I read with astonishment former Mayor Wren Stratton’s Nov. 22 column, in which she claimed that we, the taxpayers, were the source of the “perceived problems” and that the good-old-boy system doesn’t exist because no one can name them.

No one can name who belongs to the good-old-boy system because it’s not made up of specific individuals. It’s made up of certain individuals who hold a certain attitude about being in power. Those individuals come and go but the “institutional symptoms” remain fairly consistent.

Here is a composite sketch of what the institutional good old boy looks like, which I’ve developed over the last 13 years of dealing with the city and some of its boards and committees.

One particular prominent city committee funded by taxpayers, Greater Muskogee Development Corp., was composed of an all-white, all-male board until citizens starting attending their meetings and made an issue out of it. Not until the leadership of that committee (and city officials) were forced to address the situation did the board recognize there was a problem with the board makeup.

This fits the symptom of exclusivity which has since been corrected, at least for this board.

Past blatant violations of the Open Meeting and Records Acts, documented numerous times on the front page of the Phoenix, is another example of their behavior. From illegal executive meetings to the Muskogee Police Department charging more than allowed for police reports, whatever is convenient for them is what should be permitted. This symptom can be described as “If we don’t get caught, it must be legal.”

Due to the professionalism of the city’s two attorneys, compliance with the Open Meeting and Open Records Act for the City Council has been commendable — this despite a court ruling stating individual public officials should know what the act says and are personally responsible for complying with it.

Another symptom of the good old boys is to pass the blame — it’s someone else’s fault we aren’t complying.

Since at least 1996, city officials would reappoint members to city boards and committees despite a specific requirement in the City Charter that one year must elapse between appointments. Not until I pointed this out to a previous mayor did this practice stop.

This is an outgrowth of failing to read the charter or worse yet, after reading the charter, failing to comply with it. The symptom is called “Doing it that way because that’s the way it’s always been done.”

Another symptom of being a good old boy is that implementing an ethics policy for city officials, employees and the council is just too hard, which was the excuse given by the City Council under Mayor Stratton’s tenure when they voted to cancel the campaign ethics ordinance.

A repeat performance of this good-old-boy symptom was recently manifested when Mayor Hammons introduced ethics reform as part of his campaign promise.

The good old boys’ bottom line? The council was, and apparently still is, too busy to take up this issue. Hey, it’s just the city of Muskogee’s reputation, right?

The final, and probably most profound symptom of good old boys is their adamant refusal to support term limits.

If Stratton truly wants to make it easier for the public to enter politics, she would campaign to include term limits as part of the city’s new charter. Isn't it easier for a political novice to run for an open council seat rather than go against an entrenched incumbent?

So the good old boys are those in city politics who display these symptoms yet do nothing about it until they’re forced to do so, which has been evident during every mayor’s term since at least 1996.

If Stratton wants the good old boys to stop getting the blame, then she should work with the city to correct these symptoms. It shouldn't take individual citizens to force officials to comply with the law much less their own charter which they swore to uphold.

The good old boys will continue to get the blame until the good old boys are voted out of office or are forced to behave like responsible public officials. The voters can only do one of the two. The rest of it is up to the good old boys.



Mark Hughes is a Muskogee resident.