Lawton City Council to begin new term Monday

The City Council will get a new face Monday.

Council members will meet in special session at 9 a.m. to administer the oaths of office for a new council term to three members, including new Ward 7 Councilwoman Sherene L. Williams. Williams bested Councilwoman Onreka Johnson in the Nov. 14 runoff election to win a three-year term as the Ward 7 council representative.

Williams is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and combat veteran who served in Afghanistan, Qatar and Kuwait. She was a signal officer, communications electronics officer and director of logistics, and has been a retired sales manager for Sears Roebuck and Company and the previous owner of Sherene’s Boutique.

Oaths of office also will be administered to Ward 6 Councilman Bob Weger, who will serve a full term after being appointed to the seat in May 2023 to complete the unexpired term of former Ward 6 Councilman Sean Fortenbaugh. Weger then stood for election, but ended up taking the seat without a race after his opponent was disqualified by the Comanche County Election Board. Also taking his constitutional and statutory oaths of office Monday will be Ward 8 Councilman Randy Warren, the council’s longest-tenured member and one who is serving his final three years because of term limits.

Typically, such meetings begin with Mayor Stan Booker declaring the current administration to cease, then welcoming those who take their oaths of office from Municipal Judge Nathan Johnson and declaring a new administration to begin.

Monday’s meeting also leads to the council’s first regular meeting of 2024, set for 2 p.m. Tuesday.