Dear Neighbors,
The following candidates met with Shepherd & Sequoyah Neighborhoods tonight to discuss their platform for the quickly approaching City Council elections:  James Cooper, Major Jemison, Ed Shadid.

I wanted to point out some highlights of the discussion that will impact our neighborhood or surrounding area:

1.  There was general consensus that the police force is woefully understaffed for the population and square mileage of OKC the police force serves.  There are about the same number of police officers on the force as there were in the 90s.  Compounding that issue is the fact that the police force will be retiring in a record number in the next 3 to 5 years and the current facility used to recruit and train can only produce enough officers to replace the ones retiring.  There is talk about funding the construction of a new police academy so that a larger number of police officers could be recruited and trained.

(Maybe, we as a neighborhood, can use this as a bargaining chip to be assumed by Oklahoma City University PD)

2.  Upgrade/improvements of transportation infrastructure will be a large part of the General Obligation (GO) Bond for 2017 and getting a seat at the table for strategic planning will be crucial in improving our neighborhood and surrounding areas transportation infrastructure.  Discussion of using concrete instead of asphalt for main routes or arteries was acknowledged.      

3.  TIF Districts (Tax increment financing):  These are typically used to subsidize redevelopment and may be used for public or private uses depending on the structure of the TIF.  Oklahoma City currently has 8 TIF districts.  Recently,  the OKCPS Board of Education was alerted to TIF proposals that would divert future tax dollars from OKC Public Schools.  

Sources:  

http://www.reddirtreport.com/red-dirt-news/new-questions-develop-okcps-board-after-tif-presentation 

http://newsok.com/planned-four-tower-development-seeks-69-million-in-tax-increment-financing-in-oklahoma-city/article/5388956

http://newsok.com/new-tax-increment-finance-districts-proposed-to-fund-convention-hotel-parking-development-in-core-to-shore-in-oklahoma-city./article/5388316


Please vote on March 3rd and engage your City Council.


Best,

Craig

Dear neighbors, 
City Council Election Candidate Forum (Updated 2/18/2015)
The City Council election for our ward is right around the corner.  Shepherd has teamed up with Sequoyah Neighborhood to host a candidate forum at the Church of the Open Arms (3131 North Pennsylvania Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73112) on  February 24, 2015 @ 7:00 p.m.  We have confirmation from incumbent Dr. Ed Shadid,  James Cooper, and Major Jemison.  Please join us and let your voices be heard.


Annual Neighborhood Officer Elections/Nominations
The time has come once again to elect our 2015-2016 Executive Board Members.  We will conduct our neighborhood elections during the Chili Cook-Off event slated for the end of March (date, place, and time pending).   

I will be stepping aside as the elected President to hand off this important position to someone to continue to drive the mission of the Shepherd Historic District Neighborhood Association.  It has been a fruitful two years and much has been accomplished.  I stand to be nominated for the Secretary position.

Laura Vander Windt, currently elected Vice President, will also be stepping aside.  I want to publicly commend Laura for her leadership over the last 20 years within the Neighborhood.  She has worked tirelessly to make Shepherd a truly unique and community-centered place to live.  


Please send your nominations for the following  positions to craigtwalker@gmail.com:
(at this time zero nominations have been received)

President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer