A bitter global recession. Unemployment reaching 7.1 percent at home. Wind, rain and cold conditions on election day. Opposition led by the heroic people who protect us.
Like my college basketball coach used to say, “find a way to win.”
The third edition of MAPS found a way with 54 percent of the winning vote. It was a team effort, with voter turnout topping 30 percent – a high number for a municipal election.
So why was it so important to pass MAPS?
The MAPS brand has defined the last fifteen years of progress in our community and a vote against this MAPS would have slowed down recent momentum. Critics argued that money should be used for public safety, a valid request. Unfortunately for them, MAPS has never been about catching up, it has been about leapfrogging the competition.
Show me another community investing like this? It doesn’t exist.
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A few thoughts about several issues:
On social media today
Be careful about talking in circles. When trying to make a point to clients about how few people they know, I ask how many contacts they have in their CRM (Outlook). They generally say, “about a thousand.” I then ask how many unknown numbers ring on their cell phone. They say, “very few.” A false sense of security can be achieved in social media circles by communicating key messages to a small, yet focused audience without other tactics. If you are going to talk in circles, however, social media is the place to do it for many reasons. Just understand it is not an all-encompassing tool – yet! This conversation could look different a year from now.
On Tulsa’s new mayor
Dewey Bartlett and Tom Adelson battled it out for the right to be mayor of Tulsa last week, along with Independent Mark Perkins. In the hotly contested election, Bartlett beat Adelson, a reverse from the state senate seat won by Adelson a few years back. We wish Mayor Bartlett the best. Tulsa has a ton going for it right now with the BOK Center drawing national acts, a strong small business and entrepreneurial community and downtown baseball (Saxum client, OneOK Field), a hallmark of great communities, just a few months away.
We knew it could happen, but hoped things would improve. State revenue projections look like they’ll be off for the rest of this fiscal year and next. The legislature should work with agencies to cut as much as possible and then tap the Rainy Day Fund for the rest. In talking with a large school superintendent friend, he shared that this year’s budget, which is concentrated with teacher salaries, is already set. More cuts threaten core services. If the gap is partially covered this year, then he can make difficult hiring decisions next school year. Kudos if leaders of both parties can come together and work on this tough issue.
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