Who will ride to the rescue of Bell's?

Who will ride to the rescue of Bell's Amusement Park?

Several neighbor cities to Tulsa have indicated a willingness to become its new home, including Broken Arrow, Sand Springs, Owasso, Bixby and Jenks. Now one Tulsa city councilor is jumping into the fray on the Bell's side of things. Bill Christiansen reportedly will ask the mayor and other councilors to approve a resolution in support of Bell's continued presence in the city.

That's nice. It may fall well short of convincing the county commissioners and fair board to mend their ways, and it isn't much of a carrot for Bell's, especially not after the latest salvo from Expo Square officialdom. A letter from president Rick Bjorklund to Bell's attorneys dated last Thursday stated that there will be "no further consideration" of the park's future at Expo Square.

And this after, and in spite of, Bell's agreement, with a condition, to allow its books to be audited by an independent trio of accountants. The condition? That the information contained in Bell's business plan "not be disseminated outside" the fair board offices.

One is left to conclude that this was a deal-breaker for Bjorklund and the county commissioners. Why? It seems reasonable enough on the surface. Is it possible that the plan all along was to pass the Bell's information on to others? Is it possible that it was, in truth, the only reason for requiring Bell's to jump through this particularly hoop? And that the condition insisted upon by Bell's would put the fairgrounds officials in jeopardy should any information get to persons who have no business having it? People who, perhaps, are planning to go into business directly competing with Bell's?

Ah, yes! Many questions, no clear answers. Lots of stench and smoke, metaphorically speaking. A devilishly strange development.

Robby Bell, interviewed on KFAQ this morning, said that if he were a rich man ("if I won the lottery") he'd fight the good fight to expose what is happening. And that's what it would take: a small fortune for litigators and investigators to find out what's really going on behind the scenes, air it out for the public, and let the chips fall where they may.

The citizens of Tulsa County, the people who pay the bills and who do (in the paraphrased words of George Bailey) most of the working, living and dying here, deserve far, far better than the cronyism and insider politics that lately has been fobbed off on us from some of our government officials.

Bjorklund, in his latest letter, said, "it is evident that Bell's is not a viable, ongoing business ..."

If that is true, it is largely because he and the other fairgrounds officials have established impossible conditions that will create the lack of viability. If that is true.

Bell was asked if he can survive while he attempts to relocate the amusement park. "I don't know," he answered. To the point, and honest.

State Labor Commissioner Brenda Reneau was quoted in the local newspaper, attempting to set the record straight on Bell's safety record:

Also, in a letter to the Tulsa County Commission, outgoing Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Brenda Reneau defended Bell's against what she called "incorrect" reports in the media regarding Bell's safety record.

"Throughout this decade, Bell's performance has been excellent," she wrote in the letter, dated Nov. 17. The park's "management and staff are always responsive to issues that arise during the inspection process and prompt to correct any noted discrepancies," the letter continued.

The Department of Labor oversees amusement park safety inspections.

We do not suggest that Bell's Amusement Park is a perfectly run organization. Doubtless there are improvements that could be made. Perhaps a new start would be the incentive for positive changes, an improved park and improved operations, an even better experience for Tulsa-area and Oklahoma residents. Bell's has been between a rock and a hard place for a long time, with Expo Square's intransigence on one side, and noise-weary neighbors on the other. A move to more wide-open acres on land less fraught with bureaucratic interference, could be just the thing.

But for this to happen some community is going to have to step forward to help with more than just lip service.

Finally, there was talk this morning of the idea of a grassroots movement to petition for a grand jury investigation of the fairgrounds operation.

That's not necessarily a bad idea.

However, the process is slow. It will not resolve the Bell's problem. If people want to push for a grand jury probe, that's fine by us. Just don't think that it is a cure-all.