Edmond mayor candidates
From left: Candidates David Hornbeek, Mark Nash, Tom Robins and Leonard Scott answered questions during the Edmond Mayoral Matchup hosted by NonDoc and News 9 at the University of Central Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Arriana Charqueño / The Vista)

All four Edmond mayor candidates took the stage before throngs of voters Wednesday evening at the University of Central Oklahoma, debating their various visions for housing plans, budget fixes and long-term development.

Architect David Hornbeek described his ideal future featuring “responsible” growth that Edmond leaders should carefully manage. Fiscal professional Mark Nash hammered financial transparency and the city’s uncertain monetary future as his top issue. Former Ward 1 Councilman Tom Robins emphasized his record of public service and pledged accountability to potential constituents.

Edmond Mayoral Matchup

The Jan. 22 candidate debate was produced in partnership between NonDoc, News 9 and UCentral Media.

Click to watch

And, as he often has at Edmond City Council meetings over the years, U.S. Army veteran Leonard Scott decried current city leaders as a “regime” he believes has taken his rights, such as limiting his use of a clock during public comment periods at meetings. Asked his response to critics who think he should soften his crusade against hazy “woke, DEI stuff” in local government and focus on being a positive community influence, Scott issued an emphatic response: “Hell no”

By the time Wednesday’s campaigning, explaining and — at some points — verbal sparring had ended, Scott had thrown his three opponents for a loop by appearing to endorse one of them during his closing statement. A self-described “placeholder” candidate, Scott announced a late unofficial withdrawal from the 2025 Edmond mayoral election, although his name will remain on ballots that have already been printed. Instead, he endorsed Hornbeek, who seemed perplexed and perhaps unsure whether Scott’s parting platitudes would help or hurt his campaign.

Nash: ‘True fiscal problem’ looms without new revenue

Mark Nash
Candidate Mark Nash speaks to an opponent during the Edmond Mayoral Matchup hosted by NonDoc and News 9 at the University of Central Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Arriana Charqueño / The Vista)

Candidates began the debate (embedded below) highlighting concerns about Edmond’s fiscal future as one of the race’s biggest issues. With the failure of November’s proposed GO bond package that sought to fund road, park and public safety projects by introducing a 14 percent municipal property tax in Edmond, the city continues to rely almost exclusively on sales tax revenue for funding its services and projects.

Hornbeek was the first candidate to highlight the potential pitfalls Edmond could face if a one-cent sales tax — scheduled to sunset in 2027 — is not renewed by city voters.

“That one-cent sales tax represents one half of our allocated General Fund. It also represents about 30 percent of the money that goes toward employing staff and our first responders,” Hornbeek said. “I don’t like taxes any more than anybody else. It’s a question of stabilizing our income. So, one of the first things I’m going to do is bring that to attention and try to educate the public on how important that is.”

Nash reiterated the need for city government to work within its budget until new sources of revenue have been implemented.

“We have a $453 million budget, but we’re only estimating $349 million in revenue this year, which means we are actually filling the gap, balancing the budget with $104 million of reserves,” Nash said. “Think about that. How long will our reserves last until we do have a true fiscal problem?”

Regardless of which candidate becomes Edmond’s new mayor in May, none supports the city revisiting property taxes as a potential revenue generator in the near future. Scott said he is fully opposed to introducing property taxes to fund city projects, but Nash took a more measured stance.

“If it was smaller, I probably would have been for it,” said Nash, who previously spoke in opposition to the proposal. “But this is too big, too fast, and the reality of it was, we’re going to go out and build $231 million of infrastructure, and we’re still not going to have the identified revenue to maintain it long term.”

Earlier in the night, about 17 minutes into the debate, Nash interrupted Robins to jab him for his support of the GO bond package. At the time, Robins was answering a question about the Regional Transportation Authority‘s looming proposal for Edmond, Oklahoma City and Norman to hold simultaneous votes on sales tax increases for establishing a commuter rail line and broader transit services.

“I’ve met with (OKC Mayor) Dave Holt, I’ve met with Gov. (Brad) Henry, who chairs that,” Robins said. “I said that I wanted to get an up-or-down vote of the people to see if they wanted to fund our streets, our public safety, our recreation with a (general obligation) bond. They said ‘No,’ I said I would respect that.”

Nash responded and triggered the night’s most fiery exchange.

“That’s not even true, Tom. You pushed the GO bond. You pushed it,” Nash said. “You said, ‘Let’s vote for it,’ not, ‘Let’s vote.’ You said, ‘You need to pass this.'”

Robins agreed: “Yeah, absolutely.”

Nash told Robins to “say it correctly, that you were for it.”

“I don’t need a principal,” Robins responded. “I can talk for myself. (…) I think you had that one in the barrel ready to fire, which by the way, is not how I’m going to do government, neighbors.”

To the likely chagrin of those supporting the commuter rail idea — aimed at creating an alternative to Interstate 35 for those traveling in the metro for work, school and entertainment activities — no candidate expressed support for an Edmond sales tax to fund the project. Robins said the GO bond’s rejection means Edmond only has sales tax dollars to fund core services. Hornbeek said current mass transit projects don’t seem very successful, and Scott said the city shouldn’t talking about “trains” when it already faces fiscal issues. Only Nash left the door open to supporting the RTA proposal, insisting he simply doesn’t know enough about the topic to have a position.

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Robins: Edmond lacks ‘attainable housing’ for different residents

Tom Robins
Candidate Tom Robins answers a question during the Edmond Mayoral Matchup hosted by NonDoc and News 9 at the University of Central Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Arriana Charqueño / The Vista)

While not unique to Edmond, rising costs of living have created an environment where many employees in fields like nursing, education and law enforcement cannot afford to live within the cities they serve. At a recent Edmond Planning Commission meeting, residents rallied in opposition to a proposed 10-story apartment building along the I-35 Frontage Road and Memorial Road.

During the debate, Robins acknowledged Edmond’s need for a diverse housing inventory.

“Ward 1 in Edmond has every type of housing. It has fabricated homes, mobile homes, townhomes, student homes. It has senior assisted living. It has multi-million dollar micro homes,” Robins said. “We absolutely need different types of attainable housing for people at all different points of their lives. What I believe needs to happen, though, is that citizens feel like the government’s a little bit out of step, that things are happening to them instead of for and with them.”

Before leaning fully into the development of new housing, though, Robins said the city should address its traffic infrastructure issues with a robust transit plan. He said part of his opposition to the proposed I-35 apartments involves the fact developers had not arranged a stakeholder meeting with nearby residents.

“As the mayor of Edmond, there will not be a development of such that would ever happen without first starting with a dialogue with the community,” Robins said.

Like Robins, Nash emphasized the need for city infrastructure to expand before accelerating residential development.

“We’ve got to find a plan that says we can support our growth, and it’s going to be difficult, and the reality of it is, housing prices are not going to go down in Edmond until supply is higher than demand,” Nash said. “Apartment rentals are not going to go down for the same reason.”

Hornbeek espoused his support for affordable housing development beyond apartment complexes. A prominent architect, Hornbeek said the basic finances of building show that single-family home development cannot cure a community’s housing market maladies.

“If a lot is $100,000, then the formula these builders use is that they’re going to multiply that times four, and they’re going to have to build a structure at least that much to pay for the land (…) You put a house on a $100,000 lot, you’ve built a $500,000 house,” Hornbeek said. “That’s not affordable. We’re going to have to figure out a way to educate the public that townhomes are not bad. If you don’t want apartments, let’s at least look at doing townhomes.”

The debate took place on the eve of Edmond’s point-in-time homelessness count and after the filing of bill looking to limit which cities can provide assistance to their homeless populations. Asked about the topics, the candidates to discussed whether Edmond needs its own shelter for the unhoused.

Robins said that while Edmond has multiple local groups that can provide assistance to unhoused people, he does not believe the homeless population in Edmond is large enough to warrant an overnight shelter in the city. Hornbeek said that, as mayor, he would attempt to create a shelter in collaboration with other county municipalities that would sit outside of any one city’s boundaries.

Nash indicated he would be open to Edmond having an overnight shelter for the unhoused, whether it was operated entirely by charitable organizations or whether it received some city support.

“We need something. I can tell you for a fact that we have well over 50 people every single morning visit Breakfast on Boulevard,” Nash said. “One of the issues that I know that we’re going to hear from the opponents to that is, ‘Well, then you’re just inviting the homeless into Edmond.’ We already have them, folks.”

Candidates push I-35 as key retail area

David Hornbeek
David Hornbeek answers a question during the Edmond Mayoral Matchup hosted by NonDoc and News 9 at the University of Central Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Arriana Charqueño / The Vista)

Some opponents of the 10-story apartment project proposed near I-35 argue the area would be more effectively used as a location for retail development, a prospect candidates largely agreed with.

“I think that a planned development along I-35 is much more important than housing,” Hornbeek said. “Classic planning would have the commercial and the retail along the interstate and along the Covell Parkway. And then beyond that would be mixed-use housing, whether that be apartments or townhomes. Beyond that, you would put parks and greenbelts.”

Nash agreed, adding that the I-35 corridor is a crucial area for Edmond to position businesses to stop sales tax leakage into Oklahoma City.

“There is no reason why we couldn’t do the village concept with retail on the ground floor and have apartments above them,” Nash said. “We’ve got to generate some type of revenue system that’s going to invite people who drive through our city to stop and spend their money with us.”

All candidates oppose ‘freeholder’ requirement

Leonard Scott
Candidate Leonard Scott makes a point during the Edmond Mayoral Matchup hosted by NonDoc and News 9 at the University of Central Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Arriana Charqueño / The Vista)

Early in the debate, Robins acknowledged that outgoing Mayor Darrell Davis, the first Black person to hold the office, would not have even been eligible to be mayor in Edmond’s early history. While much has changed over 100 years, Edmond remains one of the few Oklahoma cities that requires municipal candidates be property owners. Paired with racially discriminatory land covenants the city is now removing from local plats, some speculate the “freeholder” charter provision was used to help prevent non-whites from holding office.

Asked about the charter’s land ownership requirement for public office, Hornbeek was the first to say he supported changing the charter, followed by Nash.

“We’ve got people who have been renting in this city for 20 years,” Nash said. “I think they know as much about what’s going on in Edmond as homeowners do.”

Scott, reading from his personal pocket U.S. Constitution, affirmed his own support for changing the charter.

“It’s taken care of right here in the Fifteenth Amendment, brother,” Scott said.

Robins, who indirectly brought the issue to light when he vacated his Ward 1 seat, reiterated what he had previously told NonDoc.

“I think you’d asked me that and my answer was this: Yes,” Robins said.

The Edmond mayoral race’s non-partisan primary is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 11. Even if one candidate earns more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two choices are set to advance to the general election Tuesday, April 1.

Watch the Edmond mayor candidates debate

  • Blake Douglas

    Blake Douglas is a staff reporter who leads NonDoc's Edmond Civic Reporting Project. Blake graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2022 and completed an internship with NonDoc in 2019. A Tulsa native, Blake previously reported in Tulsa; Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; and Charlotte, North Carolina.

  • Blake Douglas

    Blake Douglas is a staff reporter who leads NonDoc's Edmond Civic Reporting Project. Blake graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2022 and completed an internship with NonDoc in 2019. A Tulsa native, Blake previously reported in Tulsa; Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; and Charlotte, North Carolina.