Tulsans generally favor voting on a proposed $818 million capital improvements package in a single election this November rather than in separate elections for roadwork and other capital projects, according to an Oklahoma Poll conducted this month.
But a small sampling of poll respondents indicates that the format of the proposal isn't so important as long as voters can elect to continue fixing Tulsa's streets.
"I'd say the streets are just overwhelming everything," said Dale Hartz, who prefers a single election but said he would gladly vote in separate elections. "They just need to get with it - probably a billion-dollar bond issue or whatever is needed."
Officials have proposed renewing the city's third-penny sales tax and issuing general obligation bonds for roadwork and other capital needs, such as public safety equipment and repairs to city facilities, over at least five years.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett has said that the proposal would be split into separate ballot propositions - possibly including an all-streets proposition - if city councilors vote to send a package to November's ballot.
An alternate proposal from the City Council would have voters consider an all-streets bond package in November and a sales tax renewal by April for the other capital projects, which would give officials more time to choose non-street projects and convince voters that the city has urgent needs beyond roadwork.
The Oklahoma Poll of 400 likely Tulsa voters, conducted June 1-5 by SoonerPoll.com, showed 49 percent in favor of voting on streets and other capital projects as separate propositions on November's ballot and 38 percent in favor of separate elections.
Twelve percent were either undecided or refused to answer.
Respondents contacted by the Tulsa World on Friday said they would be fine with either format, regardless of their answer in the survey, and admitted that they were no more than vaguely familiar with the proposals.
With few exceptions, they said they mainly just want their streets fixed.
"I don't care how many elections there are," said Judy Osten, who chose the single election format in the poll.
Kevin Bender said he leans toward having separate elections because he wants "every dollar to be essentially earmarked to indicate where that money is going," but stressed that the amount of funding for streets is his most pressing concern because "I'm a consumer of the streets."
Russell Crosby said he wants separate elections so he can be sure what projects are getting his vote. He added that he would only vote in favor of the proposal in either format if he knows whether streets in his neighborhood would be fixed.
The Oklahoma Poll found a correlation between respondents' support for mayoral candidates and their responses to the capital improvements package question.
Most people who said they support Bartlett and former Mayor Kathy Taylor favored a single election - 57 percent of Bartlett supporters and 54 percent of Taylor supporters - while only 30 percent of former candidate Bill Christiansen's supporters favored the single election.
Although not addressed in the poll, respondents who were contacted by the World said they support a related proposal by Bartlett to divert $60 million from the package by permanently extending the city's share of the 0.167-cent 4 to Fix the County sales tax for police and fire manpower increases and additional street maintenance crews.
Respondents also told the World that they would favor allowing the third-penny sales tax to continue collecting money until it funds all of the projects in the package, as Councilor David Patrick has recently suggested.
The other option would be to set a five-year expiration date.
Officials have been debating projects for the package and discussing format options. They expect to seek public input at town hall meetings this summer.
About the Oklahoma Poll
The poll of 400 likely voters was conducted June 1-5 by SoonerPoll.com, using a random digit-dialing technique that included cellphone and landline telephone numbers. Results were weighted by gender, age and party. The poll was sponsored by the Tulsa World. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. This poll conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. A complete description of the methodology can be found at
tulsaworld.com/soonerpoll.
Zack Stoycoff 918-581-8486
zack.stoycoff@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Many back one election for streets, capital plans
