District 4 Dilemma

[Conan71]

  I went in the other day to one of the small Mexican run markets over by I44 and Peoria.  I was suprised that the prices were comparable to the Reasors by my house.  There are other areas of the city with comparable demographics to the north side, where there are other hispanic or asian grocery stores, some have big chains fairly nearby, some don't.

  What gets me is how if there is this food desert, isn't that opportunity?  And why on earth if there is this opportunity in your community would someone there not step in to take advantage of it vrs letting the cat out of the bag by complaining that someone else from outside hasn't come in and done it?   

+1

Just FYI, there's another Mexican market at 61st & Peoria in an old U-Totem space.  Very tidy and well-run.  They make great bolillos for making tortas or it will even work in a pinch as a stand in for Cuban bread on a Cubano sandwich.

[Gaspar]

What gets me is how if there is this food desert, isn't that opportunity?  And why on earth if there is this opportunity in your community would someone there not step in to take advantage of it vrs letting the cat out of the bag by complaining that someone else from outside hasn't come in and done it?   

+100

That would be the mentality right there.  A growing mass of people demanding THINGS from others, but unwilling to engage in those actions themselves.  This is decay!

It's the canker that forms in many urban areas as populations of people who have learned to be dependent find themselves unable to supply their dependencies, and unwilling to seize opportunities to fill the growing niches as business moves out. It also happens when people begin to repopulate new urban residential offerings.

It's cyclical  though, and eventually (as I think we are seeing in Tulsa now) an influx of energetic entrepreneurs will move back to those areas and growth will begin again.  Unfortunately, when that happens the same people that complain about driving 5 miles to go to Reasor's will complain about paying $1 extra for a loaf of bread at Cam's or Archer Market, so you have to consider that a large percentage of your demographic will still venture the extra 5 miles to Reasor's unless you are willing to compete on price, and that's a hard thing to do against high-volume operations.

[carltonplace]

I have to admit, I still don't know what to do tomorrow for D4. I've know the candidates, I respect them, I've listened to them speak in forums and neighborhood meetings. I want to vote for Blake, but I don't want to see Blake's energy and focus diminished by the day to day minutiae of responding to neighbor complaints, city budgets and never ending meetings. I guess I kind of want Blake to keep doing what he already does: grow downtown and promote Tulsa.

Help!

[AquaMan]

Me too Carlton. I like Blake and I like to see new blood, young blood, bringing their insights to the council. However, and its a big however, this guy Brune has done a really good job of presenting himself to the voters. From a guy I knew nothing about and often complained about that, he has sent mailers detailing his experience, his education and his demeanor to the public. Blake seems to be falling behind in how he is perceived. Indeed, his experience seems a bit narrow and focused on downtown, restaurants and entertainment. The district is larger than just that.

Hard to overlook a guy who served in Viet Nam, has two relevant degrees and years of public service. Toss up.

[Conan71]

Me too Carlton. I like Blake and I like to see new blood, young blood, bringing their insights to the council. However, and its a big however, this guy Brune has done a really good job of presenting himself to the voters. From a guy I knew nothing about and often complained about that, he has sent mailers detailing his experience, his education and his demeanor to the public. Blake seems to be falling behind in how he is perceived. Indeed, his experience seems a bit narrow and focused on downtown, restaurants and entertainment. The district is larger than just that.

Hard to overlook a guy who served in Viet Nam, has two relevant degrees and years of public service. Toss up.

The Brune campaign seems unaware of their new district boundaries.  I got a mailer from him last week.  Two degrees and a Viet Nam vet describes a lot of crappy politicians as well over the last 20 to 30 years.

All I gleaned from Brune's mailer is that he's run marathons and has been or is a cyclist as well.  I don't recognize him from either circle and not really sure how running a marathon is relevant to how he would represent his district in city business.  I don't get to vote in the D-4 race so I'm just sniping

[DTowner]

All I gleaned from Brune's mailer is that he's run marathons and has been or is a cyclist as well.  I don't recognize him from either circle and not really sure how running a marathon is relevant to how he would represent his district in city business.  I don't get to vote in the D-4 race so I'm just sniping

And he has kids and grandkids.  My God, how can you vote against kids and grandkids!

[Townsend]

And he has kids and grandkids.  My God, how can you vote against kids and grandkids!

Like the fellas at Penn State.  Do it for the children.

[AquaMan]

What I'm saying is the guy followed the rules most folks his age found to be good predictors of competency. College interrupted by draft to military service, law school, private practice, family guy, etc, etc. Even Blake touts his family with a mailer showing them.

I think they are both qualified, but its hard to overlook someone whose experience closely matches the job requirements. Blake should run for mayor under the new city charter proposed. He would be a great salesman for the city. Crunching numbers and mixing it up with city yahoos might not be his best use.

[rdj]

We are getting mailers from Brune and we live in D1!  If I was one of his donors I'd be none too happy about where my dollars were being spent.

Now, I am a donor to Blake for Tulsa so if I could vote in D4 I'd be checking the box for Mr. Ewing.

[AquaMan]

We are getting mailers from Brune and we live in D1!  If I was one of his donors I'd be none too happy about where my dollars were being spent.

Now, I am a donor to Blake for Tulsa so if I could vote in D4 I'd be checking the box for Mr. Ewing.

Postal districts are not laid out the same as council districts. Unless you pay for a mailing list or pay to edit the postal district addresses, you always get bleed over. I have received mailers for people outside of my district for years, republican and democrat. It is prudent use of donations because it can actually be cheaper to mail to every address in a cluster of zip codes than buy a targeted list.

[TheTed]

I do live in the district, and I got a different mailer from Brune each day for four days last week.

I too am torn on who to vote for, mainly for the reasons above. Blake can have more of a positive impact on my life by putting all his energy into doing what he's already doing: developing downtown. Anything he would accomplish on the council would pale.

[rdj]

I'm very interested to learn of people not voting for a candidate because they think they can impact the community as a private business person more than they can as a city councilor.

Sounds like a good argument for something I heard Blake say several months ago, city councilors should be community volunteers that spend less time on periphery issues and more time on making the city a great place to live, work and play rather than career compensated councilors that enjoy the power and publicity.

[carltonplace]

I do live in the district, and I got a different mailer from Brune each day for four days last week.

I too am torn on who to vote for, mainly for the reasons above. Blake can have more of a positive impact on my life by putting all his energy into doing what he's already doing: developing downtown. Anything he would accomplish on the council would pale.

If Blake is my councilor I can't see myself ever reaching out to him for help...I wouldn't want to add to his already full plate. I wouldn't mind calling Brune off of his bike or daily jog to check a zoning violation complaint though.

[RecycleMichael]

I don't have a dog in this hunt, but why would you be concerned about one candidate having an outside career and not the other?

Every private practice attorney I know works long hours too.

[Conan71]

I don't have a dog in this hunt, but why would you be concerned about one candidate having an outside career and not the other?

Every private practice attorney I know works long hours too.

I think it's the idea or image that Blake owns 7, 9 or how many businesses he owns.  It sounds like he's got a management structure in place much like Eliott Nelson does which helps make it all manageable, but this has been a concern of mine ever since he first announced.  I'm sure he will do a fine job, if elected, I've just hoped he's not biting off more than he can chew.  No pun intended.