OKC FRIDAY Vol. 57 No. 30 • One Section • 16 pages • December 1, 2023
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Pages 14 & 15
Village could cut council meetings to one a month By Eric Oesch Staff Writer The Village may soon join Nichols Hills and conduct council meetings only once per month starting in January 2024. The city council has met to conduct business twice each month since 1964. The matter was a point of discussion during last week’s council meeting. The change in meeting dates is to be up for
approval at the Monday, Dec. 4 meeting. “This item is for discussion only without action to provide guidance to staff regarding changing from bi-monthly meetings to monthly,” said City Manager Dave Slezickey in a memo presented to city council members. “We are recommending this based on the agenda content, number of cancelled meetings for lack of agenda items and to improve efficiency of opera-
tions for staff.” City officials are to have the option to call a special meeting for action needed that cannot wait until the next meeting date. The City Charter provides for a monthly meeting, with the first Monday in May following an election as the only required specific meeting. Slezickey recommended the council meet the second Monday of the month as reports, claims and financials
are not always ready by the first Monday. He said 2024 has two second Mondays that are holidays including Columbus Day on Oct. 14 and Veterans Day on Nov. 11. The council would schedule these meetings on the following Tuesday or Monday. “We recommend scheduling a special meeting for May 6 to comply with the charter requirement for newly elected council members,” he said. “This would also be a
Toasting Bachelors Club debutante Hadley Ferguson, right, are club members Gabe Grim, Teddy Jacobsen and Luke Chansolme. Per tradition, the young men load up in limos to bring the debutantes invitations, champagne and roses.
Jennifer Conger Bentley; Catherine Anne Carter (Cate), daughter of Chip Carter and Lori Smith Carter; Victoria Jane Cohn, daughter of Tim Cohn and Brooke Thomas-Cohn; Lily-
Kate Duit, daughter of Heather and Tim Duit; Hadley Scheyer Ferguson, daughter of Lauren and Brian Ferguson; Jillian Brooke Hibbard, daughter of Robin and Robert Hibbard; and
Gabriella Naji Karam, daughter of Courtney and Dr. Naji Karam; and Hannah Sydney Lee, daughter of Ashley and Cavett Lee. See DEBS, Page 4
Stein earns the Oscar of county assessors Oklahoma County Assessor Larry Stein has earned the highest honor for Oklahoma Assessors— the George Keyes Award named for former Oklahoma County Assessor George Keyes who started and was the first president of the Oklahoma Chapter of the International Association of Assessing Officers to promote professionalism in the industry. “I am so surprised, happy
and proud to be the winner of this year’s George Keyes Award. This award belongs to all the members of my staff who are so great at what they do for the county. “It makes it an even greater honor to earn this award in the county where it all started — Oklahoma County,” Stein said. Oklahoma County is the largest assessing responsibility in the state, Stein said. There
are more than 325,000 parcels in the 720 square miles inside the Oklahoma County border. Even with more exempt property owned by government and property tax exempt entities than any other county, the private property in the county is worth more than $92 billion. That represents more than 22
Prevent clogs by tossing FOG By Rose Lane Editor The holiday season is here and with it, lots of delicious holiday meals filled with fats, oils and grease, commonly known as FOG. The Oklahoma City Utilities Department reminds residents to “prevent clogs by tossing your FOG.” This means tossing fats, oils, grease and other bulky food items into
See VILLAGE, Page 5
Crossings achieves Platinum; student aces AP exams
Bachelors Club names debutantes Twenty women will make their debut at the 77th annual Bachelors Club Christmas Ball on Thursday, Dec. 22, at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. The black-tie ball is set to begin at 8 p.m. with the debutante presentation to begin at 9 p.m. Each debutante is escorted by a member of the Bachelors Club of Oklahoma City. The debutantes and their parents are: Rachel Constance Abbott, daughter of Maria and Craig Abbott; Alison Marie Anderson (Ali), daughter of Chelle and Daniel Weintraub and the late Murray Anderson; Julianne Elizabeth Bentley, daughter of Steven Bentley and
good opportunity for a meet and greet for new officials and appreciation for outgoing members.” June is to also have a special meeting for budget adoption. Councilman Melody Moore, Vice Mayor Sean Cummings and Mayor Bubba Symes all gave their support for the proposal. Councilmen David Bennett
the trash — and not down the drain. If poured down the sink, FOG can clog sewer lines and cause costly repairs to the homeowner and the City. More than onethird of sewer line blockages in Oklahoma City are caused by FOG. To help prevent clogs, pour liquid FOG such as turkey grease, gravy, cooking oil or melted butter into a lidded con-
tainer, then place it in the freezer until the FOG becomes solid. One can then toss the container into the trash. The city also recommends throwing all solid food remnants such as peels or skins into the trash and using a paper towel to wipe out any remaining FOG from pots and pans before cleaning them in the sink or See FOG, Page 5
See STEIN, Page 5
FRIDAY’s
Crossings Christian School earned the distinction of being a Platinum level school on the 2023 AP School Honor Roll, which is the highest recognition. This designation is awarded annually based on the school’s ability to foster a college-going culture, providing students with opportunities to earn college credit and enhancing college readiness. One example of the success of Crossings’ AP Program is Joseph Tucker McSpadden, a member of the CCS Class of 2023. McSpadden not only attained the highest possible score of 5 on his test, but was one of only 367 students in the world to earn every point possible on the AP Research Exam, receiving the maximum score on each portion of the exam. AP recognizes that this outstanding accomplishment highlights the exceptional quality of education provided at Crossings Christian School and showcases the dedication of both students and educators to academic excellence. In addition to Tucker’s AP success, the CCS Class of 2024 included four AP Capstone Diploma recipients, 18 AP
TUCKER McSPADDEN
Scholars with Distinction, 13 AP Scholars with Honor, and 29 AP Scholars. As a whole, CCS students earned a 70% passing rate in three AP Courses and a 90% passing rate in six courses. Additionally, 76.2% students at Crossings scored an average of 3 or higher on AP exams in 2023, 13 points higher than the Oklahoma average and 9 points higher than the global average. Crossings currently offers 18 AP courses and was the first private school in Oklahoma to offer the AP Capstone Program in 2019. Helen Denman, the AP Capstone Research instructor, reflecting on this accomplishment, said, “Jonetta Jonte stands at the very heart of the AP Capstone See AP, Page 5
Dog of the Week This is Dolly. She is a Pyrenees mix adopted in May 2015 from the Edmond pound. She loves going on walks in the neighborhood, rides in the car with her family and banana nut bread. She is a proud big sister to Clare and Ann Hawkins and loves giving them kisses anytime she can. Email Dog, Cat, Pet and Baby of the Week nominations with complete descriptions to rose@okcfriday.com.