Urban Tulsa's 'Hot 100' List: Some Hits, Many More Misses

The wacky folks over at Urban Tulsa Weekly (yawn) have complied their annual list of Tulsa movers and shakers. They call it, somewhat optimistically, the Hot 100.

It's a silly exercise, of course, and one fraught with hazards. First, the number is arbitrary. Second, the definition of "hot" so vague as to be meaningless. Third, the selection process itself is unclear and well hidden.

Given these problems, it's no wonder the Hot 100 list is uneven, to put it mildly.

First, some winners:

We like some of the art and cultural names, including Clark Weins of Circle Theater fame and Lisa Regan, the Garden Deva.  We also like some of the civic folks UTW names, such as George Kaiser, Susan Neal, and The People Who Run the Local Farmers Markets.

Then there are UTW's highly dubious selections:

Terry Simonson, Mayor Dewey Bartlett's chief of staff. Last time we checked, Simonson was making more than the mayor. Oops. Then there's the fact that Simonson used to write columns for—you guessed it—UTW.

Speaking of writing for UTW, the paper also puffed another of its former columnists, Michael Bates, author of the Batesline blog.  Isn't this the same guy who got UTW sued last year? And caused UTW to publicly apologize? Oh, right, he's the one.

Then there's part-time pol Chris Medlock. We can't quite fathom how Medlock is "hot." After all, he's been losing in politics (to Dewey Bartlett in the GOP primary for mayor) and employment (lost his job at KFAQ radio). Not much a track record here.

Finally, UTW once again nominated its own founder, Keith Skrzypczak, as a Hot 100 member. The staff has done this before, which does nothing to improve the reputation or credibility of UTW. (Yawn.)