***I was slightly upset when I wrote this...just in case you cant tell by my tone***
I just finished listening to an interview on KRMG with Bill Christiansen. The councilor was answering questions from Joe Kelley regarding the new ball park funding debacle. Last year, the Council voted to approve a new assessment district inside the Inner Dispersal Loop (IDL), which would essentially tax downtown property owners in order to pay for the new ball park. The reasoning was, I guess, that the ball park will be an amazing addition to downtown which will magically transform it into a land of lollipop streetlights, gumdrop sidewalks, and perfectly smooth sugar paste streets, while at the same time, providing peace and joy to all Mankind; or at the very least make the value of downtown property go up and/or provide the owners with improved business traffic. The only problem with the assessment is that, in many cases, it is oppressive, draconian, and unfair. For example, Christiansen pointed out that the OSU medical center will have to pay “over $84,000 a year”.
Question? How will the medical center benefit from a new ball park? Will there be more emergencies from muggings and drunken fights at the new ball park? Ohh nuts, I forgot, Downtown is very safe, very safe. So no, that cannot be it? What about warehouses and business that don’t have foot traffic, as Joe Kelley pointed out? How is the assessment fair to them? Drats, no good answer for that either. Ohh, but people that are upset with the assessment or want to appeal their assessment amount will have recourse with the City, right? Well, no, not really, not unless they want to go to court. Well Bill this sounds like a really well thought out plan, I’m very impressed with the back peddling, and attempt to turn this political lemon into sweet sweet lemonade. However, I think your going to need some more sugar…this still tasting pretty sour. Or is it bitter?…kinda bitter/sourish.
Councilor Christiansen tried to explain why he voted for this assessment district despite the fact that it’s legality is questionable, despite the fact that in many cases this assessment is unfair and burdensome, and despite the fact that the details on the benefit were sketchy. Although maybe I’d sing a different tune if I’d been flown around by the Mayor in her private jet all over the country so I could be sold on the transformational power of a downtown ball park paid for by TAX PAYERS!** (see disclaimer below)
“This KRMG morning show interview brought is brought to you by the FAIL WHALE!” I could have sworn that is what Rick Couri said just before the interview. Yeah, that’s right the Fail Whale! Because that is what this ballpark funding situation is, a huge, juicy, fail whale sandwich. The whale’s backbone was removed, and it is served on lightly toasted ciabatta bread with your choice of mayo or incompetence sauce…TASTY!
The Tulsa City Council should have done their due diligence before voting on this ball park. Instead, they let the Mayor pressure them into voting for something that they obviously didn’t fully understand. To that end, any Republican Council member that voted for this mess, will have to explain to my satisfaction how they can justify their vote. I will want to know why they didn’t stand up to the Mayor and demand more time before voting. I will need to know why they did not dig deeper and flush out all of the details before the vote. Also, assuming that they are self respecting and presumably conservative republicans, I will need to now how they could have justified voting to build a ball park for private benefit, with public dollars. Bill, Are you running for Mayor or not? Because I’m going to demand these answers from you if you are.
** disclaimer ** I don't know if Christiansen flew in the Mayor's jet or not, but several councilors did. It is my contention that this was used as a opportunity to illegally lobby for their support of the ball park. You can add this to the list of things I'll want to know from any potential mayoral candidate.
***In the first version I implied that Martinson and Westcott voted for the assessment, I had gotten their votes for the stadium trust confused with the vote for the assessment...
Councilors John Eagleton, Bill Martinson and Rick Westcott voted against the assesment...
7 comments:
It would be humorous to find out if the Mayor is one of the many people who refuse to fuel up at Jones-Riverside due to the Christiansen monopoly and high fuel prices.
Your post (and most soundbite news stories) fails to address that the money paid into this new BID pays for more than just the ballpark. I think only around 60% is ballpark/ballpark related funds.
Ahh yes, area around the ball park that is controlled by the ballpark improvement trust...don't get me started Scott!
Wow Steve, I'm starting to detect some backbone in your comments. Now that Bates has been neutered it is good to see that someone else is willing to take on the oligarchy in good ole corrupt Tulsa.
Keep up the good work dude and throw a few rocks at that silly glass building downtown.
Swing and a miss. The rest of the money is being spent on street sweeping, trash pickup and maintenance around downtown properties. A service previously focused around the main mall.
Other things glanced over is the fact that $25M out of $60M is not 50%. Hopefully Christiansen doesn't do his own billing. So no, 50% is not public funds. Close, but if he glances over a $5M difference, he shouldn't be working on the city budget either.
Another thing glanced over is that these properties are ALREADY being assesed these fees, many at close to the same rate. This just sets a standard rate for everything inside the IDL because now everyone inside the IDL will be under maintenance from DTU (or whoever replaces them)
I'm glad "anonymous" is such a proponent of standing up for one's own views.
The previous assessment was very small before, and it provided real benefit.
For example, the county used to pay $14,811 a year. But under the new assessment they would have to pay $154,000
This assessment clearly has problems especially with who will be assessed, how they can protest, and what the money is going to.
I stand by my anger.
I don't disagree there are problems with the whole thing, but arguing the issue emphatically and factually should not be mutually exclusive. In both this discussion and the budget discussion on KRMG, Christiansen has shown a talent with numbers akin to GWB's talent with polysyllabic words.
Keep in mind the city is spending a decent figure on leasing parking spaces for city employees (including the councilors) partially because the funds to build a city garage by City Hall were diverted to build the stoplights in front of Christiansen's SuperTarget.
Ok, so maybe my post should have been less emotional, and more cerebral with an analysis of the numbers involved, but that isn't really my point. My point is 2 fold.
1. This assessment clearly had implications that the council did not understand, but they voted for it anyway because of pressure from the mayor...FAIL
2. Real conservatives don't vote on tax increase to fund private enterprise. The main purpose of the assessment despite all the other things it does, is to build a ball park downtown for the Drillers....FAIL
Don't come on the radio and try to polish a turd, now that your running for Mayor...it's insulting.
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