Here are excerpts from recent editorials in Oklahoma newspapers:
Stillwater News Press. April 22, 2018.
In an era with new vigor for women’s empowerment, it is a fine time to reflect on the life of Barbara Bush. The wife of one president and mother to another, Bush died April 17 at 92.
Before this era that sorely lacks for decorum, Bush was a model public persona. She could cut through hostile rhetoric with wit and humor and likely had no personal ceiling on what she could accomplish.
It is in that vein that we can really appreciate Bush’s platform of literacy. Most first ladies have been strong advocates in some area. For Nancy Reagan it was “Just Say No” to drugs. For Hillary Clinton, it was children’s health care. For Laura Bush it was literacy, education and health, especially women’s health. Michelle Obama’s initiative was aimed at children’s nutrition and fitness, while Melania Trump has focused on anti-bullying.
We can respect all of the above, but as publishers literacy holds a special place in our hearts. Literacy is one of the strongest foundations for learning and being an informed member of society. According to a recent “Time” article, Bush would even edit speeches before they made it to George Herbert Walker’s desk. We can appreciate that level of commitment.
Barbara Bush, as a public and political figure was not above criticism, but if you’ve heard any lately it’s almost inspiring in its hollowness. It’s easy to make a quote or two fit into an agenda, it’s much harder to criticize without ad hominem attacks someone with the range of advocacy and empowerment that she lived. Respect being paid for Bush is not because of the lens we share after someone has passed. It was earned.
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Tulsa World. April 24, 2018.
A legislative proposal that would allow county sheriffs to destroy most body camera footage after 90 days presents a minefield of conflicts and delays of justice.
Its passage would be bad policy and a strike against transparency in government and law enforcement.
The current law requires law enforcement agencies to retain video for seven years, which is the same as other public records.
House Bill 3224 was requested by the Tulsa County Sheriff as a money-saving measure.
If approved, it would give sheriffs the authority to delete bodycam video after 90 days unless it involved an officer-related shooting, use of lethal force, incidents resulting in medical treatment or incidents identified by the sheriff or district attorney for preservation.
In addition, the House added a provision for each county sheriff to submit a video retention records policy to the district attorney for approval.
District attorneys would review the video to determine what is evidentiary or non-evidentiary. Judges are left out of the process.
With 77 county sheriffs and 27 district attorneys across Oklahoma - all elected on various election cycles - this will create a policy mess regarding body cam footage.
The public needs a consistent law on what is stored and for how long.
The proposed 90-day window is not enough time. Victims may need more time to come forward.
For example, some of the victims of Oklahoma City Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw, who was convicted of sexually assaulting women while on duty between 2013 and 2014, did not report the crimes until after 90 days.
The bill passed the House 70-17 and was defeated in the Senate 12-29 but could be reconsidered. It shouldn’t be.
Nothing is wrong with the current body cam retention schedule. It should be left alone.
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The Oklahoman. April 24, 2018.
In politics, zoning regulations typically fly below the public radar but those policies can have major repercussions, including lower quality of life for many citizens. A recent report from the Up for Growth National Coalition shows how regulations that restrict housing construction can harm families.
The coalition, which includes groups ranging from real estate developers to chambers of commerce, examined the disconnect between local housing supply and demand. Between 2000 and 2015, the group’s report found, 23 states fell 7.3 million units short of meeting the housing needs of a growing population, which represented over 5 percent of the total housing stock in the U.S. This has “created a supply and demand imbalance that is reflected in today’s home prices.”
According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, home prices nationally rose 6.2 percent over the 12 months of 2017, which was roughly twice the rate of income growth and three times the rate of inflation.
The housing shortage is driven, to a large degree, by regulations that restrict construction of homes and apartments. Often such regulations are touted as preserving “green space” or similarly attractive-sounding rationales, and the regulations tend to benefit the owners of existing housing, which gives them a constituency. But the broader impact is that market supply isn’t allowed to meet consumer demand, so prices surge.
The report notes this problem is created not only by zoning regulations, but by “escalating and misaligned fee structures” and “lengthy review processes that invite gaming and abuse by growth opponents and can delay projects, create unpredictability, reduce incentives to invest and increase the per-unit of cost of development.”
California is the worst offender and accounts for roughly half the national housing shortfall identified in the 23 states highlighted in the report. But shortages also have become apparent in places like Idaho, Utah and Arizona - states that, not coincidentally, have become popular landing places for those fleeing California.
Oklahoma is not among the states cited as having a housing shortage. But data in the report show housing prices in much of Oklahoma are still rising faster than inflation. The Up for Growth report shows that housing values in Oklahoma County increased 100 percent from 2000 to 2016, far faster than cumulative inflation, which was nearly 40 percent during that time frame.
The report also shows 30 to 40 percent of households in Oklahoma County spend more than 30 percent of their gross income on housing expenses, which the report notes is “a commonly accepted measure of the maximum amount that should be spent on housing.” While that’s better than much of California, where more than 40 percent of households spend a comparable amount on housing in many counties, the gap between Oklahoma County and the West Coast is not as large as one might expect on that metric.
The housing shortage and attendant exorbitant costs in California and other states didn’t arise overnight. They are the cumulative result of policy decisions made over many years. The Up for Growth report shows why Oklahomans should follow zoning issues more closely. It turns out there is a high price to be paid - literally - when those debates go ignored.
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