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Kenneth McDaniel wants to reform the way Pottawatomie County spends its revenue and he feels like he has a few simple ideas that could make that happen, which is one reason he is running for Pottawatomie County commissioner.
“I want any measure that involves taxes to be a general election, where there’s more turn out,” McDaniel said. “It has to be a general election, not a special election. I think that’s where it ought to be.”
Tax allocation is just one issue on McDaniel’s platform.
McDaniel, of Maud, wants to get more people involved in county government and feels that important issues should only be on general election ballots, because most voters pay more attention to major elections. This inattention allows government officials to spend taxpayer money inefficiently, McDaniel said.
There are 36,022 registered voters in Pottawatomie County and the special election in 2009 only brought in 5,056 votes. This discrepancy does not represent the will of the people, he said.
McDaniel wants to change, what he calls, the “good ol’ boy” system of Oklahoma politics that comes from career politicians, something that he does not identify with.
“I want to instill term limits,” McDaniel said. “I’m not a politician. Don’t call me a politician ... I’m a fighter pilot.”
McDaniel retired from the United States Air Force after 22 years. During that time he served two tours in Vietnam, flying 298 combat missions and 546 hours of combat time as well as setting on nuclear alert.
McDaniel said, “I’ve got a tough row to hoe.”
McDaniel ran against Buck Day in the previous election and lost. He feels he lost because he claims he was wrongly arrested and charged shortly before the election in 2010. The charges were dismissed in May 2011, and McDaniel feels the previous race was a close election and enough voters identify with his positions that he has a good chance of winning this time around.
Government spending and the nature of politics is key to McDaniel’s platform, he says. If he is elected he plans to ensure taxpayer money goes where it is supposed to go, more efficiently, and wisely.
He said volunteer fire departments can spend less money now because they have new facilities and equipment.
“They don’t need as much money as they did before,” he said.
He also wants to spend less on economic development because it’s too easy to give away tax money to private businessmen. He says he’s not completely anti-economic development, but he is against what it is used for in some cases, he said.
“There’s plenty of places to eat, everybody that is going to spend money eating is already spending it. It’s not going to cause an increase in sales tax,” McDaniel said.
He is also against the county providing any funding to the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center, because he thinks it should be a self-sustaining entity that makes its own money.
McDaniel is a member of the Republican Party and has a degree in business.
Kenneth McDaniel wants to reform the way Pottawatomie County spends its revenue and he feels like he has a few simple ideas that could make that happen, which is one reason he is running for Pottawatomie County commissioner.
“I want any measure that involves taxes to be a general election, where there’s more turn out,” McDaniel said. “It has to be a general election, not a special election. I think that’s where it ought to be.”
Tax allocation is just one issue on McDaniel’s platform.
McDaniel, of Maud, wants to get more people involved in county government and feels that important issues should only be on general election ballots, because most voters pay more attention to major elections. This inattention allows government officials to spend taxpayer money inefficiently, McDaniel said.
There are 36,022 registered voters in Pottawatomie County and the special election in 2009 only brought in 5,056 votes. This discrepancy does not represent the will of the people, he said.
McDaniel wants to change, what he calls, the “good ol’ boy” system of Oklahoma politics that comes from career politicians, something that he does not identify with.
“I want to instill term limits,” McDaniel said. “I’m not a politician. Don’t call me a politician ... I’m a fighter pilot.”
McDaniel retired from the United States Air Force after 22 years. During that time he served two tours in Vietnam, flying 298 combat missions and 546 hours of combat time as well as setting on nuclear alert.
McDaniel said, “I’ve got a tough row to hoe.”
McDaniel ran against Buck Day in the previous election and lost. He feels he lost because he claims he was wrongly arrested and charged shortly before the election in 2010. The charges were dismissed in May 2011, and McDaniel feels the previous race was a close election and enough voters identify with his positions that he has a good chance of winning this time around.
Government spending and the nature of politics is key to McDaniel’s platform, he says. If he is elected he plans to ensure taxpayer money goes where it is supposed to go, more efficiently, and wisely.
He said volunteer fire departments can spend less money now because they have new facilities and equipment.
“They don’t need as much money as they did before,” he said.
He also wants to spend less on economic development because it’s too easy to give away tax money to private businessmen. He says he’s not completely anti-economic development, but he is against what it is used for in some cases, he said.
“There’s plenty of places to eat, everybody that is going to spend money eating is already spending it. It’s not going to cause an increase in sales tax,” McDaniel said.
He is also against the county providing any funding to the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center, because he thinks it should be a self-sustaining entity that makes its own money.
McDaniel is a member of the Republican Party and has a degree in business.
