Prices climbing at the fastest rate in America

A newly released report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration reveals that Oklahoma’s electricity prices are climbing at the fastest rate in the nation. From June 2021 to June 2022, electricity prices surged from 7.3 cents per kilowatt hour to 10.87 cents per kilowatt hour across all sectors (residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation).

That 49 percent increase is the largest percentage increase experienced by consumers in any state. Among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the average electricity cost increase across all sectors was just 14 percent.

In June 2021, Oklahoma had the most affordable electricity in the nation across all sectors. In June 2022, Oklahoma ranked 18 for most affordable electricity in the nation and ranked last in the West South Central region, behind Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Looking at costs for just residential customers, Oklahomans have experienced a 31 percent increase in June 2021 to June 2022, also the largest cost increase for residents in any state.

Mike Boyd, the executive director for the Alliance for Electrical Restructuring in Oklahoma, said the massive surge in costs indicate the current system in Oklahoma is broken.

“Oklahomans are at the mercy of monopoly utilities that are demanding rate increases while they reap record profits,” said Boyd. “Customers, meanwhile, have no options, no recourse, and no way to escape being ripped off.”

OGE Energy Corp. (OG&E’s parent company) reported annual net income of $360 million in 2021, while American Electric Power (PSO’s parent company) reported well over $2 billion. OG&E and PSO have successfully petitioned the Corporation Commission for over $1.5 billion in combined rate increases since the beginning of 2021.

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia currently offer choice and competition in electricity markets for some combination of residential and business consumers. A study by the Retail Energy Supply Association (RESA) reports that electricity prices have decreased by seven percent in the states that have fully adopted choice and competition since 2008. In that same time period, prices increased by an average of 21 percent in monopoly states like Oklahoma.

Boyd says AERO will advocate for legal changes in the 2023 legislative session that would restructure Oklahoma’s electrical market into a competitive market with multiple electricity vendors available for consumers to purchase power.

Let’s hope they also look at durability and recovery after any natural or man made electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED). Oklahomans own a power company. The Grand River Dam Authority was created by the 15^th Oklahoma Legislature in April 1935. It was established as a conservation and reclamation district for the waters of the Grand River charged with building dams along the river for the purposes of hydroelectric generation and flood control.

About author: David Arnett was once a daily reporter covering City Hall for the Tulsa Tribune and has been a paid contributor for print and broadcast news teams.  Arnett won two national awards as a First Amendment Print Publisher, in 1996 founded Tulsa Today, served seven years as public information officer in local public infrastructure programs, hosted a Tulsa call-in radio talk show for a year and was once senior editor for Power Engineering Magazine the leading industrial publican of the electric power industry. Arnett currently provides communications consulting for select clients. Arnett’s work is also found on arnett.substack.com which provides email distribution to subscribers.

Last week I attended the most graphic and disturbing training I have attended in my 30 years of law enforcement. The training educated officers on illegal gangs and cartel activities, deeds, and movements. It revealed how the cartels use dismemberment, beheading, and other forms of mutilation to impose fear and intimidate the public and revival gangs. I was outraged to learn these mutilations are not just occurring in Mexico but are now being carried out right here in the United States and in Oklahoma.

Beyond disgusting was discovering the overwhelming volume of human trafficking occurring in our nation. Under our current national administration, human trafficking has dramatically increased. These horrific acts of abuse ought never to exist in this nation. The men and women who are being trafficked are often forced into slave labor or trafficked as sex slaves.

It would seem Joe Biden has notably become the leading merchant of slavery in the history of America. Where are all those who are so greatly offended by the past history of slavery? What has silenced them to the sickly gruesome acts of slavery and sex trafficking?

Regardless of party, we should all be ashamed that we have permitted this administration to continue contributing to slavery in our nation and state.

This training also revealed the preposterous quantity of illegal drugs this administration permits through smuggling into our country. Most notably, the drug fentanyl is responsible for thousands of deaths in the United States. This drug is produced by China and smuggled into the United States by cartels through our Southern border.

In May, I checked how many Oklahomans had lost their lives to fentanyl. It was approximately 780. I know the number is greater now because I personally know of other lives being lost to fentanyl.

China and the cartel are waging war on America, killing U.S. citizens by the thousands without a single shot fired. Yet what are we doing?

Another thing I found strangely shocking is the method in which the cartels emulate religion, worshiping and praying to their counterfeit gods. The cartels ask Catholic saints to guard, protect and prosper them in their illegal enterprises. They pray for protection against those who would harm them or their operations, such as the police.

I declare as an elected official representing my district that our people see a historical degree of evil being unleashed upon America and the State of Oklahoma. Instead of combating the evil, the national administration accepts and embraces all forms of evil.

I have had enough with the notion that our country should celebrate and take pride in same-sex marriages. How do you take pride in a man pretending to be a woman or dressing up as a drag queen? Should a drag queen be allowed to read stories in any of our Oklahoma schools or parade about at the Oklahoma City Zoo?

I have had enough of school books that are straight up pornography. If you cannot tell the difference between an appropriate school book and pornography, then you are the problem.  

I am proud we have ended abortion in our state  and I will continue to be a voice for  virtues and decency. I am sick and tired of being told I am offensive  by the immoral woke activist(s) who offend me.

I am calling on every person to take a stand and call out these actions. I want to encourage you to engage in our election process and demand immediate action from our U.S. and state governments to correct these problems. I am especially calling out those who profess to be Christians. Rise up and resist the scourge of unorthodox immorality that has consumed our state and nation.  I proudly proclaim, ”As, for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Simon Premium Outlets is a visible sign of a metro accomplishment as they resume development of Tulsa Premium Outlets in Jenks.

Rich Brierre, Executive Director, Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) said, “The major metro area of Tulsa has grown to over 1 million people – that’s a major milestone.”

Simon’s vision of value-oriented shopping may well serve to accelerate and solidify that growth serving as a regional draw for the Four-State Area with approximately 330,000 sq. feet of shopping space featuring almost 100 retailers offering “exceptional brands at extraordinary savings.” The grand opening is targeted for 2024. It is expected to be a spectacular facility.

The metro growth is part traffic and part housing as Brierre noted in an interview with Tulsa Today, “We have seen a significant growth in traffic on Highway 75 South of the City of Tulsa.”

As for housing, a new report by Stessa looked at the U.S. locations that have experienced the largest growth in housing between 2010 and 2020. During the study period, the Tulsa metro area experienced a 7.6% increase in new housing units, compared to the national increase of 6.5%.

Both factors should contribute to continued growth throughout the southern metro area.

Jenks City leadership is the most enthusiastic over Simon Premium Outlets location saying in a statement to Tulsa Today, “We are grateful for our continued partnership with Simon Premium Outlets. This project is a prime example that the City of Jenks and the Tulsa region are a great place to invest in the future.”

Conveniently located on the south side of the Creek Turnpike, just west of the Arkansas River, Tulsa Premium Outlets will provide a premier open-air outlet center experience featuring high-quality designer and name-brand retailers. Tulsa Premium Outlets will be Simon’s 91st Premium Outlets center, generating more than 400 construction jobs and roughly 800 full and part-time jobs.

The global Simon Premium Outlets portfolio offers “exceptional brands at extraordinary savings through a diverse mix of luxury, designer and homeware retailers.” Simon Premium Outlets in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico and South Korea are “some of the most iconic and productive shopping destinations for residents and travelers including Woodbury Common (New York City), Orlando Premium Outlets, Desert Hills (Palm Springs), Las Vegas Premium Outlets and Wrentham Village Premium Outlets (Boston).” Simon is a S&P 100 company (Simon Property Group, NYSE: SPG).

Stephen Yalof, CEO of Simon Premium Outlets said when the project was first announced, “Tulsa Premium Outlets will embody Oklahoma’s unique lifestyle, providing a selection of unmatched brands, dining and shopping options for its residents and visitors. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the City of Jenks as this project comes to life.”

Prager University (PragerU) released today a new video exploring the latest plan by the Biden Administration to destroy the middle class while enriching donors and wealthy elitists. Driven by self-interest, Democrats continue to prove themselves largely a criminal enterprise – with your tax money.

PragerU begins, “It’s hard to imagine how we could screw up higher education any more than we already have, but we’re about to—if we make sweeping student loan forgiveness a reality. How? To answer this question, we must start by asking another one: cui bono?”

Click here for the short video https://www.prageru.com/video/the-student-loan-forgiveness-scam

Opinion: One of the most convoluted election cycles in Oklahoma history continues Tuesday, August 23 as voters go to the polls to decide contested primary challenges.

Beyond strange are the number of campaigns filing civil action in Tulsa County. Chief among those is County Commissioner candidate Bob Jack who is suing his own campaign firm over an apparent ballot harvesting violation of Oklahoma Law. Jack says, he didn’t do it, the campaign firm says they didn’t do it and the lawsuit “unnecessary” so who did the dirty dead?

Next in the politico courthouse dance is the state’s most recognizable campaign operative with decades of experience nationally awarded in the field of public campaign management asserting he is not a public figure but a private citizen running public campaigns. Fount Holland says television, radio and mail advertising paid for by state Senate District 2 GOP runoff candidate Jarrin Jackson contain “false, misleading, negligent/reckless, and/or malicious statements” and do not constitute fair comment because Holland is not a public figure. A “pot meet kettle” reference here should not be necessary to state election watchers over the last twenty-some-very-odd-years. How you can run public campaigns without being a public figure is not explained.

Endorsements

US Senate (unexpired term) Markwayne Mullin

US Congress 2^nd District: Josh Brecheen

Oklahoma Treasurer: Todd Russ

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Ryan Walters

Oklahoma Labor Commissioner: Sean Roberts

Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner: Todd Thomsen

Tulsa County Commissioner District 3 Kelly Dunkerley 

Of special note: In the County Commission District 3 race, Tulsa Today covered the candidates multiple times including Margie Alfonso (Story 1, Story 2) Kelly Dunkerley and Bob Jack’s imploding campaign missteps in multiple examples from the most recent: Bob Jack’s conflicts in construction, Felony charges possible over Bob Jack mailer, Republican Chairman lies for Bob Jack, Bob Jack campaign troubles growing, and Bob Jack: GOP’s arrogant ex-chair.

Tulsa Today would have liked to cover the Tulsa City Council contests in as much or more detail, but our staff is limited, and breaking news alters plans.

Tulsa City Council Endorsements

Council District 1: David Harris

Council District 2: Jeannie Cue

Council District 3: Daniel Joseph Grove

Council District 4: Michael Feamster

Council District 5: Ty Walker

Council District 6: Christian Bengel

Council District 7: Ken Reddick

Council District 8: Scott Houston

Council District 9: Jayme Fowler

As for our staff and families, we vote to make improvements in governance for the common good and so we can complain until such improvements in policy are made.

Analysis: I call the Biden and Schumer spending bill that was signed into law last week, “The Raising Taxes and Increasing Inflation Act.” The leftist takeover of the Democrat party by socialist Marxists is now complete. John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton wouldn’t have been caught dead raising taxes during the middle of an economic slowdown.

Now, new IRS agents will descend on small business owners like locusts. $100 billion of new taxes will hit fossil fuel companies. Businesses will feel the negative impact of the higher minimum corporate income tax and the repeal of tax deductions for large capital expenses. This comes when we should instead be incentivizing America’s companies to increase production to bring inflation to heel!

Of course, the new green energy companies are exempt from some of these new taxes, and they will also receive the benefit of $430 billion in taxpayer money. Those who believe in the religion of climate change at the expense of American workers will marvel at the new $27 billion National Climate Bank run by the non-business friendly EPA.

Ultimately, the non-partisan Tax Foundation estimates the spending package will destroy 30,000 jobs. No matter what you call this big government socialism bill, Peter Morici, professor of economics at the University of Maryland, has got it right. This destructive legislation will, “reduce growth and increase inflation.”

About the author: Mike Mazzei, CFP®, MPAS®, is the President of Tulsa Wealth Advisors. A Certified Financial Planner professional, and Master Planner Advanced Studies, he created The Financial Freedom Process to help individuals leverage their wealth in order to help them achieve their lifetime visions. Mike is a former Oklahoma State Senator (Dist. 25 in Tulsa) & Sec. of Budget. He is the proud husband to Noel and father to 5 great kids.

To read more from Mike at his site, click here.

Tulsa County Commission District 3 Candidate Bob Jack, in mailings and public debate, defines himself as a “businessman not a politician” with construction experience that will help Tulsa County. However, in Jack’s case both politics and business can’t be separated based on his behavior. He’s been a politico for decades and ran for office multiple times. It is impossible to separate yourself from what you have actually done.

In this story, a new truth is illuminated for Tulsa County taxpayers. In 2014, Bob Jack not only supported a 15-year tax proposal; he chaired it’s fundraising effort, then worked to help his company get the contracts. The criminal justice tax initiative, in total, constructed a new juvenile justice center but failed to deliver the promised “four additional pods” at the Tulsa Jail.

The “Protect Our County” campaign was established by County Commissioner Karen Keith and Sheriff Stanley Glanz. Bob Jack, worked for Manhattan Construction as a senior vice president during the time he was actively campaigning for the initiative, according to his LinkedIn profile. In theory, nothing is all that bad about working for a company while also helping campaign for a local sales tax initiative – unless the lines get blurred.

After the tax passed, Jack signed the contract on behalf of Manhattan (see graphic following) for the Jail expansion and another member of Manhattan signed the contract for the Justice Center. For the Justice Center, Bob’s crew sent an estimate totaling $36 million dollars more than the original estimate voters were told it would cost. 

In the end, the Family Justice Center was built by another contractor and the jail expanded, somewhat; but why does Bob Jack not speak about these issues in his campaign for Commissioner? Probably because it’s another mess to deal with on top of his criminal investigation as a “suspect” of ballot harvesting, according to the Tulsa District Attorney’s office and the OK Attorney General office.

Jack has not returned repeated calls from media including for this story.

According to reports in March 2017, now retired District 3 Commissioner Ron Peters expressed confidence the Family Justice Center “can be built at the $45 million price tag voters were promised and serve the intended purposes.

“We have come to the conclusion that the contract we had with Manhattan, which was called a construction manager at risk contract, where they managed the process, was too expensive a process for us to go forward with,” Peters declared to local media. “So, we had to find something better, and that better thing is going to be too hard bid everything out.”

The blog Frontier reported at the time, “Manhattan wasn’t hired until late last year and has been paid $10,000, according to the county Fiscal Office… County commissioners approved a $60,000 contract with Stonebridge Consulting to explore ways the project cost could be reduced. That process included meetings with Manhattan and Selser Schaefer to see how their fees and costs could be reduced… estimate[s] for [the] center [then stood at] $83 million – nearly double [the] promised figure.”

Jack signed the jail contract with Tulsa County representing Manhattan Construction. Apparently, only two pods were built for the jail and one mental health pod. Thus, Tulsa County is a pod short of the public campaign promise citizens approved.

Tulsa County Jail’s construction scope and understanding for the project awarded to Dewberry Architects is detailed in part as follows:

• The Project funding is a result of a bond passed by the voters of Tulsa County in April of 2014.
• The project value for construction and FFE for the new portions of the facility is assumed to be $9.3M
• The Construction value is assumed to be $9.1 M
• The Mental Health pod takes priority over all other portions of the design and what will ultimately be constructed
• While the original bond discussions centered on a four-pod expansion, the most recent instruction has been to build mental health and add as many dorm style additions as possible for the available funding.

It is important to remember that small construction companies don’t often win bids for big government contracts. The requirements of insurance, bonding, experience, etc. set a high standard that only a few companies can reach. That Bob Jack as senior vice president for one of the largest of the big construction companies in Oklahoma has not discussed his experience in detail is significant. Jack has also claimed experience in roads and bridges, but that is a construction specialty not found within Jack’s work history by Tulsa Today.

As How to Steal a State writes “the Manhattan Construction connection to state politics lives on, as Bob Jack, its’ Senior Vice President during the time of the investigation into collusion between Oklahomans for a Conservative Future and the T.W. Shannon for US Senate campaign, is currently running for Tulsa County Commissioner… those from companies who buy politicians with dark money in exchange for favors in the contracting and oversight process need not apply. Tulsans should think carefully about the District 3 County Commission race this year.”

Some believe these issues reek of possible political corruption or insider dealing by Jack, where lines blurred. Fortunately, the effort was shut down by county officers who were looking out for the taxpayers. Again, it is undeniably too difficult to separate “politician” from Bob Jack and the voters deserve to know the full truth, not just half of it. It is reasonable for taxpayers to question Jack’s ability to manage their tax dollars without having to watch his every turn.

About author: David Arnett was once a daily reporter covering City Hall for the Tulsa Tribune and has been a paid contributor for print and broadcast news teams.  Arnett won two national awards as a First Amendment Print Publisher, founded Tulsa Today, served seven years as public information officer in public infrastructure programs, hosted a Tulsa call-in radio talk show for a year and currently provides communications consulting for select clients. Arnett’s work is also found on arnett.substack.com which provides email distribution to subscribers.

Permissioned Excerpt:

The Chickasaw Nation has been at the forefront of the pushback against Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, which at its core, is about money. Prior to the McGirt decision, Stitt’s attempt to renegotiate the gaming compacts between the tribal nations and the state, which expired in 2019 as he was taking office, did not go well. Oklahoma is home to the most Indian Casinos and Gaming Centers in the country. As Stitt pushed to increase the state’s share and mimic the agreements reflected in other states, the tribes objected to both the terms and the timeline.

A total of 33 tribes currently operate 143 casino sites across the state, for a total annual impact of nearly $9.8 billion.

This is very big money for little Oklahoma.

Why the Tribes Dislike Stitt: Casinos, Crime & Cannabis

The Chickasaw Nation has been at the forefront of the pushback against Stitt, which at its core, is about money. Prior to the McGirt decision, Stitt’s attempt to renegotiate the gaming compacts between the tribal nations and the state, which expired in 2019 as he was taking office, did not go well. Oklahoma is home to the most Indian Casinos and Gaming Centers in the country. As Stitt pushed to increase the state’s share and mimic the agreements reflected in other states, the tribes objected to both the terms and the timeline.

A total of 33 tribes currently operate 143 casino sites across the state, for a total annual impact of nearly $9.8 billion. This is very big money for little Oklahoma.

The idea that the any tribal money might be used to accuse anyone else of increasing crime in Oklahoma would be less than self-reflective. While the gambling industry will gladly provide data accompanied by illogical narratives to suggest a decrease in crime occurs with the introduction of casinos, the communities themselves frequently have a very different set of observations.  In February of 2022, a suspected serial killer called a detective and family member from the Cherokee Casino in Tahlequah, and confessed to two murders.

An additional disagreement between Stitt and the tribes over hunting and fishing compacts furthered the divide, leaving some to believe a recent Supreme Court case, McGirt v. Oklahoma, was more about pushback related to revenue than criminal jurisdictions.

The McGirt Decision

In 2021, Stitt spoke out forcefully against the release of criminals strangely determined by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in the case McGirt v. Oklahoma to be outside of state jurisdiction and within the bounds of one of the Native tribes of Oklahoma. These lands include Tulsa and a portion of eastern Oklahoma roughly the size of South Carolina that have been bought and sold privately for generations.

If, in fact, the tribes of Oklahoma are proven to be behind the group’s attack on Stitt as soft on crime, the hypocrisy would be immeasurable given McGirt, a member of the Creek Nation, was a convicted child rapist granted a new trial based on tribal claim to the land where he was first tried. 

Jimcy McGirt, regardless of his heritage, is a monster. He is a lifelong child molester with victims in multiple Oklahoma counties. McGirt, in 1989, while in his 30’s, was convicted on two counts of forcible oral sodomy involving children in Oklahoma County. In 1997, while in his 40’s, he was convicted of first degree rape by instrumentation, lewd molestation, and forcible sodomy of a then 4-year-old in Wagoner County.

While serving his two 500-year sentences and a sentence of life without parole, McGirt’s time in prison was not spent reflecting on his heinous behavior, but in filing endless grievances, legal petitions and appeals of petitions reflecting his dissatisfaction with the treatment he received while incarcerated, with all related legal fees paid by the state’s taxpayers.

Court records show more than 25 filings with McGirt as petitioner, appellant or his own attorney as he argued mistreatment related to everything from an unresolved “sinus infection complaint” to “unequal treatment” for being denied emergency leave to visit his mother in the hospital because he was accurately deemed a threat to the community.  

McGirt, now 73, has only concern for his own circumstances and remains void of any remorse about his actions or compassion for the children he has harmed in such a devastating way, yet his latest, self-authored attempt to avoid the punishment he deserves was used to argue that the state did not have jurisdiction to prosecute him, as a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, because he molested the child on Indian lands, claiming Congress had never disestablished the reservation. Nearly a century and a half ago at the time of Oklahoma’s formation as a state, Native and non-Native peoples made a joint decision to abandon the reservation system to live as Oklahomans with mutual respect for the many sub-cultures within the new state.

Nevertheless, multiple tribal governments of Oklahoma supported McGirt’s latest sociopathic thinking and were more than willing to place MGirt’s victims aside, including the Seminole child he molested in Wagoner County, if it gave them more power over much of the state.

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in McGirt’s favor, recognizing McGirt’s identity over his atrocities, and causing a tidal wave of injustice for victims across Oklahoma, as the decision was quickly determined to also include the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole Nations.

Inexplicably, yet predictably based on history and the current popularity of identity politics, the Supreme Court recognized the reservation in the McGirt case as an independent nation outside of the legal jurisdiction of the state, while somehow retaining the federal government’s right to intercede on the same land. Though specifically designed by the nation’s founding fathers not to do so, the Supreme Court has repeatedly been swayed on critical topics by the thinking of the day. In the same way the culture of the 1970’s resulted in a faulty and now overturned Roe vs. Wade ruling, the current wave of wokism has burdened all of Oklahoma with the McGirt ruling.

With only tribes and the federal government, not the state, retaining jurisdiction over major crimes involving tribal members occurring on reservation land (approximately 45% of the state), the likelihood of prosecution in these cases plummeted.

Alexander B. Gray, an expert at the American Foreign Policy Council, former Trump administration Chief of Staff of the National Security Council, fourth generation Oklahoman and recent U.S. Senate candidate, summarized the insanity of the decision:

 “The consequence of this disastrous jurisprudence is hard to overstate, both practically and philosophically. Over 18,000 criminal cases have been moved to Federal jurisdiction since McGirt, overwhelming a federal court system that is completely unprepared to handle this volume of cases traditionally handled at the state level. Justice is also being undone in numerous cases, with murderers, rapists and more being let out of prison, free to commit additional crimes. The victims are Natives and non-Natives alike; too often, it is tribal citizens who are bearing the brunt of this crime wave unleashed by the nation’s Highest Court.” 

The response to Gray’s expression of the facts in this case has been both emotionally based and threatening:

Native Oklahomans are Oklahomans

For those outside of Oklahoma, the perception of life in the state can often be misconstrued as two worlds, significantly separated from one another, with the tribal nations having a separate infrastructure from Oklahoma’s other towns and communities. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Native Oklahomans live and work in communities across the state, side-by-side with non-Native neighbors. They attend public schools, drive on the same roads and highways, and generally share most major aspects of daily living with their non-Native counterparts. Oklahomans are most often visually indistinguishable as belonging to one group or the another.

The lands called into new criminal jurisdiction by the McGirt decision include dozens of cities, towns and communities, such as Tulsa, McAlester and Ardmore, that have no relation to tribal governments and include millions of people of varied heritages. Governor Stitt expressed his concerns for all Oklahomans in the wake of the McGirt decision.

In contradiction to the messages of the Conservative Voice of America, the McGirt decision fallout is proving Stitt to be the champion of law and order, with the tribes choosing power, identity politics and control over protecting their own.

While federal prosecution is necessary and possible in these cases, the FBI field office in Oklahoma City reports being overwhelmed with new cases since the decision. With a typical annual caseload of around 50, the FBI office has been flooded with thousands of cases post-McGirt, causing them to select the most serious cases for prosecution and release those they do not have the manpower to pursue. Lawlessness applauds and victims are abandoned.

Tribal Governments, Identity Politics and Selective Sovereignty

While the tribes would like to pick, choose and retain veto power over which state-funded services are provided on the lands affected by the McGirt decision, Stitt sees things differently in maintaining that all Oklahomans deserve safety and protection. The tribes may be responding to that disagreement by joining the Steal Team and adding their own dark money entity to the many already gunning for Stitt.

As the conflict continues, the need for a defined authority willing to consistently arrest and prosecute criminals in eastern Oklahoma in the wake of McGirt is impossible to deny. According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation’s (OSBI) 2020 Uniform Crime Report (most recently released data) for the state, eastern Oklahoma continues to see more than it’s share of the state’s violent crime.

During 2020, with less than a year under the McGirt ruling, the report reveals several alarming, year-over-year changes related to crime in Oklahoma, including a 15.3% increase in murders, a 10.3% increase in aggravated assaults, and a 14.3% decrease in overall arrests.

“In 2020, law enforcement agencies reported 92,109 arrests, and of those arrests, 93.4% were adults. When comparing 2020 arrests to 2016 (five years prior), all arrests (juvenile and adult) have decreased 22.7%, and when compared to 2011, all arrests have decreased 38.5%. From 2011-2020, all arrests have decreased each year by an average of 5.2% per year, and the largest decrease (14.3%) occurred in 2020.” – OSBI 2020 Uniform Crime Report

Most alarming, given the loss of state jurisdiction over crimes involving Native Oklahomans, the report revealed a 220% increase in the number of ‘American Indians’ murdered in 2020 over 2019 (10 in 2019; 32 in 2020). The tragic effects of the McGirt decision were felt immediately and most profoundly by Native Oklahomans. Neither the tribes nor the federal government can show they’ve implemented a solid and observable strategy for quelling the violence, leaving no one responsible or accountable.

Unlike the state government, which is responsible for the maintenance of law, order and criminal prosecution where it has jurisdiction, the tribes have enjoyed a relationship with state and county courts based on options, yet ultimately not true responsibilities for tribal nations.

If the story of McGirt teaches us anything, it’s that the merging of identity politics and the criminal justice reform movement has created an illogical and dangerous pathology that leaves the innocent, particularly tribal Oklahomans and their children, to be targeted, and places all law-abiding citizens at greater risk. The internal divisiveness of identity politics is showing as tribal citizens process the changes, with many being unsupportive of blocking the state from prosecuting crimes against them.

Click here to read more of How to Steal a State.

National and state headlines may lead Oklahoma parents to fear “woke” indoctrination in public schools is inevitable and cannot be stopped. That’s not the case. Actions taken in recent years are bearing fruit.

A 2021 law, HB 1775, banned classroom instruction or staff training that advocates that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” Thanks to that law, State Board of Education was recently able to penalize both Tulsa Public Schools and the Mustang district for violating the anti-Critical Race Theory law.

Similarly, Tulsa schools backed down and yanked inappropriate, sexually graphic books from the school library after public outcry. The books were so bad that not only did Republicans denounce them, but even Democrat gubernatorial nominee Joy Hofmeister, who declared them “pornography that does not belong in any public-school library.”

Parents are ready to work with policymakers to further fix problems.

In the 2023 session, lawmakers can enact the following public-school reforms.

• Require schools to post all training materials and curriculum online for easy parental review.
• Pass protections for teachers, including for those who report violations of laws like HB 1775, and provide state-funded liability insurance coverage for teachers.
• Require active consent for content not mandated by state academic standards. Parents note they often must proactively opt-out a child from sexual and other sensitive discussions, often without knowing much in advance about the instructional content.
• Require annual reauthorization for union-dues withholding, making it easier for dissatisfied teachers to leave a union.
• Allow for school-board recall elections, better control the process by which boards can appoint someone to complete a vacated board seat during a term, and move school-board elections to the November general ballot, giving parents far more influence over the selection of board members and a way to address poor performance.

These are simple, common-sense reforms that will increase transparency, facilitate public scrutiny, and allow accountability.

Oklahomans are not doomed to see their schools go woke. The voices of the majority carry more clout than the loud-but-tiny minority of activists.

As the father of five daughters ages two to 16, I share the concerns of many Oklahoma parents. At OCPA, we research, develop, promote and advance public policy based on the conservative principles of free markets, limited government, individual initiative, personal responsibility and empowering families. The above reforms, and many others giving parents more input and control in what public schools teach their children, align perfectly with OCPA and conservative principles.

With the encouragement of citizens like you, Oklahoma lawmakers are up the task of weeding out indoctrination in public schools. We at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs look forward to working with them and parents to advance these and other crucial reforms.

About the author: Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.

The Tulsa County Election Board has received and forwarded complaints to law enforcement that County Commissioner District 3 Candidate Bob Jack’s campaign mailer in mid-June was illegal ballot harvesting. Multiple complaints have been forwarded to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s office. Tulsa Today reported June 20^th that Jack’s mailer violated privacy and risked identity theft, but the story keeps growing.

The official definitions of “Absentee Ballot Harvesting” include, “Partially or fully completing an application for an absentee ballot on behalf of another person without that person’s prior consent.” Bob Jack’s campaign mailed absentee ballots to voters that included their full legal names, addresses and birthdays completed on the form without their “prior consent.”

According to ethics filings, Bob Jack has engaged Axiom Strategies of Kansas City, MO. to provide campaign consulting. The national firm’s website claims “1,100 campaigns served, 50 state experience, 250 million mailers sent,” but apparently they did not check Oklahoma’s 2020 Ballot Harvesting Law prior to this campaign.

While absentee ballot harvesting of less than ten ballots is a misdemeanor, “absentee ballot harvesting involving ten or more absentee ballots is a felony, punishable by five years in prison, a $50,000 fine, or both. See 26 O.S. § 16-104.1.”

This was a mass mailing that a non-affiliated consultant estimate to have included 20,000 residents. Thus, Bob Jack may face 2,000 felony charges with a potential of ten-thousand years in prison and $100 million in fines if prosecutors determine that number of charges are warranted.

Bob Jack has not returned calls seeking comment, but it appears this could be the largest number of felonies committed by one candidate in a single race in Oklahoma History. The runoff in that Tulsa County Commission District 3 race will be held August 23.

In an exclusive interview Tulsa County Election Board Secretary Gwen Freeman, was asked, “Have you sent complaints of ballot harvesting by County Commissioner Candidate Bob Jack, to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s office?”

“Yes,” Freeman said,” we are required by law to do that, and we have done so in this case.”

Tulsa Today submitted a Public Record Request for more detail and Freeman wrote in response, “Your open records request is currently being handled by our Assistant District Attorney’s office for fulfillment, as is appropriate for this matter. Their office is in possession of any and all relevant documents pertaining to your request and the records are currently being prepared by the ADA’s office on behalf of the County.”

Tulsa Today submitted Public Records Requests on this potential election crime separately to the Tulsa District Attorney and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s offices Monday, August 1.

Rachel Roberts, Director of Communications for the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General wrote in response, “As you know, our review process includes initial intake, records search, legal review and redaction of privileged or exempted records that may be captured by the search. Although the Oklahoma Open Records Act generally presumes all records are open, it includes many exemptions and exceptions to this general rule, such as exemption, which permits our office to maintain the confidentiality of our litigation and investigation files. 51 O.S.2021 § 24A.12.”

Tulsa Today suggests voters should be fully aware of the issue, resolved or not, prior to voting August 23. Any further updates on this issue will be posted to this page.

Bob Jack is the immediate past-Chairman of the Republican Party of Tulsa County and served as Treasurer under his predecessor. Jack is the State Committeeman for Tulsa County and active on several city and county committees including the Election Board, but in his race, Jack repeatedly asserts he is, “not a politician.” However, given his official offices and involvement in multiple Republican campaigns, that he did not know of the 2020 absentee ballot harvesting law is simply implausible.