Great post Dave. But just to clarify, I believe Maps for kids was a Kirk Humphreys accomplishment.

Great post Dave. But just to clarify, I believe Maps for kids was a Kirk Humphreys accomplishment.

Well, that's embarrassing. You are absolutely correct. Thanks for the compliments nonetheless.

I would gladly edit my original post to reflect the correct data, but I believe the time the "Edit Post" label is available has passed.

I believe it is fair to say that Cornett enthusiastically leveraged the success of Maps 4 Kids as he moved forward with Maps 3. And, for the sake of completeness, Cornett directly followed Humphreys as Mayor, not Norick, as it would seem my original post implied. I was predisposed to the MAPS notions and simply linked Norick to the original and Cornett to Maps 3 without mentioning Humphreys. Apologies for the oversight.

As I said a couple of posts back, Mayor Cornett's State of the City and his appearance on PBS were both awesome. I do have one question and it's bothered me a bit. Why does Mick allow the media to introduce him as the "Republican Mayor of Oklahoma City?" Even during the PBS interview, he's on the screen as "Mick Cornett (R) Oklahoma City." His allowing that flies in the face of our non-partisan elections and holding office as non-partisan mayors, councilman, etc. It would be real easy to say (before the interview even begins), "By the way, I'm a registered Republican, but I'm not a "Republican Mayor," I was elected in a non-partisan election and serve in a non-partisan capacity."

I love Mick. I really think Mick is an incredible public servant. But this rubs me wrong and seems wrong for him to not make it clear - or even correct them if they insist on doing it anyway.

No flames. I LOVE MICK! But, he's not serving as the "Republican Mayor" of Oklahoma City. He's serving as a non-partisan mayor, who happens to be a Republican. It sounds like splitting hairs, but we hold these non-partisan elections for a reason.

As I said a couple of posts back, Mayor Cornett's State of the City and his appearance on PBS were both awesome. I do have one question and it's bothered me a bit. Why does Mick allow the media to introduce him as the "Republican Mayor of Oklahoma City?" Even during the PBS interview, he's on the screen as "Mick Cornett (R) Oklahoma City." His allowing that flies in the face of our non-partisan elections and holding office as non-partisan mayors, councilman, etc. It would be real easy to say (before the interview even begins), "By the way, I'm a registered Republican, but I'm not a "Republican Mayor," I was elected in a non-partisan election and serve in a non-partisan capacity."

I love Mick. I really think Mick is an incredible public servant. But this rubs me wrong and seems wrong for him to not make it clear - or even correct them if they insist on doing it anyway.

No flames. I LOVE MICK! But, he's not serving as the "Republican Mayor" of Oklahoma City. He's serving as a non-partisan mayor, who happens to be a Republican. It sounds like splitting hairs, but we hold these non-partisan elections for a reason.

For the record, I completely agree with you. I've always felt the same about this. When he went on Bill Maher and allowed himself to be characterized as a "conservative Republican," I laughed. Yes, he's a Republican, and he's "conservative" compared to, say, Harry Reid, but he's really not that conservative and his politics are far more expansive than what we've come to expect from the Republican Party.

He really transcends party labels, but to answer your question, I think he allows himself to be introduced this way to get elected. There are frankly a lot of reactionary Republicans in OK right now, the equivalent of the bygone Yellow Dog Democrats. They are the Red Dog Republicans. They don't give a flip about anything but party ID, and vote straight ticket. You could literally put Charles Manson on the ballot and he would achieve at least 40% of the vote from people voting a straight ticket if he had an R in parentheses next to his name.

It is what it is. For the record, Mick is a very moderate guy and works very well with Democrats and Republicans and is actually pretty progressive. So vote your conscience but I for one don't care -- he's a very good mayor and a Boren-like politician in my opinion. I think he's smarter than Norick and certainly smarter than Humphries (a true gay-hating conservative). I actually think Cornett is the best mayor OKC has seen in my lifetime. He definitely transcends his party affiliation.

For the record, I completely agree with you. I've always felt the same about this. When he went on Bill Maher and allowed himself to be characterized as a "conservative Republican," I laughed. Yes, he's a Republican, and he's "conservative" compared to, say, Harry Reid, but he's really not that conservative and his politics are far more expansive than what we've come to expect from the Republican Party.

He really transcends party labels, but to answer your question, I think he allows himself to be introduced this way to get elected. There are frankly a lot of reactionary Republicans in OK right now, the equivalent of the bygone Yellow Dog Democrats. They are the Red Dog Republicans. They don't give a flip about anything but party ID, and vote straight ticket. You could literally put Charles Manson on the ballot and he would achieve at least 40% of the vote from people voting a straight ticket if he had an R in parentheses next to his name.

It is what it is. For the record, Mick is a very moderate guy and works very well with Democrats and Republicans and is actually pretty progressive. So vote your conscience but I for one don't care -- he's a very good mayor and a Boren-like politician in my opinion. I think he's smarter than Norick and certainly smarter than Humphries (a true gay-hating conservative). I actually think Cornett is the best mayor OKC has seen in my lifetime. He definitely transcends his party affiliation.

SG, I hope you know I agree with every word you said. Mick is the best public servant in the state as far as I'm concerned. It wouldn't sway my vote in any way, but like you (You wrote, "For the record, I completely agree with you."), I just think he should put that to a stop and make some effort to be intellectually honest with the media and preserve our time-honored non-partisanship in elected municipal positions.

Yep. That R in Oklahoma is pretty important, just like the D can be the kiss of death around here. I was talking to a stanch republican two days ago who told me they had a problem with this election, saying there's no way they are going to vote for Mick but the can't bear the thought of voting for Ed only because he's a democrat and they just couldn't imagine ever voting for a dem.

Of course, I told them Ed isn't a democrat.

As a Democrat, I'm glad we don't have to claim him. Of course most Republicans would find the Green Party even more frightening. Although he has found a way to go so far left that he's managed to come around to the far right. Clever, if people aren't paying attention. And that's his favorite kind of voter: the ones who aren't paying attention.

Let's do what's in the best interest of Oklahoma City and keep the momentum going.

Once you start unraveling the MAPS agenda moving forward; what's next? Everyone is not going to get everything they want on a MAPS referendum. There will always be something offered on the MAPS' a la carte which will be beneficial for each citizen.

Vote for the candidate which has a proven record throughout Oklahoma City's progressive years beginning in the 90s decade.


https://sp3.yimg.com/ib/th?id=H.4690483496485115&pid=15.1 "Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.http://www.thunderfans.com/vforum/images/smilies/okc.gif

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WarIBb4spvo



You're making way too much sense, Ed! Stop that!

Watch what he does, not what he says. Ed can sound good until you check his facts and catch him in a lie/s. What has he accomplished in his tenure despite all his fancy talk? Where is his coalition? When has he even shown himself capable of consistency or compromise? Even Greiner has jumped ship. Ed talks about all the appointments he's going to make if he's elected mayor but where's his majority to approve them? His political IQ is 2 standard deviations below the mean.

Cornett?s resume makes him tough to beat | Capital City (http://www.capitalcityok.com/2014/02/cornett-looks-to-ride-past-success-into-future-term/)

One of the great ironies of the 2014 mayoral election may be that Shadid has built a campaign largely focused on a new generation of Oklahoma City resident that has really blossomed under Cornett’s watch. The highly-coveted 20-something creative class has flocked to Oklahoma City in recent years and Cornett says that achievement came only after a commitment to a holistic approach to urban development, instead of focusing on one or two major projects.

“What we are trying to do is build the quality of life that will attract the highly educated 20-somethings from all over the country,” Cornett said. “My generation largely left Oklahoma City because we didn’t have the jobs and quality of life in the 1990s and 80’s.

“You can’t really afford to prioritize what you are looking for. You’ve got to have the arts, the sports, the pedestrian-friendly urban environment and a fine quality of life in the suburbs, too.”

Cornett?s resume makes him tough to beat | Capital City (http://www.capitalcityok.com/2014/02/cornett-looks-to-ride-past-success-into-future-term/)

Is this guy that did the Nate Silver "homage" (sounds better than knockoff) website? Couldn't seem to find my way back to that site....

Even Greiner has jumped ship.

huh? do tell, I live in his ward, and have reached out to him 6 months ago to not back Shadid

By saying that Greiner jumped ship, I was referring to the fact that he gave an interview to the Oklahoman in which he stated that he supports a new convention center for Oklahoma City. He voted against Shadid's chicken proposal and he voted to accept the CC hotel consultant's report. He's not blindly following Shadid. Pete White is the only person who has voted with Shadid on those two votes.

No, you are a Troll ! In a little over a month, it'll be over for you and el Shadid, The Doctor, the adult in the room and the Good Doctor.Don't get too cocky now. I agree Cornett will likely win, but never be too sure of yourself.

Is this guy that did the Nate Silver "homage" (sounds better than knockoff) website? Couldn't seem to find my way back to that site....

Yeah he revamped his site to cover all Oklahoma Politics, not just OKC City politics. A decent read but I find it hard to keep up with his output.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WarIBb4spvo



You're making way too much sense, Ed! Stop that!

I still find it very odd you claim you won't vote for Ed. You clearly really like him and his positions. Why won't you vote for him?

You've miss-stated what I said over several posts and it's irrelevant anyway. I'll for-sure vote for Mick when he starts making sense like Ed just did in the video. (Which doesn't make my vote any more or less relevant.)

Shame we killed the Maps for Suburbs thread since Ed just spoke to issues several of us were talking about in that thread. < That's relevant to the topic.

Here before it devolved and got locked: http://www.okctalk.com/general-real-estate-topics/34267-maps-suburbia.html

Anyone happen to notice what the crowd applauded in Ed's speaking bit in the video?

What Mick DOES makes sense. It not only makes sense but it has made Oklahoma City phenomenally better during his tenure in office.

Shame we killed the Maps for Suburbs thread since Ed just spoke to issues several of us were talking about in that thread. < That's relevant to the topic.

Here before it devolved and got locked: http://www.okctalk.com/general-real-estate-topics/34267-maps-suburbia.html

I don't understand why you say it devolved. The concept that MAPS doesn't benefit the suburbs is ridiculous. I would suggest that you believe the thread got off track just because you were no longer able to comment about how one-sided MAPS benefits went with impunity.

I don't understand why you say it devolved. The concept that MAPS doesn't benefit the suburbs is ridiculous. I would suggest that you believe the thread got off track just because you were no longer able to comment about how one-sided MAPS benefits went with impunity.

Not the case. There was a lot of good stuff in that thread you, myself, sid, JTF and others agreed on to some extent and I hated to see it locked up. Pete locked it up when it went south in the last few posts. I would have deleted them and left it myself. Now Ed is talking some of those very things. I wish it wasn't Ed. I wish it was Mick, since he's the mayor and probably will continue to be the mayor. But it isn't.

What people don't always understand about Mick is that he's more of a listener than a talker. And what's maybe the most refreshing thing about him is that after he listens, he's willing to rethink his position. A perfect example of that is transit. We've all seen the quote from him about not wanting to make it easier to live outside OKC with reference to mass transit. And yet he's now involved in setting up an RTD with Edmond, Norman and Midwest City. His response to being asked to help promote a streetcar in MAPS was basically "convince me". If you present a reasonable idea to him, you've got a reasonable chance he'll support it. So, if there are good suggestions for MAPS for suburbia, I'd suggest e-mailing him with ideas. I was shocked to get an answer from him the first time I sent him an e- mail with a suggestion, but I did. Be a squeaky wheel (within reason) to him and your city councilor.

Two things...

That's a nice thought but I'm pretty sure it's not scalable for the population at large.

All this time I thought he was reading OKCtalk. My bad.

Four candidates filed for the March 4 Oklahoma City mayoral election: Mick Cornett, Phil Hughes, Joe Sarge Nelson and Ed Shadid.

https://www.facebook.com/cityofokc/posts/10151963157568602?stream_ref=1
Oklahoma State Election Board - Voter Registration (http://www.ok.gov/elections/Voter_Registration/)

I have never voted in a mayors race before. Quick question, can I vote even though I live in Edmond? It seems I can, but I'm not too sure.

If we choose not to participate in government, then we allow those we've chosen to participate for us. That includes plebiscites, by the way, where we allow those who choose to participate to choose for us. Oklahoma City is a small pond. Anyone who doesn't understand that, again, has not ever gone to a City Council meeting or written their Council person. But what are we supposed to do: Expect someone else to do it precisely the way we want, even if we haven't bothered to tell them what we want? If my children told me that, I'd tell them they were exhibiting entitlement: the right to expect someone else to do it for them, precisely how they want it done and including the right to complain if the person to whom they have abdicated responsibility doesn't do it correctly.

Four candidates filed for the March 4 Oklahoma City mayoral election: Mick Cornett, Phil Hughes, Joe Sarge Nelson and Ed Shadid.

https://www.facebook.com/cityofokc/posts/10151963157568602?stream_ref=1
Oklahoma State Election Board - Voter Registration (http://www.ok.gov/elections/Voter_Registration/)

I have never voted in a mayors race before. Quick question, can I vote even though I live in Edmond? It seems I can, but I'm not too sure.

Call your local county election board: Oklahoma County 405-713-1515

In general, if you pay your trash service bill to the City of Oklahoma City, you can probably vote in the election

I have never voted in a mayors race before. Quick question, can I vote even though I live in Edmond? It seems I can, but I'm not too sure.Just look and see what city name is on the trash dumpsters, if you've been issued any. If they say OKC you're in. If they say Edmond you're out of luck.

Far as I know, anyone in OKC north of NW 150th (and some not that far north) will have an Edmond ZIP code, but that's just where the mail goes.

Four candidates filed for the March 4 Oklahoma City mayoral election: Mick Cornett, Phil Hughes, Joe Sarge Nelson and Ed Shadid.

https://www.facebook.com/cityofokc/posts/10151963157568602?stream_ref=1
Oklahoma State Election Board - Voter Registration (http://www.ok.gov/elections/Voter_Registration/)

I have never voted in a mayors race before. Quick question, can I vote even though I live in Edmond? It seems I can, but I'm not too sure.

It depends - as others have said check your utilities and the OK Election Board maps. A pretty fair portion of Ward 8 (and Ward 7 IIRC) has Edmond addresses.

The only mayor you can vote on is the city of Edmond, assuming you're registered to vote with an Edmond address. Doesn't mean you can't help an OKC candidate in other ways.


Four candidates filed for the March 4 Oklahoma City mayoral election: Mick Cornett, Phil Hughes, Joe Sarge Nelson and Ed Shadid.

https://www.facebook.com/cityofokc/posts/10151963157568602?stream_ref=1
Oklahoma State Election Board - Voter Registration (http://www.ok.gov/elections/Voter_Registration/)

I have never voted in a mayors race before. Quick question, can I vote even though I live in Edmond? It seems I can, but I'm not too sure.

Yeah that's a bummer. I live on Covell and Coltrane(north Edmond), so I can't vote. My trash and everything goes to the city of Edmond. :(

All I can do is say I support Cornett.

Yeah that's a bummer. I live on Covell and Coltrane(north Edmond), so I can't vote. My trash and everything goes to the city of Edmond. :(

All I can do is say I support Cornett.

You can bet my household will give Mayor Cornett 2 votes.

A certain candidate for Mayor, is spreading a lie that OKC has not added officers since 1990. That is insane, I thought, how could a city grow and not add police officers?

I went through the past 10 years of city budgets, and compiled the following spreadsheet.

http://gyazo.com/461ad9d34e7bda0af709d1162c4c19f0.png

Turns out, since 2003 we have added 92 positions. That's not 92 total people hired, that's 92 additional officers outside of hiring for people who have left the force, either via retirement, finding other careers, or have passed away. I'd say we are moving in the right direction.

A certain candidate for Mayor, is spreading a lie that OKC has not added officers since 1990. That is insane, I thought, how could a city grow and not add police officers?

I went through the past 10 years of city budgets, and compiled the following spreadsheet.

http://gyazo.com/461ad9d34e7bda0af709d1162c4c19f0.png

Turns out, since 2003 we have added 92 positions. That's not 92 total people hired, that's 92 additional officers outside of hiring for people who have left the force, either via retirement, finding other careers, or have passed away. I'd say we are moving in the right direction.

Good work! However, I'm still stunned that a city that's growing like OKC has added only 92 officers in almost a quarter of a century. Really?

Good work! However, I'm still stunned that a city that's growing like OKC has added only 92 officers in a quarter of a century. Really?

It's 10 years, not 25. Obviously that year with a -26 slowed down overall growth.

It's 10 years, not 25. Obviously that year with a -26 slowed down overall growth.

Gotcha! Okay, that makes more sense. (whew) I just saw the 1990 in the statement before the nice spreadsheet work. Thanks!

I was planning to go back to 1980 or so. But the farthest I could find the city budget was to 2003-2004. I will admit I didn't look too hard, as I was somewhat under a time limit. I will see if i can dig up more.

catch that's briliant, when I saw his tweet about a town hall on safety and that fancy fallacy of a graphic, i knew that stuff was made up (shocker)

I'm not averse to hiring more police officers if we need them. I'm not convinced that sheer numbers of officers can dramatically decrease crime however. And, as on last 4th of July when I see 6 officers talking together in Bricktown instead of monitoring crowds, I ask myself how efficient our existing officers are. I'm throwing the following out as questions, not statements: Do we have officers assigned to programs of questionable value such as the old D.A.R.E. program? Is there a minimum age for retirement with full benefits, such as 60? If an officer retires at an early age, do paid benefits received from a second career offset benefits from the city? Should they? Has anyone looked at the County Sheriff department to see if there's an overlap? If there is, could we rearrange departments so the overlap no longer exists? Does the city make so much money from speed traps that it's worth it to have them? Most of them are not set up in places where speeds are possible that endanger other drivers.

I've said before that there is a ridiculous overlap between EMSA and the fire department. Why can they not be consolidated into one department so that only one vehicle responds to emergencies?

Every person hired is a salary plus benefits. I just hope someone is making sure every employee we already have is utilized maximally to make this city safer. There's a lot of paranoia about safety these days. But a lot of random violence is just that - random - and probably would occur even if we had another 100 officers.

And is anyone surprised a certain candidate is again not telling the truth?

Not that I think that it matters to anyone buy myself, but today I have made the choice to support Ed Shadid in his mayoral campaign. Sometime next week, I'll post a blog post saying why. It was not an easy choice, but I am persuaded that I made my choice for the right reasons (which, by the way, have nothing to do with a snapshot of the Okc skyline or Jill's assertions that Shadid is not a truthful person ... even though such items will be discussed in my upcoming blog post).

That's it for now.

We will have to agree to disagree. I feel VERY comfortable choosing Mayor Cornett, for what I feel are all the right reasons.

I'm looking forward to reading that blog post then, because at the moment that is a decision that I just don't comprehend.

We will have to agree to disagree. I feel VERY comfortable choosing Mayor Cornett, for what I feel are all the right reasons.

Ditto. Cannot fathom how anyone can, at this point, rationalize support for Shadid, but that is certainly the prerogative of anyone and everyone in the voting public. Thankful we have the choice to disagree about the choices :)

I thought Doug was a streetcar / MAPS 3 supporter. Bummer. Oh well. He must have been one of the six people on this board who supported Shadid in the poll out of 100 votes.

What does Shadid stand for other atheists, buses, and cops? I now see he wants to cut zoo funding in HALF for buses.

For the millionth time, people aren't attracted to your city because of buses and cops.

The Zoo thing again? Good lord - you'd think he might have learned his lesson on that one.

Throw out all the divorce stuff and all the personal feelings people have towards Ed. End of the day it boils down to one point for me. Ed's campaign is anti-MAPS and anti-downtown development. Shadid will say he isn't and that he just want things done right. However, if you ever talk to an Ed supporter or campaign worker they to a person are against every single MAPS project and anything to do with downtown. They don't want a Convention Center, they don't want a street car, they don't want a park, they don't want river improvements. MAPS may not be perfect and I am all for as much scrutiny as possible during the process. However, I cannot even begin to fathom the mindset that MAPS has been a bad thing for our community. To a person, anyone from the Shadid campaign I've talked to has thought MAPS is a bad thing for our community. Not just MAPS 3 but the entire program. I just don't get it.

KeepAmericaBeautiful (@kabtweet)
2/6/14, 7:53 AM
"The heart and soul of every community, besides its people, is its downtown." - @Roger_Brooks #KAB2014 pic.twitter.com/1HTjBda3zj

How can you argue with Keep America Beautiful?

...and the race card is played:

Lack of Diversity in appointments to city boards, trusts ... | Divers? (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/550002173215044520/)

He's going to play every card he can find. Why don't we ask Councilman Pettis to comment on this? Ed is a rich white male who is in the 1%. Perhaps he should resign to allow a more diverse candidate take his place.

Did the Mayor make all of these appointments? NO. The Mayor & Council did. How many of the current appointments did Shadid personally approve in the last three years? Probably a high proportion. How many did he vote against?

Link just died.

Shocker.

I'm ready for the election so we can get this nonsense behind us.

Link just died. Was going to ask the question, how many of those did he approve, since the Mayor doesn't actually appointed anyone to these committees that the council doesn't confirm.

It's a very good question.

When we had an opening on HP Commission, the current HP Officer spent an extra month or two seeking out someone from the African-American community to serve, but couldn't find anyone. The lack of diversity may be more related to other issues (lack of overall involvement and connections) much more so than it is related to NOT wanting diverse committees.

It ought to be about time Edgar shows back up to this thread......like clockwork.

He's going to play every card he can find. Why don't we ask Councilman Pettis to comment on this? Ed is a rich white male who is in the 1%. Perhaps he should resign to allow a more diverse candidate take his place.

If he were a Walid rather than Ed, would he be white? Point is, he cares about long neglected other 99%.

Hey, did they look at women? Aren't we part of the diversity equation? I didn't see any girl faces.

It's a very good question.

When we had an opening on HP Commission, the current HP Officer spent an extra month or two seeking out someone from the African-American community to serve, but couldn't find anyone. The lack of diversity may be more related to other issues (lack of overall involvement and connections) much more so than it is related to NOT wanting diverse committees.

Exactly. You can not force someone to participate. I don't even like talking about race. If someone is interested in helping our city, and is knowledgeable about what they want to help with. I don't care what the color of their skin is. Why is this an issue? I'm sure Cornett feels the same way.

But, you can't force someone to participate. I recall from the city council meeting with the streetcar route; where Shadid began this race card issue, it was mentioned that no one even stepped up from the black community to volunteer. I'm ready for Shadid to go away. He has completely divided this community, very quickly. He has already caused severe damage to this city's momentum. I am just worn out with him.

Throw out all the divorce stuff and all the personal feelings people have towards Ed. End of the day it boils down to one point for me. Ed's campaign is anti-MAPS and anti-downtown development. Shadid will say he isn't and that he just want things done right. However, if you ever talk to an Ed supporter or campaign worker they to a person are against every single MAPS project and anything to do with downtown. They don't want a Convention Center, they don't want a street car, they don't want a park, they don't want river improvements. MAPS may not be perfect and I am all for as much scrutiny as possible during the process. However, I cannot even begin to fathom the mindset that MAPS has been a bad thing for our community. To a person, anyone from the Shadid campaign I've talked to has thought MAPS is a bad thing for our community. Not just MAPS 3 but the entire program. I just don't get it.

you're confusing the half baked not ready for prime time MAPSIII with a quite popular franchise.
Did you notice OKC taking a page out of the national voter suppression playbook and limiting early voting opportunities, no more Saturday voting limiting the avaiabilty of working stiffs to the polls. I wouldn't worry Mayor Mick fans. If you compare facebook likes Mick will win by about 5000 votes, and is there a better barometer than social media, unless there are tea partiers and fiscal conservatives who secretly plan on voting for Shadid but don't want to publically like a guy who may have smoked crack with a gay prostitute. Interesting race. has any polling been done. I honestly know equal numbers of supporters on both sides. what's the gut feeling? Impossible to know?