Tulsa’s city council isn’t quite ready to commit money to a parks consolidation study.
The group leading the charge, Tulsa’s Leadership Vision, wants $40,000 from the city for the final phase. Several councilors say they haven’t heard about the first two phases and need to before moving ahead.
Councilor Anna America said consolidating the city and county systems seems like a no-brainer.
"But county parks and city parks are pretty different. We have lots and lots of small, neighborhood parks intentionally. We want there to be parks in neighborhoods that, you know, parents can take their kid down there and play on the playground," America said. "The county doesn't have parks like that. The county parks are all destination parks."
Tulsa's Leadership Vision member Howard Barnett said he wasn’t surprised by the council’s reaction to the group’s pitch.
"It has been a long time. It's been since January that the last element of this was done and some of our contacts were made with some of the people in power, and so it's a bit of out of sight, out of mind," Barnett said.
Tulsa’s Leadership Vision privately raised $77,000 for the first two phases of the study and recently secured a funding commitment from Tulsa County for the final phase, which is creating a parks master plan.
"If we have a strategic plan, then the city leadership, the county leadership, citizens of Tulsa, foundations, everybody can be rowing in one direction toward the achievement of outstanding parks," said Tulsa's Leadership Vision member John O'Connor.
Tulsa’s Leadership Vision will raise half the money for the final phase, which will cost $116,000. Tulsa County has committed $18,000 dollars to it, which Tulsa's Leadership Vision determined would be an equitable share based on the size of the county parks system compared to the city's.
