|
|
 |
|
 |
Member since: October 25, 2006
|
|
|
|
As usual, talk of city-county consolidation targets the City of Tulsa but ignores the other municipalities of Tulsa County, many of them rapidly growing, and most of them, like Tulsa, extending into other counties. Rather than create a city-county authority, removed from direct accountability to the voters, entangling a dozen or so governments, the simplest way to eliminate duplication is to eliminate the county parks department, transferring each county park to the nearest city -- LaFortune and O'Brien to Tulsa, Chandler to Sand Springs, Haikey Creek to Broken Arrow, etc. Tulsa County government should be shrinking to its essential administrative functions as unincorporated territory shrinks, leaving municipal functions to the cities.
|
|
|
Report this comment |
|
|
|
|
|
Kathy Taylor ripped off Tulsa taxpayers by capitulating on the Great Plains Airlines lawsuit, handing BOK $7.1 million in property tax dollars that Tulsa didn't owe. Taxpayers sued and a court threw out the unjust settlement that Taylor and Dewey Bartlett approved.
When Councilor Bill Martinson warned of the impending fiscal disaster facing Tulsa, Kathy Taylor didn't heed the warning, but instead worked for his defeat. Martinson was defeated by an opponent funded by out-of-state business associates of Kathy Taylor's husband.
Kathy Taylor's budgets climbed during the fat years, despite calls by Councilor John Eagleton to limit budget growth. Her free-spending ways made the readjustment to smaller budgets in 2009 all the more painful.
Kathy Taylor was involved in the Tulsa Development Authority's unjust treatment of developers Will and Cecilia Wilkins, who had been selected by the TDA to develop a parcel at Archer and Elgin, but then were shoved aside to please her wealthy friends who wanted to control all the land around the new ballpark. The Taylor-driven actions of the TDA spawned yet another lawsuit.
Kathy Taylor's inequitable plan to fund the ballpark charges the same assessment to property owners a mile away as it does to those right across from the ballpark. One downtown building owner found it more economical to bulldoze a building in order to cut the assessment. Once again, her hardheaded approach to leadership resulted in a lawsuit against the city.
Taylor's signal achievement, moving City Hall to the Borg Cube, has cost more money than estimated and hasn't produced the promised revenues from the sale of surplus property.
Kathy Taylor and Dewey Bartlett are two sides of the same tarnished coin. Tulsa deserves better.
|
|
|
Report this comment |
|
|
|
|
|
That was District 1 Councilor Joe Williams, Jafo.
|
|
|
Report this comment |
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Giles posted a similar comment from an Albuquerque IP address at batesline.com. Sadly, he doesn't bother to offer any specific rebuttal to this piece, just generic abuse. Perhaps he was affiliated with DTU in the past?
|
|
|
Report this comment |
|
|
|
|
|
Firesprinklerman, I don't want anyone to be injured or killed in a fire. To be totally safe from fire, we could ban candles, matches, fireplaces, stoves, dryers, water heaters, electricity, natural gas, and gasoline engines. We could eat cold food, take cold showers, walk everywhere, and wash our laundry in cold water and hang it out to dry. Short of going to that extreme to achieve perfect safety, we have to decide where is the appropriate tradeoff between safety, cost, and convenience.
|
|
|
Report this comment |
|
Read All 23 Comments »
|
|
|
|
