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Source: Tulsa World, Okla.self storageAug. 11--ISSUE WATCHThe issue: Talking taxesWhat a fun week it was to watch the city of Tulsa and Tulsa County push forward on their proposed capital improvements packages.The city is in the midst of selling its $919.9 million package, and County Commissioner Karen Keith and Sheriff Stanley Glanz are behind a voter initiative that would place a 0.167 percent criminal justice sales tax on the Nov. 12 ballot.That's the same day city voters are expected to go to the polls to vote on the city's proposal, which includes its own 0.167 percent sales tax.So Mayor Dewey Bartlett has initiated informal meetings with county commissioners, the sheriff and city councilors to keep the potential of competing tax packages from turning into a city/county donnybrook.Last week, Glanz, Bartlett, Keith and Councilors G.T. Bynum and David Patrick sat down to talk. Oh, and Ron Peters was there, too. Peters, a former state legislator, is running for the vacant Tulsa County District 3 seat. The election is not until Tuesday.So what was he doing there?"Commissioner Keith invited me," he said.It turns out there's another nonelected official with an interest in the talks -- former Mayoral Chief of Staff Terry Simonson.Simonson, who worked for Bartlett, said he offered to help facilitate the talks because he's also worked at the county.And then there is Susan Savage. Former Mayor Susan Savage.She's not part of the city/county talks, but she has expressed concern about the county's ballot initiative in the form of an Aug. 7 email to county commissioners. Bartlett, Glanz and councilors were copied on the email.It reads, in part: "The manner in which this initiative petition has been presented for public support falls below any standard for comprehensive community planning, citizen engagement, and good public policy. What is the rush to achieve a vote? Where is the analysis for a permanent sales tax as a necessary and effective revenue source? What opportunities are being missed with this race to the ballot to potentially leverage state and federal assistance for programs related to mental health, diversion, and local alternatives to incarceration?"Thank you for your time and consideration."No, thank you, politicos.- KEVIN CANFIELD, World Staff WriterQUOTABLE"Tate Brady did not save our nation from tyranny or write the Declaration of Independence."- City Councilor G.T. Bynum, countering the argument that removing Tate Brady's name from Brady Street would lead to other name changes, during Thursday's council meeting"The Brady District is not going to die if we take the name off the street."- City Councilor Jack Henderson, discussing a proposal to rename Brady Street, during Thursday's council meetingFROM TWITTERTweets from city officials and World staff writers Kevin Canfield (@KevinCanfieldTW) and Zack Stoycoff (@ZackStoycoffTW)"Tulsans, no matter what side of the issue you're on, tonight's Council meeting is an incredible discussion on our racial past #renamebrady."- City Councilor Blake Ewing @Blake_Ewing"It's going to be a long drive back from the Rockies for @phlakin."- City Councilor G.T. Bynum @gtbynum"This (Brady Street discussion) is the most emotional council debate I've seen. Incredible."- City Hall Reporter Zack Stoycoff @ZackStoycoffTW"Speaker at City Council Brady Street hearing: "I don't want my city to honor one of my oppressors."- City Hall Reporter Kevin Canfield @KevinCanfieldTWLOOKING BACKBrady Street: City councilors voted Thursday to postpone for one week a vote to rename Brady Street to Burlington Street to allow Councilor Phil Lakin to return from vacation and cast the deciding vote.Councilor Jack Henderson asked for the continuance after it became clear that the council was deadlocked on the issue. Under council rules, a tie vote would hav迷你倉 been counted as a "no" vote.After hearing from dozens of residents, Councilors Henderson, Skip Steele, G.T. Bynum and Blake Ewing expressed their support for the name change. Councilors Jeannie Cue, Karen Gilbert, David Patrick and Arianna Moore said they intended to vote against it.The council's action marks the culmination of nearly three months of public debate over whether a city street should be named for someone who was once a Ku Klux Klan member.Brady Street is named after Wyatt "Tate" Brady, an early Tulsa businessman and one of the signers of Tulsa's papers of incorporation. Brady acknowledged his membership in the Klan in 1923. By that time, he had left the organization over political differences.Green waste: The city has hauled residential yard waste exclusively to its trash incinerator almost since the beginning of the new trash system but still charges customers for separate green waste service, officials confirmed Tuesday.Trash officials said they decided in January to take all yard waste to the Covanta Energy incinerator plant like regular garbage because the city's mulching plant could not remove the plastic bags in which residents are asked to place the material.The city has continued requiring residents to affix those bags with a 50-cent "green waste" sticker and charges every trash customer a $1.09 monthly green waste fee, saying it still provides the service of collecting an unwanted material.Mayor Dewey Bartlett says he will ask the city's trash board to repurpose or sell its curbside green waste collection trucks in favor of allowing regular trash crews simply to continue taking the material to the burn plant but without the city's cost.NeWSolutions, an independent hauler, collects garbage and recyclables, but the city has been using its own crews for green waste.- KEVIN CANFIELD & ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff WritersLOOKING AHEAD6 p.m. Tuesday: Town hall meeting on proposed capital improvement package, Carbondale Assembly of God, 2135 W. 51st St.10 a.m. Thursday: Capital Improvements Program Task Force, fourth floor of City Hall, Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue.6 p.m. Thursday: City Council meeting, vote on renaming Brady Street, City Council chambers of City Hall, Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue.FROM THE BLOGSRead the City Hall blog at tulsaworld.com/cityhall. Anything but Vision2.That tends to be the only preference among city officials in naming the coming $919.9 million funding package.Then again, I've heard one specific suggestion: "Vision3. Just kidding." The reality, of course, is that officials want to distance the proposal from the countywide funding initiative that failed last year.This one is about needs -- not wants, they say.A representative of the Tulsa Regional Chamber told the City Council recently that the group may recommend a marketing name within two or three weeks, pending the outcome of possible polling and focus groups.City councilors have suggested putting that name -- or any other they settle on -- on the ballot when the proposal goes to voters Nov. 12, saying they want to make sure voters understand that what they are considering is the same proposal they have seen in the news media for months.And it's also important, as City Councilor G.T. Bynum has argued, to distinguish the city's proposal from a competing plan from Tulsa County to raise a permanent tax to expand the jail and build a juvenile justice center.Read more online at tulsaworld.com/cityhall- ZACK STOYCOFF, World Staff WriterFollow us on TwitterFollow Tulsa World City Hall reporters Kevin Canfield (@KevinCanfieldTW) and Zack Stoycoff (@ZackStoycoffTW) for the latest news on the City of Tulsa.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services文件倉