Click a control to stop/start the soundOn 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 ...
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. |  |
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.By about 2% of the voters, Tulsa did keep its "Vote No" history intact, sad to say.
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.
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
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.
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 ...
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?
Tuesday evening you'll discover something called the "silenced majority", Doug.
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