by THE WATCHMAN
In a continuous tale of trying to make improvements for those who live in Oklahoma City, another of the Maps proposal will be coming up shortly. Many have asked what all it about. We shall attempt to answer some questions about the proposal. The first article we located was this from the City of Oklahoma City. This is an informative article that is well worth the time to read. It may answer a lot of the questions you have.
The next article of interest we found was this this. This gives you information that wasn’t in the first article. Here is where you will find a lot of details, they won’t tell you anywhere else. There are several changes to how the voting for this have changed. The major change is the voting itself. Past MAPS elections have had each project voted on separately. The upcoming vote will be a single vote for all the projects. The suspected reason they did it this way was that by bundling the projects together they all stand a better chance at passing.
One particular part of the information provided to the public is a list of the proposed projects and the funds dedicated to each project. Below we have provided a list of those projects.
Project information
Parks ($140 million)
Youth Centers ($110 million)
Senior Wellness Centers ($30 million)
Mental Health and Addiction ($40 million)
Family Justice Center operated by Palomar ($38 Million)
Transit ($87 million)
Sidewalks, bike lanes, trails and streetlights ($115 Million
Homelessness ($50 million)
Chesapeake Energy Arena and related facilities ($115 million)
Animal Shelter ($38 million)
Fairgrounds Coliseum ($63 million)
Diversion Hub ($17 million)
Innovation District ($71 million)
Freedom Center and Clara Luper Civil Rights Center ($25 million)
Beautification ($30 million)
Multipurpose Stadium ($37 million)
Most of these are worthy projects. There are some that are not. Refurbishing the Chesapeake Energy Arena is one that is not worthy. It appears that every time you turn around the residents are being forced to pay for this corporate welfare project with their tax dollars. Opening in 2002 it underwent its first upgrade improvements began in 2007. March 4, 2008, the citizens of Oklahoma City passed a $121.6 million initiative designed to renovate and expand the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Additional upgrades were made beginning in 2011. That’s three times since it opened, and they are back asking the citizens for more.
The Family Justice Center run by Palomar. People want to know who they are. We were able to find information on them by going this site. Although for a good cause, this is your tax dollars paying to construct a building to be ran by a corporation. Do you really want to pay their way?
The mental health project is being short changed. With the current epidemic of drug addiction coupled with the fact that social justice warriors finally got their soft on crime bill passed, addiction and the mental health facility is needed. The recent release of individuals for being allegedly non-violent, some of whom have already been arrested again. Now more than ever that project should be larger.
Then there is the multi-purpose stadium. Do we really need such a facility? We don’t think so. You can find out more on this project
As you can see there are several controversial projects that were proposed. This is why they grouped them together for a single ballot vote. They feel that it will get approved based on the premise that the bad projects will get approved right along with the worthy projects. They are manipulating the votes of their citizens.
Another question is would this proposal raise my taxes. The answer is a simple No. It in effect extends the current tax rate until the projects are completed. here.
We then found this news report that indicates the City of Oklahoma City is deploying the neighborhood leaders in an all out effort to get the tax payers to foot the corporate welfare bill.
In total over 70%nof the funding is geared towards neighborhood or human needs, which will start to address issues like homelessness, mental health, criminal justice, sidewalks and transit. That gives close to 30% of the funding to corporate welfare.
The Oklahoma City Council did approve this plan even though there was some controversy over it. Former City Council member, Mr. Shadid, objected to the individual projects being lump into one group. You can see the objection being raised at the Oklahoma City Council meeting by going to this report here. We feel that he did raise some legitimate concerns to the Council, and they were not addressed by the Council. They can not argue that they were unaware that this may happen. At the meeting Mr. Shadid informed the Council and those present by saying “As [Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt] know, absent substantive changes in the ordinance, I will file an injunction in District Court to challenge the constitutionality of this ordinance and the actions of the Mayor and the Council, which I think in a very sad, cynical, dishonest way we are working to circumvent the single-subject rule of the Oklahoma Constitution, ”Shadid said.
True to his word, Mr. Shadid did in fact file his lawsuit against the city. you can see that report here. We once again feel that Mr. Shadid brought up some valid arguments.
The next article of interest we found was this. As expected, the Oklahoma City Council claimed they were not breaking the law. We find that difficult to believe coming from city officials who already break the law by being a sanctuary city.
Ultimately this case wound its way through the judicial system and found it making it to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. As you can tell by this report. The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected Mr. Shadid’s argument which allows the City to proceed with the currently scheduled vote.
The next article we found coming from the Journal Record. You’ll find that you can see here. There wasn’t much substance to the report other than saying that the question on the ballot was Constitutional.
We then found this article that covers the tax dollar breakdown. A complete list can be found here. We have also listed it above.
There was one company listed as being the operator of the Family Justice Facility. We thought you might like to know who’s benefiting from the project so we found the on them here. We have no doubt that they are specialized in the work they do, but we question the fact that tax dollars are being used to build them a new facility. No information was found about the bidding to run the facility was done in accordance with the law. We have sent a Freedom of information request o the City of Oklahoma City to obtain a copy of all the bids submitted but has of, yet we have not received a reply.
Our review has concluded that the ballot initiative as it stands puts the voter in a position of having to vote yes to ensure that the children and senior citizens get what they need while also having to approve a Soccer Stadium, which is not needed, at the same time. That of course is what the City Council wants to begin with. We urge the voters to vote no on this bill and force the city council to have a second election where each individual voter can cast a vote on particular subjects.
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