What needs to happen is, when you run for the presidency, you must vacate your senate/house seat, you aren't representing your constituents anyway at that point. The only exception would be if your term expires before the next job starts, but you may not run for both your old seat and the presidency.

The Vice Presidential selection must also vacate their seat if the term ends the following year (like Joe Biden this year, he won his seat and the vice presidency, now the Governor will select his replacement for the next 2 years).

This will fix several issues:

1) If you are running for an office you aren’t doing the job you were elected for.

2) It gives the people control of who will represent them.

3) It will prevent seat selling buy people like the Illinois Governor, since the people will be given the power to elect who they want.

At a meeting tonight there was a discussion about a flurry of construction activity concerning noise mitigation in the neighborhoods around the airport.

It was apparent to everyone there that the new contractors were trying to get as much done to get their contracts filled before the new contract was to be negotiated in September. The reason is the people doing the sound abatement will receive more money in administrative fees if they do work on houses than if the houses are bought out. It was also discussed that there is less work being done on the houses (just storm doors and windows), for about the same amount of money that Cinnabar received.

Unfortunately what some of the home owners who accepted the sound abatement program didnt know was that the federal Gov't has equity in their house, so if $45,000 was put into the house by the feds, $45,000 will be taken out of the final price when the airport eventually buys out the house.

...and unknown

from: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/noise/tulsa.html

Noise Budget Restrictions - NONE (we keep hearing from our so-called leaders in Washington they are doing all they can... nope, doesnt look like it to me)
Noise Surcharge - NONE
Noise Monitoring System - NONE (Dont want the public to know how bad it really is up there)
Noise Level Limits - NONE
Sound Insulation (Residences and Public Buildings)  - unknown (formerly run by Cinnebar, now stalled)
Purchase Assurance for Homeowners Located Within the Airport Noise Contours - unknown (they've been saying they are going to take care of Layman Van Acres for over 20 years, but no assurances)
Airport Noise Contour Overlay Maps - unknown (its amazing how the noise stops at 87th E Ave...)

Milton O. Carlin has some land for sale, that he would like to sell to the airport. This land is needed for the airport to put in its 3^rd runway, to the east of Mingo. The airport has no business buying land for expansion until Layman Van Acres is taken care of!

Though they say that air-traffic hasn’t reached the levels of the late 80s, the type of aircraft, specifically the F-16s, have increased their presence, with more on the way, thanks to some regional base closings. 

Though I have moved out of the neighborhood, I want what’s best for my friends and former neighbors, and it is amazing how a little time away can sharpen your perspective of the situation.

NOISE plan contractor sues TAIT
Tulsa World (subscription) - Tulsa,OK,USA
... inception in 2000 through July. Cinnabar sound insulated 492 homes in neighborhoods mostly south of Tulsa International Airport. ...

unfortunatly, this is all I have, but it doesnt take much to read between the lines

David Schuttler has dug up some older Whirled articles concerning airport noise which indicates the Layman Van Acres neighborhood and a few others  are "located in areas where the noise level is not recommended for residential areas, according to federal land-use guidlines." I dont know about you, but if the feds say they arent recommended for residential use, why are there still houses there?

what I found interesting was this little article from 11-20-1996...

"Residents who are affected by airport noise should not be left in limbo indefinitally, wondering if or when something will change"

Layman Van Acres has been in limbo for a long time, longer even than 1996, and from all appearances the airport has no intentions of changing the way things are done to fix the problems. The airport just re-hired the same consultant (Barnard Dunkelberg) that performed the sound tests in the 90s. Eye-witness accounts say that the tests were skewed by purposely placing sensors where they would capture less sound (between houses, under trees, etc.).

...And The property won't stay empty long!

Some examples from this article

The Layman Van Acres Neighborhood held a meeting concerning the airport noise last night. Overall I left with a favorable impression that something might finally be done. To be honest, I am a newcomer to the neighborhood, only have lived there for 8 years. Residents got up and pleaded their case to Charles Sublet, Carl Clay & Roscoe Turner; they started by stating their name and how long they have lived in the neighborhood. Dates like 1954, 1960, and 1968 were common in a crowd that filled the little church on north Mingo. Yes I’m a newcomer, but my neighbors who have been here far longer deserve to be treated fairly, and being that the fair thing to do is to buy them out.

It is unclear what the airports motivations are concerning the neighborhood. In noise contour maps presented at the meeting, it seems great effort is made to show that we are not affected by the noise. When former airport director Brent Kitchen was confronted by residents of Layman Van Acres about the problem, he stated “We have complaints about the airport from South Tulsa residents all the time”. Apparently he didn’t even bother to do his homework.

In a survey conducted by then councilor Patrick there were three options, none of which included buyout. Those surveys where residents wrote in “buyout” were discarded. The neighborhood itself then did its own survey to be presented showing that 63% favored a buyout, but when the meeting rolled around to present those findings the neighbors were not allowed to speak. Shortly after that Cinnabar was hired.

3 months after I moved in a group of fed up neighbors decided they had enough and filed a lawsuit against the airport to be bought out instead of signing on with of Cinnabar's Home Quiet Home program, 1/3 of the neighborhood signed on. Others wanted on the lawsuit but couldn’t afford it, my wife and I were almost in that category at the time, but we were determined to make sure we weren’t left behind when the neighborhood was bought out. That was over 7 years ago, and we are still fighting. In that time many on the lawsuit died… they literally died fighting the airport.

In the last 8 years since the inception of the city’s noise abatement program, the neighborhood has seen rapid decline, this is not the neighborhood we bought into 8 years ago, and we are on one of the good streets. 

The people in the lawsuit, aren’t looking to get rich, they are looking to be removed from houses that are shaking apart thanks to the airport, they are looking to go someplace where they can hold conversations and enjoy their back yard, they are looking for what has been promised for 20+ years

As Councilor Turner has been quoting lately "Let my people go"

the Urban Tulsa has a good article concerning the airport, its nice to have a (another) newpaper that isnt afraid to shoot straight with the citizens of Tulsa.

David Schuttler & Michael Bates already have articles concerning the article, but there is one thing I found rather amuzing (in a pissed of sort of way) was that Mulder said:

... their word means anything.

Last weeks city council meeting, item 8.
a. Resolution staying the approval of airport noise abatement contracts. (Turner) 05-1157-2.

because the airport agreed to meet with the residents concerning their needs this resolution was not voted on. on the 14th, the Airport Authority agreed to hire C&S to clean up Cinnabar's mess.

Call me a sceptic, but now there isnt any reason for the airport to work with the neighborhood or the council for another year, they got what they wanted... again...

There is hope however, David Schuttler has done the research and C&S is the best pick.

$300,000 for a runway that was never built thanks to a poorly written contract by airport attorney Richard Studenny.
$700,000 for advances to Cinnebar for an unsupervised sound abatement program (of which the money has probably been funneled to the south yale bridge).
$7,000,000 for an airport hanger thanks to a loan to now bankrupt Great Plains airlines.

FEMA’s new director said they are looking for permanent housing for displaced New Orleans residents.

FAA says the houses in Layman Van Acres should be bought out, at least on a voluntary basis

Maybe FEMA & the FAA can work together to to buy out those that want out of the area, and provide an opportunity for those who have no home at all?

Win-win situation if you ask me…

In a neighborhood meeting tonight we were informed that a whopping 2 million dollars of Vision 2025 money will be available for Tulsa neighborhood improvements (the rest going to the Arena) several ideas were thrown out, like another unfilled pool, water for an existing pool and transforming tennis courts into basketball courts (I like that idea, I have NEVER seen those courts used for tennis, but we have all sorts of portable hoops lining our streets).

On suggestion really caught my attention though, Neighborhood Signage, you know those little signs on the back of stop signs so you know what neighborhood you are entering. to the left is my submission, I hope they like it!

Another small bit of airport news, Roscoe Turner has a memo stating that the FAA has a contract with the city, not with Cinnebar, so the city was never in any danger of losing its sound abatement money as so claimed by General Ron Turner and Meredith Siegfried.

At least that’s what the fabricated headline should read. GTAR, the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors, should be behind the voluntary buyout of the homes in the Layman Van Acres Neighborhood 110%… after all they were behind the recall of Mautino & Medlock, because they claimed the councilors were stifling regional growth (read: home sales). If the Airport was to buyout Layman Van Acres, they would have a whole neighborhood of people looking to BUY HOMES!!! Which puts money in the Association’s pockets…

so come on GTAR, where’s the support?

And yet another article concerning the fallout from the Tulsa airport trustees vote to nix Cinnabar. notice the figures involved $31,000 to "soundproof" the houses + $14,000 in administrative costs = $45,000 a house!!!

Also notice this bit here... "Federal noise mitigation programs began 20 years ago in Tulsa with property buyouts of homes affected by average aircraft noise levels of 70 decibels." That is what chopped my neighborhood in half, effectivly killing it... again TIA do the right thing, you said you would 20 years ago (Buy us out, using federal guidelines... and you know you will only have to foot 5-10% of the bill)

Not a whole lot to talk about today, but here is an article concerning the Tulsa airport trustees vote to cut off Cinnabar's funding...