Grady County Commissioner claims he doesn’t listen to Democrats during open meeting
GRADY COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – In an open meeting on March 4, Grady County District 2 Commissioner Kirk Painter was caught on tape seemingly discriminating against Democrats.
KFOR also found out that Painter has requested several times to not publish the minutes of that meeting. He’s filing for re-election next week.
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“He’s trying to sweep it under the rug, that’s what it feels like,” said Chair of Commissioners Zachary Davis. “He shouldn’t have said it and he should come out with a public apology.
The story was first reported by The Lost Ogle. KFOR got ahold of the full meeting recording as well.
In the recording Commissioner Painter says, “Now that the newspapers are gone. Anytime this comes up, I check who this person is. As long as they’re a Democrat I don’t worry about it. That’s my decision. (laughing). Because I know what they’re wanting. They’re just self-deserving (possibly meant self-serving), it’s not for anybody else, it’s just for them. I know I shouldn’t be like that.”
“It’s just a joke,” said Commissioner Painter when KFOR sat down with him Friday to ask several questions.
You kind of said the quiet part out loud it sounds like, right?
“Yeah.”
Why did you say that? You said if they’re a Democrat you don’t listen to what they say and that they’re self-deserving.
“No, I didn’t say that,” said Painter. KFOR then replayed the recording for him in full. “Yeah, I said that but we were just horsing around.”
Do you mean that?
“No, I don’t mean that. It’s just a joke. I’m always sticking my boot in my mouth and I shouldn’t have said it and I’ll own it. I mean, but it was a joke because I know my people in my district and I did say this in the last meeting.”
“He tried stopping it from being in the minutes,” said Chair Davis.
We now know you refused to approve the minutes on both March 4 and the next one. Davis made a motion to approve it. Were you trying to keep this out of the spotlight?
“I wasn’t trying to stop it. It just didn’t need to be in there, she didn’t need to put that in there. It was a joke.”
He was referring to the Court Clerk Jill Locke who also recorded the whole meeting as she usually does. As a clerk, it is her job to record everything that happens within the meeting in the minutes.
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She’s doing her job by recording something like this wouldn’t you say? From open to close, everything that is said in the meeting should be heard and recorded.
“This is all getting blown out of proportion. I shouldn’t have said it but I wasn’t trying to hide anything. I mean you put the business in there but you don’t put the idle talk and jokes and all.”
Are you blaming her?
“I mean, she put what she needed to put but she shouldn’t have put all of it. It’s just a ploy, she’s trying to make me look like a political racist.”
Next week Painter said he will be re-filing for his re-election.
What is a major topic you will be focused on?
“Well, I guess the big word would be unity because we lost a lot of unity in this county because of elections. Unity, yes, because what’s decided in this boardroom between these three commissioners even though we have our districts, we have got to come together for the betterment of Grady County.”
You’re saying unity but you made a joke about ignoring Democrats and you said they’re self-deserving.
“Yeah, and I shouldn’t have said it. And it won’t happen again.”
The next meeting is set for Monday where Davis said it more than likely will be brought up.
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