Tulsa World Skewers City Councilors Over Community Garden Objections

The editorial writers at the Tulsa World found the sarcasm button today when they published a tongue-in-cheek essay lambasting two Tulsa city councilors.

It's a well-deserved blast at councilors Jack Henderson and David Patrick. Read it with relish.

At first it seemed City Councilor Jack Henderson didn't like the idea of community gardens, an issue the council is pondering, because he was afraid they would sprout salvage yards.

By Tuesday he had changed that theory. Now, it's something else he's afraid is going to take root — dope.

"How do we know what people are going to be growing? Vegetables? Maybe. Or maybe something else," he said at a City Council committee meeting.

Henderson is absolutely right. Before we go charging into this whole community garden business, we need to make sure no one grows marijuana in them. What we need is a law that makes it illegal to grow pot. We could even make it a serious offense and put people in prison for it.

Oh, wait. We already have that law. Never mind.

Then there's the argument put forward by Councilor David Patrick.

Patrick said he isn't opposed to community gardens; he just wants to protect neighborhoods from outside groups coming in to start them.

The danger is obvious. If outside agitators are allowed the liberty to use their own private land for community gardens we could have an immediate outbreak of ... squash.

If these rogue elements are not controlled, tomatoes and okra will stalk our streets.

Before you know it, everyone's got a cucumber and the kids are down on the corner trying to score some lima beans.

It's silly and enough to make you wonder what are these councilors really are afraid of and why do they seem so hell-bent to either stop the community-garden movement or attach such a high application fee to the process that no one will ever attempt one?

Community gardens are about good food, hard work and communities pulling together. They aren't about junked cars, dope or radical cells spreading dangerous ideas, unless you think a cantaloupe is dangerous.