By Najah Hylton
Camal Pennington won 45.5% of the vote for Oklahoma City (OKC) Council Ward 7 on Tuesday, Feb. 11. John A. Pettis, Jr. won 30.2% of the vote. Since no one garnered the required 50% plus one majority, the runoff will take place April 1.
The Black Wall Street Times interviewed both candidates about their positions and hopes for Ward 7.
Meet Camal Pennington, Ward 7 OKC City Council candidate
Pennington said he is proud to be a lifelong member of the historic East Side Community. His family has lived in ward 7 for four generations.
Pennington attended Longfellow Elementary and Northeast High School (now Classen SAS). As a product of public schools, he advocates for their support as well as adding more options for families’ school needs. He earned degrees from Oklahoma City University and the University of Oklahoma Law School.
Pennington worked at the American Federation of Teachers as a field organizer and their staff attorney. He began and continued his career “being an advocate for improving education.”
“Great leaders are built by having a great education,” Pennington said. His roles as director of annual giving and director of admissions for OU Law fall right in line. “It was about creating equity for all people. The law should be representative of all people,” he said.
He served on the Harding Fine Arts Academy School Board. His current position involves city-wide family advocacy and after school programs at Douglass, Star Spencer, and John Marshall High Schools.
If he wins the ward 7 seat, he wants to see excellent teachers incentivized to remain in education. “If you want to get better outcomes, it starts with the person who’s in that classroom everyday,” he said. He also supports school options that will make Ward 7 residents want to attend local schools. He said approximately half of the ward’s residents are educated elsewhere.
Pennington said “My hope for ward 7 is that we build a community together where every kid no matter how much money their family makes, no matter what neighborhood they live in, they are given the opportunity to live up to their full God-given potential.”
Meet John Pettis, Ward 7 OKC City Council candidate
Before Senator Nikki Nice won the ward 7 seat in 2018, it was held by John A. Pettis, Jr. Pettis resigned amid felony charges of embezzlement and tax evasion, News 9 reported.
In the video on his website, Pettis states that he was wrongly charged. He also said scandals wouldn’t have provided a fair trial or unbiased jurors. Three of 4 charges were dropped, and the fourth was reduced to a misdemeanor.
From Pettis’s term through Nice’s, Ward 7 has hoped for improvements to roads, jobs, health and wellness. The previous council members helped with bringing the Homeland grocery store and worked closely with the MAPS initiatives. The elected council member will help oversee a $2 billion general obligation bond for streets and infrastructure.
Plans for the future
If elected, Pennington would hope to “expand grocery store and retail options across the Ward.” The efforts toward better jobs and effective public transportation is a consistent goal for those in this seat. As a founding and long-time board member of the Northeast OKC Renaissance, he hopes to continue the growth on 23rd street at Eastpoint.
About economic development and jobs, Pettis said “we want the opportunities but we don’t want to be forced out of our community.” There is sometimes an unfortunate trade off that comes with city improvements. “We have to make sure that people who look like you and I have a voice in our community,” Pettis said.
If re-elected, Pettis wants to continue work he started and decrease crime by 20%. He spoke about overseeing the operational dollars attached to MAPS initiatives.
Pettis mentioned city plans to build a Civil Rights Center near Martin Luther King Ave on the Eastside. He supports plans like these as long as there are enough resources to build with long lasting standards. He also reiterated the need for local input. “If the neighborhood don’t want it, it won’t happen,” he said.
When asked how he felt about the primary, Pettis shared his hope with the Black Wall Street Times. He recalled that he was second in his primary in 2013 as well. He quoted from the Bible: Matthew 20:16. “By God’s grace I was able to pull it off,” he said. “That’s how I’m looking at this race coming up April 1st.”
When asked what made him the best candidate to further ward 7’s current goals, Pennington reiterated public service. He said he has “a variety of experiences from the local to the federal level that have equipped me to be an effective leader for ward 7.” He also said “we need people with the right kind of experience and who have the integrity to lead this community.”
The Ward 7 runoff election for OKC City Council takes place Tuesday, April 1.
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