Go norman!

We won, as did all of the other hard-working councilmen and women. Thanks to everyone for their support--everyone who volunteered, gave money, put up a sign, or even just checked the facts for themselves before voting. And thanks to my mom for her endless hard work.

Signs of Success!

Just called home to catch up before the election. My parents were painting signs to replace the ones stolen last night. Some wonderful volunteers are going to put them out bright and early tomorrow morning so they can't be whisked away. Here is my dad with their handiwork. Now go vote!

Hal Ezzell's funny finances?

The transcript didn't publish campaign donations like it usually does, but they are available on the city website.

As you can tell from my prior posts, I'm not a big fan of Ezzell, but I was still really shocked when I heard about his finances! His total contributions are almost $64,000, but if you go to the actual list of donations there are less than $17,000 from 44 donors. The rest is a self-contribution/loan of $46,274!!! So, either Ezzell is totally self-financed and utterly without support, or he's hiding the sources of his funding. Hopefully it's not the latter, but it's strange that these questions were removed overnight from his facebook page when a few Norman citizens (not me) asked about the discrepancy. It just doesn't make sense to spend so much money running for a job that basically amounts to volunteering.

On the bright side, Cindy's finances are impressive. Something like 463 donors (not sure if I counted right!) plus more than $5,000 in small donations. I'm particularly impressed by the small donations, because they demonstrate the depth of her support. Ezzell had only $270 in small donations!! All of his money is coming in big checks.

I hope that a news outlet picks up on this story. People have the right to know that the nasty postcards filling their mailboxes are essentially personal ads paid for by Ezzell himself, not Norman residents.

UPDATE: apparently this was in the Transcript's monday paper, it just isn't on their website.

Mittens off in Mayoral Campaign

This morning, the Norman Transcript ran a story about how dirty the Mayoral campaign has gotten: Gloves off in Mayoral Campaign. They're right, it has gotten dirty, but the story is also pretty flawed. If you read the whole thing, you discover that their leading paragraphs are about a situation with no violations at all. And one that it's pretty hard to spin as dirty... A private citizen gives his name to the campaign, exercises his right to free speech.

Hal Ezzell, not Cindy Rosenthal, has made this campaign dirty and negative:

• Look at his mailers: these contain major distortions and very little information (see my prior posts). There's a reference to one of these at the bottom of the Transcript article. I wish the paper had used the space to clarify the issue.
• Make a visit to the campaign websites. Ezzell's seems to say that he wants to talk about the issues and that Cindy Rosenthal won't talk about them, but there are very few specifics on the site. Rosenthal's is all about the good things in Norman. All about those issues that Ezzell claims she refuses to address.
• Follow Ezzell's supporters' twitter accounts (twitter.com/sindyrosenthal is by far the nastiest! shockingly mean, actually. I'm not going to dignify it with a direct link, you have to type it in yourself.)

The main issue about which my mom has been critical of Hal Ezzell is the fact that he has missed many, many finance committee meetings and important budgetary votes--that's something that voters should know about considering that budget cuts are a major part of his platform. Cindy Rosenthal has had plenty of opportunities to twist the truth, and at every turn she clarifies it instead!

I will give the Transcript credit for a good general article on the mayoral race and their reasoned analysis of the council races.

Please help get the word out. Volunteering will start at 1pm at the Chouse at 717 W. Boyd. You can go any time until 5pm, and you don't have to knock doors: we also need people to drop off door hangers reminding our citizens to vote.

If you can't go out, call your friends, remind them to vote, and make sure they aren't being misled!

Hal Ezzell's misleading mailer about utility rates!

Another last-minute mailer from Ezzell contains major distortions. Mayor Rosenthal does not want to take away the rights of voters to approve rate increases, and in fact, it is not even within the council's rights to do this.

There have been discussions on the council about whether changing the procedures for utility rate increases might be beneficial because they would (a) lower our borrowing costs for infrastructure investment, (b) prevent steep rate hikes by allowing more frequent and smaller adjustments up and down, and (c) enable Norman to participate more effectively in regional negotiations about water. Ezzell actually supported council control of utility rates in a Chamber survey when he first ran for council, he only seems to have changed his tune now that he can spin the issue on a glossy mailer.

Mayor Rosenthal is open to considering a change in the procedures, but only if it is initiated by a citizen petition. This would be the most democratic way to resolve the issue and would ensure that the citizens of Norman retain control over the way their utilities are managed.

Last weekend of the campaign! And comments on the OSBI accusations.

Let's start with a the bright side. It's a beautiful day in Norman. If you aren't already out, hit the street and knock on doors or distribute reminders to vote. Today from 9:30-5:00 and Sunday from 1:00-5:00, volunteer organization will happen continuously at the Chouse (717 W. Boyd). You can come any time!

Now, for a short rant. Hal Ezzell has more nasty mailers going out today, as well as very aggressive "persuasion" calls. I can't wait until this is over! To me, one of the most upsetting things about the campaign has been the way it discourages people from seeking public office. My mom is determined not to let these attacks get to her, but the kind of tactics used by Ezzell are the kind that drive good people away from public office! On council or as Mayor, you are already volunteering hundreds of hours of your time (presuming you go to the meetings!), and the reward is false accusations and ad hominem attacks. Norman's a great town, and if anywhere could avoid these kinds of campaigns, I would have thought it would here!

One of the Ezzell mailers deals with these trumped up accusations about the OSBI investigating the city council. The specifics are complicated, and it's my understanding that the mailer doesn't lay anything out, it just makes the empty claim that there is a "Major Ethics Problem" at city hall. The accusation is simply that an issue that should have been discussed in an open meeting also came up in a closed session. Having heard the details and read the coverage, the bottom line is that there there clearly was not a violation. However, even if you aren't convinced by me, here are a few things that might help convince you that this isn't worth your time or your vote:

1. The city attorney already issued an opinion that there was no violation.
2. The accusations were against the entire council - Ezzell says it's the mayor who's being investigated, but really if anyone is under investigation, everyone is under investigation.
3. If you follow the news, you know that nothing much has happened with this convoluted debate over the past year. The OSBI has done very little since the allegations were made, and this seems to be because they know there isn't a case! Resources are scarce and shouldn't be used to drum up scandal where there isn't any.
4. The accusations were made by councilman Tom Kovach, who is supporting Ezzell's campaign. Basically, it's like this: make an accusation, tell the public that the city is under investigation but not that you started the investigation! Sounds a little bit circular. What a waste of state resources.
5. I think one of the Ezzell mailers cites transcript articles--go read them all for yourself and see if you think that they're representing the facts fairly and accurately.

Spinning this as "CORRUPTION" reflects badly on Norman and belittles the hard work of our council members. Corruption exists, but this sure isn't it...

Like a player who doesn't come to practice...

Check out the latest mailer from Cindy Rosenthal for mayor:



As my mom pointed out in the latest debate, Bob Stoops would never make a player who doesn't practice captain of the team. That's what it would be like electing Hal Ezzell. As far as I can tell, he seems like a reasonable person, but he definitely doesn't seem like he has the time to add the job of mayor to his busy schedule.

Ezzell's excuse for missing the meetings: “I have to prioritize my time."

You can read about city attendance records here--all in, Ezzell has missed more meetings than anyone on council!

Ezzell's excuse for missing so many city council meetings was that he was busy, as he says: “I have to prioritize my time." We need a mayor who prioritizes Norman!!

I also thought it was a really low blow how Ezzell questioned my mom's ability to do her job at the university, something he seems to know nothing about. My mom has never questioned his ability to run his businesses--merely his participation on council!

Further, for the record, my mom works hard both as a professor and as mayor--I see her working hard all of the time. It's amazing, she is attentive to her students and has even co-authored a new book that will be coming out soon. I think she learned to do it by raising kids and finishing her PhD at the same time!

First outrage

Someone has started a fake twitter account slandering my mom: http://twitter.com/sindyrosenthal

Perhaps the posts intend to be parody, but the twitter definitely doesn't identify them as such. Perhaps more amazing, I am shocked that someone has the time to make up twits like this every hour or so.

Here's a screen shot of the latest:

Amazing! If anyone making these accusations actually bothered to consult her voting record, they might discover that she has voted against the university's interests many times... and that when she has supported the university it has been from a consensus position.

UPDATE - Feb 26: Wow, this twitter has gotten really nasty. I'm blown away that anyone could think this tactic was effective. Anyone who actually reads all of the posts won't believe any of them!