Two Democrats might ‘defund the police’

While most of the 20 candidates for Tulsa City Council support the Tulsa Police Department, at least two Democrats – Larry Miller and Cheyenna Morgan – want “defund the police” or severely cut their budget.

On August 25, Tulsa voters will vote in seven council races and the race for mayor and city auditor.

Here are some profiles of candidates scheduled to be on that ballot.

District 1

Democrat Jerry Goodwin

Goodwin is assistant professor in the Digital Media and Mass Communication, and Business and Information Technology divisions at Tulsa Community College since 2007.  Goodwin is the faculty advisor to the TCC newspaper. 

Goodwin is president of Goodwin & Grant, a public relations company, founded in 2000. The firm has represented American Airlines, Morton Comprehensive Health Services, Oklahoma Centennial Commission, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, former professional athletes John Starks and R. W. McQuarters.

Goodwin served as associate publisher of The Oklahoma  Eagle newspaper and is a member of its board of directors under Publisher James O. Goodwin, Esq., his father. Goodwin was president/CEO of the Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League, Inc.

He is a former board member of the Oklahoma State University Foundation, Oklahoma Heritage Foundation, Tulsa Advertising Federation, Tulsa Area United Way, Tulsa Philharmonic, Tulsa Press Club, Tulsa Race Riot Memorial Reconciliation Design Committee, and Tulsa Zoo Friends Advisory Board among others.

He is a member of the board of directors and the board secretary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, and as a board member of the Christian Ministers Alliance and the Oklahoma Family Empowerment Center.

Democrat Vanessa Hall-Harper

Vanessa Hall-Harper is a Tulsa Native and graduated from Thomas Edison High School in 1989. She attended Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science/Pre-Law in 1993. In 2013, she earned her Master of Science in Management (MSM) degree from Southern Nazarene University-Tulsa. She is also a graduate of Leadership Tulsa’s North Tulsa Development Council.

Hall-Harper is the Program Manager for the Tulsa Health Department’s Healthy Living Program. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Tulsa Community College in the Political Science Department. Prior to working in the health field, she was an Intake Counselor at the Tulsa County Juvenile Bureau.

She has been married for 25 years to Sgt. Marcus Harper of the Tulsa Police Department. She volunteers on many boards and committee’s such as the Institute for Developing Communities (TIDC), Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, North Tulsa Clean-up Campaign, the Phoenix District Development Council, Theatre North, Tulsa Juneteenth, and the Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce. She sings in the church choir at Paradise Baptist Church.

District 2

Republican Councilor Jeannie Cue was unopposed.

District 3

Democrat Paul Eicher

For 10 years, Eicher has worked in public education. His family lives in the McClure Neighborhood.

Democrat Councilor Crista Patrick

District 3 Tulsa City Councilor Crista Patrick’s father, David Patrick, and her uncle, Mike Patrick, were former District 3 City Councilors, and her brother, Jason Patrick, has served the Tulsa Fire Department for more than 20 years.

Crista Patrick graduated from Will Rogers High School and got a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Tulsa. She has worked for Theatre Tulsa, Tulsa Ballet, and the American Theater Company, where she won the Tulsa Award for Theater Excellence (T.A.T.E) for Best Costume Design.

She has managed the University of Tulsa Department of Theatre’s Costume Department for 13 years, where she also teaches. A small business owner, she has owned and operated a massage therapy practice for 25 years.

District 4

Republican Kathryn Lyons

Kathryn Lyons is a volunteer in the Burglary Department of the Tulsa Police Department. She is a City of Tulsa volunteer for Working in Neighborhoods and an Alert Neighbor at National Crime Prevention Network Association. She is a volunteer at Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma and does literacy tutoring at Marshall Elementary School.

Lyons is a former personal development mentor at Street School Tulsa and has volunteered at Ruth G. Hardiman Literacy Service.

She formerly was a property manager at Cohen Esrey Real Estate Services and a property manager at The Mansion on Turtle Creek.

Democrat Councilor Kara Joy McKee

Councilor Kara Joy (KJ) McKee is a 4th generation Oklahoman studied botany and anthropology at The University of Oklahoma. She was first elected in 2018.

She has assisted low-income families in balancing their household budget; serving as general manager of a first-of-its-kind online farmers market; leading Kendall Whittier Inc., a non-profit that operates a food pantry and community gardens in the Kendall Whittier neighborhood. She is an advocate with the liberal groups, the Oklahoma Policy Institute and Together Oklahoma. She lives in the Fair Heights neighborhood with her husband, Gene.

Democrat Landry Miller

Miller, according to his website, wants to “fight systemic racism and injustice.” He advocates a citizen “oversight board” and he wants to cut the law enforcement budget “when lines are crossed and laws have been broken.”

He wants to rebuild Tulsa’s water system and invest in more “green spaces.”

A Native American, Miller worked with activist groups in college “to protect all minority groups from the heinous acts they’ve endured throughout history.”

Republican Casey Robinson

Casey Robinson is a self-made businessman driven by hard work and the duty of embracing personal responsibility. He and his wife, Maggie, own multiple commercial, residential, and industrial properties.

Robinson said he wants to transfer that sense of energy to the City of Tulsa and fight for Tulsa values, recruit good jobs to Tulsa, and help heal our city, uniting together a common good of bettering Tulsans way of life.

He supports Tulsa police and firefighters. He wants Tulsa’s leaders to be responsible and more transparent, especially when it comes to spending money.

District 5

Democrat MyKey Arthrell

Arthrell is an “education specialist” for Urban Strategies, Inc., and works with Tulsa Public Schools and Tulsa Housing Authority.

wants the city to spend more money on public schools. He wants a reduction in Tulsa’s jail population, especially involving the mentally ill. He wants increased efficiency in Tulsa’s bus system.

According to his website, “The LGBTQIA and BIPOC communities in Tulsa deserve to be heard and for reasonable changes to be made so that they are protected and included in the growth of Tulsa. We stand in solidarity with the LGBTQIA and BIPOC members of our community.”

Republican Councilor Cass Fahler

Councilor Cass Fahler is a graduate of Victory Christian School and completed professional training through Dale Carnegie. He also studied at Rhema Bible College and Southwestern Christian University. His daughter Isabella, who is bilingual, attends Tulsa Public’s Zarrow International Elementary School.

With 20 years as a residential lender, Fahler specializes in helping home purchasers obtain the financing. He is also a national instructor for the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System. Formerly, Fahler was appointed by Governor Brad Henry to serve as a commissioner to the Oklahoma Department of Consumer Credit, overseeing all Oklahoma mortgage licensees. He is a board member of the Oklahoma Association of Mortgage Professionals.

Fahler has participated in more than a dozen police ride-alongs. He also serves on the Citizen Action Group for the Mingo Valley Division of the Tulsa Police Department. The group works with police officers to take a proactive approach to reducing crime and improving quality of life in the community.

Democrat Justin Schuffert

No information is available.

Democrat Rachel Shepherd

Shepherd’s Facebook page states, “As part of the LGBTQ+ community, my campaign stands with you.” She supports “International non-binary people’s day” which seeks to ban titles that signify gender.

She is a nurse.

District 6

Republican Christian Bengel

From 1999-2016, Bengel was a Tulsa County Reserve Sheriff’s Deputy.   As an employee for the City of Tulsa, he was selected as a special project manager overseeing hiring contractors, meeting vendors, and the police equipment officer(s) to meet delivery expectations, performance, and quality assurance for the program of updating and improving the police vehicles. Among other responsibilities, Bengel’s acquired management experience with oversight grew into more than 150 vehicles and balancing a budget in excess of $1,000,000.

He was in the U.S. Army from 1985-1994 and served in South Korea. He was deployed to combat in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

“I believe our freedoms are under attack by a radically charged leftist world,” Bengel wrote on his website. “Look, I have family and friends that are Democrats, but they’re Oklahoma Democrats. There’s a big difference and I believe it is worth fighting to defend our freedoms, liberty, and conservative values, especially at the local government level.”

Bengel is a conservative Christian who wants the city to spend money more wisely and to protect constitutional values.

Democrat Councilor Connie Dodson

Councilor Connie Dodson grew up in west Tulsa, but settled in east Tulsa in 1991.

A small business owner,  she was previously employed by the City of Tulsa at Tulsa Transit and is a current member of the bond committee for Tulsa Public Schools.

In addition to being a member of various veterans groups, she has been a member of Tulsa Zoo Friends, Tulsa Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Friends of the Tulsa City-County Libraries, Oklahoma Education Association, and Parent and Teacher Association.

She supported the $639,000,000.00 tax increase in 2019.

Democrat Cheyenna Morgan

According to her website, she is running to give a new perspective on the City Council. She is a citizen of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and of Oglala Lakota blood.

She wants more funding for mental health and she wants to “defund and demilitarize the Tulsa Police Department.”

She wants more public transportation and a new “LGBTQ+ youth mentorship program” with more “equality centers.” She wants more homeless shelters outside of Downtown and more rehab centers for drug addicts.

District 7

Republican Chad Ferguson

Ferguson is director of sales and development for a local insurance company.

He wants full support of Tulsa policemen and firefighters. He wants street projects to be completed on schedule, within the budget and up to high standards. And he supports public schools.

Republican Justin Van Kirk

Van Kirk is from Branson, Missouri, and he studied at Rhema Bible College in Broken Arrow.

A conservative Christian, Van Kirk and his family attend Life Church.

“I’m ready to transfer my business ownership skills from the private sector into government and I want to help make a difference in a way that is not being done right now,” said on Muskogeepolitics.com. “The conservative values that we believe in are being fought against – it just doesn’t make much sense to me. Tulsa has so much opportunity and I’m ready to help it grow, recruit new jobs by encouraging new startups, increasing public safety, and prioritize the city’s budget with a free-market mindset.”

Democrat Councilor Lori Decter Wright

Councilor Lori Decter Wright is the executive director of Kendall Whittier Incorporated (KWI), a community-based nonprofit organization focused on food insecurity in Tulsa’s Kendall Whittier, The Pearl, and Crutchfield neighborhoods. KWI operates the only emergency food pantry in Tulsa that delivers groceries to doors five days a week, 52 weeks a year. KWI also sponsors three organic community gardens.

Wright previously was director of education and Membership for Sweet Adelines International, a nonprofit association for women founded in Tulsa in 1948.

Wright lives in the Shadow Ridge Neighborhood with her husband, Joseph. She is president of the neighborhood homeowners’ association. Her children attend Union Public Schools’ Cedar Ridge Elementary where she volunteers and is active with the PTA. She also is as Board President of Spotlight on Opera.

Wright and her husband previously were professional opera singers based in Silicon Valley. The Wrights are members of College Hill Presbyterian Church.

District 8

Councilor Phil Lakin was unopposed.

District 9

Incumbent Councilor Ben Kimbro chose not to run again.

Democrat Leeann Crosby

Crosby has a bachelor’s degree in Human development and family science from OSU and a master’s degree in clinical mental health and human relations from OU. She founded the Just A Push Foundation.

Her website refers her policy questions to okpolicy.org, a liberal website.

Republican Jayme Fowler

Fowler is the managing partner of Oak Creek Private Wealth LLC of Tulsa. He attended the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government in 2001.

Fowler has been a board member for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Tulsa and is president of the Memorial High School Endowment. His wife Sandy teaches at McClure Elementary.

“We need a leader with a proven record of getting things done,” Fowler wrote on his website. “I have spent my life in the private sector, building my financial services and wealth management business from the ground up. I’m constantly analyzing trends, studying markets, and measuring performance to see how well my clients are doing. I believe those experiences over 35 years have given me a deep understanding of how to manage large budgets, relationships, and build coalitions.”