2007 OKC Bond Election

[glennp]

Does anyone have more insight on exactly what areas are going to be improved by this Bond?

I was reading at OKC.gov about the propositions, however, there are not any specifics what will exactly be improved. They say parks, but not which ones. On the homepage they say sidewalks and when you read the propositions they don't even mention any.

My biggest issue is in my housing addition the sidewalks are horrible and unsafe to walk/run on. When I contacted my city ward's office, they said the city does not have a budget to take care of all the sidewalks that cover the city. So, I asked them how should I go about replacing the sidewalk. They said it would be up to me the homeowner to replace it.

That is when I was talking to a friend/professor that is a adviser for politicians. He said, do not even touch your sidewalk because that is city property. It is the city's responsibility and that if I was to tear up the sidewalk the city could come fine me for destroying city property. He also mentioned that if the city refused to fix the problem and insisted that I was to replace it, then make sure I get the easement rights for my property.

So any insight on this Bond would help me decide whether to vote for or against each proposition.

[Midtowner]

I object to the widening of all of those roads in the far northwestern quadrant of OKC. You want instant suburban sprawl? Vote for that.

[metro]

Millions at stake as bond votes loom
The Journal Record
November 29, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – The city is at an important crossroads for its future and in less than two weeks voters will decide which direction to take, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said Wednesday.“We at the city are really in the midst of what we consider perhaps the most important year of this era of city government,” said Cornett, promoting an $835.5 million general obligation bond issue at a Greater Oklahoma City Chamber luncheon.

The election is scheduled for Dec. 11. Cornett said anxiety has been building ahead of the event. Within a 12-month period, voters will face three major bond issues: a bond issue for the Oklahoma City Public Schools district, the city bond issue at hand, and a massive MAPS-3 issue. The first, valued at nearly $250 million, was approved in October; officials expect the third item to go to a public vote by late summer.

The current issue, the largest in the city’s history, has been divided into 11 propositions that require separate votes. City officials tailored the package in response to a citizen survey conducted earlier this year that revealed overwhelming support for street improvements. The largest chunk of money, $497.5 million, is earmarked for resurfacing, widening and rebuilding more than 750 lane-miles of streets, mostly in residential areas. The proposition also includes 350 miles of sidewalks and leisure trails. The second-largest component, $89.8 million, will go to parks and recreational facilities. It will fund 14 new playgrounds, eight basketball courts, two parks, 13 community centers and renovation at the Myriad Botanical Gardens downtown.

Other propositions involve bridge repair, traffic control systems, drainage control systems, the fire and police departments, libraries, city maintenance facilities and mass transit systems. “These are the building blocks of the community. We have tried to keep the citizens focused, first on schools then on streets,” Cornett said.

MAPS-3, following in the footsteps of Metropolitan Areas Projects and MAPS for Kids, is hoped to build on a sense of renewal by focusing on the area being opened by the realignment of Interstate 40 in central Oklahoma City. But to get there, Cornett said, voters have to support the current issue.

In a new direction from previous general obligation bond issues, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber supported city staff’s recommendations to include in the bond issue $75 million to kick off a dedicated economic development program patterned after the state’s Quality Jobs. About 14 years ago, Oklahoma was one of the first states to create a program like Quality Jobs, in which savings were offered to companies on condition that they first proved they had created a certain number of jobs at pay level exceeding the state average.

City officials said that if that part of the bond issue is approved in December, Oklahoma City would be the first major metro area in the country to offer incentives based on such clear feedback measures. If the issue is approved, city officials would build the program around a trust of citizens and council members who would have the ability to enter contracts and issue debt on behalf of the city. The economic incentives program also would be capped and the fund would have to be renewed by public vote from time to time as it was depleted on specific trust-approved deals.

Like the 2000 bond issue, taxes will not increase if the proposals are approved; the new debt would replace previous debt as it is retired. By the same token, property taxes will gradually decline if the proposals fail. Each of the 11 propositions requires a simple majority to pass.


Matt Grady, 25, skates Tuesday at the Mat Hoffman Action Sports Park in Oklahoma City. The city’s 2007 bond program, to be decided on Dec. 11, proposes spending $89.9 million toward city parks and recreational facilities, among other things. (Photo by Jennifer Pitts)

[metro]

Just a reminder the important bond elections are on Tuesday. Make sure and educate yourselves about the issues at hand. City of Oklahoma City | News

[hipsterdoofus]

I think the library parts are pretty clear...mostly its for a new northwest library, but also for renovations on a couple of others, Bell Isle and Capitol Hill.

[betts]

I know that some of the parks money will be used to acquire land for the new downtown park, perhaps the post office land. And I believe some of that money will be used to make improvements to the Softball Stadium used for Women's softball. That is a really necessary upgrade if we want to keep the Softball World Series and get the World Cup games here often, which seems like something everyone should want.

[HOT ROD]

Continue the Renaissance,

Vote Yes!!!

[solitude]

Continue the Renaissance,

Vote Yes!!!

Absolutely.

I hope everyone here makes it to the polls and votes "YES"....

[Midtowner]

I have problems with both props 1 and 11, and to some extent 10.

Proposition 1, I think is great in some respects, flawed in others. Presently, I am against further suburban sprawl which is exactly what this bond issue seeks to facilitate in the far northwestern quadrant of the city. Do those roads need to be 4 lanes? Perhaps we can find a better way to do that? Maybe require developers to pay for it through zoning ordinances? All I know is that the second those roads get built, we'll see thousands of McMansions being built within a few years and our city's infrastructure will be insufficient to meet the needs created by developers.

Proposition 10, is I think okay. I'm just very disappointed that this doesn't include at least the preliminary steps for light rail (e.g., funding for the acquisition of right of ways).

Proposition 11 is the biggy. I see it as a bad idea from 2 perspectives. First off, this, like the other bonds is a 30 year bond which pays 10% interest. That is DOUBLE the going rate for bonds for AA rated municipalities. That is ridiculous. Clearly, part of the goal here is to make some investors rich at the expense of the taxpayers. This bond should cost us as much as $225 million dollars. From a financial standpoint, this is just stupid (to put it mildly).

The second part of prop 11 involves the setting up of this 75 million dollars in borrowed money and handing it over to a public trust. Public trusts have a long and corrupt history in this state (do some research on the Oklahoma Industry Authority or the State Fair Board). What will happen is that either the city father types, new money types, or cronies and lackies thereof will be appointed to these boards as trustees. They will then use that money for their own benefit. I see this "job creating money" being used principally for the benefit of our local energy producing companies as their jobs are well above the 35K threshold required by the proposition. If history is an indicator, none of this money will bring in 'new' business, it will only go to pay for things for local businesses when those local businesses could have easily paid for those things themselves.

Do you really want the next phase of Chesapeake's campus expansion to be done at the expense of your children and grandchildren rather than yourself?

Vote NO on Props 1 and 11, (yes on the rest of 'em)

[Kerry]

Midtowner - I agree with you about urban sprawl but I don't think refusing to fund proper infrastructure is the answer. This area is under the responsibility of OKC government so not planning for future growth will only cost the city more later on. The best way to fight sprawl and reduce the tax burden on OKC residents is for the city to de-annex large portions of rural areas. By de-annexing the city will lose few tax payers while eliminating areas that pose the highest cost areas for the future. The city can then focus on in-fill which produces more tax payers without having to increase a lot of infrastructure.

[Midtowner]

Well fine Kerry -- then deannex the land. I don't want to pay for more urban sprawl and future expense for our city. It is just not smart growth. If we wanted to grow intelligently in that area, Hefner Expressway would be extended and all of those areas widened.

As it stands, the proposed projects look like nothing but miles and miles of suburban sprawl. This isn't good for the city.

I would have happily voted yes for resurfacing and needed maintenance... but this? Bundled together, it forces me to have to make the choice to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[BDP]

That's how I am reading it too, Midtowner. The reason we have to come up with 400 million now is because we sprawled uncontrollably in that direction and now we have to pay for the infrastructure for it. It's a never ending cycle and without proper planning and controlled growth measures, should we really just keep paying and paying to build and then maintain all this sprawl? Maybe if we hadn't sprawled so much, we'd right now have the opportunity to pay for a lot of light rail and public transit infrastructure with these bond measures. Instead, we once again have to pay to build more and more miles of roads that will also have to be maintained at the expense of a comprehensive transportation infrastructure and even the maintenance of our current infrastructure. It's seems very wasteful and without any motivation to reverse the trend, it's hard to keep supporting it. I think it's the missed opportunity here that really makes it hard to vote for. The only question is that if we do vote it down, will anyone step up and come up with some props to really improve and maintain the city and infrastructure we already have in a way that will ensure that Oklahoma City is competitive with major markets in 20 years?

[Midtowner]

BDP -- you're exactly right. It is insane that we need to take out a bond for basic road maintenance. This is something that should have been contemplated long ago when the roads were built. Poor planning on the city's part does not constitute an emergency on my part. I'm willing to vote yes on the bridges, and I think that the city can find it in their coffers to pay for basic road maintenance. If they can't, then 30 years from now, when we're paying 10% interest on all of these bonds, and the roads need fixing again, we're really screwed.

That's another thing that just doesn't sit well with me. All of these bonds are up to 10%. That's ridiculous. Muni bonds are around 4.5% right now. There's no excuse for us to be willing to pay 10%. None whatsoever.

If we're going to go anywhere as a city, the city fathers need to start thinking about how we can be a better city for everyone, not how they can add to their own personal wealth at taxpayers' expense.

[jbrown84]

newsok is reporting that the election will go on tomorrow no matter what, even if the precinct's power is out.


Those that live downtown, where is our polling place?

[Midtowner]

First Church on 4th street.

[glennp]

Here are my issues after further reading and seeing the city's advertisement.

1st the repairing or adding sidewalks. Which sidewalks, the prop's dont tell us. I don't feel that C2S should be funded through sneaky funding. Be honest if this money is mainly going to be used to help build the C2S then say so.

I feel the sidewalk money will be mostly used up to build the new pedestrian bridge of the Oklahoma River for C2S.

Also, I do agree that the park money will be used to purchase the USPS building for a new park.

MY MAJOR issue is that I know many firefighters in OKC, they are very upset with our Mayor and the City Officials for advertising that the bond will help the firefighters. The reason they are upset is there is fact that the Fire Department has a 93% approval rating in OKC. This means that by using the Fire Department they can successfully get you to vote yes because few people pay attention to what is really happening.

I believe in 2000 we had a bond issue passed because the fire department was promised to benefit from the money, however, they saw very little.

PLEASE HELP STOP LIES, VOTE NO! Ask the city leaders to be more clear about their true intentions. Once I know these facts, I will vote yes.

I also feel that our city leaders are being persuaded by the Sonics moving to OKC. MAPs 3 will be building a new ARENA. I am very against this if that is their true intentions. MAPs 3 in my mind should be to build up the mass-transportation system.

If you dont agree vote YES... If you do vote NO.

[betts]

This bond issue has nothing to do with MAPS3. Whether you support the concept of a new arena or not, one's vote on this election should have nothing to do with how you feel about that question, as it's not on the ballot. And I certainly support adding parkland, regardless of where it is, not to mention improving the Softball Stadium. I think one needs to address each issue in one's own mind, not just blindly vote yes or no on everything.

[metro]

newsok is reporting that the election will go on tomorrow no matter what, even if the precinct's power is out.


Those that live downtown, where is our polling place?

As Mid said, for most of us downtowners its the First United Methodist Church on 4th, across the street from the National Memorial. There are more than one "first churches (baptist, methodist, nazarene, etc.) so I just wanted to clarify in case of any confusion. Not sure if there are more than one polling places downtown but if there are they could point you in the right direction at least.

[metro]

I agree with betts, its not going to be used for MAPS3 projects. Most of the bond issues are spelled out pretty clearly on the city's website. I do agree a few issues could be more clearly identified, but I'm almost certain that they aren't going to MAPS 3 sort of projects. MAPS 3 for the most part will be officially unveiled at the Urban Neighbors meeting in April although you may hear some details of it before then.

[Midtowner]

How about this -- as for roads, we're having to borrow money just to do simple maintenance. If our budget is so stretched, why in the hell are we borrowing money to build even more roads when we can't take care of the ones we already have??

There is just so much glaringly stupid about some of these bond issues. I'll be voting no on 1 and 11. The rest are fine as far as I'm concerned.

The maximum bond rate of 10% is also frightening. Municipal bonds are going for 4.5%ish for 30 year bonds. Why even allow 10%?

[fire121]

Two new fire stations were on the 2000 Bond Issue. One for Bricktown which would replace/combine Fire Station. #4 and Fire Station. # 6 and One for far NE Okc which would be the new Station #4. This bond issue also has 3 new stations proposed. I will support the bond issue but the city has failed the fire dept in my opinion. We have almost 100 less firefighters on duty now than when the Murray Bldg was blown up in 1995.

[bench warmer]

What about the weather? Have they ever cancelled an election because of weather-related issues? They've spent a ton of cash promoting this measure and now the weather sucks. They'll be lucky to get anyone to the polls and it will be interesting to see how many of those sites are still without power.

[jbrown84]

It's all melting. It won't be a big deal.

[Midtowner]

--Voted. Between the two precincts represented at the downtown polling place, there were a whopping 12 votes. I voted around Noon.

[jbrown84]

wow. What time do they close? I plan to go after work.

7:00 right?