I have served the City of Sand Springs as Mayor since May, 1997, and have served on the City Council since January, 1995.
On March 2 the Citizens of Sand Springs will have an opportunity to return me to the City Council for another three-year term.
RE-ELECT MAYOR TOM Q. FERGUSON
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| Dear Friends,
I have served the City of Sand Springs as Mayor since May, 1997, and have served on the City Council since January, 1995. On March 2 the Citizens of Sand Springs will have an opportunity to return me to the City Council for another three-year term. |
I am proud of my record as a City Councilor and as Mayor. I have always given careful consideration to the issues confronting our community, and have voted for what I believed to be in the best interest of the entire community.
I look forward to what the next millennium holds for us all. I am excited about having an opportunity to continue to work on projects of great importance to our community, whether it is:
You can follow the links below to the information. And then, make sure you follow your own link to the poll on March 3.
Sincerely,
Tom Q. Ferguson
Tom Q. Ferguson,
Mayor, City of Sand Springs
Councilor, Ward 4
Follow These Links to More Information on Mayor Tom Q. Ferguson
| Proven Leadership | Civic Involvement |
| Family Values | Professional Experience |
| Academic Excellence | Mayor Ferguson's Positions |
| About Sand Springs Government | E-Mail Mayor Ferguson |
Be sure to visit the City of Sand Springs Home page.
Mayor Ferguson has served on the City Council since January 1995. He has served as Mayor since May 1997.
As a City Councilor and Mayor, he has actively represented the Citizens of Sand Springs, serving in many positions, devoting hundreds of hours of time, and a working towards the best municipal government possible.
Following is a list of many of the positions Mayor Ferguson has served while on the Council:
?My philosophy about being
an elected official has a lot to do with asking questions and becoming
educated. I believe elected officials must work hard to gather needed
information, become educated on the issues before them, and use that information
to make a sound judgment. During my time serving the Citizens of
this Community, I have taken great efforts to make sound, informed decisions
and to provide the leadership needed and expected.?
Whether its picking up trash on CARE day in Sand Springs, coaching a soccer team, or volunteering time to serve others on Thanksgiving, Mayor Ferguson is committed to civic responsibility.
Mayor Ferguson is a graduate of the Leadership Sand Springs program. Since graduating from the program, he has been involved with the program as a speaker, sharing his experiences in leadership with new classes of leaders.
Mayor Ferguson is a former Jaycee, having served in several positions, including President of the Sand Springs Chapter and member of the Oklahoma Jaycees Board of Directors. As a Jaycee, Mayor Ferguson contributed to many projects in Sand Springs including Run, Punt and Pass competitions, the Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner, bicycle safety clinic, CAUSE for Life (benefiting the Sand Springs Welfare Association), and a program to recognize Outstanding Young Sandites. The Oklahoma Jaycees recognized him for his efforts by giving him an award for Outstanding Local President.
Mayor Ferguson is involved with the Sand Springs Soccer Club, coaching a six and under team.
Mayor Ferguson is active in his local church, the Prattville United Methodist Church. In addition to teaching a class on an on-going basis, he has served on the Administrative Board and Council on Ministries, Chaired the Committee on Finance, and been a member of the Pastor Parish Relations Committee, the Stewardship Committee, the Building and Grounds Committee, and the Visioning Committee.
Mayor Ferguson serves the Tulsa District of the United Methodist Church as a member of the District Committee on Finance.
Mayor Ferguson is a member of the Board of Directors of Restore Hope Ministries located in the West Tulsa area, and serving the entire Tulsa metropolitan area.
?I believe that every person has a responsibility to give to the community that they live in. Whether its serving in the local PTO, helping coach kids sports, or volunteering at the library, a community is improved with every minute of volunteer service. Many of Sand Springs' strengths are tied directly to the willingness of our citizens to volunteer their time and talents.?
Pictured is Mayor Ferguson and his family. From left to right are Willie (7), Mayor Ferguson, Daniel (5), his wife of 16 years, Mary Lynn, Julie (3), and Tommy (10).
Mayor Ferguson has consistently supported issues that strengthen the family. He believes in a strong parks and recreation system which provides opportunities for family activities. He also believes that serving our families takes more than parks and sports, and that other activities must be supported as well. He is a supporter of the Sand Springs Cultural and Historical Museum Trust Authority. The history of Sand Springs is unique part of what makes a Sandite a Sandite. Mayor Ferguson supports preserving that heritage for our families.
?The hardest part about serving on the City Council and being Mayor has been the time commitment. I believe serving the community is important. Because there are inevitable conflicts between public service, and family life, I find that I constantly review my contribution to the community as a public official. I need to make sure that what I?m doing is in fact important. If I am not making a positive contribution to the community with my service, then it simply is not worth it to miss time with my kids. One thing that keeps the value of public service foremost in my mind is the value of the time I miss with my family.?
Mayor Ferguson?s professional experience and expertise is a valuable asset to the City Council.
Mayor Ferguson is a Partner with the Tulsa firm of Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson, one of Oklahoma?s oldest firms. The firm employees approximately 85 attorneys and staff. His experience in managing a small business gives him important insight into money management for a city government.
Mayor Ferguson focuses his law practice on business and corporate litigation. He has developed professional expertise in a diverse number of areas, including oil and gas law, utility law, trade secrets and patent law, and computer software issues.
He is a member of the Tulsa County Bar Association, the Oklahoma Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He has been admitted to practice law before federal trial courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Oklahoma, the Northern District of Alabama, the Northern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, the Northern District of Florida, and the District of Wyoming. He is admitted to the bar of the Tenth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
?Although I?m a lawyer by education and profession, I don?t consider myself a lawyer when I serve on the City Council. I?m a citizen of Sand Springs looking out for the best interest of my community. One of the nice things about my professional training, though, is I am very familiar with the role of laws and ordinances and often face issues that I have knowledge of because of my profession. An example is being uniquely situated to lead our community as it faces the consequences of the soon-to-come deregulation of gas and electric services. When I can share my professional experience for the benefit of this community, I am pleased to do so. I feel that is a valuable contribution to our City government.?
Mayor Ferguson received a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laud, from Northeastern Oklahoma State University. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, receiving a Juris Doctorate with highest honors.
Mayor Ferguson began developing leadership skills in college and law school, serving in a variety of leadership roles during that time.
While at Northeastern, in addition to being involved in student government, Mayor Ferguson debated intercollegiately, representing the University in the National Debate Tournament. While pursuing a double major in communication and paralegal studies, he earned recognition in the Sigma Rho national honor society and on the President?s Honor Roll. He was President of the Valgene Littlefield Debate Forum, Vice-president of Lex Aequus Omnibus, and a member of the Model United Nations Delegation. He was named one the Ten Outstanding Seniors for his academic performance and campus involvement.
While at the University of Oklahoma, Mayor Ferguson received the West Hornbook award as the most outstanding law student in his first year class, received the Hardin-Ballard trophy as the most outstanding law student in his second year class, and in his third year was recognized by the Oklahoma Bar Association for being the most outstanding law student at the College of Law. He was the recipient of several academic scholarships and awards. In addition to maintaining a rigorous academic schedule, he represented the College of Law in national moot court competitions and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Oklahoma Law Review.
?The work ethic I learned from the rigors of college and law school, and adhere to in the practice of law, is the same work ethic that I bring to my position as Mayor and City Councilor. While there may be more than one way to do things, there are clearly right ways of doing things and wrong ways of doing things. Almost always, the right ways require more work and persistence. That is what I learned in my academic studies and is something that I insist on today. Things should be done right the first time. If they are, and if you spend the time to fully inform yourself, you make better decisions.?
There are a number of important qualities to the best candidate for a municipal office. Those qualities include diligence, a strong work ethic, fairness and compassion, knowledge of the position, and understanding of the issues. Mayor Ferguson possesses those qualities. His record on the Council, his stand on issues, and his vision for the future of this Community reflect that. Following are some of those past accomplishments and future visions.
Basic services. Mayor Ferguson believes that the first duty of the City is to assure adequate streets, water, and sewer for continued development of our Community. He is committed to capital improvement decisions being made by the public and its elected representatives--not by bureaucrats. That means that the public must have input on vital issues such as when and whether to use bond financing. Our elected officials must pave the way by requiring adequate capital planning be done for the community by the City administration. This allows the elected officials, and the residents of Sand Springs, to decide what are the issues with highest priority.
Public Safety. Mayor Ferguson strongly supports investment in police and fire to assure the safety of our citizens. A very large part of our municipal budget is for police and fire. Mayor Ferguson believes that is how it should be. A safe Sand Springs is worth the price.
Quality of Life. Mayor Ferguson understands that we must keep a high quality of life in Sand Springs by having adequate recreational and cultural opportunities for our citizens, young and old alike. Parks and museums are important. It is important to protect and preserve our rich heritage. Part of that includes making sure that our Community's development, as vital and inevitable as it may be, is quality development.
Economic Development. Mayor Ferguson recognizes that the Community must take positive actions to attract new high paying businesses to complement our existing business base. He has been a driving force to convert the former Hissom Center to a research and technology park. The park has been named the State Research and Technology Center at Sand Springs (the STAR Center). The STAR Center truly promises to be a shining star in Sand Springs' future. With last year's passage of state-wide questions allowing university researchers more freedom to transfer new technology into private enterprise, STAR Center promises to be an ideal location for incubator businesses formed to foster that new technology. But, to achieve that vision, the Community must have leaders committed to making it happen. Mayor Ferguson is committed to that vision, and the work it will take to accomplish it.
Gas and Electric Deregulation. The Oklahoma Legislature, Federal initiatives, and the market place have all combined to guarantee that the Citizens of Sand Springs will be facing the consequences of electric and gas retail deregulation in the very near future. Our gas and electric service will be delivered like our long distance phone service. Our City's franchise fees will be dramatically effected. Sand Springs will be well served to keep an elected representative like Mayor Ferguson who is familiar with regulation of the electric, gas, and telecommunications industries. His talent and knowledge will help lead the Community to the best position to weather the inevitable storms that accompany deregulation. Mayor Ferguson has demonstrated his ability to lead in this area by spearheading Sand Springs' adoption of the first wireless tower location ordinance in the metropolitan area to be adopted after the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996. As a result, our City has avoided the controversy experienced by many of our neighboring cities when trying to balance neighborhood rights with telecommunications needs.
Housing. Quality housing is a key to quality of life. Our business and industry leaders, our realtors, our Chamber of Commerce, and our economic development experts uniformly point to a need for available, quality housing to take advantage of our opportunity for growth. Lack of rental housing, lack of starter housing, and a serious need for rehabilitation of our existing housing stock exists. Mayor Ferguson has recognized this need and spearheaded the formation of the Sand Springs Housing Policy Committee which he chairs. This committee of 18 residents, carefully selected for their diverse backgrounds and views, will take a hard look at housing issues facing our Community, and will present to the City Council, after several months of studies, their conclusions and recommendations.
"I have worked hard to become informed about the issues affecting our community. It seems the more I learn, and the more I understand, the more issues there are too address. While I am proud of what I have accomplished in the past, I am even more excited about what I know can be accomplished for the City of Sand Springs in the future."
The City of Sand Springs was incorporated as a city in 1912, just five years after statehood. It has operated under a council-manager form of government since the charter was adopted in 1969. Under this form of government, the City Council is elected by the voters. The elected council members appoint a city manager who is responsible for the operation and management of the administrative facets of city government. The City Council is responsible for all policy making decisions, setting direction for the administration to follow.
Seven council members are elected by the voters in Sand Springs. One from each of six wards, and one at-large. Every voter is entitled to vote for the council member from each ward as well as the at-large council member. The City Council elects from its members a mayor and vice-mayor.
The Council meets formally twice a month to consider issues as diverse as funding City operations to zoning of land uses. Each member of the City Council also serves on various boards and committees that provide further direction and recommendation to the City Council for policy. All of the elected and appointed officials serving the City of Sand Springs do so on an uncompensated basis.
"After being elected Mayor, the most frequently asked question was whether I was going to continue to practice law. Having a mortgage to pay and children to feed, like most of the rest of the world, I had to chuckle at that. I have had an opportunity to see first hand the many hours that so many of our citizens put in volunteering their time and talents to this Community. It makes me proud to be a Sandite. Sand Springs is special because so many of our citizens refuse to let it be any other way."