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<DIV><FONT size=4>Oklahoma City folks should pay close attention to the news
that the City is thinking about having a bond election later this year which,
among other things, would borrow $500 MILLION to fix roads and only $9 million
to fund capital investments in mass transit. They propose to waste a third
of those mass transit dollars on buying those fake trolley buses that are all
eye candy and very little practical use for a working transit system. Below is
an email I sent tonight to the mayor and city council. For email
addresses, go to <A
href="http://www.okc.gov/council/index.html">http://www.okc.gov/council/index.html</A> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Bob Waldrop, OKC</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>To the mayor and city council:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I've read in the newspaper about the proposed bond issue for
later this year and I am dubious.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>My first question is: what is wrong with the allocation
of the gasoline tax that Oklahoma City has to borrow half a billion dollars to
fix its roads? I did a quick search of the city website to see if it had
any info on that and then I checked the state tax commission's site and
came up empty. If Oklahoma City isn't getting enough money to fix its
roads from the gas tax, it seems to me that a high priority for municipal
government should be to get the allocation changed and the gasoline tax
increased.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The proposal also has about $9 million for mass transit.
My understanding is that about 1/3 of that money will be used to buy more of
those fake trolleys. I ride the bus system with reasonable regularity, and
I hate it when one of those fake trolleys comes along on my regular route.
They are 100% eye candy. They are uncomfortable. I don't think they
are even equipped with shock absorbers. They are probably more expensive
than regular buses. They are a waste of money. I don't think
tourists are impressed by them, considering how uncomfortable they
are.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Regarding mass transit, what I am still waiting for is a plan
with timetables and funding and a fast track for implementation. Maybe
this is coming with Maps 3, but as it stands now, even though this bond issue
has $9 million for mass transit, I am inclined to vote against it. At the
rate you propose to borrow money, Oklahoma City will go broke trying to fund
these repair bills. We should be spending more money to get people out of
their cars and onto a multi-modal mass transit system. Fewer cars on the
roads means less wear and tear on the roads and thus less maintenance and less
need to take out 30 year mortages and thus pay 3 times the principle amount to
repair roads. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I am also waiting for Oklahoma City to start doing its
part in this war on terror. During World War II, people on the home
front supported the war effort. They didn't send money every week to Nazi
Germany or fascist Japan to help them buy bombs and bullets to kill the Allied
troops and innocent civilians. If the people of Oklahoma City had
responded in 1941 the way that the government and people of Oklahoma City are
responding now, we would all be speaking German or Japanese.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Every time we fill our tanks with gasoline, we send money to
fascists who kill civilians to make political points and who are also shooting
and killing our soldiers. I accuse myself first of all of this material
cooperation with evil. But Oklahoma City government, and those responsible
for that government, are also guilty of material cooperation with evil because
we are doing nothing to lessen the flow of Oklahoma City money into the bank
accounts of fascist terrorists in the Middle East. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I understand that this isn't your intention, nor is it mine,
but that is the practical result of our addiction to gasoline and the single car
driving down the road with one passenger. Whether we like it or not, our
actions have these consequences. Your bond issue proposes that we borrow
$500 million to make it easier and more comfortable for us to continue sending
money to fascists in the Middle East. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Maps 3 and this bond issue provide Oklahoma City (and other
area governments) with opportunities to start doing our part in the war on
terror by reducing our use of gasoline through the fast track implementation of
a mass transit system that serves all of central Oklahoma. Instead, as
configured thus far, mass transit is once again the unwanted step-child of
Oklahoma City government. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>However, there is one very interesting thing about the city's
desire to borrow $500 million to fix the roads that deserves some comment.
Opponents of mass transit are fond of saying that mass transit is subsidized
transit, and that cars and trucks "pay their own way" through the gasoline
taxes, licenses and other fees. Obviously this is not true, since Oklahoma
City is proposing that the property taxpayers of Oklahoma City subsidize the
automobile system by approving $500 million in city mortgages to pay for its
roads.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Bob Waldrop</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>1524 NW 21</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Oklahoma City, OK 73106</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>405-613-4688</FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>