Last Updated on February 10, 2023, 9:40 PM | Published: February 10, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY – Five of the eight Oklahoma County Clerk candidates shared their platforms in a forum at Metro Technology Center in Oklahoma City days ahead of the Valentine’s Day special election.
The forum, organized by the Sigma Sigma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, allowed candidates to discuss their priorities one last time before voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide on each party’s nominee for the April 4 general election.
Organizers confirmed to Free Press that all candidates were invited to the forum.
But, the participating candidates were the five Democratic nominees seeking to fill the vacant seat left by David Hooten, who stepped down in June after sexual harassment allegations. The three Republican candidates were no-shows.
The candidates – Sean Cummings, Tiffany Ellis, Tom Guild, B.C. Phillips, and Derrick Scobey – were given two minutes to respond to questions about their priorities.
See previous coverage about the eight candidates running for County Clerk.
Clerk duties
The county clerk assumes many public service responsibilities for the county, which include:
- To serve as the registrar of deeds, purchasing agent and custodian of records.
- Secretary for the Board of County Commissioners and other county boards.
- Record and maintain county proceedings, financial affairs, and votes.
- Perform accounting, administrative, and bookkeeping duties for the county.
Each candidate’s top three priorities if elected
Candidates were asked to name their top three priorities if elected.
Ellis, who has served at the County Clerk’s office for seven years, said her priorities are:
- To fight a ‘culture of corruption and scandal.’
- Increase transparency and modernization.
- To work to protect tax dollars.
Guild, who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for State Treasurer in June, said his priorities would be to allocate more resources to:
- Mental health and substance abuse initiatives
- Homelessness and affordable housing
- Food insecurities
Phillips is a former Director of Communications at CASA of Oklahoma County, a non-profit organization that supports children in foster care. He said, if elected, his top 3 priorities would be:
- To create a safe work environment by implementing training and resources.
- Enhance accessibility options for the visually or hearing impaired.
- Be a presence on the Budget Board.
Pastor Scobey, who serves as a trustee on the Jail Trust, said his priorities would include:
- Improve transparency, accountability, and organization.
- Inclusion and representation.
- Act in a ‘collaborative role’ in County Budget Board negotiations.
Cummings, Village council member and local restaurateur, said his focus will be:
- Listening to employees to understand how to improve trust and morale.
- Accomplish as much as he can while serving on the Budget Board.
Serving on the Budget Board
All candidates agreed that one of the most impactful duties of the Clerk is their role on the County Budget Board. The County Clerk serves as secretary and voting member on the board alongside the County Commissioners, County Treasurer, County Assessor, and Sheriff.
The candidates were asked just how much impact the County Clerk has on issues, such as homelessness, mental health, and addiction treatment services.
Phillips said the Clerk is in a unique position to ask hard questions and act as an advocate for county resources that could go to prevention initiatives for these types of issues.
“At the county level, the county clerk can be an advocate for those kinds of cycle-breaking resources where we say, ‘Let’s take some of the money that’s potentially being squandered into other areas of the budget and shift it to housing services and diversion services,” Phillips said in his response.
Scobey said the County Clerk can somewhat assist with these issues by tracking information that can be used to address housing costs, homelessness, and mental health. However, he made it clear that the Clerk is limited in their ability to make direct changes.
“We must understand that the Oklahoma County Clerk has statutory, specific statutory duties, and we have to be very mindful that the county clerk can’t do everything,” Pastor Scobey said. “But I can tell you this… I will not sit quietly by if I believe that change should occur.”
Cummings stated that with additional software and artificial intelligence, data points could be collected to analyze specifics and root causes of community issues.
“Using the data points to try to deal with the microcosms instead of waiting until it’s a magical big storm that none of us can do anything about and nobody can get anything done,” Cummings said.
According to Ellis, the Clerk typically plays a minor role in these social issues. However, she said she would like to change that by being active in the community and exploring alternative options to help the community.
“I want to be a clerk that is out in the community and embracing these social issues that need attention,” Ellis said. “Not just a quiet clerk that normally sits behind a desk.”
Guild, who spoke on his troubled childhood experiences, said the Budget Board is an opportunity for the Clerk to make impactful changes in the county. He said his experiences helped him resonate with these issues that many Oklahomans face.
Oklahoma County Jail
One of the hot topics of the night was the Oklahoma County Jail. Candidates were asked how they would use their vote on the Budget Board to reduce incarceration and improve public safety outcomes, outside of building a new jail facility.
Scobey serves on the Citizens Advisory Board of the Criminal Justice Authority (Jail Trust).
“That vote at the budget board table will not produce the likelihood of reducing incarceration in our Oklahoma County Jail,” Scobey said.
Cummings, who has loudly opposed the $250 million bond package for a new facility, criticized the Jail Trust management of the jail. He said a revolving bail fund could be a solution for preventing incarceration.
The Bail Project, a national non-profit organization aiming to disrupt the cash bail system, serves incarcerated people in Oklahoma County by posting bail for those who can’t afford it. According to a study of Court Records by Open Justice Oklahoma, “People accused of nonviolent misdemeanor offenses spend 2 to 6 weeks in jail before their case is resolved if they cannot afford their bond.”
Ellis said as a member of the Budget Board, she would support the Jail Trust on its decisions for the jail and she’d also like to explore the root causes of incarceration in the county.
“I will look at all our alternatives to ensure every decision is made in the public’s best interests and not just those sitting at the table,” Ellis said.
Guild acknowledges the mismanagement that the Jail faces and attributes it mostly to a staffing issue.
“Hiring, training, and supervision of employees at the county jail are clearly areas that need to be strengthened today and continue when the new jail is built,” Guild said.
Phillips agreed with the other candidates, saying it’s imperative to find the underlying causes of incarceration. He said during his time as a volunteer at the homeless shelter he learned that many people experiencing homelessness are caught in a cycle of being incarcerated, being unable to pay bail, losing their jobs, and support systems, and then ultimately ending up on the street.
“We’ve got to figure out why we’re treating our Oklahoma County residents this way and we got to find the root causes,” Phillips said.
Click here to watch the live stream recording of the forum.
Voting Info
Early voting for the Feb. 14 election:
- Thursday, February 9th from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Friday, February 10th from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- There is no Saturday voting.
The Oklahoma County early voting location will be at:
- Oklahoma County Election Board at 4201 N. Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73105.
The election on February 14 is a party primary. The general election on April 4 will determine who wins.
The polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14. To find your polling place and view a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the OK Voter Portal.
Brianna Garcia is a freelance journalist covering local politics and culture for Free Press. She has a degree in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma.
