Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

The Westside Community Center hosted several local leaders to address topics focused on the City of Bartlesville during a forum on Tuesday evening.

Affordable housing was one of the questions that was addressed. City Manager Mike Bailey tackled the questions as to whether or not there is any incentive for owners of empty lots in Bartlesville to build affordable housing to enhance the community. He said affordable housing is heavily incentivized.

There are a lot of local incentives. Bailey said Bartlesville only has a sales tax that deals with business retention and recruitment. He said the Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority has some incentives that they can provide, but you have to be within their TIF district.

As far as affordable housing, there are tax credits, and there are incentives for the state and the federal government. Bailey said Bartlesville would be more than happy to coordinate with anyone interested in affordable housing. He said they have worked with the Nehemiah Corporation for affordable housing in the past.

Affordable housing is a big need in any community, and it is no different in Bartlesville. Bailey said cities do not typically build affordable housing. Instead, they try to make it possible and cheaper for the developer by incentivizing the effort.

Transportation was a topic of discussion as well. Loren Roszel asked if there were any plans to get a simple municipal transportation system in place.

A transportation committee was developed by the City of Bartlesville nearly two years ago. Vice Mayor Alan Gentges said they decided to provide additional funding for the transportation system called City Ride in Bartlesville. He said there is a program in place now where it is less expensive for people to travel to work if they need a ride. Some can even travel for free on City Ride.

The fees associated with the City Ride transportation system are based on who you are, your age, and the programs that you are involved in. Gentges said the committee believed this would be the best form of transportation in Bartlesville. He said you can even call City Ride and they will come to your door.

If you need reoccurring transportation, you can get that set up with City Ride as well. The number for City Ride is 918.336.2233 if you have further questions to ask about the transportation system.

The question of upcoming projects and initiatives for the City of Bartlesville was brought up during the forum. Bailey said there are projects that may come to the west side of Bartlesville depending on the results of the City of Bartlesville's General Obligation Bond Election that will be held in August. He said those plans focus primarily around Douglass Park, which is located at 509 S. Bucy Avenue.

The City of Bartlesville has a lot of projects going on in the community at all times. Bailey said the City of Bartlesville has a lot capacity tied up right now in a major project for the downtown streets. When they get through the downtown streets project, Bailey said they will start to award other things.

Ensuring that all of the Bartlesville community is being treated fairly and equally when it comes time to allocating funds is something the Bartlesville City Council takes seriously. Bailey said they always map out the projects to see where they are. He said it is a great representation of how funds are being spent equally throughout the community.

As for Douglass Park itself, the trail in the park may be improved. Again, it depends on the results of the election on August 25th. $81,000 may go towards the construction of a shelter at the park as well that is similar to the Dinosaur Park along Silverlake Road. The pavilion at the Dinosaur Park, however, was made possible by the Civitan Club of Bartlesville.

The planting of trees in city parks was discussed as well. Bailey said the City of Bartlesville would work with citizens if there was interest in planting trees. He said they would help volunteers select the trees, plant the trees and help with the irrigation, too. You can call 918.338.4282 if you have any additional questions about the city but do not know who to speak with.

Later in the forum, minority recruiting was discussed in part by Bartlesville Police Chief Tracy Roles. Unless members of a minority group come through the door, actively apply for a job, and go through the process with the Bartlesville Police Department, Chief Roles said they are kind of at their mercy. He said there is no active plan to recruit minorities, however, the BPD has not been able to hire many minorities because they have not applied.

If there are suggestions to recruit any minority community to the Bartlesville Police Department, Chief Roles is open to listening to them. Chief Roles said it is important to have diversity within a police department. He said diversity within any department will allow them to move forward in a positive manner.

Earlier in the forum, Chief Roles said he believes the Bartlesville Police Department does an excellent job in consistently policing the city. Chief Roles said they do not police one side of Bartlesville differently than another side of Bartlesville. He said this consistent policing helps the BPD avoid issues that many police departments are seeing across the nation.

The Bartlesville Police Department had this system in place before the arrival of Chief Roles nearly two years ago. During that time, the system has grown. Growing alongside this policing effort has been the department's Diversity Initiative.

Chief Roles said retired police sergeant Jim Warring - who now works as the Law Enforcement Engagement Director for Grand Lake Mental Health Center, Inc. in northeast Oklahoma - helped him create the Diversity Initiative by reaching out and connecting to all parts of the community. He said the police department is made predominantly of white males, so they have to work harder so they can connect with other people within our community.

The Diversity Initiative was created so difficult conversations could be had. Chief Roles said it was more about listening than it was about talking. He said they needed to listen to understand the view points of everybody, regardless of where they lived, who they were, where they worked, how they looked or what they believed in. The goal is to continue to push the Diversity Initiative forward at the BPD because all involved believe it is important. Chief Roles said their officers are embracing the effort and are getting involved in the community.

As the community changes, the Bartlesville Police Department is willing to change with the community. Chief Roles said they are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating their policies. He said they continue to reach out to other agencies that teach diversity training (i.e. Grand Lake Mental Health and Tri County Tech).

This is to ensure that the BPD continues to put its people in a position to treat people in the community with unconditional respect. Chief Roles said this is a community effort. He said the police department should not dictate what the community looks like. Rather, it should be the police department that collaborates with the community to see what it should look like.

Bartlesville Police Chief Roles, Bartlesville City Manager Mike Bailey, Bartlesville Councilman Jim Curd Jr., Bartlesville Vice Mayor Alan Gentges, and State Representative Derrel Fincher attended the nearly hour long forum. All were thanked for their time and their comments on Tuesday evening during the forum at the Westside Community Center.

Any additional questions that were not addressed that you would like to have addressed can be sent to Lorront Carney, the Westside Community Center’s Executive Director. Carney’s email is l.carney.wccbville.org.