Shadid Admits Marijuana Addiction, Declines to Reject Abortion, Agenda 21 Principles

Shadid Admits Marijuana Addiction, Declines to Reject Abortion, Agenda 21 Principles

One mayors race down, one more to go. The good news? The Mayoral race in OKC continues to provide us plenty of material.

As previously reported by The Okie, Oklahoma City Councilman Ed Shadid is running against incumbent Mayor Mick Cornett, with the election scheduled for March 4th. Shadid is a registered Independent who describes himself as a member of the Green Party.

Last Friday, Councilman Shadid appeared in front of conservative group the High Noon Club, which meets weekly at the H&H Shooting Sports Complex in Oklahoma City.

On one hand, The Okie admires the moxie of Councilman Shadid for agreeing to appear in front of a group that considers itself among the most conservative in the state. On the other hand, Shadid’s hopes of electability in the capital city of a red state did not appear to hold up well under the direct questioning from conservative activists at the High Noon Club.

Agenda 21

The United Nations’ Agenda 21 has been the source of great debate in Oklahoma politics the last several years. The only thing that debate has lacked has been an Oklahoma politician willing to advocate for the principles enshrined in this controversial UN document.

Agenda 21 is a plan authored by the United Nations in 1992 intended to be used by local governments to achieve “sustainable development.” Conservative groups have attacked it in recent years for threatening to infringe on private property rights. Bills at the Oklahoma Legislature by Rep. Sally Kern and Sen. Patrick Anderson during the 2013 Oklahoma legislative session would have banned the implementation of Agenda 21 in Oklahoma, but those bills did not make it to the Governor’s desk.

Following his prepared remarks, Shadid responded to two questions about Agenda 21. In response to the first question, Shadid explained that he does not believe that the United Nations is “on the ground” trying to push Agenda 21.

Said Shadid, “If somebody came to me and said that, ‘I am affiliated with the United Nations and I think this is what you should do,’ my head would explode.” He added that he “could care less” what the United Nations thinks.

But then Shadid turned to what he called “the larger question” of whether the principles of Agenda 21 should be applied in Oklahoma City. He explained that “a plan” is necessary because Oklahoma City is geographically the largest city in America, and that “If developers just develop wherever they want, it’s anarchy.”

A second questioner then returned to the topic of Agenda 21 and pointed out that many elected officials don’t seem to know much about Agenda 21.

Shadid explained that Agenda 21 came “out of the conference in Brazil, a little over a decade ago.”

Shadid further explained that when considering whether to apply Agenda 21 in Oklahoma City, “you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

He continued, “Take every issue there and let’s talk about them individually. Just because something was mentioned in a bill at a United Nations conference doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good or bad. We need to look at each issue individually.”

This endorsement of some of Agenda 21’s principles, if not the document itself, is unique (to say the least) among Oklahoma politicians.

Councilman Shadid’s determination to stop “urban sprawl” through implementation of principles that also appear in Agenda 21 has been one of his goals since joining the Oklahoma City Council in 2011. That year, he hosted a town hall on the topic, which drew fire from Charlie Meadows of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee.

One liberal blogger for “Odd Oklahoma” lamented in March that the bills by Kern and Anderson would have stopped Councilman Shadid from achieving his goals of stopping Oklahoma City’s “huge sprawl problem”:

“Passing a law that prevents Shadid, other members of the city council, and the mayor, from solving this problem, because it might be percieved (sic) as part of the goals of a 300+ page 1992 report from the United Nations is idiotic.”

As reported by McCarville Report, the supporters of Shadid’s mayoral campaign are spreading the message that as mayor, Shadid intends to stop providing city services to anyone who chooses to live outside of the innercity.

And Shadid recently told The City Sentinel that streets shouldn’t be improved outside of the innercity, saying they should be improved “on 23rd & May where people live,” not “Rockwell & Memorial where nobody lives.”

Addiction to Marijuana

Agenda 21 was not the only tough issue Shadid attempted to navigate in his remarks to the conservative High Noon Club.

Unprompted and in his prepared remarks, Shadid admitted to being a recovering marijuana addict. He said that he was addicted to marijuana “for many years.”

Abortion and Homosexuality

Rep. Sally Kern was present and directly asked Shadid for his stance on abortion. Shadid responded:

“The Mayor has absolutely nothing to do with abortion. Not one thing.”

Later, another member of the audience again asked Shadid for his stance on abortion and also his stance on homosexuality, saying that the audience needed to know “where your heart is” in regards to those two issues. Shadid’s entire reply to that direct question is repeated here verbatim:

“So, I would again, I think it’s about attraction. It’s about attraction, uh, sometimes, versus… I’d love for people to find the same spiritual journey that I’ve found, the same relationship with God. I’m not going to be able to force them to do that. It’s, it’s, you know, the question that Jesus asked that man was, ‘Are you ready? Are you willing to be made whole?’ Not ‘I’m going to make you whole, whether you’re ready or not.’ The first question is, ‘Are you ready, are you willing?’ He didn’t, you know, he waits for them to say, you know, that they’re ready and willing. And I can’t, as a government, I cannot force somebody. I would try to live my life and show what a relationship with God means to me, show what honesty means, and then hopefully that attracts some people, and they get attracted to that, just by, by seeing, you know, the best example that you can lead. But I can’t make somebody what they’re not or what they’re not ready for.”

Welcoming Non-Christians

Rep. Sally Kern also asked Shadid about his recent comments to The Red Dirt Report that as mayor, he would make it the city’s priority to welcome Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhist, Muslims and atheists to Oklahoma City. Shadid answered that welcoming those specific non-Christian religious groups would lead to economic development in Oklahoma City.

See, we told you this race is providing plenty of material! The Okie will continue to monitor…