Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:52 AM | Published: November 19, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY — Ward 8 City Council member Mark Stonecipher announced his intention to run for re-election to that seat in the next City Council election.
The general election coming up will be February 14 with a runoff election on April 4 if no candidate for a particular seat gets a majority vote.
The seats open for election this time will be for Wards 2, 5, 6, and 8.
Council seats are elected on staggered cycles to ensure that there are experienced people serving on the Council at all times.
The official filing period will be December 5,6, and 7.
Controversy
The announcement came during the same week of the posting of the agenda for Tuesday’s OKC City Council meeting that includes a controversial set of proposals he is promoting to increase the ways in which the homeless can be arrested and removed from both public and private property. Also, the proposals make it easier for police to arrest activists for protests in public meetings.
The proposals could be popular with some in the City, but they are also stirring strong objections from others.
“Serving the people”
“Serving the people of Ward 8 has been a great privilege and I hope to continue to work moving our city forward with improved infrastructure, roads, and exceptional police and fire protection,” Stonecipher said in a press release.
The Oklahoma City native listed what he believes are accomplishments “during my tenure on the Council:”
- Increasing funding for for police
- OKC became the “6th fastest growing and 20th largest city in the United States”
- 81% of residents rated OKC as an excellent or good place to live
- 76.8% rated OKC as an excellent or good place to work
- 70% rated OKC as as an excellent or good place to raise children
Stonecipher credits the high marks OKC’s residents gave it on the survey “to a committed focus on our core issues such as police, fire, infrastructure, and economic development.”
In the statement he said that he was “proud to support and promote portions of our Better Streets Safer City initiative that is adding 57 new firefighters and 129 additional police officers in our city while also undertaking the most significant street improvement package in our history.”
The Ward 8 councilor has also served as the Vice President of the Oklahoma City Water Trust.
Stonecipher took the lead on the Oklahoma City’s “Clear Your OKC Warrant program that gave residents a path to clearing old warrants for unresolved traffic tickets and parking offenses. So far the City has collected over $1 million in unpaid traffic and parking tickets while resolving around 9,000 traffic-related cases, the statement said.
Stonecipher is a shareholder and director in the Fellers Snider law firm in downtown Oklahoma City.
He grew up in south Oklahoma City but has spent “more than 30 years” in Ward 8 with his wife, Debbi to whom he has been married for over 40 years.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
