Thoughts on Simonson

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

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.