PAYNE COUNTY, Okla. — On Tuesday, voters will decide the Democratic candidate who will run for the Payne County Commission District 1 seat.

The primary is part of a special election to fill the seat left vacant when Payne County Commissioner Bill Deering died in September. Deering served as commissioner since 1995.

Democrat candidates Noel Bagwell and Bobby Farley will face off in the primary, and the winner will face Republican Zachary Cavett in the April 3 general election.



Noel Bagwell

Former Payne County Sheriff Noel Bagwell said he enjoys working with citizens in county government, and that’s why he wants to be the next District 1 commissioner.

“I enjoy (county government), and I enjoy it because of the people,” he said.

Bagwell, a Cushing resident, said his previous experience helps give him some insight into how government works and how to run District 1 efficiently. One way to be efficient, he said, was by addressing individual road issues and planning any improvements as part of a larger plan.

“We have a lot of road and intersections that need some work,” Bagwell said. “You can’t see what’s coming at you because of debris or trees or things hanging out on the road.”

The first step, he said, is to clean up the debris, followed by fixing the road’s drainage to ensure water doesn’t undermine the road.

“If you haven’t moved the water away from the road and the debris away from the road, there is no reason to put a new road in there because the water is going to” wash the road away, he said.

In 1994, the IRS filed a tax lien of more than $114,000 against a business Bagwell operated. The business closed nearly 20 years old, Bagwell said, adding that he has always been open about the issue.

“When I worked at the county, they knew it and were aware of it,” he said. “It has never affected my job at the sheriff’s office, and it won’t affect my job as a county commissioner.”

The dispute with the IRS is currently at a “stalemate,” Bagwell said, and he claims to be current on all other payments.

“One of these days something will give, and we’ll certainly step up to the plate and address it and handle it,” he said. “But until the stalemate ends, there’s not much we can do.”

Former Commissioner Bill Deering worked with the Sac and Fox Nation on multiple road projects. That is something Bagwell said he’d like to continue as commissioner.

“The more people you can get working together — whether it’s the city or the tribe — in trying to pool those resources, I think it’s an excellent thing,” he said.

Bagwell said District 1 expenses appear to be run efficiently, but there is always room for improvement.

Bagwell worked on the sheriff’s department budget for almost 15 years, providing some valuable experience, he said. The first thing he said he’d do as commissioner is ask employees where they saw room to become more efficient.

“I’ve always found once you get the employees involved in something and they see good coming out of it, they’ll stay involved with it and they’ll work more efficiently,” Bagwell said.



Bobby Farley

Improving roads is one of the main reasons Bobby Farley said he is running for the Payne County Commission.

Farley, a Cushing resident, drives county roads regularly said he sees many are in bad shape and some that he feels could have been better fixed.

“When we go out here and repair these roads, we need to make sure we do them right the first time and don’t have to do it three or four times,” he said. “Every time we go out and do that, it’s costing taxpayers money.”

Addressing road conditions, Farley said, requires the county to first start by addressing the underlying drainage issues.

“It’s time to clean out some bar ditches and … put a crown on the road so the water will run off the road instead of standing on the road,” he said. “You can’t just keep going back and going back …  because it will cost you a lot more money than it will if you just do it right the first time.”

One thing Farley said he’d like to see the county start doing is using a sheep’s-foot, a drum that helps level the road, to make sure the dirt base of a road is compacted before gravel is added.

Without taking that step first, any road work will serve as a temporary fix, he said.

“(The) first thing that happens when it rains is the gravel goes to the bottom and your mud has come to the top,” he said. “Yeah it will cost a little bit more to pack that road with a sheep’s-foot, but in the long run you are going to save yourself a lot of money on gravel because it will stay on the ground instead of going down into the ground.”

Farley said he’d also like to fix an out-of-commission bridge on Texaco Road. The bridge, which has been closed to traffic for five years, causes drivers to take alternate routes that add expenses for nearby residents and the Agra School District that uses it as a bus route.

“That’s one of my priorities is to get that bridge fixed,” he said. “It’s time.”

Farley, who previously owned two businesses, said he has the experience to balance a budget and cut expenses. He also spent 20 years working at a fire station, which he said would help him assess when to issue a county burn ban.

Considering a tight budget, Farley said he wanted to continue working with cities and tribal governments when possible on joint projects to share ideas and resources.

Farley also said the county can try to increase the amount of sales tax money received by encouraging residents to spend their money locally — an idea he’d like to see used by county commissioners as well.

“I’d like to see us — when it is possible — to keep that money with local contractors so it stays in our county instead of going into another county or even another state,” Farley said. “When you do that, you start keeping your revenue here, which therefore gives you more money to do things.”