Making the Case for "Improve Our Tulsa"

On Tuesday of next week, November 12th, the citizens of Tulsa won't just cast a ballot for Kathy Taylor or Dewey Bartlett. They'll also vote on the $918-million "Improve Our Tulsa" capital improvements package, which is intended to fund improvements to our city's infrastructure --- with 70% of the package being devoted to street repair/repaving/refurbishment alone. This package --- which, just to be clear, would not raise taxes --- has been the focal point of several public meetings throughout Tulsa over the last nine months; many residents have offered their input at these meetings, thereby identifying the projects, issues, and aims defining the package. Our guests today on ST are two of the co-chairs of the "Improve Our Tulsa" campaign, each of whom is a community leader in her own right: Sharon King Davis and Rose Washington. As they tell us, while the city's streets are the bulk of what's actually in this package, there are several other components --- from the city's parks to rapid transit on Peoria Avenue, from Route 66 to the Tulsa Zoo to Eugene Field Elementary School --- that they believe voters will want to endorse. And as they also tell us, voters can actually go to the polls today, Friday the 8th, if they wish to exercise early voting at the Tulsa County Election Board (at 555 N. Denver Avenue).