They’re also either encouraging their solicitors to lie, or they’re not training them very well. Either way, they are soliciting signatures under false pretenses, which only further mars the reputations of the groups pursuing this undemocratic endeavor.
A contributor to the TulsaNow.org forums filed an interesting post. He is a west Tulsa resident and apparently delights in punishing telemarketers. You can read his post here.
Most disturbingly, however, I received a call from a constituent that got nine…count them…nine phone calls today from recall screeners. He and his wife are both retirees, and apparently she possesses a very useful, but increasingly rare talent; she can take shorthand. So…her husband answered the phone and engaged the caller, while she listened in on the other line and took down as much as she could of the conversation. Here’s what they got from their conversation with tele-geek David from Unknown Area Code, NY:
David: I’m asking for your support in the recall of Chris Medlock. Are you familiar with Chris Medlock, sire?
Voter: Oh, I know who he is.
David: Would you be willing to sign a petition to recall him, sir?
Voter: What are they going to recall him for?
David: Well, he has become an embarrassment for District 2. He is publicly berating citizens who volunteer their time…angered suburban neighbors by refusing to extend the water supply…setting Tulsa residents up to pay even more for their water. He has made Tulsa unattractive to incoming businesses by making a [polygraph?] development fund and alienating local businesses. Those are just a few of the thing he has been up to.
Voter: You think he has even more conflict of interest than the people who were there?
David: Yes sir.
Voter: What does he do to do that?
David: Well, he’s the little ringleader of the councilmen who are causing trouble for the City of Tulsa.
Voter: You think he is benefiting financially?
David: I’m not sure.
Councilor Roscoe Turner’s wife told of a co-worker who received a call from these maroons. They told her that my transgressions were that I had “passed a law so that you couldn’t use your sprinklers” AND that I “owned land that I refused to sell for economic development.”
All of this would be hilariously funny, if it weren’t for all of the trouble expense that we all went through in order to create the 200-words-or-less response to the 200-words-or-less accusations, that were printed on the petitions, that most people will never be given an opportunity to read. Instead, they are given urban mythology, or any conceived concoction of a mind that is most likely suffering from dementia, caused by the boredom of a telemarketing job they hate, and their fourth Red Bull of the day.
Remember that the League of Women Voters has already stated that the number of signatures called for in the Tulsa Charter to require a recall vote is already ridiculously low. Now we learn that a large percentage of the people being solicited are not even going to be given accurate information on which to make their decision. The level of dishonesty in order to achieve a political aim is even making the machinations of the Tulsa World editorialists seem tame by comparison.
I challenge Jon Davidson and Herb Haschke to prove they are honorable men and call an end to these lies. That, or produce proof that I have:
-Publicly berated citizens who volunteer their time.
-Ever cast a vote or stated publicly that I would not sell water to the suburbs.
-Ever passed any law that kept people from being able to use their sprinklers
-Ever used “terrorist tactics”
On second thought, why bother. These men have no honor, or the would’ve quit their selfish and destructive actions after the Mayor, the Tulsa County Republican Executive Committee, the Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, the local chapter of the NAACP and the League of Women voters told them what they were doing was wrong.
I’m going to bed.
5 comments:
Not living in Districts 2 or 6, no one is wasting their time calling me. I'd tell them NO if they did call. After, of course, letting them spout their poorly memorized recall script.
I keep having problems with the ORIGIN of the 200 word limit on:
1) The Petitioner's Original Recall Petition.
2) The Official's Response to the Recall Petition
3) Tulsa World's "Letter to the Editor" requirement.
ALL require 200 words or LESS. An absolutely AMAZING coincidence.
Is there a connection?
Did the Tulsa World help write that section of the Tulsa City Charter?
The World must find that their 200 word limit on "Letter to the Editor" helps them control the debate, and hence, the MESSAGE.
Chris,
I encourage you to take the high road. You are probably correct to question the capacity of honor among those behind the recall effort. However, rather than point it out, take the high road; let the facts of the situation bear out the truth. Most resonable-minded adults will come to that very conclusion. The "name calling" only causes things to escalate, something that I think is hardly needed at this point.
BTW - I am a resident of District 2 and, although I may not always agree with you, I've seen nothing that necessitates a recall.
Cool it with the conspiracy talk. A word limit for letters to the editor is extremely common for newspapers. Sometimes it's 300, sometimes it's 200. Newspapers don't want people submitting 2,000-word missives all the time, or the readers of the opinion page would fall asleep. Besides, there's a lot of value in clean, concise letters.
Conspiracy. Who said a Conspiracy?
More like COORDINATION between the the Tulsa World and the City charter authors.
Maybe some of the SAME people.
That's all. It's POSSIBLE.
The City Auditor's office is helping to create an Ethics Ordinance, so, wouldn't it be timely to have them help with reviewing and updating our City Charter also??
BTW, are representatives of the citizens actively participating in creating the Ethics Ordinance? At the same time, there should be representatives of the citizens actively participating in reviewing the City Charter items, too.
We are now into a New Year, 2005......and it is a very appropriate time to review these City Charter items, that serve as the foundation of our city affairs.
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