Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025
Volume 122, Issue 14
VISTA The
Skate Photos Page 2.
Tuesday, Feb.
“OUR WORDS, YOUR VOICE.”
Volume 119, Issue 19
Nash and Robins advance in the running for Edmond mayor Charlie Shackelford Reporter
Mark Nash, a financial professional, and Tom Robins, former Ward 1 Councilman, got the highest number of votes during the primary round of elections this past Tuesday. This advanced them on to the general election in April. They moved forward with only 45 votes separating them, with Nash receiving 2,447 and Robins receiving 2,402. Nash joined the race in November after noticing issues within the community. After the proposed GO Bond’s defeat, which would have helped Edmond move forward with many projects, Nash decided to announce his candidacy for Tom Robins (left) and Mark Nash (right) have secured enough votes in the Edmond mayoral race to move on to the general election in April with only 45 votes separating them. (ARRIANA CHARQUEÑO/THE VISTA) mayor. He is a longtime resident and challenging, but sees it as a necessary first step to recycling center started and wants to continue to community leader, living here and raising support the UCO community. his family here for over 35 years. Once he joined solving the city’s on-going traffic problems. Nash says this election is also going to affect Another priority for Robins is providing the Edmond Neighborhood Association, first students. Traffic and property values can affect Edmond with more mental health services. as a board member and now only as an advisor, the university students who commute and live He plans to protect community members with he became inspired to fix the various issues that off campus. Nash wants to continue the city’s mental health issues by ensuring that steps are came to his attention. Since then he has spent support and strong relationship with the unitaken, so the police don’t need to get involved. numerous years on other committees, including versity. He wants to help UCO in their fight for He wants to bring more awareness to North Care the Edmond Public School Foundation and the funding against bigger colleges such as Oklahoand Oasis Clubhouse, two mental health services Edmond Economic Development Authority. ma State University and the University of Okla- in Edmond that offer support to people strugOne of the main issues that Nash is looking homa. Nash plans to see what the city can do to gling with mental health crises. to fix is the city’s fiscal transparency. He wants further help the funding that UCO receives. His plan for solving the traffic issue is to start to prioritize the city’s budget in order to move He hopes to fix the city’s image and this is with a transportation plan. Robins says the city forward in addressing specific issues. needs to figure out what the future of mobility is, “I’ve got the experience, so why not help solve where he wants to start. “This election is about how we can keep this starting with electric bikes. He wants to install it… you have to know the process. You have to city moving forward,” Nash said. more bike racks downtown to promote differunderstand the way government finance works,” Robins joined the race earlier, announcing his ent forms of transportation in the city. Robins Nash stated. candidacy in August after stepping down from also wants to focus on bringing more accessible He has worked for state agencies as the his position in the City Council. He was elected options to parks and buildings for citizens with Director of Finance to help find ways to save to City Council in 2023, and since then, he has disabilities. money and monitor how it’s being spent, and worked on many projects. Robins is endorsed by “I’m running to be able to serve and be inthat’s where he learned more about government the Edmond Police Department due to his help volved and to choose the community I have. finance and furthered his understanding of it. protecting the community. He wants to use this I want to make Edmond a great place to just One of Nash’s main priorities is focusing on election as an opportunity to serve his neighbors grow,” Robins said. how the city can fix traffic. His plan for this is to and be a voice for young families. The primary election will take place on April transition more roads, like Danforth and Covell, He sees UCO as a strong quality of Edmond, 1. Whoever wins this election will serve the city into four-lane roads to take traffic off of 2nd and often taking his families to campus games and for the next four years. 15th streets. He acknowledges that this will be theater events. Robins helped to get the UCO
IRS faces scrutiny from Elon Musk and DOGE organization Ella Spurlock Copy Editor
On Feb. 13 Gavin Kliger visited the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the middle of tax season. Kliger is a 25 year-old former Databricks software engineer and is a top staffer under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Kliger met with senior executives at the IRS in an effort to scrutinize the agency and its operations per President Trump’s request for DOGE to cut costs, waste and fraud throughout the federal government. According to an email seen by Reuters, “Separately, senior executives at the IRS were instructed on Thursday to identify all ‘non-essen-
President Trump’s executive orders are being blocked: here’s why
tial’ contracts for termination.” Gov- Ella Spurlock ernment contracts are essentially an Copy Editor agreement between a business and As of Feb. 12 President Trump the government to provide goods or has signed more than 60 executive services in exchange for payment. The General Service Administration orders. This is the more than any (GSA) deems a contract non-essen- president has ever signed in their tial if it “merely generates a report, first 100 days in office, in more than research, coaching, or an artifact.” 40 years. First, let’s start with what execThese standards for non-essential utive orders are. Executive orders contracts were brought into play because of the Trump Administration. are directives from the U.S. president that instructs federal agencies Businesses big and small operate under specific government contracts to take a specific action. Only the and if they are deemed non-essen- sitting U.S. president has the power tial, the business itself and thousands to overturn an existing executive order by issuing a new one to that of jobs are at risk. effect. This is because EOs are not legislation, they do not go through Continued Page 3. Congress for approval, but Congress can pass legislation that may make it difficult, or even impossible, for an EO to go into effect. Courts can also strikedown EOs on the grounds of the president lacking authority to issue them or the EO is unconstitutional. Currently, several EOs signed by President Trump are being blocked by federal judges. This means that federal judges are either suing the Trump Administration or imposing injunctions on the EOs. Injunctions prohibit a party from ordering or performing a specified act. Injunctions can either be permanent or temporary, but that has yet to be determined for the EOs being blocked. One major EO that was blocked by federal courts and judges is President Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship
Elon Musk, working alongside President Donald Trump, is acting as senior advisor to the president to form the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). (PROVIDED/ ASSOCIATED PRESS)
has been in place since 1868 when the 14th Amendment was ratified. Originally, the clause was meant for former slaves after the Civil War, but in 1898, it was ruled in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark that birthright citizenship applies to children of immigrants. Looking directly at this clause in the Constitution is a dead give away that this EO was unconstitutional. This fact shows in the 10 lawsuits that the Trump Administration are facing, seven of which challenge the EO directly. According to Mattathias Schwartz and Seamus Hughes of the New York Times, “The plaintiffs seeking to defend the 14th Amendment’s longstanding guarantee to birthright citizenship include two groups of state attorney generals, nonprofits representing pregnant mothers and an attorney from Orange County, Calif., who is representing his pregnant wife.” The judges that have been hearing these current cases are skeptical of the president’s order and have imposed two preliminary injunctions that have put the EO on hold, for now. Other challenges the Trump Administration is dealing with are cities in Calif., including San Francisco, have sued the administration for an EO that would withhold federal funds from cities that do not enforce President Trump’s new immigration policies. Continued Page 3.