Ward 6 council candidates square off
Public safety, inter-city council relationships and dark money all were discussed Wednesday night during a tense debate between two Oklahoma City Council candidates.
JoBeth Hamon, incumbent Ward 6 councilwoman for OKC’s most central ward, is up for reelection against business owner Marek Cornett.
Speaking to a nearly full room at Capitol Hill’s Yale Theater, Cornett took shots at Hamon’s time in office, saying the councilor has a record of trying to “score partisan points,” casting performative votes and being unwilling to collaborate with those whose views differ to get things done.
“What’s going to get the job done is somebody who’s getting in there and willing to work with other city council people ... (and) work with organizations like the Chamber or the FOP to make sure our community is safe,” Cornett said.
Hamon said in the last four years, she has challenged the status quo, been “a champion” for improvements to transit, bike lanes and sidewalks and has been part of the conversation shift surrounding homelessness, mental health and affordable housing.
“When I was first running, I was told by a prominent former city politician that I didn’t need to worry about homelessness because those people don’t vote,” Hamon said.
“There were very few discussions about mental health crisis response or adequate funding for truly affordable housing. And in just four years, I think we’ve fully changed that attitude in some areas of our city, but we obviously have more work to do.”
Here are five takeaways from the debate, which was hosted and livestreamed by NonDoc.
1. Candidates disagree on public safety, JoBeth Hamon calls FOP ‘extremists’
When discussing the area the two candidates likely differ on most, Cornett doubled down on her wish to support police funding, ensuring residents have a well-paid and staffed police department to respond to their 911 calls.
“I don’t think that we should decrease the funding for our police,” Cornett said.
“I think you need to have competitive pay for those positions if we want great police officers, but I also know that we need to hold them accountable to how they’re spending those funds.”
Hamon countered that public safety should mean more than being able to call the police.
Both candidates agreed the city should continue efforts to fund an alternative response to mental health calls to 911.
Hamon has voted no on the city’s annual budget since 2020, citing disagreements with the amount of funding going to police and the lack of funding going to police reform.
In January, she abstained from voting on the collective bargaining agreements with the local Fraternal Order of Police union, which included an 8% pay raise for officers.
Cornett said she would have voted “yes,” and that abstaining from the vote was “not representing your constituents at all.”
In years past, Hamon said she has voted no and explained her reasoning during council meetings, for which she received attacks from the FOP. She hoped that by exiting the room during the vote, she would not attract the same attention this year.
Later during the debate, when asked if in a second term Hamon would be more willing to find “common ground” with groups such as the Oklahoma City Chamber and the FOP, Hamon likened the city’s relationship with the police union to “negotiating with extremists.”
“They are one of the most extreme groups in our country,” Hamon said. “They have some of the most power to wield in this country and the things they do with it are protect bad actors that have used their power and hurt people in our community.”
2. Cornett sees Hamon as unwilling to collaborate
Cornett said she is running for the seat because Hamon “seems to have lost sight of the fact that collaboration and working together with other city council members is the way to get things done.”
Other city council members, Cornett said, have told her that Hamon does not request or accept meetings with them.
Hamon rejected the idea that she isn’t willing to work with others on the council.
One example, she said, was her work with Councilman Bradley Carter on the urban hen ordinance that allowed residents on lots under an acre up to 6 female chickens and quail.
“The times that other council members had approached me and I expressed that I was not interested in working on those issues was when it was around criminalizing homelessness,” Hamon said.
Cornett, meanwhile, said she disagrees with the idea that her election would represent giving the seat back to “the city’s historic establishment.”
“It is laughable when people say that I will be an empty suit,” Cornett said. “I am far from it. I definitely have my values, I definitely have my own way of doing things. I do not by any means subscribe to any single person or a single organization that supported me in the past.”
3. Thousands spent in dark money against Hamon, but why?
Thousands of dollars have funded digital advertisements opposing Hamon’s reelection bid by a 501(c)(4) group known as Catalyst Oklahoma, which does not have to report its donors.
The group has previously supported Cornett’s father-in-law, former OKC Mayor Mick Cornett, in mayoral and gubernatorial elections.
Both candidates agreed they’d like to see changes to the regulation of election spending from outside groups, including more transparency.
“I would absolutely love if we didn’t have any money in politics at all,” Cornett said. “And that’s not the world that we live in. And until there are regulation changes, then at this point it’s still considered dark (money).”
The “dark money” advertisements” have caused Hamon frustration due to what she calls a flattening of issues she has stood up for. She believes the attacks — which accuse her of being antimilitary, anti-jobs and quote previous interviews she’s done around policing — are inspired by her challenging of the “status quo.”
“Typically at City Hall, there’s a culture of ‘go along to get along’ and I don’t do that,” Hamon said. “I ask questions, I think critically and I am not afraid to criticize institutions and systems around serving our residents fully.”
4. Candidates draw the line on inappropriate political discourse after receiving personal threats and attacks
Both candidates said they have received threats and personal attacks throughout their campaigns, especially online.
Cornett said since announcing her candidacy, she has had to limit her social media use.
“I can’t say anything there without being disparaged,” Cornett said. “I think that we have really gotten to an extreme place where there is a crowd that likes to dehumanize candidates. … We have a lot of growing up to do in the public forum so that we can actually have meaningful conversations.”
Hamon said she welcomes conversations with people who disagree with her on policy issues.
“I don’t think expressing dissent or asking questions is uncivil,” Hamon said. “I see, in my mentions, name calling and attacks on my appearance. That, to me, is the line.”
5. Candidates are supportive of a new Thunder arena, but say the public should get a fair deal
Mayor David Holt proposed the idea last summer that the city hold off on MAPS 4 funds previously earmarked for Paycom Center upgrades, in favor of a possible public-private financing deal to build the Oklahoma City Thunder a new arena.
Cornett is in support of building a new arena as it “builds density to our city and helps our sales tax.” She supports a part public and part private financing deal for construction and says she will try to make it as fair as possible for OKC residents.
Hamon said she is not opposed to the city partially footing the bill for a new arena, but believes residents should benefit in more ways than securing a relationship with the NBA.
“We should be thinking about what real solid public benefit we can get from it,” Hamon said. “Or even requirements for making sure that staff working in those spaces have full and thriving wages.”