Not on my turf
Turf battles aren’t restricted to gangs. It even happens to state committees trying to deal with the growing problems of gangs in the state.
It happened during a joint meeting Wednesday of the Oklahoma Youth and Gang Violence Coordinating Council and the Oklahoma Gang Intervention Steering Committee.
Some members of a subcommittee looking into possible treatment and intervention alternatives felt that another subcommittee looking into enforcement issues wandered over into their area of expertise.
Because the enforcement subcommittee reported first, some members of the gang steering committee and coordinating council – about 40 in all – thought an exiisting program mentioed in the report was a good idea and should be expanded. Some members of the treatment subcommittee felt that their work looking at various possibilities which required more study was being overlooked.
Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, said he was concerned of a possible “paralysis by analysis,” saying he didn’t want the committee to get caught up in studying issues and not doing anything. The deadline to file bills for the next legislative session is Dec. 5.
“Don’t get so bogged down in minutia. … Do something,” he said.
Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, defended her group’s position, saying the groups aren’t scheduled to disband until 2012.
“This is an opportunity to take the time to get it right,” she said.
Several on the committee indicated they were heartened by results of efforts in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties that were funded by the state Office of Juvenile Affairs. It provides $1.2 million to anti-gangs programs in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties and recently awarded $100,000 to Lawtgon for anti-gang efforts, said Robert E. “Gene” Christian, the agency’s executive director.
The programs target juveniles at the highest risk of gang involvement, such as those formerly held in custody, juveniles living in at-risk neighborhoods and former gang members.
The state program is patterned after the gang model of the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Oklahoma has been recognized by the National Youth Gang Center for using the model, Christian said.
“What we need in Oklahoma City may not be what we need in Waurika,” he said. “We talk about a model – the model doesn’t dictate the program. The (local) steering committee comes together and dictates the program.”
At one time several rural communities received funding from the state agency for gang prevention program, but recent funding cutbacks to the Office of Juvenile Affairs ended the financial assistance, Christian said.
Myron Mayberry, with the nonprofit Effective Transitions Inc. of Oklahoma City, one of the groups receiving state funding, said he believed similar programs could work in rural areas, but each program would have to be developed by people in those local communities. An effective steering committee with local control is necessary for a program to be successful, he said.
No action was taken during the joint meeting, which is looking at ways to fight gangs and their influence on Oklahoma’s youth. The two groups will meet together again in December, just before the bill filing deadline.
Leaders of the two groups, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and Rep. Gus Blackwell, R-Goodwell, said members could come up with recommendations for legislation and funding and still continue to work on developing solutions.
Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Coincidental timing
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was in Oklahoma City when he found out Thursday that Oklahoma’s senior U.S. senator and the state’s congressman from Tulsa have tossed their support behind rival Fred Thompson, the former actor and U.S. senator from Tennessee.
Romney, making his third stop in Oklahoma this year, said he was not aware that U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and U.S. Rep. John Sullivan, both Tulsa Republicans, officially have endorsed Thompson.
“I’ve got some senators who support me,” said Romney, 60, a former Massachusetts governor.
The timing of Inhofe’s endorsement – it was released Wednesday by the Thompson campaign – is what is interesting. It’s not surprising that Inhofe would support Thompson: He said in an article I wrote for the Aug. 22 edition of The Oklahoman that he would back Thompson if he got into the GOP primary presidential sweepstakes.
Former U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook of Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, who served in Congress with Inhofe and Sullivan and is helping Romney in his campaign, was with Romney and downplayed the endorsements.
“Everybody’s entitled to their position,” he said. “The value of endorsements is universally overstated.”
Romney, who arrived late Tuesday in Oklahoma City and jogged Wednesday morning in downtown Oklahoma City, left for Phoenix after talking to about 50 supporters at a luncheon fundraiser Thursday at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City.
Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Elementary advice
Some Oklahoma City elementary students received basic advice today from the state’s banker.
State Treasurer Scott Meahcam talked to first graders at Cleveland Elementary about getting a head start on their college savings.
He handed out piggy banks containing $1 coins to remind parents and grandparents to start saving for college. Two lucky students received vouchers for $100 cash prizes.
Meacham last week passed out piggy banks to first graders at Lanier Elementary School in Tulsa.
The piggy bank giveaway is part of the sixth annual Financial Planning Week, a joint effort of the Oklahoma College Savings Plan and the Financial Planning Association.
Members of the Central Oklahoma Financial Planning Association chapter will deliver piggy banks to more than 20 elementary schools in Oklahoma City and surrounding areas. Altogether, 5,000 banks will be given away; 30 will contain $100 cash prizes donated by the Oklahoma College Savings Plan.
Meacham, chairman of the Oklahoma College Savings Plan, said families that start saving for college when their children are young can reap tax benefits on those savings for many years.
All contributions and any earnings to a college savings plan account are tax deferred and become permanently tax free when qualified withdrawals are made to fund a variety of student expenses at most institutions of higher learning. Funds may be used at virtually any private or public college nationwide, and the savings can be applied to tuition as well as other qualified expenses including fees, books, supplies and certain room-and-board costs.
The Oklahoma College Savings Plan is the only 529 plan with an Oklahoma income tax deduction of up to $20,000 per family.
Introduced in April 2000, the Oklahoma College Savings Plan has more than $275 million in total assets. The number of accounts has surpassed 36,000.
Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
