Hochatown establishes its government
HOCHATOWN — Three residents of Oklahoma’s newest town returned to the polls this week to choose five trustees, a town treasurer and clerk.
Hochatown, the small southeastern Oklahoma village that waged a 30-year battle to become incorporated, has begun its effort to build a municipal government. That first step included a municipal election, held on December 20, to elect trustees and city officials.
Dian Jordan, who spearheaded the incorporation effort, said once the trustees were elected and seated, the group would pick one of their own to act as mayor.
“The residents will vote for five trustees and the trustees will pick the mayor from themselves,” she said.
Tuesday’s election is the capstone of an extended fight with both state officials and the McCurtain County Board of Commissioners. More than a decade ago, Jordan and other area cabin owners fought the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission after it attempted to shut down the area’s cabin leasing business.
The cabin owners and the leasing companies each received letters from the OREC, threatening legal action and big fines if the cabin leasing companies didn’t stop what they were doing and move their businesses under the supervision of a real estate broker. The OREC said the companies were violating state law. The agency said it was going to send its entire team of investigators to southeastern Oklahoma to examine the issue.
After a year’s worth of wrangling, the cabin owners declared victory. Cabin rentals continued and tourism exploded in the southeastern part of the state. Today, Jordan said, more than 30,000 people are in the small town of Hochatown on any given weekend.
“We have seen tremendous growth,” she said. “We’ve grown 20% every year for the past 20 years. For some it seems like Hochatown is an overnight sensation, but it’s not. We’ve been working on this for 20 years.”
The next step, incorporate the town.
Steeped in Oklahoma history, Hochatown was settled by the Choctaws in 1820s, after being set aside for the tribe by the Treaty of Doak’s Stand. Later, after the federal government forced the Choctaws to give up their land and move to Indian Territory, more settlers arrived. Trade routes were established, and by the early 1900s, timber and coal had transformed Hochatown and southeastern Oklahoma. A post office was established in 1894.
But 30 years later, during the Great Depression, when the economy crashed, Hochatown, like the rest of Oklahoma, struggled to survive. In 1963 the post office was closed. Since then, Hochatown has struggled to exist.
In the 1970s, the Army Corps of Engineers built Broken Bow Lake. Tourists came and more and more visitors trekked up U.S. 259 for the scenery and stayed for the fishing.
And the residents of Hochatown were happy to help.
“We kinda do the recreation thing really well,” Jordan said in an interview with Southwest Ledger earlier this year. “Tourism is good for Oklahoma and introducing people to nature and to our culture is a wonderful job.”
Still, despite the town’s financial success, the road to incorporation was difficult. Three court battles – including one in front of an Oklahoma Supreme Court referee – countless hours lobbying efforts and some good old-fashioned arm twisting finally convinced the McCurtain County Board of Commissioners to endorse Hochatown’s call for an incorporation election.
On Nov. 8, residents passed the incorporation question by with a 129 to 18 vote. With their incorporation petition official, Hochatown residents how have to build a municipal government from the ground up.
“We birthed this elephant,” Jordan said. “Now we have to feed it and take care of it.”
In addition to choosing elected representatives, Hochatown will need to develop and pass a municipal tax structure, create municipal ordinances, outfit a police and fire department, develop municipal services and even find a spot that be used for city hall.
“We’ll get it done,” Jordan said. “We are getting lots of help.”
Jordan said officials with the Oklahoma Municipal League have offered to come and host a training seminar and residents throughout the area have pledged support.
It’s not often, Jordan said, a person gets the opportunity to create a new town.
“It truly is stunning,” she said. “When people say you can’t do something, like start a town – and we did. There’s a lot of satisfaction in knowing that we did it.”
Hochatown residents, Jordan said, are excited.
“People just light up,” she said. “They feel like it’s their town and they are so proud and that makes me happy. There are just no words to describe how happy they are.”