What are the key issues leading up to council election? OKC residents share their concerns
Oklahoma City voters are preparing to select their ward representatives in elections next month. We asked residents to share the top issues concerning their neighborhoods ahead of the city council elections on Feb. 14. Concerns ranged from fixing roads to continuing commercial development, investments in youth and senior services, stray pets and park services, addressing food insecurity and public safety.
Here's what they had to say:
"Last November, an OKC resident contacted city council and code enforcement regarding ongoing problems with a nearby short-term rental property operating without a license. A citation was issued, but this didn’t resolve the issue for the taxpayers. There needs to be a better process for licensing prior to citizen complaints."
— Gayla Kelly, Ward 2, Oklahoma City
"As a homeowner in Ward 8, I believe the city of Oklahoma City has done a great job of delivering city services to its residents. In recent years our infrastructure, police and fire needs have benefited from the 'Better Streets/Safer City' MAPS Interim Sales Tax initiative and the 2017 G.O. Bond Issue Program, as well as some city-county shared cost road reconstruction projects that have really been needed. MAPS 4 will bring us new and upgraded park facilities — including the rebuilding of Cameron Park into one of the regions best soccer complexes to the benefit of our entire city’s youth athletes.
Ward 8 has seen unprecedented growth in residential housing, both single family and multifamily developments, as well as new commercial development around Quail Springs Mall, along (State Highway) 74 and nearly every available open corner in the ward, with this comes more pressure on our infrastructure. There will be continued need for additional and upgraded parks, street widenings, signaled intersections and the potential for more police and fire coverage for the residents.
It is with great confidence that I believe our Oklahoma City development community and city leaders will provide the residents of Ward 8 with the new residential and commercial developments, as well as the city services needed to continue our growth, allowing for continued record sales tax collections, which will in turn create the pathway to fund our future infrastructure and city services for the foreseeable future."
— Don E. Noble, Ward 8, Oklahoma City
"Our neighborhood is located near Eastern and Memorial. Memorial needs to be resurfaced between Eastern and Bryant. Eastern needs to be resurfaced between Memorial and NW 63. It's a snow route and is in bad shape. The streets in the Fox Hollow neighborhood need to be repaved. They were built in the late '70s and have not been resurfaced. There are holes to bare earth and pavement has been reduced to gravel due to runoff and no storm sewers.
Food desert in this area. The nearest Walmart is six miles. Walmart Neighborhood Market would be a good fit for the area.
OKC: STREETS, STREETS, STREETS! We've done a great job through MAPS in developing downtown and all the amenities there, but now is the time to improve life for the working people who are the lifeblood and help pay for MAPS. We are primarily a commuter community, and streets must be a priority!
We've diversified our economy over the years and made good jobs available. We've made it attractive to others to relocate here. Now, let's improve the quality of life to where people want to stay in OKC!"
— Glenn Sharp, Ward 7, Oklahoma City
"I live in Ward 5. My top concerns are personal safety, the homeless population, infrastructure and senior services."
— Sandi Davis, Ward 5, Oklahoma City
"Oklahoma City’s Ward 8 continues to enjoy the benefit of excellent services for its residents.
The city is able to deliver these because of the activity generated within its borders. All communities in Oklahoma are very dependent on sales taxes generated from retail activity connected to commercial development.
As Ward 8 continues to grow, it is important to remember that providing services for all our residents is crucial. Our city and each ward need to continue their support of commercial developments. Unfortunately not all members of the city council are pro-growth. Not only do areas like Quail Springs Mall, North Park Mall, the Memorial and (Pennsylvania) retail area, along with many, add to a higher quality of life, but they’re the financial backbone of our infrastructure.
Without such developments, it would be impossible to fund our infrastructure needs like streets and water plus support our police and fire protection needs. Without this economic activity, Ward 8 would not be able to benefit from the dozens of street improvement projects either finished, underway or planned and we would not be able to hire the new police officers and firefighters to meet the needs of our Ward 8.
Ward 8 needs to be a leader in striking this great balance between commercial and residential development which is why Ward 8, with good leadership, continues to experience incredible growth."
— Don Kaspereit, Ward 8, Oklahoma City
"Feeling safe in our neighborhoods is a priority. My neighbors and I like to see patrol cars cruising our streets. Just as teachers should not be financially punished because of poor results by students in some of our schools, our police officers' paychecks should not bear the brunt of hard feelings by some council people regarding the jail and who is in charge of the facility.
We need to have a fully staffed police department. As we have seen in other large cities, money can be thrown at homelessness and mental health with no results or with the problems getting even worse. The council should monitor and report to the citizens what programs are working and what programs are not and be willing to eliminate those that are not and try something else.
Our parks are used by many and the upkeep and improvements of parks is important to many citizens.
The number of stray pets at the animal shelter is, on a daily basis, almost double what the building was meant to humanely house. Can the council address this problem and come up with some ideas that might work to decrease the shelter's intake numbers? We should not have to resort to saving pets' lives by transporting them to cities in other states that have already figured out how to solve their pet overpopulation problem."
— Gayl Leichner, Ward 2, Oklahoma City
"In Ward 8, we want more of the same. The work of Mayor David Holt and our city council has our area of the city running smoothly and prepared for future growth. We are seeing the implementation of the investments in streets and public safety passed by voters in 2017 and MAPS 4 projects are just around the corner. These packages address our needs and our wants, and I am so pleased that our city has embraced this approach that is the envy of so many other places.
Personally, the most important to me is the investment in our city’s future generations. This is best represented by what we have done for our youth. Cameron Park and the North OKC soccer complex is a great investment in our city’s future. Children from across all socio-economic groups can learn the value of teamwork and healthy lifestyles at this facility where families come together and build the sense of community that makes OKC such a great place to live and raise a family. I want our city and our ward to continue to invest in this and other youth facilities. In this day of so much divisiveness we need these common touchpoints and community facilities more than ever."
— Brian Gordon, Ward 8, Oklahoma City
"While there may be more pressing issue in the city, an issue that directly affects all OKC residents is the city’s new trash collection policy on not picking up trash sacks (not even on big trash day). The new policy was put into place under the guise of a COVID safety issue and was then left in place. In the fall, if residents choose to rake and pick up their own leaves they can’t leave these sacks out to be picked up or they risk getting fined. Oftentimes there isn’t room in the trash cans for all of it to be picked up in one week.
Possible solutions: (1) many cities have large trash collection trucks that have vacuum attached to suck up leaves, residents simply rake leaves to edge of curb; (2) simply revert back to picking up trash bags and limit number if there is a concern of time or efforts; (3) designate a day each month for extra trash bags."
— Preston M. Sullivan, Ward 6, Oklahoma City
"I live in Ward 6. My biggest issues are the following:
Homeless living in empty houses. I do not mind the homeless walking in our neighborhood or being present, but we have a problem with some of them intruding in empty homes.
Better sidewalk repairs. Sidewalks are the responsibility of the homeowner and the city has a 50/50 program but it sometimes takes the city more than a year to agree to go 50/50 with our sidewalk needs.
The traffic problems at (NW) 10th and (Pennsylvania). That intersection is a devil and needs to be re-imagined. Especially coming from the south headed north on (Pennsylvania) directly after the 10th St. intersection, the two lanes turn awkwardly into four with one of them a turn-only onto (NW) 12th.
We need to address the historic nature of our homes and help preserve the feel without going all the way into an official Historic Preservation neighborhood. Work with the city in some way to assure the traditional style of the homes are preserved and honored when new development comes into our area. Design regulations should be in place to assure they blend with the existing areas.
I feel that crime is well controlled in my neighborhood and I thank the (Oklahoma City Police Department) for that.
Proactive code enforcement would be helpful as many issues go unreported as neighbors continue to think that "someone at the city" will drive by and see the problem and fix it, not understanding that we as neighbors have to inform the city when there is a problem with codes not being followed
Of course the city has very little to do with the progress of our public school system, however, families will continue to flee to outlying areas to raise their children so they won't have to attend OKC Public Schools, leaving our inner-city void of families. The only way to fight sprawl is to fix our school system. Anything OKC Council can do, however limited it might be, is warranted so we can encourage families to live in the inner-core and feel good about educating their children in OKC public schools.
The biggest issue is regarding city council as an entity. We need to expand from eight wards to 10 wards. Our councilmembers have way too many households/businesses, etc., to try to cover and it could be spread out. We should pay our council people a true salary, even if it is for a part-time position. They currently make $1,000 a month, which barely covers gas expenses. This type of salary prohibits most working class people from running for municipal office, which means we will seldom have a council of our peers. It will primarily be filled with independently wealthy individuals, business owners or retirees.
It is time to re-think the whole structure of our city council. They should also be required to hold evening meetings on a regular basis, maybe 4-6 times a year? This way, residents who have regular full-time jobs could attend a meeting without having to take off work. The agendas for the evening meetings could contain items that are of particular interest to residents, something that would warrant a good conversation with everyday residents."
— Georgie Rasco, Ward 6, Oklahoma City
"Everyone here is concerned about the crime. It just does not seem to go away. We know the police is helping but people are so brazen they don't seem to care that the police is around. Sometimes the shots sound like they're right outside your door. Lots of Hispanic people live in my area and they're afraid to call the police. But I do."
— Dee Downard, Ward 6, S Oklahoma City
This prompt is part of our ongoing coverage of the Oklahoma City Council elections for Wards 2, 5, 6, and 8 on Feb. 14. To weigh in on the issue, share your thoughts in about 250 words to yourviews@oklahoman.com. Responses will be published in editions before the election.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC council election: Residents share their top concerns
