The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Some friends and supporters of Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz — including the daughter of former Reserve Deputy Robert Bates — have received up to $51,000 a year from what the sheriff acknowledges are “political patronage” positions, according to court records.
Glanz, in an interview with the Tulsa World on Thursday, said he appoints sheriff’s appraisers as a reward for support to him and for service to the community.
“It’s a political patronage job that I didn’t create,” Glanz said. “I think their income is around $30,000 or $40,000 a year for working one day a week, 12 months a year, which is a hell of a job.”
One appointee, Leslie McCrary, is the daughter of former Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, who is charged with manslaughter in the April 2 shooting of Eric Harris.
Other appraisers include both the wife and daughter of Bates’ attorney, Clark Brewster.
Glanz appoints the Sheriff’s Office assessors, who work under the Tulsa County Court Clerk’s Office. Those appointees work in teams of three to appraise foreclosed properties to be sold at sheriff’s auctions.
Each appraiser nets $99 per appraisal, according to court records. The position and payment are set out in state law, which requires Glanz to fill the appointments.
The fees are not paid with taxpayer dollars. They are paid in the foreclosure process.
“All the sheriffs in the state of Oklahoma have it,” Glanz said. “I have 12 because if three persons only did it, think how much money they’d make in a year.”
Glanz said it’s common in Oklahoma for sheriffs to appoint people close to them and that the practice is completely legal.
“I’m sure there’s maybe a perception problem, but I don’t consider it one,” he said.
Glanz has had no complaints brought to him about the work his appraisers do, he said.
Many of Glanz’s appointees are related through various familial ties to Glanz and the people who have supported him in elections and at the Sheriff’s Office.
In the case in which Bates is charged with manslaughter, he was working as a reserve deputy in a supporting role helping the Sheriff’s Office’s Violent Crimes Task Force with an undercover gun buy.
Since April 2, the Sheriff’s Office has come under increased scrutiny while Glanz has dismissed calls for his resignation. On Wednesday, a petition effort was launched to call for a grand jury investigation into the Sheriff’s Office.
Bates’ daughter, McCrary, has been paid at least $238,877 as a sheriff’s appraiser since 2009, according to a Tulsa World database compiled from Tulsa County District Court records.
Bates previously led one of Glanz’s seven successful campaigns for office and has been characterized by Glanz as being a friend for 25 years.
Brewster, who represents Bates in his manslaughter case, led Glanz’s first two campaigns for sheriff in 1988 and 1992, Glanz said.
Brewster’s wife, Deborah Brewster, is one of the 11 appraisers appointed by Glanz. There are 12 Tulsa County sheriff’s appraisers, but one of them was appointed before Glanz took office.
Since 2009, Deborah Brewster has been paid at least $284,300 to do more than 2,800 appraisals, according to court records. She averages about $45,500 for her work annually, records show.
Glanz also appointed the Brewsters’ daughter, Cassie Barkett, an appraiser.
Barkett has earned at least $224,500 for appraisals since 2009 and averages about $41,300 annually, according to court records.
The 12 current appraisers average more than $43,500 per year each, according to the Tulsa World database.
Mike Seymour, who is a reserve deputy and was in the first reserve deputy class in 1991, averaged about $51,000 per year as an appraiser — the highest average among appraisers, records show.
Seymour was a sergeant for Glanz at the Tulsa Police Department when Glanz oversaw the Traffic Division there.
All told, about $3.3 million has gone to the sheriff’s appointed appraisers since 2009, according to court records.
“I have no control over their pay or workload,” said Glanz, whose office oversees the sale of foreclosed properties at auctions.
Asked if he could detail what an appraiser’s job entails, Glanz said he doesn’t know.
“I don’t know. I just appoint them,” Glanz said. “That’s all I do. I appoint them, and the only requirement is that you be a citizen of Tulsa County. It is a political patronage. Something that my office has the advantage of, and I’ve used it in the past to help people that I think deserve the benefit of the doubt for what they do for this community.”
Glanz specifically pointed to Clark Brewster, who also has been paid for legal representation of the county in cases against the jail, as someone who deserves a reward.
“Look what he’s done for the city,” Glanz said. “The city alone — look what he’s done. He saved them millions and millions of dollars on the problems they had. Why not reward people like that?”
Glanz’s reference was to Brewster’s representation of the city in civil lawsuits related to Tulsa Police Department corruption cases. Brewster said he has donated $2.4 million worth of time in attorneys fees for his firm to represent the city in those cases.
City officials have said Brewster’s representation might have saved the city millions of dollars in settlements, as well.
Brewster said he is proud of the work his wife and daughter have done for the county, saying their appraisal work requires “reams” of paperwork, onsite property inspections and setting aside several days each week for the job.
He said both his wife and daughter are qualified for the positions and applied for them before being accepted and appointed.
Brewster downplayed Glanz’s statement that the positions were a reward.
“I can tell you I’ve never had a conversation with Stanley about it,” Brewster said. “I hate to see my wife and daughter impugned. I honestly think it’s Stanley looking to find competent people to do the job.”
The other Sheriff’s Office appraisers are:
Jim Clark, who was appointed an appraiser by Glanz’s predecessor, Sheriff Art Lee. Glanz said Clark is not the Jim Clark who consulted with the Sheriff’s Office after the Bates shooting.
Reuben Davis, a longtime friend of Glanz’s and a current Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office reserve deputy.
Nancy Farmer, a licensed commercial appraiser and a longtime friend of Glanz’s.
Linda Luker, a distant relative of Glanz’s.
Larry Johnson, who previously worked with Glanz at the Tulsa Police Department.
Howard Kelsey, a distant relative of Glanz’s.
Ron Kelsey, a distant relative of Glanz’s.
Pat Thompson, a former Tulsa police officer, Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office reserve deputy and Tulsa County assistant district attorney. Thompson also is the brother of Glanz’s first undersheriff, Bill Thompson.
At least 10 of the 11 current appraisers appointed by Glanz cumulatively have donated thousands of dollars to his political coffers in the past two election cycles.
Records from the 2004 election and older weren’t available for this story.
Current appraisers gave more than $18,000 toward Glanz’s election bids in the 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
World Staff Writer Curtis Killman contributed to this story.

The World has stepped up, though you have to wonder at what cost. Losing some seasoned journalists was one cost.

The World has stepped up, though you have to wonder at what cost. Losing some seasoned journalists was one cost.

I saw that Glanz and Simonson are saying the signatures on the recall petitions are all invalid because they were bought with hot dogs.

So...the buy a badge program is OK
Eating a hot dog while signing your name is a criminal act.

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/grand-jury-petitions-will-likely-be-challenged (http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/grand-jury-petitions-will-likely-be-challenged)
 
Sheriff Glanz released a statement saying he has questions about the process protestors used, and will likely bring a challenge forward when the court gets the matter. He says there are precise requirements to the grand jury process, and he isn’t sure they were followed.

We the People Oklahoma turned in petitions last Friday with more than eight thousand signatures. Five thousand legal signatures are needed to call a grand jury.