OKC Mayor Race 2014

[soonerguru]

I'm not sure why it's even relevant to talk about what qualifies him to be mayor. How about nearly a decade of actually being the mayor?

I think he's been the best. Some would say Norick. But OKC was so desperate when Norick put MAPS up that we passed it. He obviously deserves credit for thinking of it, however.

I like the fact that Mick has been supportive diversity and urbanism. Perhaps it's because it was before their time, but Norick and Humphreys weren't as sophisticated in this regard.

Also, Mick has avoided getting in petty disputes, such as Humphreys' issue with the Pride banners.

And no one, no mayor, that we've had in OKC can hold a candle to him in representing OKC on the national stage. He is extremely respected by his fellow mayors, and he has been a strong advocate for urban issues in Washington, even when those issues have conflicted with his political party's orthodoxy.

[Pete]

FYI and not that it really matters, but Mick Cornett was the Sports Director for KOCO for a number of years and then moved over and was a newscaster.

[Doug Loudenback]

I'll begin this by saying thanks to those who have posted wishing my wife well, as, of course, I do, too. I'll be leaving to revisit her at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital shortly after I post this message. To those of you who made such expressions, your thoughts are very much appreciated.

Some posts since my earlier message are troubling.

I won't take the time to mention them all, but I'll begin with you, betts/Jill, and a friend of mine. You said,

David Stern called Mick Cornett "the mayor who wouldn't go away." His tenacity in bringing the Hornets, and ultimately the Thunder, here could arguably have as big an impact on Oklahoma City as MAPS I. He has become a national figure and his efforts have brought a lot of positive attention to Oklahoma City. He was surely an important part of the MAPS 3 project delineation as well. I've seen Oklahoma City literally transform itself over the last 15 years, but the most dramatic changes have occurred during Mayor Cornett's tenure. Some of that is probably happenstance, but I see no reason to veer in another direction when the one we're headed in has been almost nothing but positive. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Oklahoma City is not perfect, but we can work towards perfection using the trajectory we're already on. There is a positive and progressive spirit in the air that has nothing to do with party affiliation.

I've already praised Cornett for his decisive role in doing the local Okc stuff which was needed for the Seattle team to relocate to Oklahoma City. As I see it, this is Cornett's greatest contribution to Oklahoma City. For that, he has my and I'd suppose most every local's praise.

But, did he contribute to the original MAPS program? Not. That kudo belongs to Mayor Ronald Norick and the leadership he provided. Was his greatest contribution MAPS for Kids? Not. That kudo beongs to Mayor Kirk Humphreys.

Cornett was the 3rd of the MAPS mayors. He had nothing to do with the first two MAPS sales tax matters, even if he impliedly takes occasional credit in the national media for the city's accomplishments which occurred prior to his election.

The fact is that Mayor Cornett made no contribution to Oklahoma City, beyond being a local sportscaster, before matters arose concerning the Seattle SuperSonics arose in December 2009.

Cornett had two items that are rightly his own: (1) the action by the city in preparing the way for the SuperSonics' relocation to Oklahoma City; and (2) the MAPS 3 campaign.

MAPS 3 was Cornett's special project. When MAPS 3 came to the fore, the mayor was the public face of the MAPS 3 campaign. He was the cheerleader, he was the one who showed the public prospects of the future, should MAPS 3 pass popular vote.

As well, he was one of those who aided and abetted in stifling the Oklahoman's investigative journalism concerning the MAPS 3 campaign.

It's hard for me to give a high-five to Mayor Mick during the MAPS 3 campaign. And I don't.

I'll say more later ... it's time for me to leave.

[OSUFan]

Maybe its just the interviews I've seen but I've never really got the impression from Mayor Cornett that he takes credit for the first 2 MAPs.

[ljbab728]

Maybe its just the interviews I've seen but I've never really got the impression from Mayor Cornett that he takes credit for the first 2 MAPs.

That has been my impression also. He has certainly mentioned the success of the previous MAPS projects when promoting OKC but I don't recall him taking credit for them.

[rcjunkie]

With all your self proclaimed brilliance I would think you could read better. I said that the mayor is taking credit for hiring additional Police Officers, I also said that the class of additional officers has not been hired yet. Both are facts. And by the way, he wasn't a top tier sportscaster. A weekend guy if I remember, a definite B teamer.

Additional Public Safety Employees hired while Mick is Mayor and you (PS employees that were against MAPS3) get upset if he takes an ounce of credit. Public Safety cuts due to budget problems or no funding for additional PS Employees and you guys are quick to Blame The Mayor. Sad, but not unpredictable.

[Patrick]

Wanted to provide some correction here. Mick Cornett not only spearheaded MAPS 3, but he was also successful in spearheading the pre-MAPS 3 sales tax extension to fund the improvements to Chesapeake Arena and build the Thunder practice facility, which was necessary in attracting the Thunder to OKC.

[warreng88]

Last night I was talking a person campaigning for Shadid and he said, "MAPS is socialism in its purest form." I was volunteering with the guy so I didn't really want to get into a discussion, but I found it interesting he thinks something the people voted for is considered socialism. If Ed has people like this campaigning for him, I think it will be a win for Mick.

[betts]

Funny that someone campaigning for a member of the Green Party doesn't like socialism. I wonder what he would think of this part of their platform?

Oppose privatization of Social Security.
Increase funding for green jobs, Social Security, public housing, higher education, public transportation, environmental protection, renewable energy and energy conservation.

[CaptDave]

Funny that someone campaigning for a member of the Green Party doesn't like socialism. I wonder what he would think of this part of their platform?

Oppose privatization of Social Security.
Increase funding for green jobs, Social Security, public housing, higher education, public transportation, environmental protection, renewable energy and energy conservation.

Some of those people are equivalent to the looniest Tea Party buffoon. They spout off the garbage they hear on radio or read on wacko internet sites without understanding what they are saying most of the time.

[Laramie]

Last night I was talking a person campaigning for Shadid and he said, "MAPS is socialism in its purest form." I was volunteering with the guy so I didn't really want to get into a discussion, but I found it interesting he thinks something the people voted for is considered socialism. If Ed has people like this campaigning for him, I think it will be a win for Mick.

This is why I'm so glad that Mick decided to run for re-election; it's Shadid's platform to let the MAPS' sales tax expire. Just think what our city might look like without MAPS:

NO:

1. Bricktown Ballpark. All (one) Sports Stadium would be empty and no AAA baseball in OKC.
2. Downtown Sports Arena. Without the arena--no NBA in OKC.
3. Bricktown Canal Riverwalk. Lots of private development would not be in Bricktown (restaurants, retail BASS PRO...)
4. Devon Tower. Devon made it clear that they would be in Houston, TX without the passage of MAPS. Would Sandridge have relocated here?
5. A bunch of aged and crumbling city buildings: Civic Center Music Hall, Cox (Myriad) Convention Center, Fair Park... City schools in need of repair
6. Project 180 streets: Downtown would be DEAD ON REVIVAL!
7. Myriad Gardens' remake. Would not be a nice attraction.
8. Continental Resources. Would not have moved to OKC.
9. Taft Stadium. This historic relic (city's largest football stadium) would probably be condemned.
10. Office vacancy rate. Would probably exceed 40%. What would be our population, unemployment rate?

There were a number of things in retail like the I-40 Outlet Mall new retail establishments which increased the City's tax base.

We growing at a modest rate which is manageable for a city of our size. We need more police and fire stations to make our City safe.

Mayor Mick Cornett helped to continue what Mayor Norick started.

[CaptDave]

Without MAPS, downtown OKC would look a lot like Detroit.

[soonerguru]

Cornett is going to trounce Shadid in an epic beatdown. i'm sure the polling for Shadid is horrific. He has literally no chance of winning, and he is going to run such a dirty campaign he will probably be politically wounded enough that he will lose his council seat. This is my actual prediction.

He's counting on hipsters who never vote to support him because he will throw out vaguely progressive-sounding ideas. But I think he's in for a surprise. Hipsters and young people are progressive voters, typically, but they aren't dumb. Railing against MAPS will get him nowhere with anyone.

A lot of people on the progressive aisle are already lining up with Cornett. And he has a record of accomplishment to run on. Shadid can only bleed progressive support; he won't gain any. He will start off with a certain level and then slowly bleed it off.

As for the reactionary conservatives, he may pick up some of their vote with his anti-MAPS tirades, until they find out how to the left he is on other issues, which will cause him to bleed support.

He has no chance of gaining moderate support. None. He has positioned himself to lose this race in a big way. No strategy.

What's sad is how poorly he represents progressive politics, and how badly he is going to self caricature progressive politicians. This may have the effect of dooming other progressive candidates in future elections. Ed is truly a party of one, and he has squandered the potential to build a bigger progressive voter base in this city.

[stlokc]

I find this to be an extremely interesting topic....particularly, what is a "progressive," what is a "conservative" and how is it packaged and who is carrying the banner?

A while back, I had an interesting discussion with my parents. They are as Republican as it gets, particularly on all matters fiscal. Obama is persona non grata in their house, and anything that smacked of a national "progressive" agenda would be a no-go. (Full disclosure, I consider myself a moderate Republican as well)

Yet, they are staunch MAPS supporters, to the point of yard signs. Like most people, they are thrilled with OKC's renaissance and I have no doubt that in the right context, they would support Maps 4, Maps 5, Maps 6 etc.

I pointed out this discrepancy to them. After all, MAPS is a very "progressive" idea: raise taxes, pour it into civic development etc. They had to acknowledge this, and they did, with a smile.

After much discussion, what it really boiled down to was: they support MAPS because they visibly see what it is doing. They feel it, and they trust the OKC chamber-types that have been its champions. They don't really trust Washington or anybody there to do what they say or to spend in a way that will show any kind of results.

As the words "progressive" and "conservative" are bandied about with respect to local politics, I think there are strange bedfellows all over the place.

[zookeeper]

I find this to be an extremely interesting topic....particularly, what is a "progressive," what is a "conservative" and how is it packaged and who is carrying the banner?

A while back, I had an interesting discussion with my parents. They are as Republican as it gets, particularly on all matters fiscal. Obama is persona non grata in their house, and anything that smacked of a national "progressive" agenda would be a no-go. (Full disclosure, I consider myself a moderate Republican as well)

Yet, they are staunch MAPS supporters, to the point of yard signs. Like most people, they are thrilled with OKC's renaissance and I have no doubt that in the right context, they would support Maps 4, Maps 5, Maps 6 etc.

I pointed out this discrepancy to them. After all, MAPS is a very "progressive" idea: raise taxes, pour it into civic development etc. They had to acknowledge this, and they did, with a smile.

After much discussion, what it really boiled down to was: they support MAPS because they visibly see what it is doing. They feel it, and they trust the OKC chamber-types that have been its champions. They don't really trust Washington or anybody there to do what they say or to spend in a way that will show any kind of results.

As the words "progressive" and "conservative" are bandied about with respect to local politics, I think there are strange bedfellows all over the place.

Great post. Very good points!

[soonerguru]

I find this to be an extremely interesting topic....particularly, what is a "progressive," what is a "conservative" and how is it packaged and who is carrying the banner?

A while back, I had an interesting discussion with my parents. They are as Republican as it gets, particularly on all matters fiscal. Obama is persona non grata in their house, and anything that smacked of a national "progressive" agenda would be a no-go. (Full disclosure, I consider myself a moderate Republican as well)

Yet, they are staunch MAPS supporters, to the point of yard signs. Like most people, they are thrilled with OKC's renaissance and I have no doubt that in the right context, they would support Maps 4, Maps 5, Maps 6 etc.

I pointed out this discrepancy to them. After all, MAPS is a very "progressive" idea: raise taxes, pour it into civic development etc. They had to acknowledge this, and they did, with a smile.

After much discussion, what it really boiled down to was: they support MAPS because they visibly see what it is doing. They feel it, and they trust the OKC chamber-types that have been its champions. They don't really trust Washington or anybody there to do what they say or to spend in a way that will show any kind of results.

As the words "progressive" and "conservative" are bandied about with respect to local politics, I think there are strange bedfellows all over the place.

Great post. I want to point out I wasn't trying to label all conservatives as "reactionary." I was referring to a certain stock of people who call themselves conservative but are actually "reactionary conservatives." Hope this didn't signal that I think conservatives don't have good ideas or can't be good leaders.

The inner city wards of OKC tend to vote as progressives, and my point was that many of these folks are going to have to decide between voting for someone who throws out ideas they may support while decrying MAPS (Shadid), and someone who has actually delivered on many progressive ideas already (Cornett) and who understands how important MAPS has been to our city's renaissance.

The irony is that OKC wouldn't be as welcoming to many progressive folks as it is today were it not for the success of MAPS.

[krisb]

Ed sure has a lot of people talking about him prior to the official launch of his campaign. And you say he has no strategy?

For the record, I would like to acknowledge that Mayor Mick has been a good mayor and an incredible spokesperson for the city. I also believe we need Shadid's grassroots progressivism as a counterbalance to the emerging chamber-driven decision-making by a few wealthy, powerful individuals. Despite whatever early polling you want to reference, this mayoral race will be closer than the previous two and will reveal a lot about our values as a citizenry.

[catch22]

Ed sure has a lot of people talking about him prior to the official launch of his campaign. And you say he has no strategy?

For the record, I would like to acknowledge that Mayor Mick has been a good mayor and an incredible spokesperson for the city. I also believe we need Shadid's grassroots progressivism as a counterbalance to the emerging chamber-driven decision-making by a few wealthy, powerful individuals. Despite whatever early polling you want to reference, this mayoral race will be closer than the previous two and will reveal a lot about our values as a citizenry.

I don't think so. He has already got conservatives and progressives mad. He is on his own little island with his minions. His loud, annoying minions.

[ljbab728]

For the record, I would like to acknowledge that Mayor Mick has been a good mayor and an incredible spokesperson for the city. I also believe we need Shadid's grassroots progressivism as a counterbalance to the emerging chamber-driven decision-making by a few wealthy, powerful individuals. Despite whatever early polling you want to reference, this mayoral race will be closer than the previous two and will reveal a lot about our values as a citizenry.

In OKC's weak mayoral system just exactly how is he going to counterbalance anything? He can be much more of a counterbalance on the council.

[soonerguru]

Shadid has already provided a counterbalance to himself, considering he has flip flopped on positions so many times even his own supporters don't know where he stands. He surely didn't turn out to be the candidate or person I chose to work for when he ran for Council -- sadly, he became much more like the caricature the Oklahoman made of him on its editorial page.

[GaryOKC6]

Ed sure has a lot of people talking about him prior to the official launch of his campaign. And you say he has no strategy?

For the record, I would like to acknowledge that Mayor Mick has been a good mayor and an incredible spokesperson for the city. I also believe we need Shadid's grassroots progressivism as a counterbalance to the emerging chamber-driven decision-making by a few wealthy, powerful individuals. Despite whatever early polling you want to reference, this mayoral race will be closer than the previous two and will reveal a lot about our values as a citizenry.

As you point out most of our accomplishments are "Chamber driven" that is actually a primary function of the Chamber. Who is the Chamber? They drive economic development for our city. The Chamber's primary focus is job creation, community improvement, education improvement and basically making OKC a better place to live. If this is not part of Ed's agenda I don't want anything to do with him. Fact is that all this has been accomplished by the mayor working with the Chamber. There IS no other way. The Chamber ran the maps campaigns, the bond issue to expand the Chesapeake Arena to get the thunder here and the bond issue to acquire the GM Plant so that Tinker could grow and add 1200 employees there. Why? because the Mayor or the City of OKC can not legally do these things on their own.

[Midtowner]

The Chamber's primary focus is job creation, community improvement, education improvement and basically making OKC a better place to live.

Well no... The Chamber exists to help make OKC a business friendly environment. Whether or not that creates jobs is irrelevant.

--although it's created a lot of jobs.

[GaryOKC6]

Well no... The Chamber exists to help make OKC a business friendly environment. Whether or not that creates jobs is irrelevant.

--although it's created a lot of jobs.

Creating a business friendly environment is definitely a focus of the Chamber but their main focus is economic development. The business friendly community efforts shore up the ED efforts.

[Doug Loudenback]

Taking a break from my wife's hospital procedures, still in progress, I see that this thread continues to be somewhat nonsensical, at least to me. To my surprise, I see my friend betts (Jill) assuming that second-hand hearsay about Shadid is the fact, e.g.,

Funny that someone campaigning for a member of the Green Party doesn't like socialism. I wonder what he would think of this part of their platform?

If that's not a snarky comment from an eminently well-educated professional member of this forum, I don't know what would be. In this, I suppose that I am placing people like Jill in a more thoughtful and less reactionary class than some others who regularly post here, and I expect better of her.

I see nothing unusual from those who have become anti-Ed people here since his February 2013 comments about the transit matters, e.g. Soonerguru, whose remarks are rather predictable and involve little comprehensive thought, in my opinion. I do see it as unusual that people like Jill would be so quick to join his bandwagon.

I see very few if any taking issue with the manner in which Mayor Cornett joined with David Thompson, then OPUBCO's chief executive, in channeling and focusing the Oklahoman's reporting during the MAPS 3 campaign. Some of you may not know that Mayor Cornett communicated directly with Thompson ... or at least I am so informed ... about certain reporters' publications which were either published or about to be published in the Oklahoman, and that such communication either nixed or substantially modified the reporters' offerings.

I see that some posts have doubted my earlier characterization of Mayor Cornett as taking credit for the city's successes since the original MAPS program is correct, and those voices may be correct. My earlier remarks may have stemmed from my own attitude and subjective opinion. That opinion was formed by my perception of nuances from my listenings to Cornett's remarks in various settings, and I may have been incorrect about my characterization.

That said, I do think that it is fair to say that Mayor Cornett places himself in the same class of mayors as Ron Norick and Kirk Humphreys. Norick staked his 2nd term election on MAPS. Humphreys staked his 1st election on completing MAPS right (the sports arena) and then focused his efforts on MAPS for Kids.

In some respects, I don't disagree. I've already given Cornett kudos for his prompt and decisive action vis a vis the Sonics/Thunder matter. He has my 5-star award for that. Before that event, though, I am hard put to identify some singular item that he has done for the city. Perhaps some of you, e.g., Soonerguru, Betts, can educate me about such things.

As to MAPS 3, I've already spoken a little about that. As I see it, Mayor Cornett was complicit in presenting a misleading and false presentation during the MAPS 3 campaign. The campaign was a sales pitch to Okc voters as to what they would get if they voted "Yes," as I did. You may ask me, and quite rightly so, "What was false and misleading?"

The thing that immediately comes to mind is that city taxpayers may be asked to fund at least one ancillary project, in addition to the MAPS 3 tax, to fully implement the MAPS 3 projects, and I'm thinking right now about the convention center hotel, something not mentioned during the MAPS 3 campaign, even though the need for such a hotel was well known by Cornett and the Chamber even before the projects included in MAPS 3 were put to a vote.

I'm not at all giving Shadid a pass on his February 2013 comments about the transit project included in MAPS 3. When push comes to shove, I may decide not to vote for Shadid just because of that issue. But if I finally decide to vote for Cornett it will be not because I like his record all that much, and most certainly not because I think that he was up front during the MAPS 3 campaign, which he wasn't.

In the end, my vote may well be based on the integrity of the MAPS 3 vote that was sold to the people, and which we voted to pay for.

[betts]

Sorry Doug but I don't find my comment snarky at all. I do find it very unusual (odd=funny in the context in which I used it) that someone who thinks MAPS is socialism would support someone belonging to the party that leans more left than even the Democratic Party. But, as they say, politics makes strange bedfellows. And, since it was a response to a statement from someone not a member of this forum, I find it even less snarky.

What I think Mayor Cornett has done is guide the ship in the direction I want it to go, imperfectly of course, with a wobble here and there. But I feel confident in his general direction. City politics have not broken into bipartisan strife and he has essentially let the citizens voices be heard. I don't think the model is broken, and as I said, "if it ain't broke, why fix it." Or at least, all I've seen Dr. Shadid do, essentially, is indicate that he hopes to break things, with vague generalizations about how he'd fix them, once broken. And even that is subject to change. I know it's hard to run against a popular mayor and it creates negativity in the campaign as a result. I suspect this is Mayor Cornett's last election. Ed would be well-served to serve a couple of terms on the Council, show us consistency in vision, build a positive coalition rather than a eclectic group of malcontents, and run next election, IMO.

I haven't joined anyone. Everything I say I believe, and I believe it would be a big mistake to elect Dr. Shadid as mayor. No one puts words in my mouth; they are my opinion alone. However, you may not like what he says or how he says it, but I believe soonerguru cares about Oklahoma City as well, and I share his concerns.