Priorities
Infrastructure
Improving infrastructure improves communities. There is currently but one EMBARK bus line available to Ward 8 residents and very little of the route is accessible to residential communities. My goal is to improve connectivity from Ward 8 to the rest of the city. Increasing bike lanes, bus lines, and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for all of Oklahoma City are critical. We need to consider and implement environmentally sound development of infrastructure. We need to remember our natural infrastructure as essential to our health and sustainability. We must be mindful of ADA compliance standards as we move forward in modernizing Oklahoma City’s infrastructure specifically when it comes to sidewalk accessibility and bus shelters. When I think about public art and murals and the economic impact the arts have on local, small businesses, it makes me want to beautify the Ward in that way.
Public Safety
Addressing the current and growing housing crisis is imperative. We are increasingly seeing more homes without people and more people without homes. While Maps 4 attempts at addressing the need to transform the city’s approach to reducing people without a home, the funds are conditional. We must do better to support our unhoused community. Additionally, people experiencing a mental health crisis or substance abuse need more resources and support. Our youth could also benefit from improved services and one way we can offer support is to reimagine the school resource officer program to increase the number of much-needed nurses, social workers, and counselors in schools. Further, I believe all people deserve access to healthy and affordable food. A lack of access to food adversely affects mental and physical health, increased anxiety and aggression, increased illness, and decreased academic achievement.
Youth and Community Programs
MAPS 4 allocated 70 million to the construction of four new youth centers. Ward 8 is the only ward without a youth or community center. We have seen the implementation of OKCGo2.0 with community colleges and OKCPS. I would like to see that expanded to all public high school graduates in Oklahoma City. By home growing our operations and investing in young creators, we have the opportunity to retain those young people. We also need to do more to strengthen our economy through the support of small and minority-owned businesses. We can do this through increased awareness and support of Minority Business Certification Programs.
Honoring the Original Stewards of the Land
With so many decisions being made at the Oklahoma City City Council level, it is far past time to elect the first Native woman who will not only honor the water, parks, green spaces, and lands but will represent all those that have been overlooked, have not had a voice, and have been dismissed. As an Indigenous Person, I have a unique outlook on how the land should be stewarded. The time is now to make space for Native leaders at all levels of government, especially in Oklahoma
Rematriation
You may be wondering what I mean when I say Rematriate Ward 8. It’s a simple and necessary concept. Communities thrive when Matriarchs are empowered. Many Indigenous cultures look to the Matriarchs of their community for direction, support, and activism. The Native concept of Rematriation means to reclaim. Reclamation of ancestral remains, cultures, lands, knowledge, and resources in place of the Patriarchal repatriation. It means to come back to Mother Earth, to come back to our origins, to life and co-creation instead of the destruction too often seen in the Patriarchy. It simply means to come home. Let us welcome this homecoming as we remember the collective kinship we can all benefit from.
