Bartlesville residents launch city council recall after drag queen vote

As Green Country received some much-needed rain this week, another type of storm began brewing in Bartlesville as a group of local citizens launched a recall effort against three city councilors.

Around 80 citizens gathered Tuesday at Calvary Chapel Church for an "informational meeting" to learn about the move to oust city councilors Loren Rozsel of Ward 2, Mayor Dale Copeland of Ward 1 and Vice Mayor Jim Curd of Ward 3.

The group was upset with the council's April 3 approval of an agreement with Oklahomans for Equality Bartlesville to keep drag shows out of public venues.

Sara Burnett, one of the recall organizers, said she and others wanted the council to go further and enact an ordinance that would ban or restrict drag shows in Bartlesville.

"My concern is I didn't hear that (City Attorney) Jess Kane ever even pursued the outside counsel that he was allowed to pursue, and so I didn't see him pursue the ordinance in any way," she said.

Kane says he did seek outside counsel and spoke with numerous First Amendment rights lawyers and organizations about the legality of drafting a city ordinance restricting or banning drag shows.

"Despite extensive effort, I was unable to locate any group or law firm that would agree to represent the city by (either) drafting an ordinance restricting or banning drag shows (or by) defending the city should such ordinance be challenged in court," he said.

One such response came from the Rutherford Institute, a conservative organization reportedly defending street preacher Rich Penkoski's appeal of a five-year protective order issued against him earlier this year.

More: Judge grants protective order for local couple against street preacher

In a written response to the city provided to the EE via an Open Records request, the Institute said such an ordinance likely wouldn't stand.

"There do seem to be potential free speech and other concerns with a law or ordinance which would specifically target and prohibit drag or drag performances," the Rutherford Institute's Will Winters wrote in response to Kane's inquiry. "Drag performances which are sexually obscene in public or in front of children could probably only be addressed with a generally applicable law or ordinance which prohibits something like indecent exposure or obscene sexual display when such a performance − whether by a person in drag or not − violates that law,"

"But drag performances which don't cross that line and violate such statutes would otherwise appear to be lawful," he continued. "Oklahoma might already have such laws, and the question would be whether part of a public drag performance was obscene and in violation of any of those laws."

But Burnett said the recall effort isn't just about adult entertainment and drag shows in Bartlesville. She said it's also about getting the city council to stand up for biblical family values.

"I would define family as the Bible defines family − marriage between one man and one woman and children under that," Burnett said. "The purpose of the recall is to see if Bartlesville residents define family in a biblical way."

She also hopes to see a scenario that could end gay pride events completely, if that's what the voters wanted.

"If the city hosts a pride event and people come and protest the city council meetings for six months, like if it goes through this same path that this has gone through, then that could be considered," Burnett said.

What happened at the meeting

During the 40-minute meeting live-streamed on the NEOK Grassroots Facebook page, local Baptist pastors Caleb Gordon and Dustin Owen gave biblical justifications for supporting the recall. They called on the public to protect children.

"This is no political issue, this is a moral issue, this is an ethical issue and this is a biblical issue," Owen said. "When it comes to the grooming of children, I will die on that hill."

Both pastors Gordon and Owen drew parallels, calling OKEQ Bartlesville a "darkness" and saying believers need to push back against the darkness with their light.

"If we do nothing, OKEQ marches on advancing the kingdom of darkness in our community and it will not stop," Owen said.

He said that anyone who doesn't support the recall is complicit in the sins and crimes committed against children in Bartlesville.

More: Protesters gather during Bartlesville Pride

Local citizen Aaron Vaugh called himself "just a guy" and a veteran who fought for the rights of every single American. He also echoed his support for protecting children and used the Bible to justify his support of the recall.

"We have representatives for a reason," Vaugh said. "We, the people, trust them to exercise their authority given to them by God. Our trust has been violated."

Issues with the agreement

Of the five speakers that addressed the audience that night, only one, Samantha Williamson, spoke about specific issues in the agreement.

She called the agreement "flawed, insufficient and embarrassing" and hoped to "bring some light and some clarity" about the agreement.

"I'm no lawyer," Williamson said. "I don't have a college degree in this, but I read through and found these flaws that I believe part of the negligence of the council is that they did not properly look at this and really consider what they were voting on, and I think that's negligent."

More: City Council candidate's comments on Bartlesville Pride drag show spark firestorm

Williamson called the agreement "insufficient," pointing out that it was only between OKEQ and the city and doesn't stop anyone else from hosting a drag show.

She also said the agreement "hogties" the city council from regulating any adult entertainment or drag shows for the one-year term of the agreement.

City Attorney Jess Kane says that the claim is misleading.

"Paragraph 3 of the agreement provides that "the city agrees to take no action to further regulate drag performances… (emphasis added)", Kane said. "All ordinances which are currently on the books remain fully enforceable throughout the term of this agreement."

Williamson also disagreed with the city's agreement to provide two uniformed on-duty officers as security for the 2023 Pride event at the city's cost.

"It's a unique privilege given to a special interest group," she said.

City Manager Mike Bailey said that isn't true.

"We have assigned police officers to ensure the protection of citizens at many community events in the past and we will continue to do so anytime there is a possibility of violence or unrest at a public event," he said. "Our police department has an obligation to ensure the safety of the public. That obligation does not stop at the boundaries of an event, whether it is SunFest, a Christmas Parade or Bartlesville Pride."

"It would be unconscionable to not assign Bartlesville police officers to an event that has received threats of violence, protest and unrest," Bailey added. "So, with or without this agreement, we would have assigned officers to the upcoming Pride event."

Finally, Williamson argued the agreement does nothing to protect children.

Since the drag show at Unity Square last year, many of those who oppose them have claimed that children were groomed, abused and sexualized during the event.

A spokesman for Bartlesville Police said to his knowledge, no one has filed a police report regarding those claims and that claims of lewdness during the drag show are also unsubstantiated.

Under state law, anyone who sees or suspects child abuse of any kind is required to report it and can be prosecuted if they fail to do so.

"Our office has never been presented or reviewed potential charges from the drag show event held last year," Washington County District Attorney Will Drake said.

Public Impression

After the event, citizens were encouraged to sign the recall statement and learned how to gather other signatures. Those waiting in line to sign agreed that the current city council wasn't hearing their voices and those particular councilors needed to go.

"I haven't felt my representative is representing me, and this agreement is dangerous for children." said one resident who remained anonymous to speak freely. "He doesn't deserve to be my rep."

More: City Council approves drag show policy

Another citizen said he signed the petition because leftist ideology was a slippery slope, and "once you let them in, you can't get them out."

A 10-year military vet said he served "with all walks of life" and swore to protect innocence. He said he sees this recall as a way to continue that oath.

But others who attended saw things differently. One woman who described herself as deeply conservative called the event a "giant echo chamber."

"They have no idea what's going on in the world, and they are asking to ban drag shows that federal judges say are protected under First Amendment rights," she said, vowing to fight the recall.

Another pointed to the federal judge temporarily halting Tennessee's drag ban law last month, "The same thing would happen here and cost our city money," he said.

A man who watched the meeting online said the speakers' rhetoric turned him off.

"I was disappointed. They said it would be an information meeting, but they spent the entire time preaching, and hardly anyone said anything helpful," he said.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville residents launch city council recall after drag queen vote