Activist to seek Oklahoma City mayoral seat

[CaptainCouch]

I have seen a Council agenda, and it is written right there in black and white - it says you can't speak at the meeting on issues currently up for election. That's what campaigns are for, not Council meetings. It's not unconstitutional if you muzzle both sides.

[Midtowner]

As someone in the legal profession, what do you think of a Mayor who apparently denied the Constitutional right to free speech of anyone wanting to speak about the upcoming vote (for or against) during the Public Remarks portion of a Council meeting? I saw Mr. Cornett do this in one of the meetings leading up to the MAPS 3 vote.

The First Amendment is not an unlimited grant of power to speak about anything, anytime, anyplace. It pertains only to public forums and makes sure that any government censorship of speech is viewpoint-neutral (and other things).

In this case, the City Council is not a public forum. The censorship pertained to everything related to MAPS III and thus was viewpoint neutral. No violation, no case.

[discretion]

Type in any of Hunt's "heroes" names into google ,then add one of the following words - marxist, socialist, revolutionary, anarchist, anti-capitalist, far left radical, participatory econimics, etc, etc.

Interesting reading if your into far left anti-American radical politics.

Better yet, google any of his fellow bloggers on this sight.

Z Space Steve Hunt

Thank you, Fire121 for recognizing what Hunt really is: a radical socialist. The fire department and city workers that are rallying behind him are the same people he would be denigrating and pranking before Maps 3. He is using their shared opposition to Maps 3 to garner their support in the mayoral election, while trying to not discuss his radical political beliefs with the public.

I hope that OKCsmokeandfire and the other hardworking fire department staff and supporters that have joined our dialog on OKCTalk will take a hard look at Hunt's own writings and see what they are truly supporting. I think they will be surprised and disappointed.

Abstain Larry. Oklahoma City deserves better.

Yes, Oklahoma City deserves much better.

[Wambo36]

I hope that OKCsmokeandfire and the other hardworking fire department staff and supporters that have joined our dialog on OKCTalk will take a hard look at Hunt's own writings and see what they are truly supporting. I think they will be surprised and disappointed.

I'm not sure where the notion that the firefighters are supporting this guy is coming from. We have not been asked to support or not support either of the candidates. The firefighters that I have talked to almost all have decided to abstain from voting for either one.

[CaptainCouch]

Since 75 percent of firefighters don't live in Oklahoma City, abstaining from voting won't be that difficult.

(I'm not trying to be flip, just stating the obvious that the "firefighter vote" is not exactly a major factor in City elections - the union only comes into play if it spends money on a campaign, which does not seem to be the case in this election either way.)

[okcsmokeandfire]

I'm not sure where the notion that the firefighters are supporting this guy is coming from. We have not been asked to support or not support either of the candidates. The firefighters that I have talked to almost all have decided to abstain from voting for either one.

I am abstaining from voting on this one. Lets agree on this and move on.

[Larry OKC]

The First Amendment is not an unlimited grant of power to speak about anything, anytime, anyplace. It pertains only to public forums and makes sure that any government censorship of speech is viewpoint-neutral (and other things).

In this case, the City Council is not a public forum. The censorship pertained to everything related to MAPS III and thus was viewpoint neutral. No violation, no case.

I agree free speech isn't an absolute right but we aren't talking about yelling fire in a crowded theater here. I contend it was a public forum (was during the citizen portion of the meeting). The rules were followed (signing up in advance etc). Not an uncontrolled "town hall" type of meeting either.

Cant help but feel that since Mr. Hunt had signed up in advance, Mr Cornett saw it and knowing what was to come, decided to shut him down. Seems iffy at best "as long as both sides are censored" that it is justified. May not have been anyone on the other side anyway. If this is legal to do, why wasn't it done during the Ford tax campaign Council meetings? I didn't see any censoring during those?

Can someone post from the agenda where it says one cant "advocate" either way on an upcoming election?

[Midtowner]

I agree free speech isn't an absolute right but we aren't talking about yelling fire in a crowded theater here. I contend it was a public forum (was during the citizen portion of the meeting). The rules were followed (signing up in advance etc). Not an uncontrolled "town hall" type of meeting either.

You can contend whatever you want to contend. If you want to address, for example, the Oklahoma legislature, you have to abide by the rules of the chamber. Once you take that podium, there are plenty of things you can do to get that Sergeant at Arms (or really the OHP) to swoop in and remove you. As I understand it, the rules at the time Hunt was stopped from speaking said that you couldn't comment either way on issues which were going to be on the ballot, that included MAPS.

Cant help but feel that since Mr. Hunt had signed up in advance, Mr Cornett saw it and knowing what was to come, decided to shut him down.

I think you overestimate the regard our Hon. Mayor has for neo-liberal Marxists who show up to rant at the city council. These sort of folks come to every city council meeting in the country in big and small towns and they are generally tolerated and ignored. If Hunt or anyone else thinks his tirades are thought of any differently (well, they may be different now since he's a candidate for office), then they're seriously overestimating Hunt's impact on the Council's psyche.

Seems iffy at best "as long as both sides are censored" that it is justified. May not have been anyone on the other side anyway. If this is legal to do, why wasn't it done during the Ford tax campaign Council meetings? I didn't see any censoring during those?

The rules can be changed. I don't know what the rules were then. So long as the rules are viewpoint neutral, however, reasonable time, place and manner restrictions are hunky dory.

Can someone post from the agenda where it says one cant "advocate" either way on an upcoming election?

I would think that the rules would be posted somewhere other than the agenda. There's no requirement that I know of for such a public posting. At any rate, if you browse around OKC.GOV, you might get lucky.

[rcjunkie]

I agree free speech isn't an absolute right but we aren't talking about yelling fire in a crowded theater here. I contend it was a public forum (was during the citizen portion of the meeting). The rules were followed (signing up in advance etc). Not an uncontrolled "town hall" type of meeting either.

Cant help but feel that since Mr. Hunt had signed up in advance, Mr Cornett saw it and knowing what was to come, decided to shut him down. Seems iffy at best "as long as both sides are censored" that it is justified. May not have been anyone on the other side anyway. If this is legal to do, why wasn't it done during the Ford tax campaign Council meetings? I didn't see any censoring during those?

Can someone post from the agenda where it says one cant "advocate" either way on an upcoming election?

You couldn't be more wrong, this has been policy for several years.

[Larry OKC]

You couldn't be more wrong, this has been policy for several years.

It may well be "policy", but the question is why wasn't it enforced during the Council meetings leading up to the Ford vote? Mr Hunt and Wanda Jo weren't censored then from the meetings I saw.

[kmf563]

Mid. I appreciate you. I don't know if I tell you that enough.

I keep hearing the police and fire are behind Hunt, but not one I have spoken with knows where that is coming from. Probably the same source that thinks this will actually be a competition.

I give Hunt credit for having huge cahones. But he isn't any different than the contenders on American Idol who know they can't sing. He just wants his 15 minutes of fame and negative attention is better than none at all. His stance is for the exact opposite of Mick's. That's what his campaign slogan should read, it doesn't matter what it is...if Mick likes it, Hunt hates it. He keeps saying he wants OKC to stand out and stop being compared to other cities...then follows that up with a campaign to get some community internet like Dallas has. So he only wants to compare things HE wants. Not what is good for the city, but what he personally wants. He's all over the place.

I think I will run for Mayor next year because I think everyone should have a slingbox.

[discretion]

It may well be "policy", but the question is why wasn't it enforced during the Council meetings leading up to the Ford vote? Mr Hunt and Wanda Jo weren't censored then from the meetings I saw.

The rules are printed in the minutes, and I think whomever is leading the Council Meeting usually reiterates them verbally each time. Here you go (emphasis is mine):

Citizens may address the Council during public hearings on any matter, such as dilapidated housing, planning, and zoning decisions. Citizens may also address the Council on individual concerns at the end of the agenda
when the Mayor announces "Citizens to be Heard." Citizens will not be allowed to campaign on any political issue during the Council meeting. Please fill out a "Request to be Heard" form located outside the Chambers. Please return this form to the Council Office at the north end of the hall. PLEASE LIMIT YOUR
COMMENTS TO 3 MINUTES.
Citizens who wish to be listed on the agenda for comments to Council may call the City Clerk's Office at 297-2397 before 4 p.m. on the Tuesday prior to the next Council meeting.

It is not censorship - just rules in place to maintain order and timeliness. Hunt has frequently and vigorously exercised his right to free speech at Council Meetings, as anyone who has the displeasure to be in attendance or watch the videos knows all too well.

[okcsmokeandfire]

Mid. I appreciate you. I don't know if I tell you that enough.

I keep hearing the police and fire are behind Hunt, but not one I have spoken with knows where that is coming from. Probably the same source that thinks this will actually be a competition.

I give Hunt credit for having huge cahones. But he isn't any different than the contenders on American Idol who know they can't sing. He just wants his 15 minutes of fame and negative attention is better than none at all. His stance is for the exact opposite of Mick's. That's what his campaign slogan should read, it doesn't matter what it is...if Mick likes it, Hunt hates it. He keeps saying he wants OKC to stand out and stop being compared to other cities...then follows that up with a campaign to get some community internet like Dallas has. So he only wants to compare things HE wants. Not what is good for the city, but what he personally wants. He's all over the place.

I think I will run for Mayor next year because I think everyone should have a slingbox.

Fire and Police are not endorsing a candidate for the Mayors race. The rumor that F and P are supporting Hunt are completely false. Most of us will not be voting period. Hopefully that clears that up.

Go ahead and run for the next Mayors race. Roll the dice and see what happens. If you would have signed up for this Mayors race you may have stood a good chance of pulling off the upset.

[discretion]

Fire and Police are not endorsing a candidate for the Mayors race. The rumor that F and P are supporting Hunt are completely false. Most of us will not be voting period. Hopefully that clears that up.

No, I'm sure the organizations are not endorsing him. But people within the fire & police communities are supporting him. I just scanned through the 'Hunt for Mayor' facebook page and counted over two dozen current fire and police department employees. And those are just the obvious ones that listed fire/police as their occupation, or appear in uniform in their photo. It is logical to assume that there are many more not on facebook.

What shocked me even more than that was to see how many of his supporters were also fans of LifeChurchTV, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, conservative republican or evangelical Christian organizations. In other words, people who align themselves with all the things Hunt hates. Just confirms to me that people are voting against Maps/Cornett - and have not taken the time to truly understand who the person they have chosen to support.

[fire121]

Since 75 percent of firefighters don't live in Oklahoma City, abstaining from voting won't be that difficult.

(I'm not trying to be flip, just stating the obvious that the "firefighter vote" is not exactly a major factor in City elections - the union only comes into play if it spends money on a campaign, which does not seem to be the case in this election either way.)

Please provide proof that 75% of all Oklahoma City Firefighters live outside the city limits.

Just curious.

[kevinpate]

It may well be "policy", but the question is why wasn't it enforced during the Council meetings leading up to the Ford vote? Mr Hunt and Wanda Jo weren't censored then from the meetings I saw.

Perhaps it was an experiment.
Perhaps it was laziness.
Perhaps it was a carefully crafted ploy.
Perhaps both sides were allowed to speak at the time of the Ford tax, and only one side bothered to show up.

Irrespective of whether it was one of these explanations, or none of these explanations, that a policy wasn't enforced in one instance (involving a separate election cycle) doesn't mean the policy can never be enforced again afterwards.

So long as it was applied evenly re MAPs3 and it sounds like it was, it wasn't abusive.

[Larry OKC]

Please provide proof that 75% of all Oklahoma City Firefighters live outside the city limits.

Just curious.

I recall reading a similar stat somewhere along the way but can't locate it...if I run across it, will post