Marlon Coleman assumed office as the City of Muskogee’s 50th mayor, in June of 2020 and the first African American to hold the office of mayor. Coleman has lived in Muskogee for the last ten years and served on the City Council since 2014.

Coleman was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. He pursued his education receiving his Doctorate of Theology from Andersonville Theological Seminary and also holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. Coleman worked for the United States Department of Agriculture and the Veterans Health Administration in administrative and financial management for 22 years.

Coleman took an early retirement to spend more time working in the community. During this time, he has been an active participant in Muskogee serving on numerous boards and committees in addition to his service on the City Council. Marlon is also the Pastor of Muskogee’s Temple of Hope Church.

Shirley Hilton-Flanary was born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and attended Muskogee Public Schools and graduated in 1969.  She attended the University of Oklahoma, where she pledged Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, and Northeastern State University.  After college, she lived on the East and West Coast of the United States as a military wife.  Then returned to her roots here in Muskogee and started her 49-year career here as a banker.

At the beginning of her career in the 1970s, Shirley worked in the mortgage lending division of Victory Savings and Loan and is now presently working at American Bank of Oklahoma as Sr. Vice President over Mortgage Lending.  “I am so proud to say that I have been voted by the citizens of Muskogee via the Muskogee Phoenix contest as “Best Loan Officer” and “Best Banker”.  Shirley’s team at the bank has also won “Best Mortgage Company” by this same contest.

Community service has been important to Shirley for a very long time.  She has served on the following organizations: Civil Service Commission for the past 20 years for the firefighters of Local 57;  Exchange Club for 25 years; Rotary Club, Board of Directors; Real Estate Professionals, as Treasurer for many terms; Muskogee Chamber of Commerce, where she was named “Distinguished Woman” in 2016; past president of ABWA, named “Woman of the Year”.  Shirley has also volunteered for the Gospel Rescue Mission and “Bell Ringer” for the Salvation Army.

Shirley has 6 children (2 biological), 13 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.  She has attended for over 50 years and is an active member of the First Baptist Church in Muskogee where she sings in the choir, and has previously served on the church Financial Committee.

I believe that it is most important to assist the business community that we have now to expand and prosper. We also need to encourage developers to continue to build additional affordable housing here in Muskogee. Work on our infrastructure is also crititcal. The city has worked hard to clean up our neighborhoods and business community. This work needs to be a priority if we are to attract businesses and families to settle in Muskogee.

What part of the budget would you like to increase? If you do increase, what is your source of funding?

Before I would want to try to increase the budget, I would like to examine the present budget and see if our priorities need to be changed in any way so that more benefits could be made in Muskogee without costing our tax payers more money. I feel that my experience as a banker could be a help in this area. Any budget increases must be thoroughly examined and justified before we ask for more money from our community.

What are your capital improvement project funding priorities and how should they be paid for?

Two years ago, the city voted for and passed a large capital improvement plan. This has helped improve our streets throughout the community. Any plan that improves the infrastructure in Muskogee is a priority of mine. As a City Councilor, I would look into any grants that might be available to us so that improvements could be made at a lower cost to our tax payers.

“I am a true Okie from Muskogee”. Jamie Stout was born and has always lived here in Muskogee. Jamie attended Hilldale and Oktaha schools. Jamie then went to Connors State College receiving my Associates of Science degree in 1999, then moving on to Northeastern State University and graduated with her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration in Management Information Systems in May of 2002.

Jamie has worked for ORS Nasco for 16 years and is currently employed as our IT Support Analyst.

Jamie loves giving back to our community and has worked with Relay for Life, Habitat for Humanity, A Soldier’s Child, (ORS C.A.S.T.) Community Action Service Team, Junior Achievement, WISH, Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Jamie also serves on the Tourism and Facilities Boards within the City of Muskogee.

Jamie has just completed her first term as your Ward 2 City Councilor, “Serving on the council has been a learning experience of how all the moving parts within the City works and operates. It also has been rewarding and challenging at the same time with the different situations/issues/policies that we are presented with, I have tried to do what is right to represent all the citizens of our community.”

What role should the office you seek have in retaining or attracting businesses and/or people to the area?

We should be very involved in seeking opportunities and working with Economic Development professionals to grow and obtain new business to the City of Muskogee.

What part of the budget would you like to increase? If you do increase, what is your source of funding?

Every area of the budget could do more with increases and additional funding. Our streets and infrastructure funding would be one priority. We could seek grant opportunities and public/private partnerships would be a way to help increase funding. Along with economic growth and Tourism would equal a larger sales tax base for additional funding as well.

What are your capital improvement project funding priorities and how should they be paid for?

Our last CIP that the citizens of Muskogee passed is currently in the works of being done throughout our community from streets, facility improvements, improvements to our parks are just a few. We has council just put a plan into place to help speed up the process for our street improvements that is starting now in the northwest area and will go counter clockwise around the city to get our streets where they need to be.

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What role should the office you seek have in retaining or attracting businesses and/or people to the area?

As a city councilor, my role in attracting business for our city is to work with & hold accountable the key entities in our city that direct our economic development. These include The Muskogee Redevelopment Authority for downtown & retail projects, the Muskogee Community Foundation as a revenue source for economic incentives, & the Muskogee Tourism Authority to drive tourism. As part of my vision, I will also require regular reporting from our City Manager on how infrastructure related City departments are supporting economic development & tourism.

What part of the budget would you like to increase? If you do increase, what is your source of funding?

I believe that as part of a unified economic development strategic plan, we should pool all of our multiple budget Line items related to economic development & identity opportunities for savings where there is duplication of overhead expenses and then reallocate those funds according to the priorities set forth in the unified strategic plan. Therefore I believe if we use the funds already allocated for economic development in a less fragmented and prioritized manner we do not need to increase the overall amount, but instead reallocate the existing funds for a better return on our investments.

What are your capital improvement project funding priorities and how should they be paid for?

Because of my day job is working on roads for Muskogee County, I know 1st hand how poor of shape many of our city roads are in. However unlike the bandaid approach we are taking to fix our city roads. We need to fix the root of the problem, including damage underlying infrastructure that’s causing most of our problems. We are doing to many patch jobs causing us to spend more money. Because we are  not getting it right the first time around. So 1 of my priorities is to fix the streets properly & more permanently.  Also I would like to bring to the table Phase 2, of the MLK CENTER, in 5 years we have already outgrown it. It’s time to add on to it. So it can properly serve the community. I will be asking to fund these projects in our next C.I.P. which will come to the table under my term.

Dr. Tracy Hoos is a Muskogee native who has been practicing as a pediatrician for the last 12 years.  He and his wife, Kristi, have been very active in the community and the public school system since returning to Muskogee.  Over the last year he has had the honor of serving as City Councilor for Muskogee’s Ward IV after being appointed by Mayor Marlon Coleman to finish his term.

In his short time with the council, Dr. Hoos has been able to help provide direction during the COVID pandemic and has been instrumental in the recruitment for the expansion of Traferra, a technology company bringing up to 75 well paying jobs to Muskogee.  His background and knowledge helps bring a different outlook and approach to meeting the needs of Muskogee.

When he is not at the clinic, he, his wife, and two sons, Trey and Cadyn, enjoy camping and entering barbecue competitions with their four dogs.

Q & A:

What role should the office you seek have in retaining or attracting businesses and/or people to the area?

Every councilor should be active in any attempt to attract businesses and people to Muskogee.  Sometimes it will be more hands on. For instance, Traferra was not going to come here, so I picked up the phone and asked them how could we make it happen.  That opened the door and now they have brought jobs to Muskogee.  Other times it will be making the correct decisions regarding policies, ordinances, tax incentives, and meeting their infrastructure needs.    We currently have greater than 30,000 people who commute to Muskogee, but do not live here.  As the council, we need to address this now.  This is revenue for our city, schools, and county that we are losing out on because we do not have enough housing or entertainment in the city.  We need to make sure that we guide our economic development to specifically address these needs.  We need to make sure we have reasonable tax incentives to attract businesses and restaurants.  We need to consider tax increment financing for developments, but we have to be smart about it and not leave it open to be abused without any accountability.  If we give you a tax break, you are not going to leave when the tax break is up.  We need to make sure we have the correct infrastructure to have site ready areas for companies when they are ready to locate here.  We also need to make sure businesses know we have a great labor pool here, not just for manufacturing jobs but for the technology and transportation industry as well.  Every councilor should be passionate about our city and should be well versed enough to jump in when needed.

What part of the budget would you like to increase? If you do increase, what is your source of funding?

We need to increase the budget for economic development.  We need to make sure we have plenty of resources to be competitive with other communities when we are courting businesses or developers.  At this time during the pandemic, we would need to look at the existing budget and find ways to reprioritize the funds to meet these needs.  However, we have to keep in mind we just had a major flood we are still recovering from, a major ice storm we are still recovering from, and the pandemic we are still battling.  We will eventually get FEMA money, but when we reprioritize funding we can not leave another area of the city vulnerable.  I am proud of our city not having to furlough or lay off any workers during these crises.  We have to ensure if something else happens, we are ready for it also.

What are your capital improvement project funding priorities and how should they be paid for?

We must continue to fix our city water and sewer lines.  We have CARES act money that we can use specifically to cover a big part of this cost.  We need to also take advantage of Federal and State grants that may match these funds for this area.  We have to keep working on our streets.  Ward 4 is going to have a lot of street work done this year. The city was very smart to borrow the money so we can start work now and repay as tax money comes in that the citizens already approved.  Each Ward will get the same over the next few years.

Mark is a native of Muskogee and entered the Marine Corps in 1976 when he graduated from
Northeastern State College with a degree in journalism education and a history minor. He retired
from the Corps in 1996 as a lieutenant colonel after serving in various positions in the United
States in addition to Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Somalia during their civil war, and Panamaduring the Noriega regime. He obtained his masters in communication from Northeastern State University and was hired as the public information officer at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant where he served until 2012. He then worked at the Muskogee Phoenix for three years and then permanently retired.

What role should the office you seek have in retaining or attracting businesses and/or people to the area?

As a city council representative I believe it would be my role to ensure that any and all committees, boards, etc., which are responsible for bringing or retaining businesses in Muskogee be fully funded. There must be a strategic plan laid out by each committee, etc. that lays out their plans and identifies the source of funding. And this strategic plan must be approved by the City Council and not be changed everytime there’s a new committee chair.

What part of the budget would you like to increase? If you do increase, what is your source of funding?

I would especially like to see the Muskogee Redevelopment Agency fully funded. Currently, we’ve hired an expert from Tulsa who is ready to immediately implement new and powerful economic incentives that could easily bring in new business but more importantly grow our current businesses. However, when he was hired, there wasn’t enough funding to even provide him money to hire a staff. If we’re serious about economic development, then we’ll once again need to use City of Muskogee Foundation resources to provide these urgent funds.

What are your capital improvement project funding priorities and how should they be paid for?

My capital improvement project would be to replace our 100-year old water and swerve pipelines, which would be paid for from funding provided by the City of Muskogee Foundation.

Stanley Perkins is a  lifelong resident of  Muskogee. Retired Asst. Fire Chief from the City of Muskogee with 36 years of
experience. Stanley and his wife, Juanda Perkins, of 31 years, have two children, 6 grandchildren. Stanley is a MHS
graduate Class of 77, and also holds BS degree from the University Of Central Oklahoma. Stanley is a member of Rayfield Baptist Church.He has volunteered as a coach and administrator with the Paul Young Football League for over 25 years. Served as a mentor at Muskogee Public Schools, actively working with the City of Muskogee Foundation on The Health and Wellness Committee.  In his pastime, he enjoys spending time with my family, gardening, listening to music, and photography.

What role should the office you seek have in retaining or attracting businesses and/or people to the area?

If elected, I would support the City Counsel’s pending proposals. To make this town more attractive for businesses, we have to keep moving forward on cleaning up the town’s main throughways that lead into our city. We need to fix the roads and lower the crime rate

What part of the budget would you like to increase? If you do increase, what is your source of funding?

I’m not sure we would need to increase the budget at all. If elected, I would take steps in sitting down with the Mayor and council and analyze funding levels for all departments.

What are your capital improvement project funding priorities and how should they be paid for?

We need to fix our drainage and water lines in all quadrants of the city. The monies can be paid by renewing the capital improvement tax. In addition, we also have monies accessible from the City of Muskogee Foundation.