“Who Will Be the Adult in the Room?”
OK, so the suggestion by Sen. Greg Treat that the city somehow be made responsible for finishing the American Indian Cultural Center is not going over well with OKC Central readers. This does not surprise me. But here’s the rub; more than $60 million in taxpayer money (both state and city) has already been spent on construction. I don’t think that it’s difficult to see that at some point along the way with this project, it suffered from inadequate oversight, inappropriate scope and bad planning (if it didn’t, wouldn’t it have been fully built and paid for by now?). So that said, with state and city money at risk here, let’s revisit the question asked by Scott Mitchell: who will be the adult in the room? Is it responsible to simply yell out “heck no, let it rot!” Is it the adult thing to say “these people have screwed this up, let them fix it” if it turns out the “these people” happen to be a state legislature and city council WE elected, and yet they didn’t bother to delve into the details of this project until it was going over a cliff? What if “these people” happen to be us?
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Comments
i think it’s important to distinguish between whether the cultural center is a good idea and how to finance it. the cultural center is a fantastic idea, but it has suffered greatly from a lack of articulable leadership explaining WHY it’s a great idea, WHO will benefit from it, and WHAT we should expect from it.
most people have no idea that “indians” are not monolithic. tourists from around THE WORLD want to come and “see indians”, then LEAVE. presently, that is not possible. a cultural center that explains the differences between the tribes (even within them), and shows what life and culture is like for indians in a compact, convenient, discrete exhibit will have a significant impact on the state of oklahoma, not just okc (especially since they can also see the “cowboy hall” just down the road). this was first suggested in my hearing in 1988. however, nobody has ever done an adequate sales job of explaining why this project is necessary, or even a good idea. no other state is more closely identified as being the home of “indians” than oklahoma. most people don’t think about it this way, but the existence of native american tribal culture is more widely known around the planet than the NBA, much less the thunder. however, we have strangely enough completely failed at telling the world this part of our story, and instead have dwelled on overcoming the dustbowl through o.u. football and joining the big leagues. we have a story that people actually want to hear.
on the other hand, trying to piggyback this project (which began at the state capitol) onto okc “because they have maps money” and because the legislature hates taxes, debt, and bonds so much that they have had to erect safety scaffolding around the state capitol is a completely different matter. okc didn’t propose a maps election to complete an unfinished state project. i find the attitude that we should let it rot to be the same thinking that is content to let the limestone fall off the state capitol.
have you ever noticed that most people who have little to no debt are the ones who are so poor that no one will extend them credit? on the other hand, how many homes in gaillardia do you suppose were built without any mortgage at all? who do you suppose is better off and has more enjoyment out of life?
Personal accountability aside, the cliff we are on needs to be FULLY disclosed. Who stands to benefit? Can the benefactors fiscally support the investment? If they can’t, what can be done to get us thru as a stop gap until the financial resources are available? That question must be answered first by those in charge.
Where’s all that Indian casino money going? Let them contribute!!!!!! Really, quit paying for primetime water commercials to point blame. Take that money and pay for YOUR CENTER. All the car tags, the taxes they don’t have to pay, etc. Then how much is it going to cost u to visit it. don’t get me wrong I respect indian heritage and have visited the MANY other museums and Red Earth which promtes same. Just quit gouging me for more money. Are you going to charge me to visit your museum after I pay for it too?
When will the Indians give credit to the Army of Engineer corps who really built and refined and improved the water ways and rivers and lakes of Oklahoma?
David Ball, very good points. Some debt is good debt, especially if the investment can pay off down the road. Just disclose how this can benefit the city and then, maybe they can sell it to the city. This will never get approved through the state legislature.
Laura Story: presume you are THE Laura Story, I agree completely and the revenue claims made to the consultants way back when need to be heavily scrutinized as they claimed the City will get $2 million a year to the general fund thru sales taxes, property taxes and hotel/motel taxes. Problem with that is since it is a State owned/operated facility, there are no property taxes (even if there were, the City gets a small percentage of it) and the hotel/motel taxes go mostly to the Fairgrounds with a small amount to tourism in general. The math just doesn’t begin to hold up on it.
Same thing happened with the Cowboy Hall of Fame. I was a teenager then, but my memory is that it stood unfinished for years. The solution, if my recollection is correct, was revenue bonds.