Mayor David Holt

Husband | Father | Mayor of Oklahoma City - America’s 21st-largest | Dean @OCULAW | 83rd President of @usmayors | 𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰𐓓𐒷 | #1OKC

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

That’s the phenomenon of associating something with the central city rather than the lesser-known suburb. Like how the World Cup games in Arlington, TX are being played at “Dallas Stadium.” Similar in its inaccuracy but a slightly different cause, and in this case, the opposite result.

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

@46SPORTS @murrayevans @espn @theAUSLofficial Murray is correct. OC is 100% in OKC. Mailing addresses often have little to do with physical location, as zip codes are created for the convenience of the USPS and do not align with city limits. It causes a lot of confusion because many people don’t realize that.

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

Happy Independence Day, OKC!

(photo of downtown OKC by @flighttimeokc)

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

Today, over a hundred American mayors - Republicans, Democrats and Independents - marched to Independence Hall in Philadelphia to honor the courageous declaration made there 250 years ago this week.

Though July 4th is our traditional day of celebration, it was in fact 250 years ago today (July 2, 1776) that the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution establishing our independence from Great Britain. It was two days later (July 4, 1776) when they passed the formal Declaration explaining the reasoning for their vote on July 2nd.

With the Declaration, the Congress actually left at least two distinct legacies, and it’s important to understand them both. The first was of course the establishment of an independent nation, but independence alone would not have led to the remarkable American story that has ensued since. It is the second legacy that is just as important.

With this sentence from the preamble, the Congress established the unique moral foundation for the American experiment.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and our civic ethos are all constructed upon these founding ideals of equality and democratic agency. To declare independence, it was not necessary to also declare that all people are born equal, but the founders of this nation intended for this endeavor to be more than a pursuit of patriotism. America was an experiment from the day of its founding, and the experiment remarkably endures to this day.

No elected officials in America believe more in this experiment than America’s mayors. We work each day to apply these democratic principles in the pursuit of equality, life, liberty and happiness. Today, we were honored to mark this history together in the city of our nation’s birth.

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

@trent_powell07 The Thunder plan to develop the site of the current arena, but the exact nature of that hasn’t yet been planned.

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

How it started

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

@PennyMordaunt The web site for Baroness Nicholson’s project:

https://t.co/Fjqj6sCGBU

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

This week, our nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. I’m honored to have the opportunity to mark the occasion in both London and Philadelphia.

First, London, where I spoke in the House of Lords regarding work that has been done to rediscover treaties and other documents exchanged between Native American tribes and the British Crown. Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne has been visiting Sovereignty Symposium in Oklahoma City since 2011, and is currently leading a team of people across numerous British institutions to help our tribes reclaim their history. When we reclaim our history, we reclaim our sovereignty.

From the British perspective, this work is a reminder that this enduring relationship goes back 400 years and it is with many sovereign governments, not just the United States government. 🧵

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

The period of Native American history that I just described between 1830 and 1968 was chaotic for tribal governments, to say the least. Through relocation, tribes were focused simply on human survival. Historical written documents such as treaties were not retained through upheaval and tragedy. Through relocation and decades of assimilation efforts, much of tribal history, language and culture was lost. The last fifty years have been a time of reclamation, as tribes have worked to restore that which was taken from them.

In the midst of this rebirth, in 1988, an Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice, Justice Yvonne Kauger, founded the Sovereignty Symposium, a multi-day gathering in Oklahoma City that has continued every year since and now draws over 800 people interested in issues of tribal sovereignty and governance. The main thrust are legal issues, but Sovereignty Symposium has become a gathering place for tribal leaders and others interested in a myriad of topics related to tribal policy and culture. Justice Yvonne Kauger oversaw the Symposium for 35 years and nurtured it into a vital institution.

With an introduction by a former Dean of my law school, Judge Robert Henry, and with hosting by Justice Kauger, Baroness Nicholson first visited Sovereignty Symposium in 2011, and returned in 2015, 2019, and 2023. These frequent visits allowed the Baroness to build relationships and trust with tribal leaders. This established the foundation for a most beautiful partnership. Tribal leaders began to approach the Baroness, asking if she might be able to assist them in accessing copies of treaties their tribal governments had made with the British Crown prior to 1776. In some cases, these treaties date back 150 years before the Declaration of Independence.

Clearly, British authority in the United States was extinguished in 1783 by the Treaty of Paris, so this request had no specific legal purpose. The purpose was to reclaim their own tribal history. It is true of all civilizations that when we reclaim our history, we reclaim our sovereignty.

Specifically, Baroness Nicholson has worked in the last few years to research and collect treaties between the British Crown and the Iroquois Confederacy, the Chickasaw Nation, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Choctaw Nation and the Cherokee Nation. The work has accumulated contracts, treaties, maps, letters and legal instruments drawn from the National Archives, the British Library, the Bodleian Library, the House of Lords Library, the Middle Temple and the Lambeth Palace libraries. Some 300 pages have already been brought together, with 4,000 more identified.

Baroness Nicholson states that this work documents a shared history between the British government and the people of the United States that is deeper that previously considered, in that it extends beyond just the relationship between Britain and the United States government since 1776. Indeed, the relationship is older than 250 years and it is with more than one nation. In fact, it reaches back 400 years, and it extends to many sovereign American Indian nations. Which is why Baroness Nicholson calls it the “enduring relationship.”

So, I am here today to honor the enduring relationship betweenthe British people and our people – all of our people – and to thank Baroness Nicholson for the work she has done and the work that lies ahead. I also thank all those who have contributed to her efforts, including the institutions and the people behind them who have held these critical documents for four centuries. Your preservation and your willingness to share it is a gift to the Indigenous peoples of the United States. All these centuries later, you are helping us to reclaim our sovereignty. Thank you.

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

@pamokc To close this loop, I understand that the tower you asked about is no longer in use and will be removed at some point in the future.

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

OKC is one of the nation’s finest cities for public art, and we have two recent additions in MidTown, both privately funded.

First is “Light and Airy” by Heavy. It’s at NW 10th & Walker. Second is “Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures” by Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman. The latter will be on display through next April at Oklahoma Contemporary.

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

I have no idea the situation relative to the tower you’re describing, but water towers are painted for protection, not aesthetics. And painting them costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it is only done when it is truly necessary for protection of the tower. The tower on Hefner Parkway was recently painted for the first time in about 35 years, so there is certainly no decisionmaking that depends on where a tower is located. If you’d like to know the long term plan for painting that tower, send an email to [email protected] and we’ll connect you to Utilities for an answer.

[Mayor David Holt @davidfholt]

Oklahoma City has hosted the NBA Finals and the Women’s College World Series and many international competitions, but we have NEVER hosted the official World Championships in a perennial Olympic sport. UNTIL NOW. From July 20th through the 25th, the World Championships of Canoe Slalom will be staged at RIVERSPORT. The countdown is on!

Over 300 athletes from 50 counties are coming to OKC for this historic moment. This is an excellent opportunity to get introduced to the events we will host in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics!

For tickets and other details, visit https://t.co/4ztCbd8JDy!