Mayor wants to add 4.3 million dollars to 3rd penny tax proposal for American Airlines
At Thurday's Tulsa City Council Meeting, Mayor LaFortune dropped a corporate welfare bomb during the Mayor's Report portion of the meeting. Citizens in attendance were somewhat surprised to actually see the Mayor "in persona" at the meeting. In some circles the Mayor's persistent absence during the so-called Mayor's report has earned LaFortune the title of "No Show Bill," mimicking famed Country and Western's legendary George Jones "No Show Jones" nickname. The Mayor's attendance at the meeting is an excellent indicator that Tulsa's campaign season is in full swing.
The Mayor spoke on two items at the meeting - To urge support for the resolution to eliminate substandard housing in Tulsa, and to announce that he is adding $4.3 million dollars to his 3rd penny sales tax proposal. The additional money will be used to build two hangars for American Airlines use. American supposedly needs more space and capacity at it's Tulsa facility with their transition from a cost center to a profit center.
I find this ironic timing since earlier on Thursday, the Tulsa World reported that AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines had a whopper of a fourth quarter loss of $604 million dollars. American attributed higher fuel prices as the major culprit. The airlines has already benefited from Tulsa's corporate welfare with Vision 2025 to the tune of $22 million dollars as well as receiving upgrades in infrastructure from the City of Tulsa.
With staggering losses and pressure from competition, I wonder if American Airlines will be Tulsa's next Great Plains Airlines fiasco? A venture that has cost the taxpayers of Tulsa and Oklahoma dearly and continues to "cha ching" us today.
I'm interested in your thoughts on the Mayor's announcement. Vol 2 No 2 Tulsa Topics PodCast is linked below with audio of Mayor's report on this item. Give it a quick listen and let me know your take on this proposal. Feel free to comment on this post or send an email to Tulsa Topics.
Comments can be made by sending an email at tulsatopics-AT-gmail.com (replace the -AT- with @) or clicking on the graphic directly below.
Posted by Bobby on 
January 20, 2006 01:54 AM | 
Tulsa Tulsa+Mayoral+Election+2006 Tulsa+City+Council Bill+LaFortune American+Airlines Corporate+Welfare Great+Plains+Airlines 3rd+Penny+Sales+Tax
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Comments
is american airlines good for tulsa? ...yes, i think they are.
but we're already giving them TONS of $$ with vision 2025.
seems to me like this 3rd penny thing is tied way too close to the mayor's race. i think that bill's going to shuffle it around to where only the things that will [possibly] get him elected will be on the tax.
and that's NOT good for Tulsa. We need to have improvements made to the city that will be good for the city, not for just one person's political career.
if i had my way,
we would vote to simply finish the previous 3rd penny, and delay any new 3rd penny plan 'till after the elections are over, and everyone can settle back down in to some semblance of rational thinking... carefully plan out a 3rd penny that boosts river and downtown growth (tulsa's 2 greatest assets), and if we need to toss some $$ at AA, or whatever,
vote to extend or increase vision 2025.
Posted by: Carlos Moreno | January 20, 2006 08:04 AM
It would be nice if AA would buy from local suppliers first...
Posted by: D.S. | January 20, 2006 09:22 AM
I'm sure AA is important to Tulsa. However, so are the myraid of other businesses trying to make a profit everday. It is not fair to play fairy God mother to AA. Let them sink or swim just like any other company in America. I, for one, am tired of supporting this company with my tax dollars and certainly do not want to help the reelection possibility of Lafortune by buying in to this biased proposal.
BTW...didn't I just read a few days ago about multimillion dollar bonuses being given to management at AA for their "great work" !!!!
Posted by: vette | January 20, 2006 01:02 PM
sheesh... they already get practically free water....
This really disgusts mee...
I'm with vette. Let 'em sink or swim. No more corporate welfare!
Posted by: meeciteewurkor | January 20, 2006 02:37 PM
Plus only pay $1 a month for the old Builders Square building
Posted by: David S | January 22, 2006 10:12 PM