Recently, the first of three local PAVE (Pottawatomie County Advocates for Voter Education) forums was presented so residents could get a glimpse of where the candidates stand on issues before the June 18 primary elections.

Candidates for Shawnee City Commission Ward 3 gave brief opening statements and responded to written questions from the public. Questions were submitted at the forum or in advance by email and were screened for appropriateness and duplication.

Ronnye Perry Sharp served as moderator.

Ward 3 Incumbent Yannah Frazier, 48, is competing with Theresa Cody, 68; and Chris Odneal, 45.

Some of the candidate questions and responses are, as follows:

QUESTION: What is your experience, if any, with government, finance and budgeting?

CODY: My experience is coming to the City Commission meetings on and off for the past 32 years and every year I review their budget.

ODNEAL: If I’m elected this will be my first in government with finance and budget. But outside of that, I’ve been on two nonprofit boards and I run two companies currently, So I’m balancing books and obtaining finances; it’s something I do daily, running those two companies.

FRAZIER: Well, my applied science degree is with the accounting and financial services track. I’ve also served about eight or 10 years on the Tribal Housing Commission, where I was treasurer, as well as chair. We get the budget and approve the budget; I know my way around a worksheet.

QUESTION: What is your experience with municipal land-use planning? How will you make final zoning decisions based on recommendations from the Planning Commission?

ODNEAL: I do not have experience with municipal use planning. I do know we have a planning commission and that they make recommendations and turn over plans to the city commissioners. I would review that and do research and read everything that’s given to me to make sure that I can make a decision based on information that I would obtain.

CODY: I will educate myself with what the Planning Commission brings before the City Commission and determine what I need to vote on. I will also keep my ears open to my constituents to understand what their point of view is on zoning, too. And try to have a good conversation between the two so that I’m voting correctly.

FRAZIER: I haven’t got that much experience, but I have gotten a little bit of experience sitting up here. Of course, you do take into account what the Planning Commission wants and plans, but it’s so important to listen to your constituents, too. Sometimes sitting up here during these meetings you will hear things from the people that come up and talk that aren’t in our planning books, that aren’t in our meeting books, and we wouldn’t know that if we didn’t hear from the people who come up and talk to us during those meetings. So, it’s important to take that into account, as well as the information you receive from the city.

QUESTION: What are your main priorities?

CODY: My main priorities are getting people to talk and to have conversations. We have went so long without having conversations with the city. It has been quite a struggle with dealing with some of the issues we have on Main Street. Four years ago I stepped to my front window, looked out and it looked like a third-world country. We had people smoking crack pipes and stripping bikes, and I was deciding this is where it’s going to end with me, and this was going on up and down Main Street, so we started a neighborhood watch. And I have continued each month of meetings and we’ve discussed some of the problems and some of the solutions that we could take in regard to this. We have made huge headway; we’ve worked with the police and the city manager has been to all our meetings. I’m the one that called the meetings and our people downtown were very glad to be there.

ODNEAL: I believe that we need to discuss the city’s unhoused individuals. I think we need to come up with a real solution that is compassionate. We take care of businesses and we take care of the people that have the least among us. Secondly, sidewalks and streets – since the bridge has been out on Main Street, there is no east/west sidewalk from the river to Independence. So, just think about that. You cannot get from Kickapoo to Harrison on a sidewalk until you get to Independence. We need to make a discussion about kids walking to school; they have to walk in the street – elderly, differently-abled people and wheelchairs can’t get from the east to west side of town and I think we need to have a real conversation about that.

FRAZIER: Downtown in my number one; that is the heart of our town. Number two, I would like to see our officers and our fire department appreciated. I know we don’t negotiate those contracts, but I worry. They should always get a raise. I know they get an increase in their insurance benefits and such, but they should always get something extra. Also, new business. We need new business, we need to encourage new business, and it’s needed to keep growth.

QUESTION: Do you support a citizen police review board?

ODNEAL: I also agree that I would need a little bit more information as to how that would be structured, what would be the objectives of such a board. I can’t really say if I’m for or against such a board. I do know that communication and being open with the citizens and the police will foster a great relationship, but to give it a thumbs up or thumbs down without how that would work or how it would be structured – I would require more information for that.

FRAZIER: It sounds like a great idea, as long as it’s constructive, and it’s also important that the people that sit on that board are objective and know the ins and outs of what they are advising. It sounds good; everyone gets a voice, but it’s important that those that are there do have experience in what they are discerning.

CODY: I’m not sure that I would support a citizens review board. I would have to have more details as to what they hope to accomplish from it. Just from the way I would see it, I don’t see what benefit it would have.

QUESTION: How do you plan to review tax increases? Are you in favor of adding sunset clauses?

ODNEAL: I am in favor of sunset reviews. We vote to increase our sales tax, and a few years later we vote and increase it again, and again, so, you know, the maps programs that were successful in Oklahoma City sunset and then they revote on it again. They have succeeded. It allows us to take a look about what we want our tax dollars to go and how we want them to be spent. I think that’s good stewardship. I would support that.

CODY: I’m not a big tax person, but I know the city has to rely on the sales tax; that’s our only source of revenue. And I would be in favor of reviewing it every year and making sure we are spending our dollars properly, which we haven’t shown that we’ve really been good at that the last few years. I think we need to review where the money’s going. We need to spend the money on the basic things that we have voted on that sales tax for and if we have more money coming in than we need then we need to see about repealing some of the sales tax.

FRAZIER: A sunset clause – isn’t that where they automatically expire after a certain time – isn’t that what that is? I would say a sales tax that would go on forever without ending, that seems frightening. I would assume that the sunset clause is a positive thing.

PAVE forum

PAVE is the successor organization to the county League of Women Voters. The non-partisan group has been hosting candidate forums for several years.

The last scheduled forum, focusing on Pottawatomie County races, was Thursday in the Shawnee City Hall commission chambers. The forum was live-streamed on the City of Shawnee website and recorded for later playback.

Voting

The election is June 18. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The deadline for voter registration to vote in the June 28 election is May 24.

The deadline for an absentee ballot request is June 3.

Early voting starts June 13 and 14, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and June 15, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.