OKC Mayor Race 2014

[warreng88]

From Mick's facebook page:

Mick Cornett
Join me Wednesday, October 30th at 8:00pm to watch our Thunder begin their march to the NBA championship! We'll be cheering them on from the Buffalo Wild Wings at 4130 N.W. Expressway. LIKE and SHARE to spread the word and get ready to Thunder Up!

That is just crazy! Doesn't he know that everyone knows he hates the suburbs and only likes DT?

[Tier2City]

How is Shadid going to increase public safety spending?

He's going to bring everyone to the table and have a conversation. That's the sum of his rhetoric.

[Patrick]

From Mick's facebook page:

Mick Cornett
Join me Wednesday, October 30th at 8:00pm to watch our Thunder begin their march to the NBA championship! We'll be cheering them on from the Buffalo Wild Wings at 4130 N.W. Expressway. LIKE and SHARE to spread the word and get ready to Thunder Up!

That is just crazy! Doesn't he know that everyone knows he hates the suburbs and only likes DT?

You know all he cares about is Thunder Basketball. He supports it while the firefighters are starving and their trucks are rusting away.

[soonerguru]

He's going to bring everyone to the table and have a conversation. That's the sum of his rhetoric.

Yes, because he's proven himself so adept at bringing parties together -- not.

[betts]

Public safety didn't come through supporting MAPS ...so no deal. And the mayor has addressed public safety concerns. Do you realize that a big chunk of our city buget already goes to public safety? And the new budget adds new positions? Maybe what Ed should do is instead of spending millions on his campaign, he should donate it to public safety.

And what's wrong with barons and the chamber? Those are our major employers in this city and they provide jobs.

I don't feel slighted, although I'm not a Baron (hung up my skates years ago) nor am I a member of the Chamber. Every time I go to a Thunder game, walk to the River, eat at a new restaurant in town or shop at a new store, look at the skyline, walk on a new sidewalk, I'm thankful that we have a mayor with vision, following in the footsteps of previous mayors, but also breaking new ground.

[zookeeper]

Does anybody else get the feeling that 99% of this thread is preaching to the choir? It's shocking how we can all disagree on so many topics but agree on re-electing Mick almost across the board. That alone should be a wake-up call for Shadid.

[Midtowner]

Shadid is going after low information voters in the truest sense of the term. That's typically a slight to the sort of voter who disagrees with me, but in this case, anyone who knows anything about municipal government is for Cornett all the way unless they have their own agendas (enter the police and fire depts).

[CaptDave]

Who does Cornett rep other than barons and the chamber.

What's wrong with the Mayor supporting the hockey team??

[okseer]

How is Shadid going to increase public safety spending?

Fact is he won't no matter what he says. He would love to get the money from the fop donated to his campaign though he will say anything at this stage.

[soonerguru]

Does anybody else get the feeling that 99% of this thread is preaching to the choir? It's shocking how we can all disagree on so many topics but agree on re-electing Mick almost across the board. That alone should be a wake-up call for Shadid.

Good point. To add, what's shocking to me is how viscerally opposed people who used to work for Ed are to him getting elected. I've met several people who worked very closely with him who want nothing to do with him as mayor.

The people I know on the fence don't really know him.

It should alarm people considering voting for him that the people who know him best, want him least.

[zookeeper]

It should alarm people considering voting for him that the people who know him best, want him least.

That says a whole lot right there. I have heard others say it, but just not in the way you did. Perfect. Sad, but true.

[Midtowner]

At best, he was the loyal opposition from Ward 2. I valued that. He did a bit of speaking truth to power and in that capacity, he was pretty effective. I'm all for a more open process and I have an inherent distrust of the Alliance Corp., and I have some concerns as to whether they should be subject to the open records act since they're a not-for-profit private corp which seems to determine how a lot of public money gets spent. Shadid was on a bit of a crusade against those sorts of arrangements and for the most part, I support that.

Now, considering the crap he pulled with the streetcar and how he's running his campaign, I have a lot of trouble thinking of him as the loyal opposition and now consider him to be an ego-driven politician who will do or say anything to win this election. I hope when his time comes in Ward 2, the Ward will send a solid message that it's 1) not a stepping stone and 2) is pro-OKC and therefore anti-Shadid.

[DoctorTaco]

I've lurked in this thread for a long time. For the most part I have agreed with the "party line": Shadid was good for Ward 2, but turned around over the streetcar/MAPS3 in general, and was now behaving like a wierd egotist on the campaign trail.
I especially liked how he positively affected the Western Avenue streetscaping project. Does anyone think the city would have done anything more than the bare minimum up on Western without Shadid bringing in the OU Placemaking folks? I appreciated his focus on tranisit, and especially liked his "speaking truth to power" bit that has already been mentioned.

But I was outraged by his maneuverings on the streetcar, and was baffled by his semi-coherent attacks on Mick. So my mind was more or less made up to vote Mick. Although I was a little bummed to lose Shadid in Ward 2 (a pain in the ass like Shadid can have a really positive inpact by countering group-think and inertia).

That being said, two weeks ago I was invited to a private event held by a friend of mine who is a Shadid supporter. It was a small crowd, and Ed was making the rounds giving us his pitch. I asked him point blank why he is running for mayor and making such a fuss when the mayor's office is largely ceremonial in our city. His answer was some boilerplate about being a spokesman for wellness and mental health (how this would differ from Mick I am unsure), and also to appointments. He said that the only extra power OKCs mayor has over a city councilman is to make 700 appointments to various posts. He thinks Mick has been very bad at choosing people, and we are left with our city decision makers being populated by a white-washed good-old boy's club. He wants to see city buerocracy populated in a way that reflects the ethnic and gender makeup of the city, and he thinks that this will result in things being done better at City Hall. Ed also had some decent ideas about combining some tasks between the city and OKCPS in order to save money (such as having a single repair yard for buses). I don't know if this is legal or politically viable, but it seems on the surface like a good idea.


The thing that really impressed me, though, was his upfront (true, in my opinion) accusation that the City has really sucked at implementation of our good ideas. He cited P180 and the decaying Myriad Gardens as prime examples. These are things most of us OKCTalk denizens are very familiar with. "So now we're going to build a giant park, set it up with no maintenance budget, and expect it to remain nice when we can't even keep up Myriad Gardens?"

Someone asked him point blank if, since he is so concerned about the park (and streetcar) having no maintenance/operations budget than would he kill them. He said no, but that, if he could, he would trim both projects by multiple millions of dollars in order to set up maintenance funds.

Just thought I would report what I observed. By no means did Ed win my vote, but I must say in person I was impressed, and he swayed me a bit.But I'd love to have the same series of conversations with Mick.

So I went from a strong Mick vote to a lean Mick/tossup. Shadid put me at enough ease that I am withholding my judgement for a while longer.

Still, though, the first guy who promises to purge the public works department will win my vote immediately.

[OSUFan]

Not saying your wrong but I have a hard time the mayor of OKC makes 700 appointments. Anyone back that up. That seems like a ton.

[DoctorTaco]

Not saying your wrong but I have a hard time the mayor of OKC makes 700 appointments. Anyone back that up. That seems like a ton.

I'm not saying I'm right. I haven't researched it. Just reporting what he said.

[Bellaboo]

I've lurked in this thread for a long time. For the most part I have agreed with the "party line": Shadid was good for Ward 2, but turned around over the streetcar/MAPS3 in general, and was now behaving like a wierd egotist on the campaign trail.
I especially liked how he positively affected the Western Avenue streetscaping project. Does anyone think the city would have done anything more than the bare minimum up on Western without Shadid bringing in the OU Placemaking folks? I appreciated his focus on tranisit, and especially liked his "speaking truth to power" bit that has already been mentioned.

But I was outraged by his maneuverings on the streetcar, and was baffled by his semi-coherent attacks on Mick. So my mind was more or less made up to vote Mick. Although I was a little bummed to lose Shadid in Ward 2 (a pain in the ass like Shadid can have a really positive inpact by countering group-think and inertia).

That being said, two weeks ago I was invited to a private event held by a friend of mine who is a Shadid supporter. It was a small crowd, and Ed was making the rounds giving us his pitch. I asked him point blank why he is running for mayor and making such a fuss when the mayor's office is largely ceremonial in our city. His answer was some boilerplate about being a spokesman for wellness and mental health (how this would differ from Mick I am unsure), and also to appointments. He said that the only extra power OKCs mayor has over a city councilman is to make 700 appointments to various posts. He thinks Mick has been very bad at choosing people, and we are left with our city decision makers being populated by a white-washed good-old boy's club. He wants to see city buerocracy populated in a way that reflects the ethnic and gender makeup of the city, and he thinks that this will result in things being done better at City Hall. Ed also had some decent ideas about combining some tasks between the city and OKCPS in order to save money (such as having a single repair yard for buses). I don't know if this is legal or politically viable, but it seems on the surface like a good idea.


The thing that really impressed me, though, was his upfront (true, in my opinion) accusation that the City has really sucked at implementation of our good ideas. He cited P180 and the decaying Myriad Gardens as prime examples. These are things most of us OKCTalk denizens are very familiar with. "So now we're going to build a giant park, set it up with no maintenance budget, and expect it to remain nice when we can't even keep up Myriad Gardens?"

Someone asked him point blank if, since he is so concerned about the park (and streetcar) having no maintenance/operations budget than would he kill them. He said no, but that, if he could, he would trim both projects by multiple millions of dollars in order to set up maintenance funds.

Just thought I would report what I observed. By no means did Ed win my vote, but I must say in person I was impressed, and he swayed me a bit.But I'd love to have the same series of conversations with Mick.

So I went from a strong Mick vote to a lean Mick/tossup. Shadid put me at enough ease that I am withholding my judgement for a while longer.

Still, though, the first guy who promises to purge the public works department will win my vote immediately.

Personally, I'll take results over chatter any day of the week. Ed is all talk, he's done very little other than to make promisses. Mick on the other hand, was the Mayor who wouldn't go away, according to David Stern (NBA Commissioner), and as a result we landed the Hornets, which turned out to be the trial run that led to the Thunder. Now OKC has it's first international brand, and all kudos go to Mick Cornett. Without Mick, we'd be just another wide spot on I-40.

[betts]

Ed sounds good when he talks. He has some good ideas scattered amongst the bad, but he's the family practitioner of politics: jack of all trades, master of none. He has ideas on everything, but no idea how to implement those ideas. For instance, did anyone point out to him that MAPS funds can't be used for operations and maintenance? He's made all sorts of noise about advertising revenues and buses, but totally ignores the advertising potential of the streetcar. He ignores the fact that there will likely be a BID district and other potential sources of revenue. He doesn't seem to understand that MAPS projects bring people and businesses into the city, which increase city revenues far more than his plans for the money. He wants to hire (or says he does, as you certainly can't trust his campaign promises) hundreds of new police officers without knowing how they can be paid, along with their benefits and pensions. He's a political neophyte on both sides of the ballot, not voting in any city election until he ran for office.

I look at all those things and real concerns about his ability to focus, and the choice is easy.

[soonerguru]

I've lurked in this thread for a long time. For the most part I have agreed with the "party line": Shadid was good for Ward 2, but turned around over the streetcar/MAPS3 in general, and was now behaving like a wierd egotist on the campaign trail.
I especially liked how he positively affected the Western Avenue streetscaping project. Does anyone think the city would have done anything more than the bare minimum up on Western without Shadid bringing in the OU Placemaking folks? I appreciated his focus on tranisit, and especially liked his "speaking truth to power" bit that has already been mentioned.

But I was outraged by his maneuverings on the streetcar, and was baffled by his semi-coherent attacks on Mick. So my mind was more or less made up to vote Mick. Although I was a little bummed to lose Shadid in Ward 2 (a pain in the ass like Shadid can have a really positive inpact by countering group-think and inertia).

That being said, two weeks ago I was invited to a private event held by a friend of mine who is a Shadid supporter. It was a small crowd, and Ed was making the rounds giving us his pitch. I asked him point blank why he is running for mayor and making such a fuss when the mayor's office is largely ceremonial in our city. His answer was some boilerplate about being a spokesman for wellness and mental health (how this would differ from Mick I am unsure), and also to appointments. He said that the only extra power OKCs mayor has over a city councilman is to make 700 appointments to various posts. He thinks Mick has been very bad at choosing people, and we are left with our city decision makers being populated by a white-washed good-old boy's club. He wants to see city buerocracy populated in a way that reflects the ethnic and gender makeup of the city, and he thinks that this will result in things being done better at City Hall. Ed also had some decent ideas about combining some tasks between the city and OKCPS in order to save money (such as having a single repair yard for buses). I don't know if this is legal or politically viable, but it seems on the surface like a good idea.


The thing that really impressed me, though, was his upfront (true, in my opinion) accusation that the City has really sucked at implementation of our good ideas. He cited P180 and the decaying Myriad Gardens as prime examples. These are things most of us OKCTalk denizens are very familiar with. "So now we're going to build a giant park, set it up with no maintenance budget, and expect it to remain nice when we can't even keep up Myriad Gardens?"

Someone asked him point blank if, since he is so concerned about the park (and streetcar) having no maintenance/operations budget than would he kill them. He said no, but that, if he could, he would trim both projects by multiple millions of dollars in order to set up maintenance funds.

Just thought I would report what I observed. By no means did Ed win my vote, but I must say in person I was impressed, and he swayed me a bit.But I'd love to have the same series of conversations with Mick.

So I went from a strong Mick vote to a lean Mick/tossup. Shadid put me at enough ease that I am withholding my judgement for a while longer.

Still, though, the first guy who promises to purge the public works department will win my vote immediately.

I fell for his $hit once, too. I wasn't alone. A lot of smart folks did. It wasn't our fault he will just tell you what you want to hear. It sounds good, but he has no plan, and his relatively short term as a council member shows that.

He's not giving up his Council seat for this race. If you still want him onboard as a rabble rouser, you'll get that. You just won't have to watch our city get splintered by him as a mayor.

[LakeEffect]

I'm not saying I'm right. I haven't researched it. Just reporting what he said.

I wouldn't be surprised if it is that many people in actuality. EVERY volunteer board is populated with Mayor-appointed people. Just for design review (urban design, HP, etc.), I can count about 42 appointees, if I remember committee make-up correctly.

However, every one of these appointments goes to City Council for approval. So, if a Council-person really thought the appointments were bad choices, they have the ability to say no. I don't recall seeing that happen though. Maybe it sometimes happens outside the horseshoe...

I do recall a couple appointments being delayed right around when Shadid was elected because the Council members hadn't met the people yet (they were appointed as Ward representatives). Not every appointee represents a Ward - some boards have requirements for professional status or don't even require being an OKC resident.

[Urban Pioneer]

Appointments are ratified by a majority vote of the city council. A mayor can suggest and promote appointments, but if Shadid doesn't have a majority on council, he can't implement his agenda anyway.

I should know. He tried to have me removed conversely through the same mechanism. He could not get a single additional vote, even from his few friends.

[Urban Pioneer]

Can you imagine the tin foil hat appointments he honestly would try to make? lol Reynold's aluminum wrap would become the city's second most purchased commodity.

[Tier2City]

Appointments are ratified by a majority vote of the city council. A mayor can suggest and promote appointments, but if Shadid doesn't have a majority on council, he can't implement his agenda anyway.

I should know. He tried to have me removed conversely through the same mechanism. He could not get a single additional vote, even from his few friends.

Talk about vindictive.

[Urban Pioneer]

You have no idea.

[betts]

Can you imagine the tin foil hat appointments he honestly would try to make? lol Reynold's aluminum wrap would become the city's second most purchased commodity.

Well, we know David Glover would be appointed to something. That's scary enough to make me vote against him. Yes, precisely who will he appoint to these positions? I'm sure I'll be off the streetcar committee, that's for sure, along with the only people in OKC who really understand streetcars. Many of our subcommittee members have done alot more than stay at a Rail~Volution last night.

[betts]

Appointments are ratified by a majority vote of the city council. A mayor can suggest and promote appointments, but if Shadid doesn't have a majority on council, he can't implement his agenda anyway.

I should know. He tried to have me removed conversely through the same mechanism. He could not get a single additional vote, even from his few friends.

Which leads us right to Tulsa-style politics and stalemate.