Stan Geiger

Final Notes on the River Tax

I put up a little post this morning and failed to mention the river tax was defeated at the polls. Any local reader, of course, was already aware. But the Internet extends beyond the boundaries of Tulsa County. An ol' boy should keep that end mind when he writes. :-)

At any rate, the nays have it. In rough numbers, the vote was 67,000, 53 percent no, 60,000, 47 percent, yes.

I feel compelled to make a point concerning the above. In the grand scheme of things, this was a strong turnout---especially for a single-issue vote. Still, about 23 percent of the county's residents decided the issue. A little more than 10 percent of the population voted for the tax increase---and got fairly close to making it happen.

Needless to say, I find the flag waving and podium pounding
of politicians relative to democracy in America a bit disingenuous.

Having said that, I'm happy democracy worked well enough in this instance to defeat the tax. I would have liked to have seen the measure go down harder, so as to dampen any enthusiasm for bringing it back in a year or two, but I'll take the victory as it stands. And given the circumstances, I'd say it was a stronger victory than the numbers indicate.

The yes camp had to have spent over a million bucks on TV ads. The no camp ran none. The yes camp virtually owned the free airspace, too. No local station held any bilateral forums on the matter. For George Kaiser to show up in front of a camera was akin to a vampire walking in the noonday sun. Nonetheless, KOTV gave him an uncontested platform from which he preached his sermon. Hanson was allowed a solo as well. The list of public endorsers read like a who's who. And the big, daily newspaper gave itself in total to the pro-tax crowd.

In spite of all that, the measure failed. The mouse vanquished the elephant. Substance defeated style.

Mayor Kathy Taylor says she got the message, and will now focus on delivering basic city services to residents. That would be a refreshing change. The city is spending about $1,500 per citizen---$6,000 for a household of four---annually. Do you feel you are getting your money's worth?

Randi Miller, well, she'd better be working on a resume. She'll be out of a job soon.

I guess the final question has to do with that $117 million in private donations that was pledged by a syndicate of the wealthy. Are they going to take their ball and go home, or are they willing to step up and donate that money to the common good anyway?

I'm sure many a Tulsan would be delighted and appreciative if the syndicate donated that money to streets and bridges. Heck, even I would stand up and applaud that move. Such a thing might even force me to reevaluate my opinion of our local icons.

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