Lawton mayoral candidates talk trash and FISTA in virtual forum

LAWTON – Two of the three candidates competing to be Lawton’s next mayor criticized the city’s once-a-week schedule for collecting trash.

Mayoral candidates Stan Booker, Palmer Moore and Sherene Williams squared off during a virtual forum, hosted by Young Professionals of Lawton. Dr. Justin Walton from Cameron University served as moderator for the event, which also highlighted the candidates seeking the Ward 2 seat on the council.

The mayoral candidates touched on a variety of issues, including trash collection, the Fires Innovation Science and Technology Accelerator and the candidates’ top priorities if they are elected.

In the spring, the city decided to switch from collecting trash twice a week to once a week. The change sparked complaints from residents who prefer the old schedule.

Moore said he thought the once-a-week schedule was making it difficult to keep the city clean.

“Now, you have trash everywhere,” he said. “They put trash out on the curb. Trash cans are overflowing now.”

Williams said most of the people she talked to said the current schedule had forced them to spend more money on measures to keep pests out of their trash.

“It’s just not adequate, and as far as cost savings, I don’t think it’s really cost savings,” she said. “Because the (trash collection) guys are having to go back to the landfill so many times per day.”

Booker, who is seeking his second term as mayor, said the jury was still out on whether the new policy was working. But he said the city should have done a better job of implementing the change.

“We probably started rolling it out too soon, before we had the proper equipment,” Booker said. “And then, by the time we had the proper equipment for the bulk trash, we had an employment problem where we couldn’t get enough employees.”

Booker said the city’s labor shortage made it impossible to go back to collecting trash twice a week.

FISTA

The candidates also discussed the city’s decision to buy Central Mall and sign a 25-year lease with the Fires Innovation Science and Technology Accelerator Development Trust Authority.

The city is recruiting defense contractors to establish offices in the mall’s Business Integration Center, where they will stay until FISTA’s new Innovation Park in the mall is open for business. At that point, the contractors will move into the Innovation Park.

FISTA is one of the most exciting developments in Lawton’s recent history, Booker said.

“Four companies already have a presence in the mall, and they’re doing something called cyber electromagnetic activity artificial intelligence,” he said. “That’s way over my head, but it’s a high-tech job … So, I do think it’s good.”

Booker said if he is re-elected, he will monitor whether FISTA is helping create high-tech jobs and whether the mall is paying for itself.

Williams said she did not know whether buying the mall was a good move on the city’s part, because she did not know the appraised value of the property.

“I don’t really know if it was a wise investment or not,” she said. “But if it was, hopefully it will bring in more revenue for the city of Lawton.”

Moore said he thought the mall was a bad investment for several reasons, partly because it was located in an area at risk to flooding. He added that several stores that were previously located in the mall have moved out.

“My idea is, sell it back,” Moore said. “Take the money back. I think we need to ask the citizens what we should spend that money on, instead of them making decisions to do something without permission of the taxpayers.”

Priorities

At one point during the forum, Walton asked the candidates to list their top two priorities if elected.

Williams said her primary goals were working with young people and recruiting more manufacturing companies.

“By bringing those jobs here to the city of Lawton, that will help each and every individual, each family and everybody,” she said. “More revenue here in the city of Lawton.”

Moore said his top priorities were promoting diversity and getting residents more involved in developing the city’s budget, a process he described as “participatory budgeting.”

“Getting the community more involved in what’s going on with the spending,” he said. “Letting us decide what we want to do with the money in each ward.”

Booker said one of his priorities was making Lawton an attractive place for young families to live. He said everything the city does – including investing money in youth sports programs – is designed to help the city achieve that goal.

“When we talk about the youth sports program, it’s all aimed at the youth and building community, so we address these issues that are causing us problems,” he said.

Booker listed creating new jobs and upgrading the city’s infrastructure as his other priorities.