OKC Mayor Race 2014

[Midtowner]

Ed tried to laugh it all off too.

Ed hasn't already been mayor for many years with a positive track record.

[OSUFan]

I'm actually dumb founded that the Gazette would print that about the Oklahoman. Why in the world would the Oklahoman (or any media outlet) seriously need to investigate anything Wayne Coyne ever said? That makes no sense to me.

[Edgar]

The choice is even more clear. Do you want a mayor who will channel all his compulsive energy into serving all the city to the best of his abilities, or an absentee mayor who checked out right after the timeline vote, only ever represented a narrow core of interests and didn't want to run again.
A lot of us have irrational behavior we're later not proud of in the midst of an emotional divorce. right people?

[soonerguru]

The choice is even more clear. Do you want a mayor who will channel all his compulsive energy into serving all the city to the best of his abilities, or an absentee mayor who checked out right after the timeline vote, only ever represented a narrow core of interests and didn't want to run again.
A lot of us have irrational behavior we're later not proud of in the midst of an emotional divorce. right people?

Great. Chalk up another Norman vote for Ed Shadid.

[Jim Kyle]

When I see a politician promising to serve the public, I keep in mind the agricultural meaning of the verb "to service" and smile...

[soonerguru]

Here is the lede:

Oklahoma City Councilman and mayoral candidate Ed Shadid snorted cocaine on two occasions, chose pornography over marital intimacy and became violent with his wife before entering an addiction treatment center, according to sealed divorce records reviewed by Oklahoma Gazette.

Oklahoma Gazette News: Ed Shadid's divorce records

So the Gazette chose to run with its own story on this. Someone gave them the divorce records. It was later revealed on Twitter that Shadid reached out to them about the article for an "exclusive" interview. Well, "exclusive" if you discount the interview he offered Red Dirt Report on the same day.

So one wonders if this is the complete file or if more will be unearthed when the judge unseals the records on Friday.

[Midtowner]

The choice is even more clear. Do you want a mayor who will channel all his compulsive energy into serving all the city to the best of his abilities, or an absentee mayor who checked out right after the timeline vote, only ever represented a narrow core of interests and didn't want to run again.

His "compulsive energy"? What the hell is that? You want your candidate to get all coked up and BRWWAARRR the city council into building nicer bus benches? Yeah, that'll work. Absentee mayor though, whaaa? How many Council meetings has Cornett missed due to his education schedule? I did the grad school thing while working and was absent from neither one of those things. It just means that the man had a limited personal life.

A lot of us have irrational behavior we're later not proud of in the midst of an emotional divorce. right people?

As someone who has represented hundreds of folks in divorces, I think I can draw from a pretty representative sample and can say that turning to ecstasy, cocaine and LSD and marijuana while working as a physician, a surgeon no less is not normal. In fact, I've never even heard or seen such a thing.

[tomokc]

The choice is even more clear. Do you want a mayor who will channel all his compulsive energy into serving all the city to the best of his abilities, or an absentee mayor who checked out right after the timeline vote, only ever represented a narrow core of interests and didn't want to run again.
A lot of us have irrational behavior we're later not proud of in the midst of an emotional divorce. right people?

I lose confidence when the best that a candidate and his supporters can do is tear down their opponent instead of pointing to their own accomplishments. "Don't vote for him" is never a convincing argument.

[soonerguru]

Some of those drugs do provide a lot of energy.

[soonerguru]

The choice is even more clear. Do you want a mayor who will channel all his compulsive energy into serving all the city to the best of his abilities, or an absentee mayor who checked out right after the timeline vote, only ever represented a narrow core of interests and didn't want to run again.
A lot of us have irrational behavior we're later not proud of in the midst of an emotional divorce. right people?

I haven't been through a divorce, Thank God, but wasn't it the irrational behavior that led to the divorce? Throwing chairs and kicking holes in the wall? Coke binges in Vegas? Those things are what caused the divorce in all likelihood.

God forbid if I were involved in a divorce I wouldn't start using coke and destroying property. Would you?

[tomokc]

As someone who has represented hundreds of folks in divorces, I think I can draw from a pretty representative sample and can say that turning to ecstasy, cocaine and LSD and marijuana while working as a physician, a surgeon no less is not normal. In fact, I've never even heard or seen such a thing.

This bears repeating. And Mid, how many plead the Fifth Amendment?

[mkjeeves]

This bears repeating. And Mid, how many plead the Fifth Amendment?

All those with similar issues and cautious attorneys?

[Urban Pioneer]

I lose confidence when the best that a candidate and his supporters can do is tear down their opponent instead of pointing to their own accomplishments. "Don't vote for him" is never a convincing argument.

Good point. However I have never heard Mayor Cornett publicly say a single negative thing about Ed.

So what are Mayor Cornett's accomplishments in contrast to to Ed Shadid? I'll just start with a few...

1. Brought in Jeff Speck to help develop a plan for walkability and worked with people behind the scenes to encourage the creation of Project 180
2. Helped start and chairs the Regional Transit Dialogue Committee to develop regional support for organizing a Regional Transit Authority to meaningfully solve our public transit woes.
3. Advocated and succeeded in adding $9 more million dollars to MAPS 3 sidewalk fund to build more miles of sidewalks. (His idea).
4. Helped negotiate for the OKC Thunder.
5. Helped convince OU President David Boren and GE Executives to site the new GE lab in OKC.
6. Chaired the national US Conference of Mayors and brought mayors from all over the USA here to boost positive perception about our community.

[soonerguru]

Good point. However I have never heard Mayor Cornett publicly say a single negative thing about Ed.

So what are Mayor Cornett's accomplishments in contrast to to Ed Shadid? I'll just start with a few...

1. Brought in Jeff Speck to help develop a plan for walkability and worked with people behind the scenes to encourage the creation of Project 180
2. Helped start and chairs the Regional Transit Dialogue Committee to develop regional support for organizing a Regional Transit Authority to meaningfully solve our public transit woes.
3. Advocated and succeeded in adding $9 more million dollars to MAPS 3 sidewalk fund to build more miles of sidewalks. (His idea).
4. Helped negotiate for the OKC Thunder.
5. Helped convince OU President David Boren and GE Executives to site the new GE lab in OKC.
6. Chaired the national US Conference of Mayors and brought mayors from all over the USA here to boost positive perception about our community.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. He also led the passage of MAPS 3.

[Bellaboo]

The choice is even more clear. Do you want a mayor who will channel all his compulsive energy into serving all the city to the best of his abilities, or an absentee mayor who checked out right after the timeline vote, only ever represented a narrow core of interests and didn't want to run again.
A lot of us have irrational behavior we're later not proud of in the midst of an emotional divorce. right people?

Do you want a coke snorting, lsd tripping wife beating pot smoking liar, or someone who has led this city in a very positive manner. Yes Edgar, the choice just got a lot clearer.

Is Ed paying you to post all this crap ?

[Urban Pioneer]

The problem is, there isn't enough time to even collate all of the Mayor's legitimate accomplishments. Many of those accomplishments made through a good working relationship and mutual respect of other council members.

As I posted on Facebook, maybe its not "cool" to be for the "status quo", but the "status quo" has done some pretty great things for this community in recent years.

[Midtowner]

All those with similar issues and cautious attorneys?

I've had meth abusers go into court and be very candid with the judge as to what their usage was. None of those had medical licenses, but Shadid maintains that he notified the medical licensing folks about his issues. I've never heard of anyone pleading the 5th due to drug use... now if they were trafficking, I'd probably advise them to plead the 5th, but more than likely, such an individual would have been less than candid with his attorney as to his source of income

[mkjeeves]

I've had meth abusers go into court and be very candid with the judge as to what their usage was. None of those had medical licenses, but Shadid maintains that he notified the medical licensing folks about his issues. I've never heard of anyone pleading the 5th due to drug use... now if they were trafficking, I'd probably advise them to plead the 5th, but more than likely, such an individual would have been less than candid with his attorney as to his source of income

I do know of someone who was being questioned by the DA about a crime that happened in the workplace and was advised to plead the fifth on personal drug use questions that came up. He wasn't the one being charged. He was being interviewed as part of the investigation. It wasn't a drug investigation but it did involve multiple types of criminal activity in the workplace.

[Midtowner]

I do know of someone who was being questioned by the DA about a crime that happened in the workplace and was advised to plead the fifth on personal drug use questions that came up. He wasn't the one being charged. He was being interviewed as part of the investigation. It wasn't a drug investigation but it did involve multiple types of criminal activity in the workplace.

Being questioned by the DA and by an attorney in a divorce case are two very different animals. It is highly unlikely that Judge Shaw (who presided over the divorce) or the wife's attorney would report anything to the District Attorney. There would be no reason for them to want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, i.e., the spinal surgeon who would probably end up on the hook for significant child support, alimony and attorney fees. That said, if you plead the 5th in a family case, it is presumed that whatever answer you would have given would be damaging. So if the question was:

Q: Did you spend this $15,000 on strippers and coke in Las Vegas?
A: As instructed by my attorney, I am invoking my 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

... the Court could then presume that your answer would have been something on the order of "It was actually $12,000, we had coupons for the blow." The advantage would of course be that the D.A. couldn't use that transcript in a subsequent criminal trial or Grand Jury proceeding, but such a thing would be very unlikely. I've seen LOTS of people test positive for drugs and admit to use under oath and on the record. I have never seen a single case taken up by the D.A. In fact, I think the D.A. ought to steer well clear of family law proceedings.

[jerrywall]

I'm actually dumb founded that the Gazette would print that about the Oklahoman. Why in the world would the Oklahoman (or any media outlet) seriously need to investigate anything Wayne Coyne ever said? That makes no sense to me.

Especially since Coyne has stated that he was joking and made that up?

[SoonerDave]

This mayor's race has gone from somewhat annoying political theater straight into a pathetic circus.

[tomokc]

This mayor's race has gone from somewhat annoying political theater straight into a pathetic circus.

But only from Ed Shadid's camp.

[adaniel]

I agree. As much as I am mildy entertained by wild stories of doing blow in Vegas, I think I liked it more when our city politics were boring. Hopefully this will all be over by March.

Unfortunately for Shadid, I think it's already over.

[warreng88]

I find it interesting that people are still saying we should test Mick Cornett for drug use. Let's examine the facts:

1. One person admitted to being a habitually marijuana user and even going to rehab for it. He tested positive while he was in med school and was put on probabtion. He pleaded the fifth in his divorce which it turns out he "destroyed personal property and shouted at his wife in front of his children". He admitted to using cocaine at least twice while in Vegas.

2. The other person has allegedly used pot in the privacy of his own home. The person who made these comments is the lead singer of a rock band who has probably done every drug known to man. He later recanted stating "it was a silly remark. No, I've never smoked pot with the (person) and I don't think he smokes pot."

[Edgar]

Sure Shadid has some flaws- be interesting to see how much they impact his appeal to all the folks unrepresented by the chamber mayor. has a candidate ever run a whole hog campaign canvassing all gazillion square miles of the town? Is he the first swarthy toned person to run?