Blake Ewing businesses failed to pay $80k in taxes.

[Hoss]

As CEO of a company, ultimately the responsibility falls on him to make sure the forms are filled out and taxes are paid.  His issue is only topical because he's a councilor and we do expect more out of our public officials.

I'd hate to think how many other businesses are that far in arrears to the OTC or behind on federal payroll taxes.

I'd expressed concern when he first ran for office he was spreading himself a bit thin.  Best wishes Blake on getting this all ironed out.

The Ron's Hamburgers a coworker of mine and I used to frequent for at least 8 years shut down out of the blue last year.  Would see one of the employees at Oiler games fairly frequently.  Knowing she was now out of a job, I asked what happened.

He quit paying state taxes.

That was my favorite Ron's too (21st/Garnett).  Sure the location wasn't ideal, but that place had better food than the others I've been to (The Farm, and now the one by my work).  Sad.

[heironymouspasparagus]

The Ron's Hamburgers a coworker of mine and I used to frequent for at least 8 years shut down out of the blue last year.  Would see one of the employees at Oiler games fairly frequently.  Knowing she was now out of a job, I asked what happened.

He quit paying state taxes.

That was my favorite Ron's too (21st/Garnett).  Sure the location wasn't ideal, but that place had better food than the others I've been to (The Farm, and now the one by my work).  Sad.

That is what happened to Little Lannie's Submarine shop.  Predecessor of Big Al's and Bill and Ruth's.

[davideinstein]

It's kind of crazy that half of the people in this thread seem to be giving him a pass. His business skips on taxes after being one of the front runners for a sales tax renewal and it's the employees?

Owners read P&L's and politicians that are owners for sure know taxes. I'm assuming too many people on here are worried about the politics involved to be critical. I challenge you to have a backbone and start questioning.

[Conan71]

It's kind of crazy that half of the people in this thread seem to be giving him a pass. His business skips on taxes after being one of the front runners for a sales tax renewal and it's the employees?

Owners read P&L's and politicians that are owners for sure know taxes. I'm assuming too many people on here are worried about the politics involved to be critical. I challenge you to have a backbone and start questioning.

I don't detect "half" the comments on here give him a pass.

He foobared up.  According to the Channel 6 news at 5, he's said he's responsible and he's working on correcting it.  What more do you want?  Do you think he should resign from office?

[dbacksfan 2.0]

It's kind of crazy that half of the people in this thread seem to be giving him a pass. His business skips on taxes after being one of the front runners for a sales tax renewal and it's the employees?

Owners read P&L's and politicians that are owners for sure know taxes. I'm assuming too many people on here are worried about the politics involved to be critical. I challenge you to have a backbone and start questioning.

He owned successful businesses with partners and decided to run for office. He was elected and public office ate into his time for the businesses. He turned the day to day operations over to people he believed he could trust, he took their word for how things were going, he got screwed by them, and is owning up to it and correcting the problem. He's not denying or trying to cover it up, he's doing the responsible thing when your name is on it.

[Hoss]

He owned successful businesses with partners and decided to run for office. He was elected and public office ate into his time for the businesses. He turned the day to day operations over to people he believed he could trust, he took their word for how things were going, he got screwed by them, and is owning up to it and correcting the problem. He's not denying or trying to cover it up, he's doing the responsible thing when your name is on it.

Agreed.  And my assessment still stands.  Too many irons in the fire.  He's a great guy.  Hopefully he gets it rectified.

[cannon_fodder]

Here are the facts directly from the Court filings:

OTC v. Legends
http://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=tulsa&cmid=2968690

Tax warrants issued 7/21/16 for non-payment of sales and mixed beverage taxes for the months of December, January, March and May. Claims appear to be just short of $40k.


OTC v. The Max
http://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=tulsa&cmid=2968694

Tax warrants issued 3/30/2016 for non-payment of sales and mixed beverage taxes in November and December. Claims appear to be just short of $18k.


OTC v. the Fur Shop
http://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=tulsa&cmid=2968698

Tax warrants issued 6/15/16 and 7/21/16 for non-payment of sales tax and mixed beverage taxes in December 2015 and May 2016. Another warrant is for failure to pay mixed beverage from May 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015. Claims appear to be ~16k (maybe? They give three numbers and I don't know if the new warrant supersedes or adds to the old warrants).

- - -

Correct my facts if I read them wrong, just quickly pulled them and posted so others can review.

[Breadburner]

It's embezzlement.....At the very least....

[AquaMan]

Embezzlement? That's a spin. Especially without direct knowledge.  I know two employees who worked for JoMomma's. They both spoke of the administrative confusion they faced but they didn't find it unusual having worked for other restaurants. One even received two W-2's from them. That indicated that they had some clerical problems.

Yes, it wasn't his money. He was just to pass it on to the state. Business is messy. He screwed up and is working to pay off the state.

[erfalf]

Trust me, people that run restaurants like these are generally really good at one thing, and it ain't runnin a business. This is not criminal.

There is a reason restaurants open and close at such a rapid pace.

[Ibanez]

It's embezzlement.....At the very least....

You really seem to be hoping for the worst about Blake.

As someone who has many family members in the restaurant business I can tell you that this sort of thing is not unusual. Especially when you are dealing with multiple locations and are large enough to have others running your day to day operations. One of my Aunt's went through this very thing with two of her places and a small hotel she owns last year. Mistakes happen, frequently.

[Oil Capital]

You really seem to be hoping for the worst about Blake.

As someone who has many family members in the restaurant business I can tell you that this sort of thing is not unusual. Especially when you are dealing with multiple locations and are large enough to have others running your day to day operations. One of my Aunt's went through this very thing with two of her places and a small hotel she owns last year. Mistakes happen, frequently.

Did your aunt's situation also get to the point of the OTC making court filings?

[Ibanez]

Did your aunt's situation also get to the point of the OTC making court filings?

I'll have to ask her. I know she had to get more involved in the day to day operations as a result. She is older and mostly retired and really wasn't doing much oversight prior to the issues coming up. Basically she was letting people that had worked for her for many years run things.

[heironymouspasparagus]

You really seem to be hoping for the worst about Blake.

It's Breadburner....you know what that means.

[DTowner]

In any given month, the OTC bill is the easiest bill not to pay.  If you don't pay the beer/food vendors one month, they stop delivering beer and food.  If you don't pay OTC one month, nothing happens - for a while.   Sounds a lot more like a cash flow issue than a clerical issue.