County Home Rule Measure Fails in Senate

A bill that would have allowed the citizens of Oklahoma County and Tulsa County to decide for themselves what form of county government works best for them failed by less than a handful of votes in the Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday. But the measure has another chance to succeed if lawmakers agree to take another vote on it during the next few days.

“It’s a new concept, and a lot of people had questions or maybe had some trouble getting their arms around it,” said Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, who proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 1763 to create a “charter commission” to examine what functions of county government may need improvement.

“I think we just need to work with a few of the senators to make sure they understand exactly how it can work for the citizens, and I think we’ve got a good shot to get this bill passed,” Leftwich said. “At least we’ve got the dialogue started. There was a lot of good discussion, so I’m very encouraged.”

Leftwich’s amendment would have allowed citizens to come together, evaluate what works well in county government, and determine what efficiencies could be better achieved. Their findings would then be submitted, in the form of a charter for an alternative government structure, to a vote of the people. Efficiencies and tax savings derived from modernizing the delivery of public services would be passed directly back to the county citizens.

However, Leftwich said a lot of misinformation has been circulated on the subject of county “home rule” by those who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, and a few senators were hesitant to approve the bill before they fully understood the provisions of the proposed legislation.

Though a bipartisan majority had voted to adopt Leftwich’s amendment, two senators changed their vote from ‘yes’ to ‘no’ when the final vote on the bill was taken. The author of the bill, Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, asked that the bill be held for reconsideration within the next three days.

Though the concept of altering the county charter is new to Oklahomans, municipalities in other states have had great success in doing so, said Dean Schirf, corporate secretary of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. Nashville and Davidson County in Tennessee, for example, merged 40 years ago and the change has resulted in more efficient service for citizens of the county, said Oklahoma County Commissioner Jim
Roth.

But there are currently problems with the way Oklahoma County is functioning, said Schirf, and Wednesday’s vote to approve Leftwich’s amendment shows there is a strong interest among lawmakers to examine the subject.

“I think there’s a concern among our board that two commissioners can join together and pretty much rule as they desire now,” said Schirf. “Do we want that to continue into the future? We may, but that would be up to the charter commission – if we get that far.”

Roth agreed that it’s time for a change in county government.

“I think (Wednesday’s vote) was a great first step toward letting citizens control their future county government,” said Roth. “The powers of county government are wonderfully broad if you have a good official, and disastrously broad if you don’t.”

Less than a decade ago, two of Oklahoma County’s commissioners were under indictment, and one of the current commissioners is under investigation, Roth noted. Leftwich told fellow senators that currently Oklahoma County is an example of a county government that is not working.

“It’s a battle zone at our county courthouse to get things done,” said Leftwich. “That impairs the county’s ability to provide services efficiently.”