OKC Civic Life for Monday, Sept. 14, 2020
by William Crum
Calendar: Voter countdown
• For voters who sign up, absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 election will be mailed out the first week of October. To request an absentee ballot, you must be registered to vote. See the Oklahoma State Election Board, ok.gov/elections, or call your county election board. In Oklahoma County, call 713-1515.
• Absentee ballots are available by mail until about a week before the election, when in-person early voting begins. The best advice is to register well in advance of the deadline and apply early for an absentee ballot. Any registered voter can vote absentee or early in Oklahoma.
• About six in 10 registered voters in the country say they want to cast their ballot early this fall (University of Maryland-Washington Post poll).
• Oct. 9 is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election. Oklahoma City voters will consider nine charter amendments. Presidential and U.S. Senate races are on the statewide ballot.
• Voter registration drives are Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., through Oct. 4 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Free public access to computers, printers, postage, and other registration and voting resources will be available.
• Voter registration drives are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 4 to 6 p.m., through Sept. 29 at:
Tuesdays: Northeast Town Center, 1148 NE 36 St.
Thursdays: JFK Park, 1824 NE 16 St.
Sundays: Spencer Shopping Center, NE 23 Street and Spencer Road.
They said it
"If the economy begins to slow back down, I won’t hesitate to reinstate the hiring freeze."
— City Manager Craig Freeman, remarking on his decision to lift the hiring freeze instituted nearly six months ago as COVID-19 emergency orders were taking effect. The city has an authorized work force of 4,701. As of last week, there were 239 civilian vacancies and 185 open positions for uniform public safety employees. Freeman lifted the hiring freeze after seeing encouraging signs for the local economy in the latest sales tax figures. "Since we are performing better than projected," he said, "I made the decision to start slowly filling positions so we can restore services to our residents." Responding to worries over the pandemic-induced economic slide, the city council cut 168 positions in the 2020-21 budget. Most were vacant but eight employees were laid off July 1.
Tweet of the week
"Lights, camera, action? City to consider conversion of Cox Convention Center for movie, TV production"
— @TheOklahoman_. Read about developments in The Oklahoman and subscribe at oklahoman.com.
The week ahead
The city council meets at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Find the agenda with instructions for dialing in under the "Government" tab at okc.gov.
• The council will meet behind closed doors to discuss the recent federal appeals court ruling overturning a controversial panhandling ordinance.
• Mask giveaways are Saturday, 9 to 11 a.m., at Classen SAS at Northeast High School, 3100 N Kelley Ave., and Southern Oaks Community Center, 400 SW 66 St. Each vehicle receives one box of 50 disposable masks, while supplies last.
Present/absent
The mayor and all eight city council members attended the Sept. 1 meeting.
In brief: MAPS 3
• The city council on Tuesday will authorize the MAPS office to take construction bids for the lower section of the downtown park. Bids are due Oct. 7.
• The council is expected to award a $2.6 million contract to L5 Construction to complete the upstairs build-out of the whitewater park's main building.
Staff writer William Crum. Email wcrum@oklahoman.com. Twitter:@williamcrum