TULSA, Okla.—The mayor’s husband has declined a seat on a proposed trust that would oversee a new downtown ballpark for the Tulsa Drillers minor league baseball team.
Bill Lobeck, husband of Mayor Kathy Taylor, opted out of the Tulsa Stadium Trust seat so “the focus remains on a proposed downtown ballpark and not the mayor’s husband,” Director of Communications John Durkee said.
Questions were raised over the structure of the proposed public trust, including the possibility that both the mayor and her husband could have seats on it.
City Councilor John Eagleton said he wanted to know whether the couple’s serving on the same trust would be prohibited under state nepotism laws.
Lobeck was named to one of the five donor seats on the proposed trust because the Lobeck Taylor Foundation was donating at least $2 million to the ballpark project.
Taylor has proposed a $60 million project that would include construction of a multipurpose stadium to house the Drillers, the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, and the redevelopment of land around the stadium.
Of the $60 million, private donors have pledged $30 million, another $25 million would be generated from a downtown property assessment district, and $5 million would come from the Drillers’ lease.
The proposed trust has a seat for Tulsa’s mayor, a two-year term for a downtown property owner and 12-year terms for five donors who have given at least $2 million to the project.
On Tuesday, councilors postponed a discussion on several issues they said they had about the trust structure.
The city and the Drillers have agreed to extend negotiations on a lease agreement to move the team downtown.
It is the fourth extension since Taylor and Drillers owner Chuck Lamson announced in late January that they had entered into exclusive negotiations, which prevents Lamson from negotiating with any other entity.
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Information from: Tulsa World,
