On October 14th, voters in Oklahoma City will vote on a new general obligation municipal bond to fund city operations. New city councilperson representing Ward 7, Camal Pennington, joins Andy to explain why this is important.

Visit vision.okc.gov for more information on the GO bond.

Hello and welcome to Let's Pod this.

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I am Andy Moore.

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Friends, welcome back another week,

another Friday night in the big town.

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, We've got a really important conversation

today about something that's going

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to affect every single person who

lives, works, drives, shops, does

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anything in Oklahoma City, and that

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The Go Bond.

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The Go Bond, if you will.

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, It's a $2.7

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billion package of investments.

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That's really like.

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The meat and potatoes of city government,

streets, sidewalks, parks, libraries,

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public safety, and much, much more.

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, The election for this, the vote on

this will happen in just a couple

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of weeks on Tuesday, October 14th.

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And it's, , up to Oklahoma City

voters, everyone who lives in Oklahoma

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City, it's your chance to vote on

whether or not you approve this,

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, and to help us break it all down.

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I'm joined by one of Oklahoma

City's newest leaders at City Hall.

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Ward seven, Councilman Camal Pennington.

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Camal is an attorney, a community

leader, and now a public servant

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representing Northeast Oklahoma

City and parts of downtown.

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Um, he got elected earlier this year,

last year, this year, this year.

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April 1st.

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Um, so today we'll get to know

Camal a little bit more, but mostly

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we're gonna talk about what's in

the bond, what it means for Ward

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seven and the rest of the city.

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Um.

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And we'll go from there.

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Come on.

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Thanks so much for being here.

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Thank you.

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I'm excited, very excited to be here.

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Uh, always excited to have a member of

our city council here in the studio.

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So you've had several other

city council members here?

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I have.

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I mean, you're new.

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Okay.

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So I didn't have a chance.

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Guess.

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Well, not yet.

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No.

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This is your first chance,

but you're welcome.

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Anytime.

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Um, no, but Councilman Cooper and

Hammond have been on the show.

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They're both great.

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A couple of times I've,

I lived in, um, in Ward.

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Two.

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Is that, that's north of 23rd Street.

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Yes, that's right.

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So I moved sa, I moved less than one mile,

but I switched, uh, city council wards.

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I also switched state senate

districts just in a short move.

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So you gotta learn new people, um,

and build new, I love all of them.

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They're, we have a great city council.

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Mayor Holt's been on

the show several times.

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Um, so I know that obviously you're

one of the newest members of council.

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Um, so to start, let's get to know you.

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Tell us a little bit

about your background.

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What drew you to public service

and um, what you hope to accomplish

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with your time on council.

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Yeah, so I'm born and

raised Northeast, OKC.

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I'm very proud of that.

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Um, love our city.

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I actually live in the same

neighborhood I grew up in.

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Oh.

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So my parents, a few of my sisters, uh,

we all still live in the ne my grandma.

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Um, we all live within a few blocks of

each other, so it's, it's really a joy.

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Um, but I'm, I'm a proud north.

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East High School, Viking, um, went

on to Oklahoma City University

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where I had a, a Clara Looper

scholarship that paid my way Yeah.

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To OCU.

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So, um, love, feel very

fortunate to have been a part

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of that legacy of Clara Looper.

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Um, then I went to law school at the

University of Oklahoma College of Law and,

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um, knew in the middle of law school that.

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I was not meant to be somebody

who was going to practice.

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Traditionally.

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I thought, I can't bill hours.

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I can't be stuck to a desk.

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I've gotta figure something else out.

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So, um, after taking the bar, I moved

to Washington, DC um, and started

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where everybody has a law degree.

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Absolutely.

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No one told me that.

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I wish somebody had told me that.

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Uh, so lawyers are a dime a dozen there.

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But, uh, so I started off as an intern.

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An unpaid Yeah, intern

that worked full time.

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For Congress, they don't do that anymore.

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Yeah.

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They don't even allow that.

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They pay them a minimum.

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And it's, it's not much.

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It's not much, but at

least more than I had.

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That's right.

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Um, so, but it was a great start.

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I worked for a great member of

Congress, Kathy Castor, she's still

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there representing, uh, Tampa, Florida.

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Yeah.

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Learned a lot about public service.

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Yeah.

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Um, I came back and started working for

the American Federation of Teachers,

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where I was their staff attorney, but

that was dealing more with contracts

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and employment issues and mm-hmm.

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So that was, that was.

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A fun time to fight for teachers.

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Um, I then went to work for the

University of Co, uh, of Oklahoma

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College of Law where um, I was director

of annual giving for a few years.

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Then I was director of Admissions.

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Yeah.

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Um, so access to quality

education is a passion of mine.

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And, um, now I serve as executive director

of, it's my community initiative, and

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we are a nonprofit that's focused on.

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Family strengthening in Oklahoma City,

we want to create self-sustaining

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healthy families for everyone.

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And so our True Dads program

is probably our flagship.

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Um, it helps dads become better partners,

parents and providers to their families.

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And so we do just a number of programs

and that are federal and state funded.

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And so I just feel fortunate to be.

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A part of, of making a difference in

this community, but what inspired me?

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So that's part of the question.

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Sure, sure.

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Um, my mom was a teacher for almost

40 years in Oklahoma City Public

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Schools, and I grew up with remembering

before the first day of school.

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You know, teachers started a

couple days before students,

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and I remember her saying.

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It's year 20 something and I'm

so excited to go to school.

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Yeah.

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It'd be, oh, it's year 25.

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I'm so excited to go to school.

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And she'd have students or their

parents knocking on our door

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'cause they needed a ride to work.

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They needed a letter of reference,

they needed food, they needed whatever.

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She was always there to, uh,

to support those students.

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'cause she just believed

that if we're gonna live in a

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better world, it's up to us.

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Mm-hmm.

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And so I'm inspired by that, that service.

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And so the opportunity to

serve the council, um, is just.

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Something I feel really grateful

for and wanna make sure that every

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kid, no matter what your income is,

no matter what you look like, no

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matter what part of this community

you live in, that you have access to.

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Um, great streets, great housing, great

parks, great and a great education.

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Yeah.

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And so that's really what I hope we

can build here together in Ward seven.

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Yeah.

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That's amazing.

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Um, I, a couple of weeks ago I

was at a meeting with a bunch of

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leaders of networks, like national

networks generally, and we were

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talking about impact networks and,

uh, we, there's a book about it.

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We were all kind of sharing

and learning together.

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And one of the examples in this book,

it's, I think it's called Impact Networks.

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I forget the author, but if you Google

it, it's probably the first one.

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Um.

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Was about a school who mapped the

impact networks of, uh, the community,

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but it was based on teachers, right?

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So each teacher has their class of

20 or 30 families, and when they.

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Just like seeing it mapped out, like

drawn little circles and lines and, um,

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they realized that, you know, one or two

teachers were solely responsible for like,

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connecting with this entire immigrant

community in whatever state it was in.

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But just seeing this like network of.

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School administrators to

teachers, to the community.

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And you realize very quickly that

teachers are like gatekeepers.

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Not in a bad way.

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Yeah.

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But like they're the entry point.

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Um, they are the, they are the

community leader for dozens of families.

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Every year, all the time.

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And so stories about your mom or like,

it makes sense like that I can, I can

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picturing this, this little drawing

of people reaching out to your mom

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saying, Hey, you're our point of contact

whether you know it or like it or not.

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Like this is how it works.

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Uh, and I think that's an element of.

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Education that we too often forget.

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Right.

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We think about teachers as

being, that's a job they do.

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They go and they teach and

they come home and they come.

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And that's not the end

of the story at all.

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It's a calling.

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Mm-hmm.

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And especially when you think about she

survived the era where pay was really low.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, and so having, you know, luckily

married, but had plenty of kids, so.

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Mm-hmm.

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So, um, you know, it's, it's not easy

to go into that profession, but I

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think all of it, the thing that, that.

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What you're saying reminds me of is

the fact that no matter what your

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income level, if you went to school,

I wanna ask you, who are some of the

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most influential people of your life?

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And I promise you mm-hmm.

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Someone's gonna name a

teacher that they had.

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That's right.

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That inspired them, that helped

them, that believed in them.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, and so there's something

powerful about that.

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I also think that when you look at, uh,

the fact that there's just fewer places.

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Where community comes together.

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Those third spaces are just, yeah, there.

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There are fewer of them.

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Fewer of us go to church, fewer of

us join social clubs, fewer of us.

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And so the school is one of those

last places where people can make

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that connection of community.

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And so having a quality teacher

in every classroom matters.

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Yeah.

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So yeah.

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Now I am biased.

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My wife is the president of the

American Federation Teachers Oklahoma

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City and the state of Oklahoma.

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So.

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We talk about teachers a lot and the

importance of that, but that's great.

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Well, we'll have her on

on a future episode then.

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I'd love to hear her side of this story.

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Oh, yeah.

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Uh, well, let's shift to this

big issue that voters are

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gonna decide in the next month.

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We mentioned the top of

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Um, for those who may not know, uh, Camal,

what's in the geo bond and why is its.

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So important to Oklahoma City.

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Well, first I think it's best to,

to start with explaining how city

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government is funded in the first place.

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Yeah.

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So, um, in Oklahoma, which is very

unique, so I believe we're the only

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state in the union that this is

true, that our municipalities, our

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operations, are funded by sales taxes.

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So, um, anytime you've,

everyone knows about maps.

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Mm-hmm.

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So every time we've wanted to do some

other additional special projects,

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we've had that temporary sales

tax for maps that's been added.

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Uh, but the way that infrastructure

in our city has been paid for

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has been through property taxes,

and that's what the geo bond.

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Is so, um, we are currently, there is a

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Better Streets, safer Cities Initiative.

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And so that's still in place.

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So before it expires, we're

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bond, so taxes would remain flat.

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Mm-hmm.

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It's the same number.

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It's 16 mills.

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It's the same as it's been

for decades in Oklahoma City.

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So this doesn't raise taxes, but it

makes really important investments

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in our infrastructure that without

this funding wouldn't be possible.

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Yeah, that's an important,

I think a very important.

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Place to start.

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I'm glad you said that.

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And you also said, the thing that I

think a lot of voters want to know

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is, are you gonna raise my taxes?

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And the answer is no.

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We're gonna keep 'em

just where they're at.

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Right?

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Absolutely.

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It's staying flat.

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Um, so the bond altogether is $2.7

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billion.

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Um, and it includes like.

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I think 11 propositions or something.

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Yes.

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Um, what kinds of projects

are included in that?

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So, number one, the largest, uh,

amount of funding is for, uh, streets.

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So street resurfacing, street

repair, which is so important.

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But I, I just wanna remind our listeners,

uh, we live in a very large city.

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Mm-hmm.

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620 square miles.

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There are enough lane miles.

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That are managed by the city of

Oklahoma City to go from Oklahoma

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City to Anchorage, Alaska.

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It is a huge undertaking.

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Yeah.

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So, um, the fact that there's a

billion dollars in this package for

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the roads alone is really important.

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And this is just city streets, highways,

or different responsibility, right?

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That's state and federal.

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Yeah.

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So, um, these are just

the streets and bridges.

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Um, but it's also important things like.

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Drainage issues.

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Yeah.

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Um, it's, it includes some of these

propositions are for public safety,

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so we need new fire stations in some

places, or fire station renovations.

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Mm-hmm.

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New police stations, other city facilities

like, uh, helping us to ensure that the

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family justice center, that's really

gonna be very helpful and transformative

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to needy families in our community.

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That, that gets the support,

infrastructure support that it needs.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um.

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There's also some money in

there for economic development.

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We want jobs to continue to come into

our community, and for me in particular

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in Ward seven, very excited about, uh,

$50 million for affordable housing Yeah.

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Initiatives.

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And so tomorrow plug, shameless plug.

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Uh, tomorrow, uh, Councilman, uh.

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Cooper and Councilwoman Hammond

and I are hosting an affordable

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housing forum at MetroTech at six 30.

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Um, so come out, but we're gonna talk

about ways that, that some of those

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funds, if it, if this bond goes through,

uh, could really impact us creating

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quality neighborhoods for everyone.

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Yeah.

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So that's great.

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Um, I know that, you know, we

refer to this as the meat and

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potatoes of city government.

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Um.

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And I you mentioned streets.

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I think this is like, this is the

money that goes through the things

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that most of us take for granted.

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Yes.

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Right.

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It's the stuff that like pays the

bills to keep our city safe and

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growing and like moving about.

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Um, but it's not the things

that are big and flashy.

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Um, do, is there anything else

about those projects, um, that you

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want to add that we didn't already?

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Talk about?

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Well, I, I think I'll just say, you

know, I, I love that the meat and

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potatoes, uh, statement because whenever

I'm trying to explain to people the

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importance of city government, I

just wanna start with the basics.

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Mm-hmm.

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The city is impacting you every

single day when you got out of bed.

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And you went to the bathroom mm-hmm.

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And flushed your toilet.

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That was the city of Oklahoma City.

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Yeah.

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That was your infrastructure dollars

that, uh, ensured that you could do

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that when you turned on the faucet to

wash your face and brush your teeth.

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Oklahoma City, you got in the, in your car

and you got hit the road to go to work.

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The city of Oklahoma City is maintaining

your roads and you got to an intersection.

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Who's maintaining the

intersections, right.

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Oklahoma City.

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You know, it's all, every bit

of your daily life is being

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touched by these dollars Yeah.

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That we're putting into the geo bond.

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And so I would just, again, strongly

encourage people to support it.

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Yeah.

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Because without it, um, there's

it, we already have a tight budget.

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We had a we 4.5%

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budget cut this year to city services.

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Um, which is being felt when my

neighbors complained to me about the

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park across the street from my house.

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Yeah.

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That, um, took a little

bit longer to get cut.

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Mm-hmm.

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A few times and I said, well, we

did have a budget cut everybody.

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Yeah.

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So there's less staffing to go around.

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Um, so it matters.

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Yeah.

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Having the support really matters.

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Yeah.

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I think that's the thing is,

you know, we, we really do take.

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So much of infrastructure

for granted, right?

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Someone we can set it and forget it.

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Someone else is taking care

of it, uh, until it breaks.

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Yes.

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And then you realize, and then we're mad.

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Then we're mad.

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Um, you know, I live, uh, near-ish, 23rd

in May and, or excuse me, 23rd in Penn.

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And we've had a string of,

um, over this summer of, um.

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Pipe issues, like water

issues underneath a pin.

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And the city was always quick to come out.

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And often it means they come out,

they dig a hole, you know, they

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stop the leak, which ensures water

pressure for the neighborhoods.

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But then, you know, someone else

has gotta come back and fix it.

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This is not a, it's not like one

guy in a truck that has everything

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he needs to dig a 20 foot hole and

also patch the hole the next day.

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And so people were complaining

about traffic having to get

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rerouted and I was like, yeah, but.

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We didn't lose water at all.

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And like losing water for

one day is a real pain.

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Oh my God.

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That's terrible.

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Yeah.

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You wanna go stay in a hotel, right?

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Right.

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Like we have to go stay in a hotel

if there's not hot water, you know?

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Right.

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Um, to say nothing about the businesses

and restaurants around there that

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needed to stay operational, like

there's a lot of stuff, uh, and

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the effect that they could patch.

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What is aging infrastructure like?

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The reason we're having these

problems is not 'cause someone

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patched it wrong, it's because.

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Hey, man, the pipes underneath the

street were put there decades ago,

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and they're not gonna last forever.

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Things have to be replaced,

maintenance has to be done,

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and that takes time and money.

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And that's where the, the geo

bond comes in, right, is to ensure

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that the city is able to fix those

period, certainly in a timely manner.

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Absolutely.

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And I, I think that residents

just, I just wanna emphasize that

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there, our budget from the, for

the, our sales taxes, it's tight.

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You know, it really is difficult for

pe for those people who say, well, if

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I don't support the geo bond, then, you

know, they'll, they'll figure it out.

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No, I, I, I it will be very difficult.

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Yeah.

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Uh, but we have made, through the Geo bond

though, we've had a tremendous impact.

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If you have grown up in Oklahoma City

like I have, and seen the decades of

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growth that we've experienced, there's

finally sidewalks in my neighborhood.

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Mm-hmm.

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That's been because of the support

that we've given to the geo bond.

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You know, I think about all the

resurfacing that's happened along

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23rd Street and many parts of it.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, that just would not have happened.

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Mm-hmm.

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Without the geo bond.

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Um, we're also ensuring that some

of our other amenities that, that we

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have in this city are continuing to

get the maintenance that they need.

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So think about Riversport.

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Yeah.

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Um, also in ward seven, um, is it

really, it's, I didn't realize your

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ward went that far south, but we

have so many things in Ward seven.

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Yeah, both arenas.

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So the Paycom and the new one.

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Yeah.

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Um, we have river sport.

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Yeah.

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Uh, we have uh, we have Devon Park.

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Yeah.

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So Softball Hall of Fame.

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So both Olympic venues.

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Yeah.

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That will be in Oklahoma City are in ward.

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Yeah.

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So I'm very proud of that.

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But some of the support in the geo bond

is gonna ensure that we can maintain

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those facilities and that they, they're

gonna be world class, not just for the

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Olympics, but for us to use it mm-hmm.

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For, uh, the life of them.

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It also includes, um, some money for a

multipurpose stadium for lower bricktown.

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Which will be another exciting

addition of potentially having soccer.

430

Mm-hmm.

431

And other, uh, events being

able to be in our city.

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So we wanna continue to be a big

league city, um, not just for

433

these cool projects, but also for

creating great places to live.

434

Mm-hmm.

435

And that's what the geo bond does Both.

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Yeah.

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That's great.

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So you get, you get the boring maintenance

stuff that no one cares about, but you

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also get some exciting developments

that shows progress is still happening.

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Absolutely.

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Uh, you mentioned earlier 50 million

in economic development for Ward seven.

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Well, is that right?

443

It's, or is that total?

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It's, it's, it's about, it's 50

million for affordable housing.

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Okay.

446

That's right.

447

So's it?

448

I think it's a hundred and, um, a

hundred and ish, uh, million for,

449

um, some economic development.

450

Yeah.

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Incentives as well.

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So I think what I read for Ward

seven in particular, out of this.

453

You know, um.

454

A huge amount of money

for the Bond overall.

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But Ward seven has like $379 million

of projects included in your ward.

456

Yes.

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And you mentioned the multi-use

stadium, some other things.

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Um, what else do you think

are the most significant ones

459

for your constituents there?

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Well, so there's a few things.

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Um, one, the expansion of the

Ralph Ellison Library is huge.

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Um, Ralph Ellison Library is just a, it's

iconic, um, in northeast Oklahoma City.

463

It's my childhood library

too, and so many others.

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But, um, so many people in our community

don't have quality access to the internet.

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Um, the.

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Opportunity for there to be

safe places for kids to go in

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the summer is provided there.

468

Um, we want to create better

readers in, in the next generation.

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And so making sure that that

library can serve more people

470

in a quality way matters.

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Um, there are funds for, to support

the street scape, uh, resurfacing of,

472

of Northeast 23rd Street, which, you

know, Andy, if you go drive under I 2 35

473

headed east from, uh, from the oth from

that side of, of Oklahoma City and it.

474

Feels like you've gone into

a completely different world.

475

Mm-hmm.

476

Like you're living in a completely

different city and that, and we

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don't want that to be the case.

478

We want northeast Oklahoma City to

thrive and for it to be seamless

479

when you're driving through

and seeing the development.

480

Yeah.

481

Um, that's happening on 23rd Street.

482

So this resurfacing funds

are really important.

483

Um, it's some, there are some

several million dollars help

484

finish the deep fork trail.

485

Um, and I get a lot of call.

486

You'd be shocked how many people call me.

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That's like the new like

bike and multi-use trail that

488

goes all around the city.

489

Right.

490

And so, uh, completing that is important.

491

Um, the last, that last portion over

on, um, Kelly is gonna be another

492

important place where we want to try to

fix that so we can complete the loop.

493

Um, and so that's part of it.

494

And then there's also $10

million in support for the Clara

495

Looper, uh, civil Rights Center.

496

And just so that the.

497

The public knows this is such an

iconic, um, an important investment

498

because it's one of the ways that

Oklahoma City has contributed to the

499

United States becoming a better place.

500

Mm-hmm.

501

Um, you know, Claire

Loop's sit-in movement.

502

Um, it.

503

It started sit-ins for everyone across

the nation before Greensboro did

504

it, they got it from Oklahoma City.

505

And so this making sure that that history

is known and showcased to the world

506

when we'll soon host the Olympics in a

high quality facility really matters.

507

And so I think that

investment is important.

508

Um, I don't want my neighbors, so

I, the Ward seven is, is a big ward.

509

Yeah.

510

I have everything from, I, there are

farms to bricktown, to suburban areas.

511

Um, this bond definitely includes.

512

All of our neighbors.

513

So there are major arterial

streets, um, that are getting

514

some improvements that need it.

515

Um, I know that, uh, there's, for

example, Wellington Park in the northern

516

part of my ward that borders, uh,

Edmond, uh, we're redoing Bryant Avenue.

517

That is a, a consistent area of complaint.

518

Bryant and Memorial have been an issue.

519

Mm-hmm.

520

So there's, there are things like that.

521

There's several other major arterials in

the far greater far northeast Oklahoma

522

City, Spencer area where we're fixing

roads that are just in really bad shape.

523

Mm-hmm.

524

Um, Westminster, Anderson, awa,

um, those are places that basically

525

feel like they're the other side.

526

They may as well be Arkansas as far away

from central Oklahoma City as they are.

527

Um, but they're still part of our city.

528

And so it's just really good to

see that this bond really is.

529

Is making sure that all parts of the ward

are getting some attention and some love.

530

Yeah.

531

It's so funny, even as you're talking,

I, I was, I just drove, uh, at Bryant to

532

Memorial yesterday 'cause I was taking my

kids to their grandparents' house and so

533

it's like a part of the town that I don't

go to often, but it affects people I love.

534

Right.

535

Um, exactly.

536

My daughter goes to the school she

goes to is in your ward and so I'm

537

thinking about my path of like where

I drive and how it will affect me

538

when I'm driving on these roads.

539

Um.

540

Like what segments are in need of

attention to make sure that I reach

541

out to the right person to make

sure it's on someone's list of like,

542

Hey, here's some areas that need

attention, that need some work.

543

Yeah.

544

Um, and I, you know, Oklahoma City

is, we are a car based town, right?

545

Like everyone drives everywhere.

546

And so even if it's no matter, I guess,

you know, no matter where you are.

547

You're gonna feel the effects

of this kind of vote, right?

548

Like it's going to Absolutely.

549

Any street you're on, you may not

think it's in your neighborhood,

550

but it's in your backyard some way.

551

And then the complaints will come because

they're tired of the construction styles.

552

Right?

553

Right.

554

You know, 'cause that blocks

traffic and slows things down.

555

That's when we start building stuff.

556

So as long as we don't tear

out the sidewalks on Broadway

557

here on Automobile Alley again.

558

Yes.

559

So annoying, so brutal.

560

This is the third time we've done it.

561

Um, but they look great though.

562

They do look good and it's, it has

gotten more functional every time, right?

563

Yes.

564

Um.

565

Now I know, you know, some voters might

be skeptical of big bond packages,

566

and we've already discussed how this

is not going to add any new taxes.

567

Um, but can you tell us a little bit

about what accountability measures are

568

in place to ensure that these funds are

like spent wisely and that the funds go

569

to the projects that are being promised?

570

Well, one, I think it's

important to realize this.

571

Our city is really well managed.

572

Especially financially.

573

And so we've maintained

the AAA bond rating.

574

We are, um, in Exemp, we've received

national awards regularly for how well

575

managed our finances are as a city.

576

And so I think that's

important to remember.

577

Mm-hmm.

578

And then the city council

provides that oversight over

579

how we're spending this money.

580

But it is.

581

It's, it's going to core infrastructure.

582

The projects are specifically listed

for which roads, you know, which

583

sidewalks where it's gonna be.

584

And so we'll be providing

that direct oversight.

585

Um, and our city staff

is outstanding mm-hmm.

586

And able to, to assist

us with that as well.

587

But trust me, the pressure's on.

588

Yeah.

589

Because as soon as people see their

road, I, I can promise you I'm gonna

590

be getting phone calls about when

the construction's gonna start.

591

Yeah.

592

So, yeah.

593

Um, the accountability has been what

has also made, uh, our residents

594

have faith in what, in Oklahoma City.

595

That's why we can have four

different maps projects, you know?

596

Right.

597

Four different iterations of maps because,

uh, of that belief that we'll be honest

598

and transparent about the way we act.

599

And so we take that obligation seriously.

600

Sure.

601

Um, so the actual.

602

Voting on this, it's 11 different

propositions, which means there

603

will be like effectively 11

items on the ballot to vote.

604

Yes, you have to vote yes on all of

them for the whole bond to go through.

605

It's kind of broken up.

606

Um.

607

How should, uh, how do you think

voters should think about making their

608

decision about these propositions?

609

What if someone's like, well, I

like some of these and not others.

610

How does that affect the whole?

611

That's a great question.

612

So I've, I've had two different events,

um, for neighbors and at, at one event

613

at a neighbor who I deeply respect.

614

And, and I understood this perspective,

shared well, if there's not.

615

A library in our immediate community, then

you don't need to vote yes for the mm-hmm.

616

Library proposition.

617

If there's not a new fire station in

our neighborhood, then why would I vote?

618

Vote for that one.

619

And I, there's not a new park.

620

I'm not gonna vote for it.

621

And I said, wait a second.

622

Just remember that without these funds,

you're actually making the pot smaller.

623

For us to be able to serve every, all

those other interests that you have.

624

So, um, we're very creative

in trying to use the funding.

625

We have to have the maximum impact

for creating a high quality of life

626

for the people in Oklahoma City.

627

So, if your park may not be listed as one

of the projects this time, but was maps

628

four, did Maps four include some mm-hmm.

629

Parts of your park

that, that got improved?

630

Um, having a, a new police station

in one area alleviates the, uh,

631

makes more officers available.

632

In another area mm-hmm.

633

Which may end up impacting you.

634

Mm-hmm.

635

So it's important to realize we live in

one whole city and the more that we ensure

636

that we have resources to service the, the

greatest need, the more it helps us all.

637

Yeah.

638

Um, and so it's, it's still, again,

you have to appeal to our, our sense

639

of the Oklahoma standard, again,

of caring for our neighbor, um,

640

in order to, uh, as you're voting.

641

So I, I'd encourage people to

just remember we're here to,

642

if we grow the pie, it's better

for all of us to be able to eat.

643

Yeah, I have a tangible example from my

own experiences in my old neighborhood.

644

Um, several of us neighbors were talking

about the lack of sidewalks and like,

645

especially like bicycle access around

to get to our neighborhood and to

646

get out into the rest of the, to like

the more bike ready parts of town.

647

Yeah.

648

And so this was during the

pandemic when we were all out.

649

Walking and biking a lot,

trying to get outside.

650

And so we set up a zoom call with,

uh, Councilman Cooper, who was my

651

city council member at the time, and,

uh, some of his staff and some other

652

folks from the bike walk, OKC plan.

653

And for the, and for the

current, the Better streets.

654

Safer Streets to say like, Hey,

what, like what is the plan?

655

I haven't really paid attention.

656

Are we on?

657

The plan somewhere,

like are we even listed?

658

If not, is that an option?

659

How do we think ahead?

660

And we said we want to get on someone's

radar for the next month, which is

661

the one we're talking about today.

662

And for like a real kind

of narrow strip Right.

663

On specifically, it was

Villa between 23rd and 30th.

664

Okay.

665

But kinda by Shepherd Mall.

666

Yeah.

667

And um, that was, you know,

five years ago and then along

668

the, it wasn't part of the plan.

669

We were just outside that phase, but.

670

As time went along, um, some funds

were freed up from one project

671

that allowed, not for a whole

big one, but for a small one.

672

And so it all kind of came together 'cause

it was, we had had the conversations

673

and discussed what was needed and

kind of brought it people's attention.

674

So it was at least like

next in line or somewhere?

675

Yes.

676

That they said, Hey, you know what,

we've got a little extra money in our

677

pocket, um, that we think we could use.

678

Here to fix this.

679

And so they were able to, um, come in

and build in some bike infrastructure

680

and some sidewalks to make it more

handicap accessible, more bike accessible.

681

Um, and those things make it

just accessible to everybody.

682

It didn't fix everything we wanted, but

it was a, a, a good reminder of like, if

683

we didn't speak up, no one would know.

684

Absolutely.

685

And it would not go, we can't just like

post online or like curse the heavens and

686

hope that someone builds us a sidewalk.

687

Um.

688

But it was because we had the bond in

place because, uh, we had had those

689

relationships in place and those

conversations that we were able to, um.

690

To see the fruits of our labor, which

was, you know, even as a guy who works

691

in civic engagement, still affirming

to be like, oh, hey, it really

692

does work when you show up so well.

693

And it's important to remember there are

unallocated funds that are in here too.

694

Mm-hmm.

695

For, so if there are overages and

costs that we don't anticipate,

696

or in that instance mm-hmm.

697

When they come, when a project comes in

at less than what the estimated cost was.

698

So that allows us to be able to

have flexibility to get to the

699

projects that, um, that people want.

700

So I would encourage anyone, if you

don't see your particular street, your

701

sidewalk, your whatever bike lane mm-hmm.

702

Go ahead and still report that to your

council person, go ahead and still report

703

that to the action center because we're

still accumulating those recommendations

704

that we can continue to make progress.

705

Yeah.

706

That's great.

707

Um, if this bond passes, what

do you think is the first thing

708

that residents will notice?

709

'cause it doesn't, and I guess

does it take effect next year then?

710

Yeah, it would start next year.

711

Okay.

712

So what do you think is the

first thing people would notice?

713

Um, you're probably gonna, construction.

714

Construction, you're probably

gonna start seeing roads that the,

715

the worst roads that are list.

716

Did are probably gonna be

the, the starting point.

717

Yeah.

718

Because some, I mean, we know

the damage that it does to, to

719

tires and other, um, other things.

720

It's, it's not good.

721

So we really wanna make sure that

the roads get, get started on.

722

Um, we also, because of the fact that

we're an Olympic host, um, the, some

723

of these amenities I know are gonna

be things that have to be worked on.

724

Now.

725

Mm-hmm.

726

Because we'll be hosting events

soon here and so you won't be

727

able to do construction at the

same time as hosting people.

728

Yeah.

729

So some of those projects I

think will, you'll see some

730

work there, so it'll be good.

731

Yeah.

732

Yeah.

733

That's, you know, I think about what

would, if we were having company over

734

to our house, whatever mom told us to

clean and how to get ready for company.

735

Just imagine that company is like

every country in the world, right?

736

Like it's a Olympics are a

very big deal for our city.

737

So that's super exciting.

738

Um.

739

Camal if, uh, listeners want to get more

information, and I hope they do, where

740

can they go to get more information?

741

Well, you can go to, uh, vision.okc.gov

742

or if you just Google OKC Bond 25.

743

Um, I, I did it right before I came in.

744

Nice.

745

So, um, can confirm.

746

It does work.

747

Um, and that's where you can find,

I mean, it's got a great map.

748

So when you go there, you can

look up your specific address

749

and see what projects are nearby.

750

Um, you can find out about

every single project there.

751

So I would strongly encourage you

to go, um, look and just explore

752

the map and, and find out more

about what all the bond is gonna do.

753

Awesome.

754

And on the website, um, all the projects

are like broken down into categories

755

like arts and culture, community

environment, innovation, parks, planning,

756

transportation, um, and then it's.

757

Even, I guess I probably incorrectly

assumed that this would be like

758

a starter website that's going

to be building information.

759

No, no.

760

This is a trove of information,

including closed projects that

761

have already been completed, right?

762

Yes.

763

And so you can also see like, hey,

where we've been and where we're

764

going, which I think is really helpful.

765

And for me at least a good reminder

of like all the stuff that's

766

happening in this big town that

we can't all possibly know about.

767

So like you said earlier.

768

Even if it's not in my neck of the

woods or doesn't affect me directly,

769

it is really exciting for me to

know that stuff is being built, that

770

is being maintained or upgraded in

other powers of Oklahoma City because

771

like we rise together Absolutely.

772

As a town.

773

Um, great.

774

Well, um, some key dates I

want to hit before we go.

775

Um, the, the voter registration

deadline for this election has

776

already passed, so I assume if you're

listening to our show listeners,

777

you're already registered to vote.

778

If not, we should have a side

conversation about why not.

779

Um, if you want to vote absentee,

you have until the 29th, you have one

780

week to request your absentee ballot.

781

Um, that's a easy, convenient way to vote,

but don't forget, it has to be returned.

782

Basically by election day takes a

stamp or you can drop it off in person.

783

It has to be notarized.

784

If you need a notary,

I'm a notary, hit me up.

785

I'm happy to meet you somewhere.

786

The election day itself is October 14th.

787

That is a Tuesday.

788

You can vote at your

regular, uh, voting location.

789

You can also, oh, I assume

there's early voting for this.

790

Probably the.

791

I would assume so on that week before.

792

Yeah, that probably Is it the

weekend, but the Friday and Thursday.

793

Friday, yeah.

794

Yeah, Friday.

795

Yeah.

796

Beforehand.

797

Listeners, I'm sorry.

798

You can go to the election board

website and find that information.

799

Elections do okay.

800

Dot gov.

801

Um, but I assume, I mean, turnout in

these is usually lower than we would like.

802

Yes.

803

It's lower than we would like for

every election, but this kind of stuff

804

where it's not like the presidential

election, turnout's usually pretty low,

805

and that means I see this as a threat.

806

Right.

807

When turnout is low, it is easier

for people to mount an insurgent

808

campaign against something.

809

'cause it doesn't take that many people.

810

Right.

811

Um, and so that's why it's important

for us to, um, be aware of this

812

and to, to show up to vote.

813

Um, Councilman Pennington,

thank you for being here today.

814

Thank you.

815

I enjoyed it.

816

It's doing great.

817

Please come back some other time.

818

I will.

819

Let us know what's happening in

Ward VI seven, uh, and let us

820

know what's happening with, uh,

your nonprofit sometime as well.

821

We'd love to talk more about that.

822

That'd be great.

823

Um, friends, thanks for being

here, listeners, as always.

824

Uh, don't forget, mark, your calendars

for October 14th for this election.

825

Um, as we say, every week decisions

are made by those who show up.

826

Here's a concrete opportunity for

you to show up, um, before that.

827

Also, don't forget next week

on Thursday, October 2nd, we're

828

hosting our film screening.

829

Of Majority Rules, which is

a documentary about Alaska's

830

electoral reform campaign for open

primaries and ranked choice voting.

831

Uh, it's, I just watched

it again the other day.

832

It's so good.

833

Um, please join US Rodeo Cinema at 7:00

PM Um, you can get details on our website.

834

Let's fix this.org/events.

835

All right.

836

With that, we'll see you next week.