Jerry Hefner Says He's Retiring

By D. E. Smoot/Muskogee Phoenix ~ Wagoner County Commissioner Jerry Hefner, District 2, announced on Tuesday his decision to retire from public service.

Hefner, who has been implicated in an alleged kickback scandal involving former state Sen. Gene Stipe and his business partner Steven Phipps, said he is proud of his accomplishments during the past 20 years as state representative and county commissioner.

“In my public service to Wagoner County I’m proud of all my accomplishments,” Hefner said in a written statement that noted the completion of the Oklahoma 51 widening project, Wagoner Airport improvements, and additional support for veterans, senior citizens and rural fire departments. “During my service as county commissioner, I am particularly proud of meeting the challenges during the extraordinary rain and ice storms of the last two and a half years and seeing the Wagoner County Courthouse completed.”

A section of Oklahoma 51 in Wagoner has been named in Hefner’s honor and the airport has been named the Hefner-Easley Airport in honor of Hefner and former state Sen. Kevin Easley.

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Reynolds: Kill Easley's Term Limits Repealer

State Sen. Mary Easley's legislation to repeal Oklahoma's term-limit law should be shot down as soon as possible, Rep. Mike Reynolds said today.

"If Senator Easley is going to run a constitutional amendment, it should probably lift the requirement that senators live in their district since she apparently doesn't live in hers," Reynolds said.

"Frankly, Senator Easley shouldn't have been eligible to run for her seat in 2006 and she will likely have to resign midterm because her 12 years will be up in 2008."

Reynolds noted that Easley first won her Senate seat when her son, Kevin, resigned from the Senate to become head of the Grand River Dam Authority. Before he resigned, Kevin Easley drafted legislation to get rid of the old GRDA board members and reappoint a new board that proved willing to appoint him to the position in possible violation of a Constitutional prohibition on lawmakers working for the state within two years of leaving office.

Reynolds predicted Easley's term-limits bill will "never see the light of day" in the 2008 Legislature "nor should it."

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