City Council and School Board elections on April 6

Voters in Oklahoma City and in the Oklahoma City Public School District will have the chance to shape the future of their community by voting in important elections on April 6.
While the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber does not endorse candidates, the Chamber asked all candidates to complete a survey to better understand their positions on issues important to the organization. Learn more about each candidate and their responses below.

City of Oklahoma City

Voters in Wards 1 and 3 will vote on their city councilor. Candidates in the April 6 runoff, listed in the order in which they appear on the ballot, are Shay Varnell and Bradley Carter for Ward 1 and Jessica Martinez-Brooks and Barbara Young for Ward 3.

Related: April 6 runoff election to decide City Council representatives

Shay Varnell is a small business owner currently serves on the Traffic & Transportation Committee. On his campaign website, Varnell says, “My OKC values will allow me to bring a stable voice to the City Council. Using those values and common sense to make decisions is exactly what Oklahoma City needs.”

If elected to City Council, what will be your top priorities?

To keep the promise that our City government made to the citizens of OKC in regards to MAPS4. There are a lot of great projects that we are all looking forward to seeing completed. My guess is with the rise in building cost that we have seen in the past year, several of these projects will be over budget and I would hate to see projects get cut or under-built.

FIRST RESPONDERS: Support the OKCPD and OKCFD departments in a way that lets them do their job in a safe and efficient manner.
Streets and bridges, this is all the people that i’ve knocked on their doors want to talk about. Try to provide the safest streets and bridges we can.

Bradley Carter is a business owner, 11-year resident of Ward 1 and serves on the boards of ministries working in partnerships to support local charities. His campaign website says, “As your voice on the City Council for Ward 1, Bradley will utilize his years of business experience, ministry outreach and wisdom gleaned from interacting with and serving neighbors in need to create a stronger future with opportunities for all.”

If elected to City Council, what will be your top priorities?

Roads, infrastructure, transparency and responsive leadership!

Jessica Martinez-Brooks is a lifelong resident of Oklahoma City, an educator and a frequent community volunteer. Her campaign website says that she “believes that we need a local government that is efficient and responsive to the needs of the various neighborhoods and communities within our city.”

If elected to City Council, what will be your top priorities?

Ensuring MAPS 4 projects and resources get implemented appropriately
Infrastructure needs (Roads, bridges, utility expansion, public safety)
Being responsive to Ward 3 residents and the issues impacting their neighborhoods

Barbara Young is a businesswoman, longtime Southwest Oklahoma City resident and community volunteer. Her campaign website says that she is running for Ward 3 “to give Southwest Oklahoma City the conservative voice it deserves.”

If elected to City Council, what will be your top priorities?

My priorities as a council member include ensuring that the council keeps OKC open for business both for existing companies as well as for new businesses coming into our city by ensuring that no new job crushing regulations or taxes are approved and by looking for ways to draw back any negative things that may exist today; Also a priority is ensuring that tax dollars come back into ward 3 for our citizens in the way of infrastructure improvements and additional amenities through development opportunities; and lastly by ensuring that our first responders are supported and funded properly to ensure Oklahoma City is a safe place to work, live and play.

For complete surveys from all four Oklahoma City Council candidates, go to velocityokc.com/citycouncil.

Oklahoma City Public Schools

Candidates on the ballot include Paula Lewis (incumbent) and Charles Henry, candidates for Board chairperson; Brett Hayes and Carole Thompson, candidates for the District 1 seat; and Lori Bowman and James McHenry, candidates to represent District 2.

Related: OKCPS board chairperson, representatives of Districts 1 and 2 to be decided April 6

The winners in this decisive election will join incumbent Meg Mcelhaney, the only person who filed to represent District 7, for a four-year term on the Oklahoma City Public School Board.

While the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber does not endorse candidates for any school board seat, the Chamber asked all candidates to complete a survey that would ascertain their stance on charter schools, the use of TIF funds and more. Learn more about each candidate and their responses below.

Paula Lewis is the current chairperson of the OKCPS school board. During Lewis’ nearly four years as Board chair, the school board made important strides on priorities that positively impacted the district, including superintendent stability, transparency and accountability, and addressing student mental health and wellness. Her campaign website says, “Having consistently addressed the issues that our children face both in and out of the classroom, we need Paula to continue her work as the Chair of the Board of Education to ensure OKCPS will continue to grow and move forward.”

If re-elected to the Oklahoma City School Board, what will be your priorities?

If re-elected, I will continue to work towards Superintendent stability by fostering good board management and communication with the superintendent. I will continue to support transparency and accountability to stakeholders and community and support Embrace OKC. The district is currently addressing equity via policy and I want to be a voice to support conversations around implicit bias, systemic racism and why we need culturally responsive leadership as well as diversity of leaders. The end goal being to provide access to education for every student by removing barriers as an educated work force is good for our city. Teacher and staff support and training is also needed to hire and retain high quality teachers in every school, I will continue to champion improvements in how we care for and support OKCPS employees.

Charles Henry currently serves on the OKCPS school board representing District 1. According to his website, Henry is running “to make the school board accountable to the people and to create a successful learning environment that will benefit all OKCPS students in reaching their full potential.”

If elected to the Oklahoma City School Board, what will be your priorities?

To create a safe learning environment and create a student code of conduct policy that supports teachers in managing their classrooms. If we cannot keep students from being disruptive in class none of the ideas to improve OKCPS schools will work. Parents need to be assured their children will be safe in school and teachers need to be able to focus on teaching instead of constant disciplinary issues. We will have a better process with in-school alternatives such as quality detention and in-school suspension programs that work.
To close the performance gap between low performing schools and higher-performing schools.
To close the achievement gap between traditional public schools and the successful non-traditional public schools, charter and enterprise schools.
To implement quality remediation courses to help OKCPS students graduate at the 12th-grade level or higher. A majority of the students in many schools are academically 2-3 grade levels behind.
To create an Advisory Board consisting of OKCPS parents, teachers, and community workers that will hold the OKC School Board Members accountable to the OKC citizens they were elected to serve.
To listen and address the issues and concerns from all groups and communities across OKC.
To create partnerships with our state colleges to advance our Science and Math programs.
To renew our commitment to provide special needs students a quality learning environment.

DISTRICT 1 and 2 CANDIDATES

Carole Thompson and Brett Hayes will face off in the District 1 runoff.

Lori Bowman and James McHenry will face each other at the polls for the District 2 seat.

Each responded to the Chamber’s survey. For full details, as well as the full survey for Paula Lewis and Charles Henry, go to velocityokc.com/schoolboard.

ELECTION INFORMATION

Early voting is 8 a.m. To 6 p.m. April 1-2 at your local county election board:
Oklahoma County Election Board, 4201 N Lincoln Blvd., (405) 713-1515
Cleveland County Election Board, 641 E Robinson Street (Suite 200) in Norman, (405) 366-0210
Canadian County Election Board, 200 S Bickford Ave. In El Reno, (405) 422-2422

Regular voting is 7 a.m. To 7 p.m. April 6 at your usual polling location. Find your polling location on your voter ID card, or using the voter portal at oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp.
EMBARK bus and OKC Streetcar service will be free on Election Day to help get voters to the polls. Visit embarkok.com or okcstreetcar.com to plan your trip.