CYNDI MUNSON FOR GOV

0:00Good morning, good morning, good morning and welcome, welcome, welcome in his time now for our community connection right here on K1 the one you trust. And of course we've been having all kinds of gubernatorial candidates the whole year. And we finally caught up with Cindy Munson, who's really had her running shoes on. You've been running all over what? Oh, sage county and no one county the last couple of days. Welcome to Washington. Thank you so much. Actually, just in one day I was in Pahasca, hominy, cushing and no water all yesterday. Oh boy. I know very busy and then today this morning I'll be in I'm of course here in Bartlesville. I'll be at the Friday forum later this morning. I have a meet and greet also around 845 and then I'll be hitting the road to Colgate, Oklahoma and then down to Durant for the Chokta. Nation Labor Day and National Festival. So busy time, busy, busy, busy. Tell us a little bit about yourself, Cindy.

1:00I know you're from Oklahoma City by color small. Yes, yes. My district is in Oklahoma City. I'm originally from Southwest Oklahoma was raised in Lawton. My dad served 22 years in the Army. He's a Vietnam veteran. So the military is what brought my family to Oklahoma. My mother's from Seoul, South Korea. Dad's from Cincinnati. So I'm the first Asian American woman ever elected to the legislature. I'm in the state house been there for 11 years and the Democratic leader and the first to ever run for governor. So Democratic nominee to run for governor and of course we're you know less than 60 days. Now I think to the election. So the race is on. Been very busy. But but I love it. I love traveling across the state and I've been meeting with thousands of local homers and just very excited about what's to come and moving our state forward. Gabe in all 77 counties. What are they telling you? What's the best? What's the big topic? Yeah, the big two topics are public education and health care. So getting out of 50th in the nation. It's just it's unacceptable.

2:01And you know in Oklahoma we value deeply our public schools and protecting our public schools. And then of course in this region, the impact of health care with the no water hospital. But just real concern about the changes of funding at the federal level with Medicaid and what the state's going to be able to handle. And keeping our rural hospital doors open. Very good. Now how are we going to boost? Are we going to get out of the cellar? How are we going to stare step our way up at least two in the 20s? Yeah. Oh, and you know when I graduate high school in 2004, we were 17th in the nation for quality of public education. We had a more balanced government. Had a Democratic governor. I love reminding people of that because it highlights why we need balance and we need both parties working together. And so I think there's a pathway for Democrats and Republicans to work together to pull back, put money into private schools. I think public dollars have got to stay in our public education system. Siphoning those dollars away only hurts us. And what I hear over and over again as I've traveled the state is, you know outside of teacher pay and support staff pay.

3:02We've got to address special education and mental health and behavioral issues in the classroom. And so, you know, I think that there's a way for us to dig deeper into our budget for public schools and get that funding to our schools and our families that need it. I'm sure you have listeners right now that, you know, as a parent who has a child with special needs who needs more services at their public school. And the thing about public schools versus private schools is that public schools takes every child. Private schools can turn away students who do not. If they don't have the services, if they, you know, can't provide them, but public schools can't do that. So we've got to, we've got to respond to those needs in our public education system. And I think that's part of why we are where we're at being 50th in the nation. We're talking with Cindy Monson, she's a Democrat running for governor of Oklahoma. Now you're in Osage County yesterday. You're talking about tribal release. That's right. Tell us a little bit about it. Yeah, you know, right now what we're dealing with with our governor being so adversarial to our tribes, you know, we have, I think missed out on, I mean, we have not that I think I know we have missed out on eight years of opportunities for us to partner and work together to move our state forward.

4:14And then, you know, I'm going and meeting with all our tribal leaders. I met with Chief Tillman yesterday morning. And throughout my campaign, I've been meeting with tribal leaders, the larger tribes, the smaller tribes, I mean with tribal members, been honored to speak at various pow-ows, most recently, Panca tribe pow-ow and meeting with tribal members. And what I hear, you know, they just want to work together, heal that relationship. I obviously acknowledge and recognize the economic impact that the tribes have on our state and regions, especially in rural Oklahoma. But there's so much more to do, especially with interagency and intergovernmental work to protect tribal sovereignty. And make sure that their voices are heard. And so looking forward to healing that relationship with our tribes. You've been around all 77 counties. There's a whole lot of Oklahoma between towns. Yes. And that means there's a lot of rural Oklahoma. I know you represent Oklahoma City, that nice big area there. But getting out and about and speaking to rural local homies, what can you tell them that,

5:20or what are they telling you that they need from the governor's home? You know, outside of education, health care is basic things like first responders, having an ambulance. I was in Hall of Socle of Oklahoma a couple weeks ago, which is in Southwest Oklahoma. You know, they have the highest sales tax rate in the state, nearly the highest, 11.25%. They lost their one stop light, they let me know. You know, they don't have a hospital in their town. They're trying to protect their schools. They're trying to bring more retail and other economic opportunities to their town. And that's just one town. You know, I hear this everywhere I go. I heard it in Nowada last night. And what I want to do as governor, you know, yeah, I may represent an urban area, but I care about rural Oklahoma. We need the entire state to succeed. And remember, I'm from Lawton, while it's not a small rural area, we were still away from things in the big city. No kidding, you have lots of Oklahoma. Exactly, exactly. Exactly. And so, you know, working together with local leaders and folks who are on the ground overcoming these adversities every day

6:20and bringing more economic opportunities to our towns and revenue streams, I mean, I briefly chatted with the city manager of Nowada. She's like, this is the thing that we think about every day on how do we bring better economic opportunities for our families. One, so they'll stay and hopefully come to their town. And so, these are the things as governor, I want to work on. And I think is necessary for rural Oklahoma to prosper. We got just a little bit of time because I'm aware of your schedule. Hop up on the stump and tell us a little bit about Cindy Munson for governor that hasn't been asked or told. Yeah, well, you know, I obviously, very grateful for the service I've been able to serve the state of Oklahoma the last 11 years. But before politics, I was in the nonprofit sector. And so, my heart has always been about how do we solve problems? How do we do the most good for the most people? And I think that government can do it. I think we've gotten away from that, but we can do it. And, you know, I'm a proud aunt. I don't have children of my own, but I have a nephew who's in third grade right now who's understanding what's going on at this point.

7:23You know, and is so proud and tells everyone to vote for his aunt, Cindy. And, you know, what's tough about being on the campaign trail. I'm even getting emotional right now. I was not being able to be with your family and I'm missing some basketball games and practices and I'm that kind of aunt. I am very involved. And so, you know, I want a brighter future for him and all children like Jude. And I am so grateful that we've been able to provide, I say we, myself and my sister and my brother and law, you know, we were my sister and our first in our family to go to college. Thanks so, Columbus Promise. And I did that because of public schools and my dad is a single dad. My parents divorced. My dad, my mother was verbally and physically abusive. So, dad took full custody of us and did everything he could, working multiple jobs and giving us these opportunities. And so great to be able to, you know, when Jude's running around the Capitol, I get tear you eyes. I'm like, I would have never been able to imagine that, you know. And so that's what I want for Oklahoma. And I hope that that's what people see in me. I get party politics can get in the way many times.

8:25But that we overlook party registration and said, look at the vision that I am casting out for Oklahoma and what my opponent is. I want investment. I want us to get back to taking care of Oklahoma's and Oklahoma families. How can we find out more about you, your social media is the best, best place because we actively share where I am and answer your questions in the comments. And the direct messages so you can find me on all social media platforms at Cindy Munson, okay? Cindy is spelled C-Y-N-D-I. So, very unique spelling thanks to my dad. And then my website is CindyMunson.com. Thank you very much. Cindy Munson's been our guest right here on Community Connection. Thank you for being with us.