Reporter Opinion: The aftermath is the story
Today, the Board of County Commissioners held a special meeting to continue a public hearing and vote on a zoning application (CZ 565, PUD 871) for Project Clydesdale. There was no legal reason to deny the zoning change requested by the landowner. More citizens objected to this development than any other Tulsa County has faced, but it was approved.
Multiple local trade unions, including the Northeast Labor Council, voiced strong support, citing the creation of high-wage jobs and paid apprenticeship programs. For iron workers alone, the project is estimated to represent $1.5 million in wages and nearly $1 million in benefits annually. They wore identifying shirts and caps and jackets.
Everyone was polite until the crowd began to file out.
Several union members passed the young cowboy who was first to speak on topic to the commissioners and they acted like they were wiping their ass then rubbed their fingers on his hat. Others rubbed their fingers together as in “we got the money” on the way past.
The mother told the union fool, “It was sick to do that to a 5-year-old child and you are an adult. You are sick.
“Then the lady behind him said, ‘You are a sick parent to raise him for your agenda like this.’
“You are the sick one,” the mother told the lady.
A union official who confirmed the exchange said, “[Then] I put my head down and exited.”
A Republic of free people requires civilization which requires grace even when we may strongly disagree. If civilization is not the goal, then war is the only other path and that is not good for anyone.
If union thugs think they can war against citizens, that may explain why union membership is declining. If they want to bully a child… try that on me.
I have been proudly fired from a job I enjoyed when my direct superior threatened me. Hired as managing editor, the business side of the house tried to tell me how to edit and manage which ended that engagement. Funny thing, ownership wants me to return and the executive who threatened is now gone.
When not reporting, I am active as a Traditional Republican and yet, I have told more than one Republican “leader” where to go, how to get there, how fast they should travel, and suggested what they should take with them. As former-mayor Kathy Taylor (Democrat) once publicly noted, I’m an “equal opportunity aggravator” and I have made that my standard.
Project Clydesdale is expected to have a significant economic impact on the region. Proponents highlighted a $2 to $3 billion capital investment and the creation of up to 200 direct, full-time jobs with an average salary of $71,000, in addition to hundreds of local construction jobs during a five-year build-out. For iron workers alone, the project is estimated to represent $1.5 million in wages and nearly $1 million in benefits annually.
The project is seen as a key part of diversifying Oklahoma’s economy beyond oil and gas and is one of 125 active projects, many of them data centers, being solicited and facilitated by the Tulsa Regional Chamber.
Community concerns and opposition assertions as well as project specifications and mitigation measures discussed are continued on Substack here. Readers here like shorter stories and this was four hours of complaints, answers, outrage, patronizing, and most sadly, picking on kids.