The Oklahoma State Capital

GUTHRIE, OKLA -- Charlie Meadows, outgoing District 2 County Commissioner, made a theatrical exit from his final commission meeting on Tuesday, bidding farewell to the board with a dramatic criticism of local citizen journalist Marven Goodman.

Meadows, whose tenure ends when Floyd Coffman of Guthrie takes the oath of office on Thursday, used the occasion of his final comments to criticize Goodman.

"I will say this: in my opinion, Mr. Goodman did a lot of harm to this county during the eight years he was here," Meadows said. "A lot of what Mark (Sharpton) has had to do is go on an apology tour and try to repair some of the damage that was done. And, if people—I'm assuming Mr. Goodman will run again because he is here with his camera at all these meetings—if he does run again, it will be a huge mistake for the people to put him back in office."

Meadows’ comments came as Goodman sat in the audience, providing coverage of the meeting. Goodman’s footage, posted to Facebook, was the only record of the meeting, as for the second meeting in a row, Chris Evans of The Guthrie News Page was not present.

Goodman, through his Substack publication The Sooner Sentinel, has been covering local events and recently disclosed the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agency’s access to local FLOCK vehicle scanning devices. Goodman’s report was mentioned by Oklahoma State Representative Tom Gann during comments to Tulsa’s News on 6 CBS affiliate.

During his time in office, since his election in the summer of 2023, Meadows has regularly praised District 1 County Commissioner Mark Sharpton. Sharpton, who chaired the commission meeting on Tuesday, told Meadows, “I am glad you got to sit over on this side. Governing is different than advocacy,” referencing Meadows' long time advocacy for conservative causes, prior to winning election.

Sharpton's comment appeared to recognize that Meadows had governed in a manner not entirely consistent with his conservative views and advocacy role prior to winning election. During his brief tenure, Meadows aggressively advanced controversial proposals, including proposing the spending of $25,000 in grant funds to sponsor a band at the Logan County Fair, exempting county commissioners from the state's Open Meetings Act, creating new tax increment financing districts, and proposing a multi-million-dollar package of new taxes.

After his criticism of Goodman, Meadows did appear to attempt to define his own legacy, Meadows told attendees that he had received more votes in each successive of his three times on the ballot, stated that he has graveled roads to hold up to rain, and expressed satisfaction at the upcoming $4 million Luther Road paving project, which will pave Luther Road from Waterloo to Charter Oak. Meadows said that he initially wanted to defund the Luther Road project, but the funding was already obligated.

However, Meadows also explained that the state’s Waterloo Road and I-35 diverging diamond interchange project had been delayed for another two years. Meadows had made the implementation of that project a key point in his 2023 campaign.

Meadows told attendees that he has reached out to his replacement, Floyd Coffman of Guthrie, and they have spent time driving the district roads together.

Questions About Wind Energy

As Sharpton attempted to conclude the meeting, a member of the audience questioned the commissioners about their stance on wind energy.

The commissioners have repeatedly voted to assist Invenergy, a green energy giant, in deploying its massive Wagon Wheel wind farm—one of the largest in Oklahoma—spanning northern Logan County. During the meeting, commissioners voted to authorize payment to a road engineer as part of the county's road use agreement with Invenergy. The company is paying up to $30,000 per mile to place county roads into a condition suitable for installing wind turbines. Each of the commissioners has voted in support of the agreement and the company’s transmission line road crossing permits.

District 3 Commissioner Monty Piercy told the audience member that the Cimarron Link transmission project, also an Invenergy project, has already locked up about 30 parcels for its new transmission line. That line will bring wind energy from the Panhandle to eastern Oklahoma, cutting a swath across the county.

The county has not yet approved the road crossing permits for the Cimarron Link transmission lines. That vote could allow the county to slow down the project, while the Trump administration potentially reviews the federal funds that are funding Cimarron Link. Trump has expressed a desire to stop the expanding wind energy footprint.

The commission will next meet on January 6, which will be new Commissioner Floyd Coffman’s first meeting.