One and one half million dollars is a lot of money, as is 555 million. The first is roughly what the city pays the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce to promote the city around the nation and attract jobs. The second is the city's total budget for fiscal 2010-11.
There is an old Frank Sinatra song recorded in 1959 called "High Hopes", about an ant trying to move a large rubber tree plant. Part of the refrain goes "He's got high hopes, He's got high hopes, He's got high apple pie in the sky hopes."
Just when you thought the Tulsa civic leadership could not descend any lower in to minutia, they prove me wrong. We now have a news item involving the Mayor's wife. It's over a $16 bill for business cards used by the Mayor's wife. The cards had the city logo on it as well as a city e-mail address. This $16's is about to negate the efforts represented by the much larger numbers above. Not by itself but as a part of the overall drama at city hall.
Counselor G.T. Bynum thinks the following list is notable:
Community Development Block Grant allocations
Election reform task force
Traffic signal synchronization task force
Disparity study task force
Creation of the Economic Stabilization Reserve Fund
ShopTulsa initiative
Ethics advisory committee review
Approval of PlaniTulsa Comprehensive Plan update
Sale of former City Hall
See August 20 edition of the Tulsa World
Let's see how these things are playing out.
Election reform?, in the works, not finished.
Traffic signalization?, taskforce just started.
Disparity study taskforce? Maybe not even empanelled yet but will just issue a report.
Economic Stabilization reserve fund. Maybe voted in to existence but how much money is in it?
ShopTulsa? That's a good move. Counselor Christianson is to be commended for this effort. It serves as a reminder to encourage people to keep their money in Tulsa.
Approve PlanItTulsa? That's the long term work of a lot of people. All the council did was vote.
Sale of former City Hall. Again, they analyzed and voted, that's all.
Accomplishments are finished, completed items
Ethics advisory committee review. The circle is completed. Key word here is review. This is an interesting item considering the current climate. The Mayor's wife made use of $16 worth of business cards paid for by city money. This resulted in an ethics complaint being anonymously filed. The anonymity aspect is not an issue. Whistle blowers have to be protected, even to the extent of anonymity. It's necessary to encourage an organization to self police.
"Mrs. Bartlett is not an employee or official of the city. Therefore, she is not entitled to be provided with business cards," states an Aug. 10 letter sent to Ethics Advisory Committee Chairman Michael Slankard. (Tulsa World article by P.J. Lassek dated August 21. The issue is one of magnitude. Large contracts tainted with preferential treatment of vendors? Sure. Business cards printed with ambiguous references costing $16? Not on your life.
The aforementioned spending for city government and economic development and jobs stunted by a tempest in a teapot of acrimony? Priceless and jobless.
