The People's Platform
This campaign is a referendum about changing our priorities and transitioning to a more humane and ultimately affordable justice system, allowing us to allocate more money to infrastructure, bridges, and other vital community projects that create an environment that gives local businesses the best opportunity to succeed.
We spend 60% of our county budget on our jail, yet we arrest over 500 homeless people every month, almost all for low level offenses. While we agree that OK County needs a new jail, we have a plan that will allow us to build a SMALLER jail, instead of raising taxes (again) to build a LARGER jail that will increase incarceration. Together, we can:
1. Turn our justice system into one that emphasizes preventive restorative justice over punitive measures that criminalize, traumatize, and harm those in need without making us safer. This will allow us to save money and save lives.
2. Work to keep ICE out of our jail and stop inhumane detention centers or rights violations in Oklahoma County. Immigrants enrich our culture and strengthen our community and economy—making up 8.1% of the workforce, 19.5% of construction jobs, spending $5.3 billion annually, and running businesses that employ over 30,000 people and generate nearly $700 million a year.
3. Dissolve the ineffective and chaotic Jail Trust and return control of the jail to the Sheriff’s Department. This will provide much needed stability and professional management and allow residents to hold the sheriff accountable through the election process.
4. Say NO to permanent new taxes for a larger jail that would increase incarceration and further burden taxpayers beyond the $260 million bond approved in 2022. The county sales and excise tax proposed by my opponent would cost taxpayers $200 million every year—forever. With wages stagnant and living costs rising, we should slow down and focus on common-sense solutions that reduce the jail population, save money, and keep our county safe.
5. Create economic opportunities for local business owners and their families through community beautification and economic incentives that give enterpreneurs the best chance to grow, thrive, and achieve long term success.
6. Adopt a collaborative approach between city, county, and state levels, utilizing public and private funding to expand housing first solutions for homelessness—instead of arresting over 500 homeless people every month—and implement community-based mental health, affordable healthcare, and addiction treatment. This is a defining moment where humane solutions align perfectly with economic conservatism.
7. Work towards implementation of bail reform and cite and release policies for nonviolent offenders that will further reduce the jail population, allowing us to eventually build a SMALLER, more manageable, affordable, and humane jail.
8. These measures will free up valuable resources to focus on the infrastructure needs throughout Oklahoma County, including better roads, bridges, drainage systems, recreational facilities, and community improvement projects that help local businesses and working families thrive.
These are the issues that will bring us together to build a more humane, functional, and prosperous system that benefits all Oklahoma County residents.
