OKC Mayor Race 2014

[AP]

Talk is Cheap. His devisive actions on the council speak louder than the hyperbole of words at a rally.

I'd like to see them debate, it would be very one sided in Mayor Mick's favor. Experience counts.

I very much agree at this point. I really feel like all I've seen from Ed is a bunch of talk. Tell me exactly how you are going to get the things accomplished and then I'll start listening. Everyone knows Big League cities need buses on nights and weekends, but how is he going to get that done. Give me some actual policy or something.

[GaryOKC6]

Now that he is running for mayor he has changed his tune on his support of MAPS. I know that politicians do this all the time but it still bothers me.

[krisb]

He believes in the power of the citizenry to shape the priorities of the council and the city budget. Anyone who can command 1,000 of diverse walks of life to show up for a rally is not entirely divisive. The truth is divisive at times. I really wish you could have been there. So much of his campaign is about his own meaningful journey, and that resonates with people.

[Bellaboo]

He believes in the power of the citizenry to shape the priorities of the council and the city budget. Anyone who can command 1,000 of diverse walks of life to show up for a rally is not entirely divisive. The truth is divisive at times. I really wish you could have been there. So much of his campaign is about his own meaningful journey, and that resonates with people.

I saw him last night.

[betts]

Now that he is running for mayor he has changed his tune on his support of MAPS. I know that politicians do this all the time but it still bothers me.

It especially bothers me when they want to change something voted on by the people. That demonstrates that you have no interest in the public will, a VERY bad attitude for someone in a decision-making capacity.

[betts]

He believes in the power of the citizenry to shape the priorities of the council and the city budget. Anyone who can command 1,000 of diverse walks of life to show up for a rally is not entirely divisive. The truth is divisive at times. I really wish you could have been there. So much of his campaign is about his own meaningful journey, and that resonates with people.

Teach a class, become a preacher or a self-help guru if you want to share your meaningful journey. Tell me exactly what you're going to do to continue the incredible momentum in Oklahoma City if you want my vote. Tell me you respect me as a citizen and a voter and that you will support the will of the voting majority, as made manifest in prior elections. If he believes the citizenry should shape priorities, then he needs to support what the citizens have already prioritized. It's not all about Ed. We need a mayor, not an emperor. I've seen no evidence that he simply wants to be the tie breaker on the City Council.

[ljbab728]

I totally agree, Betts. Tell me what your positions are on issues affecting our city not about your meaningful journey. krisb, can you fill us in any better about what his specific positions are after hearing him speak?

[zookeeper]

Please delete. Double post. Sorry!

[zookeeper]

Teach a class, become a preacher or a self-help guru if you want to share your meaningful journey.

I'm so used to "liking" your posts, I was surprised by this. If we want a civil campaign with civil discussion, it needs to be from both sides. I'm not going to vote for Ed Shadid, but I understood what she was saying and it could have been responded to without your quote above. Everybody seems so angry on this board lately.

[soonerguru]

Nearly 1,000 people showed up for the Shadid rally tonight. I was inspired by his inclusive message and the diversity of the people represented.

Heard from a very reliable source that no more than 500 showed up. Not that it matters anyway.

[kevinpate]

Heard from a very reliable source that no more than 500 showed up. Not that it matters anyway.

Maybe both reports are accurate. Maybe one counted heads and one counted faces? Wasn't there. Not for me to say.

[catch22]

Everything I have heard from the Shadid camp is:

Trust him!


I'm going to need a little more than a command to trust someone who I have no idea what they propose to do.

All Shadid so far has done is talk. I haven't seen a plan, I haven't seen any substance. Just talk. And his talk is frankly worrisome to the future of OKC's momentum.

Meanwhile we have an experienced mayor who has done tremendous things for this city. It's a no brainer for my vote.

[Doug Loudenback]

Talk is Cheap. His devisive actions on the council speak louder than the hyperbole of words at a rally.

I'd like to see them debate, it would be very one sided in Mayor Mick's favor. Experience counts.

However I decide to vote, I think you are badly mistaken. I think that, in an actual debate, Shadid would chew Cornett up and spit him out. Cornett is by no means the intellectual match of Shadid. But, not to worry ... a debate will not occur, I shouldn't think.

[bradh]

So much of his campaign is about his own meaningful journey, and that resonates with people.

No offense, but this is the same crap that was spewed about Obama in 2008. Not saying that shouldn't resonate with people, but it shouldn't decide who runs and leads our governments.

[bradh]

Cornett is by no means the intellectual match of Shadid. But, not to worry ... a debate will not occur, I shouldn't think.

Dominating a debate isn't about being an intellectual.

[Pete]

I went to Ed's rally last night and thought I'd provide some thoughts.

First of all, I'm embarrassed to say I had never been to the Farmer's Market and that is an amazing venue! And perfect spot for this type of thing.

There was certainly a big, enthusiastic crowd. Hard to estimate numbers but there were plenty of people... The space felt relatively full and certainly energized.

About an hour of warm-up entertainment preceded a promotional campaign video. Then Ed came down the center aisle like a rock star. It was actually pretty cool with a standing ovation.

I'm hesitant to paraphrase his speech and the ideas he expressed because I don't want to speak for Ed. But he did an very, very good job. Ed's a great public speaker and a very sharp guy and he came across relaxed, confident and motivating. The crowd, of course, ate it up.

The biggest rounds of applause were around improving the bus system and expanding the police force. Touched on many subjects, including the issue of not properly budgeting for the on-going maintenance of the MAPS projects.


They videoed the whole event so I'm hoping it soon will be on-line so others can hear what he had to say and make their own judgments.

[OSUFan]

As much as I've been disappointed with Shadid, I think his platforms,views and leadership style don't really even matter. End of the day this about Cornett. Cornett has been mayor for a long time. Do you like what has occurred in OKC since he has been elected and do you think the city is headed in a positive direction? If you do then I see no reason to replace the Mayor.

[mkjeeves]

I had another commitment or would have gone. Hope to see the video at some point.

I haven't decided who I'm voting for but I'm glad Ed is in the race and challenging the groupthink.

[SoonerDave]

Although many of the axioms about national politics do not apply at the local level, there is one that generally holds - incumbents are very, very hard to displace in the absence of a substantive, specific issue against that incumbent, or some general sentiment of anti-incumbency exists. And even then it's no slam-dunk.

I personally suspect Shadid's campaign will attract some support, because he will likely touch on a few general things that resonate with a few people. I just don't see either of the two issues above of sufficient magnitude to expect him to pull the majority of the voters to his side. That's neither an endorsement nor dismissal of him as a candidate; that's a "political analysis" observation.

What is frustrating to me, personally, is that the Shadid campaign, and the questions of MAPS priority/priorities, are all outgrowths of the weakly written ballot that was MAPS 3. Many people here, right now, are expressing their concern about the will of the voters being subverted, even though we know that the ballot was written weakly by virtue of state constitutional concerns about log rolling. To that end, I would love to hear either Cornett or Shadid advocate legislation and/or state constitutional amendment(s) (as appropriate) that would modify the logrolling provision which created the MAPS ambiguities in the first place. Think of how much latitude OKC could have in designing the next iteration of MAPS if those logrolling provisions in the state constitution were modified. Talk about leaving a mayoral legacy not just at the city level, but at the state level, by championing responsible modification to the constitution to give cities more freedom in charting their own future. That's something no one has really discussed, at least not that I've seen. Won't pretend that's an easy boar to wrestle, but if you figure out how to do it, the potential is tremendous. Think of how this mayoral election would already be different if MAPS were a thou shalt charter rather than a thou might.

If we had a hard ballot title, with binding ballot language, we might not even have Shadid running in the first place, or the divisions his candidacy are apparently creating. Not saying his concerns aren't valid, but the division and concern over OKC's forward momentum are now being held in check by virtue of the leader that will inevitably have a significant say in just how much of the balance in that MAPS language gets translated into reality going forward.

If Shadid has concerns about funding and transportation aspects of MAPS 3, I'd sure like to hear his alternatives and specific solutions. A campaign consisting primarily if not exclusively of "Danger, Will Robinson!" slogans and vague allusions seemingly designed to avoid any affirmative position is going to have a very hard time gaining any traction with me. If he has specific concerns, I believe he needs to lay them on the table with some specificity, and lay out how he intends to address them. I haven't heard that.

Doug's concerns about Cornett's influence with the Oklahoman are necessarily unsettling. I wish I had the full story on those influences, but I don't.

[GaryOKC6]

I have to agree. I have lived here all of my life and our city has never been better than mow in my opinion. I am very happy with the way the other MAPS projects have turned out and they faced similar challenges. Especially the first MAPS project because sales tax collections were a lot lower then. I see no reason to believe that this MAPS will be any different. I am all for continuing OKC's momentum and see no need to change it now..

[Pete]

The audio of Ed's speech last night can be heard here:

Ed Shadid for OKC Mayoral Launch Rally: Recap | OKC.NET

[Tydude]

i think Ed will get beat badly in the election and i believe Mayor Mick will get re elected

[Laramie]

Dominating a debate isn't about being an intellectual.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

[Larry OKC]

Priorities = build a convention center that will bring in people, people spend money, money builds more sidewalks, sounds like a no-brainer to me!!

I was of that same opinion when MAPS 3 was announced and the Mayor stated his preference for it to be "staged last". Unfortunately we found out after the vote and with the Convention Center moving up in the timeline, the people that the new Convention Center is supposed to bring in (a 900% increase) won't happen until after the MAPS 3 tax has ended. So not a single additional penny from MAPS 3 taxes to go to MAPS 3 Sidewalks. Consider that if the Sidewalks had been "shovel ready" the City's miscalculations might have been avoided as the $10 million would have been "in hand" in very short order and they would be completed by now. Instead they didn't due any advance planning (even though they targeted where they wanted them to go during the campaign), broke the Sidewalk construction into multiple "phases". If some of those phases are now on the other side of the Convention Center schedule, that could very well mean even less money for whatever projects that follow it.


Someone posted that they are against someone who doesn't respect the will of the voters...has Shadid suggested any such thing? By that I mean what the voters actually expressed...that being the approval of a 1 cent sales tax that would run for 7.75 years and be spent on something? has he suggested that the tax be overturned? Has he suggested that the money not be spent? The only thing I have seen suggested was maybe have another vote to actually determine the will of the voters...which projects should/shouldn't be built. i don't know, maybe the way the Mayor and others said we were going to vote on MAPS 3...that every project had to "stand on its own"...meaning that there would be separate propositions...????

[betts]

The biggest rounds of applause were around improving the bus system and expanding the police force. Touched on many subjects, including the issue of not properly budgeting for the on-going maintenance of the MAPS projects.

Improving the bus system and expanding the police force don't require ongoing maintenance and/or costs? Every single thing we create or expand is likely to have operational costs and potentially maintenance. Every policeman we hire has to have health insurance and a pension, as well as ongoing salary, raises, etc. Unless he intends to improve the bus system without buying any new buses, there will be ongoing operation and maintenance costs over what we have currently budgeted as well. Every prior MAPS project requires O&M funding as well. Luckily, they have given the city a fabulous return on its investment. I fully expect the new projects to do the same. Sometimes the money for operational costs is there, in hindsight.