OKLAHOMA CITY — A proposal which encourages public schools to purchase automated defibrillators is being derailed because House Republican leaders are feeling political pressure, the bill’s author claimed this week.
Norman Democrat Rep. Wallace Collins said he’s frustrated because he couldn’t get a hearing for House Bill 1847 — a measure, he says, which would encourage public school districts to make automated external defibrillators available “contingent upon certain funding.”
Collins developed the proposal in 2007. Since then, he said he’s struggled to get the bill heard by the House’s Republican leadership. “What’s crazy to me is here, they won’t hear a defibrillator bill which can help save lives, but they’ve got time to hear gun bills to make sure everyone can carry a gun.”
Collins claimed House Floor Leader Greg Piatt has refused to place the proposal on the House calendar because Collins has spoken publicly about his difficulty getting the bill heard and has encouraged residents in Piatt’s southern Oklahoma district to contact GOP leaders about the bill.
“He’s mad at me,” Collins said. “It’s not about the bill. It’s political, because he’s mad at me.”
But Piatt, an Ardmore Republican, said the issue isn’t with Collins, but his bill.
“I just found out about this bill a week ago last Thursday,” Piatt told The Transcript this week. “I started getting e-mails from Ardmore. I asked our legislative staff to look at it and they said the bill wouldn’t do anyting.”
Piatt said he contacted the House’s Education Committee chairman, Rep. Tad Jones — a Claremore Republican — and Jones, too, said the bill wasn’t heard because it “didn’t do anything.”
“The bill doesn’t change anything,” Piatt said. “That’s exactly the way it is right now. That’s the reason the bill wasn’t heard in the education committee. Why run a bill that doesn’t do anything?”
Collins, Piatt said, has “misrepresented” HB 1874 as “an avenue to fix a problem.”
Collins countered, saying Piatt is particularly sensitive to the issue because a boy from Dickson — a small town near Piatt’s home of Ardmore — died recently after collapsing at a basketball game.
In stories published in Ardmore’s Daily Ardmoreite newspaper, Dickson Superintendent Sherry Howe said 12-year-old Luke Davis — a Dickson Middle School student — died due to “an undiagnosed heart rhythm disorder.”
Davis died in early February.
Ardmore officials said Davis collapsed less than two minutes into a seventh-grade basketball game in February.
“If they had a defibrillator at the time, the little boy might have made it,” Collins said. “It probably would have saved his life and those people down there have taken this (bill) personally.”
Since then, Collins said several media outlets have contacted him about the measure, and the ensuing publicity has put a great deal of political pressure on Piatt. “I’ve been asked about my bill and I’ve answered their questions,” Collins said. “I’ve also referred people to Rep. Piatt and the speaker.”
Piatt acknowledged he was “frustrated” by the e-mails from his district.
“I asked him (Collins) to stop,” Piatt said. “I told him I wanted the e-mails from back in my district stopped. I didn’t have time to respond.”
Piatt said he did contact Luke Davis’ mother and “shared with her that Collins’ bill didn’t do anything.”
“I visited with her and that’s a tough phone call to make, let me tell you,” Piatt said. “That young boy died in February and it’s been a week and a month since he’d passed away. The day I called it was his birthday, it was one of the hardest calls I ever had to make.”
Collins said his focus was getting the bill passed and when asked, he “just responded to questions.”
On several occasions, Collins said he fielded questions from residents across the state about the bill. Collins said he encouraged those residents to contact either Piatt or House Speaker Chris Benge and that has angered Piatt.
“He (Piatt) doesn’t like that,” Collins said. “But I don’t think any of them would admit it.”
Copies of an e-mail obtained by The Transcript show that Collins did tell residents to contact Piatt and House Speaker Chris Benge.
In an e-mail dated March 10, Collins urged Ardmore residents Jamie and Charlotte Rutledge to “call or e-mail Speaker Benge and Floor Leader Piatt.”
“I feel this bill is important and can save lives,” Collins wrote in a reply to the couple.
Like Collins, Piatt said he, too, was frustrated.
“When I talked with him about the bill, he didn’t even know what was in his own bill,” Piatt said. “That’s frustrating. He just doesn’t get it. When Wallace left the House the first time he was in majority. When he came back, he was in a minority. That’s just the way it is. Not everyone gets what they want. You don’t go back and cry and complain. You don’t get everything you want when you are in the minority.”
Collins said he talked with Piatt about the issue again last week, and Piatt said he would not hear the bill because Collins was down in his (Piatt’s) district “stirring things up.”
“He said, ‘one more time and that’s it,’” Collins said. “So he’s mad. I guess I’m naive, I thought we were up here to do the right thing. I thought a bill would stand or fall on its own merits and personality wasn’t part of it. I’m being punished. For two years I’m not getting bills heard for purely political reasons.”
Paitt, however, said he supports the idea and has offered Collins a compromise.
“I told him we should run a House Concurrent Resolution,” Piatt said. “That’s what we need to do to bring awareness to this issue. If he wants to do that, that’s fine with me.”
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
COMMENTARY: When did Yield stop meaning Yield?
The small, blue Toyota ahead of me is in a hurry.
The driver — oblivious to everyone except himself — zooms in and out of traffic like a Formula One race car driver on Memorial Day.
I’ve watched him for several minutes and honestly, I’m amazed he’s still alive.
Especially after he exits off I-35 at about 70 miles per hour and blows past a large red and white Yield sign.
He missed the yellow truck by just a few feet.
Granted, Mr. Blue Toyota isn’t alone.
In fact, he’s just one example of an all-too-common problem I call “Nonexistent Yield Signs.”
And it’s getting worse.
Across Oklahoma, in small towns and right here in the Metro, there are hundreds — maybe even thousands — of Yield signs.
They are shaped like a triangle and painted red and white.
And they say, “Yield.”
And I have yet to see a driver obey them.
Seriously, those signs might as well not be there.
Because no one yields.
When I was taking drivers ed, the Yield sign was the metal equivalent of your mother standing there, waving her finger at you.
She was reminding you to be good.
She was telling you to slow down, pause, and look around you as you prepare to enter the highway.
She was not telling you to stomp on the gas, and try to beat the other driver to the end of the road.
But somewhere, somehow along the way the humble Yield sign’s clout began to fade. It no long stands as a warming, a caution. It’s simply being ignored.
And the results are tragic.
If you look at almost any major intersection in the Metro area, you’ll probably find an impromptu monument to the victim of a car wreck. Now you and I both know, the accident victim’s friends or family would not have put those monuments there had the accident victim lived.
Nope. Those little crosses represent someone who died.
And I’ll bet you my copy of Newt Gingrich’s Fun Things to Do When You’re No Longer in Office, that more than half of those victims of accidents ignored Yield signs.
Just two weeks ago, I watched as the driver a of new, pretty silver Mustang blew past a Yield sign and right into the back of slow moving minivan.
The minivan was filled with a family which included several small children. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
But as I drove away — I’d stopped to see if everyone was OK — I overheard the Mustang driver cuss the other driver because the minivan “was moving to slow and causing disruptions in the flow of traffic.”
Bull.
The truth behind the story is simple: The idiot (and that’s the only word that truly describes him) in the Mustang was traveling way too fast and did not bother to Yield.
Mr. Mustang came very close to killing himself and several other people.
Honestly, if public safety officials are not going to enforce the laws surrounding the Yield sign, then all Yield signs should be removed and the motoring public can take its chances.
If, however, Yield signs are to remain, then patrolmen should nail those drivers who cruise through the signs with the same type of penalty for failure to stop or speeding or all those other traffic violations we’ve all come to know and love.
Still, most of the fault remains with the drivers and not the police.
It is up to each and every person who travels the ribbons of highway in this great state to turn off their damned cell phone, unplug their iPod and pay attention to what they are doing.
And that means slowing down at Yield signs.
I know, of all the problems our state faces today, you’re wondering why the issue of “Nonexistent Yield Signs” needs to be addressed.
It’s simple.
Somewhere, sometime soon, you may be driving.
And somewhere some dolt with too much car and too little sense will be out there, too.
And the next monument could be for you.
The driver — oblivious to everyone except himself — zooms in and out of traffic like a Formula One race car driver on Memorial Day.
I’ve watched him for several minutes and honestly, I’m amazed he’s still alive.
Especially after he exits off I-35 at about 70 miles per hour and blows past a large red and white Yield sign.
He missed the yellow truck by just a few feet.
Granted, Mr. Blue Toyota isn’t alone.
In fact, he’s just one example of an all-too-common problem I call “Nonexistent Yield Signs.”
And it’s getting worse.
Across Oklahoma, in small towns and right here in the Metro, there are hundreds — maybe even thousands — of Yield signs.
They are shaped like a triangle and painted red and white.
And they say, “Yield.”
And I have yet to see a driver obey them.
Seriously, those signs might as well not be there.
Because no one yields.
When I was taking drivers ed, the Yield sign was the metal equivalent of your mother standing there, waving her finger at you.
She was reminding you to be good.
She was telling you to slow down, pause, and look around you as you prepare to enter the highway.
She was not telling you to stomp on the gas, and try to beat the other driver to the end of the road.
But somewhere, somehow along the way the humble Yield sign’s clout began to fade. It no long stands as a warming, a caution. It’s simply being ignored.
And the results are tragic.
If you look at almost any major intersection in the Metro area, you’ll probably find an impromptu monument to the victim of a car wreck. Now you and I both know, the accident victim’s friends or family would not have put those monuments there had the accident victim lived.
Nope. Those little crosses represent someone who died.
And I’ll bet you my copy of Newt Gingrich’s Fun Things to Do When You’re No Longer in Office, that more than half of those victims of accidents ignored Yield signs.
Just two weeks ago, I watched as the driver a of new, pretty silver Mustang blew past a Yield sign and right into the back of slow moving minivan.
The minivan was filled with a family which included several small children. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
But as I drove away — I’d stopped to see if everyone was OK — I overheard the Mustang driver cuss the other driver because the minivan “was moving to slow and causing disruptions in the flow of traffic.”
Bull.
The truth behind the story is simple: The idiot (and that’s the only word that truly describes him) in the Mustang was traveling way too fast and did not bother to Yield.
Mr. Mustang came very close to killing himself and several other people.
Honestly, if public safety officials are not going to enforce the laws surrounding the Yield sign, then all Yield signs should be removed and the motoring public can take its chances.
If, however, Yield signs are to remain, then patrolmen should nail those drivers who cruise through the signs with the same type of penalty for failure to stop or speeding or all those other traffic violations we’ve all come to know and love.
Still, most of the fault remains with the drivers and not the police.
It is up to each and every person who travels the ribbons of highway in this great state to turn off their damned cell phone, unplug their iPod and pay attention to what they are doing.
And that means slowing down at Yield signs.
I know, of all the problems our state faces today, you’re wondering why the issue of “Nonexistent Yield Signs” needs to be addressed.
It’s simple.
Somewhere, sometime soon, you may be driving.
And somewhere some dolt with too much car and too little sense will be out there, too.
And the next monument could be for you.
11 men seeking Cleveland County sheriff's post
At least 11 men — almost all of them from Norman — have applied to replace Cleveland County sheriff DeWayne Beggs, who recently resigned and will leave office at the end of April.
As of last Thursday, all 11 men had submitted resumes to the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners. The application deadline has closed.
Assistant District Attorney Dave Batton — who serves as the county commissioners' attorney — confirmed the applicants and said each meets the statutory requirements to be appointed to the sheriff's post.
Batton said the eleven include:
Roy D. Magerkurth, Norman, a former sheriff's department employee.
Lloyd D. Blaine, Norman, a current employee with the sheriff's department.
David Williams, Norman, a former undersheriff.
Jim D. Filipski, Norman, the current undersheriff of McClain County.
Christopher Manning, Norman.
Rhett B. Burnett, Norman, who previously ran for the sheriff's post.
Joe Lester, Norman, the former public safety director for the University of Oklahoma.
Neil Vickers, Norman, the former deputy chief of police for the city of Norman.
Eddie Thomason, Harrah, current undersheriff of Cleveland County.
Mark S. Hamm, Moore.
Don Holyfield, Norman.
While all of the men meet the statutory requirements to be appointed to the position, at least one of the applicants, undersheriff Eddie Thomason, would not meet the requirements to be elected to the office.
"There's a gray area in the law on appointments," Batton said. "And Mr. Thomason meets those requirements. But it looks like he might not be able to run for the office because he lives in Harrah and not in Cleveland County."
State law requires a person seeking the office of sheriff to be a "registered voter in the county at least six months prior to the first day of the filing period for the election."
Because Thomason lives in Harrah he wouldn't qualify to run for election to the post, Batton said.
And though state law doesn't require any applicant — or person running for the office of sheriff — to have law enforcement experience, Batton said all the applicants were certified by the Council for Law Enforcement Education (CLEET).
Batton said he is compiling a notebook with all the applicants' resumes. That information would be given to Cleveland County commissioners to review. Once the commissioners decide who they want to interview, county officials will interview those chosen and pick a successor to Beggs.
An announcement is expected by the end of the month.
As of last Thursday, all 11 men had submitted resumes to the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners. The application deadline has closed.
Assistant District Attorney Dave Batton — who serves as the county commissioners' attorney — confirmed the applicants and said each meets the statutory requirements to be appointed to the sheriff's post.
Batton said the eleven include:
Roy D. Magerkurth, Norman, a former sheriff's department employee.
Lloyd D. Blaine, Norman, a current employee with the sheriff's department.
David Williams, Norman, a former undersheriff.
Jim D. Filipski, Norman, the current undersheriff of McClain County.
Christopher Manning, Norman.
Rhett B. Burnett, Norman, who previously ran for the sheriff's post.
Joe Lester, Norman, the former public safety director for the University of Oklahoma.
Neil Vickers, Norman, the former deputy chief of police for the city of Norman.
Eddie Thomason, Harrah, current undersheriff of Cleveland County.
Mark S. Hamm, Moore.
Don Holyfield, Norman.
While all of the men meet the statutory requirements to be appointed to the position, at least one of the applicants, undersheriff Eddie Thomason, would not meet the requirements to be elected to the office.
"There's a gray area in the law on appointments," Batton said. "And Mr. Thomason meets those requirements. But it looks like he might not be able to run for the office because he lives in Harrah and not in Cleveland County."
State law requires a person seeking the office of sheriff to be a "registered voter in the county at least six months prior to the first day of the filing period for the election."
Because Thomason lives in Harrah he wouldn't qualify to run for election to the post, Batton said.
And though state law doesn't require any applicant — or person running for the office of sheriff — to have law enforcement experience, Batton said all the applicants were certified by the Council for Law Enforcement Education (CLEET).
Batton said he is compiling a notebook with all the applicants' resumes. That information would be given to Cleveland County commissioners to review. Once the commissioners decide who they want to interview, county officials will interview those chosen and pick a successor to Beggs.
An announcement is expected by the end of the month.
Moore council approves firefighter's contract
City councilmembers endorsed a new contract for city firefighters, changed a municipal ordinance governing oil and gas storage wells, and approved more than $1 million in spending during a meeting Monday evening.
Voting unanimously, councilmembers approved a new contract with the international Association of Firefighters, Local 2047.
That contract, Mayor Glenn Lewis said, would give Moore firemen a 3 percent pay increase.
“Basically it’s a 3 percent raise,” he said. “This is the second year of a two-year contract and it was very easy to work with the firemen.”
Lewis said city officials use the 2007 Oklahoma City firefighters’ contract as the baseline for Moore’s pay schedule.
“We stay one year behind Oklahoma City’s contract,” he said.
In addition to the firefighters’ contract, Lewis said councilmembers endorsed changes to a city ordinance requiring sightproof fencing on oil and gas wells.
“People from three different oil companies attended the meeting,” he said. “And this a nice compromise with them.”
Under the ordinance, Lewis said oil companies would be required to screen pumps and storage tanks with fencing and landscaping.
“We want them (the storage tanks) to be secure,” Lewis said. “We don’t want solid fencing, because you can’t see if kids sneak in there to play. Those things can be dangers and we want to secure them.”
Companies who use “chain-link” fencing will be required to landscape the area around the tank, he said.
“We’re working with the oil companies to clean up the sites. They are painting tanks, cleaning up and keeping them beautified.”
The effort, Lewis said, makes a good partnership. “We’re working with them instead of fighting,” Lewis said. “We all want to make sure the areas are secure so no kids can get in there. We want to clean them up and make them safe.”
Monday evening councilmembers also heard a report about the city’s proposed new wastewater treatment plant.
A new plant originally was planned on land near the intersection of Indian Hills Road and south Pennsylvania Avenue.
However, the facility drew the complaints from landowners in the area and city officials eventually shelved the idea.
Monday evening, councilmembers heard a report from Eagle Consulting about alternative sites for the plant.
“We’re going to build a new facility on the same land that our old facility is on,” Lewis said. “We will build the new plant first, then tear down the old one.”
Lewis said the new plant would be “state of the art” and would be funded by a construction loan from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
“We’ll be holding a public hearing soon,” he said. He said construction costs are expected to be between $28 million and $35 million.
“We’re going to do it as quick as we can. We’re trying to get more capacity and take out the odors.”
In other action, councilmembers:
• Approved a $500,000 budget supplement to the General Fund Street Department.
• Accepted a drainage easement from Richard Montgomery in lots 10, 11 and 12 in block 8 of the Lockhoma Estates Addition.
• Approved a lot split in the Westmoore Business Park.
• Endorsed a $3,000 contract with Cleveland County Rebuilding Together for low-income repairs.
• Approved the preliminary plant of Old Town Square.
• Approved spending $101,277 for the purchase of three one-ton Wildland Grass-Bursh apparatuses.
Acting at the Moore Public Works authority, the council approved:
• A contract with the Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling company.
• Claims and expenditures totaling $119,126.
Acting as the Moore Economic Development Authority, the council approved:
• A report from the city’s economic development director.
The council’s next meeting will be 6:30 p.m. April 7 at Moore City Hall, 301 N. Broadway Ave.
Voting unanimously, councilmembers approved a new contract with the international Association of Firefighters, Local 2047.
That contract, Mayor Glenn Lewis said, would give Moore firemen a 3 percent pay increase.
“Basically it’s a 3 percent raise,” he said. “This is the second year of a two-year contract and it was very easy to work with the firemen.”
Lewis said city officials use the 2007 Oklahoma City firefighters’ contract as the baseline for Moore’s pay schedule.
“We stay one year behind Oklahoma City’s contract,” he said.
In addition to the firefighters’ contract, Lewis said councilmembers endorsed changes to a city ordinance requiring sightproof fencing on oil and gas wells.
“People from three different oil companies attended the meeting,” he said. “And this a nice compromise with them.”
Under the ordinance, Lewis said oil companies would be required to screen pumps and storage tanks with fencing and landscaping.
“We want them (the storage tanks) to be secure,” Lewis said. “We don’t want solid fencing, because you can’t see if kids sneak in there to play. Those things can be dangers and we want to secure them.”
Companies who use “chain-link” fencing will be required to landscape the area around the tank, he said.
“We’re working with the oil companies to clean up the sites. They are painting tanks, cleaning up and keeping them beautified.”
The effort, Lewis said, makes a good partnership. “We’re working with them instead of fighting,” Lewis said. “We all want to make sure the areas are secure so no kids can get in there. We want to clean them up and make them safe.”
Monday evening councilmembers also heard a report about the city’s proposed new wastewater treatment plant.
A new plant originally was planned on land near the intersection of Indian Hills Road and south Pennsylvania Avenue.
However, the facility drew the complaints from landowners in the area and city officials eventually shelved the idea.
Monday evening, councilmembers heard a report from Eagle Consulting about alternative sites for the plant.
“We’re going to build a new facility on the same land that our old facility is on,” Lewis said. “We will build the new plant first, then tear down the old one.”
Lewis said the new plant would be “state of the art” and would be funded by a construction loan from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
“We’ll be holding a public hearing soon,” he said. He said construction costs are expected to be between $28 million and $35 million.
“We’re going to do it as quick as we can. We’re trying to get more capacity and take out the odors.”
In other action, councilmembers:
• Approved a $500,000 budget supplement to the General Fund Street Department.
• Accepted a drainage easement from Richard Montgomery in lots 10, 11 and 12 in block 8 of the Lockhoma Estates Addition.
• Approved a lot split in the Westmoore Business Park.
• Endorsed a $3,000 contract with Cleveland County Rebuilding Together for low-income repairs.
• Approved the preliminary plant of Old Town Square.
• Approved spending $101,277 for the purchase of three one-ton Wildland Grass-Bursh apparatuses.
Acting at the Moore Public Works authority, the council approved:
• A contract with the Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling company.
• Claims and expenditures totaling $119,126.
Acting as the Moore Economic Development Authority, the council approved:
• A report from the city’s economic development director.
The council’s next meeting will be 6:30 p.m. April 7 at Moore City Hall, 301 N. Broadway Ave.
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