McAlester Watercooler

PERHAPS the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.
Thomas Paine - Introduction to Common Sense
Rat Mail  TV Listings  NewsCapital  Yellow Pages  Mail  Docs

New Watercooler Portal via Google

Opinion 10334

Opinion submitted by Hal on 2010-03-02 19:44:45    (reads 1063)

Louis Smitherman has won the Ward 6 Council seat.

Comment submitted by GaBoy on 2010-03-02 19:47:03
That is one sad day for this town.  It speaks volumes about the apathetic voters in
Ward 6.  I hope the firemen are happy and they get what they paid for in this
election.
Comment submitted by Galadir on 2010-03-02 19:48:25
How long until he can be recalled?
Comment submitted by Popeye on 2010-03-02 19:57:08
Probably as soon as he meets with the firemen and promises them how much he's going
to give them on their contract.  Congratulations 6th ward.  You have just proven
yourselves to be the bottom of the barrel when it comes to understanding anything.
Comment submitted by schultz on 2010-03-02 20:03:16
Contract?   Smitherman is proud of not reading contracts.
Comment submitted by Pete on 2010-03-02 20:14:58
He reads? Let's see how he performs. 6th ward is not too smart to elect a man like
Smitherman over Sam Mason. Shame on you 6th Ward and firemen, you are not going to
keep those big salaries too much longer so defeating Sam didn't accomplish what you
wanted. Smitherman can promise the moon but he will not be able to DELIVER!
Comment submitted by susan on 2010-03-02 21:01:43
Ha, how long until he can be recalled? Won't take long, maybe 3 council meetings
after the voters of his ward watch how he operates.
Comment submitted by Chass on 2010-03-02 21:09:16
I know what hurt Sam's run the slander/mud slinging calling him a child molester. I
had to talk to several friends who live there in ward 6.. and pointed out if he was
in fact one he would be in jail.
Comment submitted by countdown on 2010-03-02 21:56:15
The child molester comment was over the top even for mcalester politics.  I would
control the continued breathing of the person who put that out.  Good job fire
pukes, you now have a loser as your stooge.  Time to turn the tide,  two honest
folks on the council,  show the light to the roaches.  The ff group and stayned
wipes group now have a problem,  who bids the most for the seat.
Comment submitted by Agent Smith on 2010-03-03 09:23:54
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but Smitherman serves only one year of this term
due to term limits. He served 11 years previously and the limit is 12 I believe. I
may be off base on this, but someone who knows a little better could enlighten us.
Comment submitted by cookie on 2010-03-03 09:25:54
Sam:  Those comments are grounds for a law suite.  That is if you can find out who
put them out.
Comment submitted by Sparrow on 2010-03-03 10:28:01
Cookie - if it was anyone other than Joe Benson, I'd be shocked.  He went over the
top with those smears against some very good and decent people.  In my opinion, he
is a nasty, nasty vindictive man to stoop so low.  And I believe Agent Smith is
correct in his assessment.  He usually is.
Comment submitted by okieboy on 2010-03-03 10:59:37
Sixth Ward is got to be the most ignorant bunch of inbred hillbillies in Oklahoma,
they elected Louis Smitherman as a council man....Haaaaaaaa you are idiots the ones
that voted for him over sam mason....my god what is it gonna take to teach people a
lesson.
Comment submitted by worm on 2010-03-03 16:29:21
I THOUGHT I HEARD JOE BENSON GOT QUITE A BIT OF MONEY FROM THE CITY FOR WRONGFULL
TERMINATION BUT IT WAS KEEP HUSH HUSH
Comment submitted by Hal on 2010-03-03 16:31:36
Yes, and he was still terminated.  I understood it was actually related to his
retirement settlement and his illegal build up of time and leave.
Comment submitted by Apathy on 2010-03-03 17:09:49
worm, the City Council will always defer to their insurance company. Benson was fired by a woman, Susan Monroe. He decided to sue, alleging wrongful termination. The issue whether he was rightfully fired or not was never decided. The insurance company opted to settle, rather than slug it out in court. They are the ones who paid, not the City. So he can spin it by saying he "won"......but that's not the case. The insurance company simply decided to offer a settlement as they often do. Hope this helps.
Comment submitted by Galadir on 2010-03-03 18:32:53
Back more to my earlier question and a related one mentioned here:  Are there term
limits on city councilors?  Were they included in the new charter?  Do they apply
to councilors from before that charter?  Finally, how long until Smitherman can be
recalled?
Comment submitted by Galadir on 2010-03-03 18:38:17
My apologies, just saw other thread with meat of discussion of term limits.
Comment submitted by Susan on 2010-03-03 21:56:16
Shame a seat on the council is demeaned by the likes of Benson and his buddies. Men
like them can't deal with anyone smart like Sam Mason. Has anyone asked Joe or Bill
Ervin about the term limits for Smitherman?
Comment submitted by Apathy on 2010-03-03 22:02:55
What I'm hearing is that 3 attorneys all have different opinions, and a contest
betweenf the election board and the City of McAlester is about to pop since No
one wants to be responsible for upholding the Charter requirements.  They want
to ignore it and pretend that things are hunky dory and sign that paper and take
your seat on Tuesday.  It needs to be determined by a judge in court:  Do the
state 12 year term limits apply to Louis, or does McAlester's 12 year term
Charter limits apply.  It will take a judge and a court ruling to see which law
trumps the other one.  And until that is settled, the election board should see
that SAID problem DOES exist with the Charter, and CERTIFICATION SHOULD NOT BE
MADE BY THEM UNTIL A COURT RULES. Two days left to achieve the impossible.
Comment submitted by Bryan on 2010-03-03 23:28:03
NO one wants to be responsible for upholding the Charter? Might be some legal
consequences if the Council seats Smitherman under a "discrepancy". Certainly will
make any of his votes open for legal ramifications, maybe Priddle and his buddies
need to think this through. Joe Ervin should be speaking out, his mother helped
rewrite the Charter. No one wants to uphold it! Astounding.

Watercooler Home Page