

The Vista, the student newspaper at the University of Central Oklahoma, fact-checked statements made by candidates David Hornbeek, Mark Nash, Tom Robins and Leonard Scott during the Jan. 22 Edmond mayoral debate hosted by NonDoc and News 9.
Public records, previous interviews and news reporting were used to determine the accuracy of candidates’ claims, which are judged below on a scale of true, mostly true, mixed, mostly false and false.
Claim: The City of Edmond could lose up to half of its currently allocated General Fund if a sales tax is not renewed.
David Hornbeek said: “We have a sales tax that’s coming up for review in 2027, and that one-cent sales tax represents one half of our allocated General Fund. It also represents about 30 percent of the money that goes towards employing staff and our first responders.”
Fact-Check: True
Two taxes are currently scheduled to sunset in 2027, including a half-cent Capital Improvement Project tax from 2017 and, as referenced by Hornbeek, a one-cent sales tax dedicated to the city’s General Revenue Fund. Sales tax revenue alone accounts for $51.33 million of the city’s estimated FY 2024-2025 General Fund revenue, which equates to roughly 62 percent. General Fund revenue is typically used to pay city employees not funded through other means, including the Edmond Police Department and Edmond Fire Department, which each receive more than 30 percent of General Fund revenues.
After the failure of the proposed general obligation bond package that sought to introduce property taxes to supplement city revenue, some city leaders at Edmond’s November strategic planning session noted a dip in sales tax could lead to a tight budget year and larger issues if the current one-cent sales tax is not renewed in 2027.
“If we were to lose 1 percent of our sales and use (taxes), we would lose approximately $28 million a year,” Kathy Panas, Edmond’s finance director, said at the November strategic planning session.
Claim: The City of Edmond has made requirements for recall “impossible.”
Leonard Scott said: “They made the requirements for a recall impossible for us to do, so therefore we cannot hold any elected officials accountable.”
Fact-Check: False / Hyperbolic
While it is technically not impossible to recall an elected official in Edmond, the requirements outlined in Article XI of city ordinances are steep.
The holder of any office, either by election or appointment, can be removed after they have been in office for six months. The removal process begins with an affidavit which “shall be made by a person or persons representing at least 10 percent of the voters registered in the city as shown by the return of the last general city election of the officer sought to be recalled.” Then, within 30 days, signatures must be collected from 35 percent of voters as registered at the prior general election. (Edmond elects all of its councilmembers via citywide vote instead of by ward, so the same threshold applies to each office.) If those two requirements are met, then a recall election is posed to voters citywide.
The 10 percent initial affidavit followed by the 35 percent petition requirement that Edmond adopted in the 1990s is not significantly out of line with other major municipalities, but it is higher than several smaller, nearby cities. Oklahoma City also requires 35 percent of eligible voters to initiate a recall, but no initial affidavit is needed. In Tulsa, preliminary petitions are required, but in Norman they are not. Recall elections in both of those cities ultimately require a petition featuring signatures from 25 percent of voters who cast ballots in the previous election. Cities like Nichols Hills, Warr Acres, Del City and Bixby accept a lower 20 percent of eligible voters who cast votes in the most recent general election.
Claim: Massage parlors around Edmond are being used for trafficking.
Tom Robins said: “We’re looking at the massage parlors that are out there. When that was brought to my attention, not only did I shut the one down that was operating in my district right across from the school, but I worked to put together a framework and a plan that I’ll implement as mayor that will change the law in Oklahoma to allow us to be able to inspect those, to be able to have safety and to be able to take care of the women that are trafficked there.”
Fact-Check: Mostly true
While there have not been any recent convictions in Oklahoma County for human trafficking tied to Edmond massage parlors, there have been at least eight prostitution sting operations conducted at Edmond massage parlors dating from Jan. 1, 2018, to last Dec. 31, 2024. In these cases, undercover Edmond police officers found that massage parlor workers offered sex acts in exchange for money.
“Our detectives have worked with [the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs], who has a specialized group that focuses on human trafficking and the broader organizations,” EPD public information officer Emily Ward said. “But on the municipal level, we have treated each arrest as a separate offense.”
Prostitution charges do not necessarily point to broader human trafficking operations, but EPD reports that indicated workers may have been living in some of the massage parlors could hint at human trafficking. Many “erotic” massage parlors are linked to larger sex trafficking operations that make upwards of $3 billion a year.
“That’s usually a big red flag,” said OBNDD spokesman Mark Woodward. “When we’ve worked investigations or we get tipped off that there’s workers having to live on site or out back, especially multiple ones in not the best conditions, that’s absolutely something we put in our training on human trafficking.”
Claim: Candidates expressed confusion around what the proposed commuter rail line from Edmond to Oklahoma City to Norman would mean for Edmond residents, with varying degrees of responses.
David Hornbeek said: “I think this is one of the classic ploys by large cities to get government funds to come in and provide 90 percent of the money so that 10 percent of it’s provided by the local people.”
Fact-Check: Mixed
The Regional Transportation Authority of Oklahoma’s proposed commuter rail system between Edmond, Oklahoma City and Norman is limited under state law so that member cities can only levy a sales tax of no more than 2 percent. No other tax revenue sources from member cities can be used to fund the project, which would largely be backed by federal grants, according to a NonDoc article from May 2023.
Underscoring the federal funding component, the RTA announced Tuesday a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to evaluate 52 at-grade crossings on the rail line between Norman and Edmond.
Claim: The City of Edmond has $1 billion of debt obligations.
Leonard Scott said: “We’re a billion, guys, with a ‘B,’ a billion dollars in debt in Edmond, Oklahoma.”
Fact-Check: True
Governments routinely take out bonds as loans to fund projects, and they repay those loans over time with recurring revenues. The City of Edmond’s debt schedules for this fiscal year, published in the FY 2024-2025 budget and financial plan, include a summary of current outstanding bonds and other debt the city is in the process of repaying.
When the total of projected principal and interest repayments for all individually listed bonds are added together, it equates to roughly $990 million. A majority of the projects listed are being paid for through the city’s restricted sales tax.
Claim: A proposed apartment building along the Interstate 35 Frontage Road and East Memorial Road would include a parking garage and only be on 1.4 acres of land.
Nash said: “They want a 10-story apartment building, four-level parking garage on 1.4 acres. Let’s get serious.”
Fact-Check: True (at the time)
There has been a proposal to construct a 10-story apartment building with a four-story parking garage off of I-35 in Edmond, which rests on a roughly 1.5 acre parcel between the I-35 Frontage Road and East Memorial Road. Documents posted by the Edmond Planning Commission prior to its Jan. 7 meeting show site plans for the project, which did include a four-level parking garage adjacent to the 10-floor apartment building. The bottom floor of the proposed apartment building would also have room for “amenity space.”
While it was originally set to be an agenda item at the Edmond Planning Commission’s Jan. 7 meeting, it was continued to the body’s Feb. 4 meeting instead. However, amid opposition to the project, the developer’s attorney apparently notified city staff that the proposal is being withdrawn.
