‘Race-baiting’ letter from group tied to Sapulpa candidate’s spouse draws outrage
By Samson Tamijani
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SAPULPA, Oklahoma (KJRH) — Neighbors and the city mayor are calling for voters to dismiss a xenophobic letter targeting an incumbent Sapulpa City Council candidate ahead of April 7 municipal elections.
Wiley Smith said an election flyer found its way to his newspaper slot in front of his home on April 2, unlike those one might expect in a city council race.
What’s on them has since circulated online, sparking strong reactions, while the candidate’s opponent vehemently denied involvement.
“This is not about party. This is not about Left or Right. This is about sick,” Sapulpa resident Wiley Smith told 2 News Oklahoma on April 6. “And I just don’t want to be a part of it. And I’m embarrassed for the city and I’m ashamed to see this.”
The booklets distributed around Ward 5 neighborhoods include a slim paper note stapled on top that mentions incumbent councilor David Mortazavi, who is an Iranian immigrant and has called Oklahoma home since he was a child.
Mortazavi has also owned businesses and properties in town for decades, the councilor told 2 News in a phone call on April 4.
The notes list his birth name, Seyed Davood Khalili Mortazavi, calling it “difficult information to read” and “your vote matters” in the April 7 election.
“Are you aware that David Mortazavi’s real/given name is Seyed Davood Khalili Mortazavi?” the stapled note reads, continuing, “This is difficult information to read, but if you care about you or your loved ones lives, you want to read this and educate yourself. Your vote matters in the April 7 election. In a recent vote in Sapulpa, a seat was only won by 10 votes.”
The main pages, tied to pro-Israel Evangelical group Shofar International Foundation, include propaganda to influence the reader on Sharia Law and the functions of an Islamic state.
The booklet mentions Shofar International Foundation’s president/founder, Christie Glesener, who is the wife of Mortazavi’s challenger in the election, Kent Glesener.
The group’s website also says the foundation “was established in 1996 by Kent and Christie Glesener.”
The same booklets, minus the note about Mortazavi, were previously passed out to attendees of a January community meeting organized in opposition to a proposed rezoning for a mosque in Broken Arrow.
Smith said the papers he received definitely will influence his vote, for Mortazavi, not his challenger.
“That’s the first time in probably 30 years that I’ve really had a sign in the yard,” Smith said. “I’m just all in. It’s terrible.”
Sapulpa Mayor Craig Henderson didn’t endorse any candidate in the city elections, but said he wants one thing from voters on April 7.
“Please do not let partisanship, racism, race-baiting (or) name-calling impact your vote,” Mayor Henderson told 2 News. “I’d say to please get out and vote, but please don’t let that impact how you vote.”
The councilor himself, whose family is Christian, didn’t want to speak on camera about the controversy. His nephew, Tulsa-based lawyer Zach Mortazavi, told 2 News he does not believe the Gleseners are behind the flyers being passed around town.
“We love the Gleseners just as much as we love anybody else,” the younger Mortazavi said. “I don’t think they did this. I don’t believe that they would, because as members of Sapulpa that’s not what we do.”
Glesener repeatedly denied any involvement online.
The candidate said in a statement and via phone call with 2 News on April 6 that the note about Mortazavi had nothing to do with his wife’s publication, the pages of which were originally printed in 2008, he said.
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