Vision2 failed, but the effort behind it will likely continue

Tulsa County residents were told they had to act now to keep jobs in Tulsa.

Even though Vision2 failed, city leaders say upgrades to facilities at the airport are still needed to keep jobs in Tulsa.

Now, some city leaders are scrambling to come up with another plan, while others see the situation differently. 

"Vision2025 doesn't end until 2017, so there's plenty of time," Tulsa City Councilor Blake Ewing said.

But time is something Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett said we don't have when it comes to updating facilities at the airport to keep American Airlines, Spirit Aerosystems and the Navistar bus plant in town and growing, not cutting jobs.

"Today, those tenants out there are receiving phone calls saying that 'hey, I understand your city didn't support the moneys that would have made your facility better. Can we talk?" Bartlett said.

Now, Bartlett and other city and county leaders are back at the drawing board.

"It might be that we have to scale some things back," Bartlett said. "Or... I'm not really sure."

"Whatever's necessary to get it done, because we have to get it done."

Ewing agreed about the upgrades at the airport.

"It's important," he said. "Those are [City of Tulsa] facilities, and I think they need to be modernized."

But Ewing, an outspoken critic of Vision2, said we should take our time and do it right.

"Solicit citizens input, have some public  conversation, and put something out there that doesn't have kind of the cloud of suspicion over it that Vision did."

As for the quality of life issues in Proposition 2, both Bartlett and Ewing said those are the kinds of projects that can really grow Tulsa's economy.

"It's that type of stuff that employers look for," Bartlett said. "And it catches their eye, and it makes them want to come to Tulsa."

"Our urban core is important," Ewing said. "We've got to start building a city that young, creative people want to live in. This needs to be the greatest city in the world to create a business in."

Both men agreed that Vision2 may have died on election day, but the intent and goals behind it are still very much alive.

"We'll come up with a plan B, or C, or D, or whatever it is," Bartlett said. "But it will be done properly and at the appropriate time."