Oh My...Uh...Angelou? Who's Zooming Who?

Who do the Tulsa Stakeholders think they're fooling?

KOTV.com is reporting the very impressive impact that the Oklahoma State University system has on Oklahoma's economy.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Oklahoma State University has nearly $2 billion in economic impact on the state, a study released Friday says.

With 8,000 full-time employees, second in the state only to Wal-Mart if compared to private employers, and nearly $120 million generated in local and state tax revenue, the OSU system has an estimated annual impact of $1.89 billion on Oklahoma's economy.

It also accounts for more than 31,000 jobs and produces $13 in economic output for every dollar it gets from the state.

Fantastic news and "Go Pokes!"

HOWEVER!

As good as the news is for the administration of the Oklahoma A&M colleges, the numbers are far more interesting when compared with another recent story in the news. The following was reported in Friday's Tulsa World:

The proposed river development project The Channels would have a $35.3 billion long-term economic impact because it would draw in young professionals, increasing entrepreneurship and company relocations to the area, a national consulting firm says.

No specific figures or formulas were given during a Thursday news conference to explain how Angelou Economics came to its conclusion about the project's economic impact spanning a 20-year period.

The Channels' total economic impact is predicted at $38.5 billion. Of that amount, $3.2 billion would come from construction and operation of the islands over a total of 14 years beginning in 2007. An additional $35.3 billion would be generated up until 2027, the study indicates.

Do those numbers seem familiar? No? Well let's do some very easy analysis.

The entire impact of all of the universities, branch campuses, extension offices et. al., of Oklahoma State University has an annual impact on OKLAHOMA'S economy of $1.9 billion each and every year. If the figures remain constant over the next twenty years, OSU's economic impact statewide could be determined by a very easy formula [1,900,000,000 X 20 = 38,000,000,000].

$38 Billion? Isn't that the same number Angelou Economics said the fanciful The Channels would add to the Tulsa economy? Over how long a period of time? Oh...also twenty years?

Wow! The Channels, if built, will have an equivalent economic impact on TULSA's economy that a comprehensive land-grant university and all of its off-shoots have on OKLAHOMA's economy.

Well we've just got to build those islands!

This comparison alone would be interesting enough, if it weren't for one other delicious fact. The overly optimistic study done for Tulsa Stakeholders, Inc. was done by Angelou Economics out of Austin, TX. So who did the economic study for OSU?

By golly...it was Angelou Economics out of Austin, TX! KOTV further reported:

The study was presented Friday in Tulsa during a meeting of the Board of Regents for Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges. OSU paid $23,500 for the study.
It was conducted by Austin, Texas-based Angelou Economics, an economic development consulting firm with clients in Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida, among others.

OSU paid just over 23-grand for a study that seems on the surface to be accurate. How much did the Stakeholders pay the same guys for an estimate that seems wildly over the top?

Remember, it was just two weeks ago that I was on the Michael Delgiorno show on KFAQ-AM asking the Stakeholders why we hadn't been given an economic impact study. How could they expect us to support the use of $600 Million in tax-payer money without such a study?

Two weeks later? Lo and behold! Behold but don't ask us quesions on camera. Don't ask us specifics about how the number was arrived at. And for Gosh sakes, don't notice the similarities in the numbers between this study and another that Angelou did for OSU!

For those that still love the numbers, Angelou's impact study for The Channels [if it is to be believed...which is a stretch!], would mean that each and every man, woman and child in Tulsa County would see $5,000 of economic impact, EACH YEAR, for the next twenty years!

Think about it. There are just under 400,000 people in Tulsa County. For simplicities sake, round the number to 380,000. Use the basic formula [$38 billion / 20 years = $1.9 billion].

That means $1.9 billion per year in economic impact to Tulsa County. To get the per capita impact [per capita = "every man, woman and child"], divide $1.9 billion by Tulsa County's 380,000 inhabitants. [1.9 billion / 380,000 = 5,000].

So for a mere investment of $200 to $500 per year in sales tax impact to your household, a family of four [if you believe Angelou Economics] could net out $20,000 in economic impact!

WOW! How can you vote "no?"

The real question is, given the obviously fabricated economic impact study that has been laid before the citizens of Tulsa County, how could you ever trust these people enough to vote "yes?"

You Might Be a Mid-Town Elitist If...

As I wrote the previous blog entry, I kept thinking how helpful it might be for all those Mid-Towners who think they're not elitists to have some help from the rest of us in identifying their tendencies. So, marshalling a helpful spirit...and with apologies to Jeff Foxworthy...I offer the following 20 indicators that you might be a Tulsa Mid-Town Elitist:

1. You think Edison is a suburban High School.
2. Instead of a cracked foundation, you have a charitable foundation.
3. You have an 18th Century Louis XIV settee and a 10 year old, stainless steel Sub-Zero on the front acreage.
4. If instead of a discount retail chain, you think Big Lots are what you build your mansions on.
5. If you call your closest circle of friends, “My Brunch Bunch.”
6. If you only venture south of I-44 to attend a Southern Hills board meeting.
7. If the closet your cousin came out of couldn’t hold all of your fur coats.
8. If you never go to Woodland Hills Mall, because you fear gang activity.
9. If your Shih Tzu has a Louis Vitton doggie bag.
10. If you think Darla Hall is a dormitory or a private school.
11. If you know why wearing white isn’t an option at Miss Jackson’s wedding.
12. If you think making a Major League roster pales in comparison to making the Junior League roster.
13. If you call the local Arch-Bishop “Poppie” and he calls you “Skeeter.”
14. If your last name is a first name and your first name is hyphenated.
15. If you think the new network series “The Nine” is about last year’s “bickering” City Council.
16. If your favorite ball cap is from Queenie’s.
17. If your wife’s pet name is Betty, but her REAL name is Muffin.
18. If you don’t watch NASCAR because there are no “Beemers.”
19. If you’re in the Tulsa Hall of Fame but most Tulsans don’t know who you are.
20. If you think the people in Tulsa People are the only people in Tulsa, you might be a Mid-Town Elitist.

Feel free to add your own.

Mid-Town + Elitist = Mid-Town Elitist

Despite the fact that the proponents of the far-fetched project, "The Channels," are asking the taxpayers of Tulsa County to pony up over $600 Million, word has gotten back to me that John-Kelly Warren, the titular leader of these new "visionistas," is stinging over the criticism they have received from skeptics such as myself.

Note to Mr. Warren: Politics ain’t beanbag and you’ve drifted, however good-intentioned, into the political realm.

Despite this obvious fact, I have been shocked at how civil the discourse has been to this point. So far, things have gone along so civilly that the only conclusion I can draw is that nobody thinks The Channels has a chance of ever being approved, so no one has been willing to expend the effort to spew any vitriol.

The accusation that I’ve heard which most upsets J-K is that he and his friends are “Mid-Town Elitists.” Given the thousands of wannabees that flood Queenies and Suede in order to be thought of as potential Mid-Town Elitists, I’m shocked J-K and Co. aren’t comfortable with the moniker. For my part, I’ll gladly accept the title “Nay-saying South Tulsa Populist.”

Why? Because it’s synonymous with “South Tulsa Conservative,” which is what I am.

For the record, anyone that heads a multi-million dollar charitable foundation founded by his oil tycoon grandfather is going to have a hard time positioning himself as a “regular guy.” Regular guy foundations are “cracked and sagging,” not charitable.

So having established that Mr. Warren is among the elite, that then leaves the second modifier in the pejorative term that has given him so much reflux; “Mid-Town.”

Well, some of us got to wonderin’. Just what part of Tulsa have the Tulsa Stakeholders put up stakes? Are they as diverse in geographic residency as their opposition? Well, I did a little research and the answer is “no.”

Fact: All of the Tulsa Stakeholders live in an area that should be defined by even the most elite-minded as “mid-town.”

Fact: The farthest any Tulsa Stakeholder (Tom Cooper) lives from the proposed location of The Channels, is 2.8 miles. To give you some contrast, I personally live more than ten miles away. In fact, Cooper must be considered the “South Tulsan” of the group, as he lives all the way down there on 37th Street. Hang in there Tom, I’m sure you’ll get to move north into a tonier neighborhood soon.

Fact: The closest a Tulsa Stakeholder (“Rusty” Patton) lives to the proposed site of The Channels is less than two city blocks.

The map I’ve provided shows you the exact locations of the residencies of the five known Stakeholders [Warren, Cooper, Patton, Lambert and Salisbury]. The Stakeholder homes are notated with green arrows. For grins, I’ve thrown in two bonus locations, which are notated with red arrows. These are the homes of the two Robert Lortons [Jr. and III], publishers of the city’s daily “The Channels marketing brochure,” better knows as the Tulsa World.

It should come as no surprise that J-K, Robert III [the current publisher], Robert, Jr. [the former publisher] and Salisbury [the husband of Robert III's sister and Robert, Jr.'s daughter] all live within blocks of each other.

Heck, I wish my immediate family lived so tightly packed. It would make the commute on Thanksgiving delightfully brief.

Of additional interest is the fact that of the five central players, four of them [all but Patton] were born within two years of each other [1962-1964]. I would love to know, but haven’t been able to find out as of yet, whether or not they all went to the same high school. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did, given that The Channels has possessed the eerie sense of being a wealthy kid’s class project.

The plain fact of the matter is, that the five central players in this very expensive proposal come from a very different place than the bulk of us who are being asked to foot the bill. Their Tulsa is different from the Tulsa--or more accurately, Tulsas--that most of us know. As such, they’ll see both the problems facing our city’s future, as well as the solutions to address those problems, very differently from the rest of us.

So far, everyone has remained reserved and respectful, leaving their criticisms in the realm of good-natured humor. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Primarily because, that would mean very few are taking this thing very seriously.

Back From Hiatus

Yeah...yeah...I know. I haven't been blogging of late.

Well, I've been busy. No...really...I've been busy.

Anyway, I'm back and digging. Stay tuned.

No Dinner, "Just Deserts" for Albert Haynesworth

For the record, I'm neither a Dallas Cowboy or Tennessee Titan fan. I was watching the game, more to see how well Vince Young did in his first professional start at quarterback for Tennessee.

That being said, I haven't been so insensed by a sporting event since the Russians stole the Olympic Gold Medal in basketball from the United States and Henry Iba back in 1972. Seeing Titan defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth pull off the helmet of Cowboy center Andre Gurode and then not once, but twice, stomp on Gurode's exposed head while wearing 3/4" cleats, wasn't "unsportsmanlike conduct." It was a criminal battery that should garner the immediate attention of the Nashville District Attorney.

However, no elected official will ever bring criminal charges against a hometown player who also played his college ball at the most popular university in the state: in Haynesworth's case the University of Tennessee.

Given that we are unlikely to see prosecution, what then should be done to Mr. Haynesworth?

One pimpish football writer suggested that the league should fine Albert all of $25,000, but NOT suspend him for any more games! Amazing. The message boards are calling for this guys head, including some Titan fans who think it's the only way to clear the team's good name.

Here's my read on the breakdown:

Dallas Fans: Lifetime ban from the league and loss of one testicle.
Tennessee Fans: One game suspension and five forced trips to the Grand Ol' Opry.
Others: One year suspension and Anger Management classes with Dr. Phil.

But I have a far better solution.

The league should fine Haynesworth $100,000 and suspend him for one game.

THEN...Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher should trade Haynesworth.

BUT...not just to any team.

TRADE ALBERT HAYNESWORTH TO THE DALLAS COWBOYS!

What should Tennessee get in return?

A Bill Parcells autographed photo of the Dallas Cowboy Chearleaders, dinner for two at the Plano Marriott and a free pass to the Dallas Museum.

Oh yeah...just one more thing. Video of Haynesworth's first practice session with the Cowboys [rated NC-17 for extreme violence and abusive language].

You reep what you sow.

A Modest, Half-Billion Dollar Proposal

John-Kelly Warren's dad stood up near the end of last week's pep rally to kick off the unvailing of "The Channels," and challenged the "nay-sayers" to hold back their "nays' unless they had a better idea.

Well, here's my proposal of a better idea. Please note, I doubt that I would support this proposal to the tune of $600 million of sales tax dollars, but hey...I think it's still "a better idea." I even have a conceptual!

Given that it is obvious that J-K and his buddies have reading a lot of Richard Florida's "Rise of the Creative Class," I've come to nickname "The Channels" as, "The Florida Keys." The underlying assumption of their endeavor is, that if you build the islands, the creative class will be lured to Tulsa to enjoy the "island life."

Rather than a climate controlled shopping area and a poodle park designed as a magnate for the trendy and chic, how about just building something that all real Oklahomans would flock to?

Let's build a big-honkin' football stadium!

Just think of it as Warren-Memorial Stadium, home of the "Route 66 Bowl."

Every year, during the "Route 66 Bowl" we could let the creative classes put on a half-time extravaganza, featuring Leon Russell and the GAP Band. We could award the Cyrus Avery Trophy to the winner of the game, which pits the second place team from the Sub Belt Conference against the eighth place team from the Big XII.

The creative classes could develop one heck of a parade that would run along the historic "Mother Road" [with a half-mile deviation to the trendier Cherry Street] that could feature marching bands and a Precision Briefcase Brigade of laid off mid-level managers.

Heck, if I keep ticking off the rich and powerful in this town, what a wonderful opportunity to bury me [ala Jimmy Hoffa] in one of the end zones!

On a more serious note, [more serious than being bumped off?] compare which of the two plans would have the greatest potential economic effects, if done right.

Warren-Memorial Stadium could host an annual, neutral site match up between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Arkansas Razorbacks at the same time as the Tulsa State Fair. Billed as the Illinois River Shootout, this could become one of the nation's burgeoning rivalries, which would draw tens of thousands to our fair city to swill beer on Cherry Street and to pack the Blue Dome District with chanting fans.

Each December, the Route 66 bowl could lure thousands to the area with a regional match up, just a few miles up the road from the Tulsa Hills Shopping Center. Perfect time to support your teams and shop at some "uniquely Tulsa" stores.

If the stadium can be designed with some flexibility that would allow for a wider soccer pitch, we could have a shot at landing an MLS soccer franchise. What's left of Westport, after it's been torn down for parking lots, could feature adjoining soccer fields.

If we wanted to pop for another $100 million or so to put on a retractable dome [like the brand new Cardinals Stadium in Arizona], who's to say we couldn't try to land a Canadian Football League franchise for our stadium? Hey, if Toronto can have a baseball team, we can have a football team that plays on a 110 yard field!

High school football state championships and rock festivals? Which will lure more dollars to the area?

There you have it Mr. Warren. My better idea.

Or better yet? How about 40 miles of brand spankin' new, four lane roads in our city? You know, a vision of going from worst to first in streets? That might work, too.

Yuh think?

The Channels: Video That Illuminates

Spend some time viewing the slickly developed animated video located at www.tulsachannels.com. You can learn a lot about the mindset of the promoters.

First you're challenged to "Imagine"...Tulsa. But in what is the first major gaffe of their promotional efforts, their bias pops out. You are then shown 15 seconds or more of images of Tulsa to help you "imagine Tulsa." What are the images of? Downtown Tulsa.

Then you're cued about a "Strong, Healthy Community," as you fly over a blurred out West Tulsa, looking off to the vista of, what else, downtown and the river. Magically, "The Channels" fades into the river.

I don't get the connection to strength and health, but hey, why challenge a well financed "feel good" marketing piece?

The next section is worth pressing the pause button a few times, as you see more details of "The Channels" morph into the picture. The first of three islands (let's call it the North Island) appears to have a marina and four high rise condos that seem to rival those seen along Chicago's Lake Shore Drive. If you're buying what Tulsa Stakeholders are selling, then grab a piece of paper and pencil and let's start some tick marks. The North Island yields four high rise buildings that are either Class A condominiums, Class A office complexes, or a combination of both. At the feet of the four high rises are what appear to be three to four-story condos or office buldings.

Press play again and let's move on.

The largest of the three islands is the Center Island, which is the more public and commercial of the three, from appearances. This is where we find the unique "canopy" that will lend some degree of "climate control" to the outdoor market. Despite being the largest of the three islands, this mock up only shows two high rise buildings. Tick mark...Tick mark. Now we're up to six high rise buildings out in the middle of the river. Hey...what's that white frothy stuff just to the east? Is that a big fountain? Do we get the big fountain for our $600 million in public funding?

Press play and let's look at the South Island.

Whoa! Goes by fast, but I counted 9, if not 10, high rise buildings. Tick...tick...tick. How many high rises does that make?

I count no fewer than 15 skycraping, rent generating monolyths of the future. That's a bunch. And we're not talking about some stubby little buildings, either. These babies appear to be between 15 and 30 stories high. Quite an assemblage of new skycrapers we're getting for our $600 million in public funding, huh?

The rest of the animation shows "quality of life" enhancements that we should all get to enjoy after we've sunk 15 years worth of tax money into their development. That is, if you can find parking...which I never see in the conceptuals. Brick pathways...wind mills generating clean, renewable energy to power our future...a wind surfer throwing caution to the wind and saying, "dirty brown salty water don't scare me, I'm a 'strong' and 'healthy' member of the 'community'"...vibrant shopping amidst flying Frisbees™ that would never dream of bonking an elderly, yet strong and healthy shopper in the head.

You don't even have to "Imagine," because their marketers are doing it for you.

All told, a minute-and-a-half of what a mere half-billion tax payer dollars, might get you.

Now let's go back to those tick marks we were keeping, because they should have you thinking seriously about what you're being sold.

Fifteen new Class A residential and/or office properties. Wow! How do you think Maurice Kanbar and Henry Kaufman are feeling now about the values of their multi-million dollar investments in downtown Tulsa's older office buildings? How about the myriad of other owners of downtown and other Class A properties that are looking at such a serious over-saturation in new properties?

Here's Test Number One regarding the bill of goods we're being offerred:

If the developers of The Channels truly believe their fancy conceptualizations are what you're really going to get when this project is completed, then anyone seeking funding for the "Vote No" campaign need look no further than the current owners of Tulsa's nicer office and condominium properties as a funding source.

Why? Because they're going to see their investments dwindle to next to nothing, coupled with the reality that Tom Baker of the Mayor's office still is pushing to have their buildings retro-fitted for sprinkler systems, which will cost them hundreds-of-thousands of dollars.

So what's the test?

If these investors remain silent, then you know that they've been assured that the high rises are just part of the "bread and circusses" that are being sold to the public to get the tax money approved. If these investors don't help fund an opposition effort, then that fancy animation is just "sizzle," and you're not going to get the "steak" you saw on the menu.

Come on folks. The reality of our real estate markets in this town is that we're over saturated in everything. The home builders have glutted the residential markets and are feeding off of the suburban flight movement that is just getting fired up [remember the Bixby Bridge, our other public/private offering?]. The reason you're not seeing cranes in the air atop new office buildings is there is no demand for new buildings.

Construction of fifteen or sixteen new towers will deflate the property values of existing Class A properties the same way every new housing project in the suburbs deflates the value of existing homes in the city.

I'm guessing though, Tulsa Stakeholders doesn't really think any of those fifteen structures will be built...at least not until the marketplace could support them, which is in ten to fifteen years at best.

So, what will your children get, while they're waiting for the new towers that your children's children are going to get? Vacant park land, that's what.

But vacant park land in a conceptual drawing doesn't elicit the requisite "Oh boy...gotta have that!" response that will get you to separate yourself from your tax dollars. Not like "pie in the skyscrapers" will.

Next time you see a "Stakeholder" ask 'em about the buildings.

Let the dialogue continue.

But "I Already Have a Park To Take My Dog To"

Want to change "The Channels?" Don't even think about it.

I've just returned from the grand unveiling of Tulsa's latest visionary solution to what ails us. I've come away with so many thoughts and observations, it's obvious I'm going to have to share them in multiple installments. However, one suspicion was overwhelmingly confirmed.

Your're going to hear a lot about the community "having a dialogue," but via the speaker Tom Cooper's slip of the tongue, it's obvious this train has left Dialogville and is heading full of steam, toward Rhetoric City.

What was his slip? Cooper, who is one of the six principles in Tulsa Stakeholders LLC, who has spared no expense to provide us with this great vision, while speaking about the multiple "dialogues" the group wants to have with various civic groups around the city, said they hope to visit with as many of us as possible to "educate" and "pursuade."

www.dictionary.com defines "dialogue" as follows:


1. conversation between two or more persons.
2. the conversation between characters in a novel, drama, etc.
3. an exchange of ideas or opinions on a particular issue, esp. a political or religious issue, with a view to reaching an amicable agreement or settlement.
4. a literary work in the form of a conversation: a dialogue of Plato. –verb (used without object)
5. to carry on a dialogue; converse.
6. to discuss areas of disagreement frankly in order to resolve them. –verb (used with object)

It was obvious to me that Mr. Cooper was far more interested in merely Definition 1, than he was in Definitions 3 or 6.

Those of you expecting a process by which to offer alternatives, or to suggest meaningful changes to the project will be politely pushed aside for "one-on-one" discussions "later." As Mr. Cooper said to one questioner from the audience, "I'm not going to get into a debate with you in front of everyone here."

Sure would be a shame to ruin a good pep rally with honest debate or real dialogue.

Before ending this entry and returning to the Doubletree to retrieve my digital camera I left under my chair, let me make a couple of more observations about the Question and Answer period that ended the presentation.

1. There were more negative questions than positive; two-to-one by my reckoning.

2. There were over thirty rows of chairs in the hall, but no positive questions were offered from any rows, except the front four, where the insiders sat.

3. The Q&A went SO poorly, in fact, that frantic supporters tried to get in "just one more question," so that Bill Warren, John-Kelly Warren's father, could stand up and give an impassioned speech about why this had to happen [More on this later I hope].

Finally, my favorite question out of all of them came from a young women who identified herself as Claire. She was twenty-something and shared that she was a lifelong Tulsan. Before asking a fairly fair question about why we weren't building on the assets we already have as a city, Claire retorted Mr. Cooper's argument that animal lovers should support the half-billion dollars of public investment in their "pet" project. Animal lovers? Why is that? Because animal lovers would have a great "pet park" to take their dogs to, Cooper explained. Claire opened her remarks by saying:

"I already have a park to take my dog to...Woodward Park."

Thanks Claire!

BatesLine: FAA letter regarding Jones Riverside Airport

Over on Batesline.com, Michael Bates has an entry on a recent letter sent by Ed Chambers, of the Federal Aviation Administration in Fort Worth, informing the Tulsa Airport Authority and Airport Director Jeff Mulder, that they are not treating fixed base operators at Jones/Riverside Airport equally.

I've been familiar for years with the development of this story, and know many of the players, at least by name. Even so, I found the story tough to follow, because it's a complex issue. However, I recommend that you take the time to wade through Bates' piece, because it's going to be a major issue in this town in the coming months.

One issue of note to add to what Michael Bates has written.

He tells of two hangars being built on potential sites for a future airport tower. Kent Faith of Roadhouse Aviation was required to have a memorandum attached to his lease stating that he would tear down his building, at his own expense, should the FAA choose that site for a new tower. The two new hangars don't have the same caveat.

Faith's restriction was argued for and secured by TAIT board member Ron Turner, who was selected for his position in 2002 by Mayor LaFortune at the urging of newly elected City Councilor Bill Christiansen. Bates reports that the two new hangars that don't include the restriction on their leases are for business owned by that same Bill Christiansen and another JRA tenant, Ray Booker.

Why would Airport Director Mulder not insist on Christiansen and Booker having the same restriction as Kent Faith? Perhaps it has to do with who hired him?

On April 2, 2005, the Tulsa World's D.R. Stewart wrote a story announcing the hiring of Jeff Mulder, who had previously been the airport director at Outagamie County Regional Airort in Appleton, Wisconsin. Needless to say, the Tulsa job was quite a step up for the relatively young Mr. Mulder.

So how was Mr. Mulder selected for this career advancing position? Then Mayor LaFortune hired him based on the recommendation of a five-person committee who selected Mulder from a list of three candidates.

And who was on that committee?

The selection committee was comprised of Gen. Stephen Cortright, federal security director in the Tulsa office of the Transportation Security Administration; Interim Aiport Director, City Clerk and City Finance Director, Mike Kier; LaFortune, Mayor of Tulsa; and get this, Gen. Ron Turner [Christiansen crony] and LINDA BOOKER, wife of RAY BOOKER.

In Stewart's story, he wrote the following about LaFortune's gratitude to the search committee:

"I am grateful for the time and effort each of the members of the committee gave to this important selection," LaFortune said. "Together they brought a vast amount of expertise and experience in commercial, military and general aviation to the process. The committee's work has been focused on the greater good for Tulsa."

Given that Turner [the former head of Tulsa's Air National Guard] and Cortright [the former Adjutant General of the Oklahoma National Guard] were already pretty tight, and that LaFortune had named both Turner and Kier to their posts at the airport, only Mrs. Booker lacked a direct relationship to the other four. So they apparently brought more to the table than just a "vast amount of expertise."

The committee's work may have focussed on "the greater good for Tulsa," but human nature being what it is, I'm sure there might have been some sidewards glances to some more personal and private agendas that the right hire might bring.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Mr. Mulder would, a year later, fail to hold Christiansen and Booker to the same draconian conditions as Gen. Turner had insisted be placed upon Kent Faith and Roadhouse Aviation.

After all, he owed them his job.

The Island of Lost Taxes

Since writing my entry on Sunday regarding the Tulsa World and Commissioner Randi Miller, I've been receiving some pretty interesting information from some very diverse, but reliable sources.

I've gotten word from more than one source inside City Hall that the central project that is to be sold to the public [very soon I might add] is a project that I supported before we added point-six percent in new taxes to build an arena in the wrong place and before we renewed the un-needed Four-To-Fix the County tax. What project?

Well I alluded to it in Sunday's entry. It's an island that will be built as a public/private partnership, right smack dab in the middle of Zink lake.

Even wilder is the claim that a new low-water damn would be built that would include hydro-electric turbines that would be used to power all electricity on the island.

"Sure...the taxes are high...and you don't really need an island at that price...but support it anyway, because it's earth friendly."

Only time will tell if my sources are blowing smoke up my skirt [I don't really wear a skirt, although I am Scottish-American].