Shelli Fox, City Council Ward 2

Shelli Fox, Ward 2, Lawton City Council:

1. What should the priorities be for the new Capital Improvements Program approved by voters in August?

I think the City and the Council have a pretty good handle on the needs from our current CIP. My main focus is on the needs of Ward 2. I know that the CIP got off track years ago but it looks like the current Council has a good handle on how to get it back on track. My priorities are always going to start with law enforcement. Public safety and their needs are always my number one. People have to feel and actually BE safe to live their best lives. We pay for it with our taxes and no matter where you live, it is your RIGHT! Once we do that, I can look at other priorities. My plan for Ward 2 involves law enforcement, mental health and neighborhood services. We need to get our drug and homeless population help. Most of these needs are addressed in the CIP.

2. What would best serve your ward: upgrades to water/sewer lines and roads, or demolition of deteriorating structures? Why?

My plan for Ward 2 starts with law enforcement but they need help. Police are the beginning by making contact with the homeless to determine their needs. The next step is going to be helping find homes or help them get mental health assistance. Our homeless and drug population are the main ones committing “crimes of opportunity.” These are the people occupying vacant, dilapidated structures. We should give the owners a chance to get their properties up code, but we need to ensure dilapidated buildings don’t become a haven for the homeless.

Streets and sewer and water lines are the heartbeat of any city. These are things that we must take seriously! Seeing Lawton getting fined for our water is disheartening! Though my platform is about the homeless and mental health problems, tearing down dilapidated houses is part of my plan. That said, we cannot ignore our sewer, water and streets.

Biography:

My name is Shelli Fox and I am asking to be your voice for Ward 2 Lawton City Council.

I worked for the Lawton Police Department for 17 years as a public safety telecommunicator (also known as a dispatcher) and trainer. I was a licensed EMT for six years. I have a bachelors degree from Jacksonville State University in emergency management with a minor in public safety telecommunication. I met my husband, Jed Fox, while working at LPD, and we have been married for almost 27 years. We raised our four sons together in the same neighborhood that I grew up in. I have lived in the same three-block radius for almost my entire 60 years I have been alive! We lost one of our beautiful sons Dec. 1, 2018, at age 31 to a drug overdose. It propels me to do what is right for the citizens of Lawton, particularly in Ward 2.

I am a proud member of Metro Mountain AMBUCS, I’m a singer/songwriter who has played around town with my husband in various bands, and I have a love of theatre so I have volunteered for Lawton Community Theatre and the now defunct Cabaret back in its day since I was barely a teenager. I love Lawton and its people and I desire to be the voice that represents Ward 2.

R.L. Smith,

the second candidate for Lawton City Council Ward 2, did not respond to requests to participate in the survey.