Is OKC charter vote on the way?
Should folks like incoming Oklahoma City Councilman James Cooper be made to give up their job to serve on the council? The city's voters may get to decide that issue this summer. The council will decide April 23 whether to send to the voters a proposal to loosen charter rules regarding who can serve. The man Cooper is succeeding, Ward 2 Councilman Ed Shadid, asked for the public vote, noting that Cooper must quit his job as a middle school teacher because the charter prohibits full-time state employees from serving as elected city officers. Ward 8 Councilman Mark Stonecipher said such changes shouldn't be made piecemeal, and that a committee should conduct a comprehensive charter review and provide recommendations. Mayor David Holt said he plans to appoint such a committee by year's end. The council this week rejected two other proposals by Shadid — seeking public votes on whether to triple the salaries of the mayor and council members, and whether to give citizens 150 days (instead of 90) to collect initiative petition signatures when trying to amend the city charter or enact ordinances. The former failed to advance on a 6-3 vote. The latter failed because there was no motion to approve it. Shadid, a physician, says he plans to start a firm to lead municipal and state initiative petitions. High on his list is the idea of extending the time frame for collecting signatures. After eight years on the council, Shadid didn't seek re-election this year, but it's clear he has no plans to leave city government behind.
Heartbreaking event for Konawa schools
On the night of March 8, a Konawa Public Schools bus carrying six members of the school's junior high softball team back from a game in Okemah was struck head-on and caught fire. A student, 12-year-old Rhindi Kay Isaacs, died at the scene; the other five girls and their coach, who was driving the bus and swerved to try to avoid the oncoming SUV, survived. The driver of the other vehicle — a man who recently had been charged with drunken driving — and his passenger were killed. The school district canceled classes Monday and all extra-curricular activities for the rest of the week. A vigil Sunday night drew an overflow crowd to the Konawa auditorium. “It's just the beginning, it's just the first step,” Superintendent Cory Ellis said. We join Oklahomans from border to border in offering condolences to the Konawa community and its school district.
Earn their way in? Perish the thought
A college admissions scheme unveiled by federal prosecutors shows just how far some parents are willing to go to make sure their kids don't taste rejection. The parents are accused of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars — in one case, $6.5 million — to guarantee their child's admission into elite universities. Prosecutors allege some coaches accepted bribes to denote applicants as recruited athletes, even though the student never played the sport. In other cases, parents allegedly paid test supervisors to doctor their child's college entrance tests. The accused are people who grew fabulously wealthy by succeeding in fields such as law, finance, entertainment and fashion, presumably with talent and hard work. Yet apparently, the idea of little Susie or Johnny having to earn their way into these schools was a bridge too far.
Pelosi a voice of reason on impeachment
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi caved to her progressive wing when she allowed a resolution denouncing anti-Semitism to be watered down to criticize hate of all kinds. Perhaps she'll stand more firmly against many of those same members who want to impeach President Trump. In an interview this week with The Washington Post, Pelosi, D-Calif., said she does not favor impeachment. “Unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path because it divides the country,” she said, adding that Trump “is just not worth it.” Pelosi has previously said Democrats would wait for special counsel Robert Mueller's report before considering impeachment. This apparent change of heart is welcome. We'll know in time whether Pelosi really means it.
Expensive plan to fix Michigan's roads
It took considerable work in the Legislature last year to increase Oklahoma's gasoline tax by 3 cents per gallon and its diesel tax by 6 cents per gallon. Lawmakers in Michigan may be faced with a much heavier lift. New Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is proposing to incrementally increase that state's gas tax by a whopping 45 cents per gallon, which would raise $2.5 billion for road and highway infrastructure upgrades. The plan by Whitmer, a Democrat, would bump the gas tax by 15 cents in October, 15 more cents in April 2020 and a final 15 cents in October 2020. If approved, it would leave Michigan with the nation's highest fuel tax rate. Michigan motorists may be weary of bad roads, but our sense is they'll let their representatives know they'd much prefer a less ambitious approach to dealing with the problem.
DNC chairman should rethink his decision
Chris Wallace of Fox News made an interesting point recently in discussing Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez's decision not to allow Fox to host a Democratic presidential debate. “There are a lot of voters that a Democrat is going to need to get elected president who watch Fox News,” Wallace told The New York Times. “People in the Rust Belt states, the rural areas that Hillary Clinton lost.” In issuing his edict, Perez cited a New Yorker article about ties between President Trump and Fox that he said made the network unable to host a fair and neutral debate. Please. Fox is home to pro-Trump mouthpieces such as Sean Hannity, of course, but also has highly credible journalists like Wallace and Brett Baier. Liberal media outlets such as the Times and Washington Post are among those urging Perez to reconsider. He should heed that advice.