Rock The River Looks For Your Vote With Entertainment

Thursday, September 13th 2007, 9:08 pm

By: News On 6

Thereâ€™s a big effort to get your vote for River Development. Itâ€™s â€œRock the Riverâ€ and News on 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports there were bands, free food and drink, but mostly this was a party with a purpose.

The vote is October 9th and many young professionals were out to help those undecided. Tulsa's Young Professionals played host to dozens of Tulsans on Thursday night all in hopes to get voter's in tune with the river tax.

â€œWe have this incredible river here. We're a cool city, we need to develop it and attract more young professionals to the area,â€ said Event Organizer Marnie Ducato. â€œThe more young professionals, the more jobs we'll have, and the more we can increase our tax base, the less we'll have to increase in the future.â€

Tulsa's Mayor Kathy Taylor stopped by to echo the same. She says it will pump millions of dollars into the economy and create thousands of jobs. For this crowd, a 4/10ths of a penny sales tax sounded like a good investment.

â€œI just recently moved here,â€ said new Tulsa resident Trey Hickson. â€œAnd I think it's a pretty attractive feature, but it could be improved.â€

Risha Grant, of the Tulsa Young Professionals, agrees, â€œTulsa, a lot of times it's hard to find things to do so having the river available and the development they have planned will be great.â€

Samantha Estes lives in Bixby and think it could help the entire area.

â€œLiving in Bixby, I've seen how Jenks has optimized their river resources so I think it's a good idea to extend it throughout the river,â€ she said.

Those on the â€˜yesâ€™ side arenâ€™t surprised with a lot of positive response, but they say the push to get young people to the polls may not be so easy.

â€œOur demographic, 40 and under, are the most likely to be supportive of the project,â€ proclaims Ducato. â€œBut there also the least likely to vote so we're trying to change that paradigm and get many people as we can out the polls.â€

Itâ€™s too late to register for the October 9th election. Thursday was the final chance. Broken Arrow, Owasso, and North Tulsa have come out against the tax. So weâ€™ll see next month if the â€œRock the Riverâ€ really rocked or hit a sour note.

Watch the video: Rock The River

Related Stories:

2/9/2007 Record Donation Aids Expansion Of River Parks Trail

6/20/2007 River Development Plans

6/21/2007 New Plans For Arkansas River Development

7/17/2007 River Development Reaches Another Landmark

7/18/2007 River Developments Hinges On Vote Of The People

7/18/2007 Arkansas River Development Plan Announced

7/19/2007 Campaign Planned To Push River Development

7/20/2007 River Development Plan Similar To One Already Passed

7/26/2007 City Councilor Has A New Plan To Pay For River Development

7/29/2007 Explaining Development Along The Arkansas River

7/30/2007 River Tax Debate Continues

7/31/2007 River Plan Not Popular With Tulsa County Residents

7/31/2007 River Plan Reactions

8/9/2007 River Development Plans Move Ahead

8/21/2007 River Tax Groups Turn To The Internet For Support

8/22/2007 Republican Group Against Arkansas River Tax

9/4/2007 Our River Yes Kicks Off River Development Campaign

9/5/2007 People For And Against River Tax Begin Campaigns

9/6/2007 Groups Battling For Votes On Arkansas River Tax

9/8/2007 North Tulsa Residents Rally Against River Tax

9/9/2007 River Tax Supporters Face Upstream Battle