Kirk Humphreys ran for Oklahoma City mayor in March 1998 knowing the city's Metropolitan Area Projects was running short on the cash needed to ensure all the projects would get built. Instead of committing himself to the unpopular stance of running on extending the tax, he cleverly argued the projects should be finished right, but reserved judgment on how that might happen until after he was elected.

His gamble paid off. He was only in office for a week or so when he got the chance to open the first project, the Bricktown Ballpark. The ballpark was well received by the public, and similar enthusiasm surrounded construction starting on the Bricktown Canal in June 1998. With the tax about to expire in December 1998, Humphreys rallied a skeptical city council and then voters to "finish MAPS right" and extend the tax for six months.

The extension passed by greater margins than the original ballot.