By Mindy Ragan Wood
Southwest Ledger
LAWTON – Two new Comanche County commissioners join an ongoing statewide political shakeup in counties across the state as a younger crowd scoops up long held seats.
District 1’s John O’Brien and District 3’s Josh Powers are among more than 70 elected commissioners in the last two years – often younger than their counterparts – according to Chris Schroder, executive director of the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma.
Schroder said the new crop of commissioners is mostly in their 40s with a lot to learn and have a lot to offer county government. While training is at the forefront for newly elected commissioners, leaning on more experienced officials is also important, he said.
“I think it’s a little give-and-take, fresh faces and fresh ideas but also maybe learning why some processes are there and some are done that way,” Schroder said. “There’s always somebody who’s done it for a while and figured out a better way, maybe.”
Powers, recently named chairman of Comanche County’s commission, told Southwest Ledger that he has been focused on questioning county practices and policies to modernize and improve them, especially when he’s told “this is the way we’ve always done it.”
“I question everything that’s questionable,” he said.
When asked if he relies on the advice of more experienced commissioners, Powers said he has turned to ACCO and the county district attorney’s office for guidance.
That decision follows the former detective’s drive to change policies that could place the county at risk for lawsuits. To avoid litigation, Powers declined to divulge practices legal counsel has addressed.
According to records at the district attorney’s office, Powers said he has asked for “more than double” the number of legal opinions in the first half of the year than district attorneys had answered in a 12-month period in recent years.
When asked if those requests were part of a learning curve, Powers said he “knows the law” but wanted to make sure anything in the “gray area” of the law is addressed.
“I’m not a guy who likes to play in the gray area,” he said. “It’s either legal or it’s not. I’m big on following the rules as they’re written.”
Other changes Powers tackled include personnel issues and outdated or redundant paperwork that slowed productivity.
He terminated one unqualified employee in his district. He also found highly qualified employees who were afraid to make decisions despite their skill and experience.
“You’ve got to have people you allow to make decisions in your organization, other than the commissioner, to be able to help the whole organization thrive and succeed,” he said.
Next, he found an assistant who committed to learn grant writing to apply for federal grants. The only grant writer in the county’s government is its emergency management director, who applies for disaster-related recovery funds, Powers said.
“I noticed if we get grants it’s because we tagged on somebody else’s like the City of Lawton had a grant that had to include the county,” he recalled.
Billions in federal grants are available to counties ranging from public health, public safety, infrastructure to education and social services, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Powers’ assistant also attends commissioner meetings to keep track of projects that have fallen to the wayside.
“We make sure if I say something at the commissioner meeting that we follow up on it,” he said. “I was noticing that I’d give instructions to county employees or directors at some of the meetings and [it] wouldn’t get done or get followed up on.”
Powers’ drive to challenge the status quo is something District 2’s Johnny Owens said he could relate to as a new commissioner in 2012.
Owens said the perspectives only a newcomer sees can improve a county, as he did when he was first elected. Early on, Owens said he pushed elected officials to take on extensive repairs and security upgrades that had been neglected at the courthouse.
“There are good aspects to new commissioners because you know they can bring new ideas,” Owens said. “No matter who’s sitting in what chair, you learn something new every day.”
Owens said Powers’ decision to “look into things is a good thing for us.” He added that while commissioners cannot legally communicate with each other about county business outside public meetings, he believes the three commissioners are working well together despite limited communication.
Owens was optimistic about the future for his fellow commissioners, but also echoed a word of caution from ACCO’s Schroder that new commissioners have a lot to learn.
“They’re going to learn more by experience than anything else,” Owens said. “It’s also important to listen to people, to what the taxpayers want and being open-minded about things.”
O’Brien, who is currently under investigation by OSBI for alleged misuse of county property, declined to provide an interview for this story by press time.
Mindy Ragan Wood is an award-winning journalist with 18 years’ experience in city and county government as well as criminal justice.