Local groups oppose MAPS 3

MAPS, a temporary increase in sales tax, is an inappropriate place to fund new police or fire positions. Therefore, the decision to oppose MAPS on the grounds that the city is not hiring the right number of people is short-sighted. I am for increasing the number of police and fire personnel. That should be discussed away from MAPS in a forum that allows for the ongoing support for the city necessary to manage the additional payroll over the long term. I commend the unions for bringing a need to light. Bring forth a plan to add the personnel and pay for it and I, for one, will vote for it. I could not more strongly disagree with their decision to oppose MAPS.

Centr Park like the one in NYC NO thank

It is hard enough to keep the streets safe now, add more temptation and less police and firemen and you have a recipe for disaster!

What a bunch of garbage. At least come up with a better excuse for being idiots than that. How has MAPS not delivered? It HAS delivered and in a big way. Stop being obstructionists just to get your portion of the pie.

Maps should be used for things like sidewalks and road improvements. These will help more than a "Central Park" or a new convention center. Instead of bringing in more moeny, maybe we should try saving what we have by paying less for gas, healthcare, and vehicle maintenance.

I agree that Maps 3 sounds good, but the opposition is correct in that economic growth without enhancing the infrastructure surrounding the project is asking for trouble. We currently lack adequate police protection and other response services such as firefighters, and those need to be a priority. Until we are up to par with those services, Maps 3 should be put on hold.

Why should the people of Oklahoma City pay for Brick Town improvements. With the total raised in MAPS 3 could and should be utilized for improvements through out the city. If the city and the property owners and operators of Brick Town feel these improvements are needed then do a BID or BIT (Brick Town Improvement Tax) and tax the people that utilize and enjoy the area as well the property owners and operators within the area. Must of if not all of the improvements are not needed nor wanted. With regards to the fair grounds and convention center improvements increase the hotel tax.
If the city would ask whether the people would support a CAP 3 (City Area Projects) to improve the in tire city it would make an impact throuhout this city not just a little spot in down town Oklahoma City.
In closing I ask when is the city without a vote of the people going to change the name of the city to BRICK TOWN OKLAHOMA

If you are going to take time to form an opinion and post it, spell words correctly and make complete thoughts. vote no on MAPS 3

chris wrote:

If you are going to take time to form an opinion and post it, spell words correctly and make complete thoughts. vote no on MAPS 3

Coming from someone who didn't capitalize the first letter of his second sentence or put two spaces in between them or punctuate the end.

Most people are not opposed to improvements for the city, but a tax is a tax. MAPS started as a temporary tax, and our "leaders" want to make it permanent. I think the voters are now smart enough to say "No more MAPS TAX".

I am more than willing to continue the tax in order to make improvements to the city. As long as these improvements benefit the city as a whole, not just downtown or any other specific area. We need to work on our quality of life as a communtiy. This area, that area, his piece, my piece, is a bunch of crap. If we imporve the infrastructure and the quality of life city wide then we all benefit and growth will be healthy.

Below is the link to an article published in the Gazette (the link goes thru facebook, and unfortunatelty you will have to sign in I think) talking about some good points against MAPS 3. Now realize you will never see an article like this in the Oklahoman because of the politics and who works for who. It's the same reason the Oklahoman won't sell any paper space to OCFD and OCPD to publicize their stance on MAPS 3 (because it's negative press).

http://www.facebook.com/note.php...

the Maps projects have been the best thing to happen to OKC!
Everyone knows we are in tough economic times. The MAPS projects
keep our city moving. If we had a 2cent sales tax it would benefit
OKC residents even more!
The city workers will get raises and hiring will resume, when we
ALL have good paying jobs. teachers, firemen,nor police work any
harder than the rest of us. They should all embrace MAPS3. If
MAPS3 fails, how many people will be put out of work then?
People better really think about this before voting NO.

hmmmm

It would be good to see what the mayor has to say specifically about the firemen and policemen's complaint. I would like to see him address their complaints about the number of employees they have. But I bet the billions of dollars of economic impact MAPS had gave the police and firemen "something". After all, police and fire get three quarters of a cent of the sales tax charged. If we've raised hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars with the penny MAPS 1, MAPS for Kids and MAPS for basketball taxes, then the police and fire department have also gotten hundreds of millions of dollars from sales tax, since they get only a quarter of a penny of tax less than MAPS. If they think MAPS hasn't delivered what it promised, were they expecting more than 3 billion dollars for the city? It seems stupid to fight MAPS when it's done more for Oklahoma City than anything else I can think of.

jack wrote:

What a bunch of garbage. At least come up with a better excuse for being idiots than that. How has MAPS not delivered? It HAS delivered and in a big way. Stop being obstructionists just to get your portion of the pie.

Jack, what you don't know is that while they are proposing more infrastructure they are also imposing a mandatory 2.5 percent budget cut to police, fire, and public works. That's not from new hires budget, nor is it operations money, it's coming from personel. that's close to 40 police positions that will no longer exist.

Visit www.okcissues.com to learn more about the MAPS 3 issues.

The city has been well aware of these staffing issues for years. In the case of the police department, the City even did it's own study documenting the shortage of over 200 officers. In the case of the fire department how can you leave fire stations vacant as the continues to grow?

Prior to this whole public discussion the fire and police attempted to negotiate various solutions but the City refused to listen. The leadership of the City needs to rethink the list of priorities. It is with regret that these issues were made public. There was no other option available.

I'm opposed to maps 3 for the same reason as some others, it only helps Bricktown, I realize the first two maps projects helped with tax revenue, but why can't another place be the target? When MAPS first started they took probably the worst, most run down area of the city and revitalized it. Awesome work, now let's move on.

A big part of our heritage is Cattletown on South Agnew, very run down area currently, with many closed businesses. This is perfect for a new project, perhaps not to line cronies’ pockets this time, but hey, it'll do the same job as MAPS 1.
First, Buy out all the abandoned and closed buildings, flatten out the one's that need it, build a museum about cattle drives and the old west, the part Oklahoma played.
Second, for god sake build a new police station right there. That neighborhood is very dangerous.
Third, make room for new hotels, to be closer to the fairgrounds.
Tie it all together. Renovate the streets and sidewalks between this area and the fairgrounds,(I think the fair has quite a few building for conventions as it is, why not just get people there)
Add in a "riverwalk" that goes from there to Bricktown along the river, or just add the barges or trolleys to get people back and forth.
This would once again take one of the worst neighborhoods in the city and make it a place for Oklahoma City to be proud of again. If the president can come visit Cattlemen's steakhouse, I'm embarrassed for him to see the area surrounding it.
Stockyard City has a blueprint in Ft. Worth, but here, it really is part of what makes use the crossroads of America, and is a huge part of our history, and I for one, am tired of seeing it overlooked. Let's embrace what makes us who we are as a city, instead of trying to be someone else's city. We do not need to build a New York City-style park; we need to show our Oklahoma-style character.

I could go on, but I’ll spare you the details. I can be reached by okcwebninja at google email.

Lets just cut to the chase! The Mayor is a liar! MAPS 3 will only line the pockets of the rich and will do nothing for the middle class and poor in our city. The mayor and city manager sent out a memo on September 22 2009 ordering 2% cuts across all city departments and to continue the 2% cuts in 2010. Oh by the way they are cutting over half a million dollars from parks! You should also see the other cuts! Public works, Fire, Police, Finance, IT, Fleets ect.. Please look. They will start the cuts after January 1, 2010. Wouldnt be wise to piss people off before the MAPS 3 vote! This is a fact , check it out , it is public record! Ask your elected officials, it is your money they want!! As for the police and fire 3/4 cent sales tax of 1986, check it out, the city found a legal loop hole several years ago and has been using money from the tax every since. They like to skim money from public safety. Maps 3 is not dedicated money! Let me say that again MAPS 3 is nothing more than a blank checkbook ! MAPS 1 & 2 were designed with dedicated projects that were held to accountability! The most corrupt form of government is municiple!!!! Why would the citizens want to give the Mayor and Council a 3/4 of a billion dollar slush fund! Please think, dont vote yes for any tax that does not have any accountability for the money! We need growth, however it must be responsible growth!! Dont trust the Mayor and City Council to do the right thing, make them!!! Vote NO! Dont be part of the biggest scam of the city! The Mayor thinks we are all suckers!! Vote NO! Make our city leaders put something on the ballot that we can insure will be built and the money will be spent properly.

Coming from some one in Tulsa, lol. Oklahoma City has been one of the best operated cities in the United states. I guess coming from Tulsa you guys are used to government riddled in corruption and indecision.
Mayor Cornett has been an excellent leader and the track record of decision making cannot be compared.
Finally, we are one of the few cities in the US who are NOT cutting fire and police positions. If they want to whine about pay raises and a 2.5% budget cut then I tell them "where is my raise too".
Get a life Bigdog