UPDATED: Tulsa GOP Responds To Christiansen Claims, Non-Endorsement

Published in “Letters to the Editor,” Tulsa World, Saturday, September 21, 2013

Saddened

I was saddened to hear Bill Christiansen break his public commitment to support Mayor Dewey Bartlett in the November mayoral election.

It is our hope voters in Tulsa will remember that when Mayor Bartlett took office three years ago, then-Mayor Kathy Taylor had failed to adequately respond to the financial crisis Tulsa was facing. It is widely known sales tax revenues were in steep decline and the city’s expenses exceeded revenues for at least the last eight months of the Taylor administration. Her response to this over-spending was not adequate for the city to continue to meet its financial obligations.

On his first day in office, December 7, 2009, Mayor Bartlett was told by the city’s chief financial officer that if he did not reduce spending by at least $10 million (5 percent to 6 percent) in the next 45 days, the city would be unable to meet its obligations for the fiscal year ending June 30.

The facts are clear, Taylor chose to leave office and left Bartlett to make the tough and often unpopular decisions necessary to ensure the city would be able to pay its bills on time. Mayor Bartlett continues to exhibit the type of leadership the city needs, and he should be re-elected in November.

Mike McCutchin, Tulsa

Editor’s note: McCutchin is Tulsa County Republican Party chairman.