
Karen O’Brien takes oath to serve on City Council.
Maybe it’s because I’m a Leo, or maybe it’s because I’ve watched too many incidences when no one stepped forward, that I volunteered to help my city when asked.
I have been appointed as an interim, temporary Tulsa City Councilor to allow that government body to lawfully perform the tasks needed.
Elected Councilors will fill the seats after the November 6 election and they are sworn in December. But there are several situations when a certain number of Councilors must be present to vote on actions that impact Tulsa citizens, so those seats needed to be filled in the meantime.
With the passing of Mr. David Patrick in my District 3 and the resignation of Anna America to head the Tulsa Parks, the Council would have been unable to move forward on some long-discussed issues. Because I have been involved in City activities (having volunteered on several committees over the years including the original Vision 2025 for Neighborhoods’ long and involved program), Councilor Phil Lakin contacted me to help. After some deliberation and lots of prayer, I chose to say yes.
I spent a very long day yesterday October 3 my first as a Councilor, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and finally leaving City Hall at 7:30 p.m. Because Councilor Hall-Harper was out of town, and Councilor Dodson had to leave early, the Council would not have been able to accomplish items on the posted agenda for the 5:00 meeting if Arianna Moore and I had not stepped up. In effect, there would not have been a legal City Council meeting. That would have impacted the 50 or so people who had changed their plans in order to present themselves to the Council to voice their feelings on agenda items that had legally been posted 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting.
Unfortunately there are people who choose to complain or be negative when someone else chooses to help. They are the ones who more often than not say, “All you gotta do is…”. I translate that to be, “I don’t want to do anything, but if you listen to me and follow what I say, then I’ll be happy.”
Not so. That’s the reason I will never run for political office. The majority of people want someone else to take care of the things they want done, but have no idea what they’re talking about. There are rules and regulations, legislation and laws that must be followed either because a majority voted for them, or someone actually took on the process. It takes time and patience to follow the procedures. It takes more than I’m interested in investing.
I will listen to people’s suggestions, but I am not in a position to take on any long term challenges. And if you’re one who only wants to complain and not actually get involved, it’s your loss because it only takes one pebble to cause a big wave. You could be that pebble if you would choose to be involved.
About the author: Karen J. O’Brien CPS, ownes and operates The KanDo Organization, LLC. She is an Oklahoma-commissioned and bonded Notary Public and a Freelance Virtual Legal Assistant based in Tulsa, Oklahoma specializing in Real Estate and Estate Planning. She may be reached at KanDoOrgLLC@gmail.com or 918-928-6463.