Letter to the editor: Waste haunts city

By Chris King, Tulsa - 11/5/2009


Just over a year ago when the city insisted on replacing the traffic signal lights at Interstate 44 and Peoria Avenue at a cost of $300,000, people were upset and complaining that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation was going to replace the (perfectly working) signals, so why waste the money on new ones?

Today you see the $300,000 spent on those signals with the even newer set of lights just behind them as promised. Today the entire city network of expressway lighting is turned off to save $240,000. This is not to mention the other wasteful projects the mayor's team bought to satisfy special interests with disregard for future essential necessities that any normal city comparable to Tulsa would expect.

Grounding the police helicopters and laying off officers because the till was raided to pay for pet projects should absolutely be prosecuted in a court of law. Let's hope the next mayor will have some sort of business sense instead of the mind of a teenager at the mall.



Letters to the editor are encouraged. Each letter must be signed and include an address and a telephone number where the writer can be reached during business hours. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters should be a maximum of 250 words to be considered for publication and may be edited for length, style and grammar. Letters should be addressed to Letters to the Editor, Tulsa World, Box 1770, Tulsa, Okla., 74102, or send e-mail to letters@tulsaworld.com.


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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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QLC, (11/5/2009 9:04:36 AM)
Hijinx, you just caused Chris's mind to go into a major warp by providing logic. I hope that he will be ok. I guess it is always easier to just complain that to actually provide facts.

Fruits&Nuts, (11/5/2009 1:56:08 PM)
Uncontrolled intersections are proven life savers.

Hijinx, (11/5/2009 7:19:05 AM)
Good points, but don’t the lights come out of the state coffer?

justiceawaits, Claremore (11/5/2009 9:27:41 AM)
I`m sure the company that supplies the lights and instalation service is providing a kick back somewhere to somebody. They had the same problem in another department last year too.

Allgeeteredup, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:33:08 AM)
For the Mayor to have the nerve to say that the new City Hall doesn't come out of the same funds as those which seem to be lacking and have forced all City workers to take 8 furlough days. In this economy, that is an entire group who will be less able to pay those decreased intake of sales tax which she says is the reason for the furlough days. Vicious circle Mayor Taylor. Vicious circle. I agree that the Mayor has been like a kid in a candy store. She walks in and, "I want this, I want that" never taking into account that the City can't afford it. The new City Hall is the worse decision she has made. And, City workers are paying for her mistakes. She is a Mayor who pitches a fit and holds her breath until she gets her way. It's a shame we gave in before she turned blue!!!!!!!!!

Gasp, tulsa (11/5/2009 11:52:33 AM)
We should take a clue from France and put the traffic sign folks out of business. They are developing a very efficient traffic systems that minimize the use of traffic sign lights saving millions in sign and accident costs and they keep traffic moving. I was able to drive long stretches in off hours without stopping by going through a circle sans a weight at a light.

hmmmmmmm, (11/5/2009 8:11:50 AM)
The city needs to implement a Common Sense department.

Loophole, (11/5/2009 7:28:29 AM)
I've often wondered if the city receives more than it costs to install traffic lights. How else can we justify traffic signals every 300 feet around St. Francis, St John's, and several other areas?



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