Taylor giving up on the river?

[wenwilwa]

A KOTV news clip indicates that, now that the river tax vote has failed, Mayor Taylor will spend no more time on river development. Taylor says, "I think it's clear people do not think the river is a priority. It's time to move on. We've spent a lot of staff time on it. It's time to move on to other projects."

Is this really the message that Tulsans sent to our elected officials? My interpretation from all of the debate leading up to the election is that in fact Tulsans *do* want river development. Clearly the 48% who voted yes want river development, and nearly everyone I know who voted no said they were in favor of river development but wanted to find other funding sources for it.

Do city officials now have no obligation to entice private developers to our west bank? What about the dams? Are county officials now off the hook for those?

[Townsend]

They can choose to do as they wish.  

Will it get them back in office the next time around?  

That's up to us.

[RecycleMichael]

I think that she is just hydrophobic.

Water makes you stupid. Just look at surfers.

(Sorry waterboy).

[cks511]

Ah yes, kitty taylor truly a vendictive socialite that happened upon Tulsa government.

[Conan71]

Honestly, I gained an appreciation for the mayor yesterday I'd not previously had.  I was involved in part of a presentation to the park board, and I found her to be well-versed on what was on the agenda and saw thoughtfulness in her comments and actions.

I was also impressed with her comments last night at the yes campaign watch party after they conceded.

I think she is a person of great vision, some of it for personal gain, quite a bit is altruistic.  I don't think it's proper analysis of her comments to conclude she's giving up on the river.  I think she's just ready to tackle other pressing issues of city business.  For the time being the river IS a non-issue for the city until the plans are really finally ready for a vote.

[Cubs]

if she does give up on the river, i will like her more .... fix the streets, fix the crime, do the things that the government is supposed to do

[breitee]

Taylor is a moron. She will certainly be a one term mayor. We need a true visionary in office that will listen to the people of Tulsa.

[lsimmons]

She's so out of touch with why this failed.

Sounds to me like she's just pissed that she won't get to redecorate the River Parks just yet.

I'm really quite disgusted with the "yes" reaction to this defeat. Come on we need solutions not a lot of whining.

[Cubs]

Well if she had just made it a city tax and not a county tax, it probably would have passed.
She seems to forget that she is the mayor of Tulsa and not the mayor of Tulsa County. (LaFortune was the same)

ENOUGH REGIONALISM!

[pmcalk]

I certainly hope that the Mayor doesn't give up on the river.  After all, 48% of the people voted for this, despite numerous problems.  I wish someone would break down the numbers according to the City, but I would bet that, had only the city voted on this, it might have won.  Honestly, I heard soo many Tulsans say they were going to vote for this but that they had some serious problems with the plan--it was too rushed, too many missing details, county shouldn't control it, dont' like sales tax.  I heard many people say, "I'll hold my nose and vote for it."  If anything, the Mayor should be energized by the fact that many (if not most) of the citizens of Tulsa want river development so much so that they will vote for any type of plan, flaws and all.  

The thing that depresses me is that I bet a huge chunk of people out there still voted against it because they still thought it was the Channels.

[USRufnex]

^^^ ditto here.  And if it were a city vote, it would have narrowly won, 52% to 48%.

[RecycleMichael]

Tulsans voted yes 52 to 48.

I think your precinct passed it 302 to 82. Many of the near river precincts passes it by five and six to one margins.

These six voting places , Madeline Catholic Church, Arts and Humanities council, St Pauls, Methodist, All Souls Unitarian, Holy Trinity and the Tulsa Garden Center passed it by 3328 to 818 (a combined four to one).

[YoungTulsan]

Looks like the Broken Arrow postcard may have lost the election by itself

[waterboy]

quote:Originally posted by lsimmons

She's so out of touch with why this failed.

Sounds to me like she's just pissed that she won't get to redecorate the River Parks just yet.

I'm really quite disgusted with the "yes" reaction to this defeat. Come on we need solutions not a lot of whining.

Wait a minute. You guys Swiftboated the plan...and we have to come up with a replacement? To h*ll with that! Your turn smarty pants, and do it without a tax and by pleasing all the suburban whiners. Sheesh...

[Chicken Little]

quote:Originally posted by wenwilwa

A KOTV news clip indicates that, now that the river tax vote has failed, Mayor Taylor will spend no more time on river development. Taylor says, "I think it's clear people do not think the river is a priority. It's time to move on. We've spent a lot of staff time on it. It's time to move on to other projects."

Is this really the message that Tulsans sent to our elected officials? My interpretation from all of the debate leading up to the election is that in fact Tulsans *do* want river development. Clearly the 48% who voted yes want river development, and nearly everyone I know who voted no said they were in favor of river development but wanted to find other funding sources for it.

Do city officials now have no obligation to entice private developers to our west bank? What about the dams? Are county officials now off the hook for those?

I'm intrigued.  Please, tell us more about these "other sources".  What, exactly, is the city supposed to "entice" developers with?

The majority spoke; they said no to the river.  There is no money, and so, the Mayor is doing exactly the right thing.  She's moving on because you told her to move on. She's moving on because you left her nothing to work with.  She's moving on because you even turned down $117 million in private funding.

Go ask one of the no tax advocates if they still think we can do something on the river without raising taxes.  If they were honest, they'd say, "Lower your expectations...a LOT."  

You may be feeling a little buyer's remorse.  I suggest you savor it for a while.  Next time somebody tells you that you can get something for nothing, maybe you'll remember this.  There is no free lunch.