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Introduction
Tulsa’s best days are yet to come.
 by Wayne Greene
“We are poised on the cusp of greatness,” Mayor Bill LaFortune said as
the Mayor’s Vision Summit opened the morning of July 9, 2002.
A glance around the main hall of the Tulsa Convention Center that morning
could give LaFortune reason to believe that brave rhetoric.
From north and south, midtown and suburb, the community had gathered. From
Maple Ridge and Dawson, Brookside and Braden Park, Broken Arrow and Owasso,
Southern Hills and Osage Hills, Tulsans of all varieties massed in the largest
civic convocation in the city’s history. Though as diverse as the city, the
summit’s participants were unified in a common purpose: A bold new vision for
Tulsa — a vision of renewed momentum in Tulsa’s second century.
While still a candidate for office, LaFortune first described the idea of the
Vision Summit. “A regional vision is critical and will provide a united front
… a unified strategic plan for Tulsa and the entire region,” he told the
Tulsa World. The Vision Summit became a centerpiece of his campaign. He
promised, if elected, he would bring together such a meeting in his first 100
days in office. On March 12, LaFortune won the election with 62 percent of the
vote. On April 1 he was sworn into office. He renewed his promise for “a
shared regional vision and long-term phased-in plan to implement that vision.”
As promised, the summit convened on LaFortune’s 100th day in office.
In the planning stages, organizers had expected 200 people at the meeting. If
300 showed up, the summit would be a success, they figured. Word spread, and
excitement. More than 800 people registered in advance. More than 250 more
showed up on summit day. In all, more than 1,100 Tulsans decided it was worth a
day of their lives to spend time thinking about where the city has been and
where it is going, to seek.
“In coming together today, we have clearly shown that we share common
ground, that we here – we here today – believe that moving our city forward
with a shared vision is critical to a successful future,” LaFortune told them.
The summit had a two-pronged design: education and interaction. A series of
speakers – headlined by former Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut and futurist
Glen Heimstra – offered synopses of successful plans from other communities
and outlines for what the city can expect in the next 20 to 30 years. Other
presentations reviewed Tulsa’s history and resources available in the
community. Community elders – including former Mayors Rodger Randle and Bob
LaFortune, Tulsa attorney James Goodwin and longtime community volunteer Mollie
Williford – offered advice and counsel.
But the day was not a passive one of speeches. Karen Keith and Dr. Jim Rhea
led the audience in instantaneous responses to questions raised by the speakers
and, in the day’s climax, summit members clustered in small group discussions
to consider four questions:
What attributes and activities occurring in Tulsa should be preserved and
encouraged?
What new things are beginning in Tulsa that should be nurtured and developed
in the coming years?
What things are holding Tulsa back and should be changed?
What should be added to Tulsa in the future that would make it a more
successful city or a better place to live?
The answers to those questions will form the real vision of the vision
summit, the outline from which the future of Tulsa will be written. Even after
the summit formally ended, answers to the core questions of the meeting
continued flowing through the mail and the Internet. Many of the answers were
common, forming a consensus for change. Others were unique – singular burning
issues that could be the foundation of brilliant new civic development.
The day’s tone was one of optimism and urgency. With a southwestward glance
down the Turner Turnpike, more than one speaker pointed to the strides made in
recent years by Oklahoma City with a tinge of anxiety that Tulsa is somehow not
keeping up with the competition.
Twice before in recent years, Tulsans have considered, and rejected, City
Hall plans sold as the outlines for city renewal. The plans meant to unify the
city, but left it divided.
But Tulsa has had other models for growth through visionary work. At the turn
of the 20th Century, the city was poised for growth. All that stood between the
city and the ability to exploit the oil wealth to the west was the Arkansas
River. In 1904, a bridge was built, and the city grew and prospered. A decade
later, the city was burgeoning, but the lack of potable water kept it from
taking the next great leap forward. The costs and means of bringing water to
Tulsa divided the community for some time, but eventually the visionary notion
of bringing the clean water of Spavinaw Creek 65 miles was selected. The costs
were high. The challenges were great. But in 1924 clean Spavinaw water began
flowing through Tulsa pipes. Again, the city grew and prospered.
The product of the 2002 Vision Summit must be a new bridge, a new Spavinaw
spring, a unifying focus that years from now a new generation of Tulsans will
hail as a moment when Tulsans recognized their challenge and met it, LaFortune
said.
Mayor LaFortune had begun the conference by saying, “This is the first day
in the rest of our life, our collective life.”
In forging future days of that life, he challenged the 1,100 participants:
“It was written recently that the next plan for Tulsa’s future will need to
be so exciting, so fantastic, that Tulsans of all walks of life, from leadership
to everyday citizens, will have no trouble giving it a wholehearted thumbs up.
So, let’s get to work on creating that vision, and that exciting, fantastic
plan that makes that vision a reality for us, for our children, and for our
grandchildren.”
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