Oklahoma lawmaker honored with bridge naming

Former Oklahoma State Representatives Tim Pope, who passes away earlier this year, is being honored with the designation of a bridge with his name.

A bridge crossing the Canadian River on State Highway 4 between Mustang and Tuttle will be designated as the "State Rep. Tim Pope Memorial Bridge." Tim, a Republican from Mustang, died on Feb. 14, 2010.

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission voted Monday to have the state Transportation Department place markers at the sites.

For more info please see Tim Pope R.I.P.

Tim Pope Services Set For Sunday, Monday

For more info please see Tim Pope R.I.P.

A viewing for Tim, who pass away last Sunday, will be held from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at McNeil Funeral Home in Mustang.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday in the Bridge Assembly of God Church in Mustang.

Tim Pope R.I.P.

God speed Tim,

Goodbye old friend, you will be missed.

Wishing the best to LaDonna...

*****

A friend and colleague of former state Rep. Tim Pope, who left the Legislature to make an unsuccessful run for state labor commissioner in 2002, says Tim pass away at the age of 52.

Randy Terrill, a current member of the House, said Tim collapsed and was pronounced dead at Canadian Valley Hospital today after suffering what appeared to be a heart attack.

Tim went out ot feed a small collection of farm animals and his wife, LaDonna, found his body later.

Tim served 14 years as the Representative of District 98 which encompassed parts of Canadian (Mustang) and Cleveland County .

He was the first Republican ever elected to that seat. Tim served from 1989 through 2002 before deciding to run for State Labor Commissioner in 2002.

He had a lifetime conservative rating of 87 on the Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper’s Conservative Index, an impressive accomplishment for anyone in office that many years.

Tim was an aggressive conservative lawmaker who was always willing to speak his mind.

Anyone that is outspoken and aggressive like Tim will have both detractors as well as those of us who liked him and respected him for his courage and willingness to mix it up, rather than play life cautiously, hiding behind the issues of the day.

Following his years of service in the legislature, Tim did political consulting work and coached several of his clients to victory, many times against the more well financed establishment candidates in Republican primaries as well as victories against Democrats.

He was hard hitting and was well equipped for the rough and tumble world of politics, a competition which is both a science as well as an art.

In an effort to inform citizens of Jim Roth’s county commissioner district, Tim sent out a robotic phone call suggesting Roth was using his position to advance the homosexual agenda. The robo call stated a couple of facts then asked citizens to call one of two phone numbers if they agreed or disagreed with Commissioner Roth’s agenda.

That phone call ended up by having Attorney General Drew Edmondson file a legal action against Tim seeking what I believe was a $10,000,000 judgment against Tim.

The complaint was not that Tim misrepresented any facts, but that he violated the no call laws by not including his phone number in the script.

That suit finally ended up in some level of state court where the Edmondson machine was willing to settle for what I believe was a $5,000 fine.

Tim, still believing he had done nothing wrong appealed in federal court to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver where the case was thrown out.

The Court declared the law that was supposedly broken was to apply to commercial calls and not political calls which, by the way, is the purest meaning of the First Amendment’s free speech provision.

Tim was elected to serve as President of the Oklahoma Republican Assembly (OKRA) a state affiliate of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies.

It was during his tenure as President that he formed a PAC which decided to help Brent Rinehart win the election against then County Commissioner Cornet, a rather liberal Republican.

Rinehart won the primary and went on to win in the general election against the Democrat. If I remember correctly, Tim was accused by AG Edmondson of violating campaign finance laws by taking money from three contributors for the PAC which was then used to help elect Rinehart.

The problem was that each of those 3 contributors had already given the maximum of $5,000 to Rinehart’s campaign.

The legal wrangling went on for several years and Tim finally pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, agreeing to pay a small fine.

The real damage was the near $200,000 in legal expenses which caused Tim to have to declare bankruptcy.

I personally believe Tim never intended to break any law.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Tim Pope ask Oklahoma AG - WHERE'S THE BEEF?

Tim Pope,
today asked
Attorney General
Drew Edmondson - -
WHERE'S THE BEEF?

Pope said, "In the last couple days there was an official complaint filed with the State Attorney General's office regarding "robocalls" made by the John McCain for President campaign that were, if you use the belief of the A.G., in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Edmondson's response was a "brief investigation" and a warning to stop making calls that are in violation. I wonder what has happened in the last year and a half that has made this not such a high priority for Edmondson to prosecute."

In 2006 Edmondson's office filed a $10,000,000.00 civil suit against Pope for making phone calls without the required identification in the call.

Pope continued, "Edmondson wasted no time coming after me for what he deemed to be illegal when all I was doing was exercising my First Amendment right of freedom of speech to make a public service "robocall" - it was not in favor of or against any political candidate and I should have been free to say it. The truth of the matter is that the phone call brought some attention to an openly homosexual friend of Edmondson's and he wanted to send a message that nobody picks on his friends without suffering the wrath of the Attorney General's office. He has spent tens of thousands of dollars using State employees to go after a political enemy of his and of his friends."

The $10,000,000.00 lawsuit was reduced to $4500 by the Federal Court and is currently under review by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals who heard the case last month at their hearings in Norman - a final ruling is expected sometime in the next two months.




















Pope concluded, "This is the kind of thing that people hate about politics - heavy handed politicians going after the little guy who dares to question their agenda and friends. It is no skin off of Edmondson's nose - this entire thing may come down to completely being dismissed by the 10th Circuit and Edmondson will have wasted tens of thousands of dollars for nothing more than a case of selective prosecution to send a message. I guess he is only interested in "enforcing the law" when it is against a Republican consultant that defeated one of his judge buddies and helped in the campaign against him.

Come on Drew - - - -
WHERE'S THE BEEF?

For More Information Contact
Tim Pope 613-4834

Rinehart's Attorneys Withdraw Without Explanation

Hat tip to Mike @ http://wwwtmrcom.blogspot.com/

Two attorneys for Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart withdrew from his felony case today without explanation, meaning Rinehart now must find a new attorney before he returns to court in February on campaign finance charges.

Both of his attorneys asked for permission to withdraw from the case today when Rinehart made his first appearance before Oklahoma County Judge Jerry Bass.

Rinehart was ordered last month to face trial on conspiracy, money laundering and perjury charges stemming from his campaign for county commissioner in 2004. His former campaign manager and former State Rep. Tim Pope and contributor Ray Pelfrey, Del City businessman, face similar charges.

They are due back in court Feb. 20 at 9 a.m. for another pre-trial conference.

Rinehart, Pope, Pelfrey Bound Over For Trial

County Commissioner Brent Rinehart, former State
Rep. Tim Pope and Midwest City businessman
Ray Pelfrey were bound over for trial in Oklahoma
County District Court today.

The charges they face grew out of an investigation
into the financing of Rinehart's campaign.

Special Judge James Paddleford announced the
decision after a long weekend of reviewing the
case presented by the Attorney General's office.
Paddleford said in his opinion that there is
sufficient evidence to put Rinehart, former
legislator turned political consultant Pope and
Pelfrey on trial.

Stephen Jones of Enid, Tim Pope’s attorney,
responded to the court finding: "The prosecution
of Tim Pope is dishonest, unfair and political. Tim
has tremendous community support from his
friends in the Legislature and in politics, his clients,
his family and his church. They stand by him and
his day of vindication is coming. We intend to show
in the weeks and months ahead that this charge is
politically inspired, selective prosecution, and is
based upon a house of cards which will crumble."