News Updates

Finally ... A Vote!

Four months after it began considering the PLANiTULSA draft of the city's comprehensive plan update, the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission appears poised to finally take a vote on the document.

Commissioners will convene at 12:30pm on Thursday, June 24 in the City Council chambers at City Hall to discuss final modifications to the plan and perhaps vote on whether to pass it. A hearing seeking public comment on the plan, which was posted online on June 1, was held last week, attracting about three dozen spectators. No public comment will be accepted at Thursday's meeting.

The TMAPC held its first meeting on the issue on Feb. 23 and has met several times since.

The city's comprehensive plan has not been updated in more than three decades, and the PLANiTULSA process already has taken two years. If the Planning Commission does vote to adopt the document, it would then be sent to the City Council for final approval. To view the updated document, visit planitulsa.org.

Fair is Fair

A proposal that bans discrimination for city employees on the basis of sexual orientation was adopted by the City Council on June 17 by a 6-3 vote, sending the measure to the desk of Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr. for final approval.

The proposal was championed by District 9 City Councilor G.T. Bynum and forbids discrimination in the hiring, firing or promotion of those who work for the city based on their sexual orientation.

The city's Civil Service Commission adopted the proposal in May by a 2-1 margin. Bynum has said he regards the measure as one of basic fairness, indicating he believes that what a city employee does with his or her personal life is not the business of the city of Tulsa.

Bynum was joined by fellow councilors Maria Barnes, Jack Henderson, Bill Christiansen, Roscoe Turner and Chris Trail in voting for the measure. Councilors Jim Mautino, Rick Westcott and John Eagleton voted against it.

The measure does not entitle the same-sex partners of city employees to such benefits as health insurance.

Moving Forward, Not Back

The organizer of a proposed museum dedicated to putting the spotlight on Tulsa's rich Art Deco heritage has launched a new e-mail newsletter to promote the facility and has been conducting tours of downtown landmarks that begun this past month.

Local artist William Franklin, who originated the idea of the planned Decopolis museum, said the first edition of the new e-mail newsletter -- dubbed The Decopolis Star Dispatch -- was due for release June 1. The newsletter features an education section, a comedy section and information on the movement to open the museum. Franklin also plans to lead tours of notable downtown Art Deco structures on the second Saturday of each month.

The museum already has a board of directors and a Web site (decopolis.net) and has applied for nonprofit status with the Internal Revenue Service.