What does Oklahoma City know that Colorado Springs doesn’t? Fifty local business and civic leaders are in Oklahoma City this week, not to watch the Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association playoffs, but to learn the flourishing city’s secrets.
The goal of the scouting mission: Find out what led to Oklahoma City’s economic renaissance and how Colorado Springs can follow suit.
“This city is known for innovative ideas, and there are some great things happening,” said City Councilwoman Jan Martin, who is on the trip, which concludes Friday.
On the trip are representatives from top businesses and organizations, including El Paso County, the city of Colorado Springs, the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corp., the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and others.
The population of Oklahoma City is 579,999, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, slightly larger than Colorado Springs’ 416,427 residents.
Participants are learning about Oklahoma City’s developments in the arts, government, sports and the environment, said El Paso County spokesman Dave Rose. Each organization is paying its way, he said.
The site of the 1995 bombing of a federal building, Oklahoma City has since resurrected a moribund downtown with renovations and additions that include a baseball park and library, improved its public education system and added 72,000 jobs between 2004 and 2009, according to the city’s website. During the recession, Oklahoma City consistently had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation.
This is the third annual “Regional Leaders Trip” to study cities that are nationally recognized as doing things right. Local officials visited Charlotte, N.C. and Austin, Texas, on previous trips.
Rose said participants on last year’s trip were impressed by how Charlotte and Mecklenburg County work together to enhance public services and save money.
As a result, El Paso County and the city of Colorado Springs improved joint contracting to get lower prices on fuel through volume purchasing, he said.
Also, last month, El Paso County commissioners renewed a push to collaborate with the city of Colorado Springs. On the table is at least one idea gleaned from Charlotte: a centralized customer service call center to respond to transportation issues.
Oklahoma City’s downtown development details
Late 1980s: Companies began abandoning downtown following a major economic downturn
December 1993: Voters passed a 1 percent sales tax increase to fund a $254 million downtown revitalization project including a new baseball park, a new sports arena, convention center expansion, a new library, a downtown canal and river construction, renovations to the State Fair Park, civic center upgrades and a transit system
1998: What is now the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark opened; voters approved a six-month extension of the sales tax
December 1998: Voters approved a six-month extension of the sales tax
1999: Trolley system opened
2001: Extensive renovations completed at the Civic Center Music Hall; voters pass a sales tax and bond issue to fund public school construction projects
2002: The Ford Center, a concert venue that in 2005 hosted the NBA’s Hornets franchise following Hurricane Katrina and now is home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, opened
2004: North Canadian River parks and waterway restoration completed
2009: Voters passed a $777 million tax-funded proposal to build a central park downtown, a new convention center, a commuter rail system and other economic development projects
Source: The Oklahoman
Guess who is actually paying to send all of these representatives to Oklahoma??? The lucky COS and ElPaso County taxpayers. As usual, they think that this will somehow help the poor helpless schmucks who live here. NOT!!!
The key to these kinds of trips is doing something when you get back.
Oh good grief! According to Bob, there’s a better way – just cut taxes to the bone, pull a cover over our heads so that no outside ideas get in, and just hope for the best.
The ‘poor helpless schmucks’ that live here will be best served by a vibrant community with a growing employment base.
Being known as the cheapest (in all meanings of the word) is just not the path to success.
Reporter: can we get a list of all local officials and public employees who went on this wasteful and pointless junket? Jan Martin and Sallie Clark wouldn’t know an innovative idea if it dropped on their heads.
@ surelyjones: I’ll do a follow-up next week, after they get back. Each individual organization is paying for their reps to go. The county sent four people. I asked for the cost of the trip but haven’t gotten a response yet. Debbie Kelley, Gazette reporter
surelyjones:
Ms. Martin is quite well versed in the needs of the community, very perceptive and working to better the community with no hidden agenda such as wanting to move up the political food chain. She does it because she cares. Clark appears to be losing her support in the community as she is slowly becoming recognized as not really having done anything significant in strengthening the local economy.
The city and even the county are generally quite careful in seeing that no taxpayer dollars are used for these excursions. Although the purpose of such trips it so better and further our own community, they are usually paid for with private funds. I would be very surprised to see that any tax money would have been used for this fact-finding trip.
Like Rick Wehner, I would be extremely surprised if any tax dollars funded this trip. It’s easy to be an armchair critic and call it “wasteful”, but it isn’t. It’s wonderful that 50 local leaders from many different sectors made this a priority, found their own ways to pay for it, and went together to learn from other cities and exchange ideas with other civic leaders. I’m proud we have that many leaders in the Pikes Peak region, whether they work in local government or the business or service sectors, who are willing to go the extra mile to learn something new. If they bring home one great idea that can work here, I’ll consider the whole trip to have been a success.
@Connie:
In spite of all the negative comments, we have a city government and an economic development sector that has operated with a high level of integrity and strong ethics – and the strengthening of this partnership will move us forward.
50 people huh? Don’t suppose 5 would have been sufficient.
You guys know that Oklahoma City is the home-base of people like Edward Gaylord and Clay Bennett, owners of the Broadmoor. It’s that type of entrepreneurial attitude that leads to success, not bigger and more intrusive government and higher taxes. They could have just had this meeting up Lake Avenue and saved everybody some money.
Bring us back a Braum’s Ice Cream store.
They could have learned all of that by going online.
Having living in OKC for 7 years, I can tell you one BIG thing that’s different: OKC isn’t overrun with right-wing neo-con evangelicals!
Maybe they should also vist Sandy Springs Georgia. They are doing it right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8qFvo2qJOU&feature=player_embedded
Somewhat ironic that most of the innovations for OKC were from increases in taxations. Even COS citizens have approved tax hikes…if they are targeted and properly communicated. I would love for them to learn how best to sell innovations here, esp. the idea of a downtown ballpark and a convention center.
Looking at all of the above comments, it is no surprise that the rest of the country looks down on COS. The town is full of cheap morons who are totally fooled by the cheap parlor tricks of our incompetent and wasteful city council. I am so glad that I am leaving this God forsaken dump that used to be city but is now just military bases and retirees.
Bub-bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The key to OKC’s success was paying 8.5 to 9% sales tax on a temporary basis. It sucked big time when I was out there, but you could see immediate improvements. And as long as you saw the changes happening, people kept on extending the sales tax. If I recall correctly, the sales tax increase ended July 4, 1999 and they had a fireworks show to end all fireworks shows to celebrate. Sad thing is, COS residents will never pay 9% sales tax and a revitalization like OKC will never happen here.
I seem to remember that they had this information years ago. OKC has a vibrant downtown centered around Bricktown. A classy downtown Minor League ball park verses one the burbs. Bass Pro Shop, shopping and many eateries. Pretty much no duh research if you ask me. A google search would have been much cheaper…
This is exactly why people in Colorado Springs will not approve further taxes to allow our hard earned money to go to such wasteful government projects. When or if the members of City Council start acting like the money is their own, this kind of garbage will stop.
It doesn’t matter what they learn as the sad majority of voters here will not approve anything. People better get their $#!t together around here or there will be a mass exodus.
There already was and still is an ongoing exodus from COS. Just try to find any high tech around here anymore. The only ones coming to COS now are military and military retirees. Probably should just rename the town Fort Colorado Springs!
I am not sure what COlady is talking about; Oklahoma is consistently the reddest state in the nation at the moment. That’s pretty clear given their voting record. They’re redder than Texas at this point.
Having grown up there and visiting my hometown of OKC quite often, I have seen how bad OKC has been and how great it is now. It’s like a completely different city. One thing that I have not seen mentioned is that a big, big reason for OKC’s revilatization and job growth is because of something that no lefty likes to admit: local oil companies and their commitment to reviltalizing downtown OKC. Yes, temporary tax increases have helped and I will not dispute that fact. But the oil companies are doing a lot to invest in the community – I was there in April and the revitalization of downtown OKC is still going strong.
Big names such as Devon, Sand Ridge, Chesapeake, etc. are making it a priority to pour money back into the community – which is fantastic and I commend them for investing their money back into the local economy. Devon and Sand Ridge also own part of the OKC Thunder and were pivotal in bringing the team to the state. The owners of these companies are rooted in OKC and the heartland region and know that it is their best interest to put money back into the community. Shocker, I know. All oil companies are not the devil. OKC and the suburbs also foster a small business community that is like no other I’ve seen. Unlike COS, a good 70% of all stores in the surrounding communities are small businesses. Not chains. When was the last time you drove down Powers and found something that wasn’t a chain?
This is what COS lacks – strong, successful local companies that are willing to invest their earnings back into the community and an inability to foster a small business environment community. Instead we have a distrust of our local government because of bad deals made with businesses in the past (USOC), and development which has certainly led to an onslaught of non-local companies filling up the Powers corridor.
Oh yeah. The wonderful USOC deal. What did that get for COS. They won’t even allow the Olympic rings symbol on the building. I bet Jan Martin and Sallie Clark were right behind our loser soon to be ex mayor Lionel “train” RIvera in support of that big money loser. Thank God they can now travel at our expense to OKC to learn the right way to do things.
Yet again another taxpayer funded junket (would v. much appreciate the net rip off, I mean fleecing, I mean expense – in toto – to the the taxpayer) by a bunch of incompetent gomers who couldn’t run a lemonade stand on a hot day.
Colorado (Springs)……………, “Thinking Forward……..”
@ John: County spokesman Dave Rose tells me the trip cost about $850 per person, depending on how long a participant stayed. That cost is for a couple of nights, travel and food. The county sent four people. I’ll do a follow-up story next week. Debbie Kelley, Staff reporter, The Gazette
Let’s check the math. About 50 people going to OKC for no good reason at about $1,000.00 per person. Sounds like that adds up to about $50,000.00 of our tax money frankly wasted for a citizen funded vacation without purpose. Glad I did not vote for Sallie Clark or Jan Martin. Even so, it looks like I am paying for it now. Sounds like we are living in Camp Colorado Springs with excessive goverment waste more every day. I am so glad that Colorado Springs still “creates community”?!?!?
OMGWTF! COS is sooooo FOS!!
What an effin’ waste of my money. Why are the city and county officials here not held accountable for their stupidity?
Economic development trip to Oklahoma? Whose economy did this $50,000.00 trip by the “leaders” of COS actually help? Sounds like OKC was the winner here!
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[...]About 50 participate in economic development trip to Oklahoma – The County Seat : Colorado Springs Gazette, CO[...]…
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[...]About 50 participate in economic development trip to Oklahoma – The County Seat : Colorado Springs Gazette, CO[...]…