|
|
 |
|
 |
Member since: July 20, 2008
|
|
|
|
Tulsa's air is under increasing stress from industry both on the west side of town, from the refineries, and on the east side of town, from the Lafarge cement plant. The number of 'BAD AIR' days in Tulsa County is now equal to the number in New Jersey.
I also appreciate UTW reporting on this, but it's not strictly true that "Each year the EPA incrementally tightens standards." The EPA has rolled back its regulations on its own when the scientific evidence warranted relaxing the rules. The EPA deserves kudos for respecting and protecting the air we need to breathe, using only the best scientific evidence. It is a federal agency that can be trusted to do what's best for both industry and public health, in my opinion as a layman. (Not affiliated with OKDEQ, EPA, etc.)
|
|
|
Report this comment |
|
|
|
|
|
So lemme get this straight --while Kivisto gambles with SemGroup shareholders' equity and loses his shirt, his job, his status in society, for having made bad decisions and speculating-- BOK's executives are, in the meantime, rewarded for gambling with account-holders deposits and making a bad loan, by calling in a $7.1 million "favor" from the Mayor (a former BOk board member), and essentially getting bailed out by city taxpayers and the corporate Nanny; and, instead of being condemned, the deal gets rubberstamped by cowardly city councilors. And then for good measure, the Mayor also reduces BOK's downtown tax liability by some $797,600 in property taxes (for the Bank of Oklahoma Tower), off-loading that burden onto the downtown businesses BOK is supposed to be helping. Good corporate citizen? Or is BOK the kingpin?
The BOK bailout and BOK tax favor smells of mafia collusion. They placed one of their own (a board member) into the key position (neither LaFortune or Savage having delivered the goods), saddling the city taxpayers with a "compromised" candidate in the Mayor's office, and she gives away taxpayers' money to her "boss," in a quid pro quo. It brings to mind federal law defining Racket-Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO). I read with interest that the individual city councilors approving the mis-begotten deal might be personally liable for three times the amount. Bates' considered opinion bears repeating:
"Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor appears to have colluded in a lawsuit against the financial interests of the citizens of Tulsa. She is probably doing this to cover the posteriors of the BOk executives responsible for making this bad loan."
I love how Bates has been on this story like a dog on a bone, for years now. He accuses BOK of malfeasance in a previous column on the issue (Aug 09, 2006):
"[For BOK] to make such a loan without valid collateral would have been in violation of FIRREA, the 1989 lending reform law that was enacted in response to the Savings & Loan crisis... FIRREA was created to hold bankers responsible for how they handle federally-guaranteed deposits... If a banker authorizes a loan without sufficient justification, and the loan goes bad, the bank can be penalized under FIRREA."
The story is far from over, if the FIRREA (Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act) violations apply. Let alone the other legal implications.
|
|
|
Report this comment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
