I know these are murky waters and uncharted territory with the pandemic, but some basic questions must be asked about OKC's disbursal of CARES Act funds to Oklahoma City businesses.

First, to get this out of the way, yes, The Museum of the Bible/Hobby Lobby receiving the maximum allotment of funding from the city CARES funds prompted my own research into how the city made disbursal decisions.

Not surprisingly, the shadowy non-governmental agency , The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City, has been involved in the disbursal of these funds. How? Why? What exactly is the extent of their involvement? Who are they accountable to? If they are accountable to the City Council, how? What is recourse for citizens who question the allocation of these funds? Why is a private group, outside city governance, involved in how these funds are distributed?

According to The State of Oklahoma, The Alliance is a non-governmental domestic non-profit organization:




Many of us have known and followed The Alliance and Cathy O'Connor for years. We've all known how murky the waters get when they assume duties related to city government and economic development that, many of us believe, they actually do not have. The backroom dealings in city after city using these tactics, without the restraints and transparency required if it was the government itself, have not been tested at the level of SCOTUS, at least that I am aware of. In the end, I believe we could discover that these private groups have used power, vested to the states and municipalities, in ways that violate our constitution by making a mockery of sunshine and transparency laws across the country, including here in our own fair city.

Which brings me to the KFOR story about how The Museum of the Bible received part of the very limited funds intended for small business under the CARES Act. There are several quotes reported in the KFOR story from Cathy O'Connor, President and CEO of The Alliance, that stood out to me and I am curious about...

"We try to treat everybody fairly and in the same manner,” said Cathy O’Connor, the president of the alliance."

"The way the program is structured is we looked at basic financial information,” O’Connor said. “Most of the ones that did not get funded were because we exhausted the funding that the council allocated, and the second round was handled on a first come first serve basis."

“The office and the employees and their headquarters was documented as being in Oklahoma City, that’s how they were eligible to participate in our program,” O’Connor said.

“Which left around $1.6 million that was eligible for reimbursement through the CARES Act funding that the city received,” O’Connor said.

The emphasis used above is mine, of course, to show what I believe to be a certain arrogance and entitlement that Ms. O'Connor seems to assume for her private, non-governmental, non-profit organization. The quotes, at least, show The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City is not your everyday non-profit.

Yes, Ms. O'Connor, that last quote I listed from the story you got right -- that the CITY received.

Remember, this non-profit organization has no official ties to the City of Oklahoma City. Cathy O'Connor was elected by nobody. Yet, as shown above, she is armed with an incredible amount of power, implied and subjective as it is, though undeniably with clear approval from the city and certain powers that be.




This isn't about politics. I couldn't even tell you the party affiliation of the people involved. No, this is public policy in civic affairs about accountability, implied official governance by a private, non-profit organization, and why Oklahoma City has thrown its lot in with those cities who have chosen to outsource their responsibilities to an outside independent group without any official capacity. I have my feelings about why this is done, and I'm sure many of you would agree with my thoughts, while others will defend using private non-profits (with powerful directors) to act as middle-man when it comes to making crucial decisions about our city. As often as President/CEO O'Connor uses the word, "we," when discussing the public work of our city, we should remember that the "we" that matters is you and me, as in, "We The People."