LAWTON – Cartessa Smith is making her first foray into politics this year with her campaign for the Ward 3 seat on the Lawton City Council.
Smith is running against Lawton City Council member Linda Chapman, who is finishing her first term representing the third ward.
The two women will square off in the Aug. 23 primary election. They are the only two candidates in the Ward 3 race, so the winner of the primary will claim the seat.
Three candidates are competing for the Ward 4 seat on the council, which is open this year because Councilman Jay Burk is not seeking reelection. Ward 5 Councilman Allan Hampton is unopposed in his bid for a second term, so he will retain his seat.
Southwest Ledger recently interviewed Smith about her decision to run, the skills she would bring to the council among other topics. Here are questions and answers from the interview, edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: What is your occupation?
A: I’m an LPC, which stands for licensed professional counselor. I provide mental health services. I’ve been a therapist since 2016, and I’ve worked with all different kinds of populations. My niche, I guess, would be adolescents and children from low-income families.
Q: Have you run for or held public office before?
A: This will be my first trek into public office.
I had a bachelor’s degree in political science, and that was before I went into the Army for quite some time. After I got out of the Army, I went back to school, and I got a master’s degree in behavioral science and psychology. And so, I started my career on that path with the LPC.
And now, I’m kind of getting back into the political side of it. Kind of help out where I see things could be improved or where I could be the most helpful.
Q: Why did you decide to seek the Ward 3 seat on the council?
A: Initially, when I started getting involved with the area in the community, I started volunteering with lower-income families. After the pandemic, I noticed that a lot of the middle class were really, really struggling with inflation.
I attended a few city council meetings, and there were some things with the budget that were really concerning. I felt that the middle class wasn’t really being represented as well as it should be and that the burden of the financial inflation that it’s having on the middle class is pretty severe, to the point where – I was talking to a police officer the other day at the blood drive, and he was telling me how he had to cancel his Disney subscription to try to budget and save money.
I feel like people aren’t aware that this is kind of what we’re all looking at. We’re all trying to do what we can to make ends meet, and we’re all hardworking people with middle-class backbone. That’s what makes the city so great.
So, I really want to see if I can get in there and provide some relief for the working class.
Q: Are you satisfied with the city’s current direction? Why or why not?
A: I would say that there are some very good intentions with the current direction.
I think that we probably could just maybe use an extra set of eyes in there, or a different viewpoint, to see if we could come up with something that could possibly help keep us moving in a more positive direction. Especially with the budget.
Q: If you are elected, what steps would you support to move the city in a better direction?
A: I would absolutely support being more open and transparent with the budget and the effect that it would have on the middle class. I think that bringing transparency to the workers, especially in my ward, would give them a sense of where their money is actually going. I want them to have a louder voice in the decision-making with their dollars, and I hope to bring that clarity to City Council – to City Hall.
Q: What skills do you have that would make you an effective council member?
A: I’m very resilient and very flexible. I can adapt to just about any situation.
I’m very much a champion of people, as you can probably see with my military service and my volunteer work. I want to fight for the people of my ward. I want to be on their side. And I feel like I have the ability to hear them and help them get what they need to be prosperous.
Q: You mentioned transparency a little bit ago. Is that just concerning the budget, or do you think the city should be more transparent in general?
A: I feel like in general, transparency is never a bad idea. You can never have too much transparency because it allows there to be a certain amount of trust between the public and city officials.
I think now, especially with the new budget that was just passed – the things that it’s going to bring on the middle class – it’s going to put out a sense of confusion, maybe, and disappointment. I know I’m surely going to be disappointed with that increase in utility bills. I think that being much more willing to engage with the public (is important). I’m right there with them. I’m in the trenches.
I get up and go to work every day, and I want the best for my children to have to go to the schools here. I know the person that’s on a fixed income that’s trying to battle inflation – I’m right there. I can see that person.
I want to have an open-door policy as well, so anyone can reach out. I have headquarters. I have a phone number, and anyone can reach out. They can talk to my campaign manager. We can set up a meeting anytime, anywhere.
That is something that I’m going to do to allow myself to be transparent.
Q: A council member’s term is three years. If you are elected, what would you like to see the city accomplish over the next three years?
A: My priority would be to advocate for a more sustainable budget.
I would like to see the financial security of the middle class, and I would like to see how well we get the middle class up and running again. For my first time, I’d really like to focus on financial spending.