By KWGS News
Tulsa, OK – Mayor Dewey Bartlett said today he agrees with the Tulsa City Councilors who have stated it's time to move forward with mediation. Bartlett is asking that mediation be scheduled to begin next week.
"Most of the council and I agree, Tulsans have had enough and they want this to be over. We must act now. We need to identify our common ground and begin working together again as soon as possible." Bartlett said.
Bartlett explained that he listened to the judges answer questions from the council Thursday as former federal magistrate Sam Joyner and retired state Supreme Court Justice Daniel Boudreau laid out the procedures to reconcile differences between the mayor, his chief of staff and the council.
There are a variety of issues to mediate stemming from Department of Justice grant funding for Tulsa police officer salaries. Bartlett said Joyner and Boudreau are confident they can mediate the differences, "and I am ready to start this process so we can begin to move this city forward for Tulsans.
"We have too many other important issues that we need to solve together instead of spending more time on these differences. If we don't mediate these differences, it will hinder us from keeping our eye on the economic ball and effectively presenting the findings of one of the most important projects in which this city has ever participated - the KPMG study due out this fall.
"Councilor G. T. Bynum was correct when he pointed out at this week's Tuesday council committee meeting that if we don't pay attention to potential shortfalls in the budget next year, we cannot blame the poor economy for our troubles. We'll be to blame.'"
"I've said before that mediation can't hurt. There is nothing to lose here. We just need to spend a little time to bring it to an end. We might even learn something good about each other." said Mayor Bartlett.