Run-off Election Surprise!

…………… Say NO and save $$$……….

Many people know that there is a run-off election for the sheriff’s race in Washington County on August 25th. But did you know for the city of Bartlesville there is also a bunch of bonded indebtedness on the ballot? Do you know how much money a handful of people will be deciding on? Well let’s take a look at the sample ballots and then talk about that.

Here’s a summary of ballot items in Washington County. If you want to pull your own sample ballot go to http://ok.gov/elections and type in your name and birthdate as prompted:

Sample ballot for the run-off in the sheriff’s race:

I recommend a vote for Scott Owen.

Sample ballot for the City of Bartlesville:

If you want to download a pdf version of the sheriff’s race press download buttonDownload

If you want to download a pdf version of the City of Bartlesville propositions press download buttonDownload

So that’s it folks hidden in plain sight on the run-off election day is bonded indebtedness of $16,400,000 (that is over 16 million dollars) and an extension of 1/2% sales tax to June 30, 2026. IF you said NO we could get a reduction in sales tax burden. If you said NO we could keep our property taxes more stable. But the thing that makes me the maddest is that a handful of people will decide this for everyone. This should have been on the general election voting day – NOT the primary run-off election day!

Well I am just one vote but I’ll be saying NO five times!

Sandra Crosnoe

for Finding Gems & Sharing Them

Photo credit: Graphic is from The Rat in the Hat available on Scribd to read/share/download https://www.scribd.com/document/15965899/The-Rat-in-the-Hat

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My Washington County Sample Ballot for the Primary June 30th

Do you know how to find yours? Here’s the link to the ok.gov portal to find your sample ballot OK Voter Portal (OVP) Access. You will have to give your name and birthdate and viola — sample ballots in pdf or html formats.

Here is the State Question No. 802 wording (I recommend a NO vote):

sampleballot-sq in pdf formatDownload

I strongly recommend a vote for Wendi Stearman and Aaron Vaughan

sampleballot-republican primary pdf formatDownload

sampleballot-BISD board of education pdf formatDownload

How many people decided your taxes would not go down in Washington County’s Secret Election July 9th?

Here’s the results:

Here’s a link to this graphic from the Oklahoma State Election Board:

https://results.okelections.us/OKER/?elecDate=20190709

I have several problems with this results:

• few people even knew about this election
• it was scheduled when many people are on vacation
• why are these special elections not consolidated into once a year when there is plenty of reason to go vote
• what about all the wasted ballots printed and thrown away
• look at all the waste in hiring election workers over and over and over again
• most importantly – where was the public debate on why this ‘stuff’ was needed instead of reducing spending?
• did I mention low voter turnout? (at my precinct out of about 3500 people I was number 111 about 5:30PM)

Come on people – we can do better than this! Did you know there will be a school bond election next month? Bet you will hear lots about that one! Can you see how the media manipulates the outcome by their silence and by what they promote? People who care about taxing and spending better get involved and organize their precincts. Let’s get these local elections consolidated too!

Oh and one more thing, let’s learn the difference between “it won’t make your taxes go up” and reducing spending obligations!

Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them

Is Washington County Having a Secret Election – July 9th?

Well you are probably more informed than I am, but I just found out about it from an email from the Oklahoma Election Board (email received on July 4th):

============================================================== “Early Voting Begins! Early voting begins today for nine Oklahoma counties. Voters in Alfalfa, Canadian, Cleveland, Dewey, Kiowa, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie, Washington, and Woodward County will decide a number of propositions. Voters may vote by in-person absentee ballot Thursday, July 4 and Friday, July 5 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at their County Election Board.The State Election Board reminds voters that not everyone will have an election. If there is an election in your precinct, you will find a sample ballot using our Online Voter Tool at: https://www.ok.gov/elections/Voter_Info/Online_Voter_Tool/. For a complete list of elections, go to: https://www.ok.gov/elections/Election_Info/Upcoming_Elections/index.html.Oklahoma law requires voters to provide proof of identity when voting. Learn more  at: https://www.ok.gov/elections/Voter_Info/Proof_of_Identity/index.html.Questions? Please contact your County Election Board or State Election Board Public Information Officer, Misha Mohr at: mmohr@elections.ok.gov or by phone at (405) 522-6624. Click here to subscribe or unsubscribe from topic “ ==============================================================

I recommend you subscribe to this publication so you won’t miss one of these secret tax/bond elections! I sure wish these types of elections had to be on a national election ballot so more people who actually pay the taxes could say no. Because the only way we get them to stop doing this is to say NO over and over again so there is incentive for government – local, state, and federal to live within their means. Oh well, that would be my 2 cents anyway.

So now you know there is an election – how do you find out what is on the ballot? I use this handy dandy online voter tool. Here’s the link (also given in the email above):

https://www.ok.gov/elections/Voter_Info/Online_Voter_Tool/

If you are registered to vote, simply provide your name and birthdate and you will see your registration information. Then you can click a link to view any upcoming election ballots.

Here is this one for Washington County – Special Election July 9th 2019:

I recommend a no vote if for no other reason than for lack of information on what all this entails and why we cannot do it on existing revenue if it is justified at all. When in doubt vote no. If you turn it down they will ask again in a slightly different format. So be prepared and stay alert!

SampleBallotPDF.aspx

(link to a pdf version of sample ballot)

Sandra Crosnoe via Finding Gems & Sharing Them

Sample Ballot for Washington County OK – General Election 2018 – Vote Nov 6th

Early voting dates here.

If you need a sample ballot for Washington County, here is a copy (in pdf downloadable format):

SampleBallot – GENERAL ELECTION November 06 2018 for WASHINGTON COUNTY – OK

If you are in another area here is an online voter tool to see yours (you will have to provide your name and birthdate).

As you can see the graphics are too small to see well here so you will need to download the pdf file to study closely.  In general, I plan to vote Republican, but cannot in good conscience vote for Leslie Osborne, Joy Hoffmeister, or Glen Mulready.  I don’t support people who vote to raise taxes and fail to work to live within our/their means.  I will leave these places blank and hope the Republicans nominate better people in the future.  I don’t see the Democrats doing any better (sadly) and can find no information on the Independents on the ballot.

Judicial Retention

I plan at this point to vote No on all the judicial retentions for their failure to stand for life and their support of fees / taxes on the people.  See this article on topic.

State Questions

I will also be voting to turn down all the state questions on this ballot.  I considered writing a detail explanation on all of them.  However, you need to study them on your own and make your own decisions.  Here is a brief summary of why I am a NO on each one:

SQ793 (eye care in retail mercantile establishment) seems to rather obscurely include more licensing/requirements and was the only one I briefly considered voting for since in one respect it seems to “open up” new markets, but at the same time it adds constraints on the market that I would rather not see. [More info on this one here via Batesline taking no side on the question]

SQ794 (also known as Marsy’s law) this question on the surface might sound good to you however, it was proposed by a fellow in California (enough said?) and looks to me like it will add judicial overhead to do something already being done well.  The most egregious line in the whole thing says “Victims would no longer have a constitutional right to know the defendant’s location…” [More info on this one here via Batesline taking a pro side on the question]

SQ798 (Governor and Lt Gov combined ballot) consolidation of power is NEVER a good idea.

SQ800 (creating a new trust fund) NOT ANOTHER ONE

SQ801 (expanding permissible use of ad valorem tax revenue) since they are already misspending what they have, I certainly wouldn’t give them more ways to misspend what they have so we the taxpayers can continue to bail them out.

Bartlesville City Council

I don’t know the candidates in Ward 2.

If I lived in Ward 4, I’d be pleased to vote for Joel Rabin.  He is consistently bringing to light issues of importance to the whole community and standing up for the rights of the people in Ward 4 specifically and Bartlesville in general.  We need more men and women of courage like Joel on our city council.  He has the ability, the insight, and the temperament to stand against all odds as is needed in this city at this time.

Posted with prayers for all the candidates and all the voters.  

May we see things the way He sees things and love our neighbors even as we vote!

Finding Gems & Sharing Them – Sample Ballot for Washington County OK – General Election 2018