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Who Owns Tulsa?
September 6, 2008
This is not the meeting we had planned, but it is the meeting we must have. Those of you who have been to our previous meetings know that I prefer interaction and dialogue and I promise that will be our model moving forward, but today, I need to make a statement.
It is my belief that if you deal with people openly and ethically, progress can be achieved.
Many of you have waited patiently, as I worked with the Tulsa Housing Authority and the Mental Health Association of Tulsa to negotiate a workable solution. I am sad to say that the result has been almost nil.
I thank you for your patience and tell you that the time for negotiations is over and the time for action is NOW!
During the past several weeks, we as a community have been repeatedly maligned for our opposition to this facility by the Tulsa World and others. I say to those who are so quick to point the finger – How dare you sit in judgment of us?
Those who would stand on the backs of the working class to build their vision of downtown? Those who repeatedly act in their own self-interest with little or no regard for what is ethical or even legal? Those who apparently think the ends justify the means? That wealth and power override the will of the majority? Those who would sit in an ivory tower and try to improve the lives of the few while trampling on the rights of the many? How dare you!
We haven’t said ‘no’ to the facility although we would have been justified in doing so. After all, it is clear that this location was ill conceived and that due diligence was completely lacking in the planning of this facility. It is clear that the intent is to move the problem out of downtown and into our neighborhood. They also blatantly failed to follow their own stated guidelines for neighborhood involvement.
I ask those who sit in judgment – have you provided a list of alternative sites which could be used following the current, successful community integration model? We have. Have you contacted the Mental Health Association and offered your backyard for the largest mental health facility in Tulsa? I didn’t think so.
Does anyone really believe this is just an apartment complex? An article on their own website states, “These are people with schizophrenia, serious bipolar disorders, and chronic depression. Often, these problems are coupled with drug and alcohol abuse”.
This same article states, “The housing program is being administered through the Tulsa Housing Authority, which also taps into federal funding.” On Thursday, Sally Bell and I went to Senator Inhofe’s office to request assistance. We were told that they had visited with Councilor Gomez who assured them no federal funding was being used.
Here again, they have purposely misrepresented this project. While the building is not being federally funded, it is designed in large part to house those who will receive federal housing assistance through various HUD programs.
A document submitted to the City permitting office is completely misleading. When asked to address the use units, they describe them without any mention of their relation to federal funding and their mental health purposes. In fact, they maintain, “the building will not include a supervised setting.” Then, why is it being staffed 24/7 by the Mental Health Association?
The twenty-five ‘safe haven’ rooms are characterized as ‘rooming and boarding house uses’. However, HUD defines a safe haven as a form of supportive housing that serves hard-to-reach homeless persons with severe mental illness who are on the street and have been unable or unwilling to participate in supportive services.
They tell us this facility will increase our property values? Well, I’m here to say they have already decreased our property values. The damage has been done and the only way to undo it is by taking this facility off the table and starting over. If it is worth doing, it should be worth doing right.
They will say there isn’t time or money to start over. I say they have had all the time in the world, while we have had none. They have made clear they have the money to do whatever they want - more money than what most of us can conceive.
Folks, I am tired - tired of being talked down to, tired of being treated like I am unintelligent and uninformed, tired of being lied to and misled. I am tired of a government and a political system which abuses power and represses free speech.
I can not tell you how many people support our cause, but are afraid to come forward for fear of retribution. Has Tulsa become a community where we must bend to the will of a few powerful individuals or be cast out of our professions or have our political aspirations dashed? Is there really no room for honest discourse and respect? Is there no room for average taxpayers at the table?
Well, I say move over because we are taking our place! It is time to take back our city and put it in the hands of people who are not afraid to fight for what is right and just and who believe that openness and honesty have a place in our government.
It is time to draw a line and ask – Who Owns Tulsa? and to answer with a clear, united voice – WE DO!
So, I announce today that we will fight this facility with every ounce of power we can muster and we will pursue every available avenue. We will file a lawsuit and we will contact the Inspector General at HUD and call for a public inquiry and we will reach out to anyone and everyone willing to help.
You are the key to our success. We must spread the word and keep the pressure on our public officials and those behind the funding of this project. I urge you to talk to everyone you know, put your e-mail distribution network to work. There isn’t a person in Tulsa who hasn’t puzzled over what is happening in our government. Tell them it is time to take back Tulsa! Put up signs, make phone calls, write letters and support our fundraising efforts.
It is time to make your voices heard and your votes count!
Julie H. Hall, JD, Chair
Who Owns Tulsa
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