Three candidates who pledged to comply with the letter and spirit of Oklahoma's open government laws were elected to council seats in Norman and Stillwater last week. Norman's new mayor had signed the pledge in 2013. Another recent pledge signer will be in Norman's runoff election June 28.

In signing FOI Oklahoma’s Open Government Pledge, each candidate also promised “to support at every opportunity the public policy of the State of Oklahoma that the people are vested with the inherent right to know and be fully informed about their government so that they can efficiently and intelligently exercise their inherent political power.”

In Norman, local attorney Bill Hickman was elected to the Ward 4 seat and Aleisha Karjala, a USAO political science professor, was elected to represent Ward 2.

Another pledge signer, OU academic administrator Breea Clark, will face Ward 6 incumbent Jerry Lang in a runoff election June 28.

Lynne Miller, who had signed the pledge before winning the Ward 5 seat in 2013, was elected mayor.

In Stillwater, Will Joyce was elected to Seat 1 on the Stillwater City Council.

FOI Oklahoma invites all candidates for state, local and legislative seats to sign the pledge. Instructions and lists of signers can be found on FOI Oklahoma’s website.

FOI Oklahoma began the Open Government Pledge in spring 2008 as part of a national effort to spur public commitments to government transparency from candidates for president down to city council contests.

Joey Senat, Ph.D. Associate Professor OSU School of Media & Strategic Communications

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the commentators and do not necessarily represent the position of FOI Oklahoma Inc., its staff, its board of directors or the commentator’s employer. Differing interpretations of open government law and policy are welcome.