Collinsville, Oklahoma
January 31, 2008
Voter Information
Feb. 4-6: Filing For Collinsville City Offices
Feb. 5: Oklahoma Presidential Primary
March 4: Election Day for Collinsville School & City
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Ted Wright -- last update 1/31/2008 (VoterInfo1.html) www.cvilleok.com

Copyright 2008 -- Collinsville, Oklahoma
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Register To Vote!
Ted, I am just wanting to encourage those who are not registered to vote to please do so. There is a upcoming BOND issure that several people are unaware of. The BOND issue will also be on the same day as the City electoral votes. There are several people that will probably get out to vote for the City votes and not the BOND issue. I would like to encourage all those to get out and vote YES on the upcoming BOND. Their are several things that will be voted on for the school and as a parent with a child in the up and coming school system I feel that this will be much needed for all those in the system. And I also encourage those that are unaware of the BOND issue to contact the those in the school system and get some information that will be on the BOND. It will be providing things much needed for our school system and our KIDS. Thank You for you time and all that you do for the schools in our town. -- Ronn Badertscher (Jan. 31, 2008)
Ron, I have not had much to say lately on the school bond issue pending an expected publicity push beginning with a Pat Herald presentation at the Feb. 7th Chamber meet and other public meetings to follow that. -- Ted Wright
Previous school bond coverage:
Jan. 7, 2008
Dec. 10, 2007
Nov. 5, 2007
Oct. 8, 2007
Note: I've been covering the school's part of the March 4th vote for months while just learning this week that the city might be on the same ballot.
City Offices Open For Filing 3-days Only Feb. 4-5-6, 2008 at the Tulsa County Election Board. If contested, the vote will be March. 4th
Collinsville Mayor
Collinsville Ward 1 Commissioner
Collinsville Ward 2 Commissioner
Collinsville Ward 4 Commissioner
The $8.9 million Collinsville School Bond election vote is March 4, 2008. Several public meetings are planned to discuss details. One will be Feb. 7th at the Chamber of Commerce noon luncheon at the library.
Oklahoma Presidential Preferential Primary (Feb. 5th)
Plenty of names to chose from in Oklahoma's Presidential Preferential Primary election next Tuesday (Feb. 5th). Twenty-four states will be holding primaries or caucuses on that "Super Tuesday" in preparation for the Nov. 2008 general election for US President. Some of the candidates have already dropped out of the national race.
There may have been a few minor boundry changes made to the 2003 vintage city ward map shown at left. Check with City Hall if you are unsure which ward you reside in.
Ward 1 Commissioner is currently Pam Porter (since 1996)
Ward 2 Commissioner is currently Trent Rogers (since Nov. 2005). Trent was unopposed in 2006.
Ward 3 Commissioner is currently Melodie Bateman (since May 2004). Her term won't expire until 2010 after winning in 2006.
Ward 4 Commissioner is currently James Rigdon (since Oct. 2006)
Mayor is currently Stan Sallee (since May 2004). Stan was unopposed in 2006.
Ted Wright's Editorial Coments Relating to
Underpublicized City Office Filing Period
I have no complaints with the current city office holders (Mayor & commissioners) and agree with them the majority of issues. I am also thankful for the normal flow of information I receive for www.cvilleok.com to help keep the public informed. There are, however, occasional gaps in that information that I think a specific city policy could address. In the nearly 5 years I've covered the city's public meetings, there have been 2 mayors and several city managers and clerks and I start from scratch each time. Oklahoma statutes only require a very limited public posting before meetings (& elections ...etc). Sometimes it is just a piece of paper on the bulletin board on the outside of city hall. Sometimes it is a legal notice published in a local newspaper. With the exception of the recent ONG franchise election (which the city had to redo) the legal requirements have been met. What I would like to see is a policy that covered more than the bare minimum legal notice and tried to provide more information to more local residents. Even with additional information on this web site, notices added to the city's billing envelopes, etc. not everybody will be reached (or care to be). In this specific case, there may not be anyone else willing to take on the unpaid and often thankless (but extremely important) job of the Mayor or commissioners, but it would be a shame if there was someone out there but they missed a narrow 3-day window to file because they didn't read the fine-print in a single legal notice. -- Ted Wright -- Jan. 31, 2008 3:30pm
Note: Having already gotten 1 phone call, and some additional information (added below), wanted to clarify that I did not mean to indicate any wrong-doing by the city or any office holder (in the mini editorial below). My intent is to bring attention to a faulty "public notice" process here (and likely most other places) that rely on a single media, when there are easy ways to reach many additional people that may not subscribe to one particular media. My concern is not just for this city election, but countless "public notices" that happen year-round. I do not claim an additional notice on cvilleok.com will solve the problem, but it would be a step in the right direction. -- Ted Wright -- 6:15pm 1-30-2008
Apparently the filing period for Collinsville mayor and 3 of 4 city commissioner seats is next week (Feb. 4-6) at the Tulsa County Election Board. I must admit that fact slipped up on me. The ward 3 post held by Melodie Bateman is the only one not open in 2008. -- Ted -- Jan. 29, 2008 [Editorial: I finally found a paid legal notice in the printed newspaper from a few weeks back, but nothing was posted at city hall or released to this media. Perhaps the current city office holders didn't want any competition? I say that jokingly as they met their "legal obligation" but the broader issue is limiting "public notice" to only one media. -- Ted Wright Jan. 30, 2008]
The "additional information" mentioned above came in an email reply from City Manager Pam Polk:
Subject: re: election & filing notice?
"Well, it slipped up on us too. We received a call from the Tulsa County Election board a few weeks ago and the lady stated that they didn’t have our election proclamation for the March election and that it was due immediately. We had to call a special meeting to get the proclamation approved and over to Tulsa County. It was published in the paper January 8. I haven’t checked Tulsa County’s website, but it should be there for March 4 with a possible run-off election April 1.
Not having a city clerk at the time was a real hindrance in this area with all that is happening in the city. Now that that position is filled things should run more smoothly."
Thank you, Pam Polk (City Manager) Jan. 30, 2008 2:30pm
Subject: election & filing notice?
Pam, I was a bit surprised to see Bill Johnson had an online report Jan 25th about Feb. 4-6th filing for city offices. It had slipped up on me and I can find no legal notice in last 2 weeks of newspaper or anything on Tulsa County Election site [for Collinsville filing] . Am I missing something? -- Ted Wright -- www.cvilleok.com
-- Jan. 29, 2008 5pm
Supplemental Comment (Jan 31, 2008): One of the key roles played by city commissioners/mayor (& school board members) is to review and approve the detailed expenditures amounting to millions of dollars each year to operate the city (& schools). A few years ago, I made the required written request to receive a full package listing all those expenditures each month. With my time limited and the amount of paper/time wasted each month printing an extra copy, I have long since given up my review at that level. I have two reasons for mentioning this. First, any taxpayer can make a written request for this public information (of how your tax money is being spent). Second, I have a great deal of trust in the commissioners (& board members) and city manager (& school superintendents) backed up by the auditors. -- Ted Wright