Tulsa City Council Set To Decide On Mediation With Mayor

By Emory Bryan, The News on 6

TULSA, OKLAHOMA -- The Tulsa City Council has set a 4 p.m. meeting Thursday to decide whether or not to enter mediation with the Mayor.

Their agenda includes a discussion and possible action to decide which topics would be included in mediation.

The council agenda describes the general topics for mediation as "the relationship with the Mayor's Office, and the investigation into misconduct by the Mayor's Office."

8/19/2010 Related Story: Tulsa City Council Wants Framework For Mediation With Mayor

Mayor Dewey Bartlett's attorney and Council Chairman Rick Westcott have in the last week traded letters back and forth on what topics will be discussed in mediation.

The meeting Thursday will determine whether Councilors want to proceed with the process, as most have said they want to do, and then define which topics will be up for discussion. Councilors must also decide how to handle the mediation in compliance with the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act, which requires that any meetings of a quorum, and all votes, be in open session, except for certain situations where they may meet out of public view to discuss legal issues.

This week the council is also considering a public forum with the mayor to discuss common policy goals. Councilor GT Bynum suggested the meeting, to be possibly moderated by former Mayor Rodger Randle, as a way to pursue topics on which the council and mayor agree, while at the same time taking input from the public on what those goals should be.