The campaign to convince Tulsans to "Improve Our Tulsa" kicked off Tuesday with a logo, campaign website and plenty of optimism for the $918.7 million capital improvements proposal headed to voters Nov. 12.
"I think we're all here kind of like parents in the waiting room - excited about this baby about to be born because we've been working on this thing for nine months," said City Councilor G.T. Bynum, who led a council committee that helped select projects for the package.
City voters will consider separate ballot propositions to extend 1.1 percent in sales taxes up to seven years for $563.7 million in roadwork and other capital improvements projects and to issue $355 million in general obligation bonds mainly for nonarterial roadwork.
The campaign for the propositions, collectively titled Improve Our Tulsa, will focus on educating residents about their contents and scope, said Waller PR President Barrett Waller, whose firm will guide marketing efforts under an agreement with the Tulsa Regional Chamber.
Tulsans over the next two months can expect media advertisements, social media outreach and speaking engagements with churches and other groups. Private fundraising for the efforts will be overseen by campaign chairman Bob Jack, senior vice president of Manhattan Construction, and at least four citizen co-chairs.
Waller PR will work under a contract with the chamber, although no contract has been signed yet, Waller said.
The firm developed the campaign's logo - a street sign reading "Improve Our Tulsa," a reference to its emphasis on roadwork - and launched a website Tuesday with project lists, frequently asked questions and a video.
The website can be found at
tulsaworld.com/IOTcampaign
Jeff Dunn, president of Mill Creek Lumber and a member of the campaign, told reporters Tuesday that the education aspect will be "monumental, just like the public input procedure (in crafting the proposal) has been monumental."
The proposal was crafted from $1.6 billion in projects that were whittled down during about 50 public meetings, including council meetings and two rounds of town hall meetings hosted throughout the city.
City officials praised the process at a news conference Tuesday as a masterful collaboration between government and residents, saying Improve Our Tulsa has the unanimous support of city officials and is based on copious public feedback.
"We wanted to make certain an effort was made for us to go outside of City Hall - to go to where the voters are, to go to where those that will be making the decision and evaluation (and make sure) that they're a part of the process," Mayor Dewey Bartlett said.
The next step, Bynum said, "is where we ask all those people who came out to all those meetings, who sent us emails, who wrote to us - we're asking for their help in reaching out to their friends, their neighbors, their coworkers to spread the word about this proposal so that everyone in town will know all about it by the time they go to vote."
The proposal includes $654.2 million for transportation projects such as street repairs, widening and new public buses - more than 70 percent of the funding - and also contains projects such as police and fire equipment, city facility renovations and park equipment.
It has $470 million strictly for street repairs, which would make it the largest single investment in streets in Tulsa's history.
The sales tax portion would remain in effect as long as it takes to fund the sales tax projects, which is estimated at six to 6 1/2 years but would be capped at seven years.
Improve Our Tulsa
Sales tax proposition
Tax: 1.1 percent (extends third-penny and part of 0.167-cent sales taxes)
Funding: $563.7 million
Timing: From July 1, 2014, until the amount is raised (estimated 6 to 6 1/2 years), but no longer than 7 years
Projects: $299.2 million for arterial street repair, widening, public transit and bike/pedestrian infrastructure; $264.5 million for other capital projects
Bond proposition
Funding: $355 million
Timing: 5 years
Projects: $275 million for nonarterial street repairs; $80 million for arterials
Zack Stoycoff 918-581-8486
zack.stoycoff@tulsaworld.com
