A suburban take on "The Channels"
Just received, over the transom, a copy of the weekly report of Rodney Ray, City Manager for Owasso, to the Mayor and City Council of the City of Owasso, dated September 1, 2006. Here is an excerpt:
TULSA “CHANNELS” PROJECT:
The long rumored Tulsa River Project, championed by the Warren Foundation, has been announced by a story in the Tulsa World. Mayor Cataudella and I recently met with the project’s proponents for a discussion of the project (meetings were held with all Tulsa County Mayors and City Mangers). The project is ambitious and uses about $500 to $600 million dollars in public funding as a basis for construction of the necessary infrastructure (an additional $500 to $700 million dollars of private investment in office building, residential space, and retail is planned in addition to the initial investment). The proposed initial funding for the project consists of a private-public sector partnership of which $100 million dollars would come from private donors and approximately $500 million dollars from a proposed 4/10th of a penny sales tax that Tulsa County voters would be asked to approve.
As this proposal is more fully discussed, there are several issues that will become the focus of those discussions. Those issues are predicted to be: 1) Corps of Engineers participation and permitting (it appears that the Corps input to date is minimal, but a briefing with Corps officials is scheduled for next week), 2) Coordination of the three separate River Planning Projects currently underway (the study funded by a ten million dollar gift from George Kaiser, the Vision 2025 River Masterplan done by INCOG, and the Warren Foundation Planning Project), 3) River flow issues on the Arkansas River as they will affect navigations, 4) A substantial amount of the project funded through sales tax; and, 5) the economic impact of Tulsa and regional communities.
There will be numerous meetings, thousands of dollars paid to consultants, and tons of paperwork generated over the next few months; but, the final decision will be left to the voters. The project’s proponents want the County Commission to call for a special election in December to decide the public funding question. However, others are counseling the County Commission against calling such an election before critical decisions can be made regarding fundamental development issues. It should be noted, that if the County Commission decides to call for a December sales tax election, that action would have to be taken in an October Commission meeting (only giving the Commission the month of September to have basic questions and concerns addressed).
As the discussion relating to this proposal develops, I will keep you informed.
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I address the issues in detail that Ray talks about generally. See AstronautOfInnerSpace entry for islands in Voice of Tulsa blog.
My reaction to the proposed Sales Tax is:
WHAT'S THE RUSH??
A River has been running through Tulsa since the beginning of recorded time. In that time, innumberable islands in the stream have arisen and disappeared, moved, and reappeared.
WHY A HURRY-UP VOTE IN DECEMBER?
If even approved by voters, it will be YEARS before the U.S. Corps of Engineers allows any work to be done on the project. Also, the EPA, the Riverparks Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Least Tern habitat and Bald Eagle Nesting sites), the Creek "Nation", the U.S. Dept. of Interior, and probably the Coast Guard will all have to give their approval.
AGAIN: WHY THE RUSH?
The Warren Family has probably contributed more to the fleecing of the average Tulsan than any local Oligarch Family.
How? Through their unmitigated lust for more wealth creation by free-loading on the citizens of Tulsa.
Case in Point: The development of their immense suburban land holdings has resulted in the self-induced street/road "crisis" in 1980. By public policy of the City of Tulsa government, all local developers, including the Warren Financil Interests, have been given a total free ride, contributing NOTHING to the costs of widening suburban arterial streets and intersections in the areas of their immense south Tulsa land holdings.
After years of enduring grinding traffic gridlock, this intentional public policy of giving the property owners a free ride, finally coerced Tulsa voters to "DO SOMETHING", and that somethign is that we've now had a "Temporary" Third Penny Sales tax that has picked our pockets for over $1.2 BILLION since the tax inception in 1980.
These contemptible greedheads make me want to just puke.
Do you suppose we could encourage the bums to move to The Channels? with all those young, upwardly mobile people there, and that wonderful canopy on Center Island to serve as a shelter, it sounds like a great place for Tulsa's homeless population. This could solve the vagrancy problems downtown and tat Riverpark!
Maybe we could distribute leaflets with maps to the shelter on Center Island...
It's merely hypothetical at this point, but I suspect that a couple of other of the Oligarch Families have their hands in THE CHANNELS promotion, but quietly behind the scenes of course at this stage of the mass marketing of this new tax grab.
Reason being, the construction of our new Iconic cost-overriden Arena is projected to be completed by Sept. 2008. Keep that date in mind.
With the ending of that major tax-payer financed public works project, the self-same promoters of Vision 2025 and the Arena, which included prominently in the contributors were the Manhattan Construction Company (Rooney Family) and Flintco (Flint Family). They will have lined their pockets with $100,000,000's before the Vision 2025 projects are completed.
Their overarching desire of course is to keep the concrete flowing through the application of OUR tax dollars to continue to build their private fortunes.
So about the time the Arena construction is finished, if they can get voters to approve the new sales tax in the next few months, then they can be ready to immediately redeploy to start the CHANNELS construction project about the time the Arena construction winds down.
WHAT a coincidence!
Nice timing, huh?
I will vote no. Screw these guys. We have a river plan already developed. the arrogance of people who would seek to circumvent these plans is disheartening. the best response would be to say, how can we help with the success of the plans already developed.
no, we need no more background noise here. sorry trust fund boys, you're left out. get on the bandwagon that is already moving.
Comrades: Stop your grinnin', and drop your linen.
The Tax Vampires now want not only new tax dollars for the CHANNELS, but also additional tax dollars for other river projects according to today's daily "newspaper", the Lorton's World.
They are worked up into a veritable feeding frenzy. They smell fresh TAX-BLOOD, and their hunger is sooooooo strong.
Do they see the end of the Le Regime Ancien?
Hence, their frenzy to grab more dollars while they still have Dirty Bob Dick fronting for them?
Was he someone's special "problem-solver", for certain of the Oligarch Families, while on the TPD all those so many years?
A police advocate can sure help solve some sticky personnel problems if you are experiencing a recalcitrant counter-party in a financial transaction?
Like if you have something that one of the Oligarch Families happen to want, but they want it at THEIR price, but you don't take their deal. Then next you get a phone call from your teenage child who just happened to get stopped by the TPD for a traffic offense, and they just happen to "find" a kilo of cocaine hidden in the car?
Then, it's either:
Bye, Daddy. See you in 10 years! or,
Yessir, that sounds like a WONDERFUL deal! And you are sure all Charges have been dropped? Where do I sign?
Like Comrade Stalin was so fond of saying: "No man, no problem".
Welcome to the Banana Republic of Tulsa.
"The Channels" what a great place for Bells Amusment Park. RIGHT!! The young professionals wouldn't like the riftraft that comes with it. This whole project is a JOKE!! Don't you believe one minute that Famlies involved won't get their pockets lined in gold. If it comes to it, VOTE NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!