Michael Oatman
Michael Oatman was a Green Party candidate for Ward 6 representative on the Tucson City Council in Arizona. Oatman was defeated in the primary election on August 29, 2017.[1]
Oatman was a 2016 independent candidate for president of the United States.
Oatman responded to Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal candidates. Click here to read his responses. Read additional themes of Oatman's campaign here.
Elections
2017
Mike Cease defeated Michael Oatman in the Green Party primary election for the Ward 6 seat on the Tucson City Council.
| Tucson City Council, Ward 6 Green Primary Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Green |  Mike Cease |
64.71% | 55 | |
| Green | Michael Oatman | 31.76% | 27 | |
| Write-in votes | 3.53% | 3 | ||
| Total Votes | 85 | |||
| Source: City of Tucson, "Primary Election Official Canvass," September 1, 2017 | ||||
Campaign themes
2017
Oatman participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates.[2] The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Everyone complains that 'there is not enough pie to go around', meaning that the City budget does not provide enough income to enable all supported (or once-supported) programs and entities to receive a 100% funding allotment as requested by those entities. My top priority would be to 'Expand The Pie', so that Tucson City Council may fully fund all these entities and more. We must do that without raising sales or property taxes, through better use and monetization of City resources, while simultaneously providing better services for City residents. For instance, we would place more solar panels on City buildings so that we spend less on our power bills (and then more on programs), or we would recycle more water, or institute a pay-as-you-throw refuse fee schedule, or provide free WiFi and nearly free Gigabit Internet to all Tucsonan (using the Copenhagen/Chattanooga models), or legalizing and taxing cannabis/marijuana/hemp. There are many more. We would then have the money in the budget to fund all the programs we want and need. Also, in the 12-step ranking listed above, items 1-10 are tied for first, or at least have no daylight between them. Please see http://MichaelOatman.info/ for more.[3] | ” |
| —Michael Oatman (June 6, 2017)[4] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.
| Issue importance ranking | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking |
Issue | Candidate's ranking |
Issue |
| Environment | Government transparency | ||
| Transportation | Unemployment | ||
| City services (trash, utilities, etc.) | K-12 education | ||
| Homelessness | Public pensions/retirement funds | ||
| Housing | Recreational opportunities | ||
| Civil rights | Crime reduction/prevention | ||
Nationwide municipal issues
The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| Very important | |
| Local | |
| Public outreach/education programs. There must be hiring, proper training and placement of TPD officers which reside in the areas which they patrol, with more foot and bicycle patrols versus cars and motorcycles, and less militarization overall. Obviously, the best way to reduce crime is to give something better to do to those who would otherwise be committing it. This could be as simple as providing homes for the homeless, or more skate and bike parks and other recreational or occupational (job training) opportunities for youth. It would certainly be to treat any addiction as an illness and to provide proper care and treatment. | |
| Instituting a citywide minimum wage. I would like a $15 to $22 COLA-adjusted minimum wage to be instituted in Tucson, but we also need small and local (not gentrified) business development to occur by way of adjusting zoning, taxation and water requirements. We need to develop infill properties first, or use them for community gardening / urban agriculture spaces, and ensure that far-flung developments pay fully to have use of City services. We can direct our growth and development to include transit in the planning (Light Rail & Bus Rapid Transit). We can also attract new businesses and cultivate smaller ones to become larger employers locally. Please see http://MichaelOatman.info/ for more. | |
| We are a bright blue sapphire in a big red state. We are open and we are accepting, and not just 'tolerant'. We can keep Tucson vibrant and weird, but we don't need to "keep Tucson shitty". | |
| The City Council should not simply be a rubber stamp for the programs which come down the pike from the City Manager and staff, rather Council should be more active in, first, listening to its constituents, then researching appropriate solutions and finally crafting well-suited ordinances and other pieces of local legislation for Tucson. |
Oatman provided the following comments in addition to his survey responses:
| “ |
Michael Oatman For Tucson Ward 6 is accepting contributions of $10 to qualify for Tucson City Clean Elections funding. The campaign is hiring fundraisers (at 10%) to assist in this endeavor. We would love to have more volunteers for canvassing and tabling at events as well. Please see http://MichaelOatman.info/ for more information on how to sign up, volunteer, and/or contribute! Thank you![4][3] |
” |
| —Michael Oatman (2017) | ||
Additional themes
Oatman's campaign website listed the following themes for 2017:
| “ |
The Tucson City government should be prudent and cost-effective, but not to the detriment of the people of Tucson. Civic involvement is the heart of democracy, particularly during non-presidential election years, and City Council should encourage empathy and not apathy from its citizens. City Council should focus on listening to the people of Tucson much more, and try to internally steer policy less. City Council Sanctuary City Status Tucson Water and Trash We need to close the loop and fully recycle. We could implement a 'pay-as-you-throw' system which encourages recycling and reuse, and discourages refuse. Divestment and Investment Tucson City may then be free to invest in corporations and organizations which actually do improve the economy, peoples’ lives and the environment. Tucson Police Department Furthermore, TPD officers need to live near where they work, so that the officers have a stake in the well being of their own neighborhoods, and not be seen as an occupying force. Tucson needs more foot patrols, and more community policing. All TPD officers need to wear body cameras, and any footage collected needs to be reviewed and overseen by a citizen task force. City Developments Tucson must use money from developments to entice industries with higher pay to relocate to Tucson. Campaign Finance Reform |
” |
| —Michael Oatman (2017) | ||
See also
| Tucson, Arizona | Arizona | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Tucson Office of the City Clerk, "2017 Primary Election Candidates," May 31, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey, 2017, "Michael Oatman's Responses," June 6, 2017
- ↑ Michael Oatman 2017, "Platform," accessed June 12, 2017
 |
State of Arizona Phoenix (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2024 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |