Published: March 26, 2009 01:06 pm      

Three vie for Salina Board

Salina voters will choose two of their five-member board of trustees on Tuesday, April 7.

Three members of the board were elected when filing ended. Dennis Weston, Mayor Darrell Blaylock and Michael O’Rourke were the only three candidates to file for three four-year terms, so they were elected unopposed.

Three men filed for two two-year unexpired terms, including Incumbent John Ross, Billy Blackwell and Morton Gann.

The two men with the most votes will fill the two remaining seats on the board.



Incumbent John Ross

Ross, 68, was elected two years ago for an open seat on the board. He ran because he didn’t want to see the police or fire departments cut. He explained two of the people running for the board during the last election wanted to cut the police and fire department.

“I like to go forward. I don’t like to go backward,” said Ross. “Progress is my main thing.”

In the last two years, Ross said Salina has made a lot of improvements, especially the traffic signal, school and new sewer plant.

Ross said the waste water treatment plant is an expensive project, but it had to be constructed due to mandates from the Department of Environmental Quality.

Now the town is faced with mandates to improve the water quality at the water plant. He said the board is weighing their options on whether to update the plant or buy water from the Oklahoma Ordinance Works Authority (OOWA).

The problem with updating the plant is DEQ mandates are constantly changing, so the town may update the plant at a high cost and have to turn around and do it all again. The town is still paying on the last updates to the water plant done in 1996. Ross said he doesn’t want to put the town in the same position all over again.

Constructing a lateral line and purchasing water from OOWA is the wiser move, said Ross. “I think it’s a better option.”

He said the town could purchase water from OOWA at a cheaper rate than they can offer the water themselves. Ideally, he’d like to lower the cost to customers, many of which he knows are on a limited budget.

“We have to do what we think is the very best to allow citizens here to survive,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can.”

Ross would like to see more businesses open in Salina, and would be in favor of tax breaks to potential employers. He thinks the town would recoup any expenses they incur through employees spending their money in the community.

He said the town has made a lot of progress improving the community by cleaning up properties. He said the board’s decision to hire Kellie Guess as animal control officer / code enforcement officer was a good one. “She’s doing a wonderful job,” said Ross. He said the town is fortunate to have

quality employees.

He bragged on the police and fire departments for working non-stop during the ice storms. He said the volunteers went above and beyond to make sure the citizens of Salina were OK.

Ross, who moved to Salina in 2000 after

marrying his wife, Verla, said the citizens of Salina should vote for him because he works for them. He said he tries to make the best decisions he can to benefit the community.

He joked that money is certainly not the reason he’s seeking another term on the board.

“I like people. I like to do everything I can to help,” he said. “There are a lot of great people in Salina.”



Billy Blackwell

Blackwell, 27, has never run for a town trustee position, but has been in public service since joining the Coast Guard in 2002. He spent four years in the Coast Guard stationed in Charleston, S.C.

After being released from the Coast Guard, he and wife, Lori, moved to Salina, where Lori went to high school. Blackwell attended school in Pryor. The couple has one son, Dylan, 3.

Blackwell joined law enforcement shortly after returning to Salina. He was employed as a full-time officer with the Salina Police Department, then joined the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office as a full-time deputy.

Blackwell wants to join the board of trustees to bring a fresh perspective to the table.

He said an issue he’s concerned with is water rates. He saw his utility bill almost double in the last month. “I don’t want to pay more for utilities than I have to,” he said.

Blackwell said the town is considering purchasing water from an outside source and he disagrees. He said

sticking with the town’s water plant is a better option.

Blackwell said he thinks the town should pursue more grant options, and the timing is perfect since President Obama’s stimulus

package passed recently.

He’d like to see more businesses in Salina, although he thinks the small town atmosphere is something the board should protect. One avenue is to utilize the west side of the lake. He said attracting businesses to the west side of the lake wouldn’t affect the small town atmosphere.

He’d like to see the board pursue the annexation of the west side more quickly. Blackwell said he wants to see the town extend utilities to the west side of the lake, which he thinks would facilitate growth.

Blackwell thinks the voters should choose him because he’s not afraid of change. He thinks the current council is “falling behind the curve.”

He explained the town is never going to be Pryor, but said Salina could experience growth like Locust Grove has over the past 10 years. He attributes the growth in Locust Grove to a newer council being open to change.

Blackwell wants to change the mindset from doing enough to get by to making changes for the betterment of the citizens of Salina.

“If I didn’t think there was a need for change, I wouldn’t be running.”



Morton Gann

Gann, 68, has lived in Salina most of his life. He and his wife, Opal, have four children and eight grandchildren, who all live in Salina.

Although Gann has never served on the town board of trustees, he did serve for 17 years on the Salina School Board.

Gann said he’s running to give something back

to his community. He worked at Wilgro Fertilizer

for 32 years, then Mustang Construction for eight as a safety director. He retired three years ago and said he has plenty of time to “give back something to the little town of Salina if I can.”

He admits he’s on the outside looking in, but Gann doesn’t see a lot he’d like to change. He thinks the town’s police and fire departments are some of the best in the county. He said serving on the school board gave him experience in working with four other board members to try and do the best for their school or town.

Gann knows Salina is facing another potential upgrade at the sewer plant, or must purchase water from an outside source. He said the town has to have quality water to survive, but he’s waiting to form an opinion one way or the other until he’s better informed.

He said he’d like to see the town work to improve the streets and will be glad to see the waste water plant finished. He said cleaning up the town is another priority he’d like to continue.

Gann said he’s interested in letting the people vote for whoever they think will be good for the town of Salina.

Why vote for him?

“First, I’m willing to do it. I’m willing to serve. I’m willing to try. I’m willing to work at it,” he said. “If they want me, they want me.”