19-year-old Becomes Mayor In Oklahoma

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[url="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355537,00.html"]http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355537,00.html[/url]

Interesting.

[let_go_let_God]

I thought you had to be a certain age to become mayor. Wow, that is an interesting turn of events.

God bless-
LGLG

[franciscanheart]

I just heard about this on the radio. He's from Texas.

[Justin86]

Here's what he ran on. Not a bad platform.

[url="http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/election2008/local_story_089182040.html"]http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/election200..._089182040.html[/url]

[quote]Energy. Integrity. Enthusiasm. No political baggage. The most important of these is that I carry no political baggage. I am obligated to no one; no political foes to fight; no political obligations to carry out. I come with an open and objective mind. I represent the future of Muskogee, not its politically-obligated past. I am an advocate of open and transparent government.

I was the first to sign the pledge to ensure compliance with the Open Meeting and Open Records Acts. Muskogee has a history of not complying with these laws which brings into question whether the past is where we want to go. If elected I will establish a permanent City Advisory Committee composed of all former mayors and city councilors to advise me and the council on issues. This will allow our leaders to take advantage of the combined knowledge and experience of previous leaders.

The most crucial issue facing Muskogee is instilling the trust and confidence of the taxpayers in its relationship with the city.

We don't have a strategic plan for the city because Mayor Wren Stratton’s plan, while a good start, was never passed by the City Council, thus never making it official. A strategic plan is based upon the input of the people. From there a strategic plan is put together by the City Council, citizen representatives and a professional company whose expertise is assisting communities in creating strategic plans.

A strategic plan will determine a road map with measurable goals for all areas impacting Muskogee — economic development, infrastructure, health care, homelessness, downtown development. If we don’t have goals to determine whether we’re successful in our planning, then how do we know when we’ve achieved those goals?

Let’s not fool ourselves, we’ve tried the past without a map and it doesn’t work.

We are still waiting for the Attorney General to render his opinion on whether or not this money can be used strictly for medical purposes or for anything in general. If he rules for the latter then that gives us many options.

Whatever we use this money for, we must remember that it belongs to the taxpayers of Muskogee and must be used to serve the public interest not individual interests.[/quote]

[johnnydigit]

ya, what's the point of a college degree, it'll only taint you! :coocoo for cocoa puffs:

hey that guy at mcdonald's looks worthy too. he indiscriminently chooses burgers like no ones business..

[Justin86]

Well, if the guy he was running against really was as bad as he sounds, I might just have voted for him.

He was running for mayor, not President (I'm laying the constitutional issues against that aside in a hypothetical situation before anyone says anything).

[Brother Adam]

Hopefully he will have a good board of advisers to help him in this job. Or if it becomes clear he can't handle the job he will step down.

[prose]

I wish more younger politicians would be involved. Maybe 19 is too young, maybe not. But it seems to me that getting the experience young will help in the future if they would like bigger roles.

Does that even make sense?

[White Knight]

Very Strange, I'll hear what he has to say on Jan Leno though, whenever that is. I heard he's accepted an invite from Jan Leno, extactly when? The information I was given lacked that detail, So I guess we will find out soon.

Edited May 14, 2008 by White Knight

[CatherineM]

Wow, Muskogee to Norman is a heck of a commute. Maybe he'll transfer to Bacone. I wonder if he can charge a copy of GTA IV to his city budget.

Honestly, new blood never hurts. We had a young councilman elected in Oklahoma City years ago that was really a breath of fresh air. There can be a wisdom to youth as well.

[samfran08x3]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1528272' date='May 14 2008, 09:37 AM'][url="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355537,00.html"]http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355537,00.html[/url]

Interesting.[/quote]

I thought there was an age limit too. 19 seems like a 12 year old is trying to run the united states. it seems so young. he has no experence nor has he even finished college?? weird. well wish him the best of luck. lol

[Socrates]

[quote name='prose' post='1528487' date='May 14 2008, 12:51 PM']I wish more younger politicians would be involved. Maybe 19 is too young, maybe not. But it seems to me that getting the experience young will help in the future if they would like bigger roles.

Does that even make sense?[/quote]


[quote name='CatherineM' post='1528532' date='May 14 2008, 01:42 PM']Wow, Muskogee to Norman is a heck of a commute. Maybe he'll transfer to Bacone. I wonder if he can charge a copy of GTA IV to his city budget.

Honestly, new blood never hurts. We had a young councilman elected in Oklahoma City years ago that was really a breath of fresh air. There can be a wisdom to youth as well.[/quote]
This is very weird (and somehow, it screams "publicity stunt"). While I don't know the whole story, and certainly can't judge this particular young man, I have yet to see a 19-year-old college kid even remotely ready to run a town.
If there's one thing I can't stand it's young college kids with a lot idealism but no real-world experience who think they know better than everyone else how things should be done.

Personally, I think someone should have some significant real-world non-political experience before going into politics, whether it's serving in the military or running a private business.
Ideally, I think politics should be a way of serving the public after one has accomplished something in "real life."
("Senator" originally meant literally "old man.")

I'm always leary of those who want to jump into politics as soon as possible, or see it as their life's primary goal.

[Moosey]

Hmm...he's a good lookin' guy....

[CatherineM]

Socrates-I agree with you about having to do service first. I kind of liked the premise behind that in Starship Troopers where only people who had served could vote or hold office. The kid I was talking about who was a city councilman, was one of "those" stories. His father was a well known respected minster who was murdered along with his wife, when this kid and his sister were teenagers. They just did survive their injuries. He was kind of the OKC equivalent of JFK Jr. Plus being a city councilman is a far cry from mayor. I hadn't thought about this being a publicity stunt. About the only thing Muskogee has is an azalea festival. Maybe this kid has some backing that has plans for him.

[johnnydigit]

primitive societies viewed 12 as adulthood..