I am thrilled to hear about Rep. Kirby's efforts to recruit Remington Arms to Tulsa, away from the taxation and tyranny of New York. I want to echo his sentiment of welcoming this industry to green country. I think this is an excellent idea and applaud the work he is doing, in this instance, for our city and state.
I have just one question though, what are Governor Fallin, Mayor Bartlett, the Tulsa City Council, the Tulsa County Commission, and the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce doing to bring these jobs to Tulsa?
I hope UTW will follow up on this to seek answers to that question and report back on their comments or efforts(if any exist) regarding this tremendous opportunity for economic development.
In response to William, the swap meet, wanna be Bouguereau "artist" and self appointed deco diva:
Why don't you practice what you preach instead of living far outside of the urban core, south of I-44 in your detached single family suburban style home?
What a hypocrite.
Besides, most young professionals on staring salaries can't afford(or even qualify for a mortgage) for the overpriced luxury lofts that you new urbanist elitists want built in the pearl in place of the affordable housing that currently exists in the neighborhood, much less the baristas and bartenders who will work in the bars and coffeeshops you envision for the area, but empty nesting baby boomers looking to downsize and live in a state of denial in a vain attempt to deny their own mortality and symbolically reclaim their youth by living a hip urban lifestyle sure can. The argument that this is for the young people is just a straw man to cover for the real demographic this plan is catering to.
Real starving young, creative artists with talent won't be able to afford the rent for studios or apartments in the gentrified, economically gated community envisioned by Jamie Jamison either. One look $300,000+ price tag for living in his village at central park just proves that point, maybe the talentless trust funders or those who get bankrolled by the 'rents so they can pretend to be artists will be able to, but that's about it.
Rocky is a thousand times better than the BIZPAC Chambercrat sales tax deadbeat and the BIZPAC Chambercrat spin doctor who are running on the GOP ticket for D4.
All you have to do is look at the unpredictability, volatility, and havoc that sales tax collections reek on city(sales tax reliant) budgets, to see why getting rid of the state income tax is a horrible idea.
Although, I would be in favor of eliminating state and federal income taxes on the overtime worked by hourly workers.
"But others said the need for a small area plan for the Utica Avenue corridor between 11th and 21st streets was important, as well, given the competing interests at work there. Two hospitals, St. John and Hillcrest, anchor the two ends of the corridor, while two historic preservation districts -- Swan Lake and Yorktown -- are located in between. A proposal to eliminate a zoning loophole that permits commercial development along the borders of the historic districts would have had a major impact on the ability of the two hospitals to expand, while neighborhood advocates have argued they should not have to worry about such commercial encroachment."
This hospital issue is a red herring, as is the issue of commercial development along the borders of Historic Preservation(HP) Districts. The real controversy has arisen over commercial development that crosses over the borders of HP Districts, to take place inside the boundaries of HP Districts.
The real issue is between the Bumgarners and the HP Districts, namely these deviant developers use of Planned Unit Developments(PUDs) inside HP District boundaries to subvert HP zoned properties in order to permit uses and structures that would not otherwise be allowed within the boundaries of an HP District.
BTW, I don't know where the two hospitals issue originates from considering that St. John's was the only hospital that participated in the discussion that led up to the six month moratorium on PUD's in HP Districts and the call for a small area plan(SAP) for the area. Unless Hillcrest plans on expanding south past 15th Street, they have no issues in regards to conflicts with HP Districts and shouldn't have any involvement with this small area plan, that is if the intention of the SAP is to address conflicts between HP Districts and commercial development as stated in this article.
One more thing, considering that two blocks of residential properties east of the hospital that are owned by St. John's hospital(which are still unredeveloped residential properties) were left out of the boundaries of the Yorktown HP district when it was originally adopted to accommodate plans for St. John's future expansion, their sudden "concerns" about their ability for future expansion are suspect and spurious to say the least.
UTW, owes it to their readers to tell it like it is, instead of just phoning it in by parroting the script of unscrupulous developers, conflicted city officials and other special interests who spin this issue to avoid an honest discussion. It's times like these I really miss the accurate reporting of GW Shulz, who once upon a time, graced the pages of UTW and elevated this weekly to a much higher standard.
"Simonson believes that's a step that's long overdue, noting the yeoman's work done by Martha Schultz and Theron Warlick, the two city planners who oversaw the process by which the comprehensive plan was updated. He said their work was lauded by the people who performed the recent KPMG audit of city services."
This is a reassuring statement that provides cautious optimism. Hopefully, it implies that Theron Warlick is one of the 4 city employees who have applied for the planning director position.
We need a known quantity, someone who understands Tulsa, someone who is a trusted, well respected, established member of the community, that has been closely involved with guiding PlaniTulsa firsthand and already has established good working relationships with all the parties impacted to serve as planning director who can hit the ground running, supported by the confidence of all involved. Tulsa needs to hire a planning director who has a demonstrated the professional and interpersonal capabilities to fairly broker the balanced consensus and compromise essential to satisfy the concerns and garner the support of all involved. There is only one person that fits that bill, that person is Theron "Triple Beam" Warlick.
Hiring an outsider will just serve to inspire skepticism and uncertainty. Not to mention that an outsider will have to waste precious time getting up to speed while trying to develop an understanding of the community, build relationships, trust and support in the community. Tulsa needs someone in this position that has already developed these assets.
Why the Mayor and Simonson seem so determined to waste the time and resources on a nationwide search with a qualified, unbiased, internal candidate like Theron Warlick available defies all logic and rationality, begging the question of exactly what unstated ulterior motives might be behind their intentions? Unfortunately, it seems the Mayor and Simonson have already decided to dismiss internal candidates, considering that they will have to reject them in order to engage in this wasteful external search for applicants. It is especially perplexing considering the common campaign refrain from politicians bemoaning Tulsa's brain drain problem of young talented people leaving the city, making campaign promises to do something to reverse this trend, yet they turn around and take actions like this that only serve to exacerbate this situation. Our elected officials need look no farther than the nearest mirror to see the root cause of this problem and why they have been unable to provide any effective solutions.
There is an obvious omission in this article about the accountability and transparency problems inherent to the current makeup of the TMAPC. It is the need for Tulsa to have it's own planning commission that is independent of the county and INCOG, made up of residents of the city of Tulsa elected to serve as Commissioners and administered by the city planning department. The lack of accountability on the TMAPC and providing more transparency can be easily addressed by making commissioners elected(1 from each Council district preferably), not appointed posts as they are currently.
For example, the county has undue influence over the TMAPC currently, considering that 90% of the cases are from within the city of Tulsa, yet county appointed commissioners make up 40% of this commission. To add insult to injury, the latest county appointment to the TMAPC, Sand Springs resident Ryon Stirling, doesn't even live within the jurisdictional boundaries of the TMAPC(Sand Springs has it's own independent planning commission). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine how this dysfunctional, unbalanced system that is in place favors the suburbs who have their own commissions, aided and abetted by INCOG and the County appointees.
As long as INCOG and the County are involved in planning decisions inside the city limits of Tulsa, the city will continue to see disappointing, dysfunctional results. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Real reform will not be accomplished without regime change that results in the city of Tulsa controlling it's own destiny, instead of outsourcing it to outside interests like INCOG and the County, giving them undue influence and control.
Tulsa needs to have it's own accountable, transparent, independent, planning commission in addition to it's own independent planning department, led by a trusted, well-respected planning director, to get the necessary public buy in that will be critical to achieving a fair and balanced consensus driven approach to successfully implement and reach the full potential of PlaniTulsa.
The Multi-Hazard mitigation plan has been one of the smartest things Tulsa has engaged in recent years. RD Flanangan did a candid, critical analysis and comprehensive job putting this plan together. I am glad to see some of these excellent recommendations are finally being put into action with the help of dedicated, no-nonsense, volunteers like Van Voorhis and others.
I hope our elected city leaders will see fit to review and implement other MHMP recommendations like the ones addressing deficiencies in the building code including, but not but not limited to, seismic and expansive soil issues, for instance.
The better we build and regulate our community to be disaster resistant, the more prepared and better able we will be to respond when disaster strikes.
"The mayor's chief of staff said a national search would be conducted for a planning director.
"We'll search for the best planning director we can find," he said. "Any time you're looking at such an important position, you want someone with top-flight credentials."
Simonson said he is hopeful that a planning director could be in place by the beginning of summer."
Why is the Mayor's office wasting time and resources on a national search when the best planning director they could find already works for the city of Tulsa? That person is Theron Warlick, ranked #2(should have been ranked #1) on the UTW 2011 Hot 100 list published recently, right behind the Mayor.
Theron Warlick's knowledge, intimate involvement and successful guidance of the PlaniTulsa process thus far in his job as a city planner make him uniquely qualified to excel in this position. Mr. Warlick has a well earned reputation of being able to work with diverse interests across the political spectrum while earning their trust and respect. PlaniTulsa has been an oasis in the desert of the otherwise endless scorched earth political battlefield that Tulsa has become, much of the credit for this success with PlaniTulsa is due to Theron. This level of public support and trust in the guidance of our planning director will be critical to seeing the zoning code smoothly and successfully overhauled.
I'll chalk this national search for a planning director up to more wasteful, squandered, spending by the Mayor and his chief of staff.
As far as the hiring of a firm to update the city's zoning code goes, there is at least one rule that should be applied without exception:
Anybody but INCOG.
Enough about the planning director and firm to update the code search, except there is one last thing deserving of comment about this article that has leaves people guessing on this topic, will the selection of a planning director and the hiring of a firm to update the city's zoning code require Council approval?
This sham survey should be met with skepticism, given the controversial relationship between the Mayor's office and the Tulsa Community Foundation, who are funding this survey in order to promote the 1,100 recommendations made in the KPMG efficiency study of Tulsa's government, which also was funded by the foundation. Remember that during the KPMG study, the private funders were given first access to revise and edit an early version of the report, will that be the case with this survey? If this quote from Mayor Bartlett is any indication, you can almost certainly count on it.
"Obviously, since they are footing the bill, they are wanting to put their two cents worth in,"
Dewey Bartlett Jr. Tulsa World 08/25/10 "Draft of City of Tulsa efficiency report shown to private donors"
Furthermore, the lack of Council input into developing this survey should certainly raise eyebrows. The exclusion of the Council in this process casts doubt about the legitimacy and credibility of this survey that Mayoral Chief of Staff Terry Simonson, has been closely involved with developing. The Mayor seems to be operating under the assumption that the branches of Tulsa's government consist of the Tulsa Community Foundation and his office. Mayor Bartlett is sorely mistaken.
There is very little evidence this "survey" will amount to anything more than plutocratic, push/pull polling. If the Tulsa Community Foundation and the Mayor expect to claim this process has any transparency, at the very least, they should disclose the text of the surveys now and agree that these survey results won't be released to anyone until they are released to the general public.
Until this happens, Tulsans should boycott this sham survey for the B.S. it is.
It is an accurate, succinct, summary for what the clowns in the Bartlett & Bynum three ring circus, led by their ringmaster Simonson have been doing to the city of Tulsa.
Playing games, like Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned.
Kudos on the picture of Bartlett as Napoleon in your print addition(please display it on the website!). Another accurate depiction of how Bartlett's ego driven Neroic and Napoleonic psychological disorders are hurting Tulsa.
It almost never fails that the progeny of political dynasties predictably underwhelm and disappoint with disastrous results. Bartlett and Bynum are no exception to this trend, following along blindly in the proud tradition of their feckless leader George W Bush.
It's sad reflection on Tulsa that a majority of voters chose to suffer the foolishness of this DNA aristocracy gladly, leaving those of us who rejected it at the polls to shake our heads in shame, but with a clear conscience that at least we don't share the blame.
Public support will be a basic essential to successfully revise the zoning codes.
I hope the hiring of the planning director is handled like school superintendent searches are, so the public has a chance to meet, interact, and converse with the top applicants in a public forum before a decision is made. A citizen's board to review the top candidates and make recommendations might not be a bad idea either.
The Mayor would be wise to handle this decision in this manner, instead of just holding a press conference announcing he hired someone.
Considering the public's poor opinions ratings of INCOG, he would also be wise to keep INCOG as hands off in this process as possible. The public overwhelmingly said again and again throughout the PlaniTulsa process that they wanted INCOG out of city planning. The more INCOG is involved, the more public support will be eroded.
The Mayor's ideas about outsourcing and privatizing the planning functions he mentioned will only serve to undermine public support. If the Mayor wants to demonstrate that planning will be a priority, as much of the work as possible should be done in house to really show the city is serious and in this for the long haul. The planning department has a good relationship with the public and brought PlaniTulsa this far with high levels of public support and participation. If it ain't broke and it's running like a well oiled machine, why fix it?
It's good to hear that there's a discussion going on about how to make the process of determining how small area planing and demonstration projects are applied for and approved equitable, objective, and geographically diverse. Establishing a clear set of standards is the first critical step towards making the small area planning process and demonstration projects transparent and accountable.
"Day of service education will be needed forever," said Michael Patton, executive director for The Metropolitan Environmental Trust and member of the city's refuse and recycling task force.
With all of the "concerns" about conflicts of interests regarding city contractors expressed recently by the Council including Ethics complaints, I am surprised Michael Patton is allowed to serve on a committee to decide the future of city recycling programs considering he is a recycling contractor for the city in a clear cut case of conflict of interest.
Perhaps in the course of their recently adopted quest to root out city contractors conflicts of interests in city government, the Council should investigate this issue with the same zeal and send it it to the Ethics Advisory Committee for review.
That is assuming the Council actually wants consistent enforcement, instead of just using selective enforcement when it serves their political purposes.
Whether the Council ignores this issue or acts on it, will be a good litmus test to answer that question.
Why is Downtown getting all the small area planning resources?
Downtown has already received more than it's fair share of resources. It already has more TIF districts than any other area of the city. To have the first two small area plans be in Downtown is an insult and an injustice to the rest of the city, especially to areas that have long been neglected. It is unacceptable to allow any area of the city to monopolize the majority of the limited planning resources of the city of Tulsa and Downtown is no exception.
How long will other areas of the city have to wait before they get the attention they deserve and their fair share of resources?
Perhaps there needs to be a cap on the number of small area plans approved from each council district annually to prevent all resources from being used in certain areas and to provide more geographic equity across the city in regards to planning resources?
I hope the city planners, planning Commissioners, Mayor and the Council reconsider this move. It sends the wrong message and gets the process of implementing Planitulsa started off on the wrong foot.
Calling Perkins an Independent is ridiculous because he is a registered Republican. He doesn't even have enough integrity to practice what he preaches by changing his voter registration to Independent.
Perkins is a just whiner and a windbag.
There needs to be a charter change to prevent registered partisans from exploiting a loophole in the charter that allows them to run as Independent candidates without changing their voter registration to Independent.
It's such a shame these Hispanic organizations have chosen to sully themselves by advocating for the wage slavery and exploitation of illegal workers by criminal businesses that undermines the local economy instead of focusing on doing something positive for the community they represent.
Aren't the critics who equate requiring and verifying legality to being anti-Hispanic basically saying most Hispanics are criminals? This irrational Hispandering only serves an illegal underground economy and those who profit from manipulating it with a wink and a nod from the federal government. It is exactly this distorted, twisted, perverted attitude that enables Tulsa to be home to stories of exploitation like the fraud, human trafficking, false imprisonment, and civil rights violations at John Pickle Co., the death of Eleazar Torres-Gomez at Cintas, the Public Works Scandal and the collapse of Arrow trucking, just to name a few.
Mr. Lizama sounds like a bootlegger lobbying against the repeal of prohibition. Hypocrisy in action is a lecture on morality and bias from the Cartel for the American Ream.
On top of her hiring practices, Taylor drew additional fire from the local police union for supposedly breaking campaign promises to beef up the ranks of the Tulsa Police Department when she crafted a budget that only included funding for 20 new police academy graduates.
Such was the rationale for the grade submitted by Fraternal Order of Police President Darin Filak.
"I'd give her an 'I' for 'Incomplete,'" he said.
"She made several promises about hiring additional officers and making public safety a priority, and we're still waiting for those promises to be fulfilled," Filak explained.
The 20 new hires, he said, won't be sufficient to maintain then-current ranks of 814 sworn officers by offsetting the force's attrition rate of 2.2 officers per month.
The Mayor, however, said those were the number of academy seats recommended by TPD representatives, and that the 2.2 attrition rate is a vast improvement over the 3.4 officers the force was losing per month last year.
Other members of Tulsa's law enforcement community aren't quite as patient as their union president and gave her a 'C.'
"Morale is horrible (on the police force)," said one officer, who didn't want to be named as he gave his boss such a mediocre rating.
"Morale is at an all-time low from her lack of backing us and lack of positive feedback, plus I've never seen a Democratic mayor who was so anti-union in my life," he added.
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COMMENTS
Posted by: TYProle
17 comments total
Sort Comments: Most Recent | Oldest First
Re: News Updates
I have just one question though, what are Governor Fallin, Mayor Bartlett, the Tulsa City Council, the Tulsa County Commission, and the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce doing to bring these jobs to Tulsa?
I hope UTW will follow up on this to seek answers to that question and report back on their comments or efforts(if any exist) regarding this tremendous opportunity for economic development.
Re: Battle of Words and Wills
Why don't you practice what you preach instead of living far outside of the urban core, south of I-44 in your detached single family suburban style home?
What a hypocrite.
Besides, most young professionals on staring salaries can't afford(or even qualify for a mortgage) for the overpriced luxury lofts that you new urbanist elitists want built in the pearl in place of the affordable housing that currently exists in the neighborhood, much less the baristas and bartenders who will work in the bars and coffeeshops you envision for the area, but empty nesting baby boomers looking to downsize and live in a state of denial in a vain attempt to deny their own mortality and symbolically reclaim their youth by living a hip urban lifestyle sure can. The argument that this is for the young people is just a straw man to cover for the real demographic this plan is catering to.
Real starving young, creative artists with talent won't be able to afford the rent for studios or apartments in the gentrified, economically gated community envisioned by Jamie Jamison either. One look $300,000+ price tag for living in his village at central park just proves that point, maybe the talentless trust funders or those who get bankrolled by the 'rents so they can pretend to be artists will be able to, but that's about it.
What a fairy tale.
Re: Council Connection
Re: The Gospel According to Tom
Although, I would be in favor of eliminating state and federal income taxes on the overtime worked by hourly workers.
Re: Glacier Melting?
This hospital issue is a red herring, as is the issue of commercial development along the borders of Historic Preservation(HP) Districts. The real controversy has arisen over commercial development that crosses over the borders of HP Districts, to take place inside the boundaries of HP Districts.
The real issue is between the Bumgarners and the HP Districts, namely these deviant developers use of Planned Unit Developments(PUDs) inside HP District boundaries to subvert HP zoned properties in order to permit uses and structures that would not otherwise be allowed within the boundaries of an HP District.
BTW, I don't know where the two hospitals issue originates from considering that St. John's was the only hospital that participated in the discussion that led up to the six month moratorium on PUD's in HP Districts and the call for a small area plan(SAP) for the area. Unless Hillcrest plans on expanding south past 15th Street, they have no issues in regards to conflicts with HP Districts and shouldn't have any involvement with this small area plan, that is if the intention of the SAP is to address conflicts between HP Districts and commercial development as stated in this article.
One more thing, considering that two blocks of residential properties east of the hospital that are owned by St. John's hospital(which are still unredeveloped residential properties) were left out of the boundaries of the Yorktown HP district when it was originally adopted to accommodate plans for St. John's future expansion, their sudden "concerns" about their ability for future expansion are suspect and spurious to say the least.
UTW, owes it to their readers to tell it like it is, instead of just phoning it in by parroting the script of unscrupulous developers, conflicted city officials and other special interests who spin this issue to avoid an honest discussion. It's times like these I really miss the accurate reporting of GW Shulz, who once upon a time, graced the pages of UTW and elevated this weekly to a much higher standard.
Re: War of the Words
This is a reassuring statement that provides cautious optimism. Hopefully, it implies that Theron Warlick is one of the 4 city employees who have applied for the planning director position.
We need a known quantity, someone who understands Tulsa, someone who is a trusted, well respected, established member of the community, that has been closely involved with guiding PlaniTulsa firsthand and already has established good working relationships with all the parties impacted to serve as planning director who can hit the ground running, supported by the confidence of all involved. Tulsa needs to hire a planning director who has a demonstrated the professional and interpersonal capabilities to fairly broker the balanced consensus and compromise essential to satisfy the concerns and garner the support of all involved. There is only one person that fits that bill, that person is Theron "Triple Beam" Warlick.
Hiring an outsider will just serve to inspire skepticism and uncertainty. Not to mention that an outsider will have to waste precious time getting up to speed while trying to develop an understanding of the community, build relationships, trust and support in the community. Tulsa needs someone in this position that has already developed these assets.
Why the Mayor and Simonson seem so determined to waste the time and resources on a nationwide search with a qualified, unbiased, internal candidate like Theron Warlick available defies all logic and rationality, begging the question of exactly what unstated ulterior motives might be behind their intentions? Unfortunately, it seems the Mayor and Simonson have already decided to dismiss internal candidates, considering that they will have to reject them in order to engage in this wasteful external search for applicants. It is especially perplexing considering the common campaign refrain from politicians bemoaning Tulsa's brain drain problem of young talented people leaving the city, making campaign promises to do something to reverse this trend, yet they turn around and take actions like this that only serve to exacerbate this situation. Our elected officials need look no farther than the nearest mirror to see the root cause of this problem and why they have been unable to provide any effective solutions.
There is an obvious omission in this article about the accountability and transparency problems inherent to the current makeup of the TMAPC. It is the need for Tulsa to have it's own planning commission that is independent of the county and INCOG, made up of residents of the city of Tulsa elected to serve as Commissioners and administered by the city planning department. The lack of accountability on the TMAPC and providing more transparency can be easily addressed by making commissioners elected(1 from each Council district preferably), not appointed posts as they are currently.
For example, the county has undue influence over the TMAPC currently, considering that 90% of the cases are from within the city of Tulsa, yet county appointed commissioners make up 40% of this commission. To add insult to injury, the latest county appointment to the TMAPC, Sand Springs resident Ryon Stirling, doesn't even live within the jurisdictional boundaries of the TMAPC(Sand Springs has it's own independent planning commission). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine how this dysfunctional, unbalanced system that is in place favors the suburbs who have their own commissions, aided and abetted by INCOG and the County appointees.
As long as INCOG and the County are involved in planning decisions inside the city limits of Tulsa, the city will continue to see disappointing, dysfunctional results. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Real reform will not be accomplished without regime change that results in the city of Tulsa controlling it's own destiny, instead of outsourcing it to outside interests like INCOG and the County, giving them undue influence and control.
Tulsa needs to have it's own accountable, transparent, independent, planning commission in addition to it's own independent planning department, led by a trusted, well-respected planning director, to get the necessary public buy in that will be critical to achieving a fair and balanced consensus driven approach to successfully implement and reach the full potential of PlaniTulsa.
Re: Into Thy Hands
I hope our elected city leaders will see fit to review and implement other MHMP recommendations like the ones addressing deficiencies in the building code including, but not but not limited to, seismic and expansive soil issues, for instance.
The better we build and regulate our community to be disaster resistant, the more prepared and better able we will be to respond when disaster strikes.
Re: Plan's Progress
"We'll search for the best planning director we can find," he said. "Any time you're looking at such an important position, you want someone with top-flight credentials."
Simonson said he is hopeful that a planning director could be in place by the beginning of summer."
Why is the Mayor's office wasting time and resources on a national search when the best planning director they could find already works for the city of Tulsa? That person is Theron Warlick, ranked #2(should have been ranked #1) on the UTW 2011 Hot 100 list published recently, right behind the Mayor.
Theron Warlick's knowledge, intimate involvement and successful guidance of the PlaniTulsa process thus far in his job as a city planner make him uniquely qualified to excel in this position. Mr. Warlick has a well earned reputation of being able to work with diverse interests across the political spectrum while earning their trust and respect. PlaniTulsa has been an oasis in the desert of the otherwise endless scorched earth political battlefield that Tulsa has become, much of the credit for this success with PlaniTulsa is due to Theron. This level of public support and trust in the guidance of our planning director will be critical to seeing the zoning code smoothly and successfully overhauled.
I'll chalk this national search for a planning director up to more wasteful, squandered, spending by the Mayor and his chief of staff.
As far as the hiring of a firm to update the city's zoning code goes, there is at least one rule that should be applied without exception:
Anybody but INCOG.
Enough about the planning director and firm to update the code search, except there is one last thing deserving of comment about this article that has leaves people guessing on this topic, will the selection of a planning director and the hiring of a firm to update the city's zoning code require Council approval?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
Re: Survey Says
"Obviously, since they are footing the bill, they are wanting to put their two cents worth in,"
Dewey Bartlett Jr.
Tulsa World 08/25/10
"Draft of City of Tulsa efficiency report shown to private donors"
Furthermore, the lack of Council input into developing this survey should certainly raise eyebrows. The exclusion of the Council in this process casts doubt about the legitimacy and credibility of this survey that Mayoral Chief of Staff Terry Simonson, has been closely involved with developing. The Mayor seems to be operating under the assumption that the branches of Tulsa's government consist of the Tulsa Community Foundation and his office. Mayor Bartlett is sorely mistaken.
There is very little evidence this "survey" will amount to anything more than plutocratic, push/pull polling. If the Tulsa Community Foundation and the Mayor expect to claim this process has any transparency, at the very least, they should disclose the text of the surveys now and agree that these survey results won't be released to anyone until they are released to the general public.
Until this happens, Tulsans should boycott this sham survey for the B.S. it is.
Re: Chess? Checkers? Solitaire?
Great title for this article.
It is an accurate, succinct, summary for what the clowns in the Bartlett & Bynum three ring circus, led by their ringmaster Simonson have been doing to the city of Tulsa.
Playing games, like Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned.
Kudos on the picture of Bartlett as Napoleon in your print addition(please display it on the website!). Another accurate depiction of how Bartlett's ego driven Neroic and Napoleonic psychological disorders are hurting Tulsa.
It almost never fails that the progeny of political dynasties predictably underwhelm and disappoint with disastrous results. Bartlett and Bynum are no exception to this trend, following along blindly in the proud tradition of their feckless leader George W Bush.
It's sad reflection on Tulsa that a majority of voters chose to suffer the foolishness of this DNA aristocracy gladly, leaving those of us who rejected it at the polls to shake our heads in shame, but with a clear conscience that at least we don't share the blame.
Re: We're Late, We're Late!
I hope the hiring of the planning director is handled like school superintendent searches are, so the public has a chance to meet, interact, and converse with the top applicants in a public forum before a decision is made. A citizen's board to review the top candidates and make recommendations might not be a bad idea either.
The Mayor would be wise to handle this decision in this manner, instead of just holding a press conference announcing he hired someone.
Considering the public's poor opinions ratings of INCOG, he would also be wise to keep INCOG as hands off in this process as possible. The public overwhelmingly said again and again throughout the PlaniTulsa process that they wanted INCOG out of city planning. The more INCOG is involved, the more public support will be eroded.
The Mayor's ideas about outsourcing and privatizing the planning functions he mentioned will only serve to undermine public support. If the Mayor wants to demonstrate that planning will be a priority, as much of the work as possible should be done in house to really show the city is serious and in this for the long haul. The planning department has a good relationship with the public and brought PlaniTulsa this far with high levels of public support and participation. If it ain't broke and it's running like a well oiled machine, why fix it?
It's good to hear that there's a discussion going on about how to make the process of determining how small area planing and demonstration projects are applied for and approved equitable, objective, and geographically diverse. Establishing a clear set of standards is the first critical step towards making the small area planning process and demonstration projects transparent and accountable.
Re: Second Feature?
It would be fire, water, and rot resistant with extremely low to no maintenance.
Re: Paying to be Green
With all of the "concerns" about conflicts of interests regarding city contractors expressed recently by the Council including Ethics complaints, I am surprised Michael Patton is allowed to serve on a committee to decide the future of city recycling programs considering he is a recycling contractor for the city in a clear cut case of conflict of interest.
Perhaps in the course of their recently adopted quest to root out city contractors conflicts of interests in city government, the Council should investigate this issue with the same zeal and send it it to the Ethics Advisory Committee for review.
That is assuming the Council actually wants consistent enforcement, instead of just using selective enforcement when it serves their political purposes.
Whether the Council ignores this issue or acts on it, will be a good litmus test to answer that question.
Re: Got Plan?
Downtown has already received more than it's fair share of resources. It already has more TIF districts than any other area of the city. To have the first two small area plans be in Downtown is an insult and an injustice to the rest of the city, especially to areas that have long been neglected. It is unacceptable to allow any area of the city to monopolize the majority of the limited planning resources of the city of Tulsa and Downtown is no exception.
How long will other areas of the city have to wait before they get the attention they deserve and their fair share of resources?
Perhaps there needs to be a cap on the number of small area plans approved from each council district annually to prevent all resources from being used in certain areas and to provide more geographic equity across the city in regards to planning resources?
I hope the city planners, planning Commissioners, Mayor and the Council reconsider this move. It sends the wrong message and gets the process of implementing Planitulsa started off on the wrong foot.
Re: Making Change
Perkins is a just whiner and a windbag.
There needs to be a charter change to prevent registered partisans from exploiting a loophole in the charter that allows them to run as Independent candidates without changing their voter registration to Independent.
Re: Dream Police
Aren't the critics who equate requiring and verifying legality to being anti-Hispanic basically saying most Hispanics are criminals? This irrational Hispandering only serves an illegal underground economy and those who profit from manipulating it with a wink and a nod from the federal government. It is exactly this distorted, twisted, perverted attitude that enables Tulsa to be home to stories of exploitation like the fraud, human trafficking, false imprisonment, and civil rights violations at John Pickle Co., the death of Eleazar Torres-Gomez at Cintas, the Public Works Scandal and the collapse of Arrow trucking, just to name a few.
Mr. Lizama sounds like a bootlegger lobbying against the repeal of prohibition. Hypocrisy in action is a lecture on morality and bias from the Cartel for the American Ream.
Re: The Mayor's Report Card
Such was the rationale for the grade submitted by Fraternal Order of Police President Darin Filak.
"I'd give her an 'I' for 'Incomplete,'" he said.
"She made several promises about hiring additional officers and making public safety a priority, and we're still waiting for those promises to be fulfilled," Filak explained.
The 20 new hires, he said, won't be sufficient to maintain then-current ranks of 814 sworn officers by offsetting the force's attrition rate of 2.2 officers per month.
The Mayor, however, said those were the number of academy seats recommended by TPD representatives, and that the 2.2 attrition rate is a vast improvement over the 3.4 officers the force was losing per month last year.
Other members of Tulsa's law enforcement community aren't quite as patient as their union president and gave her a 'C.'
"Morale is horrible (on the police force)," said one officer, who didn't want to be named as he gave his boss such a mediocre rating.
"Morale is at an all-time low from her lack of backing us and lack of positive feedback, plus I've never seen a Democratic mayor who was so anti-union in my life," he added.