 In late June 1989 , opponents of the turnpike boycotted local businesses that were members of the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce , which was in favor of the turnpike . Some turnpike protesters removed their names from the customer list at Mazzio 's Italian <unk> on June 23 . On June 24 , about forty protesters picketed the Bank of Oklahoma , and around six closed their accounts . The chief executives of both businesses were on the board of the Chamber of Commerce . In response to the boycott , Mayor Randle issued a statement accusing Tulsans Against Turnpikes of " seeking to wage economic coercion against businesses " and described their tactics as " [ working ] as a kind of economic blackmail to silence debate " , as well as " allowing differences of opinion to degenerate into intimidation against those who have taken public stands unpopular with [ Tulsans Against Turnpikes ] " . Randle also canceled a planned meeting with the group , refusing to meet with them until they ceased the boycott . A Tulsans Against Turnpikes board member publicly replied to the mayor 's statement by denying that a boycott was taking place , stating that the group only recommended that members not do business with Mazzio 's and Bank of Oklahoma because of their support for the Creek Turnpike project via their activity with the Chamber of Commerce . He also suggested that Randle was simply looking for an excuse to avoid the meeting . 
