March 4 Unofficial Returns

Updated March 11, 2008.

Although it should be more than clear by now about Doug Dawgz preference in this matter, I have no wish or reason to misstate facts or twist them to suit my purposes. The "Vote No" people did that sort of thing abundantly during the campaign, but that is not my way. While this post confirms that a substantial majority of Oklahoma City voters voted, "YES," the data provided by the Oklahoma County Election Board also reflects that parts of Oklahoma City did not. This post contains the data and the unvarnished facts of who voted how, and where.

The corporate limits of Oklahoma City include a substantial part of Oklahoma County but also pieces of Canadian, Cleveland, and a pinch of Pottawatomie Counties. "Oklahoma City" proper is divided into "wards" and each "ward" is further subdivided into "precincts" (although, on occasion, I found that some precincts overlap ward boundaries). When writing the 1st version of this post, I was unaware of an internet location where all precincts could be identified ... but thanks to Dustbury's C.G. Hill and Batesline's Michael Bates, both of whom kindly gave me this link to OU's Center for Spatial Analysis, all Oklahoma City precincts have been identified in whichever county they may be located.

Oklahoma City's "Ward" map looks like this ...

Click here or a very high resolution map,
or click the map below for a medium high resolution map:



I ventured to the Oklahoma County Election Board offices on North Lincoln on March 6 ... the "official" vote tallies were not then available ... but the "unofficial" tallies as of March 4 at 9:30 p.m. were. They gave me a printout of the "unofficial" and therefore incomplete results of the March 4 vote, as well as some very cool maps, showing the voting precincts located within Oklahoma City proper ... parts of which extend into parts of Cleveland, Canadian, and Pottawatomie counties. Their courtesies and gifts of maps, etc., were beyond my expectations, and I thank the Oklahoma County Election Board for that.

I was particularly interested in seeing which areas of "Oklahoma City" voted "Yes" or "No," and I was interested in seeing if one or more patterns existed concerning the same. In my precinct, 550485, the vote was 599 to 226, "Yes" carrying by 72.61%! Hoo ahh! But, while the vote carried in 164 precincts, it failed in 84 and tied in 2, as is graphically shown below.

The "reddish-orange" precincts are those voting "No" and the "greenish" precincts voted "Yes:"

Click here or a very high resolution map,
or click the map below for a medium high resolution map:


I tried placing numbers on the precincts but the map got much too fussy looking. Notice, above, that no precinct in Ward 8 voted "No" and not many in Wards 1 and 2 did. Ward 5 was largely, "Yes," also. But in Wards 3, 4, 6, and 7, the map contains many "dark" precincts. For a similar map published in Sunday's Oklahoman, click here.

As I've already said, "Oklahoma City" proper includes some, but certainly not all, of Oklahoma County ... as you know, such incorporated cities like Edmond, Midwest City, Del City, The Village, Nichols Hills, etc., while located in Oklahoma County, are not part of Oklahoma City proper. Beyond Oklahoma County, parts of "Oklahoma City" proper are located in Canadian, Cleveland, and even a pinch of an inch in Pottawatomie County.

If viewed by "Wards," all but one Ward, Ward 4, voted "Yes," and the No vote barely carried Ward 4. The following image shows the Ward detail:


From the above, it is very evident that those who preferred the measure were much more inclined to get to the polls and vote.

The Oklahoma County Election Board data reflected the following data ... I supplied the precinct percentages ... I'm guessing that the "N/A" precincts were not in Oklahoma City proper but were in the County ... C.G. Hill thinks that correct ... I supplied the "N/A" notation which was not in the printout.

Run Date: 03-04-08 9:20 pm March 4, 2008
Unofficial Returns From the Oklahoma County Election Board
County	Precinct	Yes	No	Result %
Oklahoma	550301	23	21	Yes	52.27%
Oklahoma	550304	96	113	No	54.07%
Oklahoma	550308	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550315	133	53	Yes	71.51%
Oklahoma	550321	32	53	No	62.35%
Oklahoma	550325	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550326	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550336	8	0	Yes	100.00%
Oklahoma	550340	25	24	Yes	51.02%
Oklahoma	550342	9	2	Yes	81.82%
Oklahoma	550343	27	5	Yes	84.38%
Oklahoma	550344	298	72	Yes	80.54%
Oklahoma	550356	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550360	103	44	Yes	70.07%
Oklahoma	550365	50	28	Yes	64.10%
Oklahoma	550366	10	12	No	54.55%
Oklahoma	550369	9	10	No	52.63%
Oklahoma	550370	7	9	No	56.25%
Oklahoma	550371	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550378	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550392	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550397	30	6	Yes	83.33%
Oklahoma	550398	127	31	Yes	80.38%
Oklahoma	550401	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550402	110	13	Yes	89.43%
Oklahoma	550403	116	44	Yes	72.50%
Oklahoma	550404	343	96	Yes	78.13%
Oklahoma	550405	540	126	Yes	81.08%
Oklahoma	550406	67	21	Yes	76.14%
Oklahoma	550407	180	49	Yes	78.60%
Oklahoma	550408	574	180	Yes	76.13%
Oklahoma	550409	77	29	Yes	72.64%
County	Precinct	Yes	No	Result %
Oklahoma	550410	2	0	Yes	100.00%
Oklahoma	550411	64	22	Yes	74.42%
Oklahoma	550412	45	25	Yes	64.29%
Oklahoma	550413	160	95	Yes	62.75%
Oklahoma	550414	457	121	Yes	79.07%
Oklahoma	550415	616	198	Yes	75.68%
Oklahoma	550416	536	101	Yes	84.14%
Oklahoma	550417	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550418	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550419	751	228	Yes	76.71%
Oklahoma	550420	550	122	Yes	81.85%
Oklahoma	550421	682	283	Yes	70.67%
Oklahoma	550422	343	116	Yes	74.73%
Oklahoma	550423	410	207	Yes	66.45%
Oklahoma	550424	760	221	Yes	77.47%
Oklahoma	550425	533	213	Yes	71.45%
Oklahoma	550426	205	75	Yes	73.21%
Oklahoma	550427	130	48	Yes	73.03%
Oklahoma	550428	488	205	Yes	70.42%
Oklahoma	550429	595	233	Yes	71.86%
Oklahoma	550430	457	197	Yes	69.88%
Oklahoma	550431	656	344	Yes	65.60%
Oklahoma	550432	764	354	Yes	68.34%
Oklahoma	550433	202	129	Yes	61.03%
Oklahoma	550434	506	215	Yes	70.18%
Oklahoma	550435	327	158	Yes	67.42%
Oklahoma	550436	357	201	Yes	63.98%
Oklahoma	550437	354	143	Yes	71.23%
Oklahoma	550438	241	121	Yes	66.57%
Oklahoma	550439	266	93	Yes	74.09%
Oklahoma	550440	175	77	Yes	69.44%
Oklahoma	550441	297	108	Yes	73.33%
County	Precinct	Yes	No	Result %
Oklahoma	550442	431	228	Yes	65.40%
Oklahoma	550443	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550444	251	109	Yes	69.72%
Oklahoma	550445	156	114	Yes	57.78%
Oklahoma	550446	292	206	Yes	58.63%
Oklahoma	550447	27	29	No	51.79%
Oklahoma	550448	415	220	Yes	65.35%
Oklahoma	550449	255	210	Yes	54.84%
Oklahoma	550450	200	75	Yes	72.73%
Oklahoma	550451	128	83	Yes	60.66%
Oklahoma	550452	766	330	Yes	69.89%
Oklahoma	550453	435	247	Yes	63.78%
Oklahoma	550454	250	205	Yes	54.95%
Oklahoma	550455	257	208	Yes	55.27%
Oklahoma	550456	105	70	Yes	60.00%
Oklahoma	550457	222	163	Yes	57.66%
Oklahoma	550458	333	244	Yes	57.71%
Oklahoma	550459	75	59	Yes	55.97%
Oklahoma	550460	260	285	No	52.29%
Oklahoma	550461	95	72	Yes	56.89%
Oklahoma	550462	70	65	Yes	51.85%
Oklahoma	550463	170	119	Yes	58.82%
Oklahoma	550464	229	202	Yes	53.13%
Oklahoma	550465	14	22	No	61.11%
Oklahoma	550466	75	83	No	52.53%
Oklahoma	550467	254	229	Yes	52.59%
Oklahoma	550468	107	113	No	51.36%
Oklahoma	550469	34	51	No	60.00%
Oklahoma	550470	8	31	No	79.49%
Oklahoma	550471	159	136	Yes	53.90%
Oklahoma	550472	288	201	Yes	58.90%
Oklahoma	550473	204	196	Yes	51.00%
County	Precinct	Yes	No	Result %
Oklahoma	550474	297	178	Yes	62.53%
Oklahoma	550475	65	53	Yes	55.08%
Oklahoma	550476	186	150	Yes	55.36%
Oklahoma	550477	154	130	Yes	54.23%
Oklahoma	550478	402	192	Yes	67.68%
Oklahoma	550479	306	105	Yes	74.45%
Oklahoma	550480	339	192	Yes	63.84%
Oklahoma	550481	155	147	Yes	51.32%
Oklahoma	550482	53	47	Yes	53.00%
Oklahoma	550483	237	134	Yes	63.88%
Oklahoma	550484	83	90	No	52.02%
Oklahoma	550485	599	226	Yes	72.61%
Oklahoma	550486	116	63	Yes	64.80%
Oklahoma	550487	2	0	Yes	100.00%
Oklahoma	550488	50	59	No	54.13%
Oklahoma	550489	188	158	Yes	54.34%
Oklahoma	550490	80	78	Yes	50.63%
Oklahoma	550491	144	85	Yes	62.88%
Oklahoma	550492	152	127	Yes	54.48%
Oklahoma	550493	117	194	No	62.38%
Oklahoma	550494	59	86	No	59.31%
Oklahoma	550495	33	67	No	67.00%
Oklahoma	550496	63	50	Yes	55.75%
Oklahoma	550497	34	51	No	60.00%
Oklahoma	550498	42	83	No	66.40%
Oklahoma	550499	87	135	No	60.81%
Oklahoma	550500	25	30	No	54.55%
Oklahoma	550501	83	116	No	58.29%
Oklahoma	550502	130	148	No	53.24%
Oklahoma	550503	54	118	No	68.60%
Oklahoma	550504	86	131	No	60.37%
Oklahoma	550505	146	164	No	52.90%
County	Precinct	Yes	No	Result %
Oklahoma	550506	144	206	No	58.86%
Oklahoma	550507	72	119	No	62.30%
Oklahoma	550508	57	113	No	66.47%
Oklahoma	550509	108	130	No	54.62%
Oklahoma	550510	138	141	No	50.54%
Oklahoma	550511	284	313	No	52.43%
Oklahoma	550512	176	177	No	50.14%
Oklahoma	550513	23	44	No	65.67%
Oklahoma	550514	92	57	Yes	61.74%
Oklahoma	550515	186	227	No	54.96%
Oklahoma	550516	262	280	No	51.66%
Oklahoma	550517	237	207	Yes	53.38%
Oklahoma	550518	82	96	No	53.93%
Oklahoma	550519	150	191	No	56.01%
Oklahoma	550520	144	167	No	53.70%
Oklahoma	550521	55	120	No	68.57%
Oklahoma	550522	52	100	No	65.79%
Oklahoma	550523	63	70	No	52.63%
Oklahoma	550524	20	29	No	59.18%
Oklahoma	550525	45	58	No	56.31%
Oklahoma	550526	86	104	No	54.74%
Oklahoma	550527	73	173	No	70.33%
Oklahoma	550528	102	128	No	55.65%
Oklahoma	550529	5	12	No	70.59%
Oklahoma	550530	16	33	No	67.35%
Oklahoma	550531	0	1	No	100.00%
Oklahoma	550532	72	77	No	51.68%
Oklahoma	550533	202	211	No	51.09%
Oklahoma	550534	167	136	Yes	55.12%
Oklahoma	550535	351	207	Yes	62.90%
Oklahoma	550536	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550537	21	17	Yes	55.26%
County	Precinct	Yes	No	Result %
Oklahoma	550538	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550539	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550540	27	2	Yes	93.10%
Oklahoma	550541	5	0	Yes	100.00%
Oklahoma	550542	165	114	Yes	59.14%
Oklahoma	550543	147	161	No	52.27%
Oklahoma	550544	118	157	No	57.09%
Oklahoma	550545	130	130	Even	50.00%
Oklahoma	550546	27	32	No	54.24%
Oklahoma	550547	91	111	No	54.95%
Oklahoma	550548	103	64	Yes	61.68%
Oklahoma	550549	131	143	No	52.19%
Oklahoma	550550	180	223	No	55.33%
Oklahoma	550551	164	199	No	54.82%
Oklahoma	550552	168	220	No	56.70%
Oklahoma	550553	130	184	No	58.60%
Oklahoma	550554	2	3	No	60.00%
Oklahoma	550555	5	4	Yes	55.56%
Oklahoma	550556	22	27	No	55.10%
Oklahoma	550557	11	10	Yes	52.38%
Oklahoma	550558	8	2	Yes	80.00%
Oklahoma	550559	10	15	No	60.00%
Oklahoma	550560	74	52	Yes	58.73%
Oklahoma	550561	102	62	Yes	62.20%
Oklahoma	550562	296	191	Yes	60.78%
Oklahoma	550563	50	26	Yes	65.79%
Oklahoma	550564	84	54	Yes	60.87%
Oklahoma	550565	228	122	Yes	65.14%
Oklahoma	550566	302	216	Yes	58.30%
Oklahoma	550567	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550568	206	52	Yes	79.84%
Oklahoma	550569	318	91	Yes	77.75%
County	Precinct	Yes	No	Result %
Oklahoma	550570	70	76	No	52.05%
Oklahoma	550571	208	107	Yes	66.03%
Oklahoma	550572	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550573	81	37	Yes	68.64%
Oklahoma	550574	377	127	Yes	74.80%
Oklahoma	550575	9	8	Yes	52.94%
Oklahoma	550576	40	50	No	55.56%
Oklahoma	550577	4	4	Even	50.00%
Oklahoma	550578	3	5	No	62.50%
Oklahoma	550579	76	110	No	59.14%
Oklahoma	550580	12	17	No	58.62%
Oklahoma	550581	223	162	Yes	57.92%
Oklahoma	550582	335	240	Yes	58.26%
Oklahoma	550583	179	168	Yes	51.59%
Oklahoma	550584	143	134	Yes	51.62%
Oklahoma	550585	34	43	No	55.84%
Oklahoma	550586	0	2	No	100.00%
Oklahoma	550587	9	14	No	60.87%
Oklahoma	550588	0	1	No	100.00%
Oklahoma	550589	84	67	Yes	55.63%
Oklahoma	550590	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	550591	39	53	No	57.61%
Oklahoma	550594	0	0	N/A	N/A
Oklahoma	In Person Absentee	646	380	Yes	62.96%
Oklahoma	Mail In Absentee	684	599	Yes	53.31%
Canadian	090126	35	15	Yes	70.00%
Canadian	090200	583	191	Yes	75.32%
Canadian	090201	82	51	Yes	61.65%
Canadian	090205	4	1	Yes	80.00%
Canadian	090206	10	4	Yes	71.43%
Canadian	090215	177	106	Yes	62.54%
Canadian	090220	309	110	Yes	73.75%
County	Precinct	Yes	No	Result %
Canadian	090221	263	90	Yes	74.50%
Canadian	090222	166	100	Yes	62.41%
Canadian	090223	110	82	Yes	57.29%
Canadian	090224	66	78	No	54.17%
Canadian	090225	333	150	Yes	68.94%
Canadian	090226	97	59	Yes	62.18%
Canadian	090227	316	105	Yes	75.06%
Canadian	090300	18	16	Yes	52.94%
Canadian	090302	44	40	Yes	52.38%
Canadian	090304	45	35	Yes	56.25%
Canadian	090305	8	6	Yes	57.14%
Canadian	090306	26	28	No	51.85%
Canadian	090506	93	41	Yes	69.40%
Canadian	090700	0	0	N/A	N/A
Canadian	090701	0	0	N/A	N/A
Canadian	Absentee	55	58	No	51.33%
Cleveland	140004	658	205	Yes	76.25%
Cleveland	140005	397	202	Yes	66.28%
Cleveland	140007	55	46	Yes	54.46%
Cleveland	140009	359	158	Yes	69.44%
Cleveland	140010	310	192	Yes	61.75%
Cleveland	140017	73	65	Yes	52.90%
Cleveland	140020	356	109	Yes	76.56%
Cleveland	140023	44	57	No	56.44%
Cleveland	140024	11	9	Yes	55.00%
Cleveland	140036	33	32	Yes	50.77%
Cleveland	140037	70	37	Yes	65.42%
Cleveland	140040	313	179	Yes	63.62%
Cleveland	140041	206	118	Yes	63.58%
Cleveland	140043	235	96	Yes	71.00%
Cleveland	140050	395	272	Yes	59.22%
Cleveland	140060	74	45	Yes	62.18%
County	Precinct	Yes	No	Result %
Cleveland	140061	432	242	Yes	64.09%
Cleveland	140063	41	40	Yes	50.62%
Cleveland	140064	88	93	No	51.38%
Cleveland	140065	10	13	No	56.52%
Cleveland	140066	26	34	No	56.67%
Cleveland	140069	406	306	Yes	57.02%
Cleveland	140072	36	27	Yes	57.14%
Cleveland	140078	86	90	No	51.14%
Cleveland	140085	24	25	No	51.02%
Cleveland	140086	408	149	Yes	73.25%
Cleveland	140087	81	96	No	54.24%
Cleveland	140088	549	237	Yes	69.85%
Cleveland	Absentee	131	122	Yes	51.78%
Pottawatomie	630025	2	1	Yes	66.67%
Pottawatomie	Absentee	0	0	N/A	N/A
Summary	Yes	No	Even	N/A	All
Ballots	44,849	27,564	---	---	72,413
Precincts	164	84	2	21
	61.94%	38.06%

Links:
Chamber's Big League City MySpace Page
Chamber's Big League City web page

Related blog posts:

• We Are The Champions
• Can It Fail?
• Breaking Through
• march4vote.org
• Bricktown Bash
• Roy Williams at Cafe Do Brazil
• Ford Center Watch Party
• Tramel Gets It Right
• Unabashed Pro March 4 Vote Video
• Ford Center Initiative
• Hornets 2 Year Retrospective Flash Video
• Okc ... Yes or No, on getting an NBA team
• Okc in NBA ... Where Are We?

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... Click here to read the full article and any comments ...

We Are The Champions!

We did it, Oklahoma City! Yes: 62% No: 38%!
Click a control to stop/start the sound
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce held its Major League City campaign Watch Party at Nonna's in Bricktown on March 4, 2008, and the party was a celebration of victory for Oklahoma City and its ongoing march toward American greatness! There won't be much text in this post ... all the words that need to be have already been spoken. Just look at the pictures and enjoy being a champion, once again, Oklahoma City ... our vision of and for our own future since 1993 is alive and well!

Click on any image for a larger view







Watch Party Host Avis Scaramucci and
Mike Carrier, President of the OKC Convention & Visitors Bureau





"Metro" (left), Mike Cornett (center), & Bart Conner (right)



John Q. Porter (center)





Lovely Ladies Helping Everyone Out



John Williams, Skirvin Hilton's general manager (left)



Bart Conner and his wife Nadia Comaneci
(Romania's gift to Bart and Okc)
and Roy Williams, Chamber President


In Berry Tramel's article after the final vote tally, he would say,

That vision took another step Tuesday. Giddy night. Historic night. Voters passing the Ford Center makeover by a 62-38 margin. OKC perhaps leaping the big not-if-but-when hurdle on the NBA Sonics relocating to Oklahoma City. The momentum of a remade city only rising.

Below, he takes copious notes before the evening was done ...



Downtown OKC's Marketing Director Kim Searls
and Some Not-That-Old Oklahoma City Guy



OKC Council Member Pete White & the Oklahoman's Steve Lackmeyer



Kim & Tom Searls



Mayor Mick Finally Tells Us
What We've Been Waiting For and Wanting To Hear

We really are creating a city where people want to be, and this is a golden age in Oklahoma City. I think someday we will look back and people will realize it.

I’m thrilled that the voters believe in the future of Oklahoma City. This assures that we’re going to be competitive in getting Big 12 events and NCAA events, concerts and conventions. The improvements are going to be fabulous. I can’t wait for the people to see them.

We know we have some work to do and we'll get to it starting first thing tomorrow morning. We will not let you down.

City Council Member Pete White, Steve Lackmeyer,
and Council Member Gary Marrs



Downtown OKC does not get a better reporter-advocate than Steve Lackmeyer



Hi, Doug Dawg! (from the small person in the center)



The Chamber's Julie Riggs (center) and Berry Tramel (right)





Mayor Mick & His Happy and Amazingly Handsome Grandson


I left around 9:15 and pinched myself. Was this all REAL? The only way to know for sure was to watch TV News at 10:00 ...





Yep! If it's on TV, it MUST be real!
Doug Dawg Is So Happy That It Hurts!


City pioneers Henry and Edward Overholser, Charles Colcord, C.G. "Gristmill" Jones, John Shartel and Anton Classen, as well as Deep Deucians Zelia Page Breaux, Charlie Christian, Jimmy Rushing and Ralph Waldo Ellison, and many others, must surely have been grinning ear to ear on this most excellent of Oklahoma City nights!

Oh, yeah ... Tulsa ... SEE YA! That said, Oklahoma City's vote may help you, too.

Links:
Chamber's Big League City MySpace Page
Chamber's Big League City web page

Related blog posts:

• Precinct Vote Tally
• Can It Fail?
• Breaking Through
• march4vote.org
• Bricktown Bash
• Roy Williams at Cafe Do Brazil
• Ford Center Watch Party
• Tramel Gets It Right
• Unabashed Pro March 4 Vote Video
• Ford Center Initiative
• Hornets 2 Year Retrospective Flash Video
• Okc ... Yes or No, on getting an NBA team
• Okc in NBA ... Where Are We?

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... Click here to read the full article and any comments ...

Can It Fail?

Click a control to stop/start the sound
On March 4, three famous pairs are about to duke it out again ... Bugs vs. Elmer, Road Runner vs. Wile E. ... and Yes vs. No. Most indications are that "Yes" will carry the day, but voters like you and me will have the final say. In our city since 1993, Bugs & Road Runner have won the day ... on March 4 the voters get to choose whether they will do that, once again.

The reasons pro and con have been debated back and forth and no particular need exists to rehash all of that in this post. But, what has not been said here before is to put together a "list" of who is on what side of the question. Here's what appears to be the "short list" of people and organizations you might know ...

YES	NO
Mayor Mick Cornett Former Mayor Kirk Humphreys Former Mayor Ron Norick Governor Brad Henry OU President David Boren OSU Incoming President Burns Hargis Former Governor Frank Keating Former Governor George Nigh The Oklahoman The Black Chronicle The Journal Record's Ted Streuli The Gazette's Bill Bleakley Bricktown Association Others	In the same stature and prominence as those in the, "Yes," column, none Others are: David Glover Steve Hunt A Self-Styled San Francisco Ombudsman

Can the March 4 vote fail to pass?  Heck, yeah ... just look up the Turnpike where our kissing cousins continued to firmly entrench themselves in their "Vote No" pattern last October 9.

Tulsa voters had on their plate a seven year $0.004 (4 tenths of 1 percent) sales tax to develop the magnificent Arkansas River into something that would have been very difficult for Oklahoma City to match, given the physical resources with which Tulsa has been blessed by nature, by God, or by happenstance.

There, like here, "Vote No" proponents emphasized the benefits which might derive to the wealthy instead of focusing on the breadth of benefits which would derive to every Tulsa County and City citizen.

Compared to Oklahoma City, the "Vote NO" campaign was much more vigorous in Tulsa than we're experiencing here.




As reported 10/9/2007 in the Tulsa World,

Tulsa County voters on Tuesday rejected a seven-year, 0.4 percent sales-tax increase to fund development along the Arkansas River.

With all but one precinct counted late Tuesday, more than 52 percent of the votes were against the $282 million proposal, according to numbers from the Tulsa County Election Board.

The tax increase would have paid for infrastructure projects such as low-water dams, land acquisition and a connector system between the river and downtown.

Tuesday's vote was also a rejection of $117 million in private-sector funds that had been pledged for river enhancements and gathering spots.

By about 2% of the voters, Tulsa did keep its "Vote No" history intact, sad to say.

Since 1993, Oklahoma City has had a less myopic and different history and we in the State's Capitol City have aspired to greatness from some of our days that weren't so great. It's a history that became possible by saying, "YES!" By saying "Yes" in the past, we (that's you and me, all Oklahoma Citians) got ...

• A DOWNTOWN PLAN ... MAPS ... which has served us well


• The Oklahoma River Project by reason of which Oklahoma City is fast becoming a center of United States attention for its national AND international rowing competition, not to mention the River Trails, water parades and other festive events for all Oklahoma Citians to enjoy, and with much more development to come down the line


• A magnificently beautiful new downtown learning center, named after its principal benefactor, the Ron Norick Downtown Library and Learning Center


• The Bricktown Canal which has spurred the development of Bricktown as the premier entertainment venue in the state


• The Bricktown Ballpark which helped a lot with that, too


• The present Ford Center by reason of which it became possible to attract major entertainment people, bands, etc., and other organizations to select Oklahoma City to visit, not to mention the 2-year extended stay of the New Orleans Hornets


• MAPS FOR KIDS which we enthusiastically supported after seeing the success of MAPS


• A $500 Million bond election to improve our city's streets, parks, and bridges


• Hundreds of millions, maybe billions, of private investment spurred by the success of a revitalized downtown


• A REVITALIZED CITY OF WHICH WE ARE ALL JUSTLY PROUD WHICH IS SEEN BY MANY OUTSIDE OUR HORIZONS AS THE MODEL OF WHAT A CITY CAN DO TO HELP ITSELF BECOME A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE, WORK, PLAY, AND VISIT

Might this virtually miraculous chain of civic progress be broken? Might we turn our backs on what we know from our post-1993 history and adopt the 2% "Vote No" majority perspective that our cousins did in Tulsa?

Yes, that could happen. Generally, on any tax proposal (even though the tax rate on this one will remain exactly the same as its been since 1993's initial MAPS vote), many will always predictably vote, "No." That's the nature of the beast.

More particularly, as to the Oklahoma City vote, Doug Dawg is aware of only three groups and/or individuals having made themselves known by internet or media attention concerning the March 4 vote ... David Glover, Steve Hunt, and a guy in San Francisco having no apparent connection to Oklahoma City ... see my earlier blog post about that.

Not their actual pictures and just said in jest ...
I've had a lot worse thrown my way and this pales by comparison


... at least one of them, David Glover, has been publicly vocal and is doing his best to garner media attention. While I regard him as a nice and good person, my view is that he uses a heck of a lot of false and misleading information in making his pitch ... see this post at OkcTalk.com where the speech he made to the City Council was closely analyzed by this writer, point by point, on February 23. As of March 1, David has yet to make a substantive reply there, even though he talks the talk about wanting "a debate."


If you want Oklahoma City to continue along the path begun with MAPS in 1993, then get to the polls on Tuesday and ...


CAN IT FAIL?  YES.
WILL IT FAIL?   NO WAY ...
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

With YOUR VOTE, OKC will continue along its path to greatness!

Links:
Chamber's Big League City MySpace Page
Chamber's Big League City web page

Related blog posts:

• Precinct Vote Tally
• We Are The Champions!
• Breaking Through
• march4vote.org
• Bricktown Bash
• Roy Williams at Cafe Do Brazil
• Ford Center Watch Party
• Tramel Gets It Right
• Unabashed Pro March 4 Vote Video
• Ford Center Initiative
• Hornets 2 Year Retrospective Flash Video
• Okc ... Yes or No, on getting an NBA team
• Okc in NBA ... Where Are We?

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... Click here to read the full article and any comments ...

Breaking Through

Click on any image for a larger view
This is a "starter post" ... text to come later ...

Click here to skip to a video showing the speech.


The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce held its "Breaking Through" luncheon in the Grand Ballroom of the Skirvin Hilton today, February 28. Featured speaker was Rick Horrow ... and Doug Dawg is your friendly correspondent!



On the landing outside the Grand Ballroom



Walking Around the Ballroom As People Started Coming In
That's Ted Streuli of the Journal Record and Julie Riggs
in the foreground setting up a live video feed to the Journal Record.



A streaming video of the entire affair is at the Journal Record website. You might read Mr. Streuli's comments first so that you can skip to the actual speech. The video is also embedded, below.



Sitting With Some Friends



The Skirvin Fed The Folks Very Very Well!



The Speaker Gets His Turn.
And, man, did he deliver a great great speech!













It was a fantastic event ... Doug Dawg is even more pumped now! I'll add more description later today.

Here's the Chamber's video. You can use the "slider" to get past the dead space while people were eating ... go to about 45%-48% of the way through the whole video and you'll find the speech.


Links:
Chamber's Big League City MySpace Page
Chamber's Big League City web page

Related blog posts:

• Precinct Vote Tally
• We Are The Champions!
• Can It Fail?
• march4vote.org
• Bricktown Bash
• Roy Williams at Cafe Do Brazil
• Ford Center Watch Party
• Tramel Gets It Right
• Unabashed Pro March 4 Vote Video
• Ford Center Initiative
• Hornets 2 Year Retrospective Flash Video
• Okc ... Yes or No, on getting an NBA team
• Okc in NBA ... Where Are We?

Go To top
... Click here to read the full article and any comments ...