Stillwater LWV Home >> VoterService >> Candidates' Info & Responses
Since the League of Women Voters believes that informed citizens are basic to our democracy, before each election the LWV provides the voters with information about candidates for public office.
The League of Women Voters of Stillwater sent a questionnaire to each of the candidates for the following offices. The responses to those questions are presented here. The answers to the questions have not been altered or edited by the League. Due to space restrictions the LWV did put a limit on the number of words for each response. If the candidate’s answer exceeded that number, the answer was cut at that point (denoted by ***). The candidates are listed in alphabetical order.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization that neither supports nor endorses candidates for public office.
Responses to the LWV Questions
John Bartley |
Hank Moore | Gary Stanton |
| List the educational, professional or community experiences which prepare you to be a councilman. (100 words or less) | ||
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I graduated from OSU (Business Management) and also from OU College of Law. I started my business in Stillwater in 1999. My closing and title company has allowed me to use my legal skills and knowledge, and has let me be involved in marketing, human resources, planning, and budgeting, with a 300% increase in the number of employees. I have served many citizens in Stillwater, such as Stillwater Group Homes, Saville Center, Payne County Youth Services, Making Place Matter Initiative, Chamber of Commerce, BID District and Stillwater Housing Authority and a graduate of Leadership Stillwater. |
Stillwater Business Owner since 1987.
City Council appears to the public, to be a governing body that is in chaos, lacking strong community leadership and positive direction, and desperately needs to get back on track in addressing issues, not personalities. Tough challenges lie ahead. Even tougher decisions need to be made than ever before. My recent Council involvement and extensive past and current community experiences provide me an excellent background to serve effectively and immediately upon election. Having the proven sound community minded decision making capabilities immediately with fellow Councilors, is a critical advantage to our community at this moment.
| I graduated from High School from Perkins-Tryon schools and went directly into the army. I spent 3 years serving my country with one year in Vietnam. I joined the Stillwater Fire Department after discharge and worked there for 32 years attaining the rank of Battalion Chief (shift commander). This service was dealing mostly with the citizens and their needs on a daily basis. Also at this rank I dealt with the budget and operations of the service that we were providing and became familiar on city management. I have been a board member of the Stillwater United Way, a speaker for the Victims Impact Panel for Payne County, Special Olympics coordinator through the Fire Dept. |
| How would you deal with revenue shortfalls other than cutting services? (100 words or less) | ||
This downturn is an opportunity to get creative and learn to do city business better. We must review our assets and find new revenue sources other than raising tax rates. We have to plan ahead for shortfalls. The Reserve Fund must be funded at a steady rate to be prepared for emergencies. We must increase our sales tax base, which is our main revenue source. We need to grow our tax base in Stillwater, which will benefit Stillwater and OSU. We need processes and procedures that promote new businesses and the growth of existing businesses. |
In reality, by the time the Council is seated with two new Councilors, the current budget could only be minimally impacted at the last minute. Budget year ends at the end of June. However, there is ample time for the next budget a process to be brought out for wider citizen participation and input. More than at anytime in recent history, the public wants to know and see how the Councilors make their decisions. Public awareness is vital to this complicated $90,000,000 budget. Dialogue between citizens and Council must be genuine if the Budget plan is to be effective, understood, and result in a financial plan of action.**** | The different departments are in the process of looking at their budgets and cutting the items that are not essential for their operations. I would also look at all past and new Programs, Purchases, Construction that are not vital for the operations of this city. One of the new programs that comes to mind is the proposed "Smart Electric Meter System" that is being discussed at a price of over 4 Million dollars. To me this may be a nice system to have but with our current economic problems we don't need to go further into debt. I would look at all possibilities available including different properties that the city owns. |
| Name one thing you would do to make Stillwater a better place to live. (100 words or less) | ||
| To make Stillwater even better, we need to determine what we want to be in the future. Do we want to be a high tech community? Manufacturing city? Sleepy little college town? A retirement community? A combination of all of these? We need input from all citizens to design our future, and have the courage and motivation to make it happen. We have a great history and NOW is the time to build our future. I want to be a part of the plan that benefits Stillwater now, and benefits the future generations of Stillwater citizens and OSU Students. | Reducing substantially the rate of Community wide spread resident/voter apathy would be my most single accomplishment that I would want to leave Stillwater with. Apathy affects every aspect of the City and Council work. Without an open respected dialogue between the staff, the general public, the hundreds of businesses, Oklahoma State University, and the even among individual Councilors, too many opportunities for improvement are missed. Apathy harm spreads incrementally into every aspect of the community. In addition, the community apathy robs community leaders of creative ideas to address challenges that are faced as a community. My one goal for Stillwater's future is to affirm our City's best and diminish the negativity perception Stillwater has grown to embrace.**** | There are a lot of items that can be done in Stillwater that would make it a better place to live but everything I came up with would cost money that we probably should not spend at this time. I am a part-time Instructor at Meridian Technology Center where I teach the EMT-B (Emergency Medical Technician-Basic) class and CPR classes. I would like to make Stillwater a safer place by coordinating with the local school district to teach classes to the Jr High and High School age students. We could be another Seattle, where the majority of their citizens are CPR trained thus saving more lives. |
| What issues set you apart from your opponents? (100 words or less) | ||
| I believe that my well rounded and diverse background have prepared me for City Council. My business is based on strong customer service, which requires that I listen and respond to my customers. A core belief of mine is cooperation is the key to achieving our goals. After my family, my love is for Stillwater and making ALL of Stillwater even better. My concerns are not limited to a single issue or group, but my past leadership and volunteer positions have given me the right experience to serve Stillwater on City Council. I believe in Stillwater and in its citizens. | Recent active Council experience provides unique advantage over either opponent in this Council race. No lag time nor a steep learning curve in understanding the information of so many interwoven issues exists with my election. Every past Councilor agrees that no community board service is solely adequate to prepare for the rigors of Council work. Being independent in decision making, courage to make tough choices, and proven compromising abilities are assets that I have shown in Council work. Having one issue candidates is as troubling as a candidate having too many perceived conflicts of interest with real estates interest. **** | I have lived and worked in Stillwater for over 35 years. I am not a "Politician" or a "Lawyer", so I haven't trained myself to be an eloquent speaker. I am honest, will look you straight in the eye and discuss the problems that the citizens have. I will research every option, talk to both sides and then be able to make an informed decision. I can't promise that I will agree with you every time but will explain why not and by doing so, hope to earn your respect. |
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Page Last Reviewed:
2-22-2010