Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:50 AM | Published: May 2, 2023
THE VILLAGE (Oklahoma) — The City of The Village swore in its first black City Council member Monday evening with a full house there to see it.
Two others were also sworn in, both with long histories in The Village City Hall.
Since there was a reception ahead of the swearing in, Free Press had the opportunity to visit with all three of the winners of the last election just before they were sworn in.
‘It just is’
Yes, Melodie Moore has the distinction of being the first Black member of The Village City Council. But, the 29-year resident of The Village neither discounted or considered her being Black something special.
“It just is,” Moore told Free Press. “It’s just a fact.”
Where her first motivation to run for the Ward 3 seat came from was advocacy for her neighbors’ interests.
“We were having some issues in our specific area,” said Moore. “And, it made me know that this is where the decisions were made. And that’s what the next step was: to be the representation.”
It was the intensity of her door-knocking and interaction with her neighbors that no-doubt propelled her through the election which she won by only a 13-vote margin.
Was her family for it or wary of such public scrutiny and possible criticism?
“My family pretty much supports any harebrained scheme I come up with,” said Moore. “I’ve always been this way. Even as a kid, I’ve always been the advocate in the group.”
“Always been the shortest person in the group, but I got a big bite,” she said with a big smile.
He’s back
Long-term fixture of The Village City Council David Bennett lost to newcomer Wynter Griffis in the election before this last one, then came back and unseated the person who had unseated him.
It was another close race for City Council in the city of not quite 10,000 people and covering a little less than three square miles in the north metro.
Bennett said that he ran on providing continuity for The Village City government especially at a time when three-decade veteran City Manager Bruce Stone retired.
“I went out and told everybody I know, I just want to help get our new city manager well structured,” Bennett told us. “And, people responded positively. I ended up on porches for a longer period of time [than in the past].”
More people in The Village are more engaged than in the past, said Bennett.
“In quite a few of my first meetings years ago there were only two ladies who regularly showed up and sat on the front row,” Bennett said.
Incumbent returns
Ward 2 incumbent Councilor Bubba Symes was the exception in the last election winning by a 26% margin over his challenger.
While some municipalities strain to accomplish as much as they could in a society full of sharp divisions, The Village has been marching forward.
Symes recalled the 2018 passage of the first general bond issue for public improvements passed in the history of the city, founded as a town in 1950 and then incorporated with a city government in 1959.
The measure passed by a 4-to-1 margin.
In the same election voters approved a new sales tax, the first increase in 16 years.
We asked Symes why The Village has been able to accomplish such big gains.
“In the last few years, it’s been because we don’t have any political agendas,” Symes told us. “You know, we’re not Republicans and Democrats, we’re The Village, you know, and … everything we try to do is for The Village — for the better.”
“We’re concentrating on stuff that everybody is just gonna like, you know, so yeah, that’s the reason right there.”
Current issues
Without fail, all three of the electees said that some of the biggest issues for people in The Village right now is scheduling of construction and the inconveniences of infrastructure improvement that will be enjoyed by residents eventually.
In the recent past and up into the present, Air BnB disruptions in neighborhoods have created issues that the Council has tried to address as have other cities in the metro also hit hard by short-term rental party houses.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
