CHAMBER PRESIDENT TO SPEAK IN MIDTOWN ON FORD CENTER VOTE
Looking for something to do Thursday evening? Urban Neighbors has the following to offer:
Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce President Roy Williams will speak this coming Thursday at an Urban Neighbors (U.N.) meeting in the revived Mid-Town district. Roy Williams will offer information and answer questions about the upcoming March 4th vote regarding improvements to the Ford Center. The Chamber’s campaign is known as the Big League City campaign (www.bigleaguecity.com). ”This is another great example of how Urban Neighbors is bridging the gap between downtown residents and the city of Oklahoma City” said Urban Neighbor’s President, Brett Price. “As an organization that represents residents of downtown Oklahoma City we feel it is our duty to inform not only our members but also any person that would like to voice their opinion” Price further commented.
Election Day regarding the Ford Center vote is March 4th and all registered voters living within Oklahoma City are eligible to vote. This proposition will not raise taxes. If approved, the temporary one-cent tax would begin when the Maps for Kids sales tax elapses on January 1, 2009. The tax would last 12 months, with an additional three months if the City acquires an NBA team. Over 15 months, it will raise approximately $120 million. All improvements will be owned by the City of Oklahoma City.
Timing for the election is driven by the Super Sonics’ application to relocate to Oklahoma City, which is scheduled to be considered by the NBA Board of Governors in April.
The next monthly social for Urban Neighbors will be Thursday, February 21, from 5-7 p.m. at Café Do Brasil. Representatives from the Midtown Association will be on hand to talk about developments in this emerging and exciting part of downtown.
You don’t have to be a member or downtown resident to attend; you just have to be enthusiastic about downtown. This is a great opportunity for downtown residents and friends of downtown to socialize, and for all to become engaged in the city’s forward motion. Free appetizers and a cash bar will be available. Café Do Brasil is located at 440 NW 11th St #100 in Oklahoma City.
Thank you for joining our conversation on OKC Central. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.
Dear Citizens of Oklahoma City,
I just wanted to pass on to you my thoughts regarding the proposed 1 cent sales tax extension that WE the voters of Oklahoma City will decide on this March 4th. First I would like to know why is it that Clay Bennett and the other owners of the Sonics feel they shouldn’t risk investing their own money for the needed upgrades to the Ford Center. Won’t the owners reap the most benefits from those upgrades. I know I personally won’t see a penny of the income generated from those upgrades so why should I pay for them? And if an NBA franchise really does have the economic impact claimed by Mayor Cornett and the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce than it looks to me to be a whole lot of return for not that much of an investment, relatively speaking of course. Also, if the taxpayers are to finance this new NBA practice facility, will it be available for use by anyone else (like the OU Sooners or for Big 12 or NCAA tournament teams) and if not then why should we pay for it? And lastly, how stupid does the Mayor think the people of Oklahoma City really are? In the last statement the Mayor makes in his commercial supporting the sales tax extension initiative he says “And the best part of it is it won’t raise taxes.” Really? Well according to my understanding if a 1 cent sales tax, when first passed, raises, let’s say just for the sake of argument, $200,000,000.00 over 2 years, and then you extend that by one year to raise another $100,000,000.00 then the taxpayers have paid $100,000,000.00 more than originally proposed – that sounds like a tax increase to me.
Honestly, this sounds to me to be another example of another greedy bunch of rich guys praying on the taxpayers to shoulder all the investment ( in other words to take all the risk) so the rich guys can pocket all the profits without having to invest their own money to do it. Well if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck than it’s probably a duck, wouldn’t you say? Sounds like corporate welfare to me. Instead of looking to the taxpayers shouldn’t they be looking for more investors, just like I had to for my business ventures?
Oh, and by the way, I thought Oklahoma City was already a world class city. I’ve only traveled halfway around the world but I’ve seen many cities and Oklahoma City is where I decided to settle down and raise my family. I love Oklahoma City just the way she is and we certainly don’t need a professional sports team to “elevate us” to “world class status”. If that’s what you define as being a major league city than I say “No Thanks Sonics!!!”.
Sincerely,
Christopher K. Gibson