Published: October 26, 2009 05:58 pm      

Representative plans Town Hall meeting for Tuesday

EDMOND — his week I will have the third of four Town Hall meetings scheduled in House District 31 during this year’s legislative interim. At each of these Town Hall meetings, it has been my goal to bring together state and local officials to provide updates to area residents. At almost every meeting, I have invited at least one area state senator and one local county commissioner to provide a broad base of access to both state and local issues.

I very much appreciate the officials who have attended these events and am also grateful to the citizens who have participated. What I especially appreciate about this turnout is that it provides the opportunity for elected officials to hear first hand from residents how they feel about issues. Especially in light of recent events, residents have not been at all shy about making their voices heard.

Our first meeting took place in August in south Logan County/Edmond, and was attended by about 140 individuals. Speaking at the meeting were state Sen. Clark Jolly, state Sen. Randy Brogdon and County Commissioner Mark Sharpton. A particular focus of the meeting was the states’ rights issue and many participants were especially anxious about what they see as the destructive, excessive spending habits and bad policies developed by the federal government. They want state government to stand up and assert its rights under the 10th Amendment to shelter the public from these federal polices.

The second meeting occurred in Guthrie and was attended by about 40 participants. Michael Carnuccio from Oklahomans for Government Reform was present to talk about OFRG’s recent effort to study transparency issues in Oklahoma school districts. State Sen. Jim Halligan sent his regrets as he had a schedule conflict on that evening. The senator looks forward to meeting with Logan County residents at future Town Hall meetings. A special “thank you” to Sharpton, who agreed to fill in and speak at a Town Hall meeting for a second time this year.

This third meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Woodcrest Fire Station and is being attended by newly elected County Commissioner Mike Pearson and Stuart Jolly, director of the Oklahoma Chapter of Americans for Prosperity. This will be Pearson’s first appearance at a Town Hall meeting since taking office. Jolly will update the attendees on the ongoing federal health policy debate.

The final Town Hall meeting is set to take place at 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Crescent Community Center. Speakers will include state Sen. Patrick Anderson and new Logan County Sheriff Jim Bauman. County Commissioner Monty Piercy also may be in attendance in order to answer road-related questions.

If you are available to attend one of the remaining meetings, I would certainly appreciate and look forward to your presence.



REP. JASON MURPHEY, R-Guthrie, represents House District 31, which encompasses all of Logan County and a portion of northern Edmond. He may be reached via e-mail at jason.murphey@okhouse.gov.