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Why I am for MAPS?
There are some dates that are etched in our memory. We know exactly where we were, who we were with, and what the day was like such as Nov. 22nd, 1963, July 20th, 1969, January 28th, 1986, September 11th, 2001, and July 5th, 1982.
One such date I was on a Southwest Airline flight to Dallas. I sat next to a lady and started a conversation with her. She said she was on her way back to Dallas and was a bank examiner with the FDIC. She mentioned casually "we closed down Penn Square Bank this morning". I had no idea what the consequences of that statement would be. I would find out.
From 1971 to 1990 I partnered with my dad and owned Downey Glass Ltd. and Downey Architectural Products. 1973, '74, '75, and '76 were challenging years. In 1977 things changed with the beginning of the Oil Boom. It was amazing; it seemed so easy to make money. It was like a golfer going out one day and shooting an eagle on every hole. During that period from 1977 to 1983 Oklahoma had a booming economy; it seemed everyone was doing well. Jackie Cooper was the number one Rolls Royce Dealer in the world. Companies were flying in Hollywood Entertainers for their Christmas Parties. Two years in a row, I took my entire company to Breckenridge Colorado snow skiing.
1982 was one of my best years financially; however, by January of 1983 I realized the impact of what the lady said that July day. As a result of decisions I made during the boom, I could not downsize. I built, with two partners, an office warehouse on S.E. 18th and Eastern in 1981 which we promptly rented to oil field service companies. By the end of 1983 they were gone, but not the mortgage payment. Due to the location and the economic conditions we were not able to rent or lease the vacant spaces. One either pays or goes broke paying.
During the boom I made a sizeable sum of money and I felt that I could weather two years of a downturn, but not 10. We hit bottom economically in 1986. In January of 1986 oil was below $10 per barrel. Oklahoma was losing population at the rate of a city the size of Shawnee per year and as a result we lost a congressional seat.
After trying everyway I could think of to stay in business, I finally called it quits on June 15th, 1990. On September 13th, 1990 Dakil auctioned off everything and the proceeds went to pay creditors. I was 46 years old and broke. Twenty years of hard work gone.
I could have relocated, but after reading Grapes of Wrath, decided to stay in Oklahoma City. The only people interested in talking to me were life insurance companies. And why not? No sales, no payroll. In retrospect, it has turned out to be a very good business.
I was, in the beginning, like a pampered house cat that lost favor with my keeper and was thrown out of the house. I had to learn to hunt or starve. It was not easy; it meant calling people on the phone. Cold Calling. :-( There were no options, I would call and make 15 to 20 appointment per week with business owners to buy life insurance. Almost immediately they would talk about how difficult business was and had been for years. This feeling seemed to be pervasive, we were down on ourselves, on Oklahoma, and Oklahoma City. We were a backwater state and city devoid of opportunity and short on hope.
In 1991, Oklahoma City, in order to lure a United Airlines Maintance facility here, voted to spend $125 million on an incentive package as an enticement to locate the maintenance facility here and the 1,000 jobs it would bring. United chose Indianapolis instead. Mayor Norick had developed a close relationship with the United people so he asked "why did you not choose Oklahoma City"? They were blunt and straight forward in their answer. They said, "Mayor you have no quality of life in Oklahoma City; our people would not be happy there."
Afterward at a Chamber of Commerce Annual Retreat, the concept of MAPS begin to take shape realizing that Oklahoma City citizens had been willing to spend $125 million on United. The Chamber and Mayor Norick decided to go to the people with the idea of spending the money on ourselves. As a result, we voted on MAPS December 13th, 1993. There were detractors then as now; it passed by slightly more than 53%. The naysaying continued until the Ball Park was completed. When the canal was completed in 1998, it was difficult to find anyone who would confess to voting against MAPS. We the people along with the Chamber and our City Officials had created a miracle. We had pulled ourselves up by our boot straps. We did it without a bailout from the Federal Government or State Government. Our City is now a more dynamic place to live and work. Our whole attitude about our City and ourselves has changed. Our young people now see opportunity in staying here and not going to Dallas or some other "hip city". Without MAPS there would be no Dell, no Quad Graphics, no Thunder, no Devon, no 750 million dollar 50 story office tower Larry Nichols and Devon are building in the heart of Oklahoma City. A No vote can be devastating!
Times are indeed tough, they were in 1993 too. Good times like bad times don't last. To take advantage when the good times return we must prepare in the bad times. I am 66 years old. Most of us here in Brookwood are seniors or close. I may or may not be here to see how this MAPS works out, but it’s not about me, it is about our children and grand children. It’s about the kids you see on the playgrounds, in our schools, the infants in strollers, and those not yet born. They will not vote on December 8th. We will; we will determine their future.
We know what the original MAPS produced. We have every reason to expect the same success as before.
Weigh carefully your decision, citizen. Much is at stake here.
-Reed Downey
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