Mayor: City’s priorities should be housing and education

By Liz McMahan

It wasn’t a chicken in every pot that Mayor John Tyler Hammons wished for Muskogee County residents in his State of the City address to the Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

Instead, it was free college or technical school tuition for every high school graduate in the county and enough help with housing down payments to get renters in a house of their own.

Hammons didn’t have a plan for funding either program, but said both are important to the community and to him.

He said he has talked to several of his friends who pay more in rent and utilities than the $200 per month he pays for utilities and mortgage on a house he bought last March.

“They can afford to be in their own homes, they just can’t afford the down payment,” Hammons said.

He said he plans to work with the Muskogee Housing Authority and local banks to get a down payment assistance program established. It could perhaps be similar to one the Cherokee Nation has.

“It has improved their housing stock,” he said.

He offered no solution to the problem of financing his college scholarship program but said having a well-educated citizenry is key to making Muskogee “a shining city on the hill.”

“I want to get to the point that if you graduate in Muskogee County, you can go to Connors State College or Indian Capital (Technology Center) for free,” Hammons said. “Even one day of college, one day of post-high school education improves your city’s chance of succeeding.”

Scholarship recipients would have to maintain at least passing grades and would be required to perform community service in exchange for their scholarships, he said.

They would also be required to stay in Muskogee County and give back to the community, he said.

The program would be similar to one in Tulsa County — the Tulsa Achieves program. It began in the fall of 2007, with nearly 1,400 students enrolled at Tulsa Community College, according to the TCC Web site.

The program pays up to 100 percent of tuition and fees for up to 60 college credit hours for students living in Tulsa County.

It is funded through TCC, not Tulsa County, county officials said.

The Tulsa Achieves program has seen the number of first-time college enrollees double in the first year, Hammons said.

“The only thing that’s not figured out (for a program here) is how to fund it,” he said. “We are now asking citizens if you have ideas how we can make this happen, please let us know.”

Hammons did not attach a price tag to the program, but based on the number of Muskogee County high school graduates last year, it could be a large sum.

Tuition for non-high-school students at ICTC is $1,125 per year. Connors’ tuition is $2,552 per year. There were 795 students graduating from Muskogee County high schools last spring.

Assuming half attended ICTC and half attended Connors, the first year’s tuition would be more than $1.4 million.

Hammons said the program has the potential of improving Muskogee — it could mean the difference in whether a company comes here or goes somewhere else, he said.

“It’s something we can do to help ourselves,” he said. “The money is not coming through Washington, the money is not coming through Oklahoma City. We must provide for ourselves.”

Hammons said he will not give up the fight for free tuition.

“That’s my hope to see accomplished, and if this takes 10 years, I’ll still be working at it 10 years from now,” he said. “I’m dedicated to making things happen. Hopefully, you are too.”



The coming year



Mayor John Tyler Hammons announced several initiatives he will pursue in the coming year in addition to free tuition and help with down payments on housing:

• Increase recycling — He has drafted an ordinance that will help reduce the amount of non-recycled paper purchased by the city. It will mandate that by 2014, at least one-half of the city’s paper must be of recycled stock.

• Reduce carbon — As many vehicles as possible must be energy efficient and preferably fueled by compressed natural gas.

• Street oversight committee — A group will be formed to make recommendations to the City Council as to which streets should be given funding priority.

• Transparency — Establish policy that any proposed resolution, ordinance or contract be made available for public viewing on the city’s Web site before it is presented to the Council.



Reach Liz McMahan at 918-684-2926 orClick Here to Send Email

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