I for one would welcome Iron76hd back in a minute, things are often said in the "heat of the moment", and while I totally disagree with his stance on MAPS3, you have to admire his compassion.

Iron76hd had compassion? He was a union dickhead who wanted to get us all on board with this idea that MAPS 3 should just be a goddamn bake sale for the police and fire union. Still though, I would more than favor him getting unbanned. I wouldn't have ever banned him in the first place, but whatever. I actually think that his posts did more harm than good to his side because they exposed the idiocy and ignorance on their side.

That said, I was an outright jerk to him and the other NTMers, and I readily admit that. Things are said in the heat of the moment, and I would like to apologize to the people I was a dick to. I'm just glad the city is moving forward. I was especially a jerk to LarryOKC.. I would say a general statement that is generally true, that we have come to be familiar with, and he would spew out some extremely long post with several columns full of numbers and crap telling me that it's not true.. lost in semantics. I just didn't have the patience to deal with his posts for some reason.

I would readily extend an olive branch to any of them, and I hope they become contributing members. Especially now that we as a city need to take a very serious look at public safety. Yes the unions should be ashamed of themselves and I hope they lose some bargaining chips after what they just pulled and lost, but we need to be able to recognize that there are good cops and firefighters who are caught in the middle of this debacle and it's not right to give public safety the shaft just because they're officially represented by the worst, most deplorable, and unethical union that's been in the news lately. After the huge stink that was just raised about public safety, and with it being fresh in everyone's minds, we need to sit down and examine what the deal is..not ruling out any solutions. Weigh the solutions. Should we go ahead with the pay cut that every other dept already got (including the mayor's office and city manager's office)? Should we hire more cops, if so, how? Do we push for county-city consolidation? Do we add on to the permanent sales tax for public safety? Do we seek more federal grants?

This is what we have though. We have the highest-paid police force in this part of the country. Cops AND firefighters are both making on average around $75,000 .. which would blow the minds of most people. Yes it's true that they start around $40,000 -- but the reality is most have been on the force for years and years. And we should reward that experience and tenure by all means. Experience on the force is what leads to a talented and brave police. But they are the highest-paid police force in this part of the country. So when they complain about being understaffed, maybe they should handle that internally without increasing the pay roll? Yes, that means pay cuts. But yes, that means more police officers. When officers say they'd gladly take a pay cut to have more people on patrol with them, will they put their money where their mouth is? Doubtful that the union would agree to that.

If the county's 200 full-time police were added to the city's force, would that constitute a beefed up patrol?

Better question -- can they PROVE that they're understaffed? Is crime rising in OKC? Is there a PROBLEM with crime?? The answer is, no there is not. But by all means, prove me wrong. Now that MAPS 3 is passed, let the dialogue rightfully shift to this. Let's take a collective look at this issue, and if everything is as it seems, let's move along and let the unions screw the city over again as usual. If not though, if there is a problem, then we owe it to ourselves and our servicemen to demand that the city finds a solution.

I for one would welcome Iron76hd back in a minute, things are often said in the "heat of the moment", and while I totally disagree with his stance on MAPS3, you have to admire his compassion.

per'aps you mean passion...?

I'm glad I read all of Spartan's post because the first paragraph made me nearly ignore the rest.

I do not for one minute believe that either side in this fight is without sin so it is not hard for me to believe the City has culpability.

I really liked the later comments of @TonyL as well.

"TonyLRobertson @Martzmimic All I am saying is that one group of people should not be able to vote other peoples money away. That's called socialism. #Maps3"

Haha.

There has been very, very little opposition for MAPS3 on Twitter, and a ton of really positive comments from young, creative people in this city and across the metro. That demographic is why we do MAPS, they are our future, and they are LOVING OKC. That is great news.

Shane,
You hit it right on the nail. This is about quality of life to seniors, stopping the exodus of our youth to other places and drawing retirees, college grads, entrepreneurs, artists and others to our increasingly progressive city. I am pumped. Will be in the city on the 29th, can't wait.:kicking:

Compassion? That was in scant supply, which is why he got banned.

Passion for defeating MAPS3, not for his fellowman

per'aps you mean passion...?

I stand corrected

Spartan,

As one of the union "dickheads" that you are so graciously offering an olive branch to; i would also offer you the opportunity to come see the other side of the tracks as well. Come on down to my fire station and ride along with us for a few shifts. Ask those tough questions, look at my paycheck and my hours worked after 20 years of service and tell me whether or not I'm deserving of what you pay me. I'll even throw in a copy of our union "dickhead" contract for you and explain (only one side of course) of how negotiations with the city go every year. Take notes, take pictures, bring a tape recorder and the family and just make a day of it. Then you can see if you can get the same offer from someone at city hall to compare notes.

But in return I get to ask those tough questions of you and what you post on your blogs. I've gotten the chance to watch you on here for awhile and I think that you are thick skulled, small minded and afraid to see another side of what you firmly hold to be true. I'll gladly talk to you about how many of the items you post are misleading or incorrect and be happy to back it up with documentation to prove my point. But I'm afraid that your like that little kid who believes that if you scream loud enough and long enough, then it must be true.

Our doors are always open and we're always here.....for you......whether you like us or not.

Have a wonderful night and go check your smoke detector so you're not one of my statistics.

Well said. But he did apologize for intentionally being a dick.