By Paige Orr, FOX23.com News Staff
TULSA, Okla. — A heated debate over $5 million and the future of historic north Tulsa is circulating through the community as residents voice concerns that a 2023 voter decision could be overruled by the Tulsa City Council.
The frustration reached a boiling point Wednesday night during a public hearing and continued Thursday as the Greenwood Legacy Corporation held a project update meeting at the Rudisill Regional Library. At the heart of the issue is a 2023 sales tax package where Tulsa voters approved $5 million specifically for the implementation of the Kirkpatrick Heights-Greenwood Master Plan.
However, a new proposal at City Hall, known as the Brown Ordinance, would shift that funding away from the specific 56-acre master plan and into a general economic development fund for all of District 1. For many residents, the move feels like a renegotiation of a promise already settled at the ballot box.
“When we voted yes on a sales tax package, 60% did, we’re making a decision based on specific commitments about how our money will be spent,” one concerned neighbor said during the public hearing. “If you all vote to redirect these funds, the message to all of us voters is clear. Your yes vote is provisional”.
The Greenwood Legacy Corporation, the entity currently tasked with the roadmap for redeveloping the 56 acres, argues that the master plan is the result of years of community input. Dr. Lana Turner-Addison, chair of the corporation, said the funding represents a mandate from the public that should not be ignored.
“I strongly oppose any attempt to remove or redirect the funding the voters authorized,” Turner-Addison said. “The vote in 2023 was a mandate. It was a clear directive from the people of Tulsa. When residents participate in good faith, their voice must remain the central focus. It must remain the compass”.
Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, who proposed the amendment, has stated the shift is necessary to move control to “trusted” local partners like the Tulsa Economic Development Corporation (TEDC). Critics of the change, however, worry that switching partners now would “abort the vision” and stall progress just as the project is ready to begin physical work.
John Hall, executive director of the Greenwood Legacy Corporation, told residents Thursday that the $5 million is the key to moving from paper plans to physical construction.
“That five million is for us to move dirt,” Hall said. “I just wanna make sure from my vantage point to you that that is why we need the five million to stay where it is”.
As the power struggle over the funds continues, neighbors say they are fighting to ensure their original “yes” vote remains final.
“So we the people still say yes,” another neighbor added. “Keep the $5 million and honor those that have taken time and effort with a glorious plan that still import a vision, but we don’t want to abort the vision.”
The Tulsa City Council has scheduled another public hearing regarding the proposed changes for May 13. Until then, the future of the funding and the Kirkpatrick Heights-Greenwood Master Plan remains in flux.
