The Drama Continues...Tulsa Mayor Sued by Jenks

[Rowdy]

I'm thinking now it's every community for itself. Take up arms!  Git yer Torches and let's march!!!  

Jenks Takes Tulsa Mayor To Court Over Proposed Toll Bridge

Thursday October 11, 2007 4:03 pm  

Tulsa - The City of Jenks is filing a lawsuit against Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor and Public Works Director Charles Hardt over a proposed toll bridge that would run from 121st and South Yale in Tulsa to 131st and South Yale Place in Jenks. Jenks officials accuse Tulsa officials of stalling the project.

The lawsuit alleges Mayor Taylor has not signed an engineering services contract that the City of Jenks needs to move forward on the bridge project.

Jenks city leaders say the contract must be signed in order for engineers to do very important studies. Jenks City Attorney Stephen Oakley says the contract has been on Mayor Taylor's desk since the end of April. He says he didn't want to take it as far as a lawsuit, but he has no other choice.

Construction costs are continuing to go up, oil prices as they go up, that's a cost for asphalt, et cetera, so, it's costing the project quite a bit of money by all of these delay tactics."


Both parties will be in court on October 23rd, at which time the mayor must sign the contract or give a good reason that she's not signing the contract. We contacted the City of Tulsa. They say they will not comment at this time because the court has not yet handed them the lawsuit.

The bridge has not been given the official go ahead just yet. The supreme court still has to make the final decision. Jenks hopes to get that answer by January.

[TheArtist]

Did you read the comments after the article in the TW? People were ragging all over the mayor. Sounded to me like she is trying to do everything she can to get that bridge to be a revenue generating possibility for the city of Tulsa. Yet people were making it sound like she was the antichrist or something.

[sgrizzle]

Why would she sign it? I would've used it for toilet paper in a pinch by this point. It's like bringing a remodeling contractor in to look at your house because your neighbor wants you to. Neither one of you are going to pay for the remodeling, so why bring the guy in?

[waterboy]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

Why would she sign it? I would've used it for toilet paper in a pinch by this point. It's like bringing a remodeling contractor in to look at your house because your neighbor wants you to. Neither one of you are going to pay for the remodeling, so why bring the guy in?

Really. When the supreme court signs off on it, then she can consider signing. Not until.

[brunoflipper]

why would she sign it? so we can make it easier for people to get out of tulsa?

[cannon_fodder]

The problem is she is not saying "I wont sign it because its bad for Tulsa (or for the Rich people lobbying against this effort in South Tulsa)."  She's making up excuse after excuse and dragging her feet.  That's not only unfair to Jenks (not that I really care) but also a pretty cowardly method of leadership.

Mayor, if you think this is a bad idea stand up to it.  If not, let it go through.  If your not sure, say so.

[TheArtist]

Is there any way that she can get it to be a Tulsa built toll bridge so that Tulsa will be making money instead of that private company and Jenks? They are projecting the company will make over 600 mill during the life of the contract and Tulsa will be left spending a couple hundred mill widening the roads and intersections to the bridge.  I can imagine she is trying her darndest to figure out a way to make things work better for Tulsa with this bridge. Any ideas?

[tshane250]

I think she should sign it when Jenks agrees to pay for the widening of Yale from 91st Street to the river and only if Tulsa benefits from the tolls collected from the bridge.

[Kenosha]

Oooo-eeee! Tee-Shane!

Get down wit your bad self!


Sounds reasonable to me.

[Chicken Little]

No kiddin', Tshane.  Can you help me get a good deal on a car?

Does somebody have some more context?  Why would Vic think he had a deal?

quote:  Jenks Mayor Vic Vreeland said the city of Tulsa has had a copy of the engineering services contract since April 26.

"It normally takes a week, and it's been sitting
there ever since," he said. "She (Taylor) told me she wasn't going to sign it. We'll let a judge decide."

[Double A]

Finally, Kathy Taylor does something I support.

[T-Town Now]

Scr*w Jenks.

They are trying to force a bridge on Tulsa that isn't economically feasible at this time, which will incur road widening costs that haven't been budgeted for.

I'm sick of Jenks, Broken Arrow, and Owasso. They are just arm pit communities sucking the life out of Tulsa.

I'm glad Taylor has been dragging her feet, if that's what she's doing. That bridge would make much more sense over on Riverside.

Scr*w Jenks and its Mayor.

[Chicken Little]

I think the bridge would make more sense on Riverside, too.  

I'm enjoying the show.  What's funny is watching somebody try to strongarm the Mayor.  They'd better be careful or Don Himelfarb'll let loose a salvo on them in the Tulsa World.  I've seen this movie before...it's a good'n.

Why is it that Jenks feels it can force Taylor into signing this agreement?  Did she, or LaFortune, agree to do something?

[sgrizzle]

To me this sounds like Vic Vreeland is yelling "But mahhhhhhhhm! Kathy's not playin' fay-er!"

Vic Vreeland wants his cake and to eat yours too. Jenks needs a new mayor willing to spend the city's recent windfalls on better intersections, a main street without 90deg turns, and building his own low water dam. Instead he just sits on the money and whines about what other people are or aren't doing.

[T-Town Now]

When the new Cherokee Casino opens on Riverside, the traffic has got to increase big time. It would seem a new bridge crossing at South Riverside would be perfect to help move traffic in, out, and through the area. That location would connect people in South Tulsa to downtown, the west side, and I-44 much better than a bridge at Yale would.

Yale crawls around the 91st Street intersection, and 91st Street itself is pathetic during rush hour.

It's pretty obvious someone stands to profit at the expense of the citizens of the City of Tulsa.