Moore mayor to face ex-Marine in March election

MOORE — While most state voters are focused on February’s upcoming presidential primary election, voters in Moore will have more than just presidential candidates to deal with over the next two months.

Following February’s primary election, Moore residents will choose their next mayor and decide whether or not to fund $69.9 million in proposed school construction and improvements.

Both those issues will be on the March 4 ballot.

In addition, some voters — those who live in south Oklahoma City — will be asked whether or not to approve an extension of the MAPS sales tax to fund renovations to the Ford Center. That election, too, is set for March 4.

“There are several issues up between now and March,” said Paula Roberts, Cleveland County’s election board secretary.

And while Roberts said the school bond issue and the MAPS proposal have generated some voter interest, for Moore, the main event will be the mayor’s race.

A race which pits a popular, long-serving incumbent against a 70-year-old ex-Marine.

A race that incumbent mayor Glenn Lewis says will probably be his last.

“I still have a few things I want to finish,” Lewis said this week. “I want to be there when our new theater opens and I want to make some improvements for kids. I’d like to do a Little League stadium and accomplish some more things like that. But this will probably be my last term.”

Lewis, who has served as Moore’s mayor for the past 14 years, said if he’s re-elected, he wants to continue to push the community forward.

“I want to focus on where we are going,” he said. “I want to focus on what other people want us to do. We all work hard and if there’s something wrong I want to correct it.”

During the past decade, he’s has been busy.

Inheriting what he called a community with “issues,” Lewis described his first term in office as “a shocker.”

“When I first started, we couldn’t make city payroll,” he said. “We didn’t have enough money. The police officers were buying their own flashlights. We hadn’t budgeted to fix roads in neighborhoods, not in 15 years. So my message was we were gonna have to make government smaller or get smarter on taxes.”

The city, he said, got smart quickly.

“We worked hard at it. We chose to go the sales tax route because of our location. The visitors and retail traffic to our community — those who shop here but live somewhere else — help pay for our services. That’s why I’m unapologetic about using a sales tax.”

Since then, Lewis said Moore has grown and prospered.

“I think we’ve done a good job. About 75 percent of the commercial buildings which have been built went up while I was mayor.”

And though Lewis says he’s proud of his accomplishments, he’s also just as quick to praise Moore’s municipal staff and his fellow commissioners.

“We have a really good staff and a really good council,” he said. “None of this could have been accomplished without them.”
But economic development hasn’t been Moore’s sole accomplishment. The city, he noted, has had its share of disasters.

“I have probably had more disasters than any other mayor,” he said. “Tornadoes, storms, ice. Myself, the council, and our staff have more disaster experience than the FEMA guys. We know how to work a disaster and what to do.”

And it’s that experience, Lewis said, that has allowed Moore to recover from problems quickly.

“Knowing what needs to be done is a good thing,” he said. “I just don’t like having disasters. We’ve had more than our share.”
Still, for Lewis the job of mayor isn’t about the salary. Instead, he said, it’s about trying to make things better.

“Moore’s prosperity is not all my accomplishment,” he said. “I had a lot of help. I just simply want to try and make things better for the city and the people that live here.”

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It’s not that Paul Jaynes is unhappy.

In fact, Jaynes said he’s very pleased with the growth and development of his hometown.

He acknowledges the city’s hard work and the progress made. “Moore is improving,” he said Monday. “And I want to keep that going.”

Jaynes is running for mayor, he said, “to see if people would vote for me or not.”

“I’m not running against the mayor. I’m running for the office of mayor. I’m doing it because a lot of people have asked me to.”
Before moving to Moore, Jaynes said he lived in Phoenix, Ariz. “Phoenix got too big, that’s why we came here. This city is going good. It’s wonderful.”

A veteran of the U.S. Marines, Jaynes, while pleased with Moore’s commercial development, said if he’s elected mayor, he would like to see more “light industry” locate in the community.

“I’d like to help put more people to work,” he said. “That would make more customers for merchants.”

Moore, Jaynes said, should create a “golden alley” from Moore to Norman and Oklahoma City. “I’d like to see us take advantage of our location. I’ve been watching Moore for a long time and it has the most wonderful people. It’s a great place.”

Jaynes — who donated a flagpole to Moore Chamber of Commerce last year — said he would use a low-key approach in his campaign.

“I’m not going to have a big campaign,” he said. “I might be passing out some literature, flyers and the like, but that will probably be about it. I don’t plan on spending a lot of money.”

Instead he said he wants to give voters a choice.

“I’d like to be the mayor. If people have different opinions or different ideas I like to help.”

And he wants voters to know he has “no mean intentions.”

“I’m just running for the office. There is nothing bad. I’m easygoing and I don’t have any ill feelings anywhere. This is my most favorite part of the world.”

A place, he said, where he plans to stay.

“I’m not leaving,” Jaynes said.

“The people here are great. This is where I want to die.”

A nonpartisan position, Moore’s mayor serves as a voting member of the city council and presides at council meetings. The mayor serves a four-year term and is paid $3,000 annually.