What is the City doing about the petition that was given to the City Council at the meeting on Oct. 4? I read a story the local radio station published saying the City is refusing to release it’s “community standards” to a local resident, which he presumably hopes to use in connection with this issue.
City Beat readers will recall that several citizens spoke during the “Citizens to be Heard” portion of the Oct. 4 City Council meeting, the same night local resident Shannon King presented a petition to the council requesting action on “adult entertainment” in City-owned parks.
The petition is in response to an event held Sept. 10 in Unity Square Park, a City-owned facility that is managed by Bartlesville Community Center. The event included an LGBTQIA+ Pride celebration, which included a drag show. Oklahomans for Equality, which sponsored the event, told the council they would also support action to restrict adult entertainment in parks, as no portion of the Sept. 10 event included activity that could be defined as such.
As a result of that meeting, City Attorney Jess Kane is expected to advise the council of its legal options regarding “adult entertainment” in public spaces during the next City Council meeting, on Nov. 7. The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 401 S. Johnstone Ave. The meeting can also be live-streamed on the City’s website and local cable television channel 56, in addition to several local media outlets.
Regarding the second part of the question, on Monday, a local resident who spoke in favor of the petition and offered his interpretation of the legally complicated concept of “community standards” to the council during the Oct. 4 meeting, filed an open records request with the City to essentially request information that Mr. Kane, who, unlike the resident in question actually is an attorney, calls “latently ambiguous.” The local radio station, however, apparently felt compelled to publish a story repeating the resident’s claims, saying the resident, whom it called a “community activist,” continues to “press City officials for access to public information” and thereby indicating the City was not responding in appropriately timely manner.
The problem is, as it turns out, “community standards” is a bit more complicated than most of us would have thought. No one says it better than Mr. Kane himself, in a letter to the resident in question, sent earlier today.
“For your information, my ongoing review of documents includes, but is not limited to, the Amended Charter of the City of Bartlesville, the Bartlesville Municipal Code, city employee policies and procedures, collective bargaining agreements, documents relating to the use of parks and public spaces, and internal emails. At this point, I am unable to say with certainty whether any of those documents, other than the Bartlesville Municipal Code, relate to the Constitutional concept of community standards. The Bartlesville Municipal Code can be reviewed in its entirety at library.municode.com/ok/Bartlesville/codes/codes-of-ordinances. Additionally, physical copies can be reviewed at City Hall or at the Washington County Law Library located in the Washington County Courthouse. Your accusations of wrongdoing by the City are spurious. The City fully intends to supply the information you requested and is in the process of doing so.” Read the entire response here.
We understand this topic has become an emotional one for for many people, and we know some of you would like answers sooner rather than later. But we would also hope that everyone would agree the matter requires that City officials and staff — and, in particular, its legal counsel — act with great diligence to ensure that our elected leaders have the information they need to make right decisions for our community as we move forward on this very important issue.
Have car, will travel
Does Bartlesville have any mobile veterinarians that will make non-emergency routine in home visits for dogs or cats? This is a very helpful service for seniors.
There is one mobile veterinarian service licensed through the City of Bartlesville: 4 the Animals Veterinary Clinic, located at 500 S.E. Fifth Street in Bartlesville.