Urban renewal with a conservative flair
| Oklahoma City
Oklahoma鈥檚 schools, faced with a budget crunch, are increasingly going to four-day weeks. The starting salary for teachers hasn鈥檛 been raised in 10 years. The prisons are so overcrowded, they have asked for an additional $1 billion.
The state is facing an budget deficit 鈥� and it鈥檚 likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future, because in this conservative state few want to raise taxes (and they can鈥檛, without three-quarters of the legislature).
In short, there鈥檚 a big mess at the state capitol in Oklahoma City.
Across town, however, it鈥檚 a different story: The city has turned a neighborhood of abandoned warehouses into a chic shopping and dining area, built a grand new downtown library, erected a sports arena, and wooed its very own NBA team. Soon, it will break ground on a new convention center.
Remarkably, it hasn鈥檛 taken out a single loan to do any of this. No, this conservative city 鈥� the largest in the nation to vote for Donald Trump in 2016 鈥� gave itself a facelift by bucking right-wing orthodoxy and raising sales taxes.
Now, the man who presided over much of the revitalization 鈥� four-term Republican Mayor Mick Cornett 鈥� is running for governor, and hoping to apply some of the same principles that worked at the city level to the state as a whole.
鈥淭he governor is in a position to inspire and be the champion of people,鈥� says Mayor Cornett, speaking in an interview with the Monitor after his last State of the City address, in which he told the large audience that no city in America has come as far as his. 鈥淗ealth and education are two areas that this state has always had low standards for. We just allowed ourselves to not expect much,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y goal is to champion those two areas 鈥� and to raise people鈥檚 expectations.鈥�
Politically, Cornett represents an increasingly rare breed. While Republicans control a majority of state legislatures and governorships, relatively few sit at the helm of America鈥檚 greatest engines: cities. Metropolitan areas are home to more than . Yet fewer than a third of America鈥檚 largest cities today are run by Republicans. Among the top ten, only one (San Diego) has a Republican mayor.
Like many big urban centers, Oklahoma City has become less culturally conservative in recent years, says independent pollster Bill Shapard. For example, nearly two-thirds of the city鈥檚 suburban voters now support medical marijuana 鈥� something he says he never would have seen 20 to 30 years ago.
When it comes to fiscal matters, however, in some ways the city鈥檚 hand was forced. The decline of effective state government in Oklahoma 鈥� as in many states 鈥� has pushed responsibility for a whole range of projects from the capitol to city government.
鈥淢etropolitan cities now need to do things that traditionally states did for them,鈥� says Roy Williams, CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, who formerly worked for the Oklahoma State Chamber. 鈥淥klahoma is a great example鈥�. It鈥檚 placing huge responsibility to figure out 鈥� how do you fill these voids that the state is neglecting?鈥�
But while many cities have sought to revitalize their urban cores in recent years, Oklahoma City has done it in a unique way. Although the city has raised taxes, it has maintained a fiscally conservative approach by paying for projects as it goes 鈥� investing some $1.6 billion to burnish its image, all while remaining debt-free. It has also relied heavily on public-private partnerships, leading some critics to liken it to an 鈥渙ligarchy.鈥澛�
The model has attracted interest from dozens of other cities, many of whom are shocked to learn the development projects were not financed. There鈥檚 significant skepticism, however, about whether a similar strategy could be employed at the state level.
'I was skeptical'
Oklahoma City鈥檚 revitalization was born out of a failure: In 1991, it lost out to Indianapolis on a bid to attract a United Airlines facility.
As people here recall it, United basically told the city, 鈥淵ou guys have the best offer, but we don鈥檛 want to live here.鈥�
So then-GOP mayor Ron Norick decided the city needed to invest in itself.
He proposed a 鈥減enny tax鈥� 鈥� a one percentage point increase in the city鈥檚 sales tax 鈥� to raise $350 million for a round of public works projects, including the ballpark, the 鈥淏ricktown鈥� shopping district, the library, a new sports arena, and more. The measure, known as the Metropolitan Area Projects Plan, or MAPS, passed 鈥� though just barely.
The fundamental principle behind MAPS was that the city would not put a shovel in the ground for any given project until all the money for that project was in the bank. That way, every cent would go toward building 鈥� not toward interest.
鈥淲e have people [from other cities] contact us probably monthly, asking about the MAPS program, and usually it gets around to, 鈥楬ow did you finance this?鈥� And when we tell them we didn鈥檛 finance it, they鈥檙e shocked,鈥� says David Todd, who has headed up the MAPS office for the past six years.
While the funding structure was relatively unique, so was the patience required of citizens. They had to pay into MAPS coffers for more than four years before the first major project 鈥撀爐he ballpark 鈥撀爓as completed.
Gary Slater, for one, wasn鈥檛 a big fan.
An Oklahoma City native, he鈥檇 heard the hype a decade before around the 鈥淪tring of Pearls鈥� project, which promised stables, rodeoing, and picnicking right downtown. Then all the construction stopped.
鈥淚t kind of made you wonder where the money went, honestly. So when they started talking about MAPS, I was skeptical,鈥� says Mr. Slater, who also wasn鈥檛 a fan of the plan to close the old baseball stadium where he used to take his T-Ball team with a wad of cheap tickets from the grocery store. 鈥淏ut [the new stadium] really turned out nice. I ate my words.鈥�
While Oklahoma City has a weak mayoral system 鈥撀燙ornett serves part-time and is reportedly paid $24,000 鈥� the mayor has been a figurehead for the city鈥檚 success. After 14 years in office, he enjoys a 68 percent favorable rating, nearly double that of the current governor.
Skeptics say the factors that have helped revitalize the city 鈥撀爌articularly the willingness of locals to pay a tax, because they see where their money is going 鈥撀燾an鈥檛 be replicated from the governor鈥檚 seat.
At the state level, 鈥淚t鈥檚 this battle cry where nobody wants increased taxes under any circumstances,鈥� says Pete Brzycki, a former commercial real estate broker who now runs the independent journalism website, OKC Talk. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like [Cornett] can go on the state level and say, 鈥極h, we鈥檒l do MAPS for Oklahoma鈥� 鈥� that鈥檚 not going to work.鈥�
A land rush
Oklahoma City has always been a bit unorthodox.
Its origins can be traced back to US troops firing shots in the air at noon on April 22, 1889 鈥� signaling . Thousands of settlers, who had come by wagon or train, surged into western Oklahoma. By nightfall, some 10,000 people had staked out land in Oklahoma City.
Ever since, there鈥檚 been a unique culture of the public and private sectors working together, says Mr. Williams, the Chamber鈥檚 CEO, whose work has taken him all over the US as well as Asia.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty unusual,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e lived in a lot a lot of places where 鈥� there鈥檚 just no communication, and in fact there鈥檚 animosity鈥� between business leaders and public officials.
In what he admits is an 鈥渆xtremely odd鈥� arrangement, the Chamber runs the city鈥檚 MAPS campaigns 鈥� conducting polling to see what voters want, working with the city to finalize the MAPS package, and then convincing voters to support it.
Since the original MAPS program was approved, the Chamber has persuaded voters to support a second and then a third round. In 2001, a $700 million MAPS for Kids passed by 61 percent, enabling the city to build three new high schools and renovate more than 65 existing ones. In 2008, the Chamber poured $2 million into the $777 million MAPS 3 campaign, which passed by 54 percent. There鈥檚 already talk of a MAPS 4.
Ed Shadid, a city councilman and longstanding critic of MAPS, says the Chamber鈥檚 role effectively gives business interests veto power over the elected city council members 鈥� and the ability to push through expensive projects, like the $288 million convention center, which initially polled very poorly. People were more interested, he says, in senior wellness centers, trails, and sidewalks, which cost much less, so the city bundled them together into one package.
鈥淵ou put these things together with the [convention center] to get the turd in the punch bowl past the finish line,鈥� says Dr. Shadid, a surgeon.
Serving wealthy interests over others
Shadid, a 2014 mayoral candidate, also criticizes MAPS and other city initiatives for pouring money into projects that serve the city鈥檚 wealthy 鈥撀爏uch as a downtown streetcar 鈥� rather than those who need it most, like the workers who rely on an 鈥渁nemic鈥� bus system that provides only limited services in the evenings and on Saturdays, and none at all on Sundays in this metropolitan area of more than a million people.
When it comes to diversity, there鈥檚 ample room for improvement. Cecilia Robinson-Woods, the state鈥檚 only African-American school superintendent and a member of the Citizens Advisory Board that guides the development of MAPS projects, recalls a plan to give a new green space a 鈥淟antern City鈥� theme commemorating the white settlers of 1889 鈥� showing no regard for how the Land Rush sidelined Native Americans and African-Americans.
鈥淚鈥檓 boiling鈥�. I said, 鈥榃as there any thought given to making sure that there was representation from all of the people who were part of the beginning of statehood?鈥� 鈥� recalls Ms. Robinson-Woods, whose mother is from the Muscogee Creek Nation. She says her concerns were initially met with bewilderment, and then she was told that the art budget, which accounts for a very small percentage of the overall project, could be used to include representation of Native Americans.
Oklahoma City also spends very little on its social services grant program, and hasn鈥檛 increased that budget in 15 years, says Dan Straughan, executive director of the Homeless Alliance since 2004. But he adds that in the buckle of the Bible Belt, with a strong commitment to social justice ministry permeating the city鈥檚 culture, officials have found 鈥渙ther, really creative ways鈥� to funnel money to such services.
After the 2008 housing crash, the city got $22 million from HUD to address a mortgage crisis that Oklahoma City didn鈥檛 really experience. So the city asked HUD if they could put some of those funds instead toward the Homeless Alliance鈥檚 campus.
鈥淭o everyone鈥檚 great surprise, they said yes,鈥� says Straughan, sitting in his office next door to the city鈥檚 shelter, which includes showers, computers, a library branch, breakfast and lunch service, and even a pet kennel with free pet food and regular veterinary visits. Straughan says homelessness was subsequently cut from 2,500聽people seeking services to about half that, though it鈥檚 since risen back to about 1,400 due to rising rental prices.
Influx of entrepreneurs
Those higher rents are being driven in part by young entrepreneurs who are finding new opportunities in Oklahoma City.
Evan Anderson, a Duke University graduate and Oklahoma native, was brought home by a family tragedy but immediately saw an 鈥渁bundance of opportunity.鈥� Now he鈥檚 chief executive officer of Oseberg, a tech startup in the oil and gas industry. There鈥檚 a service-above-self mentality here, he says, and mentors who are unusually generous. One personally provided the collateral for Mr. Anderson鈥檚 company to take out a credit line; another spent hours in personal visits to help him develop his product.
Fifteen or 20 years ago, it was hard to find such folks.聽 Just ask Renzi Stone, a basketball star at Oklahoma University who decided to stay after graduation, and founded his own company, Saxum.
鈥淭here are 10,000 of me in New York but there鈥檚 only one me here,鈥� he realized, 鈥渁nd I probably can create something special.鈥�
Today, that something special lies in a majestic old building downtown. Exit on the 5th floor and you鈥檙e greeted with tinted glass windows, and Millennials typing away in booths and cubby spaces with expansive views of the city skyline. Mr. Stone is the campaign chairman for Cornett鈥檚 gubernatorial campaign. His company, a PR firm, employs 55 people 鈥撀燤uslim, gay, straight, Hispanic, African-American. A third of them are first-generation college graduates.
They鈥檙e also the first occupants in the building since April 19, 1995, when Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah federal building next door, killing 168 people.
The explosion was so powerful that residents 115 blocks away sitting at their kitchen table thought something had hit their home. It rattled the city, but also forged a unity that Cornett says has been crucial to its current success. For the 40-plus cities who have sent delegations to Oklahoma City to study its success in debt-free revitalization, it鈥檚 the one element that can鈥檛 be replicated.
鈥淲hen people leave here,鈥� he says, 鈥渢he one thing that they have trouble emulating is that there鈥檚 a unity that鈥檚 here,鈥� which he chalks up to having survived a major recession in the 1980s and then the bombing in 1995.
鈥淛ust like two people who go through an emotional time have a certain bond, it鈥檚 kind of like this city had a certain bond after those experiences,鈥� Cornett says. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 hard to artificially create.鈥�
Editor's Note: The wording in the subheading has been updated to make clear that while the MAPS program has been debt-free, Oklahoma City itself is not. In addition, while the city proper has some 600,000 residents, the larger metropolitan area has more than a million; and Dr. Ed Shadid is a surgeon not an anesthesiologist.
