Kelly, Pettis In a Runoff On April 2
Incumbent Narrowly Leads His Six Opponents

 

By W. ORLANDO PIERCE
Special to the Chronicle

 

The incumbent city councilman for the city’s northeast quadrant who drew six opponents in his bid for reelection narrowly led the field and will be in a runoff with one of them next month.
City Councilman Ronald “Skip” Kelly (Ward 7), 63, garnered only 30.9 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election, and John A. Pettis Jr., 30, the incumbent’s strongest opponent, trailed with 25.9 percent of the votes.
The two will face each other in a runoff election set for Tuesday, April 2.
Councilman Kelly got 962 votes to Mr. Pettis’ 806.
Lillie R. Buckner placed third in the seven-man race with 442 votes (14.2 percent, while Ben T. Robinson received 433 votes (13.9 percent) to place fourth.
John E. Billbury III, received 372 votes (12 percent) to place fifth, and Star Young and Randon Gibson brought up the rear after collecting 76 votes (2.4 percent) and 23 votes (.7 percent), respectively..
When Councilman Kelly first ran to complete an unfinished term on the council, and though facing several opponents then, he avoided a runoff after a recount showed him to have received over 50 percent of the votes.
Four years later, Councilman Kelly ran without opposition.
This time, however, any discussion about whether he could avoid a runoff was never on the table, because the incumbent, on Tuesday, was decidedly vulnerable.
Part of that vulnerability is because the councilman may not be able to serve even if he wins the April 2 runoff, since he faces the possibility of being convicted of a felony after he was charged with two driving under the influence charges over a three-year period.
He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in county district court next week.
The preliminary hearing was delayed until March 15 after Councilman Kelly asked the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals to determine if the law under which he was charged with a felony applies to him.
The statute under which Councilman Kelly was charged requires that a person convicted of a second DUI offense in less than 10 years must be charged with a felony.
The felony charge against Councilman Kelly followed an incident last year when he was arrested after police found him behind the wheel of his severely damaged car, which had crashed into a fire hydrant near NW 63rd Street and N. Western Avenue.
Councilman Kelly denies he was drunk when the Jan. 2012, accident occurred, and refused to submit to a breathalyzer test.
Three years earlier, Councilman Kelly was arrested on a misdemeanor DUI complaint for driving erratically with excessive speed on I-35 during the wee hours of the morning.
He pleaded guilty to that misdemeanor DUI and was given a deferred sentence.
The councilman apologized to his constituents in 2009.
On the second offense that occurred last year, if the appeals court rules against him, he will face a trial.
If he either pleads guilty to the felony charge or is convicted, he will be required to resign from the council, and, Councilman Kelly, a lawyer, could be disbarred.