Something that made an inquiring mind ask: ‘What’s up with that?”
Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
Patrick B. McGuigan
Oklahoma City – There are some news stories that make a person ask: “What’s up with that?”
Here are a couple of examples.
Tres Savage of NonDoc.com, an online news service, is a fine reporter, careful in his approach to his chosen profession. During the latter years I worked from a cubby-hole office in the state Capitol newsroom, I grew to respect his seriousness and methodical approach to news about politicians and policy.
In the age of COVID caution, I’ve not seen him often -- but I read his work and that of his reporters every day.
In a July 23 story about Governor Kevin Stitt’s appointment of Tulsa attorney John O’Connor as state attorney general, Savage referenced something that those who cover our government know is happening, but for the most part lack specific data to cite in our reporting.
Savage avoided sensationalism and stuck to the swirl of information, including with this nugget:
“Numerous criminal investigations involving public entities and public officials ... are ongoing, and O’Connor may ultimately have to make decisions on matters of potential public corruption, although some of the cases are under investigation by federal law enforcement agencies.”
Early last year, when the state Supreme Court found unconstitutional a state law (Senate Bill 608) concerning regulations on access of distributors to name-brand liquor and wine. It was a case that pivoted on the meaning of the words “may” and “shall” – the sort of decision that delights legal eagles, and can frustrate even intelligent non-lawyers.
In that story, Savage referenced one critic of the 5-4 decision – state Representative Chris Kannady, an Oklahoma City Republican.
Savage reported (italics below):
“It’s obvious that it’s still a contentious issue since the court is divided,” Kannady said. “It’s not the first time I’ve disagreed with the court, and it probably won’t be the last.”
Asked if he thought political drama surrounding S.B. 608 had spurred the FBI to look into how political contributions are made and how legislative business is conducted in Oklahoma, Kannady said he believes the FBI was looking at proposed legislation that he was not involved with.
“I’m not going to comment on that. I’m not worried about it,” Kannady said. “And I don’t think that was the only thing that was tied to. There were other issues and bills that I had nothing to do with that were tied into that.”
Kannady is the first person to discuss the FBI’s investigation on the record. Others have discussed the matter on background with NonDoc.
As the great Paul Harvey, whom it was my pleasure to print (and occasionally edit) early in my career, used to say, “Stay tuned, for News!”
Note: This analysis first appeared in the August 2021 print edition of The City Sentinel newspaper in Oklahoma City.
Something that made an inquiring mind ask: ‘What’s up with that?” Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
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Joe Dorman, Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy held our annual Heroes Ball on Friday, July 30. The event was special this year.
We held the first (that we know) simulcast nonprofit event in Oklahoma for a program of our size from two separate fantastic venues. We had great crowds at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City and the Greenwood Cultural Center in Tulsa.
Encore Events ran the broadcast live with masters of ceremonies at each venue setting up the speakers who were prerecorded. Not only were we able to get back together, but we also had a Zoom for people to watch from home. Special thanks go to Randy Cassimus with Harmony Media for masterfully editing the speeches and keeping us on schedule.
Among the prestigious awards is our annual Anne Roberts People’s Choice Award; we had a record number of online votes for it this year. The State Department of Education swept the awards with SoonerStart winning the organization award and Melissa Ahlgrim, Director of Reading Sufficiency, winning the individual advocate.
Other heroes for children honored were Chad and Charis Richison; Bob and Jean Harbison; frontline workers at state, county, and tribal health departments for their heroic vaccination work; the producers for the “Tulsa Burning” documentary; as well as the Honorable Judy Eason McIntyre and the Honorable J.C. Watts.
An event such as this takes months of planning and dedication to execute. This was done by our outstanding team of OICA board members and employees, along with selfless volunteers who help with this each year.
This event, especially in the middle of a pandemic, is difficult to make happen I appreciate everyone who had a hand in seeing this be successful in our fifth time to hold the Heroes Ball. I especially want to thank the health department workers who attended and set up a vaccination station to provide COVID-19.
I also need to thank each of our honorary banquet chairs: the former Congressman J.C. Watts, former Congressman Dan Boren, and Senior Vice-President Mary Blankenship Pointer with Frontier State Bank. Our board event chair, MJ Barton, also dedicated a tremendous amount of time to helping pull things together for the event, and auctioneer Bailey Ballou from Elgin helped us sell several items to help secure extra dollars.
OICA did everything we possibly could to ensure safety was our utmost priority. We limited attendance at both in-person venues and provided masks for people at our check-in, along with the encouragement to wear them. I only took mine off while giving my closing speech and when taking a few pictures with people at the end.
I have had COVID-19 and I certainly do not want to go through that experience again, nor do I want to see any of our guests contract it. Please keep masking and if you have not gotten your COVID-19 vaccination yet, please consider doing so to protect those around you.
OICA now shift our focus to assisting with First Lady Sarah Stitt’s “Back to School” event by providing backpacks through the OK Foster Wishes program.
We have begun planning for our virtual Fall Forum, which will shape our legislative agenda for 2022. Please go to oica.org to learn more about how you can be a part of our work.
About OICA: The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities, or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. Our mission statement: “Creating awareness, taking action, and changing policy to improve the health, safety, and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.”
‘And a good time was had by all ...’ – OICA’s Heroes Ball is in the books Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
CapitolBeatOK Staff Report
As a part of a unique Corporate Work Study Program, Cristo Rey Oklahoma City Catholic High School (Cristo Rey OKC) will celebrate Draft Day on Friday, August 6.
Cristo Rey OKC’s Draft Day matches students to an employer for the upcoming school year. The Corporate Work Study Program offers an opportunity for students to understand the value of hard work while helping stabilize high-turnover positions, reduce burnout in full-time staff and bring community engagement into workplaces.
“The local businesses we’ve partnered with provide an opportunity for our students to earn their tuition, gain valuable work experience and begin developing in-demand skills that our workforce needs today,” Cristo Rey OKC President Chip Carter said. “Our school focuses on closing the growing gap between education and our workforce by preparing our students for their future careers with hands-on experience. That opportunity for experience is possible through or Corporate Work Study Partners.” (https://ift.tt/3A4S9qm)
Cristo Rey OKC opened its doors in August 2018 and is one of 38 nationwide schools that make up the Cristo Rey Network. (https://ift.tt/2Ypxlc3 )
The Corporate Work Study Program includes several Oklahoma City businesses from a variety of industries such as Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores, Integris, The Boldt Company, Chesapeake Energy, and more. A full list can be found at https?//cristoreyokc.org/work-study .
“When a business becomes a Cristo Rey OKC Corporate Work Study Partner, they are provided with a team of four students that work on alternating days to cover one full-time equivalent position,” Carter continued. “Since our students are employees of Cristo Rey OKC, they are on our payroll. Therefore, we handle taxes, workers comp, the Department of Labor and other employer issues, while businesses receive reliable and productive employees at a highly-competitive rate in return.”
Assuming the role of an employee-leasing agency, the Corporate Work Study Program has streamlined the process for employing students. Through a fee-for-service contract, paid quarterly, annually or monthly by the Corporate Work Study partner, our students are employed through the Corporate Work Study Program and assigned jobs at our individual partners. Students work in a four-person, job-sharing team to fill one full-time equivalent position during standard daily business hours, Monday through Friday, for the entire academic year. Academic schedules are structured so that students work without ever missing class.
Corporate Work Study applications and donations are accepted year-round to help support the mission of Cristo Rey OKC and its students. Businesses interested in becoming a Corporate Work Study Partner or donating can visit CristoReyOKC .
The returning class of senior (grade 12) students will be the first graduating class at Cristo Rey Oklahoma City Catholic High School .
About Cristo Rey Oklahoma City: Cristo Rey OKC Catholic High School is an independent Catholic school that educates young people of limited economic means to become men and women of faith, knowledge, purpose and service. A member of the national Cristo Rey Network of 38 schools, Cristo Rey OKC combines rigorous academics with real-world work experience, seeking to prepare their students for success in college and life. As part of Cristo Rey’s unique Corporate Work Study Program, students work one day a week in professional settings, earning a majority of their own tuition.
Cristo Rey Oklahoma City students drafted to work with local businesses Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
Steve Fair
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, refers to the killing of over six million European Jews during WWII by Nazi Germany.
Approximately two thirds of Europe’s Jewish population was killed between 1941-45. It remains one of the most brutal, depraved acts in human history.
In order to readily identify Jews, the Germans required them to wear a badge in the form of a yellow star of David. The badges were printed on coarse yellow cloth and were a garish yellow.
Last week, the OKGOP Facebook page had a post comparing Oklahoma business owners who are requiring their employees to be vaccinated before they come back to work as being required to wear a yellow star. A yellow star was photoshopped in the post to read “unvaccinated.”
The post encouraged readers to contact Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell and ask him to call a special legislative session to address private employer vaccine mandates. Governor Kevin Stitt is out of the country and when he is not in the state, the Lt. Governor is the state’s top elected official. By Sunday, the post has been commented on 2,500 times and shared 1,000 times.
Some took offense at the post.
Roberta Clark, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City said, “It’s sad and ironic that anyone would draw an analogy from one of the largest recorded genocides in the 20th century with public health attempts to save lives.”
In a combined statement, several elected officials -- Governor Kevin Stitt, Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell, Senators Jim Inhofe and James Lankford, Congressman Markayne Mullin and Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat said: “It is irresponsible and wrong to compare an effective vaccine- developed by President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed- to the horrors of the Holocaust. People should have the liberty to choose if they take the vaccine, but we should never compare the unvaccinated to the victims of the Holocaust.”
Three observations:
First, no individual should be mandated to take or excused from taking the vaccine by government.
That is an individual choice. There is a significant percentage of the U.S. population who are hesitant and have resisted taking the vaccine. They have a right to not take it and not be harassed by the vaccinated or the government.
Conversely, those who take the vaccine have a right to take it without being harassed by the unvaccinated or the government. Each person should make up their own mind regarding the vaccine. Government has done enough by making the vaccine available.
Second, private business owners have a right to require employees to take the vaccine.
Republicans believe businesses should not face regulations/restrictions on their business. If a business owner is trying to keep his business viable and believes mandatory vaccinations are necessary to accomplish that, it is their right to require it.
Businesses must be pragmatic. They can be charitable, but they are not a charity. If they don’t remain profitable, they don’t stay in business and in turn don’t create jobs. Requiring employees to be vaccinated may put an employee in a tough situation. If they feel that strongly about not being jabbed, they may have to find another job.
Third, there should not have been a comparison between the Holocaust and being unvaccinated.
The Jews in Europe were exterminated/murdered/slaughtered. The worse the unvaccinated in Oklahoma would face is the possibility of losing their job. That’s not the same.
Opinions vary on the vaccine. Some believe the government is injecting poison into people. Others believe the government is injecting a microchip that will be used in the future to track people. Still others believe the vaccine is the solution to returning to a normal life. Take the shot or not -- it’s your choice.
But business owners should also have a choice. They must be afforded autonomy, freedom and liberty to operate their business without government interference, to remain viable. That is a fundamental Republican principle.
NOTE: Steve Fair is conservative commentator whose essays often appear at CapitolBeatOK.com, an independent, non-partisan news organization based in Oklahoma City, and in The City Sentinel newspaper. Fair is Chairman for the Oklahoma Republican Party in the state’s Fourth Congressional District. Steve can be reached by email at okgop@aol.com. His blog is stevefair.blogspot.com.
Vaccine: Take it or Leave it! Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
CapitolBeatOK Staff Report
Oklahoma City – Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma (Goodwill) will host its inaugural “Work the Runway” fashion show from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 20. The fashion show fundraising event will celebrate the 85th anniversary of Goodwill and years of transforming Oklahoma lives since the nonprofit was founded in 1936.
(https://okgoodwill.org/ )
“Our mission is to help people overcome challenges to employment,” Goodwill CEO Jim Priest said. “The Work the Runway fashion show is just one way we are celebrating our 85th anniversary. We are proud of the work we’ve done and look forward to continuing our efforts to provide Oklahomans with the resources they need to get back on their feet.”
Goodwill employees and local social media influencers will come together to showcase and model different styles of outfits found at a local Goodwill store. The interactive fashion show will feature music by DJ’s Carte Blanche and an art display showcasing recycled items.
There will also be a fashion boutique with high-end items found at Goodwill’s central Oklahoma stores. Items include an Epiphone electric guitar, vintage camera and Coach purse, to name a few. The event will benefit Goodwill employment services, including the new mobile Job Connection Center.
Over the past 85 years, Goodwill has helped Oklahomans overcome challenges to employment by providing job training and skills to those in need. The Job Connection Center and Goodwill Career Pathways Institute give many community members free access to training in computer skills, money management, job applications and more. The new mobile unit will travel throughout central Oklahoma, enabling more people to receive these resources.
Oklahomans are invited to attend Work the Runway at the Oklahoma Contemporary located at 11 NW 11th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73103 .
Limited quantities of individual tickets can be purchased at (https://worktherunway.com/ ).
Additionally, there are multiple sponsorship opportunities available.
Presenting sponsors for this event are Whitten Burrage Law Firm and Mathis Brothers Furniture and additional sponsors include Jones PR, Complete Alarm Technology Systems, Enable Midstream Partners, Immediate Care OK and Insurica.
To learn about Goodwill and its mission, please visit (https://okgoodwill.org/ )
(This story first appeared at The City Sentinel newspaper website, here: https://www.city-sentinel.com/2021/07/goodwill-industries-of-central-oklahoma-to-host-fashion-show-for-85th-anniversary/ .
About Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma: Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma is a community-based, nonprofit agency in Central Oklahoma with one outlet store, 24 retail stores and 17 attended donation centers and a Job Connection Center throughout 37 counties. Goodwill is a sustainable social enterprise that funds job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items. To find a Goodwill location near you, use the online locator at okgoodwill.org.
Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma to host Fashion Show for 85th anniversary Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK Senator Kay Floyd of Oklahoma to study state Bureau of Investigations response to sexual assaults7/31/2021
CapitolBeatOK Staff Report
“Oklahoma’s sexual assault and rape kit backlog is continuing to pile up,” according to a state legislative press release sent to news organizations this week.
With the approval of the President Pro Tempore of the upper chamber, Senate Democratic Leader Kay Floyd plans to study the progress of analyzing the backlog and provide an update on the current sexual assault cases pending testing.
The number of rape cases reported in the state over the last decade have been steadily increasing – about 1,500 cases reported in 2011 compared to about 2,400 cases reported in 2019. Senate Bill 975, which was authored by Floyd and signed into law in 2019, aimed to address the rising backlog of cases by requiring law enforcement agencies to send rape kits for testing within 20 days of collection.
The backlog and lack of rapid movement to resolve it was raised frequently at the state Capitol and throughout government in the years before Senator Floyd’s 2019 legislation.
(https://ift.tt/3C0C5b6)
“I’ve been working with the Oklahoma Task Force on Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence (SAFE) for years to address the mounting backlog of rape kits and ensure victims get the answers and peace they deserve,” Floyd said.
“We want to make sure this backlog is being addressed and see if there’s anything we can do legislatively to support and protect victims of these terrible crimes.”
The study was one of 71 approved by the Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, and has been assigned to the Public Safety Committee. It’s now awaiting scheduling by the committee chairman.
(https://capitolbeatok.worldsecuresystems.com/reports/oklahoma-senate-president-pro-tempore-greg-treat-announces-approved-interim-study-requests)
The number of approved interim studies this year is unusually high.
All interim studies must be concluded by Friday, Nov. 5.
Senator Kay Floyd of Oklahoma to study state Bureau of Investigation’s response to sexual assaults Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
CapitolBeatOK Staff Report
OKLAHOMA CITY – House Republicans have planned a total of 17 interim studies focusing on various aspects of K-12 and higher education.
Among the studies are one by Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, that will focus on making Oklahoma a Top 10 state for college attendance and graduation through methods that improve both.
“A college degree is an entry into a higher-paying career and a better quality of life for Oklahoma students,” Echols said. “Increasing the number of college graduates in our state also signals to employers that Oklahoma has a skilled and ready workforce, which has the potential to grow our overall economy. This brings benefits for all state residents.”
Rep. Sheila Dills, R-Tulsa, meanwhile, has requested interim studies on educational management organizations and charter school sponsors.
Dills has authored several bills that have increased transparency and accountability of charter school spending and regulations. Her studies this interim will review contractual agreements, competitive bidding, purchasing requirements and best practices among other topics.
“Educational choices are important to parents and students in Oklahoma,” Dills said, “But we want to make sure that our charter school sponsors and educational management organizations are transparent in their use of taxpayer’s dollars and adhering to state law.”
Other interim studies scheduled before the House Common Education and Higher Education committees include one by Appropriations & Budget Vice Chair Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, that will examine public school districts that have used their federal COVID relief funds to help ensure student success during this academic year.
Hilbert wrote in his study request that the study will highlight successful, innovate programs, and explore opportunities to expand and continue these programs beyond the availability of federal relief funds. He suggests examining the public-school portion of Equal Opportunity Scholarships Funds included this year in Senate Bill 1080.
Another study poses the question: Higher education and engineering, a matter of national security – are we there yet? The study by Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, will focus on higher education engineering and aerospace engineering programs and how they particularly could impact national security.
Common Education Chair Rhonda Baker has three education interim studies planned. Topics include ways to address the teacher shortage, including teacher certification and teacher quality; computer science education in Oklahoma public schools from elementary to high school; and a joint study with the Senate examining how COVID affected learning outcomes and ways to bring students back to level, spanning from kindergarten through college freshmen.
Interim studies will be scheduled from Aug. 2 through Nov. 5. Speaker of the House Charles McCall, R-Atoka, approved 117 studies this year, an unusually high number.
Oklahoma House Republicans plan numerous education studies Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK Voting Online for Anne Roberts Peoples Choice Awards continues until Friday July 30 at 5 p.m.7/28/2021
Joe Dorman, Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Anne Roberts People’s Choice Award is named for OICA’s longest-serving executive director. As the name suggests, these awards come from the nominations and votes of child advocates.
We had some tremendous nominations this year, and I wanted to share with you the finalists and encourage you to vote before 5 p.m. on Friday, July 30. Go here to vote: www.oica.org
Individuals serving as finalists this year are listed below, and you can see for yourself the glowing remarks from their nominations.
Carolynn MacAllister helped start the Saville Center for Child Advocacy, introduced the Potts Family Foundation to the Resilience Documentary (which has led to statewide screenings of more than 15,000 Oklahomans) and started the Resilient Payne County Coalition.
Christina Kastl is a board member for the Licensed Child Care Association of Oklahoma helps educate others on child safety and best practices for educating children.
Taylar Smith works with Foster Care and Adoption Recruitment through Oklahoma Human Services in Cotton, Jefferson, and Stephens Counties. She commits herself to being an advocate for children and is involved in many events, fundraising, and projects for foster children in Oklahoma.
Melissa Ahlgrim works as the Director of Reading Sufficiency at the Oklahoma State Department of Education. She sits on different boards and assists different groups that help parents/guardians, schools, educators, school administration to "positively" improve a child's education.
Cheri Fuller founded the OK Messages ten years ago in Oklahoma, a literacy and prevention program that works in twelve prisons throughout the state to film parents reading to their kids, which now serves children in 73 of 77 counties in Oklahoma.
Julie Lackey founded LeadLearnLive, a nonprofit that ensures Oklahoma programs are modeled after top similar organizations in the country that result in life-changing outcomes in independent living and employment and works to ensure that all children in Oklahoma have the option to attend college regardless of disability.
Organizations serving as finalists are:
The Care Center, organized in 1991, is Oklahoma County’s only child advocacy center and is committed to helping children find their voice and begin to heal after abuse as well as preventing child abuse through education.
SoonerStart is Oklahoma’s early intervention program. It is designed to meet the needs of families with infants or toddlers with developmental delays and/or disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Oklahoma Interviewing Services (OIS) provides statewide services for victims of and witnesses to child abuse and other crimes with a sensitive, compassionate response through skilled interviewing, referral to helping agencies, community outreach, and professional education. It is a unique organization in that it provides bilingual forensic interviewing services through the use of a mobile unit.
Licensed Child Care Association of Oklahoma (LCCAOK) works to educate elected officials and policymakers on the important role that licensed child care businesses play in the economic development of Oklahoma, as well as providing quality early learning opportunities for Oklahoma's youngest citizens and their families.
The Arc of Oklahoma is committed to ensuring a high quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families through education, empowerment, support, and advocacy. Through their work, they envision a world in which these individuals have a right to make their own choices and their voices are reflected in all decisions affecting their lives.
Little Read Wagon constantly provides new and gently used books to children in the greater Norman/Oklahoma City area. They set up at community aid fairs, donate to homeless shelters, and even hide books in parks for kids to discover. They allow children to choose their own new and used books from their book wagon, providing story time, planning and providing literacy activities, reading aloud to adults, and filling book requests.
For more information about the Heroes Ball, to learn more about and vote for an individual or an organization for a People’s Choice award, or to find out how you can help OICA continue its mission of fighting for Oklahoma’s children, go to the website at www.oica.org or call 405-236-KIDS (5437).
About OICA: The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities, or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. Our mission statement: “Creating awareness, taking action, and changing policy to improve the health, safety, and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.”
Voting Online for Anne Roberts “People’s Choice Awards” continues until Friday, July 30, at 5 p.m. Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
Steve Fair
Last Friday (July 23), Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Tulsa attorney John O’Connor, 66, to be the Sooner state’s Attorney General (A.G.). O’Connor will complete the unexpired term of Mike Hunter, who resigned in May. O’Connor and Stitt have a history, having known each other for over twenty years. Stitt says he considers O’Connor a ‘mentor.’ The appointment follows the pattern by the governor of surrounding himself with people who he has a history with.
O’Connor was nominated two years ago by President Donald Trump to serve as a federal district judge. The American Bar Association’s (ABA) 15-member judicial review board voted unanimously that O’Connor was “not qualified,’ to serve as a federal judge. O’Connor withdrew his name from consideration before the U.S. Senate took up the nomination. The ABA has a history of opposing conservative judges, cited O’Connor’s lack of actual courtroom experience as one of the reasons they opposed his appointment to the federal bench.
Three observations:
First, was O’Connor the best qualified candidate for the AG position?
According to the governor, he interviewed twelve (12) people for the position. Sources claim many of those interviewed had more courtroom and law enforcement experience than O’Connor. It appears the governor’s pattern of appointing friends and acquaintances to key advisory positions continues. No one person has a history with and knows the most qualitied person for every position in government.
By appointing someone he has known two decades, Stitt makes it appears this appointment is a case of ‘not what you know, but who you know.’ The appointment is the sovereign decision of the governor, as laid out in the state constitution, but it is questionable the most qualified candidate got the job.
Second, the ABA assessment of O’Connor being ‘not qualified’ means nothing.
The organization trashes conservatives and have totally lost their objectivity. They attempted to block dozens of Trump appointments to the bench, not because they weren’t qualified, but because they disagreed with the appointee’s ideology. Their observation of the lack of courtroom experience is of concern. The AG is Oklahoma’s attorney and the state’s top law enforcement officer. A corporate lawyer may not have the background to understand what the state’s District Attorneys and other law enforcers challenges are.
Third, Oklahoma voters will ultimately determine if Stitt made the right choice.
The AG position is up for election in 2022. O’Connor announced at his first news conference he plans to run for the Republican nomination next year.
He has already drawn a primary opponent, Tulsa attorney Gentner Drummond. Drummond lost the GOP primary by less than 300 votes to Hunter in 2018.
Others are sure to join the AG race. Voters should watch closely what O’Connor does in the next sixteen months and vote accordingly.
The Oklahoma Attorney General manages a staff of 100 lawyers, and a total staff of 174 people, with an annual budget of $25 million dollars. An argument could be made the Oklahoma AG is more powerful than Oklahoma’s weak governorship. It’s a big job.
With the McGirt decision and the pending Dobbs pro-life suit before the Supreme Court of the United States, which could throw abortion back to the states, Oklahoma’s AG position becomes even more important.
Stitt stated in a press release that he appointed O’Connor because he was not just competent in the law but he also has high moral character.
Time and the voters will determine if Stitt made the right decision.
NOTE: Steve Fair is conservative commentator whose essays often appear at CapitolBeatOK.com, an independent, non-partisan news organization based in Oklahoma City, and in The City Sentinel newspaper. Fair is Chairman for the Oklahoma Republican Party in the state’s Fourth Congressional District. Steve can be reached by email at okgop@aol.com. His blog is stevefair.blogspot.com.
Governor Stitt appoints Oklahoma's New Attorney General: Commentary Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK
Patrick B. McGuigan
Oklahoma City, July 23, 2021 -- State Rep. Monroe Nichols, D-Tulsa, has garnered the approval of Speaker of the House Charles McCall for an interim study intended, in the words of a House Staff press release, “to review neighborhood blight throughout Oklahoma and how it affects homeowners and communities.”
The staff release issued at the time of Nichols’ request to the Speaker read: “Neighborhood blight refers to neighborhoods with abandoned houses or lots often in disrepair. When neighborhoods experience blight, property value decreases for everyone, including small businesses in the area.”
Rep. Nichols commented, “Significant wealth, sometimes wealth accumulated from a lifetime maybe even generations of work, can be wiped away due to the action or inaction of others. Since financial considerations are often the cause of abandoned property, this is a problem that low- and middle-income Oklahomans feel the most.”
Nichols believes that “blight” conditions impact both rural and urban areas of the state. He said, “When you visit many neighborhoods in rural Oklahoma, you see a very similar site as some areas in Oklahoma’s bigger cities,” Nichols said. “The state needs to be proactive in revitalizing communities that are already financially struggling.”
He hopes the study might gather information and resources to overcome abandoned property issues, to assist lawmakers and local officials. He reflected, “We are all in this together. What is good for rural Oklahoma is good for urban Oklahoma and vice versa. One of the jobs of a state lawmaker is to help local officials find solutions to the problems facing their community, which is what I hope to do with this study.”
In his submission to the Speaker’s office, the Tulsan said the study “will take a look at enabling legislation in Alabama that led to the revitalization of neighborhoods in Mobile.”
The study will work through the House County and Municipal Committee.
Rep. Monroe also gained approval for a look at “economic fairness” through the Government Modernization Committee. In his June 22 submission, Monroe affirmed, “This study would explore ways the state of Oklahoma could improve economic fairness for low and lower middle income residents. Study will feature Fellows who are studying the issue over the summer and a deep dive analysis into potential approaches.”
On Friday, Speaker McCall announced his approval of 113 interim studies – the overwhelming majority of the proposals sumbitted to him in the weeks after the regular legislative session ended.
The anticipated wave of studies will have to take place between August 2 and November 5.
(https://capitolbeatok.worldsecuresystems.com/reports/oklahoma-speaker-of-the-house-charles-mccall-approves-113-interim-study-requests ).
State Representative Monroe Nichols of Tulsa will lead Interim Studies on Neighborhood Blight and a “deep dive” in research on economic fairness Click on the headline to read the full article at CapitolBeatOK |
Pat McGuiganThe dean of all Oklahoma Journalism, Mr Patrick McGuigan; has a rich history of service in many aspects of both covering the news and producing the information that the public needs to know. Archives
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