, or regulation by any municipality or other political subdivision of this state. Any existing or 33 future orders, ordinances, or regulations in this field, except as provided for in paragraph 2 of this subsection and subsection C of this section, are null and void.

2. A municipality may adopt any ordinance:

a. relating to the discharge of firearms within the jurisdiction of the municipality, and

b. allowing the municipality to issue a traffic citation for transporting a firearm improperly as provided for in Section 1289.13A of this title, provided however, as that penalties contained for violation of any ordinance enacted pursuant to the provisions of this subparagraph shall not exceed the penalties established in the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act.

3. As provided in the preemption provisions of this section, the otherwise lawful open carrying of a handgun under the provisions of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act shall not be punishable by any municipality or other political subdivision of this state as disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace or similar offense against public order.

B. No municipality or other political subdivision of this state shall adopt any order, ordinance, or regulation concerning in any way the sale, purchase, purchase delay, transfer, ownership, use, keeping, possession, carrying, bearing, transportation, licensing, permit, registration, taxation other than sales and compensating use taxes, or other controls on firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies.

C. Except as hereinafter provided, this section shall not prohibit any order, ordinance, or regulation by any municipality concerning the confiscation of property used in violation of the ordinances of the municipality as provided for in Section 28-121 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Provided, however, no municipal ordinance relating to transporting a firearm improperly may include a provision for confiscation of property.

D. When a person’s rights pursuant to the protection of the preemption provisions of this section have been violated, the person shall have the right to bring a civil action against the persons, municipality, and political subdivision jointly and severally for injunctive relief or monetary damages or both

Now that we know what State law says, let me share which sections of Tulsa's ordinances I think may run afoul of our state law.
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Title 26 has 2 sections that I think violate both TITLE 21 § 1277 and TITLE 21 § 1289.24

TITLE 26 - PARKS, MALL AND PLAZA
CHAPTER 1. - PARKS

Section 103. - Prohibited acts.

Q. No person shall bring into or have in his possession in any park area or facility any firearm, BB gun, air pistol, bow and arrow, crossbow, slingshot, knife or other weapon capable of inflicting injury to persons, animals or public property, whether or not such weapons are loaded, unless such park area or facility has been specifically designated and posted for such use or unless the use is in conjunction with an approved program.

CHAPTER 3. - DETENTION FACILITIES AND RECREATIONAL AREAS SUPERVISED BY PUBLIC WORKS

Section 303. - Prohibited acts.

Q. No person shall bring into or have in his possession in any facility any firearm, BB gun, air pistol, bow and arrow, crossbow, slingshot, knife or other weapon capable of inflicting injury to persons, animals or public property, whether or not such weapons are loaded, unless such facility has been specifically designated and posted for such use or unless the use is in conjunction with an approved program.***

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Title 8 seems to give the Mayor powers that are precluded in the preemption section of State law... specifically B under TITLE 21 § 1289.24 FIREARM REGULATION – STATE PREEMPTION

TITLE 8 - CIVIL DEFENSE AND CIVIL EMERGENCY
Section 202. - Powers of Mayor.
G. The discontinuance of selling, distributing, dispensing or giving away of any firearms or ammunition of any character whatsoever;
H. The closing of any or all establishments or portions thereof, the chief activity of which is the sale, distribution, dispensing or giving away of firearms or ammunition; and

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Oklahoma TITLE 21 § 1289.24 does not seem to give Tulsa the power to limit cab drivers the way Tulsa's Title 36 does.

TITLE 36 - TAXICABS AND PARATRANSIT VEHICLES

CHAPTER 1. - TAXICAB AND PARATRANSIT VEHICLE REGULATIONS

Section 123. - Rules and regulations.

B.

2. A chauffeur shall not have a firearm, explosive device or illegal weapon in his possession while on duty.

If a chauffeur has a valid handgun licence, how can the City of Tulsa say that it is illegal for that chauffeur to protect himself? I didn't list it but TITLE 21 § 1289.25 of the SDA seems to say that chauffeurs or cab drivers do have the right to carry a gun if they have a valid handgun license.

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Oklahoma state law is clear. "No municipality or other political subdivision of this state shall adopt any order, ordinance, or regulation concerning in any way the sale, purchase, purchase delay, transfer, ownership, use, keeping, possession, carrying, bearing, transportation, licensing, permit, registration, taxation other than sales and compensating use taxes, or other controls on firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies." The above statues clearly do that.

I've written a letter to our 9 city councilors. Hopefully that letter finds them well, and they will take a look at this issue. I'll keep you posted on any responses I get.

Vision2 - Making Plans

2012-10-09T00:54:00.001-05:00

I thought you might find a video I made about Vision 2 interesting. I called Commissioner Perry and Keith's office asking them to speak at a neighborhood event in 2017.

I thought it was a fun way to illustrate the absurdity voting now for a tax plan that doesn't kick in until 2017.
I hope you like it.

(For the record I called Smaligo's office too, but I couldn't get a hold of anyone who would look at his schedule)

Union's Apology Message

2012-09-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

As promised, here is Union's apology message that was sent out tonight.

This is Lisa Griffin, Union’s Child Nutrition Director. I want to apologize for the phone call and e-mail regarding the notice of expiration of free and reduced status sent out Monday night. This message was inadvertently sent out to some families that should not have received it, including your family. I am sorry for any misunderstanding or inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any questions about this, please call 918-357-6132 or 918-357-6136. Thank you.

Did Union Make a Free Lunch Email Mistake?

2012-09-25T15:34:00.000-05:00

Monday night, whether it applied or not, most if not all Union parents revived the following robo-call/email

This is Lisa Griffin, Union’s Director of Child Nutrition, calling to tell you about an important deadline. Your student has been receiving free or reduced meals since qualifying last school year. However, effective Wednesday, October 3, your student will need to pay for his or her meals unless a new application is completed and approved by Child Nutrition. To apply online, go to the district web site, unionps.org. Choose Departments, then Child Nutrition, and click on Free and Reduced Meal Application.

If you prefer to fill out a paper application you may call us at 918-357-6136 to request a form, or you may obtain one at your child’s school. Thank you!

For my part, my children not only don't qualify for reduced/free lunch, they take a packed lunch to school. In an attempt to understand how I could have received such a message I came up with two theories

1. Union was too lazy to figure out to whom this message applied so they sent it to everyone.
2. Union wanted to trick as many parents as they can into applying for free lunch so they can get their sweet Title 1 federal money.

I spoke with a gentleman with the Union nutrition program regarding this email. He seemed exasperated with talking to parents about this email (I'm guessing that it had taken up most of his morning). I was told that it was a mistake and that it should have been targeted. But something leaves me feeling unconvinced.

Now, I'm sure that it was a mistake for them to send this notice to parents who had children that were already successfully enrolled into the 2012/2013 program, but I'm not entirely convinced that it was a mistake to send it to the rest of us.

I've seen Union get really excited when one of their schools qualified for Federal Title 1 funding. For an entire school to qualify for Title 1 funds, at least 40% of students must enroll in the free and reduced lunch program. I'm convinced the maps they draw to determine which neighborhoods go to which schools are specifically designed to maximize free/reduced school lunch enrollees as if they were a commodity spent as wisely as possibly. I believe Union would like to find a way to make all of their elementary schools qualify for Title 1. So I wouldn't put it past them to send out a note to all the parents that didn't enroll this year that was designed to maximize enrollment even if it was slightly misleading.

As soon as I get the forthcoming apology note from Union I'll post it Hopefully it will shead light on this "mistake."

Final Tulsa Vision2 Forum Tulsan's say no

2012-09-08T11:42:00.000-05:00

Vision 2 is a proposed $748.8 million Tulsa County tax package that would extend the current Vision 2025 sales tax rate of 0.6 cents for another 13 years starting in 2016. Before voters vote on vision 2 in November, citizens from all over Tulsa County are providing their input for Vision 2 to their local elected officials.

Friday night saw the final of five forums held for the citizens of Tulsa to give their input on Vision 2

The top 5 topics of conversation with the numer of speakers were:

Opposition to Vision 2 - 22.

Water in the river or some sort of river development - 13.

The Tulsa Zoo - 4

The Thornton Y's wellness program - 3

A children's museum - 3

Other ideas of note included improvments to the Central libarary, parks improvements and improvements to the Botanical garden.

For a forum that was suppsoed to be about what people wanted to see in the Vision2 package to have nearly a third of the speakrs voice oposisiton to the proposal entereily was fairly impressive.

I was one of the speakers in opposition to Vision2. Generally, although not always, I'm opposed to county wide sales taxes. Local municipalities like Tulsa are largely restricted in the manner in which they fund themselves. Sale taxes are their life blood. Every tenth of a cent that the county levees represents a loss of flexibility for a city in that county.

More specifically, I don't support extending a tax 4 years before it expires and I don't support the short amount of time we have to evaluate, debate, and discuss this issue before voters are asked to vote on it. I don't like the "We have to do something now" mentality. If something is a good idea now, it will be a good idea later after sober thought and debate.

I would be more amenable to putting this off for a couple of years and to then bring this back as a possible city tax with a shorter length, and a smaller scope.

Michael Bates has done quite a bit of analysis on Vision2 over on his blog batesline.com
here
here
here
here

Below are some pictures I took at the Friday night Vision2 meeting.

South Tulsa Bridge Becomes South County Bridge

2012-08-13T15:32:00.000-05:00

I received this mockup of the latest incarnation of the South Tulsa Bridge. As I understand it, this current proposal is being pushed by the Mayor of Bixby, Ray Bowen, and is now being called the South County Bridge.

This bridge would cross the river at about the same place as before. It lands due south from Yale & 121st with 40' high turns. Northbound traffic can split to go to the intersection of the River Road/121st or Sheridan/121st. The two tiny white "hooks" you see are to access 121st to get to neighborhoods or S. Yale. The large white U-shaped street is being called 124th Street.

The idea is that 124th St. would placate South Tulsa neighborhoods who are concerned about additional traffic on 121st Street. Also of interest in this plan is the western leg from the landing to River Road goes directly through Cousins Park.

I assume that this is where Bixby will want to spend their portion of the new Vision 2 tax...if it passes.

Vote Yes on Union School Bond

2012-02-13T11:12:00.004-06:00

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.

Bond Series	Principal Amount	NAV Growth Assumption	NAV Growth Actual
2010 Bonds	22,000,000	2.50%	0.96%
2011 Bonds	21,600,000	1.00%	-0.75%
2012 Bonds	19,000,000	0.00%

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.

Campaign finance report time

2011-10-31T18:04:00.000-05:00

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

Tulsa Press Club Council Forum Districts 2, 7, 8

2011-10-26T10:35:00.002-05:00

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

Major Issues

Non Partisan City Elections

City Manager Form of Government

Trash

Proper Role of Chamber of Commerce

City Employees Involvement in Local Elections

Closing Statements

Pseudoephedrine, Regulation Won't Stop Meth

2011-10-05T15:54:00.002-05:00

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.

Phenylephrine is a poor substitute for pseudoephedrine as an orally administered decongestant as it is extensively metabolized in the gut and its efficacy as a decongestant is unproven
...
No support has been found in the literature in the public domain for the efficacy of phenylephrine as a nasal decongestant when administered orally.
...
In view of the extensive metabolism of phenylephrine in the gut wall, it seems unlikely that phenylephrine is an effective oral nasal 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.

Thoughts on Simonson

2011-09-29T21:04:00.002-05:00

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.

Stepping Into The Glass House: Lessons Learned While Running For Office

2011-09-20T11:09:00.000-05:00

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 running for City Council

2011-07-25T07:54:00.000-05:00

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ROEMERMAN ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR CITY COUNCIL
Promises New Age of Civility, Trust at City Hall
Tulsa, OK – June 29, 2011 – Tulsa resident and republican, Steven Roemerman, today officially announced his candidacy for Tulsa City Council District 7, the seat currently held by John Eagleton, who earlier declared he was vacating the seat.

“I love Tulsa and deeply feel the needs of the people,” says Roemerman. “My goal is to help forge a future for Tulsa that my children and their children will be proud of. Guided by my strong conservative principles, I will work with the Mayor and the rest of the Council to do the people’s work at City Hall.”

Asked about his top priorities as councilor, Roemerman says he wants to reduce the size of the budget by creating new efficiencies that reduce waste, enact fair zoning laws that foster economic growth, invest more in technology, and create a balanced budget that better meets the needs of the citizens. But, above all, he says, he hopes to usher in a new age of civility when it comes to working with the Mayor to enable the city to prosper.

“I believe elected officials must be able to work together regardless of personal feelings,” says Roemerman. “If I'm elected to office, that is what you can expect from me—a willingness to work with others and build trust in our city’s leadership. I pledge to be honest and open, relentless in my pursuit of growth and prosperity for Tulsa, and firm in my conservative values and principles.”

A resident of Tulsa since 1998, Roemerman is a graduate of Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri where he studied Computer Science and Biblical Studies. He is currently a Sr. Programmer at Avis Budget Group. He has been married for 13 years to his wife Stacey and has three children. The Roemermans live in Hampton South neighborhood in Tulsa and are members of Carbondale Assembly of God.

“There’s nothing more personally important to me than helping Tulsa grow and providing a place of opportunity for the next generation,” says Roemerman. “I know I can do a great job for our city and will work hard every day to make our city’s future one that we all can be proud of.”

Roemerman currently has a seat on Tulsa's Sales Tax Overview Committee, where he reviews and reports upon the expenditures of Tulsa's third penny sale tax and bond programs. He has been an active follower of The City Council, frequently attending meetings and speaking before the council both as a member of the STOC and as a concerned citizen. For more information about Roemerman or his campaign, go to www.steven4tulsa.com.

Cicada Molting Repost

2011-07-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

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...

Bible Merit Test Tonight (Matthew)

2011-06-22T17:00:00.003-05:00

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...

Mathew Bible Merit Test

Matt 2:1-12
1. Why was King Herod worried about Baby Jesus?
A. The Wise Men said that he would be the King of the Jews. Herod did not want to lose power.
B. The Wise Men told Herod that Jesus would be born in a barn. Herod did not want Jesus to get sick
C. Herod suffered from pedophobia, also known as fear of children. Small babies really scared him out of his royal mind!

Matt 5:21-26
2. What did Jesus compare to hating your brother or sister?
_________________

Matt 14:22-33
3. The disciples saw Jesus walking on water. Why did they freak out?
A. They thought they were all dead and he was the Grim Reaper
B. They thought that the they were all having the same dream
C. They thought Jesus was a ghost

4. Which disciple walked on water when Jesus called him?
A. Peter B. James C. John D. Matthew E. Commander Steven

Matt 19-23:30
5. Can man get to heaven on his own?
______________

Matt 26:17-30
6. In Communion, what does the bread stand for?
__________________________

7. What does the cup stand for?
___________________________

Lucky 13

2011-06-21T09:45:00.000-05:00

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.

Fireworks, Apple Pie, and The American Flag

2011-06-02T17:50:00.009-05:00

This afternoon while I was driving home from work, I noticed several American flags on the ground at 61st and Garnett. If you have even been to that intersection then you know that is where all the local fireworks stands are kept.

Without giving it much thought, I parked my car and proceeded to pickup the flags off the ground. I noticed a lady on the property talking on the phone and looking at me, so I decided to go talk to her.

It isn't clear to me where the owner of the land ends and the owner of the firework stands begin, I couldn't determine that from our conversation. However, I did determine that the folks moving the fireworks stands were more concerned with their schedule than they were with protecting and respecting the very emblem of independence that fireworks are supposed to celebrate. When I asked why they left flags on the ground the lady said, "They didn't have time..." To which I replied, "They didn't have time to be respectful to The Flag?" The excuse was "They're no good."

Eventually she let me talk to the owner of the property. He told me that some of his workers had left the flags on the ground and that he had not had time to pick them up, and that he was on his way back to get them off the ground. I told him that I had already picked up the flags for him. Another recurring theme in our conversation was the idea that I wasn't welcome on the land and that I was trespassing. I told the owner that I certainly appreciated his desire to not have people on his land, and that as soon as I got off the phone with him I'd leave. I asked him if he would tell his workers to try to be more respectful of The Flag in the future, and then I left.

[UPDATED] - I've added a video I took while I was there...

John Sullivan on his Debt Limit Vote

2011-06-01T14:26:00.004-05:00

Friends,

This week, I voted against President Obama’s request to raise the federal debt limit by $2.4 trillion while failing to include any spending cuts or long term plans for deficit reduction.

I voted no because there is only one way to regain fiscal sanity in Washington, and that is to stop spending money we don’t have. Our nation is already facing a record setting $14 trillion debt and this legislation would have added another $2.4 trillion to it while doing absolutely nothing to end the taxpayer funded spending spree that has plagued the Federal Government for far too long.

There is an old saying that when you are in a hole, you need to stop digging – well the Obama Administration would rather keep digging than to actually listen to the American people and cut spending.

Click here to read my statement on the vote.

Sincerely,

Representative John Sullivan

Golden Sentinel

2011-05-16T22:11:00.002-05:00

Golden Sentinel

by Steven H Roemerman Sr.

Sentinel vessel of golden light

Completes his rounds every night

Keeping watch o’er cloudless sky

A waining ration his fate imply

As pitch of night vies for his place

The Eternal One bestows His grace

The waxing light that fills his bowl

Returns our guard to his patrol

The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music

2011-05-07T14:05:00.004-05:00

Last night I randomly had an old Petra song stuck in head. I had briefly thought about buying it on Amazon, however 99 cents for a song I can listen to on YouTube for free seemed a poor value. The exercise did get me poking around the music store where I found The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music as performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra...for $5.99!!! That's 12 cents per song!

Not wanting our kids to grow up being philistines we try to expose them to classical music where we can. Our house isn't devoid of classical music; we have a lot of Bach, Carmen, a little Mozart, and we listen to Handle's Messiah two times a year. However, this collection seemed so varied that I decided it was a must have.

I bought it and we sat down and listen to samples of every piece in an exercise to determine out how many they would recognize. The 4-year-old said, “I know that one, it's from when you win at Peggle!”. The 6-year-old, “We know that from Little Einsteins...” The 8-year-old repeatedly said, “Yep...I know that one.”

All told, between the three of them, they knew 22 of the 50. I'd say that's pretty good for for a bunch of little kids. I figure in between movies, commercials, and old cartoons, and what we listen to some times, they had already been exposed to a lot more classical music than I had previously thought. 22 down...28 to go I guess.

NCAA Basketball, Dowtown Tulsa, and the Bus

2011-03-18T01:22:00.000-05:00

I decided to take the day off and watch some NCAA Basketball at the BOK center tomorrow. Since I know parking will be a mess downtown, I've decided to take the bus. I've never taken the bus before. I thought about taking it to work once but it was a gigantic hassle so I never did it. Fortunately, if you want to go downtown it seems a fairly simple and straightforward affair.

Having consulted tulsatransit.org I believe I've chosen the park and ride station I want to use. I think I'll take some extra time and have a coffee at Topéca Coffee.

After that it's on to the BOK center to watch #4 Texas vs. #13 Oakland followed by #5 Arizona vs. #12 Memphis.

It should be an exciting day.

Eagleton's Presentation to Ouster Mayor Bartlett

2011-03-03T00:36:00.002-06:00

Here is non-embedded link

The videos in the presentation are also below

Link to the first video

Link to the second video

Link to the third video.

Link to the fourth video.

*Disclaimer: I received this presentation as a PowerPoint document, I uploaded it to Google Docs in order to more easily share it. The conversion was such that I was forced to edit the document so that all the text could show on every slide. I accomplished this by changing the font size. Also, the original presentation pointed to videos that were assumed to be local. This required me to upload those videos on You Tube so that they could be shown with the presentation.

Eagleton's letter to Gov Fallin Calling for the Ouster of Mayor Bartlett

2011-03-02T21:42:00.000-06:00

Here is the link to the Google Doc PDF of that contains the Letter that Tulsa City Councilor John Eagleton sent to Governor Mary Fallon calling for the ouster of Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr.

Roemerman on Record

Bill Christiansen Press Conference (Apr 22)

Tulsa Transit Gun Policy May Violate OK State Law

Tulsa Ordinances on Firearms May Violate OK State Law

Vision2 - Making Plans

Union's Apology Message

Did Union Make a Free Lunch Email Mistake?

Final Tulsa Vision2 Forum Tulsan's say no

South Tulsa Bridge Becomes South County Bridge

Vote Yes on Union School Bond

Campaign finance report time

Tulsa Press Club Council Forum Districts 2, 7, 8

Opening Statements Major Issues Non Partisan City Elections City Manager Form of Government Trash Proper Role of Chamber of Commerce City Employees Involvement in Local Elections Closing Statements

Pseudoephedrine, Regulation Won't Stop Meth

Thoughts on Simonson

Stepping Into The Glass House: Lessons Learned While Running For Office

I'm running for City Council

Cicada Molting Repost

Bible Merit Test Tonight (Matthew)

Lucky 13

Fireworks, Apple Pie, and The American Flag

John Sullivan on his Debt Limit Vote

Golden Sentinel

The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music

NCAA Basketball, Dowtown Tulsa, and the Bus

Eagleton's Presentation to Ouster Mayor Bartlett

Eagleton's letter to Gov Fallin Calling for the Ouster of Mayor Bartlett

Opening Statements

Major Issues

Non Partisan City Elections

City Manager Form of Government

Trash

Proper Role of Chamber of Commerce

City Employees Involvement in Local Elections

Closing Statements