And let it be so
Yes, folks, we will continue taxing ourselves a whole cent for another eight years or so to pay for some civic goodies.
Unofficial total, with all 271 precincts reporting: Yes 40,956 (54.3%); No: 34,465 (45.7%).
To quote Nick Roberts (who wrote this before the vote):
The entire city will enjoy the system of hiking and bicycle trails. Each section of the city that gets a senior city will benefit from that. Businesses on the west side of town will benefit from more expo shows at the Fairgrounds and the entire city will benefit from more sales tax from the expo center and the convention center. The south side, particularly Capitol Hill, will benefit from the stadium seats to be placed on the south side of the river. The whole center city will benefit from 5-6 miles of streetcar track. This could connect C2S, Bricktown, the Medical District/OHC area, Capitol area, Uptown, Heritage Hills, MidTown, Downtown/Arts District, and back to C2S. And the entire center city, anything between I-44 and I-240, will benefit from a downtown renaissance. Before MAPS, how fashionable was it to live in neighborhoods like Heritage Hills, Mesta Park, Gatewood, Jefferson Park, The Paseo, et all? The answer is not very en vogue. Because of MAPS, the entire city is en vogue. You can’t put a pricetag on that.
It wasn’t going to be a landslide: everyone knew that. The first MAPS package, back in 1993, passed with 53 percent of the vote. But try to find someone today who says he voted against it.
Brett »
9 December 2009 · 12:08 am
“The entire city will enjoy the system of hiking and bicycle trails.”
Yes, the crackheads will be able to wander aimlessly someplace far away from traffic, and the hookers will be able to branch out beyond Lincoln. People shouldn’t use “entire” unless they actually mean “entire.”
“Because of MAPS, the entire city is en vogue. You can’t put a pricetag on that.”
Well, now wait — I thought the whole point of the vote on the sales tax was to do just that — put a price on it.
I’m not an OKC resident, but I would have voted to approve continuing the tax. Unless I read rather silly statements like these just before I went in the voting booth; then I might have voted “no” just for spite.
Dwayne "the canoe guy" »
9 December 2009 · 8:05 am
I always fess up to how I voted. Here is my voting record:
MAPS 1 – No (I didn’t trust politicians in OKC)
MAPS 2 – No (I didn’t trust the school system)
MAPS 2.5 – Yes (Don’t know what I was thinking)
MAPS 3 – No (Didn’t think any of the projects were worth my money)
I was wrong on MAPS 1. They did what they said and did it well. The others? meh.
CGHill »
11 December 2009 · 6:21 pm
The per-precinct numbers are out now, and this neck of the woods, which I figured would split just about 50-50, went 449-312 Yes. A fairly solid 59 percent, to my surprise.