From Tulsa World (//%22http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070402_1_A8_spanc06760%22)
quote:
One year ago this week, Tulsa elected Kathy Taylor to be its new mayor.
The past 12 months have been tiring with all the late nights and early mornings, she said Sunday before speaking at a breakfast for Temple Israel's Brotherhood service group.
Taylor had already attended a few other weekend community events.
She said she expected the harried schedule since the day early last year when she suddenly changed her mind and decided to run for mayor.
She called her husband and cut a check for the cost to run.
The chaos started. First it was running for mayor. Now it's being the mayor.
"I'm not very balanced right now, and that would be the truth," Taylor said over a plate of eggs and half an "everything" bagel.
"I knew the first 12 to 18 months would be like this. In another six months, I hope to have a more balanced schedule."
Taylor's friends don't see her nearly as much. Her family has sacrificed time with her and also a certain amount of privacy.
Still, she said, the past year has brought together her husband, daughter, stepdaughter and grandchildren "in an amazing way."
Taylor then went to the lectern
to speak to about 75 people at the temple.
She outlined the three pillars of her leadership -- education, public safety, economic development -- and what she and her staff have done, and have yet to do, in each.
Education: Taylor lauded the watershed announcement of Tulsa Community College's Tulsa Achieves scholarship, which will pay up to 100 percent of tuition and mandatory fees for Tulsa County high school graduates.
But Oklahoma still has one of the highest dropout rates in the country and incarcerates women at a rate greater than other states, she noted.
Public safety: Taylor stood by her decision to look outside the department for a new Tulsa police chief, although that is being challenged by the three internal applicants.
Crime in Tulsa has dropped overall by 4.4 percent, but Taylor said it's skyrocketed within a few ZIP codes of the city.
Economic development: Taylor said development downtown and along the Arkansas River would struggle without an improved mass transit system.
She supports the proposed relocation of City Hall to One Technology Center downtown. Taylor said the move would save the city money in energy costs and also clear the current City Hall site for a convention hotel.
Asked about development along the Arkansas River, Taylor said her priority is water.
"If we're going to have a river, it has to have water in it," she said.
Beautification of the river and installation of trails is the next goal, along with finding mixed-use commercial development for the area, she said.
David Nierenberg, the vice president of the Brotherhood's board, said that although Taylor is not Jewish, she was invited to Temple Israel in the interest of interfaith community building.
quote:
Originally posted by MichaelC
From Tulsa World (//%22http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070402_1_A8_spanc06760%22)
quote:
One year ago this week, Tulsa elected Kathy Taylor to be its new mayor.
The past 12 months have been tiring with all the late nights and early mornings, she said Sunday before speaking at a breakfast for Temple Israel's Brotherhood service group.
Taylor had already attended a few other weekend community events.
She said she expected the harried schedule since the day early last year when she suddenly changed her mind and decided to run for mayor.
She called her husband and cut a check for the cost to run.
The chaos started. First it was running for mayor. Now it's being the mayor.
"I'm not very balanced right now, and that would be the truth," Taylor said over a plate of eggs and half an "everything" bagel.
"I knew the first 12 to 18 months would be like this. In another six months, I hope to have a more balanced schedule."
Taylor's friends don't see her nearly as much. Her family has sacrificed time with her and also a certain amount of privacy.
Still, she said, the past year has brought together her husband, daughter, stepdaughter and grandchildren "in an amazing way."
Taylor then went to the lectern
to speak to about 75 people at the temple.
She outlined the three pillars of her leadership -- education, public safety, economic development -- and what she and her staff have done, and have yet to do, in each.
Education: Taylor lauded the watershed announcement of Tulsa Community College's Tulsa Achieves scholarship, which will pay up to 100 percent of tuition and mandatory fees for Tulsa County high school graduates.
But Oklahoma still has one of the highest dropout rates in the country and incarcerates women at a rate greater than other states, she noted.
Public safety: Taylor stood by her decision to look outside the department for a new Tulsa police chief, although that is being challenged by the three internal applicants.
Crime in Tulsa has dropped overall by 4.4 percent, but Taylor said it's skyrocketed within a few ZIP codes of the city.
Economic development: Taylor said development downtown and along the Arkansas River would struggle without an improved mass transit system.
She supports the proposed relocation of City Hall to One Technology Center downtown. Taylor said the move would save the city money in energy costs and also clear the current City Hall site for a convention hotel.
Asked about development along the Arkansas River, Taylor said her priority is water.
"If we're going to have a river, it has to have water in it," she said.
Beautification of the river and installation of trails is the next goal, along with finding mixed-use commercial development for the area, she said.
David Nierenberg, the vice president of the Brotherhood's board, said that although Taylor is not Jewish, she was invited to Temple Israel in the interest of interfaith community building.
Balanced? Well that's JUST KRAZY!!!!!!
...said over a plate of eggs and half an "everything" bagel.
I am absolutely aghast! They didn't even tell us what she was wearing![:O] Amateurs.
"If we're going to have a river, it has to have water in it," she said.
'atta girl... take a stand! [8D]
/sarcasm
She outlined the three pillars of her leadership -- education, public safety, economic development -- and what she and her staff have done, and have yet to do, in each.
Education: Taylor lauded the watershed announcement of Tulsa Community College's Tulsa Achieves scholarship, which will pay up to 100 percent of tuition and mandatory fees for Tulsa County high school graduates.
She had nothing to do with this, but if she wants to take credit, go ahead Kathy.
But Oklahoma still has one of the highest dropout rates in the country and incarcerates women at a rate greater than other states, she noted.
Let's see, you are not the Gov. Talk about your own record.
Public safety: Taylor stood by her decision to look outside the department for a new Tulsa police chief, although that is being challenged by the three internal applicants.
Standing by her decision to defy the city charter, great work Kathy.
Crime in Tulsa has dropped overall by 4.4 percent, but Taylor said it's skyrocketed within a few ZIP codes of the city.
Again, tell us what you personally did to put that dent in crime?
Economic development: Taylor said development downtown and along the Arkansas River would struggle without an improved mass transit system.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. The average Tulsan refuses to use mass transit. How about getting Himilfarb out on the road to actively recruit quality employers.
She supports the proposed relocation of City Hall to One Technology Center downtown. Taylor said the move would save the city money in energy costs and also clear the current City Hall site for a convention hotel.
Blah, blah, blah, boondoggle
Asked about development along the Arkansas River, Taylor said her priority is water.
"If we're going to have a river, it has to have water in it," she said.
My God, she sure is a smart kookie
Beautification of the river and installation of trails is the next goal, along with finding mixed-use commercial development for the area, she said.
What are those pea gravel and asphalt thingies between the roadway and the river called?
David Nierenberg, the vice president of the Brotherhood's board, said that although Taylor is not Jewish, she was invited to Temple Israel in the interest of interfaith community building.
I hope she didn't ask for bacon or sausage
Yes, she might actually be as incompetent as Mayor Lessfortunate. Let's just hope next election someone presents themself as a far better candidate, not an acceptible alternative to the existing administration.
Conan...are you announcing your candidacy?
I think she's done OK.
At least she doesn't have that head-in-the-clouds obliviousness and if-I-ignore-it-maybe-it'll-go-away leadership of her predecessor.
As for the crime drop last year, she and the police did institute Operation Bullet Trap, which was effective. LaFortune sat around and did nothing last year when crime surged on his watch.
Tulsa's a strongly Republican town. But even it will jump the fence politically if the leadership is bad enough. The mayoral election was proof.
quote:
Originally posted by recyclemichael
Conan...are you announcing your candidacy?
No, I'd never pass muster with the Utica Square crowd. Besides I like to sleep at night.[;)]
quote:
Originally posted by rwarn17588
I think she's done OK.
At least she doesn't have that head-in-the-clouds obliviousness and if-I-ignore-it-maybe-it'll-go-away leadership of her predecessor.
As for the crime drop last year, she and the police did institute Operation Bullet Trap, which was effective. LaFortune sat around and did nothing last year when crime surged on his watch.
Tulsa's a strongly Republican town. But even it will jump the fence politically if the leadership is bad enough. The mayoral election was proof.
But you ARE basically saying she's done "OK" and not "great" or "good".
I think we went from a piss-poor mayor to a mediocre mayor. Tulsa deserves better than mediocre. I think they are both incompetent, and Ms. Taylor got to where she is via patronage. She talks a lot, but I have yet to see any real progress in her administration except in using my city water bill to raise revenue.
LaFortune showed signs of political retardation when he suspended the police chief just prior to the election. He's the perfect example of someone using their name to get to a position they are not at all suited for.
I think OK as "good," although the jury's still out. Remember how LaFortune did OK for two years, then his administration went straight off a cliff? I'll take OK, especially when it comes to government.
I think "great" is darned near impossible, short of drawing a dozen Fortune 500 companies to town.
So she wasn't a "great" candidate. You go with the cards you're dealt. I wasn't about to vote for a bum hand like LaFortune for another four years. There are a few suckers people on this board who ripped into LaFortune for nearly all of his tenure, then did an about-face and supported him when they realized that a Democrat (horrors!) was likely to be elected. That was clearly a case of partisanship trumping common sense.
You guys know that I have a propensity to defend the current Mayor.
But I have followed city politics since the 70s when my mother was the city hall reporter for the Tulsa World. I have learned to judge politicians not with what they do in their first year, but their second.
Get a budget passed from scratch through the city council and then stay within those parameters for the whole year proves leadership to me.
I thought Susan Savage was a very good mayor and did not have a problem voting for her, lots of Republicans did vote for her. I voted for her, I voted for David Boren, and I voted for several Democrats in state offices this last year including Brad Henry and Gerri Askins. I generally tend to vote the candidate and not the party. Party-line voting makes as much sense to me as single-issue voting.
I did not vote for Ms. Taylor, I thought she was too much of a carpet-bagger outsider. It was obvious to me with her deer-in-the-headlights look after being confronted with voting in two jurisdictions she'd been caught in a lie. She did not offer a firm denial until after one of her toadies had been able to verify no evidence still existed to prove it. Secondly, someone running for mayor of our city whilst claiming a homestead exemption in another city and state is a big no-no in my books.
I was willing to suffer four more years of Mayor Bill instead of handing the office to someone I didn't trust. It was frustrating there weren't more capable candidates in the running. Just like the DA's race, choose between Harris or Swab. I had to pick the lesser of two evils.
So far, I don't think Ms. Taylor has done anything substantive. I agree, RM, I do understand it takes more than a year to get through the transition and get all your agendas moving forward. We'll see in another year if she's really that great a leader.
12 month as mayor with 36 to go?
The mayor wants to find the best qualified police chief, in a costly search over the entire country.
Being we are in the specialist age where we seek the best qualified to run the city departments, relying on their education and experience as a necessity for employment, we seem to be coming up with amateurs filling our most important job of selecting personnel and operating the city.
Person that donate their time to performing a job has no obligation other than a status standing in playing the Tulsa Monopoly Board game that old Santa brought them for Christmas. In the morning paper is well illustrated that on the annexing question the mayor is going back three spaces and drop it if the county will agree relinquish some of their responsibility .
If we do not have three qualified personal with the years of experience needed to be Chief of Police, we should also look at the qualifications of the mayors office and the amateurs, without degrees in Administration or experience that sit on the council.
In this rapidly changing space age, in order to get educated persons with degrees in Administration we should consider raising the salary of full time councilors to $100,000 yearly but require they have proper credentials to perform the jobs in question. They also would need to replace the department heads thus combining several jobs into one. We should also include the office of mayor.
These changes would insure equal protection for all the classes of citizens we have in the city. On the bottom line it would save millions of the working poor tax monies.
We are in the high speed area of fast moving events being driven by seemly amateurs. Is it not time to enter the expressways?
I'll have to say anyone would be an improvement over Bill LaFortune, who I had great hopes for. Who I believe a lot of people had great hopes for. But he demonstrated to too many people he did not have what it took to run this city. He was far too hands off.
Mayor Taylor is a lot like Susan Savage. Very involved in a lot of projects. Although, the dog catcher could look good following LaFortune.
I have some serious concerns with Taylor. Her latest statement saying she is keeping the names of outside police chief candidates secret is disturbing. Does this mean she, and only she, will be conducting the entire hiring process? At least with past mayors, who made public the names of the candidates and there were community panels who assisted in the hiring process and made recommendations to past mayors. Why do I believe she already has someone picked, and had them picked prior to this process starting.
And I can't blame only Taylor for my last point. Many past mayors claimed poverty, right up to the point they found something they wanted to spend huge amounts of money on, then miraculously, found the money. Can you say 'a new city hall?'
quote:
Originally posted by Wilbur
I'll have to say anyone would be an improvement over Bill LaFortune, who I had great hopes for. Who I believe a lot of people had great hopes for. But he demonstrated to too many people he did not have what it took to run this city. He was far too hands off.
Mayor Taylor is a lot like Susan Savage. Very involved in a lot of projects. Although, the dog catcher could look good following LaFortune.
I have some serious concerns with Taylor. Her latest statement saying she is keeping the names of outside police chief candidates secret is disturbing. Does this mean she, and only she, will be conducting the entire hiring process? At least with past mayors, who made public the names of the candidates and there were community panels who assisted in the hiring process and made recommendations to past mayors. Why do I believe she already has someone picked, and had them picked prior to this process starting.
And I can't blame only Taylor for my last point. Many past mayors claimed poverty, right up to the point they found something they wanted to spend huge amounts of money on, then miraculously, found the money. Can you say 'a new city hall?'
Wilbur, what is the opinion amongst the rank and file officers at TPD over this?
"Outsider" to me means we have to pay someone more money to come to Tulsa in the first place. Someone who is not in tune with the culture of our police department.
Kathy's an outsider so I guess it's irrelevant to her that many Tulsans would be more comfortable having someone who made his bones on the local PD be promoted, rather than another of her cronies put in as chief. I think it stinks.
As an outsider myself and with a city and/or police department that seems to be having trouble with crime, I'm thinking that maybe new blood and fresh perspectives are needed.
Then again, I could be wrong.
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
quote:
Originally posted by Wilbur
I'll have to say anyone would be an improvement over Bill LaFortune, who I had great hopes for. Who I believe a lot of people had great hopes for. But he demonstrated to too many people he did not have what it took to run this city. He was far too hands off.
Mayor Taylor is a lot like Susan Savage. Very involved in a lot of projects. Although, the dog catcher could look good following LaFortune.
I have some serious concerns with Taylor. Her latest statement saying she is keeping the names of outside police chief candidates secret is disturbing. Does this mean she, and only she, will be conducting the entire hiring process? At least with past mayors, who made public the names of the candidates and there were community panels who assisted in the hiring process and made recommendations to past mayors. Why do I believe she already has someone picked, and had them picked prior to this process starting.
And I can't blame only Taylor for my last point. Many past mayors claimed poverty, right up to the point they found something they wanted to spend huge amounts of money on, then miraculously, found the money. Can you say 'a new city hall?'
Wilbur, what is the opinion amongst the rank and file officers at TPD over this?
"Outsider" to me means we have to pay someone more money to come to Tulsa in the first place. Someone who is not in tune with the culture of our police department.
Kathy's an outsider so I guess it's irrelevant to her that many Tulsans would be more comfortable having someone who made his bones on the local PD be promoted, rather than another of her cronies put in as chief. I think it stinks.
I'd say the rank and file are somewhat split. The union must represent their members (including the three internal candidates), so understand where their position is from. On the other hand, there are officers who want the best chief possible, whether that is an internal candidate or an external candidate.
For the most part, the police chief is a personnel manager. He/she develops policies, makes hiring/firing decisions and takes disciplinary action. Their affect on the average street cop is minimal since you can only handle domestics, robberies, collisions, ..... in only so many ways.
Saying a police chief must abide by certain established crime fighting techniques is a misnomer. Tulsa is a unique city, just like every other city is unique. Therefore, Tulsa must be policed in a way that will likely be different then some other city. Tulsa's police chief must police Tulsa in a way that is best for Tulsa, not necessarily in a way that is best for Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, ..... We don't need community based policing, we need Tulsa based policing.
Palmer succeeded here because he understood this philosophy and he stayed out of politics. He established ways for the police chief to disagree with the mayor and still have a good working relationship. This town does not want a police chief who is only going to say 'yes ma'am' every time the mayor speaks.
I'm concerned Taylor may be trying to bring in someone who is single issue based, which causes other areas of enforcement to suffer.
As far as an outsider being paid more simply because they are an outsider probably isn't correct. Police chief salaries/benefits are going to be regional based and in line with other similar cities. Been was making more then Palmer. I'm confident the next chief will make close to the same thing.
quote:
Economic development: Taylor said development downtown and along the Arkansas River would struggle without an improved mass transit system.
1000% Yes.
quote:
Excuses, excuses, excuses. The average Tulsan refuses to use mass transit.
You are living in the stone age if this is how you evaluate the success of a mass transit system, my friend.
quote:
Originally posted by pfox
quote:
Economic development: Taylor said development downtown and along the Arkansas River would struggle without an improved mass transit system.
1000% Yes.
quote:
Excuses, excuses, excuses. The average Tulsan refuses to use mass transit.
You are living in the stone age if this is how you evaluate the success of a mass transit system, my friend.
No, not living in the stone age. Mass transit isn't that attractive in the central U.S. where there is so much sprawl and we are used to the freedom of traveling on our own schedule.
People are used to the convenience of their own cars, and as well, the mass transit systems of the east coast had much of their infrastructure in place a long time ago at a much lower cost.
The fact is, MTTA is under-utilized. It has the image to most as being used only by those too poor or physically un-able to drive. Mass transit works amongst more varied levels of society in crowded urban areas due to traffic and limited parking space. Neither of which Tulsa suffers from based on the scale of larger urban areas.
I see and get the practicality and *ideal* of it. Yet in the same thought, I see more empty seats on more vehicles of mass transit due to the mind-set of the average Tulsan not being willing to go a day without their car.
Tulsa Transit runs, at best, a bare bones schedule and fleet. While I don't disagree with the basic premise that we in these "flyover" states do love our cars/trucks, the bottomline is that we have never placed an emphasis on Transit. TT maintains a minimum level of service on the meager budget they have. They don't run at night or on Sundays. The schedule is not convienient, like you said, for the avg traveler. You can't change a culture with those parameters.
That being said, even in the most used transit systems in the US, save NYC and MAYBE Boston, the ridership only represents a small portion of the everyday travelers. In Tulsa, you don't need most people to ride the bus/train/streetcar to have a significant impact on congestion, you just need some. What percentage? let's say 10% is an agressive number in Tulsa. And lets imagine 1000 riders at peak hours per day on a commuter rail line. The line would make two runs in the morning and two in the evening. If that route is, say, adjacent to the Broken Arrow expressway from BA to DT Tulsa, 1000 riders represents 20% of the total peak hour vehicles on that route. Would you consider a reduction of 20% of the vehicles at that time to be a measure of success?
quote:
Originally posted by pfox
Tulsa Transit runs, at best, a bare bones schedule and fleet. While I don't disagree with the basic premise that we in these "flyover" states do love our cars/trucks, the bottomline is that we have never placed an emphasis on Transit. TT maintains a minimum level of service on the meager budget they have. They don't run at night or on Sundays. The schedule is not convienient, like you said, for the avg traveler. You can't change a culture with those parameters.
That being said, even in the most used transit systems in the US, save NYC and MAYBE Boston, the ridership only represents a small portion of the everyday travelers. In Tulsa, you don't need most people to ride the bus/train/streetcar to have a significant impact on congestion, you just need some. What percentage? let's say 10% is an agressive number in Tulsa. And lets imagine 1000 riders at peak hours per day on a commuter rail line. The line would make two runs in the morning and two in the evening. If that route is, say, adjacent to the Broken Arrow expressway from BA to DT Tulsa, 1000 riders represents 20% of the total peak hour vehicles on that route. Would you consider a reduction of 20% of the vehicles at that time to be a measure of success?
You are preaching to the choir. If I didn't need to go various places during the day and I could stay at my office and had adequate choices for lunch within walking distance, I'd leave my truck at home and take public transit or car pool. That would be an ideal situation for me.
However, idealism and practicality seldom meet.
The economics of rail transit for 1000 riders isn't overly practical due to land acquisition/construction, operational, and maintenance costs. Adjacent to the BA would require the purchase of residential and commerical properties from roughly Sheridan to about Lewis which also results in high legal fees unless the railroad were willing to cede it's line through the middle of the BA through there.
It would either have to come with a very high fare, which is dis-incentive to ride or high subsidies via taxes from the other 750,000 or so in the area who won't use the system.
I'm not trying to crap on your ideas, just saying it's obviously never registered as a high or practical priority with our elected officials or voters over the years. Instead we want large stadiums with half-empty seats, improvements for outlying communities, and higher salaries for our at-will employees and city councilors.
Perhaps when gas is $10 per gallon some day and the purchase price and cost to insure a vehicle outstrips the income of the average worker, the demand for public transit will increase to a point it becomes practical.
For now, all Ms. Taylor is doing is making political noise.
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
quote:
Originally posted by pfox
Tulsa Transit runs, at best, a bare bones schedule and fleet. While I don't disagree with the basic premise that we in these "flyover" states do love our cars/trucks, the bottomline is that we have never placed an emphasis on Transit. TT maintains a minimum level of service on the meager budget they have. They don't run at night or on Sundays. The schedule is not convienient, like you said, for the avg traveler. You can't change a culture with those parameters.
That being said, even in the most used transit systems in the US, save NYC and MAYBE Boston, the ridership only represents a small portion of the everyday travelers. In Tulsa, you don't need most people to ride the bus/train/streetcar to have a significant impact on congestion, you just need some. What percentage? let's say 10% is an agressive number in Tulsa. And lets imagine 1000 riders at peak hours per day on a commuter rail line. The line would make two runs in the morning and two in the evening. If that route is, say, adjacent to the Broken Arrow expressway from BA to DT Tulsa, 1000 riders represents 20% of the total peak hour vehicles on that route. Would you consider a reduction of 20% of the vehicles at that time to be a measure of success?
You are preaching to the choir. If I didn't need to go various places during the day and I could stay at my office and had adequate choices for lunch within walking distance, I'd leave my truck at home and take public transit or car pool. That would be an ideal situation for me.
However, idealism and practicality seldom meet.
The economics of rail transit for 1000 riders isn't overly practical due to land acquisition/construction, operational, and maintenance costs. Adjacent to the BA would require the purchase of residential and commerical properties from roughly Sheridan to about Lewis which also results in high legal fees unless the railroad were willing to cede it's line through the middle of the BA through there.
It would either have to come with a very high fare, which is dis-incentive to ride or high subsidies via taxes from the other 750,000 or so in the area who won't use the system.
I'm not trying to crap on your ideas, just saying it's obviously never registered as a high or practical priority with our elected officials or voters over the years. Instead we want large stadiums with half-empty seats, improvements for outlying communities, and higher salaries for our at-will employees and city councilors.
Perhaps when gas is $10 per gallon some day and the purchase price and cost to insure a vehicle outstrips the income of the average worker, the demand for public transit will increase to a point it becomes practical.
For now, all Ms. Taylor is doing is making political noise.
Well, in this case, the right of way exists in its entirity, from DT BA to DT Tulsa. Most of the time, commuter rail, which runs on "heavy" rail gauges, exists in conjuction with freight traffic via a use agreement, which is feasible in this instance. The costs for implementing such a line have been estimated at around 39 million for upgrades, stations, crossings and vehicles. Theoretically, if Tulsa & suburbs could add a second line for a similar amount, they could potentialy qualify for New/Small Starts funding for the majority of the cost. At an 80/20 fed/local ratio that totals up to about 16-20 million in local funds. Considering the amount of money the public has authorized for said sports arenas, Boeing, Roadways, Fairgrounds improvements, I'd say that is a relative bargain.
I'm just sayin'
That's cool.
I know the Metra system (the parts I was on anyway) in Chicago runs on the same tracks as regular freight. Kind of wondered about that.
Pfox,
Thanks for the clarification. That lowers my estimate of acquisition and construction by a huge amount and certainly makes it look more feasible.
That's why I'm here. I'm not so entirely entrenched in my paradigms that I refuse to learn something new. [;)]
I still, though, don't see the correlation with a rail line from BA to DT bolstering Ms. Taylor's assertion that no river development will happen w/o mass transit. Maybe if I liked her better, I'd be willing to bite on that point.[}:)]
It sounds like one of the keys is to get a trainload of federal dollars. How do we do that?
Mass Transit Cities in the US:
NYC
Washington DC
Chicago
San Francisco
Boston
Philadelphia
LA
New Orleans is the smallest town on the list, and not a city I would like to emulate (pre or post Katrina).
Shows both trips and passenger miles.
http://www.apta.com/research/stats/ridership/uzapmiles.cfm.
ps. look at the passengers in the Texas city and compare with miles with other locations. wow.
Last I heard, Tulsa has the second-lowest commute times in the nation for a major metro area.
Until those commute times go up substantially, there's not much point in budgeting a lot of money for public transit.
While I like public transit because it conserves energy, I'm not going to deny reality, either.
The people assigned the mayor the obligation to provide a police department, as a duty in the charter. The Judge ruled that because the citizens did not understand that requirement he could see no irreversible harm as the charter had not been voted on. He said the group could come back if the proposition passed. He was able to get a promotion which increased his pension after he retired later.
Mass transportation by street cars was available in Tulsa in the past going in many directions on schedules.
The Sands Springs line was in operation for years between the two cities.
Your could catch a passenger train from DT to B.A. for .20 cents.
Your could catch the heavy rail from DT to Claremore for .20 cents.
Decentralization of the focal point of DT makes is no longer available to run a commuter where there is no point of destination.
If the arena is a success to bring the people back DT then it would only be profitable on the nights when a program that would attract the masses was available.
Rail mass transportation can only be used when the masses are available to be transported.
It would be interesting to see the design of where the terminal points would exist.
It would have the same effect as building a runway and catching an air plane to the suburbs.
Taylor's first year:
Positive -- Standing up to the TPD.
Negative -- Beginning the end of Civic Center.
quote:
Originally posted by teddy jack eddy
Mayor Taylor has singlehandedly saved Tulsa from ruination by the Republican "leadership".
God bless her.
Care to elaborate on precisely what she has done to educate the rest of us, or do you usually make generalized partisan comments with no basis in fact?
That may be true of the GOP itself, but I don't think that's true of LaFortune or necessarily of the GOP "leadership".
I really didn't have a problem with LaFortune. He may have been a negative for Tulsa, but if so, not by much. I've got him as neutral or slightly positive.
The real problem of the LaFortune term was the endfighting; with Medlock et al on the City Council getting all weird with it. The filth, misinformation, and outright lies that came out from the South Tulsa feifdoms (like the Guierwoods Fortress), championed by City Councilors and their blogger cohorts, certainly didn't help Tulsa. It was all way too nasty and way too unnecessary.
Apparently on the local level, Republicans either have a Democratic target, or they turn to cannibalism. They have a target now.
quote:
Originally posted by MichaelC
Apparently on the local level, Republicans either have a Democratic target, or they turn to cannibalism. They have a target now.
[}:)][}:)][}:)]
Best chuckle I've had so far today. Thank you.