VansOpinion - HELP WANTED - MAYOR OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA

If you have good interpersonal skills, are in no way connected with Congressman John Sullivan and are willing to change your name to "Undecided", you could very well become the next mayor of my home town - Tulsa, Oklahoma. In will be reported by the local media in a few days that the current mayor, Bill LaFortune, might be in trouble with the Republican folks who reside AND VOTE in the former Oil Capitol of the World.

Mayor Bill, like a number of other office holders and political activists in Tulsa and in Oklahoma City are slowly learning that having their names associated in any way with the congressman from the first district will not contribute to their long-term good political health.

Look for the Tulsa World to be reporting in a few days that on the Republican side of the mayor's race, LaFortune and "Undecided" are running neck-and-neck according to informed sources. Here is a scenario which might upset the incumbent mayor. If Bill Christianson was to change his name to Bill "Undecided" his ranking would eclipse mayor Bill's. Chris Medlock could do the same thing. Depending upon the way the "undecided" voters of Tulsa are motivated to change their support, Medlock or perhaps even Christianson might be able to tag out LaFortune.

On the other hand, if LaFortune could pick up some of the support which he has lost due to his being associated with John Sullivan, whose popularity among the voters is rapidly diminishing, he could possibly prevail over any Democrat who might surface to oppose him.

Some may attribute the constant slamming of mayor LaFortune by KFAQ talk show host, Mike Del Giorno, for Bill's idiotic promotion of a downtown $170 Million auditorium. I'm told, the "right people, want the facility to be built on land owned by one of the mayor's buddies. Del Giorno deserves a pat on the back from Tulsa taxpayers for exposing the boondoggle building for what it is.

LaFortune comes from the "Old Money" folks in Tulsa. To a large degree, these folks, like Bill are catholic and members of Southern Hills Country Club. Sullivan, the mayor's late-in-life crony, married into money, flaunts his "occasionally catholic" religion and, according to informed sources, wants to "hang out" and be identified with the Tulsa elite. Or put in a more "down home way", John Sullivan has a "ten gallon head" which he is trying to stuff into a "five gallon hat."

Unconfirmed word on the street in "T-Town" is that John Sullivan had to mortgage his home to come up with the wherewithal to pay the initiation fee at Southern Hills when he went from being a "junior member" to being a "full member." This seems even more ridiculous when, according to those in the know, John doesn't even know how to play golf. While Sullivan has managed to acquire an "in" with the social set at the country club, the "Old Money" members are reported to consider him as "Boorish."

The question many are pondering around town is whether or not Bill LaFortune has a good enough political nose to smell the odor forthcoming from Sullivan, the "boorish boy" who has apparently been "spoiled" by his in-law's money.