Tulsa::Election2008: February 2008 Archives

This week in Urban Tulsa Weekly, a preview of Tuesday's Tulsa City Council primary election and a look down the turnpike at Oklahoma City's vote on "MAPS for Millionaires" -- the 15-month, one-cent sales tax to upgrade the five-year-old Ford Center for an NBA team. There's also a brief tribute to the late, longtime District 2 City Councilor Darla Hall, and a plug for Saturday night's Bob Wills' Birthday celebration at Cain's Ballroom.

On the MAPSforMillionaires.org website, there's a scan of a "vote yes" mailer featuring a photo and a quote from former Mayor Kirk Humphreys. He's using religion to sell this NBA tax:

This vote on March 4th is about so much more than one building or one basketball team. It's about doing the right thing for our city -- creating the environment where we can grow together as families. But it's also about having a facility where we can come together as a community, for events like Women of Faith, Promise Keepers and others, and reach people in profound ways to promote our values as a city.

Of course, there's already a facility capable of hosting Women of Faith, Promise Keepers, and even Billy Graham -- the Ford Center. Those events have already been hosted there. It's hard to understand how new locker rooms, NBA team offices, and a separate NBA practice facility miles away will make the arena more conducive to mass Christian conferences and rallies. Shame on Kirk Humphreys.

While Oklahoma City prepares to dole out more corporate welfare, a Tulsa area legislator is trying to curb the practice. UTW's Brian Ervin reports that State Sen. Mike Mazzei, a Republican, wants to sunset the large number of special tax credits which are targeted to favored businesses. The bill, SB 2024, would ensure that the tax credits are scrutinized on a regular basis. Mazzei says combined they amount to $1 billion a year in lost revenue. The state's total budget is only $7 billion. Mazzei notes that all these tax incentives for economic development haven't amounted to much in the way of good jobs for Oklahomans.

The story also reports an example of unintended consequences in tax credits:

Investors managed to discover some loopholes in two tax credit programs, enabling them to fleece the state of Oklahoma for as much as $66 million in 2005, according to estimates by the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

State officials noticed a steep and sudden increase in requests for certain tax credits that year, prompting lawmakers to look into the matter to discover what Gov. Brad Henry later called "an accounting shell game."

The tax credits in question were designed to encourage investment in Oklahoma, but crafty investors discovered they could make instant profits of 100 to 500 percent by claiming the tax credits on borrowed money.

State Treasurer Scott Meacham outlined a scenario to illustrate the problem: investors could put up $10 million of their own money for a project, and then borrow another $115 million. They could then apply for a 30 percent tax credit (if the project is in a rural area, while urban projects' have a 20 percent tax credit) for the $125 million and get $37.5 million from the state: which is a 375 percent profit at taxpayers' expense.

It is and was illegal to use borrowed money to fund business ventures, but the investors were able to get around that law by creating layers of limited liability companies with the same board of directors, so no actual laws were broken, so no one was prosecuted.

Thank you, Sen. Mike Mazzei. Expect to see him take some arrows from those who have been on the corporate welfare dole from years.

Here is a summary of the pre-primary Form C-1 ethics reports filed with the Tulsa City Clerk's office by 5 p.m. today, the deadline for the pre-primary filing for next Tuesday's Tulsa City Council races:

DISTRICT 1 DEMOCRAT:

Jack R. Henderson:

Carryover = $7,029.69
Contributions = $2,879.00
Expenditures = $2,532.38

Total of contributions over $200 = $1,000.00
Total of contributions $200 or less = $1,879.00

$1,000 - Kevin Anderson

Emanuel Lewis:

Carryover = $0
Contributions = $14,600.00
Expenditures = $3,176.55

Total of contributions over $200 = $13,500.00
Total of contributions $200 or less = $1,100.00

$2,500 - Robert Coretz, Steven & Karen Mitchell
$2,000 - Joseph and Kath Craft
$1,000 - Daniel Zeligson, Melinda Dandridge, Bobby Woodard, Daniel Ellinor, Emmet Richards
$500 - Emanuel & Regina Lewis, Henry G. Kleemeier Trust, Deacon & Piper Deacon

DISTRICT 3 DEMOCRAT:

Roscoe Turner:

Carryover = $103.00
Contributions = $6,610.00
Expenditures = $1,979.13

Total of contributions over $200 = $4,050.00
Total of contributions $200 or less = $2,560.00

$1,000 - Greg Wolter, Joan Anderson
$500 - CWA COPE PAC, Jorge Prats,
$300 - Elmer Hemphill
$250 - George Krumme, Pam Cox, Frank Henke

DISTRICT 3 INDEPENDENT:

David Patrick:

Carryover = $5,226.03
Contributions = $5,950.00
Expenditures = $2,398.23

Total of contributions over $200 = $2,150.00
Total of contributions $200 or less = $3,800.00

$500 - Joe Westervelt, David White
$400 - Ruth Kaiser Nelson
$250 - Jim Norton, John Brock, Kay Payer

DISTRICT 4 DEMOCRAT:

Maria Barnes:

Carryover = $2,698.08
Contributions = $16,283.63
Expenditures = $4,646.08

Total of contributions over $200 = $11,664.63
Total of contributions $200 or less = $4,619.00

$1,464.63 - Kathryn L. Taylor (including $464.63 in-kind donation)
$1,000 - David Johnson, George W. & Edwynne F. Krumme, Burt B. Holmes, David C. White
$500 - George B. Kaiser, James R. & Lisa Mace Perrault, Henry Zarrow, Just Progress PAC
$300 - Harry W. Allison
$250 - Bruce R. or Brenda R. Magoon, Larry or Sandy Mocha, Peter M. Walter, Michael P. or Elizabeth M. Johnson, Gloria McFarland, Gail Z. Richards, James G. East & Kim Holland, P. Vincent or Sally S. Lovoi, Ruth K. Nelson Revocable Trust, Bruce G. or Nancy Bolzle
$200 - Mr. or Mrs. Jack Zarrow, Rober Justin & Kimberly Norman, Julius M. or Joy Bankoff, William J. Doyle, III, Bobby F. or Beverly H. Latimer, Eugene & Frances Pace, Thomas J. or Donna L. Snyder

John L. Nidiffer:

Carryover = $0
Contributions = $5,100.00
Expenditures = $3,159.78

Total of contributions over $200 = $5,000
Total of contributions $200 or less = $100

$5,000 - John L. Nidiffer

DISTRICT 4 REPUBLICAN:

Jason Eric Gomez:

Carryover = $0
Contributions = $1,150.00
Expenditures = $0.00

Total of contributions over $200 = $1,000
Total of contributions $200 or less = $150

$1,000 - William Jackson

Jay Matlock:

Carryover = $0
Contributions = $958.08
Expenditures = $313.09

Total of contributions over $200 = $900.00
Total of contributions $200 or less = $58.08

$900 - Jay Matlock

DISTRICT 6 DEMOCRAT:

Dennis K. Troyer:

Carryover = $1,822.57
Contributions = $4,760.00
Expenditures = $2,642.15

Total of contributions over $200 = $3,250
Total of contributions $200 or less = $1,510

$1000 - T/D Thompson, P. Guest
$500 - J & M Bumgarner, C. Bennett
$250 - C. R. Keithline

DISTRICT 6 REPUBLICAN:

Kevin Boggs:

Carryover = $0
Contributions = $350.00
Expenditures = $95.00

Total of contributions over $200 = $0
Total of contributions $200 or less = $350

DISTRICT 9 REPUBLICAN:

G. T. Bynum:

Carryover = $0
Contributions = $45,283.28
Expenditures = $9,643.09

Total of contributions over $200 = $43,798.28
Total of contributions $200 or less = $1,485.00

[Bynum's contributor list reads like a Who's Who of Tulsa. I will add it here later.]

Notes and analysis:

Keep in mind that the reporting period ended on February 18, so any contributions and expenditures in the week since then won't necessarily be shown on these reports. Some reports may be missing because the candidate did not raise or spend more than $500 before the end of the reporting period.

Once again, District 9 attracts the most money. Bynum's war chest to date is comparable to that of Cason Carter and Jeff Stava two years ago.

Note also how well financed Emanuel Lewis is. Among donors who gave more than $200, only two of them have addresses in Council District 1 -- himself and $1,000 donor Bobby Woodard. But Woodard's address, 3606 N. Cincinnati, does not appear to be a residence. The rest of his $201+ donors live in 74114, 74105, 74120, (all midtown), 74136 (south Tulsa), and 74012 (Broken Arrow). So at least $12,000 of $13,500 of Lewis's major contributions, and at least $12,000 of $14,600 total contributions (82%), are from outside District 1.

Candidates for the two midtown Tulsa City Council Districts, 4 and 9, will present their views on neighborhood issues tonight, Feb. 25th, at 7:00 p.m., at All Souls Unitarian Church, 30th & Peoria. Doors open at 6:30. I expect you'll hear a number of questions about infill and zoning issues, such as neighborhood conservation districts and teardowns.

The forum is sponsored by Brookside Neighborhood Association, PreserveMidtown, Coalition of Historic Neighborhoods, and the South Peoria Neighborhood Connection Foundation.