Safe Streets For Kids

Well, it's that time of the year AGAIN. Tulsa City Council elections are coming up in the spring. That means it's time for me to prowl around the neighborhood late at night, freezing my butt off, and collect 300 signatures to get on the ballot.

Yep. I'm announcing my CANDIDACY for Tulsa City Council District 9. If you see some skinny, FREEZING Chinese guy knocking on the front door, it's me. Independent candidates collect the signatures. Party candidates pay $50.

Why I'm running for City Council: I NEED a part-time job to pay tuition. I'm taking paralegal classes, to work in the legal field.

Most of CD9 voted for the River Tax. How do I justify my opposition to the River Tax? Priorities. Safer streets for kids, first.

What do I want to do as City Councilor? Make City streets safer for kids to bike and walk to school. Tulsa Public Schools operates the second largest bus fleet in the County. Along with the junk food, it's making the kids FAT.

I call on the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Warren Foundation to donate bikes to the TPS Police Department. They can escort kids to school. Please, no PINK bikes!

Gas prices will soon be $5. Streets need to do more than just move cars. Streets need to move more PEOPLE, improve air quality, reduce congestion, make us healthier, prevent bad hair days, and get kids in shape. The City needs to lose the red lights that cause long traffic jams during rush on Mid-Town intersections, such as 41st/Yale, 51st/Harvard, and 51st/Peoria.

Improving traffic flow in Mid-Town will make the rest of arterials more efficient, because Mid-Town is in the CENTER of Tulsa.

Instead of traffic lights, the City needs round-abouts, traffic circles, and other traffic calming devices to stop CRIMINAL speeding at school zones, and increase traffic flow at intersections.

It makes absolutely NO sense to allow 40mph from one red light on 41st to the other red light on 51st on Harvard. 2 Oklahomans die EVERYDAY because of motor vehicles. Making streets safer for kids makes the streets safer for the rest of us.

Mid-Towners need more opportunities to safely walk or bike to grocery stores, work, and for general healthy lifestyle.

Finally, the City NEEDS to review and amend the Comprehensive Plan to include sustainable transportation, such as bicycling, walking, and mass transit. Zoning codes should ENCOURAGE in-fill development that's profitable, as well as consistent with the neighborhood. Let's stop the fighting between development and neighborhood preservation.

Safe Streets 4 Kids. Vote Paul Tay.