How surprising was it that MAPS 4 in Oklahoma City passed? It
was a hard-fought, noisy campaign, with debaters “FOR” and “AGAINST” duking it
out in public forums, polls showing a race that was neck-and-neck, hard
feelings on both…
Oh wait. Nope. We were thinking of some other election,
maybe one that occurred on a date when people were actually engaged and
thinking about voting. You know, some date, like we don’t know, in November of
an even-numbered year.
The MAPS 4 vote happened yesterday, December 10, in an
odd-numbered year, on a date that pretty much said “Hey, really folks, don’t
bother. Just leave this to us.” The “us” in a city numbering 650,000
citizens was a total of 44,439,
or 6.8% of the population. That’s right, just over one-twentieth of the
population has decided that everybody is going to continue paying extra sales
tax.
Except that’s overstated. Actually, only 31,865 people voted
in favor of MAPS 4. That’s only 5% of the population. But wait, the difference
between the “Yes” votes and the “No” votes was 19,291, which means only 3% of
Oklahoma City’s citizens determined that everybody else would pay the MAPS 4
tax. The turnout and margin of victory are even worse if you consider the
entire Oklahoma City metropolitan area, which numbers some 1.25 million souls.
One might wonder why there was no more effort on the “No”
side of the MAPS 4 proposition. The answer is simple. On the “Yes” side is a
coalition of motivated individuals anxious to see upgrades at Chesapeake Arena,
a new arena at the OKC Fairgrounds, youth centers, bike lanes, that crony “innovation
district,” and a host of social projects, some of which include facilities the
city will not even fully control.
On the “No” side are people who would like to keep as much
of their own earnings as possible, but none of whom see much sense in spending
a lot of time and effort fighting an election that will take place only two
weeks before Christmas. After all, folks are more interested in shopping,
planning vacations, and getting the last of the decorating done.
So, the motivated voters who get a LOT more benefit from
MAPS 4 showed up in bigger numbers than those who bear the costs, conveniently
spread out over more than just the population of OKC-proper. What a shock. MAPS 4 won.
It’s long past time for the Republican majority in the State
Legislature that claims it’s for limited government to stop
purposely-engineered election results by those who benefit from big government.
Now to get ready for school board elections that
happen in – when is it? – oh yeah, February.Byron Schlomach is Director of the 1889 Institute and can be reached at bschlomach@1889institute.org.
The
opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author, and do not necessarily
reflect the official position of 1889 Institute.