Removal of Dist 2 appointee Liz Wright from the TMAPC

[sroemerman]

D. Request for Public Hearing - (Board of County Commissioners) - to
Consider the Removal of Elizabeth Wright as the District 2 Appointee,
from the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, to be held
11/23/09 at 9:30 a.m.

http://www.tulsacounty.org/Agenda/2009/10292009-November2%2C2009BOCCAgenda.pdf

[RecycleMichael]

Anybody know more?

[sroemerman]

This is second hand information, but there is some kind of ethics complaint "because she was a neighborhood association president and yet voted on an issue involving her neighborhood. Or else it's because she appeared before the city council to speak in opposition to an issue when the TMAPC as a whole voted to recommend approval."

I guess KK wanted her to resign so she could appoint someone else.

Wright's term doesn't expire until 1/18/2011

[Conan71]

This is second hand information, but there is some kind of ethics complaint "because she was a neighborhood association president and yet voted on an issue involving her neighborhood. Or else it's because she appeared before the city council to speak in opposition to an issue when the TMAPC as a whole voted to recommend approval."

I guess KK wanted her to resign so she could appoint someone else.

Wright's term doesn't expire until 1/18/2011

I gather from a couple of friends who live in FloPa that she's not all that popular with members of the HOA there.

[MichaelBates]

Karen Keith has been lobbying Wright to resign, claiming that she wants to appoint someone for geographic balance. Wright has refused; her term expires in January 2011. Now, evidently, Keith is going to try to remove Wright for cause.

I have heard that developers don't like Wright because she asks questions they'd rather not answer.

Geographic balance is important, but I would hate to lose a planning commissioner who brings a neighborhood perspective to the table, understands zoning, and is able to stand up under pressure.

[sgrizzle]

I would say that is she's voting on things involving her own neighborhood which she is president of and also speaking to the council against something she supported, the motivations don't matter as much as the facts.

[sgrizzle]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20091101_16_A23_TheBoa71554

[Conan71]

I always love the whirled comments.  Most definitely has Tourette's:

 
"loo loo, (11/1/2009 10:35:15 PM)
Elizabeth Wright is the best thing to ever happen to the TMAPC. In fact, that mother &^$^&%#! Gail Carnes and the rest of his cronies that lick bumgarner's boot need to go. How can she be "power hungry" when she is constantly in the minority vote. TMAPC is a huge rubber stamping board for all developers good and crooked, although there is definitely more of the latter in this town." 

[Hoss]

I always love the whirled comments.  Most definitely has Tourette's:

 
"loo loo, (11/1/2009 10:35:15 PM)
Elizabeth Wright is the best thing to ever happen to the TMAPC. In fact, that mother &^$^&%#! Gail Carnes and the rest of his cronies that lick bumgarner's boot need to go. How can she be "power hungry" when she is constantly in the minority vote. TMAPC is a huge rubber stamping board for all developers good and crooked, although there is definitely more of the latter in this town." 

I saw that too, C....I was tempted to come back here and say something about tourette's or dementia.  You beat me to it!

If people thought some of us were mean on here, the TW comments section makes this place look like Romper Room...

[Townsend]

Romper Room...

and that magic mirror always creeped me out

[FOTD]

Aox can fix that....

[sgrizzle]

Any updates?

[PonderInc]

Not sure what's really going on, but here are my 2 cents...

I appreciate that Ms. Wright takes the time to drive around and talk to neighbors when a PUD or zoning change is coming up before the TMAPC.  She is often the lone voice that speaks out in support of neighborhood interests over development interests.  And I think she often raises valid, if not politically correct questions.

The trouble is that our current (outdated) comp plan and zoning code don't give her a leg to stand on.  She seems to be trying to do the right thing, but our comp plan and zoning ordinances don't allow for it.  Indeed, they essentially support lame/bad urban design that is--by definition--at odds with neighborhoods (especially older, more historic areas of town, where context matters).  And when she fights for better quality outcomes, she loses credibility, b/c she's not "playing by the rules."  So she's easily dismissed as the "nutty loose cannon."

The TMAPC (despite the "P" for "Planning" in the name) has little or nothing to do with planning.  They essentially are in the possition of rubber-stamping projects based on our out-dated, and out-moded zoning ordinances (that not longer serve the best interests of our city).  In the mean time, developers take advantage of our weak system by developing via PUD.  (Which allows them to get around even the most rudimentary zoning protections.)

PUDs were originally intended to allow for creative and desirable developments to take place, offering greater flexibility in exchange for greater quality and controls on design.  In Tulsa, b/c the TMAPC is weak and generally serves development interests, the second part of that equation is missing.  Developers get the "flexibility" but don't have to offer much of anything in exchange.  So you get generic, big box, "parking lot" developments that swallow up great swaths of historic/older neighborhoods.  (Hey, everyone wants to be Owasso, right?)

Here's something to consider: Next year, the TMAPC will be the recommending body that will approve the new comp plan and any changes to the zoning ordinances, before forwarding them to the City Council for final consideration/approval.

Who's going to be on the TMAPC at that time?  What interests will be served?  What's with the timing of the bru-ha-ha over Ms. Wright?  

The TMAPC has plenty of people who represent the development/real estate community.  It needs more people who represent neighborhoods and community interests.  Perhaps it needs an architect, or an urban planner, or a landscape architect, or a historic preservationist...or one of each.  Perhaps it shouldn't be possible to serve on the same board for over a decade....

I don't know what's going on, but I sort of doubt it's about needing a representative from west Tulsa.  (Though a bit of diversity would be good.  No offense to all the white guys in suits...)

[MichaelBates]

I applaud PonderInc's analysis, but she's wrong about one thing: The comp plan and zoning code do give Liz Wright a leg to stand on in insisting on better development practices. When someone comes to the TMAPC with a zoning change (and that includes PUDs), the TMAPC has the discretion to recommend against it or to recommend it with certain conditions. The applicant is asking for a change in the rules; the TMAPC and the City Council can say no. There were ample grounds under our existing zoning system for turning down Bomasada and turning down Bumgarner at 14th and Utica. But the TMAPC and the City Council and the Mayor (who has the power to veto zoning changes, just like she can veto any other ordinance) chose to approve all of them. The TMAPC can insist on something better in exchange for flexibility, if the commissioners are willing. Instead they either gladly go along with whatever the developer wants, or else they're intimidated by developer attorneys and INCOG staffers into believing that they have no option but to approve.

The problem comes down to people, the people appointed by the Mayor and the County Commissioners to sit on the TMAPC. If the TMAPC is filled with people who are beholden to the development industry and people who don't know enough or aren't strong enough to challenge bad development practices, that's the fault of the elected officials who appointed them. Kathy Taylor has had the chance to reappoint or replace every city appointee on the TMAPC. She has chosen to retain the current balance in favor of development interests. Karen Keith can't even wait a year until she gets the chance to put another developer ally on the TMAPC.

Someone like Liz Wright is viewed as a threat because a planning commissioner can participate in the discussion after the public comments have been heard and as such has the opportunity to rebut specious arguments from the developer's attorney, INCOG staff, or other commissioners. Potentially, someone like that can sway enough other commissioners to turn the vote or at least provide ammunition to stop the plan at the City Council. The ideal for the development lobby is to have a TMAPC made up mainly of people connected with the industry; any lay people on the TMAPC should be pliable, willing to go along with what the development folks say. Someone knowledgeable enough and articulate enough to argue persuasively against a developer's plan messes everything up.

We could have the world's best comprehensive plan and land use code, but with the wrong balance on the planning commission and City Council it wouldn't matter. We need more people like Liz Wright on both.

[janiedoll]

Very well put and my only wish is for more citizens to take notice of what is happening.  I truly wonder if the members of the Tulsa Board of County Commissioners have the courage to question the grounds for the removal of Liz from the TMAPC.  I am curious as to how many, if any other TAMPC members have been removed before their term was up?