We have an update to a story that's been brewing in the heart of Oklahoma: Tulsa's progressive mayor, Monroe Nichols, has signed into law an ordinance slapping a $150 fine on folks sitting or standing on narrow medians or too close to speeding traffic. On the surface, it's dressed up as a pedestrian safety measure, but let's cut through the rhetoric. This is the left's latest attempt to manage the fallout from their own failed policies on homelessness, all while pretending to lead with a "compassionate" heart. It's a band-aid on a gaping wound, and it reeks of the same misguided virtue-signaling that's turning American cities into open-air asylums.
For those just tuning in, the ordinance – sponsored by City Councilor Phil Lakin and co-sponsored by the usual suspects like Carol Bush, Karen Gilbert, and Jackie Dutton – targets medians and sidewalk edges within 18 inches of roads where speeds top 25 mph. Nichols signed it with a flourish, but not without his signature caveat: a 90-day grace period of "education and warnings" before the fines kick in.
In his letter to the City Council, he waxed poetic about "overarching public safety goals" and keeping people "a safe distance from traffic," insisting it won't "create new barriers for people seeking housing." Sounds noble, right? But peel back the layers, and you'll find the real trigger: Governor Kevin Stitt's Operation SAFE, a no-nonsense crackdown by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol that cleared over 64 homeless encampments and hauled away a million pounds of trash.
Nichols didn't mince words in slamming the governor's effort as "misguided, politically motivated, and inhumane." According to him, it just "pushed people back into the core of the City," forcing Tulsa to play cleanup. "We're gonna lead with aggressiveness on the compassion side," he declared, promising to use the ordinance to "connect people to things that they need" while enforcing the law. Aggressive compassion? That's liberal-speak for doing nothing substantive while the problem festers. We've seen this movie before – from California's tent cities to New York's subway squalor. When red-state leaders like Stitt step up with real action, the blue-city mayors cry foul and pivot to feel-good fines that punish the vulnerable instead of solving the root causes.
Don't get me wrong: Pedestrian safety matters. No one wants to see a tragedy on Tulsa's streets, where a momentary lapse near traffic can turn deadly. But framing this as a safety-first win ignores the elephant in the median – the explosion of urban homelessness fueled by decades of lax enforcement, sanctuary-style policies, and a welfare state that incentivizes despair over dignity. Operation SAFE wasn't "inhumane"; it was a clear-eyed response to the chaos spilling over from Biden-era border policies and progressive coddling.
By clearing encampments, Governor Stitt exposed a problem that Nichols and his council have let run wild. Now, instead of partnering with the state for real solutions like expanded shelters, job programs, or mental health commitments, we're getting $150 slaps on the wrist. How does that "protect lives"? It doesn't. It just shifts the misery to another corner of town, all while the mayor virtue-signals about education over enforcement.
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This ordinance is a microcosm of the left's border villains writ small: Open the floodgates, then wring your hands when the streets fill up. Nichols talks a big game about compassion, but where was it when encampments turned Tulsa's green spaces into trash heaps? Where's the outrage over the governor's success in cleaning up what local Dems ignored? The choice could not be clearer. Red states like Oklahoma are leading the charge to restore order, security, and the rule of law – from Stitt's SAFE operations to broader pushes against illegal immigration's downstream effects. Tulsa's leaders should follow suit, not fight it with half-measures that endanger everyone.
As someone who lives here, I hope the people of Tulsa know better. We've got the grit to tackle problems head-on, without the hand-wringing. Governor Stitt's showing the way; it's time for cities like Tulsa to stop cowering and start building their own Alligator Alcatraz for the real threats – not with fines, but with fortitude. Let's hope this 90-day delay is the wake-up call, not just more delay. Because in the end, true compassion means enforcing the law to protect the community, not excusing the chaos that endangers it.
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